Islands

Ah, the beach. My friends, Dom and Heather, arrived last night from Oly-Wa. We rented these great bikes today from a guy originally from Tacoma, who I am going to rent a room from until I leave. Real cheap. Who would guess I'd run into so many Washingtonians. I met a man last night also from Wa, who has a free music school here, and yadda yadda yadda.
We went to the southern point of the island and snorkeled. Didn't see anything. The reef is pretty far out there. Tomorrow we are heading up to this condo resort thing, for real cheap to kayak and snorkel in a better area. Mexico Rocks... I really love this island, and the island vibe. At night street vendors come out and the scene changes, reggae music comes from everywhere. Speaking in spanish is fun, it is nice to communicate with people from other cultures.
I'm about over my camera. I still gulp with heaviness at times, but Heather brought up a wonderful point to me, which I realize, but it was nice to have another person say it. Together we feel as if better things will come of this. That I will be able to explore other things and it is a wonderful opportunity to embelish in those things. I haven't started drawing yet. I've been reading heavily. All of Rosita's books, last night while finishing one, the man I went on a medicine walk with was mentioned twice as a prominent figure to what she was doing... mostly with investigating plants from the jungle for anti-cancer and AIDS remedies. I was shocked to see his name twice. I kissed him for such a great walk, we had fun... I did get some great footage with the dead camera I can't wait to play with.
Yeah, that's about it. I went snorkling and bike riding all day, ate lunch, watch out for those chicken bones, and am now going to relax on the beach with another book, and then later go for another bike ride, this time towards the northern part of the island. I love exercising... it feels good. You guys remember when Gin said, that we've will probably learn more than we realize, and to guess what that is...I already get that feeling, like many of you...it's heavy, hun...or maybe I'm just a sentimentally silly girl... ha, Robyn

Posted by Robyn Montgomery at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I guess carnival isn't quite as big as i thought it was here, but there is a celebration on Sunday near the water. Yesturday was Independence day and i saw bits of what is to come. Most of the men and boys dress up in frilly costumes covered in bells and run around simultaneously blowing whistles and smacking girls on the butt with these kind of oval shaped ball things that they swing on strings. I smacked them away from me but they got sasha a few times. ITs crazy theirs girls running down the street screaming because they dont want to get smacked in the ass. some of the girls seem to like it. the rest of the men are wearing dresses with fake boobs and they travel in packs with other guys who are wearing dresses while they all chant mommy mommy and attempt to give lap dances to outside diners. its crazy. i can't imagine what sunday will be like.

Sasha just left a few hours ago and i'm kind of a mess right now. its so different walking around without her being here. I'm excited to get used to things again. to re adjust. right now i'm too damn teary. are you reading this?? I love you baby.

for those of you who know me well, for shits and giggles i shaved my legs and wore a skirt last night, oh don't worry there's pictures.

Posted by Erin Louis at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since I last left you...

I was typing you from The Blue Room at the Melbourne airport. It was advertised near Virgin Blues check in counter to be a waiting room with all the amenities I could dream of. Internet, massage, movie room, games, and food. It cost five dollars to get in and everything, besides the movie room, was twice as overpriced as the rest of the airport.

The only thing that I enjoyed, besides the movie room and the overpriced meat pie I had after writing my last blog, was the shower I was able to take. There were three shower rooms near the bathrooms, and you didn't have to feed change into a machine to get the water either. It was free and the hot water was never ending. Mmmmmm.

Lessons learned while at the melbourne airport:
1. the blue room is mostly a rip-off
2. the pay phones like to gobble up change like I eat pringles

The time difference made it near impossible for me to call australia while I was on the road with Lydia and her man Eric to L.A. I kept telling myself that it would be fine to just call from Melbourne. And it would have been. Had I been able to use my phone cards, or get the phone to return the remaining change I had after making a call.

I forgot to bring the MCI Australian number that I need to use with my MCI cards while here in Australia, so I couldn't use them. I ended up shelling out nearly five dollars in change just to call people who either weren't home, or weren't taking and wwoofers. With my last 45cents I was able to get through to a host family, but they were out and the wwoofer who answered the phone said that there was a good chance that they would take me but I would need to call back later that nig....

the time on the payphone ran out.

I was feeling frustrated, cheated, dejected, scared, worried, and stupid. Even the free long hot shower I'd had earlier couldn't cheer me up. I went to the bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and burst into tears. What had I been thinking? Why was I doing this? I didn't have a plan. I didn't have people, not even my own people. I was running out of money, damn financial aid, damn wells fargo!

Eventually I stopped crying and accepted that the only thing I could do was catch my flight from melbourne to hobart, get to a hostel and sort everything out the next day.

I spent the flight to hobart chatting with my seat-mates. One of them, Glen, offered me a ride into the city proper when we landed in hobart. I declined because he was a stranger, but then he explained that his parents were coming to pick him up. I said that if it was okay with them I would appreciate a ride very much. I thought to myself that a guy his age who still lives with mum and dad couldn't be a scary killer or anything.

His mom was really sweet and said that there would be no problems giving me a ride. On the way into town I found out that Glen doesn't live with his parents, they were just vacationing and watching the grandkids while he was on the mainland. They took me to Central City Backpackers, and Glen even walked the three flights of stairs carrying one of my bags to make sure that I would get checked in okay. Which I did. If it hadn't of been for the kindness of Glen and his parents I am not sure how I would have made it from the small airport to the city, and then to a hostel. Thanks again Glen!

I spent the last bit of cash I had to get a bunk in a dorm, dropped my bags off on my bed, went to the bathroom, locked myself in a stall, and cried my eyes out, again.

I felt broke, unsure, hungry, lonely, crazy.

I still had my plan though. And a bed for the night.

In the morning I felt better. I packed my things, got dressed, checked out, put my big pack in storage for the day, and set out for the market. On my way out of the building I ended up walking next to a older gentleman who was staying at the hostel and also on his way to the market. He said he would show me how to get there. As we walked the few blocks downtown to the waterfront I learned that he had been traveling around australia for about three months, but had only spent four days in hobart. He was catching a flight tonight to go back to the mainland and do more traveling. I related to him the reason for being in Tasmania, my challenging time at the airport, and my desperate need to find Kate Fletcher.

Lucky for me the first booth I came up to belonged to Ms. Fletcher. However, she wasn't there, and wouldn't be for the whole day. But I was directed to Pete, the other owner of the stall. He assured me that it would be okay with Kate for me to spend the night, at least one. My guide to the market decided to go back to the hostel and fetch a vest he wanted to sell to pete, but before he left he asked me if I needed money. I said no, but he must have seen the "yes, please" hiding in my eyes because he reached into his wallet and handed me a twenty before he set off quickly for the hostel.

Pete had started to ask me about my plans for the day, but I was crying a little because I was so suprised and touched by the kindness of yet another stranger. I only cried a little because I didn't want to look like a basket case in front of my new boss. Pete asked if I was okay and I explained why I was crying, and added that it was probably jet lag as well. He nodded in agreement, and then asked me if I wanted to start earning credit. I said yes, and that was that.

I don't even remember his name, and that makes me sad because he was so nice to give me that twenty, but anyways, when he came back to the stall I tried to return the money to my market guide but he said that he knew what it was like to be in a different country and be broke. He just hoped that it would help me out. I gave him a big hug and said thank you. He reminded me of my grandpa earl in a way. Then we said goodbye. Thank you faux grandpa earl!

So then I spent all of today in the sun at the stall, setting up clothes, selling them, straightening clothes on the racks during lulls. My cheeks are a little pink. And I have an owy on my cheek from where a table let popped me in the face when I was helping pack up at the end of the day.

I was giving a ride to the hostel to pick up my pack, and then a ride to kate's house by Jesse. She is Kate's wwoofer right now. Once there I made calls until I found a family with a small farm that would take me from the 29th until the 11th! I'm being picked up tomorrow afternoon by their daughter and wisked away to the town of woodbridge.

As soon as I started working at the stall today I felt better. And at the end of the day I was told that I was the most "on it" wwoofer that had ever helped at the stall. I can't wait to come back on the 11th and work at the stall again. It was so much fun, and the people I met today at the market were really nice.

I have had some of the first downs of my trip, and some of my first ups. Right now I'm feeling happy, well fed, comfortable, like everything is really fantastic and working out alright.

I'll write again later,
love,
marsha

Posted by Marsha-Anne Geeting at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Everything's all sunny today and warm. Hooray. I went to some weird gangster bar last night, but you see, I'm not 21. They actually looked at my sweatshirt and thought it was just what their bar needed and they told me to come inside. Weirdness...

Posted by Will Erokan at 01:41 PM | Permalink

[if you've just clicked opened this blog from the islands syndicate page you should know that this is part 5 of one writing. starting at the bottom of today's entries might make more sense]

last night i went out with my friends for my birthday. it was more fun than velcro sushi night in miami- which i’ve never been to, but you can imagine how fun it would be, right? we started our night at La Fabrica, a bar in an old-school colonial building with a lofty three story courtyard and old, unpolished wooden furniture. it’s the kind of “old” that bar owners and set designers in new york wish they could produce. the kind that feels like you’re comfortably living in the wooden veins of time, with a used, silver-polishing rag in one hand, and a crystal tumbler of fine whisky in the other. plus the two-for-one Flor de Cana rocks more than mic jager's hammock!

from there we went to Cafe Nuit. the funny thing about Cafe Nuit is that the locals started calling it Cafe Nuevo. the first time i tried to find this place, i was very confused by all the different names it has aquired. it turns out that this cafe and i were simply the victim of language translation. nuit means night in french, but it’s pronounced “nu” by most people here. from word of mouth, cafe nu (nuit) soon became to be known as cafe New, as if it were an english name. then, people who wanted to speak the local language started asking for cafe new in spanish, Cafe Nuevo. So, Cafe Nuit (night) became Cafe Nuevo (new) and i was very lost. hahahahaha! so funny. or as the people here would say, jajajajajaja! the not-so funny part about Cafe Nuit is the size of a check one can rack up there after a night with friends.

alright, i really have to go now. i’ve got a triple-decker birthday cake to jump out of.

bye, Stu

Posted by Stuart Ralston at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

two days ago, as i searched for a new place to sleep, i met a woman who rents rooms to foreigners. we wound up having a two and a half hour conversation on Nicaragua’s problems. it turns out, prostitution is one of the problems. it turns out that this problem is very present here in granada. it turns out that this problem is very present in the lives of people i know. it turns out, some of my friends have sold sex to foreigners. it turns that one of my friends was encouraging me to have sex with her 16 year old sister in order to get some powerful US cash from me. it turned out that this fact smacked my view of reality, and my friends, like a sledge hammer to the liberty bell. my mind spent the whole rest of the day ringing with confusion and pain, while my persona resonated pure asshole to those around me.

today, one day after my birthday and two days after finding this out, i do feel a bit older. i can almost feel the line that has been etched into my face. lessons like these leave long lasting impressions. i am dealing with it better now though. i have apologized to those that i offended in my weakened, confused, and angry state. i understand that prostitution is everywhere, and now I can see that when there is a constant influx of relatively rich tourists, there will be a sex market for them. i can also understand the sort of opportunity that half-an-hour and sixty dollars is for people who earn less than five dollars a day- if they have a job.

Posted by Stuart Ralston at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

i spent a week of my time here living with a host family, but i moved out yesterday- back into the “Cheers”-like atmosphere of the Bearded Monkey. i thought living with a family would be better for my spanish and getting into the local culture, but in reality i just wanted to leave all the time. there was a river of trash behind the house that, along with the omnipresent noise of three televisions, and the business-like way i was treated, depressed me. so here i am back at the Bearded Monkey, a bastion of traveler comforts among the hard walls of this Colonial City.

Posted by Stuart Ralston at 08:20 AM | Permalink

on tuesday i was invited to be the guest chef at Cafe Chavalos. the Cafe is run by a woman named Dona Tabor, an ex-peace corps volunteer who decided to stay in Nicaragua after her assignment was finished. she has been working here for eight years and has built relationships with many of the street kids. some of these kids, now teenagers, work in her Cafe. the business has yet to net a profit, but that doesn’t bother Dona. it’s main purpose, besides serving one of the best 5 course meals in Granada, is to teach these kids a trade. they learn to speak english, serve food, cook international cuisine, and to work together. Jamaica Kincaid may say that they are simply learning to be lower-class, but for many of these kids, it’s a hell of a lot better than their previous trades: glue addicts, gang leaders, shoe polishers.

so i was “guest chef” at this Cafe. i think “chef” is a pretty sweet title for someone who simply taught these guys how to make hamburgers, but i wasn’t going to argue. the Cafe sounds like a bastion of hope and enlightenment, but what i liked best about it is that it was just like any other restaurant. us cooks were in the back swearing at random, talking dirty to the food as we put it together in a beautiful display, and making fun of the customers from our comfortable kitchen bunker. everyone was happy and the people of Granada are now about 30 hamburgers richer. i will possibly return to the Cafe next tuesday to teach ‘em how to make a grilled fish dish- either that or a jell-o mold, I’m not sure.

Posted by Stuart Ralston at 08:19 AM | Permalink

for some reason the metaphor of fruit-filled jell-O molds keeps coming into my head when i think of describing my time here. i think it's because so many of my experiences have been so sweet, and that there are so many layers of life here, and that they all seem suspended in a brightly colored substance that i can't really believe exists.

as the sunburn from last sunday's beach excursion peels itself off my back, the spark in my eye from this week’s experiences reflects back at me from the computer screen. these experiences require a more time, but i have to start shopping for tonight’s fiesta- my birthday party. i will write a few words about them that i hope will carry significance like ants carry carrots.

[well if you look at the rest of this blog you will see that i didn’t just write a few words. in fact i’ve been here in this chair for some time now and have produced two, full pages of single spaced stories. but i know that a long blog entrys can be daunting, and that you might feel like it’s too long to read, or that it’s hard to follow, or that stu just won’t shut up. SO, i’ve broken down this garguantua-blog into bite sized pieces that, hopefully, focus one more-or-less one subject. lemme know what you think of the new style.]

4 and 3 and 2 and one,
Stu

Posted by Stuart Ralston at 08:17 AM | Permalink

Three times this trip i have manifested deja vu experiences that have occured in dreams. Once i have the deja vu, i stop and sit down, meditate. From there i try and remember what happened next in the original dream consciousness. Last night, for instance, Dan and I were sleeping in our van in Paihia, the town on the east coast of Northland. Dan and i were having a very vivid conversation about the afterlife and about a Vipissana yoga and meditation retreat that is ten days long and requires silence during this time. Before falling asleep Dan mentioned our time of departure the next morning and if he should set an alarm. Lying in the butterfly pose and meditating, for i had just had a second deja vu of the day, i replied, "don't worry Dan, they will wake us up."
At four in the morning there was a frantic rapping on the window and suddenly it was opened by a stinking drunk Maori man wearing a royale and creme Los Angeles Dodgers jersey. He wanted to know why there were keys left in the lock outside our van and if we wanted any drugs. Half asleep and unsure if this was another dream, I grabbed the keys, motioned with my hand to dismiss him and yawned. 15 hours of sleep. the most i have had in about five years. We are rested and strong. I write from the meditation yoga retreat garden in Kohukohu, where matty has been for the past week. Van is sturdy and our wills our determined to make the damndest film we possibly can. The northland is very bland. We go tomorrow to all see the largest kauri tree in the country. Recently a very famous tree. Then to Rotorua, Taupo, Wanganui and Wellington. Along the way we intend to do some tourist activity but put a weird gonzo spin on them and document as we have been. We have about two hours of digital footage. About three paintings, many journal and sketch entries. Tomorrow i begin the first chapter of my short non fiction piece. I have been marinating on several ideas to start/compell my readers. Yoga is so beautiful. My chakras are slowly becoming aligned. more to come. sri yantra ram ram.

-optahedron

Posted by Christopher Opalenik at 05:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Finally I arrive at my beautiful destination, it truly feels like a completely different world then down in soggy oly. I have been blessed with a gorgeously sunny afternoon that made my ferry ride quite enjoyable. Last week I was fortunate enough to get to go on a ski trip to whistler with my family. The first night we got new snow followed by 3 days of perfectly blue sky....talk about heaven. Anyways I?m really excited to get started on my work here on the island, I have already made some great connections. I?m looking forward to read everyone?s blogs and hopefully someone will start uploading pictures.

Have FUN!!!!

Peter

Posted by Peter Sasnett at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I just realized that I can use water to strengthen line in conti crayon drawings...

Posted by Will Erokan at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just lost this whole entry.... Not only did I loose my camera yesterday, but I just lost the blog telling you all about it. Now I have to write it again.. I'm thrilled. How many times will I have to rehash this horrible tragedy.
Okay, long story short since I've written it six times already. Yesterday, Charlie and I left San Ignacio to travel out to Ambergris Caye, so we could meet some friends coming in tonight. We wanted a night to scope out the place first, and I was very anxious to get here.
We left really early, around 6-7am to miss the scorching sun...for the three hour bus ride. Well I had my new digital camera in this black plastic gift bag in my hand with a drum that wouldn't fit into my pack. I laid the bag on the ground to take my pack off so I could load it onto the bus, and then I loaded the bus, not picking up the bag. I didn't see it, if I had saw it I would of picked it up. I didn't see it. Why didn't Charlie have my back??? All sorts of questions have entered my mind. On the bus, I realized my bag was not with me... I looked at Charlie and asked him if he had loaded it up. he said no. and asked me if I wanted the bus to stop... I should have said yes... but I didn't.. I'm pretty self concious and didn't want to draw anymore attention to myself. beyond an overpacked bus already focused on me, being a white female. The bus started to move, one of the guys helping us load could have put it on... I had to stop thinking about it, I couldn't do anything sitting in the very back on our way to Belize City. So I read. In Belize City, we got off the bus, got our packs from underneath, and there was no bag.... I asked the guy on the bus if he remembered seeing it early that morning, he said no, and suggested that I search the empty compartment again. It all hit me at once. My knees could have buckled. I started to cry, and it came on fast and furiously. This rasta man came up and grabbed my pack, commented on how heavy it was as I was being dragged to get in a taxi for the water bus. I got into the minivan and started kicking the back of the driver seat while he was busy loading stuff up in the back. I felt like I had just been possed by the devil, anger. I was full of anger. and nobody to blame but myself. All me...
I cried for many more moments and stood in silence. And cried more. My project, documentation, all that money, everything, down the drain. I am devestated. I finally pulled myself together, went across the way to get some breakfast. Three tacos. When I went across to the taco stand, I had no communication patience, and since I didn't get a response after standing in front of four men, a few minutes, uttered. I"m hungry...I want food. They got the point and served me happily.
While eating this large black woman with red popping out of her head eyes came up and sat next to me and asked me for money, more like demanded that I gave her money for juice. She wouldn't leave, I had no patience I had just lost my camera. So I threw her five US dollars to get her out of my face. that was the smallest currency on me at the time. Next came another lady who lesserly demanded money also. I again, having no patience pointed to the lady across the street I had already given my money to and said go ask her. So she started over there and they started fighting and arguing. I just sat there hoping none of this came back to me. The lady returned and I just kept saying I'm sorry, until a security guard came up and got the lady off me.
Next, another man suggested that I call the San Ignacio bus station, so I did that and they saw nothing. I told them my name and said I'd be returning to hold it for me, but I know it is already sold to someone who probably has no idea how to use my 800 dollar Fuji digital camera.....
Well, that was yesterday. Charlie told me I had to get over it...I told him he had no idea what I was going through. I am grieving. I am in mouring. Yesterday I felt as if I had heard for the first time that my brother had died. But I am strong. and I will find other ways to make my presentation interesting, other than relying on the cool things that the camera could have done for me. It just puts me back into the ice ages. It is really okay though. Hopefully my travelers insurance will cover it and I will be able to get another camera when I return to the states. Definitely not down here. So that is the horrible story, ten days into ten weeks.... this morning I had dreams off an on about the camera. I can smile again finally. and don't start crying when I think about it. and I'm no longer as mad at myself. I'm telling you, that is the worst... the absolute worst.
Ambergris Caye, is stunningly beautiful. the boat ride was great. I'm going to have some fun here... Charlie just walked in, and getting antsy... and I've got a large bill to pay... take care... love, Robyn

Posted by Robyn Montgomery at 07:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The weather has been pretty disappointing so far. Its been cloudy, windy, and rainy just about every day that Ive been here. Its too bad because I just about feeze to death in my tiny little cabin when the wind blows. I guess the small space heater in the corner cranked up as high as it will go isn't quite enough. I had all these hopes of long walks in the sunshine will be postponed until it clears up some. I know that up here they supposedly get somewhere around 300 days of sunshine a year (which is many more than Seattle)- Im still waiting for a few of those days. I hope they hurry.

Ive been taking it pretty easy- going to bed early, sleeping late, reading, writing. Ive finished 3 of my 7 books already. I started to panic so yesterday I went to the library and after some discussion and questioning they decided that they could, in fact, issue me a library card. Now Ill never run out of reading material. Thats a relief.

Ive been feeling kind of shy these first few days...Im going to need to start getting over that and start actually talking to people. I wonder when Peter is going to get to the island?

Here are some pictures:

+dock at Friday Harbor+

+my hostel+

+my cabin+

+sundown+

Posted by Rachel Komenski at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

So I'm back at the hostel where I started out, and we are in the middle of the worst storm to hit Maui for the past five years.The winds are supposed to be around fifty miles an hour and it's been raining ever since I woke up this morning. I'll be staying here for the duration of the storm and I might get one more day of camping before I start my new job.I managed to work out a deal with the manager here, I will be working sixteen hours a week in exchange for a room with a bed. This deal will last at least for the next month so I'll be setting up my home base here for a while. Communication is no problem here as I have internet access, and tomorrow I will go to the library and get a pass to use their computers, as I can't upload pictures from the computers here. The storm is supposed to last through tomorrow at least and I'll go camping until my new job starts, if the weather allows it that is. So tomorrow I should have more pictures up.I hope all is well with everyone and I wish you all well on everything ahead. The weather is funky but I'm loving it. It's good to experience everything Maui has to offer, even the crummy weather is puncuated with a gorgeous rainbow every half hour or so. I'll try to get some pictures of what it's like being in such a storm. Until next time this is James Freeman, all-terrain human, signing off.

Posted by James Freeman at 06:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Oh yeah, and we decided after a visit to El Cotillo that we don?t want to live there. It?s too tiny. There?s literally no people there. It?s just too isolated and I think I?d get too lonely being there.

Posted by Kate Ochsner at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It seems as though we have brought the rain. Whereas regular showers are normal in Washington, people we?ve talked to here say it hardly EVER rains, yet it?s sprinkled at least 3 times since we?ve arrived here a few days ago. We also brought the bad weather in general, it hasn?t been as sunny as usual we?ve been told, and the reason we haven?t seen any surfers is because there aren?t any waves. I really hope that changes so we can go surfing a lot. We might have found a place to live...Although until Monday morning when we check out the actual rooms and make a reservation I am not going to get my hopes up. I guess I shouldn?t have expected everything to work out perfectly. I was hoping for a small apartment with a patio that was a reasonable price and within view of a good surfing beach in a medium sized town to meet new people. We all have to make sacrifices though, and I think I?ll be happy if we get the place we looked at today, although we?ll have to make more of an effort to get to a surfing beach if we want to surf a lot.

Posted by Kate Ochsner at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So a man walks into a bar. He is followed by many police officers and guys with ear peices. He aproches a table where othes are already seated. Seeing him aproach, they stand and say, "Good evening Mr. Presedent."
Well I'll be...

Sorry I didn't get a picture with him. It just didn't seem in good taste.
Curt

Posted by Curtis Block at 07:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Bah! I'm here, and I'm safe, and I feel like I'm taking a timed typing test!

I spent all day wednesday at LAX, now I'm in melbourne at the airport waiting until my flight at 7pm tonight. I'm not sure if I have a host family to stay with tonight, I am going to make phone calls right after this. If not a host family then I will be at a hostel. I'll keep everyone posted, and I'll write a better entry when I don't have six minutes and counting left.

love,
marsha

Posted by Marsha-Anne Geeting at 07:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Look at me and my friends in fiestas dressed as kitty cats! One of the best nights of my life!

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Look at me riding a camel in Lanzarote!!! I did it.

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The fiestas were deffinatly one of the craziest things Ive ever seen. It seemed they were never ending. Ive never really seen anything quite like them. The only thing I could think to compare it with would be mardi gras, but different. Never have I seen sooo many drag queens. These boys do their make up better than I ever could!!!

Posted by Elisa Barrios at 06:48 AM | Permalink

We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.

Islanders! Remember: Every day is a good day.

Peace, Love, and Balance - Matty -

Posted by Matthew Kroeninger at 05:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I don't know if wellington is just the coolest city ever, or if i just came at the right time. I feel like every single night there are awsome (and free) concerts, movies and performances. a few days ago i had a great time with old dear friend Belle at the botanical gardens. we lounged around in a fountain in the scent garden with these two other lovely ladies that we came accross and then had a picnic in the cemetary. When we got home that nigh there was a little porch party waiting for us with a buncch of friends from the neighborhood who all happened to have stopped by. These kids get really excited when I tell them that i went to aberdeen a few months ago and wonder if i ever met kurt cobain. I don't know if they were trying to make me fell at home or if this is just the kind of thing that they do, but they played old nirvana snd sebadoh songs all night, songs that i haven't heard in years. It was really sweet and nice. and another night i went to this going away party for some kids who are traveling around the world for the next two years making a documentary on alternative/low impact/comunal living. The theme of the party was to dress up in trash, so I made a dress out of a hula hoop and an umbrella that i found. It was great! The weekend brought on a whole other slew of events, as it was the carnival. for the carnival in wellington they have a huge parade and festival in town. This year, unfortunately, the mayor and the city council excluded an important creative community section of town from the festivities. The city plans to build a by pass through this much loved part of town, demolishing buildings etc on the way. In addition, the mayor banned any anti- by pass sentiment from the parade. Many of my new comrades were outraged by this blatant repression of freedom of speech. So i helped these kids, along with a group of women called The Girlies Project, who work on all kinds of nifty projects from their all-girl squat, and a local non profit to make signs and get together costumes for the parade. with about forty or fifty people we succeeded in slipping into the front of the parade to protest the bypass and the ban on mentioning it. after we marched in the front of the parade we looped around the block and met up with the parade at two more points. It was a big succsess. I was really impressed to see a small group of people organize themselves so well and so articulately to (hopefully) make a difference about something they feel passionately about.

Posted by Alison McManus at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Crazy german hitch-hikers.
120KM/HR on the 90 mile beach.
Little blue penguins.
Stupid swedes.
Best fish i have eaten in months.
Some of the craziest film footage iver.
dead seagull. Oops.
Going to Pahia. Then to get a tattoo.

Will blog soon.

Optahedron

Posted by Christopher Opalenik at 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ok, First off, I'm having the time of my life here. The family I've been staying with is so kind. I've been spending a lot of time learning Fijian. the dialect is different from what I learned before I came here, so I've had to adjust my phrases and words a bit. I've observed that in their environment, their senses are so keen. They notice things like Bees or a car coming or a fire burning on a distant island or a plane in the sky much quicker than me. Maybe I'm still trying to take it all in. They do alot of "dabe watakei talanoa" - sitting and telling a story. I went snorkeling, it's a completely lovely different world underwater, unseen from above. I'm sweating all the time, I've gotten used to it though, I stink, got used to that too, I hope others have, I've been drinkin tons of water, my wounds aren't healing very quickly (oddly enough most of my wounds seem to be from my stupid new sandals, I do better barefoot)

Second though, "Au tauvimate" - I'm sick , with the flu. a cough and a runny nose. I've had to postpone some of my plans. Mary, my Fijian Nana (mom I still love you) has been giving me some herbal medicine and skone and tea for breakfast. She is like my mom cause she tells me to bbe careful when The young twins and I go bareback horse riding and she tells me to wear my hat and stay in the shade and all that mom stuff.

I I love the island time here, even though you may wait an hour for someone to do something for you. Everyone is so laidback. I usually hitch rides if the bus is not availiable because taxis are too expensive. It hasn't rained much until recently, Luckily it's while I'm sick. I'm getting better though, and as soon as I do I will move on to a different part of the island.

I've already got some great shots. I've shot 7 rolls, 252 exposures. I'm going to do most of my documentation kit next week, even though I've done alot, like the day to day stuff, I've found alot of time to write in my journal, often writing two times a day.

I hope all is well with the rest of y'all. thank you for reading my blog. Sorry if I don't read yours, I don't want to spend all my money on internet time. I'll try to read yours when I have a free computer, well nothings free but you know what I mean. Peace.

Posted by Jon Huey at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

And so we left. It took all day to get to Cafe Alta Gracia. We took a bus from Boca Chica back to Santo Domingo then a taxi to the bus station then a bus to a town called Jarabacoa. My directions from there were a little sketch but it worked out. We ended up gettting driven on a four wheeler by a cop through town to the "bus" stop. These are actually pick-up trucks that everyone piles into. from there we drove up a mountain and got dropped off at the bottom of a giant hill which we climbed up with all of our shit. Good thing it was raining....kind of. Sasha fell twice. hee hee. I got pictures.

The Finca was amazing. I am not even sure where to start. I guess form the beginning huh?? So different from the rest of the country i have seen. SOOOO green and lush. banana trees, and coffee plants and one of my new favorite trees, grayumba, which bears no fruit. I took lots of pictures that you all can see someday. And all the people there were fantastic, there was one other lady there from the states who is now here in Santo Domingo. She gave me the name of a lady who i can stay with onthe northern coast. Anyway we got there pretty late and didn't really explore till the next day. We walked all around and saw how to pick the coffee beans, by the house you can smell them being fermented and then see them being dried. I saw the house that julia Alzarez wrote a bunch of her books at. The finca is really great they have a few little bungalows that serve as a school for the small community of about 20 families that live there.

I got listen to a lot of the young men who live ther sing and play bachata music they were really talented it was so much fun. I was aable to record some of it. woo hoo.

The food we got there was great. most vegetables i have seen so far. It was cooked by the caretaker Lupe, whom i am pretty sure is biologically a male. If i find out more about this might factore well into that arena of my project. Anyway i trekked through the mountains with her to her pueblo which has 70 pepole all of two families. Everyone we walked by wanted to say meet me and offer me a cafecito. I was amazed at this little community hard to grip really. Very poor people but also almost self sufficient. Just many luxuries i am used to they do not have. Lupe has invited me to come stay at her(?) house for a week or so in April for free. Maybe. Maybe.

Posted by Erin Louis at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Remember?

Posted by Sally Cloninger at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After the two-day road trip from Olympia to Los Angeles (with Marsha Anne farting heartily in the back seat) and the 12 hour flight to Auckland, I've finally made it here. I kept in mind all of De Botton's notions about the liminality of flight, and a very lengthy journal article insues. Six pages actually, i was pretty bored after I ran out of reading material and the film Radio was playing on the plane. When I arrived in Auckland airport I immediately took note of the strong New Zealand accent. I can't help mentally mimicking it whenever someone says something. Of course, some regions have stronger ones than others.
I also noticed the toilets. Toilets seem to always stick in my memory. NZ toilets have a powerful tumble of water, and your refuse is gone David Copperfield-esque.
I'm staying at my dad's right now, but will be changing addresses soon, to Mt Albert, Auckland. I remember a lot of the area, where the shops are etc. The experience is made more surreal by my brother being here. As he said: it's like taking a trip back mentally on a psychiatrist's couch, exploring the corners of my own psyche. We took the bus around Mt Eden. Things are so close together. It's not like WA, where you must have a car. You can be quite independent without one, although my brother and I are looking at buying a little Mini.
It smells wonderful at night here. Night blooming jasmine, honeysuckle and hibiscus permeate the air. I forgot how exotic it was. The people in the streets are friendly and there are a lot more cultures here than there used to be. It's nice to see some variety. There is one problem though: I can't stop eating Burger Rings (a little like Cheetos). I hope everyone else is having a fantastic time.
Love, Lydia

Posted by Lydia Dawe at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

i don't know why, but i've kept coming back to this library to try and catch my blog up to date, but i never even come close. i think the problem is that i've been writing between 2 and 7 pages a day in my journals, and i am only managing to scrape the surface of this with the time i have at the computer. not that that's a bad thing, i don't really want to spend more time here than i already am.

so....

as i said before, THE JAPANESE.

I got up at about 7:10 on monday morning, after setting my watch to 6:00. (I figured out how to set the alarm on my $5 target watch so i can wake up, but i inadvertantly set the watch to beep on the hour, every hour, and it's driving me CRAZY!) it was raining, and i worried that it wouldn't clear up in time for the japanese kids, and their "cultural event". I ate a quick breakfast of stale Apple Jacks and reconstituted evaporated milk. I need to get a place with a kitchen!

the japanese weren't due into the KVB (kosrae visitors beureau) until 10:30, so i figured that i would have plenty of time to go to tofol, and check my e-mail. i had asked my buddy HART to try to translate the standard release form into japanese so that it would be nice and kosher for me to film these guys. sounds simple right? well, i hailed a cab as the rain stopped and went to the library to get a library card and to print out a master of the permission form to take to the print shop. the only problem was that hart sent the form as an e-mail, not as an attachment, and the computers here don't speak japanese. I asked the facilitators to try to help, but they didn't know, and the computer wouldn't let me download the japanese language patch because i didn't have administrator access. turns out that the people working in the library didn't have access either. they offered to let me use their computers in the back room, but that was no use either. those actuall had some sort of physical lock on the hard drive to prevent tampering. I figured that i would have to try some newer computer, so i went to talk to madison at the peace corps office, where i had left my camera, and he took me around looking for the japanese volunteer. that didn't pan out either. even the phone company couldn't help me. they had the japanese support, but no printer that i could use. i had been doing this for an hour and a half, and i was running out of time!
so, i figured that if the japanese kids were in college, they might, possibly, on the off-side chance speak a little english, so i ended up just printing the original release forms.
god, i don't think i resemble a dancing bear to these people, more like a sprinting headless chicken. oh well.
so, at 11:15, the busses began to arrive. three big yellow school busses, packed to the gills with trendy Japanese college students. they began to pour out into the KVB and fill the bleachers. the majority were wearing faded jeans or shorts, and shirts with rediculous combinations of english words like "#1 hero star" or "cowboy rider" This was my time to begin, so i had my camera ready, and began to shoot japanese like i was a WW2 pilot.
they were a very mixed group. i hadn't expected them to be so young. it seemed as if most of them were 19 or 20, and most of them had the mandatory camera around the neck. the cameras were small though. tiny. trendy tiny. there were maybe 20 0r 30 Kosraens there as well, mostly older, and they sat in groups and quietly watched the kids as they goofed around.
pretty soon the "cultural event" began. Grant from the KVB began to talk, and he introduced all of the leaders of kosrae that were there. the governor gave a short speach, welcoming the japanese and encouraging them to tell their friends back home about how wonderful kosrae is, so that more will come and visit.
i hadn't realized it before, but this was the largest group of foreigners to visit kosrae since it was a japanese base in WW2. it was the first cruise ship to ever visit. i was just lucky to be there at this momentous occasion.
so, then the kids wer told to wander around and observe the kosraens who were in the huts next door as they pounded taro, wove baskets, and carved model canoes. there was another guy filming all this. a kosraen. I found out his name is Kerick Benjamin, and he films all of the local events. I made an appointment to meet with him and talk about volunteering. He was shooting with a well-used PD-150.
After about another half-an-hour, lunch was announced, and a monstrous line formed out of the KVB to the tables where there were mounds of Kosraen food. During lunch there was a demonstration of fishing with nets and three little girls told the story of how kosrae was created.
I decided that i would try to get an interview, so i started talking to some of the students. for the most part, their english was very poor, but then i found the american language tutors. They told me to get on the bus with them to the marine park in Utwe, and they would introduce me to some of the students who speak english more fluently.

so, I got on the bus.

the bus ride was one of the weirdest experiences of the day. I sat next to the young nurse of the cruise, behind the language tutors. There were two tutors, a 30ish man and a 60ish woman. After talking to the woman a bit I realised that she did not speak very good english either. her pronunciation was perfect, and she had no accent, but living in japan had reduced her vocabulary to a fraction of what you might expect. she had to keep asking the other tutor the english words for things. stranger than that was the rest of the group. after about a minute of driving, about a quarter of them were asleep. a minute later and 3/4ths were, with their heads bobbing in tune with the bumps in the road. now, the trip to the marine park is long in kosrae standards: it's on the other side of the island, and all of the roads are coastal. however, it is still only about a 25-30 minute drive. a drive that is very beautiful. a drive that most of those kids will never get a chance to see again. i'm not sure if it was just because these kids had been up all night, or if they were so trained to sleeping on japanese public transportation that it was nearly impossible for them to be simultaneously awake and on a moving bus for longer than a few minutes. even when the pavement stopped, and the road became full of potholes and bordered by swamp, the majority of the kids were still sleeping.

once we arrived at the park, the tutors, true to their word, helped me round up a few english speaking kids. I took them away from the main croud for an interview, whih went pretty well considering the language barrier. I told them that if they felt better answering in japanese, i would try to translate it when i got home. this seemed to make them feel more confident, and even seemed to improve their english. the interview was short however, it was just too hard to communicate for any length of time. so i turned off the camera and played some frisbee.
on the way back, the bus stopped in malem. someone had the idea that they should walk through the town, or something. it was a hot day. i decided that i would rather have a shower and a beer than walk with all of my equipment, so i hitched a ride back to lelu. i would see them again. there was supposed to be a street fair that night.

after the shower and nap, i headed back to tofol to the fair. i asked some of the people about it, and they told me that it was the first of it's kind on kosrae. the intention had been to have something like a giant barter fair/flea market so that locals could trade goods. however, the date had been changed when it was learned that the japanese would be there, and it ended up as being about 10 booths of carvings, hot dogs, and woven mats.
did i mention the entertainment?
there was to be a load of local and japanese entertainment for the crowd. the booths were set up around a kind-of outdoor stage, and around the edge of the booths were bleachers. if you sat on the bleachers and wanted to see anything, you had to look through the booths. the entertainment was music blasting from the track PA system (the first song was a liminal, polka version of margaritaville) and dancing by church groups. Grant was the emcee and kept promising a "special surprise" later on. the surprise turned out to be an overweight kindergartner with downs-syndrome, dressed up like a girl, dancing a woman's dance with his grandmother. I didn't understand that they were mocking him, i assumed that he was supposed to be dressed like a sumo wrestler for the benefit of the japanese kids. apparently, they love to humiliate him.
the japanese kids did a song and dance number too. i was told that they had been up all night practicing it, and that was why they were so sleepy on the bus. it ended up with a vontrapesqe goodbye as they retreated to the buses that would take them home.

all in all, it was a long day.

I know that this entry might seem a little garbled. I wrote it in three parts, and in three different moods. I'll try to do a better job of catching up to date in my next entry. Here's the short story-did a bunch of exploring, got offered a home-stay(finally), got called "howli" by a drunk and had to leave a party, and went to church.

blog out-
randy

Posted by Randy Thompson at 01:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

We made it to Fuerteventura (Fuerte as it?s called here). I was worried because the landscape is such a drastic contrast from what I?m used to. I find comfort in bright green landscapes, and here the backgrounds are washed over in tan sand dune, brown land replacing grass and jagged barren mountains. Then I realized that it?s something completely different than what I?m used to and instead of fearing that, I should enjoy the new sights. I am glad we decided to come here earlier than next week, and it feels better to be here than on Lanzarote where I felt quite uneasy. We go to El Cotillo tomorrow which is a small fisherman?s village, away from masses of tourists, and near beaches to surf. We are going to try and buy used surfboards for the time we have here. Things are looking up.

Posted by Kate Ochsner at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Were on my forehead in the shape of a cross. "Walter, you come from dust and to dust you shall return..." Before last night I had never taken place in communion or the wearing of ashes. Ash Wednesday service at St. Phillips Episcopal church was given by Father Mike Curran. He works part-time at KSTK radio and also ministers to Episcopal parishes in Wrangell and Skagway. During my show, Father Mike kept coming into the control room telling me how much he liked my musical selections. I announced the service several times yesterday during my radio show, which said "all are welcome." I went and I'm glad I did.
The Episcopal church in Wrangell is THE original secessionist church which truly embodies the concept that "all are indeed welcome." In the early 1900's Rev. H.P. Corser split from the Presbyterian church because they discriminated against local natives. The E.C. was built on Tlingit Kiksetti land by Tlingits for everyone. I walked into the chapel and was greeted warmly by people I've kind of known my whole life as if I was family. I sat in the back and was honored when Tlingit elder Marge Byrd came over and asked if I'd like to sit up front with her and Mrs. Betty Nore. It was a bittersweet honor when I realized Ash Wednesday was the one year anniversary of the murder of Mrs. Nore's daughter Sheryl and granddaughters Shandelle and Adrianne. Bittersweet indeed. I am beginning to ken just how strong the embrace of faith is in this community that guides and keeps it afloat here in Southern Southeast Alaska.

Sometimes the thing you think you're doing is not the thing you're really doing because it isn't something you'd ever do but just did.

I came home to do some exploring about faith and what I'm finding is something amazing and unexpected.

Love to all of you on your island journeys from me on mine.

Posted by Walter Maenhout at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"what day is today? it's ariella's birthday, what a day for a birthday, let's all eat some cake." okay, i am a huge dork. that was from a futurama episode and that is the birthday song in the year 3000. well, today is my birthday, no different that yesterday. i don't feel special or anything, but i have felt so special on all my other birthdays thanx to the people reading this, espicially last year's. i started out the day scooping dog shit then helped unload 6 tons of cat food with 4 other people; at least i got my exercise. other than that, i spent most of the rest of my day reading kurt vonnegut in front of a fire with a dalmation on my lap. i also got to ride a scooter which i have been yearning to do for years. when i went to athens a few years ago with my father, within the first 24 hours then first things he said to me were: 1. don't pet the dogs, and 2. never ever get on one of the motor bikes. now i have broken both rules, but wait i am not a teenager anymore so i am not supposed to be rebellious. (i guess you all can't detect the sarcasm because this is writing). anyways, last night was lovely. i was eating dinner with gaby, pamela(another supporter who was visiting from england), and her friend janice. i tried ouzo, the greek drink, for the first time, it is like a cross between jagermeister and absinthe, made from anneseed i suppose. in the middle of dinner, pam left and then at the end, the waiter brought out peices of chocolate souflet. pam left in the middle of dinner to get me cake. they sany happy birthday and it was so sweet of her. it made my birthday even though it was the day before. i appreciated the gesture. well, i guess that is all for now because "time is money" when you are at an internet cafe. oh ya, i am taking a day trip to hydra tomorrow, an island a few hours away that has no motor vehicles. i just plan on sipping tea in a little taverna. oh, what a hard life i have. thanx for reading this and happy unbirthday to all, and all a calle neichta(good night).

Posted by Ariella Spector at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Quick and dirty... Here's where I'll be for the next week or so... I'm in Chiang Mai way up in the north then I'll be in Bangkok after a 12hour bus ride this evening and then stay one night and leave for Ko Samui on the 28th the bus ride is again a massive one so I wont be there until the 29th but then I'll be staying in the Samui Beach Resort Hotel so that is where you can get a hold of me if you want. I'll be there until March 7th... Have fun everyone.

Posted by Timothy Lyon at 04:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

So in honor of lent I've decided to give up all the food I've eaten and everything I've dranken too. I've been puking all day, I puked twice on the subway with hours in between in the exact same spot and full of the same homeless woman. I puked in front of my neighbors and I puked inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Luckilly I got to the bathroom intime, otherwise it would have been all over the Cyprus exhibit which would have been a problem. Yarg. All these people here they've got crosses on their foreheads, I thought some old lady got beat up but it was just an ash cross. Arg. I'm going to bed. I need popsicles in a major way.

Posted by Will Erokan at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Once again I am on the road. With a van this time that sounds like a toad. Bought and paid for and titled n' all, we picked up a girl who was beautiful and tall. We left the city and headed for the hills. Mountains and treetops, and sights that could kill. Crankin the I Pod we boarded a ferry, 10 minutes of water were quite the merry. We got to the other side, only to find out, That our friend Matty had a bad case of de-gout. JUst kidding, but really Matty was there. He, chris ,and SArah, and that guy with dreadlocks in his hair. We went to their farm, and were greeted and fed. We wwoofed it for a day or so and then we sped. We drove through the mountains of Rings lore, narrowly missing3 cars or more. But god what fun! What freedom I feel. The life of a vagabond behind the wheel. Now we must go and explore yet some more, the ninety mile beach is next in store. Ho

Posted by Daniel Hurd at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I made it to Oahu yesterday afternoon. I documented so much that I really can't share it all right now. What I can share is what I have promised to do... Here's the story. I was sitting next to an Italian grandmother on the flight to Hawaii. She didn't speak much English. She just kept looking at me, shrugging as if apologizing, and saying: "Italian, Italian" Then, her granddaughter in the seat across the aisle from her said, "sorry, she's Italian" and, I was like, ok, no prob... Anyway, she eventually traded seats and we got to talking. Her name was Marta and she was from Rome, Italy. Soon, I was swarmed by Italian girls, and we were watching movies, commenting on cute boys, and playing Buzzz! and Hangman together! It was so much fun and we got rowdy. A little too rowdy, perhaps. More later including pictures!! Honolulu is SO BIG! I'm meeting cool people EVERYWHERE! There's a storm heading in, so it's windy and cloudy. EEK! I'm paying 5.00/hr at an internet cafe in Waikiki right now, so I can't talk anymore... Yea!

the pictures



Jeremy and Marta



Marta & Friends



On the bus to my hotel

note to fellow islanders: the apple store in the mall let me use their demo computers to talk to you for free. I'm going to try to apply to work here, but keep looking for ways to save money! Also, I found a place to stay for FREE using Global Freeloaders! Hoo-rah!

Posted by Jeremy Stutes at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ha HA!!!! if any of you are having trouble finding internet access, try the school or the library (and if you're like me, they're the same thing). i bought a library card for a dollar, and so now i can use any of the unused library computers for FREE! well, that is assuming that it's open. but I'll take any victory I can.

so....
um....
as i was saying last time, i was cruising around the northern towns of the island bumping over-bassed hip-hop, and maybe i felt a little guilty. i decided that i would go check out the peace corps office to see if there were any projects that maybe i could help a little with. not anything too big, you know, just maybe a few hours a few days a week. so I hitched back to tofol and talked to the head honcho at the peace corps, a guy named Madison. i explained my project and asked if there was anything that i could help with, given my skills. he laughed and said "well, you definately won't get bored!" he told me that on monday there was going to be a "cultural demonstration" for a japanese cruise ship. A JAPANESE CRUISE SHIP! he said that i should probably start by filming that. i said "cool!"
on my way out, the blond peace corp girl, Molly, told me that if I wanted to start earlier than that, that I could help make traditional plates out of palm and banana leaves on saturday. she said that it would probably get me some beer too, so I agreed wholeheartedly.
on saturday freddy never showed up. I called his house, and meltina said he was out working on the farm. I was under the impression that freddy doesn't work so often, so that this was a good thing for him to be doing, so i decided that i would do some shopping. there aren't any big stores anywhere on the island, and all of the little ones, few and far between little ones, have such random collections of canned meats, crackers, and electric transformers that i wanted to do a little window shopping to see what was available. not too much, but there were some surprises. Kosrae sits in a weird dietary bubble, like most of micronesia, in that it gets old, bad junk food from the east and the west. a lot of stuff from malaysia. not good stuff, but lots of it none-the-less. there ae some of the foods that i like to get when i go to uwajimaya. exotic stuff in america, like good canned coffee and kimchee. japanese bean crackers and
those little jelly candies that kids choke on. of course it all is very expensive too, so most people eat spam and ramen. ramen and spam. and to spice it up a little, spam in ramen. there are coconuts and breadfruits on the ground all over the place just rotting away while packs of second graders wander around eating beef stew flavor packets.
food here is weird, actually, i think i could write a few entries about it, so I'll save that for another day and get back to saturday when I went to the KVB (kosrae visitors bureau (sp?)) to weave plates. i hadn't realized that there were 13 peace corp volunteers here. there are a few japanese volunteers too. the plates were easy, the problem was that there were not enough palm fronds to weave. there was only enough for about 50 plates. i only had time to make 2 before they ran out, because they had been working on them for a while before i got there.
i like the peace corps kids, well, the ones i've met so far. they invited me back to one of their appartments for pizza and more beer. I never say no to pizza, especially when i don't have any way to cook back at the hotel. i had to buy the beer because it is considered culturally inappropriate for women to. The gender politics here are pretty old-fashioned. The men get drunk and cruise around at night, but the women are supposed to always stay at home and not parade themselves around. I'm always surprised at just how much everyone drives here! But that's another entry in itself, again.
On sunday, the sabbath, i didn't go to church. I felt that since this is still my "resting" week, i would save it for the following sunday. Besides, I have the feeling that it's better to spread out the surprises here.
so, um......
instead of going to church, i finally went around the block and into lelu ruins. All of you Island All-Stars remember oliver sack's description of Nan Madol on Pohnpei, right? well, the lelu ruins are just as big and old, and they are much easier to get to. they're CRAZY cool. before european contact, Kosrae had a comlex feudal system, with 5 different strata of social class. all of the lower royalty and the King lived on Lelu in a giant compound. there were hundreds of rooms, giant walls made of stacked basalt logs, canals that flowed with the tide, and paved coral streets. i've gone back there every day since the first. it's amazing, and very close. it is the kind of place you imagine hiking through miles of jungle to find, but it's surrounded by houses. the place is full of lizards, geckos, crabs, ants, wild chickens and pigs, and those fish that walk on their fins. the thing about the ruins is that the jungle is so thick that you can't see it from the road, even when it's only about 50 feet away. I can't wait to start filming it.

Coming Soon: Randy and THE JAPANESE!

Posted by Randy Thompson at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The red-eye Flight.....11:55pm....I was waiting for 25 minutes to pass and feeling my eyes burn with fatigue. It was silent, a silence that I do not associate with an international airport. I would find myself staring at nothing for long periods of time thinking can I go to sleep...until I looked up and saw a humane figure that looked like Dorothy. I was thinking to myself, Is that her? No It couldn't be, she left on Saturday, It look too much like her. I had to walk nonchalantly past her to get a closer look. Leaving all my carry on luggage solo, I ran over to see if it was truly Dorothy. I was close and I still could tell...So I just bleated out her name and she turned to look...IT WAS HER!!! We were on the same flight to Fort Worth/Dallas. WIERD! I did not expect that one. Therefore, we sat close on the plane and enjoyed breakfast in the Fort Worth/Dallas Airport since we both had hours until our flights. After chatting and enjoying breakfast we parted.
I was on my way with Popeye (yes I changed his name Crusoe was too hard to say really fast)?..to Florida!!!

So I finally get to Florida...spent some time on the beach, The sand is so fine almost like powder (kinda). It is hot and humid. I woke up this moring to stormy weather. Loud claps of Thunder followed by Lighting, harsh rain and strong winds. I can hear the waves crashing on the beach..... I thought that I would spend all day on the beach.. BOY was I wrong!

Posted by richelestark at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Whew! that trip was intense! It was so great though! When I got to Chiang Mai at like 2:30am and drunk with a few new friends I made on the bus ride, they took me to the company office where we would be doing our trek through. There they sold us a tour package that consisted of an all day city tour and some checking out of a fantastic temple etc. So the next day when I awoke I and my new friend Az (short for Aziz, he's from England) piled into a van with 6 other people and went out for the entire day. When we finally got back we kept it pretty chill. Anyway so it was an early night for me that night. The next day I had to be packed and prepared by 9am for the 3 day trek. On the way to the mountains we stopped and shopped at a local open air market that was pretty cool, then off to the adventure in an open air truck for another hour. The Trek finally started and we began hiking into the mountains of Thailand. Only to find that 30 minutes later we stopped for some lunch. THere I ate some good food prepared by the local tribal people (all the food on the trip was prepared by the local people of each tribe we visited) and our guide, "Dragon" (super cool guy and I am gonna send him some stuff when I get home) , who fixed us up some ant larva and some chili paste. It was actually pretty good. That was by far the easiest part of the first day! It was straight up hill for the next 4 hours! I was the last of our group to get into camp that day and I was beat! OUr group consisted of Dragon (our guide), Mr.T (his assistant), Az, Dean (a giant canadian fireman), Stu and Felix (a pair of Aussies and guess what... Felix is half chinese! Erin would have been in heaven!!), Rick and Mariam ( a couple from holland), and myself (a dumb american...).That night we went to sleep on the hand made sleeping mats, under mosquito nets, inside of a stilted bamboo house. The next day we were all pretty tired from the walk the day before but mainly from being kept up all night by the village roosters! Anyway I'm over it! but let me tell you, I'm proud to eat chicken! So the next day we went to another village and had lunch. We even ate some eel that we had helped catch that day out of a semi dry rice paddy! then onto yet another village to sleep... This one was amazing!! it was right next to a beautiful water fall which had a cave behind it and that was where we showered! we also each got our own little leaf covered bamboo huts! I'll tell you that the bathroom in Thailand are really hard to get the hang of. They are a porcelain hole in the ground that you go in then pour water down to flush! Its not easy. Anyway We all showered and had fun after that long day of hiking and went to bed. THe next morning we had a great breakfast and even ate a bit of a small crab and fish that they cooked right in the coals of our morning fire! I took another wake up shower cause really when else am I gonna get the chance to shower in a Thai mountain waterfall? then we set off to finish the trek we hiked for another 2-3 hours then we were out. We even went through the only school in the area and it was real interesting. When we got out of the jungle we were taken to the elephants where we rode them through some less dense foliage but up and down some very hairy terrain for a couple hours. THen we went to do some bamboo rafting down a river! It was like a really simple water park and was tons of fun! For the rafting we had to split into two teams and by the end my team had all but demolished our raft! it was wonderful. I have gotten some great pictures and had an amazing time being educated about Thai people and their history and customs.

When we got back we all (except Dragon and Mr. T) went out and had a really amazing dinner on a river where we ate tons of different Thai dishes (and some pizza? I dont know either) By the end I convinced the restaurant to move some tables and I got people up and dancing to the house band while they played old disco songs! I danced my head off and was quite worn out and ready for bed when I finally crawled into it late into the evening. Today I woke up and had breakfast and took my clothes and had them cleaned and folded for about $2. Then I ate with Rick and Mariam (because everyone else has now left onto more of their own adventures) after lunch we parted ways and they went to see that temple that I had already visited and I went off to see the zoo. They had an absolutely exquisite Panda exhibit! which was in truth my reason for going but the Orangutan area left me feeling a bit sad. Anyway, now I'm getting ready to have dinner soon with Mariam and Rick then back off to Bangkok for one night and then to Ko Samui, and then to Phuket!

Posted by Timothy Lyon at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Last night I played in KSTK from 9-midnight.

Spouted extemperaneous poetry about islands,
had fun.

Am on the radio again today from 1-4:30. Have to play more mundane things, but I'll try my best to be subversive.

Weather in Wrangell is up and down like my spirits.

After being back in my parent's house and seeing the weather I realize possibly why I'm so damn moody--

Off to meet Fr. Mike of the Catholic church for my first interview--he cancelled yesterday. Not really sure how this is going to go. Will know soon.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's adventures around the globe. I'm a touch envious as those are all new experiences for them, and this is for me is a new serving of an old, familiar dish. SAY LA VEE.

Remember: Home is where the harpoon is.
peace out

Posted by Walter Maenhout at 06:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Woke up early and made my way to the Musee de la Corse, to meet the director of phoniques (music) in Corsica.

A wonderful passionate character, a disheveled, intellectual radiating with a genuine openess. I attempted to explain my studies, and the islands program in general. Our educational system is very different from here and Evergreen is an extremely alien concept. Navigating our websites helped with this explination. I was extremely intrigued by this man, Monsieur Bernard du Pazzoni. He was surprised that I wanted to know about him, about his research and ideas. "Porqui? (why?) When I asked him what and how he got to this point of research." Luckily after less direct questions it all came out,

As a student back in 1981 he began an in depth look into the fiddlers/violinists of Corsica. He expressed the feelings as a student of not understanding, the whole picture, of what he was studying. Not knowing where it was taking him. He just felt a strong pull towards these musicians and the traditions of such. I understood, for I find myself in a process of researching what I cannot at this time fully comprehend. He spoke of the musicians he worked with as a student, whose stories he only has in memory, for at the time he could only afford to record little bits of the music, no dialouge. He expressed sadness at the fact that many people's stories will forever be forgotten, the museum came to late and many of the masters are morte (dead). The museum was but a small idea/project in the early nineties and didn't commence until 1997. A lot of the traditions invovled with Corsican music started to slip in the mid sixties as corsica started to embrace the modern world. So some of the last true traditionalists practicing their music within real life started to decrease by the late 80's.
I felt fortunate to look upon photographs in his private collection, of the men he had learned how to play (he is a fiddler himself) with.

A man that appeared again and again in the photographs was a Felix Quicici - the first ethnomusicologist to ever research Corsica. He came and made the first audio recordings in 1966. Bernard saw this man as his mentor, his eyes radiant as he struggled with the words in english to express their relationship.

After we wrestled over explinations of both our interests threading together the commonalities, it was time to ecoute (listen). We walked back into the storage room, where thousands of cassette tapes and hundreds of cd's were locked away. He showed me more photographs of Felix along with the first phonograph, the original phonograph that came to Corsica -it was Felix's. Did you know that the phonograph was originally created for the purpose of making feild recordings?

He grabbed a few CD's and back to his office I followed. As he put in the first one he smiled and said that fate was to decide what we were to hear. He had chosen the music by destiny, "Destinie chossiez". While different traks played he pointed out in the massive catalouge the dates, names and places of the recordings - he knew each artist by voice.

He attempted to describe the complexities of Corsican music. "There is not one music of Corsica!". The Valleys and ville seperated by mountains inspires difference.

We then listened to a Corsican telling a Folk Story. The complexities of just the language was revealed when the storyteller would speak of a person of power, president or doctor for instance, the language took on a more italian bravodo....the actual rythm of the language changing. Bernard would point out when the story was involving a corsican character versus one of power.

We looked at copies of photographs containing some of the origianl instruments, I was told of the mysteries, how some of the instruments were only photographed once and since forgotten. There is also alot of mystery surrounding the origin of some of the instruments, for instance some of the flutes are almost identical to those found in India. Just one hole and a slightly different shape seperate them.

We also talked about the strange connections between The music of the Greek islands and that of Corsica. He wants to find out why these similarities occur, but knows it is a difficult question to answer.

I expressed amazement at all the similiarites, especially with india, he shrugged and said "We (People) are all the same".

I felt so fortuante to be talking to this man, and had so many things to ask him. His energy was comferting and his interest so genuine. But alas, I had already eaten up a large part of this man's day and felt I needed to depart.

I sadly bid farwell, taking in one last look at the brown leather vest, plaid shirt and corderoys. His wild hair framed a twitching face, he said I could return again with more questions.... I know I will.

Posted by Teagan Walden at 03:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm currently relaxing in eco-paridise. It intails a self - sustaining organic farm 25 km west of KohuKohu in the mountains. I have so much room to hike I don't know which way to explore. I arrived on Monday (NZ) after a wild hitching experience. On my way to the farm I was convinced by a local named Shona Mason to stay a night in Bailys Beach, her home town. A beautiful place on the west coast. Waves were 6 meters high, a death trap for surfers. I guess I should wait till the waves return to one meter. After staying at Beau's house who is also a friendly local, I then hitched with a fellow named Pete. We stopped in the beautiful Waipoua Forest. There I witnessed the Kauri Tree. To the Maori people this is the most spiritual tree. I was eager to hop on a trail, and when we did we bowed to "God of the Forest". This is the biggest Kauri in NZ. The tree's volume is 245 meters. I then convinced Pete to drive me close enough to my destination (KohuKohu). Arriving at the farm was amazing. The bush reminds me of the Amazon. I usually work 4 to 6 hrs a day. So far I dug a water irregation trench, lots of weeding, picking vegetables, and I have already prepared 3 meals for the eco - family. There is usable rain water, a suana, composting toilets, meditation/yoga lodge(whale lodge), 2 dogs, 3 ponds, and 4 gardens. Yeh, pretty intense. I have my own caravan to stay in with a beautiful view of the forest. There are three other wwoofer's here. Two females, and a german guy arrived today. I asked him for some chocolate.-just kidding- Yep, I'm eating healthy, and being very productive. Feeling pretty damn good. I will then probaly travel to the SW to surf, or possibly start vipassana meditation. We shall see. Sending love around the world to you all, along with peace and balance.

Posted by Matthew Kroeninger at 01:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

ok so this just seems so perfect or terrrible. whichever. with the island of monte cristo in sight, hesper and i are planning our escape. i am not joking we really can see the famed island of monte cristo from the hill behind our hut. oh on that note after we wrote last time about our pink house we went home and mesured it 15' by 7 and a half feet. wow! but ok back to the escape. so things took a new bizare turn after we last blogged. our wwoof host went to milan on saturday leaving us in the care of his friend. who has a little more than a crush on hesper. he cooled it a little bit yesterday, but things were getting a little awkward for a while. especially since he speaks no english making our only comunicable language german. Which i understand ok but can't speak well. so i had to translate all his come ons and dirty little inuendos. yuck! yuck! so that was the last straw, we are getting the hell off this island! but now we have to come up with a story for why we need to leave early. we have a pretty complex one here is the story. we are at the internet point again because last night we called home and there was a message from our classmate on corsica who is in trouble. we didn't know exactly what her problem was but she said that she had emailed us the specifics. so today we had to get to the internet to find out what her problem is. so the story is that our classmate has been robbed or lost all her stuff, so she has no money and no passport. and she really, really needs us to come help her right away. so the plan is that we will pack up tonight and leave tomorrow morning. if all goes as planned.
we came up with this scheme yesterday, we put a lot of thought into it. if you can't tell. we got so into our story that we had to stop and relize that everything is ok with teagan. she is fine and doesn't really need us to come to her aid. we however were really wishing that ethan had come with us. no body fixes your problems like a nice big black man. oh well once we get off elba hopefully everything will go smoother.. this island is just so weird! oh oh i got bit by a dog last night!! yes just to top things off. we walked down in the dark about 7pm to a mini market to use the phones and try and buy chocolate. the store was closed so we kept on walking because we knew there were a few dogs that lived around there and we didn't want to back track past them. so we heard dog tags janggling behind us but we didn't stop or turn around we were just going to ignore them and keep on moving. and the shitten dog didn't bark, didn't growl just rushed up and bit me!! so we yelled at it and it kind of ran off. a guy came out and chased it off. but he didn't say anything to us, just silence not are you ok or have a good night . nothing he just walked off. so we took off at a brisk pace before any of the other dogs could come around. and we got about two blocks away on a different road and we heard a janngling sound again so this time we turned around and it was that same dog running right at us, silent. if it didn't have tags on we wouldn't even know it was there. so this time we yelled at it and tried to throw stuff at it. it worked, we got away unscathed. this island is so damn weird! but we have to go. Sirio is going to be looking for us..........yuck dirty old men. he is like 60 years old

Posted by Rika Seidl at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

so i didn't walk today, it was snowing so I went to a really snooty coffee bar instead. The good news is I met John Lewis the pianist who I just found out actually died back in 2001. What's interesting is he had a license saying that he was the one. The late John Lewis also claims that he just set a new worlds record the 200 yard dash, he had the gold medals and all. Hmmm... I don't know what to think about all this. I think tomorrow I too will be claiming to be a dead jazz musician, but which one?
Ok so here's the deal...
June 10, 2004
Jump for Joy ?In 1939, passionate tenor man Ben Webster and bass virtuoso Jimmy