Zambia Holla!

Nada Problem

Dr. Bombay 2008

After taking and overnight bus to Jaipur, seeing Amer fort and Galta I hopped on a plane to Mumbai. This is Bollywood capital for all of you out of the loop. Apparently all the popular music in India comes from Bollywood films and not from any other medium. Quite in contrast to other parts of the world where there are a zillion different popular genres and experimental forms. We stayed with Chad's friend Cheryl in a slum (where over 55% of ppl. in bombay live) and rode the train into town every day. On Christmas I wore one of Cheryl's Salwar kameez's (sp... a sort of long dress over baggy pants and a long scarf draped back over the shoulders) and so did she, while Chad wore is Kurta Pajama and we went to Catholic Church. Apparently 4 people die everyday on the trains in Bombay. Crazy. There are special lady cars and people are always hanging out of the doorways while it is moving. We had a delicious meal at Cheryl's boyfriend Dilip's house and I explained (through Cheryl's Hindi) the nature of my relationship with my half-bro and half-sis to his mother. This is definitely unheard of here, so that conversation was pretty funny...and long, ha! Other highlights include: A 'German' bakery with apple pie, me purchasing myself some Indian threads, bookstore hopping, and tasty eats of course.
On Christmas night, Chad and I caught a plane to Cochin, in the southern communist state of Kerala. We met up with some friends from Chad's Hindi program and spent a day in the old city/fort but after that I proceeded to get ill for about 3 days and stayed in bed. Upon recovery we set out on the train south for some backwater cruising. Four of us rented a houseboat and had our meals catered for two nights over the New Year in what I would call paradise. I hope everyone had a great New Year and it is pretty wild that it is already 2008. What is 2060 going to be like?

I like, I like

Hey all!
I really like Delhi, and I owe a large part of that to Chad and his clam disposition. I have learned how to cross the street, order a rickshaw with a reasonable price, ride the metro, eat, a way handle the people asking for money, the basics to get me by for the next week or so or the rest of the time. Things would be much much much different if I was to figure this out alone. Chad is leaving tomorrow for Mumbai and I am going to Jaipur and Rajistan on Tuesday. I got a guidebook (finally) so i will have some guidance. Today we went to JNU, a uni in Delhi to meet with Sayid a friend of Chad's. We didn't catch him but I got a taste of the university dorms as a friend of a friend of Sayid's let us store our big backpacks in his room. When we met up again we started talking...he is 1st year doing a doctorate in Hindi lit., pretty cool. Later we found a hotel in Parah ganj, kind of touristy area of town with lots of shopping. Check this out.. a hotel for 3 dollars each. double bed, outside porch, cable tv, personal bathroom...yeah pretty awesome. It also turns out I love Indian food, everything that I have had mmm mmm mmmmmmm(rubbing tummy). We went to an awesome bookstore today and I found three books I wanted but only got one...Elise you might like this one, it is about the biography of the organism that causes Lyme disease...written, I think, from it's perspective. For the past two days we also went to Chad's fav. bar 'Rodeo' where they serve tex-mex food (we just have beers) and it is a western theme, all of the employees dress like cowboys complete with gun holsters, wooden guns, cowboy boots and hats. But it is time to retire.
Love,
Rose

Delhi Time.

So I just arrived in Delhi and am hanging out with my friend Chad. We will be here for a few days then he goes to a retreat for work in Mumbai and I am free until christmas eve. Might try to go to the state of Rajistan (sp) ...they make some really cool shoes in that region. I am at an internet cafe using windows 98 on an ancient computer but the internet is strong. Arrived at 10am, and it is now 1pm. Chad has a friend here and we are staying in her apartment with many other visitors so we might move somewhere else for tomorrow. My first impression ...a fog. The ride from the airport was definitely crazy but not so bad. They only obey the horn, no lanes, no signal. I think I would have been more worried but we were not driving too fast because of all the cars/rickshaws/mopeds/peds. I have seen about 4 cows on the street. Today we are going to explore bookstores and chads fav. area of town and meet some of his old profs/friends from earlier in his program. I plan on being in Mumbai by the 24th and on the eve of the 25th we got a flight to Cochin. I got a nice smile from a school aged girl riding in a rickshaw and she said hi, but other than that no crazy attention like I have heard about...I have only been here for 3 hrs though. I feel in a daze because of just 3 hrs sleep but the adrenaline is keeping me going.

Look at the photos.

I am so poor at updating my blog. We have been in Athens for a week at a hostel right next to the Acropolis. I have been updating my photos more often than the blog so check there if you are eager to stalk me. I bought a very cute purse. In Vienna we went on a tour of the crypt at St. Stephens Cathedral and we saw many bones, an old cemetery, Maria Teresa's embalming jar. All of her innards are inside. On Monday we are leaving, either to an island or somewhere inland.
Carolyn is here, some nights we partied a little hard. Mousaka = very good. We went into a sweet shop and the guy was singing everything he said to us.

BYE!

Rose

London, The Louvre, Espana

It has been a while since the last update so here are some lists:

London:
-Saw my nannies from when I was little (Emma and Wendy)
-Wendy´s 40th birthday party!
-Sleepover at Hazels
-Yvonnes tasty soup (Esmee´s recepie) and Jack´s photos from ´66!
-Riding the Tube and Train
-Nita and Barbara´s awesome pad!
-25 cent movies
-tasty tasty food (Bap anyone?)

Paris:
-wild and crazy time trying to get to paris...but we made it in the end.
-The Louvre...pictures on photo album.
-Couchsurfing with Cindy and Paul...friends of Jodi (another couchsurfing buddy) and of course forgot to get a photo!
-overnight train ride to Barcelona...
-Yes, our visit was only one day... must go back soon...when I know more french...

Spain:
-Super nice hotel in the middle of Barcelona...apparently Barcelona is one of the most expenive places to buy a pad in Europe.
-Wine on the terrace.
-La Rambla...crazy place with pet shops, street preformers...
-apparently nobody is a size 46 around here...went jeans shopping and it was interesting.
-Every meal here in Spain has been soooo good. Tapas, cafe con leche...
-Spanglish.
-getting lost on little streets.
-Picasso museum.
-Gaudi´s Apartments.
-Heading north to Gerona, Figueres, and Cadaquez...to do a little Dali stalking in the Dali triangle. (Gala´s Castle, Dali´s Museum, and Dali´s House)
-Hanging out in Cadaquez...little picturesque town on the costa brava.
-Driving to Madrid
-Seeing the Reina Sofia museum...Dali´s, Picasso´s, Miro´s...
-Tide Pool Soup!
-Heading to Jerez to visit Courtney
-walking everywhere, awesome shops

Gotta run!

Rose

$300US in the first 3 weeks

Clea and I now know almost every square inch of Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland. There are some more photos online.

Doolin:
Tin Whistle and Bodhran.
Traditional Irish music in every pub every night.
Castle and Church ruins.
Old Scottish and Irish men (we know have pen pals).
No work, all play!
I finished reading Ivanhoe...
Beer and chess.
Cliff trek.
We met some Seattlites, Alaskans and Germans at Rainbow Hostel.

We then used 'couchsurfing.com' for the first time and stayed with a girl in Limerick on the university campus. Let me just say that was an awesome first experience. She was really cool...and could cook very well! Today we caught the airplane to London and were picked up by my Grandmothers' cousins' husband, Jack. Complicated huh? I am at Yvonne's house (Gma's cousin) using the computer and later tonight we go to her sister Nita's to stay. Jack went to visit my grandma in '66 on the way back from the Bahamas and just busted out the photos of my Mom, aunt Rose, Grandma and Grandpa Norman. When he emails them to me I will post them on my photo album. I am so excited to be here! Ireland was great, but now I am excited to see some more of Europe.
I hope all is will on the flip side.

Rose

WWOOFing Leg #1 Complete.

Hey Gang. We are officially finished WWOOFing in Ireland and will be traveling around for the next week to Doolin in Co. Clare. I have added a couple of more photos...mostly glamour shots of Clea and I on these cliffs and some of the second farm. We have been weeding, playing fiddle (Miriam has 2), eating really well, listening to Irish National Radio 1, and drinking about 10 cups of tea a day with lots of sugar. We are in Galway today for the market, about the size of Bham. It looks like we are heading to London on the 22nd, Paris on the 26th, and Barcelona on the 30th. Clea's dad is coming to visit us in Barcelona for about a week! We might drive up to the south of France with him, and may visit my friend Travis is studying and Clea's friend lives in Nice. Things are well here and I might meet up with an old friend (Mercedes, she lives in Cornwall) in London and also my old nanny, Emma! Our friend Courtney is living in the south of Spain so we are planing on spending some time there also after Barcelona and France.

Things are well. See you on the flip.

RosePublish Post

Some aspects of Ireland: a tour through photos.

This post will attempt to be not quite as lame as the title makes it seem.

On the left we may view the lime, hydraulic lime, hemp, water, stone, sand structure we worked on at Sunrise farm. It will eventually be for meditation/yoga.
We would mix a wheelbarrow full of paste then slap it on the walls to 'touch up' or fill in between two boards to make a solid portion of the wall. Very laid back work, the 'midgies' were the only bother...small biting flies-similar to the 'Nosee' of Breitenbush.




On the left we have Didi... (always in Orange) doing so Meditation. She did not know this picture was being taken. I know I have mentioned this many-a-time...so we will move on.

As you will view on the right, our first castle! Castle Birr Demense. The fam still lives there so we did not get to enter. More photos are online from the garden with over 300 tree species, a telescope the biggest in the world for 70 years (starting 1830?), A place where some boys were hung, and Clea eating an orange...very exciting.

The biggest carrot I have ever seen. It grew in Didi's garden. She also dilutes our urine (we pee into a bucket) and pours it on the apple trees because apparently that gets rid of the spots.
















OK... you should just go to my online photo album to see the the rest of the photos.. most have captions and stories...and we are paying to use the internet right now. Also you can see more photos that Clea has taken. Both of these links are also on the right side of the blog.

Over all the trip has been awesome! Last night a friend of our current host came over to play the fiddle. It turns out Miriam (our host) has two fiddles so we all got to play together (Clea, Mecky, and I)! We learned a Jig. OK a story about Mecky... she has this friend who was last seen in Seattle named Terrence 'Terry' Conlan. He would be about 53-54 now and is an excellent Mandolin Player (MOM, DAVID!) He also was/is a carpenter. She hasn't seen him in 22 years but was wondering about him so if any of you Seattle-ites knows anything....let me know. I am to email her. It is a long shot but why not?

I was thinking I will probably post stories or things on here I don' t have photos for...and just put stories in the captions of photos I have online.. more work for you to keep up with me but I am not a huge fan of just writing this stuff down.

This new farm is pretty awesome. We are on top of this huge hill overlooking the Burren. This is a huge archaeological site ...absolutely filled with wedge tombs, court tombs, and other cool stuff from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Iron Ages, Bronze Age - until the present it has been occupied. Our host Robin is an amateur archaeologist which means he is also our personal tour guide for the region. He said the Burren has not been studied extensively because the Irish government will only fund research if it is absolutely necessary(i.e. they are going to build something) . Also in Europe the old archaeology is still in effect which means...whatever the head honchos said is final...and this leaves no room for the new ideas or using modern people as a reference for research ideas (and I know this is not always a good idea, it has to be done very carefully).


Robin also keeps bees, this is a photo of him explaining some ideas to me. He has alot of ideas about the region and archaeology and the specifics of what could of happened. He also spelunks... all you cool people will know what I am talking about if that is spelled correctly. We taught him to play speed scrabble.

Miriam and Robin have 3 kids. Miriam is super cute. She and Robin make really tasty food (and especially compared to Didi who does not use onions or garlic...part of Ananda Marga) and you can tell some of the Indian influence because they spend some time there every winter. They are a British but have been living in Ireland for the past 30 years. Miriam knits, studies Spanish, is taking up the fiddle, works in the garden. She pretty much is doing everything I want to be doing when I get back from my trip... learning a language, playing the fiddle, being sustainable. She also has a pretty lively social life.


This farm is way better than the last one. OH!! I forgot to mention Robin and Miriam's house is freaking amazing.. I will take photos of all the details but just a mental note for now.

We have spent the day in the city of Galway today because Robin and Miriam work the Saturday market here. This city is about the size of Bellingham and contains a University also = cheap food.

I also have been thinking of taking up Archery when I get back AND I got a super good Soda bread recipe compliments of Didi. Soda bread doesn't need time to rise...how cool is that?!

Slainte! (Irish for 'Good Health' usually said in place of cheers).

Rose

P.S. I just remembered a very funny story. We were out in Scariff one night (the first and only night so far) and people kept saying to us, ''so you come here for the crack?'' and I was thinking, 'geeze...straight up asking about the drugs? I didn't even know that was big in Ireland'. Later I was reading in my guide book all the local Gaelic terms. Turns out the word that is pronounced 'crack' is actually spelled something like 'craic' and means 'fun, lively atmosphere'. yeah...

Week 1: Complete

We really didn't know what we were getting into. The work is nice, fun even. Mainly we are building, but it turns out the women both named Didi are Yogic Nuns and we are in an Ananda Marga 'Master House'. There is about 5 hours of meditation/kirtan singing/yoga a day (I am ususally asleep for the morining session, and it depends on what I feel like during the other sessions wether I particpate or not).

It turns out I have to leave the library now..will update more later on the week.

First Day at the Farm

There is a dry composting toilet for pooping.

We pee into a bucket...the regular toilet is getting fixed.

There are two other WWOOFers...Finn(19) from Portland, OR and Greit(32) from Germany.

One of these days I will take a photo.

We worked building a circular building for yoga and meditation today made only out of lime, hemp, sand, and water (with a stone base).

Today we slept in (until 9 or so) then worked until lunch. Meditation and singing always precede every meal and there is yoga in the mornings (7:30 or so?).

Two women live here and they are both named Didi (one from Vermont, and one from eastern Europe).

Sunrise farm is part of a larger organization called Ananda Marga based out of India. There are farms and locations all over Europe and other parts of the world.

Clea, Greit and I all sleep in a room with 3 bunk beds (6 beds total). Fin is in a room downstairs and Didi is in a room across the hall and each room having 3 bunk beds. The eastern European Didi is a baker and bakes bread for the Sunday farmers market in Scaraf.

If you want to look on google maps we are located right near White Castle, Ireland.

I am in love with the landscape and the towns are very very cute. This whole country is pretty much farmland.

Right about now....

Clea and I have arrived in Dublin and are going to our first farm tonight!

The trip was smooth as a baby's bottom.

The sidewalks are wider than the streets and there are bike lanes everywhere.

T-minus 21hours 38minutes

I am flying out of B-town (Boston to those in the 'know') tomorrow. You might miss me, you might not, it doesn't matter because I will be back in the states on January 24th.

See ya on the flip side (the internet side to those in the 'know').

Who knew.