Snowflakes in the air, carols everywhere...

Hmmm... long time, no update.

Just popping in to say Merry Christmas, in case anyone still checks in here. :)

Things are going very well for me. Still loving the job, but looking forward to a little Christmas break. Fun with family, and then a quick trip south to catch up with friends in LA and Phoenix.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays, and I hope that the new year brings all good things your way. Maybe I'll resolve to update this blog more often... Or maybe I'll give it up. Decisions. Decisions.

Much love...

And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin and there's no tellin' who it's namin'....

"Are you excited?!" the little boy behind me asked his mom as we waited in line to vote this morning at the VFW in Ballard. "I'm so excited!!" he shouted, in answer to his own question. "Are you excited??" "Yes, honey, I'm excited," his mom answered. "I'm so excited!" he said again. This went on for awhile...

Big day today. I'm excited. And nervous. And hopeful....

If you haven't already, GO VOTE!!

Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart...

Happy Halloween!

I see it's been over a month since I've updated this. Hmmm... perhaps life is just less exciting now that I'm not on the road.

For those of you still checking in, know that I am doing well. I'm loving the new job, although will admit that I can't wait to plan my next trip away.

In other news, I have committed to run another half-marathon on November 30. 30 days from now. Talk about scary...

Hope you all have a spectacularly spooky day.

I want all that stupid old sh*t like letters and sodas...

After a solid year of vacation, I have less than 3 weeks before I'll be expected to show up in the same place 4-5 days a week and act responsible. As excited as I am about the new job, I realize it's probably going to be a bit of a difficult adjustment. With that in mind, I have been spending the last several days finding new ways to waste time... a luxury I think I'm soon going to have to give up. There are moments I feel guilty that I should be *doing* something, but doing nothing (or close to it) can be pretty rewarding. I've been reading a lot, taking long walks, and doing a lot of thinking.

This morning, before standing in a long line at the Department of Licensing to pay for my overdue 2009 tabs (oops!), I sat on cross-legged on the floor in Barnes & Noble and read the book Other People's Love Letters cover to cover. This is a sweet little book. You should read it. It reminded me a little of PostSecret and Found (which you should check out if you're looking to waste some time...)

OK, I'm off to go do something productive (maybe)...

Chances are you'll go far, if you get in with the right bunch of fellows...

On September 10, coincidentally a year to the day that I left Seattle to start this whole "Where's Josie" adventure, I received a job offer from Children's Hospital. I happily accepted it, and as of early next month, I'll begin my Clinical Fellowship working as a speech-language pathologist in the Autism Clinic. Pretty exciting stuff...

It all feels a bit surreal, and more than a little serendipitous. Who wants to buy me a drink? :)

Josie's on a vacation far away...

Almost every morning that I spent in the little Thai village with Stacia, I woke up to her singing the words above to me. You might recognize them from the Outfield "classic" Your Love. Every time I hear this song, it makes me smile.

It's been awhile since I've written, and I realize this site is starting to look more like a tribute to my family than anything else, so I thought I'd try to give an update about me. I just got back from another fun weekend trip, which might have just qualified as a vacation from the vacation that is currently my life, and all of a sudden it's September... not quite sure how that happened.

I'm finding that for all my big talk about being content to let things just fall into place, and relax, and not worry too much about "what's next", that there are definitely moments in which this is much easier said than done. Found myself in the midst of a mini existential crisis yesterday... worked my way out of it by cutting my own hair (this is strangely cathartic, and probably one of my favorite "uh-oh, bad choices"), taking a long walk, and having a good dinner, replete with good wine and even better company.

So, for those of you still keeping track, I still have no established game-plan. I am mostly OK with this, and I do continue to trust that things will work out as they should. I am trying to take an open-handed approach to everything that comes my way... letting things come into my life as they will without trying to hold on too tightly... I don't want to get too hokey but I do tend to believe that the harder you try to hold onto things (whether these things be money, or possessions, or people, or expectations) the more they slip away from you...

Anyhow, not much of an update I suppose, but suffice to say that life is good, and I'll keep you apprised as I continue to figure out what's next...

And stay right here, cause these are the good old days...

seth & shannon
Originally uploaded by Josie R

Last weekend I drove down to Coos Bay, Oregon to watch these two get married.

Congratulations, Shannon & Seth... I am so glad to be a part of your lives, and I wouldn't have missed the chance to be a part of your special day...

As I write this, I'm sitting at Cece's house on Hood Canal, looking out over the water. This place conjures up a lot of good memories of days gone by. It seems hard to believe how many years it's been since all of us cousins were over here together, sleeping on the dock, gathering oysters, making s'mores, and getting spanked with saltwater sandals (hmmm... maybe that was just me & Drew). Nostalgia aside though, what I'm reminded of most sitting here tonight, is what an amazing family we have. And now we are one more... Welcome, Seth.

I love you two, and wish you all the very best. xoxo

And feed them on your dreams, the one they pick's the one you'll know by...

dan the man
Originally uploaded by Josie R

If you see this guy around town today, be sure to wish him a happy birthday.

Five years ago my sister and I made a list of 50 things we'd learned from our dad. Some of them humorous, some of them serious, all of them true. Some of those I'm still working on (I will admit to the occasional struggle to determine the direction I'm heading at any given moment, both literally and figuratively...), but some of those lessons have stuck... it really is true that Joni, James and Bob have laid down a pretty good life soundtrack, that doing what you love goes a long way toward loving what you do, that there's no better friend than a sister, and, perhaps most importantly, that skin-tight, cowboy-cut wrangler jeans are strictly for cowboys.

So, dad, in addition to wishing you many happy returns, I'd like to say, thank you for everything you've taught me, and all the things you continue to teach me. You get to take at least part of the credit for my dazzling wit and sparkling personality, and it's been well established that I got my smart mouth from you. :)

Thanks most of all for your love and support. Someday I'll buy you lots of expensive presents, but in the meantime you're stuck with being lauded on the blog.

Happy 55, baby, you make senior-citizenship look good.

Love you.


**Edited to add: Dad, are you ignoring this because I called you a senior citizen?? I should have said you make "retirement eligibility" look good, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...

rita & auntie josie
Originally uploaded by Josie R

How is it August already?

The past six weeks have flown by in a blur of laughter, sunshine, roadtrips, and perhaps a few too many glasses of wine. I have been caught up in the enjoyment of catching up with old friends, making some new friends, and trying to decide what my life in Seattle is going to look like. I'm liking not settling in just yet even more than I thought I might. There are some prospects out there though as far as job opportunities and the like, so I'll keep you all posted as to what's next. And by "you all", I'm referring to the four of you that are still reading this blog...

For now, I'm sticking around, and working on the premise that I'm too much fun to wear out my welcome anytime soon. That said, a big thank you to those of you (and you know who you are) who've offered me a soft spot to land since I've been home. I have the BEST. FRIENDS. EVER.

Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo...

hungry hungry hippo
Originally uploaded by Josie R

My friend Stacia is collecting funds to take all of the schoolchildren in Kewsua on a field trip to the Chiang Mai zoo before she heads back to Seattle. If you're interested in helping, visit paypal.com and send money to: stacia@allgodsbeautifulchildren.org

Thanks!!

The best is yet to be...

So I've kinda fallen down on this blog thing, but as promised (threatened?), I'm still going to be posting here occasionally.

Yesterday marked a month since my return to Seattle. It's good to be home. And it's been interesting to think about what "home" means... I'm definitely a believer in the old adage that it is, in fact, where your heart is. I have no "home" to speak of here as far as a house (or even a room!) with four walls, no bed to really call my own, and yet (to draw on another cliche) there are oh so many places that I'm welcome to hang my hat. I have so enjoyed catching up with friends and family and realizing that when it comes to those people you are truly connected to, those long months away really don't change a thing. Thanks to all of you who have so generously offered me a place to touch down, and know that even if I haven't taken you up on it yet, I almost certainly will soon. :)

I still haven't made any firm decisions about "what's next" beyond beginning to plan for a return trip to Thailand next February (though this will be a much more abbreviated journey!). I'm enjoying the opportunity to relax, and enjoy what is turning out to be an exceptionally beautiful Seattle summer. As I've said to several people in the last few days, I've been a lot of places, but Seattle on a sunny day is really, really hard to beat.

As to the title of my post... I just finished reading a great little book by Adena Halpern entitled The Ten Best Days of My Life. It's kind of a cheesy little book, and would definitely be filed under "chick lit", but it brings up some great questions, and has sparked some good discussions about what you might consider to be the best days of your life. The basic premise of the story is that a young woman dies, arrives in "7th Heaven" (where the cutest boy ever lives next store, she's reunited with her beloved grandparents, and has a dream home with a walk-in closet filled with all the latest fashions), and is assigned the task of writing an essay about her 10 best days on earth. The essay is sort of an entrance exam for heaven, if you will. As I said, the book is a bit cheesy, but the exercise is a good one, I think. The reflection over our lives and the things that stand out as the "best" say a lot about us, I think. I'm not ready to write mine down yet, and I struggle with coming up with specific days, because so much of the "best" of my life is captured in a series of moments or by a time in my life that was incredible. And I think it all serves as a reminder too that we never know how much time we have left, so let's get cracking on making some more "best days"... I'm hoping at least 5 of my best days on earth are still ahead of me. :)

Speaking of best days, I have to say that this summer is already ranking up there as one of the best ones of my life. It feels a little like those summers back in high school when I didn't have a job yet and my biggest worries were maintaining a tan and making sure I got to spend as much time as possible with all my friends. Oh, wait, did I say it's a little like that, hmmmm... more like it's *exactly* like that.

It seems like yesterday, but it was long ago...

sisters post run
Originally uploaded by Josie R

In what was apparently a bit of foreshadowing, I titled the very first post on this blog "ready, ready, ready, ready, ready to run"...

Yesterday, I completed my very first 1/2 marathon. Cory, Caryn, Carri & I ran the Scotia Bank race in Vancouver, B.C. I guess it's one more thing to cross off that ever-shortening "I never" list. It's hard for me to describe how I felt as I ran across that finish line. I was moved to tears, which I suppose comes as no surprise to most of you and isn't really saying much when it comes to me, but the sense of accomplishment I experienced was pretty incredible.

I didn't train properly for this race, but I have to say it went better than I anticipated. My friend Stacia is putting together a team to run the half-marathon in Seattle in November to raise money for some projects she has planned in Kewsua. I'll be training for that race over the next few months, and I'm looking forward to making the transition to becoming a "real" runner. If you're interested in joining Stacia's team on November 30th, send me an email and I'll keep you posted on the details.

I believe I've missed each and every face...

I made it back to Seattle last Friday evening. The last several days have been a whirlwind of reunions, and in a way I feel like I've barely been able to catch my breath. But it's GOOD to be home.

The two questions I've been asked most often are "What was your favorite place on the trip?" and "What's next?". I'm not sure which of these questions is the more difficult for me to answer, but I will say I don't have a easy answer for either of them. I enjoyed every step of this incredible journey and while I certainly enjoyed some places more than others, choosing a "favorite" is so hard for me! As to what I'll do now... that's a tough one too...

When I interviewed with the Bonderman committee at the UW last year, they asked me what I was scared of with regards to embarking on this trip. I said then that my number one fear was that I would decide while I was gone that I didn't want to do what I'd just spent the last 6 or so years preparing to do (i.e. be a speech-language pathologist). Thankfully, that hasn't happened; I am still as excited as ever about my choice to become an SLP. What has changed for me I think is the sense of urgency I may have felt to "hurry up and get started". Coming off 9+ months of what was essentially a very long vacation, I am feeling incredibly relaxed and happy and laid back (for lack of a better phrase) and I think the challenge for me now is to figure out how to hang on to all of those feelings while transitioning to a more "normal" life. I'm planning on giving myself the summer to figure out where I'm headed. In the meantime, I'll be moonlighting as one of King County's most highly-qualified nannies and trying to catch up with the many, many, many people I've been missing over the last year.

I don't have a permanent residence right now, so I'll be floating around a bit. Happy to hear about any offers of spare bedrooms or comfy couches! :) I have a new phone number as well, so if you'd like that, shoot me an email.

Hope this finds you all doing well. There are new pictures up on the flickr site of the Paris extravaganza for Cory's birthday, so go check those out!

More soon...

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead....

In just over twelve hours I will meet my sister at the arrivals hall at Charles de Gaulle airport to begin our first ever "Sister's Trip". My mom and her sisters have been doing these forever, but somehow it's taken way too long for Cory & I to plan our first. I can't really begin to describe how excited I am about this little adventure to end this big adventure...

There are lots of fun things and little surprises in store and I am so looking forward to sharing with Cory what remains as one of my most favorite places in the whole wide world. Pictures and stories to come... see you next weekend!!

We're on our way home....
We're going home....

Many thangs is on my mind, words in the way...

This will be the last blog from India. I arrived in Pondicherry early this morning. This is a pretty little city, and I wish I had a bit more time here, but I've got to be movin' on. Tomorrow morning I'll begin my last LONG leg of travel and arrive in Paris Friday afternoon. Looking forward to a week of silliness with my sister, and of course looking forward to returning home to everyone I've missed so much these past several months, but it would be a lie to say that I'm not feeling a little torn about this adventure drawing to a close...

There is a lot I want to say about this, but I'm kind of having a hard time wrapping my head around it, I think. You might all just be subjected to these random rambles long after I return home... perhaps that's how I'll draw this whole thing out; there are after all still many stories to tell. :)

One thing I do want to say though before I "wrap up" from India is THANK YOU. Thank you for reading this, and for your emails, and comments, and kind words, and support (emotional, financial, and otherwise!). I can't begin to tell you how much it has meant to know that there were so many people thinking of me back home as I wandered around the world. Elizabeth Gilbert of "Eat, Pray, Love" fame has a great thing to say about gratitude, and I'm going to close with her words, which are more eloquent than anything I can put together now.

In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe its wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you. Forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.
-Elizabeth Gilbert

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Much love and I'll see you very soon,

Josie

Of travel I've had my share, man...

Ok, I haven't really been everywhere, but it's starting to feel that way. :) I arrived in Madurai, Tamil Nadu early this morning, excited to see the Sri Meenakshi Temple, lauded as one of the "Top 5 Temples in South India" (that is according to the Lonely Planet). I was really looking forward to this one, so you can perhaps imagine my disappointment, when I arrived at sunrise this morning only to discover that each of the 12 gopurams (or decorative towers) were completely covered in thatch. Apparently due to a "painting problem" (as the security guard explained). Uhhh... sorry folks, park's closed... moose out front shoulda told ya. All I could do was laugh. The temple complex was still pretty impressive, but there's only so long you can hang out in a temple, and my train to Pondicherry doesn't leave until about 11pm, so I thought I'd write a quick update before setting out to see what else Madurai has to offer. Apparently there is a pretty good Gandhi museum here, so I'll probably go check that out; the other big draw here seems to be textiles, but my backpack is too full for any of that!

I wanna be alone, I wanna be a stone...

I made it through the 28 days and checked myself out of the ashram. :) Mission accomplished. It's something I'm very glad I did, but I'm almost equally glad to be moving on. I arrived at the beach on Tuesday afternoon, and plan to stay for a couple more days. My friend Pippa left today, so I have a little time to myself. I just checked into a great room with a sea view for less than $4/night... gotta love the low-season at the beach. The weather is beautiful, and I think I can deal with the near ghost-town quiet of the cliffside at Varkala.

Hoping to head to Madurai in the next few days and then on to Pondicherry before making my way to Chennai and heading out to Delhi. No, Ian, I'm not going to make it to Mumbai on this trip. :( I know... it's lame. BUT, one of MANY reasons to come back to India again.

Thanks for all of your comments... looking forward to seeing you all very very soon!

New pictures up at flickr. Check 'em out.

The moment I let go of it...

I think it was the third day I was here that Andrea, one of my fellow "dorm-mates", a long-time yoga instructor and a 52-year old spitfire of a Brazilian woman with a body to DIE for, grabbed me and tried to rub out some of the deep-seated tension between my shoulder blades. I had just finished telling her about the difficulty I was having with all of this "sitting up straight" and 4 hours of yoga given the near-constant pain I had in my back, and that I had just scheduled a series of 3 ayurvedic massages. "Mmmmmmmm", she sighed as she tried to wedge her fingers under my left shoulder-blade, "so much tightness, you have no eh-space here." I know, I replied with a shrug. She patted my back and said with a thick Brazilian accent, "Baby, joga ees gon' be sooo good to you." I smiled. "The massage... it gonna help too."

I was admittedly skeptical about how much difference three days of massage would make given that I honestly have difficulty remembering a time that my back hasn't hurt at least a little (too many years of bad posture and bad patterns, I know). Side note here: isn't is weird though how we just learn to live with and eventually just kind of ignore pain? I suppose it's a kind of survival mechanism...

Now, nearly 3 weeks and 8(!) massages later, I'm finding it hard to put into words what a difference they've made. To be fair, the last two massages haven't been for back pain, but rather a part of the cleansing regime I'm doing this week. Sindhu, my massage therapist, and one of my new favorite people in the world, was sure that I would only need the three initial massages to be "better". I think she actually may have been right, but, skeptic that I am I went ahead and scheduled another series of 3 (at less than $8 a pop it's hard to feel too bad about having too many massages). I think the massages combined with the "joga" (as Andrea would say) have worked a little magic. I still get a little nagging pain after too long of trying to sit up straight (old habits die hard), but the range of motion I have and the "open-ness" I'm feeling in my back is just incredible. The knots I'm used to feeling roll across my shoulder blades are just gone... as if they've dissolved. It's bizarre, but I'm not complaining.

I don't think I've talked about the ayurvedic massage yet, and it's too long of a process to get completely into here (although you know I'm going to try...), but it's like no other massage I've experienced. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a massage connoisseur, but I've had a few in my lifetime (though never with the frequency of the last few weeks), and while at first I missed the deep pressure of a more familiar "Swedish" type massage, I have learned to love the ayurvedic oil massage. The massage is very gentle, and feels a bit ritualistic, very much like you're being anointed somehow. Each session starts with me sitting on a stool (stark naked, by the way, for all the modesty enforced throughout India, there are no qualms about whipping off all of your clothes in the massage room. And forget about a sheet to cover up with...), before Sindhu presses her palms, full of hot oil, to the top of my head, and begins to massage my scalp. As she begins I can here her chanting blessings just under her breath. After the scalp massage, she has me move to the wooden massage table, where I sit with my back facing toward her as she dabs oil onto my earlobes before coming around to press some into my belly button and then swipe the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands. Then the massage begins in earnest and every part of me gets slicked up until I feel, well, the phrase "like a greased pig" comes to mind. There is something about the quality of the touch during these massages that is just incredible. One of the girls and I were talking about it and have come to the conclusion that it's very much like a mother's touch, gentle and soothing. It's a touch I think we experience far too little of...

Anyhow, this morning I once again hopped up on the stool, naked as the day I was born, closed my eyes, and waited for Sindhu to start her now familiar routine. But today as she started to move behind me she paused. "Josie?" I opened my eyes. Sindhu took a step back and I saw her look me up and down, appraising me with a kind but critical gaze as she walked a half-turn around me. "Josie... your body, very slimmer." I look up at her and smile. "First time coming... bigger", she says, holding her hands out in front of her at a width I'd beg to differ with, thank you very much. "Now... smaller. This (she pats my stomach), this (my hip), and... this (with a downward glance toward my chest)... smaller." I'm not quite sure how to respond to this assessment. "You weigh? Lose? How much?" I explain that I've lost about 6 kilos since I arrived at the ashram. Sindhu nods in a way that seems confirmatory more than anything. "Good, this. Good." She smiles broadly and holds up the pinky finger of her right hand in what is apparently a cross-cultural representation of "skinny". "You not this. Not your body. Never." I laugh at her blunt truthfullness, "No, Sindhu, I'll never be skinny." She laughs back, "No skinny. No, but good, good. This very good." She squeezes my shoulder, and then pats my back before getting on to business as usual.

Thank you, Sindhu, goddess of the pained back, and though I have a ways to go, for the first time in a long time, I'm starting to agree... it is good.

Be careful how you bend me...

Just checking in...

Still hanging out at the ashram. All is well. It's a quiet life here, so not too terribly much to report. We were supposed to have a "field trip" to Konyakamuri yesterday, but not enough people signed up, so one of the other girls and I headed out to Kovalam beach for a day of swimming and contraband (i.e. coffee! and fish! we are soooo bad). I honed my ever-sharpening bargaining skills on the beach... a story I'll tell you when I have more time. It was such a nice day out and yet another of those times when I just had to think to myself, "Who gets to do this????" as I sat sipping my iced coffee and watching the sunset over the sea. Life is good.

In other news, I started an Ayurvedic cleanse today which should be interesting, 9 days of food deprivation and treatments ranging from unpleasant (purging) to enjoyable (3 days of massage) to downright disgusting (5 days of drinking medicated ghee... that's clarified butter... yick). Still enjoying the yoga despite some sore muscles. I'm thinking I'll finish up here and head to the beach at Varkala for a few days before finding my way back to Delhi for my flight out of India.

Hope this finds you all doing well... as much as I find I'm trying to stretch out every last moment of this adventure to make it last as long as possible, I can't wait to see all of you at home.

Love, peace and all good things coming your way. Om. :)

I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked the Beatles...

Om Namah Shivaayah!

OK, don't worry, I haven't decided to drink the kool-aid... yet.

I survived my first week at the ashram. Better than survived, really. I find that I'm actually really enjoying my time here, and actually considering signing on for the 28-day program (my own little version of rehab, perhaps...). I am doing tons of yoga, have had 3 massages so far, and things are happening to my back that I can only describe as miraculous. It is some serious clean living though... no alcohol, no caffeine, no meat, no eggs, not even and garlic or onion as they're seen as "exciting" to the system.

I am getting used to the early-morning wake-up bell (5:20!), my "karma yoga" or selfless-service (cleaning the toilets), and eating with my hands whilst sitting on the floor. I love the yoga asana classes, the food (surprise!) and the gorgeous surroundings. Most of the people here are great too, although a few of the "long-termers" are a little offputting. The meditation and silence piece is probably the most difficult for me, but I am gradually learning to be still. The chanting has been a bit of a challenge for me too, and some of the "devotion" practiced here has definitely sparked some questions for me about what it is exactly that I believe...

This is an incredible place in terms of location (beautiful lake and jungles surrounding) and as an opportunity for self-reflection, stillness, cleansing, and exercise. It feels like a really nice way to start winding down this whole amazing experience. I know that staying here longer means missing out on some sights and scenes in India, but I know this trip was never really much about "sight-seeing" anyway. Saturday marks 8 months since I left Seattle, so it looks like I made it, as far as the Bonderman goes. I will actually be home in just over a month...

I won't check emails any more than probably once a week, so I'll continue to be a bit "out of the loop", but please do write to me, I love hearing from all of you! For now, I'll leave you with my week in numbers...

Hours I have spent in yoga class: 16
Number of times I have managed to get myself into (& out of!) this position: 3
Times I have been (gently) reprimanded for talking (or giggling) when I should be silent: 3 (some things never change)
Number of times I have fallen asleep during what I have begun to refer to as "7 minutes in heaven" or the relaxation portion of yoga class: More than 10 (this implies I am not exercising enough control over my mind, but when I get home ask me to demonstrate my Columbian yoga teacher's relaxation/hypnosis technique... I keep wishing I could record it; I could make a killing selling it as a sleep-aid).

Gotta run, time for class.

More soon....

Oh no I've said too much, I haven't said enough...

OK, so as tempting as the beach is, I've decided I might regret not taking my chances at the ashram. So, I'll head out today for Trivandrum. A trip that will include two bus rides probably totalling somewhere around 27 hours. That doesn't sound like too much fun, but hey, how often will I be able to bus across India?? If you're interested, you can check out the ashram here.

I'll be offline for the next week or so. No worries... updates soon from a more enlightened me...

The one-eyed seed of a tumbleweed in the belly of a rolling stone...

I continue to beat a fast track across this incredible country.

Do you wanna know something? India is LARGE. I feel like there is too much to see, to do, to feel... Trying to find a good balance of seeing what I really want to see, but not getting into so much of a hurry that I don't enjoy the journey.

Arrived in Goa yesterday morning on an overnight bus from Aurangabad. Spent the day wandering around Panjim and Old Goa and arrived at Arambol (Harmal) beach this morning. As described in The Lonely Planet, Arambol is where hippy-dippy 60's went to live happily ever after. I'm supposed to be at an Ashram in Trivandrum in a few days. The trains are booked though, and it's 2 days away by bus, and I have to say that a $6 ocean-view room is going to be hard to beat. I can do yoga on the beach right??

That's why a bear can rest at ease...

Despite rising rates for tourist at national parks throughout India, I am happy to report that a budget "backpacker" such as myself can indulge in 2 half-day safaris, 2 nights accommodation and full board for the duration(that means all your meals, in case you're not up on the lingo) for just a smidge over $50. It blows the budget from an average daily expenses point of view, but I suppose I could hardly say it was expensive, you know, in the scheme of things...

The safari was great. It has to be one of the highlights of the trip, and yet another on that long list of moments that have left me thinking, Who gets to do this??? And I know you're all waiting to hear the big news.... and, YES! I did see a tiger. Only one, and he was far enough away that I'll probably have to point him out to you in the picture I got. But come on, I saw a real live tiger. Shere Khan in his own stomping grounds. Oh, I finished The Jungle Book. It's probably a shame to say this, but I much preferred the eponymous Disney film. It's hard to beat, if only just for the soundtrack. By the by, did you know that all those character names (Baloo, Shere Khan, Bagheera, etc.) are derived from the actual names of those particular animals in Hindi? Not so much Prince Louie, I don't think.

Tiger sightings aside, adding another interesting layer to the safari experience was "German George" or "George of the Jungle" as I took to referring to him when he wasn't around. Self-proclaimed conservationist and lover of tigers ("tigers are my god"), George shared our jeep, talked our ears off, and in the end narrowly escaped getting smacked around a little... stories for another time.

The last few days have been full of travel... far too many hours on trains and buses, or waiting for trains or buses. I find that moving around India is yet another reminder of how very spoiled we are for space at home. There are just SO many people here, and it seems that every train car, every bus, is filled to overflowing. It's not unusual (common even) to see two grown men sharing a tiny bunk in the sleeper class compartment, and on the last two buses I was on there were easily more people crammed into the aisle than there were sitting in seats. I'm getting more and more accustomed to not having the "bubble" around me that I do at home, but it's one of those things I think will feel like a shocking difference when I return. Sure we get jostled around from time to time, and occasionally your bus is crowded, but the crush of humanity here is something that is hard to explain. I ended up in the wrong train-ticket line the other morning and I'm not even sure I can describe to you the madhouse scene that overtook the line (of only ladies!) I was in. At one point the woman behind me had worked on of her hands between me and my backpack and was holding tightly to my arm with her other hand just to prevent anyone getting in front of her in line. Imagine my disappointment after 25 minutes of this when I got to the ticket window, flushed, out of breath and sweating, and the ticket agent smiled, shook her head and pointed to her left, "Window 1, please."

At any rate, I think the increase in personal space and regular access to decent public toilets (with TP!) will account for at least half the culture shock I'll experience upon "re-entry". Well, that and not being stared at at every turn. Have I talked about the staring? It's a trip. That's about all I can say. I've had a couple of conversations (with other travelers) about whether or not staring is harassment. I don't think it is, particularly when the "staring behavior" doesn't seem to violate the social/cultural norms in the place you're visiting, but that's not to say it's not uncomfortable. I have looked up from a book while waiting in the train station to find 3 groups of young men stood staring at me from about 6 feet away. There have been train trips where the same person has sat staring for well over an hour. It is sometimes difficult to resist the compulsion to look up and say, "What??!" Which seems inappropriate at best if not completely rude. And it brings up the question of whether or not you want to strike up a conversation with the "starer". It's hard to navigate all the "rules" here. In some ways it feels very similar to when I was in Turkey... I'm never really clear on when it's appropriate to "chat" and when it's not.

As usual, I feel I need to clarify and say that I don't want to imply that *everyone* stares *all the time*. It's not always hard, and there are plenty of sweet, helpful, friendly people all over this country. Like the young kid who jumped up to go check at the enquiry counter last night after an announcement was made about my train that I didn't understand, or the older gentleman who brought oranges to Tracey and I on the bus yesterday and said, "Come. Slake your thirst. You are welcome guests in my country."

The adventure continues. In Jalgoan now and off to see these caves in Ajanta tomorrow. More soon (and hopefully a picture of that tiger!!)

A dream is a wish your heart makes...

Well, thanks to bad weather, and cheap internet access, you all get to be subjected to my musings two days in a row. I've been wanting to write a little about the things I've been reading lately. (Other than the aforementioned The Jungle Book, which by the way, I should take a picture of... the only copy I could find was in the children's section of the bookstore here and it definitely looks like it was marketed toward the under 10 set... I'm sure I'll get some strange looks on the train).

Anyhow, I have always loved to read. Being on this trip certainly hasn't changed that, but it has presented something of a difficulty from time to time, one, because books are heavy and not the thing you want to lug around on your back, and two, because books are expensive (with the exception of Cambodia and Vietnam where you can buy photocopies of pretty much any paperback you can think of... a practice I of course agree is *wrong* but at generally less than $2 a pop was far too tempting for me to resist). I have managed to get my literary fix in Thailand and India by trading quite a few books, occasionally springing for a cheapy, and spending more time than is probably fair "skimming over" interesting reads in bookstores. Incidentally if you get a chance to read them... I really enjoyed the excerpts I read from Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald, and Karma Cola by Gita Mehta. MacDonald's book details her time as an ex-pat in India and Mehta's skewers the whole Western fascination with Eastern religion/philosophy. I've found there is something fun about reading about the places I'm traveling in or about to travel to. There are far too many books about/set in India for me to even make a dent, but along the way I have read Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I'd recommend them both, although I will say that Rushdie was a little hard to read (in a way I can't really put my finger on, but I think it's that the story just has so many characters and is so fantastical). Before I left, I read Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance which I would also highly recommend. And to think how badly I hated book reports when I was a kid...

More recently, I read Arundhati Roy's excellent collection of essays entitled The Algebra of Infinite Justice. Please read this book. Roy offers an interesting perspective with regard to how the United States is viewed from a distance and has written several very interesting pieces about political and environmental issues impacting India. Most recently of all (although having nothing to do with India, per se) I completed Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist. This is one of those books that I feel like I was the last person on earth to have read, but if, like me, you are far behind the times when it comes to pop-literature, READ. THIS. BOOK. I'm not saying it will change your life or anything, but you never know, it just might. It's a simply written but absolutely beautiful little story about following your dreams. It just might make you think a little bit...

Well, as per usual, I seem to have rambled on far longer than is absolutely necessary. I'm going to close this with a few thoughts from Coehlo and Roy that have been rattling around in me head for the past few days.

The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness. - Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist

The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead.

Which means exactly what?

To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of live around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. - Arundhati Roy, The End of Imagination

What do you want to be your epitaph? 'Paulo Coehlo died while he was alive.' Why this epitaph? Everyone dies when he or she is alive. 'No... this is not true.' -Paulo Coehlo, from the afterword of The Alchemist

Sweet dreams...

It's just your jive-talkin' that gets in the way...

One of my least favorite things about traveling are those times that it feels like everything is a negotiation. This certainly isn't unique to India, but it's something that comes up quite a lot here. Rarely is the price-given the actual price, and it is the rare transaction that occurs without some conversation to decide how much money should actually change hands. This is often complicated by the fact that I'm not really sure what the value of a particular service or goods really is. Sometimes this is frustrating, as when the autorickshaw driver quotes you a fare you know to be a good three times over what's typical. Sometimes it's laughable, as when the teenage boy at the snack bar at the railway station looks up as if deep in thought when you ask him the price of a package of crackers and then tells you in all serious, "80 rupees" before you notice the clearly marked "8 rupees" price marked on the packet. (Even he laughed when I pointed this out.) I know there's a balance here (and in so many other places) between paying a "fair" price (whatever that might mean) and being/feeling ripped off. There are times I have caught myself starting to argue over what amounts to a few cents and felt pretty embarrassed. I wonder what it will be like though to return to a "fixed-price market" after all these many months of traveling through places where there is little you can't bargain for? On the one hand I think it will be a relief to just know the sticker price (however inflated or ridiculous) is the price, but I wonder if there won't be times that I'm tempted to say, "Come on, seriously. What if I buy 3? Discount?"

I don't mean to imply that this bargaining never works in my favor either... when Tracey and I arrived in Darjeeling on Friday, we went wandering around looking for a room. We stopped at a place that looked well out of our price-range and decided to just check "for a laugh". The woman told us she had a double room for 1300 rupees (about 30 dollars). "Oh, we were hoping for something more in the 500 rupee range," Tracey says. "It's her birthday tomorrow!" I chime in (this was TRUE, by the way). The woman looks at us for a moment, and says, "Let me check." After a few minutes she comes back to the door and says, "OK!". OK. Huh. Go figure. So we scored on a sweet room at the Highlander Inn that would have a spectacular view of the Himalayas if the clouds would ever clear. I guess you can't have it all.

Spending a few days in the misty mountains of Darjeeling sipping tea and walking up and down hills before heading to Jabalpur on Wednesday night to visit Kanha National Park, supposed setting of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book". In true cheeseball fashion, I have bought a copy of the book to read on the train on the way there. Fingers crossed that I see a tiger, please.

New pictures up at flickr too, if you're interested.

More soon!

There's such a lot of world to see...

A quick note from Varanasi. I am hoping to at some point be able to upload some pictures, but the internet connections here are not so good, and it seems a shame to waste hours fooling around with a computer when there is so much to see!

What an incredible place. As I got ready to step off the train yesterday morning, the man who had been sitting next to me, giving me a quick rundown of Hindu deities, smiled a huge, bright smile and said, "Welcome to the holiest place in India!"

I'm staying here with Ute, a friend of my friend Mandy's. It's great to have a nice (ahem... not to mention free!) place to stay. Ute works with developmentally disabled individuals at a vocational training center, which I was able to visit today. The adults and teens (whose diagnoses range from autism to mental retardation to CP) work on general "life skills" and some basic education as well as learning to make handicrafts which are sold in a variety of free-trade shops and help to provide them with a small stipend.

I enjoyed the rest of my time in Delhi, and the Taj Mahal in Agra was every bit as spectacular as I'd hoped it would be. In Varanasi until Thursday evening and then it's off to Darjeeling for tea, and perhaps slightly cooler temperatures. It's HOT here, especially after a few surprisingly cool days in Delhi.

More soon!!

Surrounded by the sound, sound, cattle in the marketplace...

And there are. Cattle in the marketplace, I mean.

Have arrived safely in India. The plane ride from Bangkok to Delhi was perhaps the most luxurious thing I have experienced on this trip so far. I flew Thai Airways, and had what was easily the best airplane meal of my life. I laughed to myself at how ridiculously excited I was when the beverage cart rolled down the aisle and they were serving a decent chardonnay; WINE! Wine that tastes good! Wine that is FREE!! :)

But here I am... on the subcontinent, as they say. I feel as if I'm just dipping my little toe into the huge pool that is incredible country. I think I'm ready to take the plunge.

I can't think of any other place on this trip that I've heard more about before I arrived; so many warnings, and tips, and horror stories. Maybe it's that whole glass half-full/"little Mary sunshine" thing I have going on, but I will say that given my first impression (having admittedly spent less than 24 hours here), it's better than I expected. Yes, it's dirty, and hot, and crowded and the traffic is atrocious, and the "elegantly furnished" (as per their business card) hotel room I'm staying in leaves a little something to be desired, but I'm glad I'm here. Managed to use the Metro, the prepaid auto-rickshaw service, purchase train tickets at the railway station, and visit the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, which has the distinction of being the largest mosque in all of India. Busy, busy day. Off to Agra on Saturday to see the Taj Mahal before continuing to Varanasi.

Will post updates and pictures as I can.

Heaven on earth with an onion slice...

cheeseburger in paradise
Originally uploaded by Josie R

Ahh... Koh Lanta, it was so hard to leave. One week there cost me barely over $100. That's what a week of lazing about goes for in the south of Thailand. I could have signed up for another week or two I think...

At that price though, it must be said, you do run the risk of encountering little creatures you'd rather not. Creatures like frogs in your open air bathroom (these guys didn't bother me) or bed bugs (yes! so not fun...). But little irritations aside, I can't say enough about how much I loved Koh Lanta, and particularly Bee Bee's Bungalows where I spent 5 of the 8 nights. It's a little bungalow village and probably one of the cutest places I've ever seen. I swam in the sea every day and got more sun than I've had in ages. Had my fill of fruitshakes and fried rice and pad thai and grilled shrimp. Heard enough Jack Johnson to last me for awhile too. A funny... every day, without fail, right around the same time (usually 5:30 ish, an hour or so before sunset), Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" would come blasting out of the beachside speakers. This never failed to elicit a giggle from me, and always made me think of my sister, whose 7th grade (6th grade?) boyfriend made her a 60 minute mix tape with just that song repeated over and over and over. If that's not love, I just don't know what is.

I even got to practice a little Thai... one morning as I'm out doing my customary splashing around, one of the Thai bartenders hops in the water. "Sabai dee mai?," he asks. Oooh, oooh, I know this one!! I realize... finally after weeks of being asked this question (basically "are you doing alright?") by Kruh Madri, I *KNOW* the answer. "Sabai dee, ka," I reply. Eyebrows raise. "Sinouk mai?" (Are you having fun?) "Sinouk mak!" (Lots of fun!) "Gin kao rue yang?" (Did you eat already?) "Ka" I respond (this was kind of cheating, but just an easy agreement). "Gin arai?" (What did you eat). "Gin pancake" (ummm, perhaps a cheat again, but whatever.) "Aroi mai?" (Was it delicious?) "Aroi mak!" (Very delicious aka 'my favorite!'). At this point I'm getting cocky... oh yes, Josie talk Thai very well. But I think the bartender realizes he's reached the limits of my vocabulary. He points to his bicep and then points to my arm. "You have very power," he says. Ummm.... thank you? "I am baby, baby," he laments. Yeah, whatever, dude, I get it, my arms are bigger than yours. He then looks pointedly at me... "Do you have the man friend?" My turn for the eyebrow raise. "I have lots of man friends, but I'm here with my girl friends... bye!" I waved as I waded back out of the water.

So I left Lanta behind, and now I'm back in Bangkok, a city I've come to regard as the armpit of SE Asia. It's just sticky and sweaty and dirty and seems to attract a weird mixed-bag of travelers that don't really float my boat, as the saying goes. I'm sure this is a gross over-generalization, but I'm sticking with it for now.

A little more on the budget travel adventure. That whole Southeast Asia on a shoestring thing generally doesn't include air travel, which means I've spent a whole lot of time on buses. The trip down to Koh Lanta was a 36 hour adventure by bus and boat I'd rather not repeat anytime soon. Two nights in a row sleeping on a bus is not fun. Seriously. Fortunately, the destination makes the journey worthwhile, and of course I realize that a long bus-ride to what is essentially a paradise most definitely qualifies as a "luxury problem". The trip back to Bangkok was a breeze by comparison, although it did include (instead of a boat ride) a 3-hour jaunt by minibus to our bus pick-up in Krabi.

Oh, the minibus- one of the myriad joys of traveling on the cheap. There are usually 10-12 passengers jammed into a small van. Sometimes they're quite new and nice (this one was) but more often than not they're shaky, noisy, cramped little things that look as though they might lose a sliding door at the next big bump. They are inevitably driven at breakneck speed. This trip was no disappointment in that regard. Tracey and I had barely thrown our packs in the back when we were lurched backward as the van lept forward on the way to pick up one last passenger. Our driver certainly seemed to be going for speed. As he raced along toward the car ferry, the Canadian girl behind me launched into a tirade about how this guy was the worst. driver. ever. I laughed to myself thinking, oh, you can not have been traveling for long. I promise I didn't turn into one of *those* people (the ones who always have a better story, the scarier driver, the prettier beach, the tastier curry) but I wanted to, I really did.

Anyway, we drove the 2+ hours to Krabi at speeds much higher than those recommended for safety. The soundtrack to our drive was a pulsing techno-dance beat that I think was one track on repeat, although it could have been just one very, very long remix. Our driver, with very slick, very spiky hair, Versace shades and a cigarette tucked behind his ear, seemed somehow urged on by the female vocalist's demands to (and I somehow doubt this little lyrical gem was a kindly reminder from the Thai Post) "lick it before you stick it". And yet, I still managed to doze off for nearly 40 minutes.

So here I am, back in Bangkok, waiting for the folks at the India Visa Service to past a shiny new visa into my passport and I'll be off to New Delhi tomorrow. Can't wait to see what India brings. Just a guess, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say probably not too many cheeseburgers.

The light was leaving, in the west it was blue...

Just a quick post from beautiful Koh Lanta...

I think I may have found paradise. Staying in the cutest little place EVER. Enjoying a daily dose of Jack Johnson, gorgeous sunsets, delicious fruit shakes, fresh seafood, and almost more sun, sand & sea than I can handle. A little stormy today, but still warm, and lots of cozy little spots to find shelter in. Not a bad way to start Spring, and the price is certainly right (I think I'm looking at less than $15/day including food! Ahem... clearly I've cut back on my alcohol consumption...)

More to come (and pictures too!) when I return to Bangkok late this weekend.

Hope this finds you all doing well.

There's a tear in your eye and I'm wondering why, for it never should be there at all...

Four Leaf Clover
Originally uploaded by Tomitheos

I hope the luck 'o the Irish smiles on all of you today...

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how lucky I am. Hmmmm... perhaps luck isn't the right word though; after all, as Greg Kinnear so smugly says in Little Miss Sunshine, "Luck is the name losers give to their own failings". :) But I digress (as usual). Lucky, fortunate, blessed, whatever. You name it, I'm definitely feeling it these days. I suppose I have experienced something of a paradigm shift while on this trip. (NB: that's "'pair-a-dime", not "pa-'ri-duh-gum"... in-joke for all you speechies). I'm not over-fond of that term actually, but I think it fits here. I can feel my perspective changing. I would say that in general I tend to be a "glass half-full" kind of gal, but I think I've joined the "my cup runneth over" camp.

You'll see I've tagged this post with "rambles", a label that shows up rather frequently here. This is a little just thinking out loud, but I also want to write this now, as I'm feeling it, so as not to forget it. I hope that when I return home I will continue to recognize this. I think about the village I've spent the last several weeks in, and the people there, and their lives, and the difficulties they face, and the fact that most families will struggle to pay for their children to attend high school (the cost of which incidentally is somewhere around $200/year). I think back to Majda, the woman I met in Mostar, who was forced to leave her home in Bosnia for several years during the war there. There are countless other examples like these, and we don't even have to look outside the borders of our own country, our state, or our county for that matter, to find them.

When I think about the things that most of us worry about, fret about, fight about, cry about, I am struck by how trivial most of these things are. Now, I know it's all relative, and I know I have the luxury of being on an all-expenses paid year-long vacation, so it's not exactly like life is kicking my ass right now, but seriously.... think about it. Most of what we struggle with are what I think might best be described as the consequences of our opportunities. Maybe you're stressed out about your job, maybe the mortgage on your house is too expensive, maybe you didn't get invited to a party... I don't know. I guess I'm feeling like all we have are "luxury problems" to borrow a favorite phrase of Cory's. I mean, if you're healthy, and all your basic needs are being met (you know food, shelter, safety, all that) isn't the rest kind of just gravy? I'm just sayin'...

I hope you're feeling lucky today too.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Standin' on the edge of something much too deep...

i miss
Originally uploaded by Josie R

Feeling a little melancholy...

As my time here in Kewsua comes to an end, I realize how much I'm going to miss everyone here. Trying not to get wrapped up in that though, and just be grateful for the time that I've had here. These past 6 weeks have been just incredible. I'm sure it will sound trite, but it's hard for me to not think of this stay as life-changing. You can be sure that this is yet another place about which you will hear countless stories...

The picture is one of the goodbye notes given to me by the 6th grade girls. They had their graduation ceremony on Tuesday and then each dropped by to give me these sweet little letters and pictures. Today Joi came to the house and helped Stacia translate them all for me. I started to tear up a little at their sentiments "You are a person with a good heart." "Please remember me." I don't think I could forget.

Melancholy aside, I'm also looking forward to the next steps in this journey. On Monday morning I'll catch songtaew back to Chiang Mai where I'll take care of some errands including picking up new pages for my passport at the US consulate (I only have one blank page left!), trying to ship a few things home (not sure I want to cart those slingshots around for the rest of my trip), and buying new books (I think I've read 9 while I've been up here). On Wednesday, I'll head down to the beach (via Bangkok where I'll start the ball rolling on my visa for India), and then back to Bangkok for a few days before flying to India on April 1st.

India holds a lot of intrigue for me. It's the first place I *knew* I wanted to go when I started planning this trip, and as it turns out it's going to be the last big leg. I can't even imagine what my time there will be like, but pretty excited to find out. I should note that thanks to my friend Sejal, who really ought to consider being a travel-writer, I am very well-prepared for this sojourn. Sejal, let me take this opportunity to officially (and publicly) apologize for ever having teased you about your thoroughness during grad school. ;)

More soon....

Magic in the kitchen, with abracadabra...

The new refrigerator
Originally uploaded by Josie R

We did it! The new refrigerator survived the hill climb in Chantip's truck and we are all set. More pictures up on flickr. Thank you so very much to everyone who contributed to this effort! I truly can't believe it was less than a week ago I sent out the email asking for your help...

So many stories of where I've been, and how I got to where i am...

I spent the better part of last weekend going back & forth to the Burmese border to get a new Thai visa. The thing is, Thailand will allow U.S. citizens to remain in Thailand on a tourist visa for up to 90 days in any 6 month period, but you have to leave the country every 30 days. I'm not entirely sure what the logic is here.

When I entered Thailand from Laos last month I was traveling with a friend from Brazil; the immigration officer happily stamped his passport for 90 days. I half-hoped he might do the same for me, but no, 30 days. When I asked about it, he just laughed and said, "Oh, Josie, U.S. and Brazil very different!" "Sure," I replied, "you like them more than you like us, right?" "No! No!", he said, "I like America very much. Listen. You come back next year. I give you 90 day stamp. I promise." Sure.

Anyhow, I had a stamp good til March 2nd, so I decided to head to Mae Sai, that being the closest border town to Chiang Mai. In theory, this trip should have taken about 12 hours roundtrip. In reality it turned into a 27-hour adventure that included a sleepless night in a cheap guesthouse in Chiang Rai, where Stacia and I got stuck because all of the busses heading back to Chiang Mai were full. This was likely due to the elections being held throughout Thailand on Sunday. For each election, Thais have to go back to their hometown to vote, AND there is no alcohol served from 6pm the day before the election until midnight the day of. So not only were we disappointed about being stuck 3 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai, but we couldn't even drown our sorrows in a cold beer. We spent a few hours walking around the night bazaar (lovely), and then headed back to our guesthouse, where apparently the group staying in the room above us had managed somehow to subvert the ban on alcohol sales. I think they may have also been bowling. In the room. I finally fell asleep sometime around 3:30 am and was none too happy when the alarm went off at 6 so we could catch our 6:30 bus back to Chiang Mai. But, no matter, I have a new visa, and I'm officially welcome in Thailand until March 30th. Fingers crossed that I don't get arrested sometime between then and April 1st, and I'll just have to pay a small fine when I fly out to India.

As I was riding the bus back to Chiang Mai, I was thinking of all the other bus rides, train rides, boat rides, plane rides I've been on during this trip. I know I've told some of you about some of them. From watching a family of Romanians throw what looked like all their worldly possesions onto a train, to almost getting left at a busstop in Serbia, to riding on the world's tiniest minibus in Laos, to hanging out for hours in an airport in the Philippines, to being awoken by police on a boat in Halong Bay in Vietnam, and let's not forget that looooong train ride across Siberia, there have been many, many transportation adventures. Here's one of my favorites from Turkey, back in October. At the time I think I sent this to a couple friends, but thought you all might enjoy it.

October 17, 2007: I watched the sweetest scene last night outside my bus window and just thought I'd share it with you....

I took a night bus from Istanbul to Goreme last night which has to go down in my top 5 (bottom 5?) travel experiences so far. I'm sick with some kind of nasty cold, and while it was a non-smoking bus of course the driver gets to smoke the whole trip which was awesome for me being just 2 rows back from the front. Also... sort of funny, sort of weird, sort of disturbing, the movie selection for the trip was "Dawn of the Dead", unedited, save for being dubbed over in Turkish. So there's this bus full of old people, babies, young kids etc. and this godawful, gory American horror movie on. Yuck. I just turned on the iPod and closed my eyes tight.

Anyhow, the movie had finally stopped (thank goodness), and we pulled into a rest-stop, probably around midnight. I'm listening to Brett Dennen, "The One Who Loves You Most" (always need the soundtrack info), and I look out the window and notice there is a group of kids standing near the bus in the next bay. I would guess there are all around 19-22. There are fıve of them, 2 gırls and 3 boys. The two girls are coupled up with two of the boys and there is one "extra" boy with a guitar strapped to his back. It becomes pretty obvious that one of the girls is leaving. She starts hugging everyone, the two boys that aren't her boyfriend hug her tight and kiss her on both cheeks, she turns to the girl and they hug for a long time before she fınally turns to the boy that is obviously her boyfriend and hugs him tight and kisses him on the mouth. He takes her hand and leads her up and on the bus. About a minute or so later, one of the other boys gets on the bus to retrieve him. He gets off the bus and basically just falls into the arms of his other buddy, the one with the guitar. I can just tell he's crying hard, and the boy with the guitar just holds on to him and rubs the back of his head and lets him cry. He's not saying anything to him or anything, just holding him. I watch as the girl standing outside the bus takes a call on her cell phone, which I assume is from the girl leaving on the bus. They are all, save the crying boy, watching the bus pull away and waving. Then the third boy joins the other two hugging and they all just stand and hold on to one another. This just *killed* me.... I know I am a complete sap anyway, but I totally started to cry. Don't you just remember having those dramatic goodbyes? :) I think the sweetest for me was to see these young men who looked so "tough" be so gentle with one another. There was no punching on the arm or trying to shake off the sad, just this open-armed (literally) acceptance of the crying.

It made me think of something else I saw when I was at that war photo exhibit in Croatia. They had this part of the exhibition where there was a video that a journalist had made of some Israeli soldiers walking into an ambush in an abandoned building... it was really scary and there was a point when they thought one of their officers wasn't going to make it, but they eventually pulled him out. Of course during the fighting these guys are all business and serious and shouting and yelling and everything, but there was this amazing scene after the officer was safe and in the hospital. His commanding officer came in to see him and laid his head down on his chest and just said, I love you, Avi, I was scared for you. Again... so amazing to see these big tough guys be so soft.

Allrighty...just thought I'd share the sappiness...

Just what makes that little ole ant think he can move a rubber tree plant?

I'm feeling very inspired today. I think most of you received my emails, but in case you didn't, here's the rundown. (And by the way, if you'd like to get emails from me, but don't, shoot me an email at josierandles@gmail.com.) Last night before I went to bed, I sent out an email asking for donations for a new refrigerator for the new kitchen here at the school in Kewsua. I said that Stacia and I intended to fast until we received the funds to be able to buy the fridge ($850).

This morning when Stacia and I checked the paypal account she set up for this fund, we had already raised $726.00, along with a $100 pledge that I received in an email. As we were typing out "thank yous" and feeling a bit stunned, another $55.00 in donations came in. We met our goal. Before I even got a chance to blog about any of this. Before lunch. Which, incidentally, we haven't eaten yet... I think we might just hold out 'til dinner, you know as an excercise.

I'm finding it hard to put into words how thrilled I am about this turn of events. Today I'm feeling very blessed to have so many incredible people in my life. Thank you for your help! I'm going to sign off with the same quote from Gandhi that ended my emails... it's ringing very true for me today. I'll write more soon.

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. - Gandhi

3/5: Updated to add: Here are some before and after pictures of the school kitchen that Stacia has taken. Also, we're heading down to Chiang Mai on Saturday to purchase the new fridge!

Don't turn on the lights, cuz I don't want to see...

You know what I don't like about Kewsua?

All of the creepy crawlies that share our "barn", which Stacia has begun somewhat less than affectionately referring to as the "rat palace". The other night I woke up and heard the unmistakable sound of a rodent rustling through the plastic bags stored near the kitchen. I lied there petrified, a series of thoughts racing through my sleepy brain. Thoughts mostly involving my hopes that the rat was small, and alone, and would stay as far away from my room as possible. Then I started to get a little angry about that damn cat I've been sneaking food and antibiotics too... why isn't the cat chasing the rat away?? Isn't that what cats do?? I hoped the rat would just leave... I tried not to think about how much I needed to use the toilet, and wondered what the chances were that my mosquito net would keep a rat out of my bed... not great, I figured. I finally just turned my iPod on and listened to music until I willed myself to fall back to sleep. Aaack. We have taken to leaving the bathroom light on, since it seems that's where the rats are entering, and for the last two nights I haven't heard them. I have also stopped feeding the cat in the hopes that she'll work up an appetite and get back to work. You may think this is cruel, but there are probably not RATS running around your house.

In addition to the rats, there are ants, and spiders big enough to make you jump a little when you see them. Occasionally Stacia or I will walk into the kitchen or bathroom and there will just be a swarm of ants on the wall. In fact, this is so common, that most often our reaction is something along the lines of "Hmmm... I wonder what those ants are after?" I can't imagine how quickly I'd have the Orkin man on the phone if I were at home, but up here, there is just not a lot that can be done. The night before last, I noticed a particularly large spider in the bathroom. It looked a little menacing and had some weird markings on it's back that made me think it might be just a little bit poisonous. I mentioned it to Stacia, but the thing was really high up on the wall, and out of my reach. A little later, Stacia goes in to use the bathroom and notices it has moved which kind of freaks her out. I decide I can be brave and kill the spider (this might give you an idea of how BIG the thing was, normally I have some compassion and will try to "catch & release" the spiders, but we honestly did not have a glass in the house big enough to trap this beast under). I go into the bathroom with a chair and armed with a house slipper. Stacia's there to watch. I look at her and say, "Don't scream, OK? You'll make me fall off this chair." Stacia is the kind of girl you just know is going to scream about the spiders. So what happens? What always happens when you try to kill a big spider. I take a whack at it with the slipper and it runs away. Stacia starts screaming bloody murder and I scream too, mostly because Stacia's screaming has completely freaked me out. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Stacia says. She grabs a bottle of 30% DEET mosquito repellent and says, "Here! Use this! This will kill it!!" The spider is almost out of reach, but I spray it with a few bursts of the "Sketolene" and it just starts running around like crazy. Stacia screams again. "Stop it! Stop screaming!" I yell (this is totally helpful, by the way). I start trying to smash the spider with the slipper and it keeps getting away from me, and now I'm just really hoping it's not some kind of jumping spider that's going to attack me. My heart is racing, and the thing runs into a crack between the wall and a little shelf. Except I can still see most of it because it's so huge. I manage to kind of wedge the slipper behind the shelf and the spider falls, which sets Stacia off again screaming, and then I scream a little too and kind of make that crying sound from the carwash story (if you don't know this story, I'm just going to have to tell you this one live, later). Then, all the craziness is over and the poor spider has been put out of his misery (this probably took about 30 seconds, tops) and Stacia and I just look at each other and start laughing hysterically.

Later, we were talking about what all the villagers must think of us, and I said, they have to think we're crazy, but clearly they're not all that concerned about us, because they just heard us screaming as if someone may have been trying to murder us and no one even bothered to come knock on our door to see if we were alright. So there you have it. I just hope a tiger doesn't sneak in one of these nights...

Just nod if you can hear me...

One of my favorite things about the Thai language (other than the fact that you don't have to conjugate verbs) is that it's really kind of poetic. Case in point, the phrase "Do you understand?" is "Kao jai mai?", which literally translates to "Heart enter, no?" There's something I like about this, the idea that as I'm asking if someone understands me, I'm asking if what I've said has entered their heart.

I've also learned though, that the phrase "Good job!" in English, uttered with the inflection you might expect from an enthusiatic nanny/teacher/budding SLP sounds exactly the same as the Thai word for "fart". The kids, especially those older boys, snicker every time I slip and say this. It's fun for everyone...

OK, here's a question... who's reading this lately? C'mon, write me a note, leave a comment, something.... ;)

Don't you know it's gonna be alright...

I'm feeling almost carried away by the energy in the village these past couple of days. Yesterday afternoon a group of high school students from an American school in Japan arrived to help build a new kitchen for the school here in Kewsua. These kids are a phenomenal bunch, and I am so impressed by their commitment, excitement, and starry-eyed idealism. Their student leader/president of their service organization is a sweet kid named Carson (his name alone was enough to make him an instant favorite) whose future plans include attending Georgetown University next year, joining the Peace Corps, and "changing the world".

It is hard for me to find words to describe what it's like to be here at this time and watch as Stacia's hopes and dreams for this little village start to come to fruition. It is inspiring to say the least. By Thursday, the students at Kewsua school will have a brand new kitchen, much bigger and much more solidly built than it's predecessor. In mid-March, construction will begin on a new dormitory for the children from nearby villages that walk in to school each Monday morning and stay for the week. Soon after, a cafeteria will be completed. All of this was made possible because Stacia showed up here 7 months ago and decided she wanted to help these kids.

Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Stacia is such an incredible example of what can be accomplished when just one person decides to "be the change" and get the ball rolling... the series of fortunate circumstances that have unfolded, and the number of people that have aligned to help accomplish the goals that she set forth is truly amazing. I feel honored and privileged to be here now, to not only witness what is occurring, but to get to be a part of it. You can read more about Stacia's story and motivation and plans here. And while you're at it, check out what my friend Mandy has been up to in India. These girls are fantastic...

And speaking of feeling inspired... here's something else that has me feeling inspired lately. I know I'm a day late, but linking to this in honor of President's Day, and with hope that he's next...

I am who I am, who I am... who am I now? Requesting some enlightenment...

So this post might be a little "out there" for some of you, so bear with me,
or skip it, or just read it and shake your head and roll your eyes a bit...
or just maybe, notice a little bit of magic...

Stacia and I went for a little hike yesterday, something that has become an
almost daily habit, another of my favorite things about hanging out in this
little mountain village. We got back, tired after the looooong hill climb
back up to our little house, and decided to be good girls and do crunches.
After finishing that little exercise in torture, we're lying down on a grass
mat in our living room, exhausted. We start talking about the project Stacia
has undertaken up here, raising funds for a new kitchen and dormitory for
the schoolchildren (a project, by the way, that I am much overdue in writing
about and will fill you in on shortly... as I type, villagers are breaking
ground for a 6X6 meter concrete slab that the new kitchen will sit on, and
this evening a team of volunteers will arrive to begin building... you can watch a quick video of this here). So, Stacia and I are discussing how sometimes you just feel drawn to a place... sometimes after visiting, you just know you're going to return. And I start
talking about the Philippines, how when I left there, I knew I wanted to go
back. I'd actually already told Stacia about my time there, how much I
enjoyed it, the people I met and all of that. But as we were lying there on
the floor in our little "barn" I started talking out my "plan" for what a
return to the Philippines might look like. I told her about Shannon and Seth
and how they talked about putting up some cisterns in Reney & Zosama's
cornfields, and maybe installing some solar panels. I talked about putting
together a small team of maybe a couple of SLP's and perhaps an optometrist
(ahem... if only I knew some of those...) and doing some vision and hearing
screenings for the school children and maybe even some speech & language
evaluations if we could get hooked up with a speech pathologist that speaks
Cebuano. I said I figured if we got connected with an NGO in the Philippines
and were able to gather some donations, we could make a 3 week trip to Cebu
and accomplish all of these things. Stacia concurred, and offered some tips,
and said, you know, I think I'd like to go along...

So, cut to an hour later, we've eaten a little dinner and are sitting around
chatting. We decide to pull out these "angel cards" that Stacia has. A
little like Tarot cards. "Same same, but different", as they so often say
here in SE Asia. I go first. Shuffle the cards and wonder what to ask. And
so, I say, "I want to know what my life's going to be like when I get home."
I continue shuffling the cards and begin to sort them into 3 piles. As I do this, I notice there's a card turned facing the wrong way in the deck. A quick consult to the Angel Card Guidebook, tells me to set this aside as a "special message". I then take the top card from each of my three piles and turn it face up in front of me.

This is what I see. My special message: All is well. Everything is happening exactly as it is supposed to, with hidden blessings you will soon understand.

My first card, which the guidebook tells me is the "basis of the situation" I've requested information about, says "Brilliant Idea: Your idea is an answered prayer. Even though it might push you past your comfort zone, know that God doesn't give you anything you can't handle. Ask for, and be willing to receive, all of the support you need to bring the idea to fruition."

My second card, the "truth of the situation", says "Indigo & Crystal Children: You have a bond with children. In particular you can help children who are sensitive. Your life purpose involves helping & teaching children. You're here to help these children retain and amplify their psychic and spiritual gifts... you can help ensure their bright future, and I will help you."

The third and final card, described as the "resolution or outcome of the situation" says "Spread Your Wings: Don't hold back right now. The timing is perfect and you're ready to soar. Although you may feel intimidated by the prospect of change, and by the thought of moving past your comfort zone, you're ready to fly high. Welcome new opportunities and know it's safe to follow your heart and dreams. Keep your focus upon love, service, and spirit and avoid naysayers or skeptics. Remember that you inspire others with your story of turning challenges into victories."

This all kind of gave me the shivers... in a good way.

I'm thinking a return to the Philippines in 2009 sounds about right. I think I may have implicated a few of you as well, as far as "the universe" is concerned. Are you in?

More to come...

Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...

Valentine
Originally uploaded by Josie R

Happy Valentine's Day.

Sending love and hugs your way from far, far away.

Life in the village continues to be quiet and peaceful and just what I need right now, I think. Early in the week the power was out for just over 24 hours, lending even more of a "Little House on the Prairie" feel to the whole experience. We got to eat dinner by candlelight, and spent several hours being entertained by the four 6th grade boys who came to visit, sitting on our living room floor in the dark, giggling and telling stories and trying out their English skills. One of them, Pucharipone, engaged me in a conversation reminiscent of many I have had with my cousin Josh. I like to call this one "Who Would Win in a Fight?" Though instead of action-movie hero matchups, Pucharipone was curious as to who would emerge victorious in fights between various teachers. I engaged him in this line of questioning for quite some time, until he turned to Ton (the Thai teacher) and asked her, "Kruh Ton," (kruh means teacher), "If you and Kruh Josie fight, who will win?" Ton answers, "We are friends! We don't fight!" Hmmm... yes, I suppose that is the more reasonable and appropriate answer...

I was half a world away from my home...

So today marks both a week since I arrived in Kew Sua and five months since I left Seattle. I have this strange sensation that time is somehow speeding up.

This past week flew by. Any worries I may have had about being bored up in this little village were for naught. I have had lots of time to catch up on my reading, and my emails, (and my sleep!) but the days have felt pretty full. Maybe it's all the extra time it takes to do little things that would only take a few minutes at home (e.g laundry!). I think I've said this to a few of you already, but I solemnly swear that I will NEVER complain about doing laundry again. Hand washing an entire load of clothes with only a bucket and a spigot takes a loooooong time. I was having flashbacks to all those Laura Ingalls Wilder stories I read as a kid, as I heated up water for my showers and my laundry this week (yes, I've caved... I can't do the ice-cold shower every day, so I've taken to boiling water when I need to wash my hair).

Some highlights from this week...

- Teaching the 2nd grade English class all by myself (I'm picking in a little Thai... stuff like, "Do you understand?" "How do you say it in Thai?" "Do you like it?"). The kids in general seem pretty amused by me and are so far humoring my absolute butchering of their beautiful language (tonal languages are HARD!).

- Making friends with a little deaf boy in the 4th grade. He now comes and sits next to me every day so he can draw pictures and tell me stories about Spiderman... I'm getting better and better with my gesturing.

- A visit from the ice-cream man. Tracey and I about fell out of our chairs when we heard the tinkling tunes of the ice-cream man as he pulled into the village on Thursday afternoon. We just looked at each other wide-eyed. I can't even explain how remote this little village is. It sits on the top of a mountain overlooking a valley. The next "town" (there's a small mini-mart and a noodle stand there) is over 7 km away on a bumpy dirt road. The next city is about 35 km away. I have no idea where the ice-cream man came from, but he arrived with lovely, home-made ice-cream. It was frozen into waxed-paper wrapped tubes. He cut off short lengths and stuck them on skewers and was selling them for 5 baht each (about 15 cents). Tracey and I chipped in and bought ice-creams for all the kids who didn't have any money, much to their delight.

- A failed attempt at hitch-hiking into Sameung for the Strawberry Festival. Stacia assured us that it would be easy to catch a ride into "the city" and *everyone* hitchhikes in Thailand. Perhaps if we had started early in the morning we would have had some success. As it was, we walked for MILES over very hilly terrain and never made it to Sameung. I did get lucky and get a motorbike driver to take me the last 4 miles home...

- Painting a mural on the new wall in our little bungalow/barn. I think I told you that Chantip, the school caretaker/handyman built a new wall in Stacia & Ton's house to add a room for me and Tracey. We spent Friday night painting a totally girly mural on it (pictures on flickr).

-Eating sticky rice and larb made from raw pork with all of the other teachers. (I was the only falang (read: Westerner) brave enough to try this.)

Spending time in this village is certainly making me think about my life at home and the things I have so often taken for granted. I have spent some time thinking about what I really need in my life. Not just in terms of things, but in terms of space. We have so much of both....

More soon!

The life I want to live in this quiet town...

I've been up in the village for 3 full days now. Starting to get used to sleeping on a cement floor, padded only by woolen blankets, and taking a shower that involves dumping buckets of VERY cold water over my head. It is definitely a simple life up here, and while I've had to forego a few luxuries, I find that I'm really enjoying myself. The kids are as much fun as I had remembered, and I'm having a blast trying my hand at teacher for awhile, as well as taking a turn as student and trying to soak up as much of the language as I can. Today I had to stand in front of the 5th & 6th grade classes and recite the days of the week in Thai (FYI... I was almost 100% correct... Thursday is giving me a bit of a problem though).

Stacia, the longterm English teacher here, is incredible, as is her roomate Ton, who has been cooking us delicious Thai meals every evening. My friend Tracey (we met in Moscow) has joined us for awhile, and it feels a bit like summer camp up here. I'm going to try to post some pictures so you get a sense of the place, and I will write more soon.

We all end in the ocean, we all start in the streams...

In theory, a two day boat trip up the Mekong River sounds exciting, and adventuresome, and perhaps romantic. In reality, it's just a really long time on a boat that isn't very nice. Having reached that point in my travels where my money really is worth so much more than my time, I decided that the 80+ hours of travel (including boat time, bus time, and 2-overnights in dodgy border towns) was worth it, seeing as it was less than 25% of the cost of flying (the flight's just under an hour, incidentally), and besides who knows when I might get this chance again?

I'm sure it's one of those experiences I'll look back on fondly, and in fact, the boat journey behind me, I'm already able to smile about a few of the more "exciting" highlights. Things got off to a bit of a shaky start when Amir & I arrived at the pier (early, as instructed) to find that we weren't taking the "nice" boat with the comfortable looking seats I'd been shown the day before, but a smaller, shabbier version with hard benches and thin cloth cushions. No worries, I thought, it's only for 9 hours (today!), right? I decided to put on a happy face, tucked into my breakfast baguette, and got ready for the adventure.

About 30 minutes later, I was thinking about how many times I've been told I'm lucky because I *never* get motion-sickness. Except, apparently, on a rocking boat in the middle of the Mekong. Ughh... things quickly took a turn towards miserable. I found a place to lie down behind the engine "compartment" and decided I would try to sleep. It's probably a testament to how badly I felt that I was able to sleep over the absolute racket of the engine. I tried listening to my iPod and was a bit concerned when I couldn't even hear the music at it's loudest setting. My mind wandered back to all those lectures about what levels of noise exposure cause permanent hearing damage and I rooted around in my bag until I found a pair of earplugs. I slept with the earplugs in and my hands clamped over my ears, for nearly 3 hours. Luckily I felt much better when I woke up...

We arrived in Pak Beng "The Jewel of the Mekong"... oh wait, that's Laos... around 6 pm. I cannot begin to describe to you how hard it was raining. It was almost laughable, except at this point, we were all pretty tired and crabby. And no less so after a half-mile climb up the hill into town. We finally ended up in a very shabby (but dry and at least relatively clean room) costing just about $3/night. You do remember the adage about getting what you pay for??

Another very rainy day on the boat today. I was snoozing and listening to some music this morning, trying to catch up on some of the sleep I didn't get last night, owing to the constant battering of rain on the tin roof, when a guy from New Zealand tapped me on the shoulder. I open my eyes, pop out my headphones, and he says, "We've just seen a tiger over on the riverbank." WHAT?? Story of my life... I miss all the good scenery reading or sleeping. :)

We arrived in Huy Xia this evening just minutes after the border with Thailand closed. I think there is some deal between the boat operators and the guesthouse owners in town. The room here is a little nicer and there's even a hot shower, so things are looking up. Tomorrow morning, I'll catch a quick ferry to the other side of the Mekong and I'll be back in Thailand. Sunday, it's up to the mountains for awhile.

Out of college, money spent, see no future, pay no rent...

So some of you more observant types may have noticed that I've added a "donate now" button to this webpage. Hadn't noticed? Look to the right.... can you see it now? This is something I've struggled with a little, but after some interest on the part of a few of you, and some financial need on the part of me, I've decided to provide an easy way for you to contribute to my trip fund if you are so inclined. Please know that I don't put it up there to pressure you in any way, and while any contribution will be massively appreciated, certainly none is expected! It's pretty straightforward, but if you're interested in making a donation and have any questions, just shoot me an email. All the transactions are handled by PayPal, it's all secure and all that good stuff. I have run into a couple of unexpected expenses, and while I'm doing fine right now, I'm guessing things are going to get pretty interesting in the next few months. So, if you're struck by the desire to help me continue this journey as long as is possible, then by all means donate away. Just FYI... regardless of the amount donated, I don't intend to stay away longer than I had originally planned, so I will be back by August 2008 (if not before!) regardless. I further promise to not use your donations to buy large buckets of vodka & tonic (unless of course you'd like me to...).

Thanks so much all.

In other news... I'm leaving Laos tomorrow to head back to Thailand. I have really enjoyed having some time to relax and appreciated the low-key atmosphere in Laos after the "busy"ness of Vietnam. It's really been interesting to experience the different atmospheres in these two countries. I have (finally) posted the rest of my pictures from Hoi An, Hanoi, Halong Bay and the past week or so in Laos. I've tried to elaborate on some of the pictures, but I know there is still much to tell. I will say this... Vietnam is a beautiful country. I was amazed by the incredible scenery I saw there, and honestly surprised by how little animosity or bitterness I encountered given the history between our country and Vietnam. I was at times overwhelmed by the constant need to bargain for everything, and can't say I will ever look back fondly at the traffic, but I am so glad I went.

As a side note, I read a couple of great books while I was in Vietnam, both dealing with the war. If you're interested, check them out.... When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. I would also recommend The Vietnam Reader edited by Stuart O'Nan.

More soon... I'll be on a slow boat to Thailand for the next two days.

Lonely and dreaming of the west coast...

I'm in Luang Prabang, Laos. It's pouring down rain and reminding me so much of home and all of the people I love there. This is a beautiful little city... scattered with temples and set along the banks of the Mekong River. There are gorgeous markets and groups of monks everywhere. Last night I walked past an internet cafe and saw 3 monks in their orange robes clustered around a computer screen. I plan to spend a couple of days here before taking the slow boat back to Thailand where I'll meet up with Stacia and another friend of mine, Tracey, and head up to the school at Kiew Sua. I will write more soon and hopefully update pictures too!

And I never lost one minute of sleeping, worrying about the way things might have been...

It's been awhile since I've posted. I will have to write a bit to "wrap up" Vietnam, but I do want to tell you more about that. I left for Laos on Monday evening and am in Vang Vieng after spending two days in Vientiane. I met a group of very nice people on the bus crossing from Vietnam to Laos and have been spending the past several days with them. We are off to go tubing down the river. Pictures and stories to come!

Then peace will guide the planet and love will steer the stars...

I was thinking there were quite a few birthdays coming up in the next few weeks, and suddenly realized a whole big bunch of my best girls are Aquarians. Sandy, Shelbie, Amie, Tracy, Eboli, Kristin, and my cousins Jodie and little Sammie Annie... happy happy birthday to all of you. I'm sad that I won't be toasting your special days with you, or watching you blow out the candles on your first birthday cake, or "slipping" on the dance floor at your birthday party, but please know that I'm thinking of you. To quote the prolific Dave Matthews, the always poetic 50 Cent, and the inimitable Olympia Dukakis (as Clairee Belcher in Steel Magnolias) respectively:

I love you oh so well, like a kid loves candy and fresh snow.
I love you like a fat kid loves cake.
And you know I love you more than my luggage.

Cheers!

Happy B-day to you Aquarian boys too... (Adam? Paul? Are you reading this?)

Lookin' for adventure, and whatever comes our way...

I arrived safely in Hoi An this afternoon, having survived my 5 day journey by motorbike. What an amazing experience. Much less scary than I thought it might be, but not without its nervewracking moments; I was definitely glad I wasn't the one driving. I was accompanied by Vui aka "Happy" who fully lived up to his nickname. I don't think there was a moment when he wasn't smiling. We were also joined by a Swiss guy who rode a rented bike and tagged along. This wasn't part of the original agreement and I was initially pretty irritated by it, but he was friendly enough, lackluster personality not withstanding, and I decided I needed to just get over it. There are tons of new pictures up on Flickr, so you can get a glimpse of what I saw along the way.

As usual though, I find the pictures don't really capture it, and I think it's something I'll probably have to write more about later. There was so much to see. I had so many of those "I can't believe I'm doing this!" moments. Some highlights: drinking rice wine with a local family, having my palm and face?! read (FYI- my face is 90% OK; good eyes, good ears, good mouth, nose... not so much), visiting small minority villages, taking in some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen, hiking down to swim in an old volcano crater, and drinking and laughing hysterically with some of the other guides and the Canadian and Australian travelers they were carting around. My guide tried to convince me to marry him, but I politely declined. I will have lots of stories about this trip... you'll all get sick of hearing about it. :)

Hoi An is a beautiful little city; I can think of a number of you who would go nuts here... it seems that every other shop is a tailor's and you can get anything you'd like hand-sewn in about 24 hours, along with made-to-order shoes! I overheard an Australian girl telling her mom over the phone that she'd had 2 dresses, a suit, 3 skirts, a pair of leather boots and 3 pairs of high heels made today.

Hope you are all well. More soon!