Modern Cave Girl

For the past couple of years, Froody and I have been improving our diet by eating more fruits and vegetables and proteins- more real foods- and less breads, rice, grains, pastas, and fake foods. Believe me, in this modern day and age it's real hard to buy food that doesn't contain chemicals or high fructose corn syrup. You have to be careful and it requires "constant vigilance."

Anyway, during our trip it was even more challenging, so we just ate what the locals ate (with the occasional trip to McD's and etc.). But, now that I'm back home and settled, it's time to get serious. The signs are all there telling me that now is the perfect to get back in that cave! (so to speak):

1) Look Better (Almost) Naked challenge at the gym
2) Froody buying the book "The Primal Blueprint" (and me reading it)
3)New Year's Eve- day of making resolutions!
4)Blue Moon tonight

I mean, come on, who can ignore so many messages from the great beyond? And, besides, tonight is the night to live it up with wine, champagne, snacks, etc. In fact, I'm going to have a nice bowl of granola (hey, this is how I live it up) today, because as they say: eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we (primal)diet!

In a nutshell, the primal blueprint is all about diet and exercise in a way that promotes a healthy lifestyle. As far as food goes, I'm supposed to eat stuff that Grok and his mate ate about 10,000 years ago, before the agriculture explosion. Today I'm excited about it, as it seems like the natural next step to what I've already been trying to do: eat real food.

But next time I'll be ready to bitch and moan about the few non-food foods I still eat that I'll have to give up. :(

Lordy, Lordy, I'm 40

I read this blog and how she's getting ready for her mid-life crisis to begin at 40 and since I'm already there, maybe I need to get started on it.

I'm very happy with my private-life, just not with my work-life. Teaching is hard and thankless, as every teacher will tell you. I'm teaching a class I can't teach (it feels more like I'm "showing"math rather than "teaching" it). Also, seems like the district wants to increase the number of students per class. I don't know about you, but 32 teens in one room seems too many to me already! I'm sure next year will be better for me in the classroom, but not good enough.

Anyway, I keep thinking of finding something else to do. But...what? There's the whole "do what you love" thing. What do I love doing? I love sitting in front of the TV. I love knitting. I like painting and writing. I love my ratties. Can't imagine anyone giving me money to watch TV and knit. Also, my paintings and writings aren't good enough to inspire anyone to give me $$ for them. Rat-breeding is also out. At $30/rat, I'd have to sell a lot of rats to make a living out of it!

Mainly I just want a job that I can "leave" when I leave, you know?? Not put in all these at-home hours. Not be stressed out and graying over it. Not losing sleep about it. It's just not worth it sometimes.

I keep thinking I could work for Trader Joe's. I like food. Or maybe I could be a librarian. I like books. Pretty much anything I could do for about $40K/year. Traveling would also be awesome, as long as I could take Froody with me.

What Are You?

So, all month-long NPR's weekend edition has had this series called "Beyond Black and White" about people and race and ethnicity in America. I've actually enjoyed listening to it, as it features people who have been dealing with a lot of the same questions I've been trying to answer for years. As a kid growing up in America (well, in Southern California) you do get asked the question, "What are you?" fairly regularly: signing up for anything, going to school, meeting new people, etc. I've tried answering this question several different ways.

Racially, I'm brown. I know, I know, that's a color not a race, but I can't hide it, not even if I wanted to. OK- racially I'm mixed, but it's pretty complicated. According to the information I've gathered from my grandmothers, I'm: Spanish, French, Afro-Cuban, (probably also Mexican-Indian but grandma wouldn't admit it), Iranian, Italian, Jewish, and Japanese. So, racially, I look like anyone and everyone. If you've been following this blog (bless you!), then you know that in the Middle East and India people thought I was a local, until I opened my mouth.

Ethnically, I'm American-Mexican. I totally identify with being American. In fact, when I was a teenager/early twenties and people would ask, "What are you?" my answer was, "I'm American." *sigh* Sadly, this made things more unclear because then they'd ask me what tribe I belonged to or how many hundreds of years my family has been in California. So, I quickly gave that up.

Culturally, I'm Mexican-American, but I don't speak Spanish so for some this doesn't make me "Mexican" enough. When my family emigrated to the US, the attitude back then was, "We're in America now, so let's be American," and they embraced the language and a lot of traditions like Independence Day and Thanksgiving. They still kept some bits of Mexican culture like the food and music, piñatas on your birthday, and they all speak Spanish. But my cousins, siblings, and I didn't grow up bilingual.

Anyway, part of me thought that being back in America would make this question moot, 'cuz I'm back home. But, I got hired at a school where I am one of two brown people. Now, that doesn't mean that the other teachers aren't culturally mixed (which they are) but they have asked, "What are you?"

My answer? I figure if they ask, then they are going to get my big, ol' list of races that I already gave you. To me, being mixed in any way is fairly American.

Library Gossip

So, I went back to the library today. It was good; got 3 hours of grading done! The science tests are all graded, which means I can give the kids back their tests tomorrow. It also gave me some time this evening to plan out the next project and get a start on tomorrow's power point lecture.

But, what I really wanted to share with you all are some things I noticed about the library. For starters, it is very popular with the several homeless people who live here in Menlo Park. ( No surprise.)So much so that the library staff posted a sign in the bathroom prohibiting bathing and laundering, with the location of the nearest shelter where they can bath and wash clothes.

Also, the library is full of adults. I'm more used to seeing tons of kids at the library, but this weekend it was full of grown-ups doing quiet, grown-up stuff: reading the paper and magazines, computering, looking for books, and even using Skype. I guess kids have more to do on the weekends than adults.

But the strange thing I witnessed yesterday and today was the interaction between a math tutor (an older guy, probably in his mid- to late- 40s) and the tutee, a woman in her 30s. Man, she would argue with him, rant, demand explanations, and she even cried once. All over calculus. He just sat there, not really saying much. He let her do things her own way, and when they didn't work out then he'd step in and show her another way to solve the problem. There would be these periods of quiet, then she'd start in on him about why the equations didn't graph the same, and she'd seem to get more and more angry while he just sat there. Then, there'd be periods of concern, when she'd ask him how he was, what was wrong, did he want to go outside for a break. He pretty much responded to these queries in a quiet, calm voice, saying as little as possible. Today ended by her asking when they could get together again and offering to give him a ride home. Which he declined.

Anyway, it was weird. She would get totally aggro with him. I've never seen or heard of tutees getting all mad at their tutors on a regular basis.

Library Marm

Today i went to the library to grade some papers. i've never been in my neighborhood library, so i was grateful to find it large and quiet. being saturday, it thought it would be full of kids doing weekend stuff- animal show, read-aloud, etc. but, it was full of adults on their laptops or doing math with their tutors. i got a table to myself and graded one class-worth of tests in record time- 1hr 15 min.

on an unrelated note, my arms are tired already from typing! yesterday we did a great/hard workout and my muscles are still recovering. i'm sure white wine is very good for tired arm muscles.

Endophorins! Yeah!!

Just a quick post. Froody and I worked out this evening and I feel pretty good. I felt so good after the workout that I wished I could get paid to workout!

Today I did my first ever, all-by-myself, against-the-wall handstands! My trainer and I were so proud of me. :-) Also, I think I found my "sweet spot" for doing deadlifts. Today I DL'd 52 kg (that's like 115lbs to you).

At the end of the evening I felt that life was pretty good, and if I can do handstands and deadlifts, then I can handle pretty much anything.

The Crying Game

I hate to admit it, but I have been crying a lot more than usual. It's just stress, OK, but still....

You know, as a teacher you put a lot of yourself in your job, because it isn't just a job. The kids need more than just instruction. They need someone who believes in them and cares for them. They want to know that what you are asking them to do has some sort of purpose.

So, when someone criticises your teaching, you can't help but take it personally, even when part of you knows not to.

Therefore, another part of you just wants to tell them all to go to hell, and another part wants to say f*** this shi* and go work for Trader Joe's.

But, for now, I'll just sob on my husband's shoulder and know that next year will be better.

Like Poking Ants

So, this weekend I took the advice of Cairo Typ0 and went to a salon to get my hair done. Being Menlo Park, there were quite a few to choose from. The hair stylist asked me how I chose that particular salon and I said it was due to the fact that it's right across from my local Trader Joe's, so I see it all the time. Plus, it's big, so I figure it's got to be busy enough to be able to afford such a big space.

Anyway, I got a trim and dyed my hair. My "normal" coloring was a bit too dark for their darkest brown, yet not dark enough for the black. (Actually, my hair had orange, gray, brown, and more gray all over it). I chose to go black, and I'm really happy with it!

The blah thing about my new hair is that in every class the kids just got loud and annoying over my hair. Most of them liked it, but it was as if I grew another arm or something. sheesh! It actually took them a few extra minutes to calm down at the beginning of class because they all wanted to say something about it.

At least it was mostly positive. And, I do like it and that's all that matters.

Cute and Nice

Janola. She and her sister started my whole love affair with ratties.

Just wanted to share with the rest of the world my opinion on having rats as pets.

They totally rule. Rats are the best kind of pet. I have one sitting on my shoulder right now, sniffing my hair. I have another on my lap who can't decide whether to climb or jump down. And the third is exploring the computer desk, which eventually leads to "helping" me type.

Rats are awesome for a whole lotta reasons. They are quiet, for one. No barking or rude meowing at ungodly hours. They're small so they always know that you dominate their lives. While they do beg for food, if they get too annoying you just put them in their cage. Oh, and when they get tired, they put themselves away. Yup- they just up and go into their cage and nap or eat.

Rats are the original foodies. The quickest way to a rat's heart is through her stomach. Case in point: after hubby and I spent a weekend away, they were all in a huff because they were left alone and "locked up" in their cage for two days. To show their resentment, they acted like we were total strangers, running away from us and refusing to let us pet them. However, after a couple of extra snacks, all was forgiven and they were back to climbing onto and playing with us.

It's cute how something as small as a box of packing peanuts is, to them, a place of adventure. They love to dig through those packing peanuts and chew on a few. They also love to dig in the trash, going through waste paper and whatnots. Sometimes I put in seeds or nuts and they just love coming across this "treasure." They jump onto the basket's edge with their prize in their mouths, looking so pleased with themselves. Then they jump down and hide it in a corner somewhere.


I know you may find this hard to believe, but rats have personalities. In my current bunch, Lily is the most engaging. She has a certain Je ne sais quoi about her. Everyone picks up on her vibe. She's curious and outgoing. She's a rex, which means her coat is curly as well as her whiskers. (Which means she has to put up with me calling her "my little curly-cue" as I kiss her belly.) Her fur is extra soft, and she is a bit more active than her best friends Lisa and Lottie. Lily doesn't seem to have the "big bones" of Lisa and Lottie. Lottie lurves her food. She is my little pudge. She's no where near as fat as her great-great-great-great-grand auntie Fat Rat, but she is the biggest of the bunch. I have to make sure she doesn't get too many treats. On the other hand, Lottie is the love bug of the group.

Lisa is the beauty queen of this group. She has beautiful black fur. It's very shiny and smooth. She was our unexpected journey into babyhood earlier this year. Lisa had 17 babies in August and managed not to lose one. I think she's a bit more aloof than the others, but she does like a little lovin' now and then.
Too cute.

Ho-Ho-Holidays!

The holiday season is upon us! How do I know? It isn't the Christmas directions at the drug store, nor is it lay-a-way commercials on TV. Also, in this part of the world we don't have what you all call "weather," so no brisk, chill days. No frost. No rain.

No, no.

What did it for me was the return of the peppermint mocha at Starbucks! I love that stuff! And they only advertise it during this time of year. The holiday season. While others may scoff or pooh-pooh this time-marker, I find it rather cheery. Much better than the other seasonal cues of store sales and wooden snowmen.

So, happy holidays and to all a good-night!

VENGENCE IS MINE

Yesterday I had a conference. The parents were concerned about their son's grade in science (the only C), especially since he/they want to go to a private high school. Fortunately, his English teacher attended the meeting, too, and he was a big help and totally had my back. One reason the kid's grade wasn't better is that I'm way behind in my grading. (No surprise to you other teachers.)

The funny thing is, after this meeting and his parents going on and on about his grades and what he has to do, etc. the kid did not do last night's homework! Nor the night before's! I shared this with the English teacher at lunch who said I should totally email the parents.

So I did. Ha!

Just Some Thoughts

*My husband pointed out last night that we are empty nesters. How cool is that??
*I'm worried about my students' performance- the quiz average was 77%. It's a strange time we live in when 'C' isn't good enough. Turns out I ask "level 3" questions instead of just lower-level questions.
*One student felt I should have more questions on the tests. Weird.
*I'm watching a very chubby little girl walk through Starbucks. She'll probably order some sort of frappucino. Oh! she just ordered a water for her and her mom. That's awesome!
*I think I'm having a bad-hair year.
*I really don't like parent-teacher meetings. They always leave me feeling so drained.
*I actually miss working out. I didn't workout last week because I'm fighting off a cold, but I think I'll be OK today.
*Not sure how seriously I should be taking the whole "piggy flu" thing. Part of me just wants to resist the flu-shot pressure. It's like not buying cards for Valentine's Day.

Cash Money

Well, on top of working I also workout. I do it for health reasons, both physical and mental. I really do feel good after my workout class.

Sometimes, when I'm squatting and sweating and aching and grunting, I can't believe I actually pay someone good money to make me do this. Last night, we ran, did pull-ups, and cleans-into-overhead squats. :-( My butt was still sore from Wednesday's workout.

Of course, it's all worth it. I know that I'll get stronger. And, while I may only have lost 6 of my 15 lbs gained during my year abroad (actually, 8.5lbs were gained on the trip and 7 lbs were gained during my first month back in America. *sigh*), I've already lost about 4 inches in my hips and waist. I can fit into some of my pre-trip clothes! :-)))

And going to the gym really does reduce a lot of the stresses one experiences as a new teacher. It's nice to be a student in a class, goofing off and making jokes with the trainer/teacher, knowing that I don't have to know anything.

Because I paid someone else to tell me what to do and how to do it better, so that I can become a better person in the end. :-)

Toto, Where Are We?

Ok, so I've been at this new school for a month now. I'm just trying to make it from one day to the next, celebrating each week's end.

Only 8 months to go then hello summer!

Anyway, it's a different school alright. First of all, the class time is longer so I've had to make adjustments to my pacing. Also, that means no more days of just lecture-- it's too much for them and for me.

This also means that it takes less time to cover the material.

Speaking of lectures, it's kind of neat to say, "get ready for notes" and see 80% of the kids not only take notes, but get their papers set up for Cornell notes. Amazing.

However, this school, which is very good, doesn't have a special day class.

I think this year is the first time the STAR scores have been broken down into groups (ethnic and socio-economic) which really offended some of the teachers.

But, the staff is awesome. They are so supportive of me and all the other new teachers. I'm not expected to head the department (no one wants it) or any field trips this year. And, if I do one differentiated lesson, then I win. :-)

We also have a lot of TGIFs.

But the cincher.... as a staff, we are learning the Thriller dance to perform at lunch time on Halloween. Yup, at this school, everyone gets dressed up.

Overall, seems like good times.

Back to School

Yup, back in the saddle again, as the song says. I feel just like a first year teacher and those of you who teach know exactly how SUCKY a feeling that is.

I feel like I have no bottom, that I'm falling and all I can do is hope to land on my feet. Over and over again.

I feel like I have no past, just newness in front of me. I don't know why all my past experience has left me. I guess taking a year off from work will do that.

I have to learn again. Where to put the projector. How to make copies. How to grade papers. How to pass papers back. How to talk to students. How to open up a can of whoop-ass. So much learning.

I don't like my kids. But, I never like them before Thanksgiving (sometimes Christmas, sometimes Spring Break).

Things keep popping up. A bunch of "oh, yeah" moments.

I keep wondering if someone's parent is going to call me out on something. I wonder if my contract will be renewed next year. Why am I thinking all these negative thoughts? I need to give myself permission to mess up and realize that when I do (no "if" about it) the world will not end.

A part of me is cringing, curled up in a ball and won't let me help myself. Won't let me be positive about teaching again, about learning how to challenge those in my classroom, won't let me enjoy the other happy staff members.

I don't know why I can't just relax and breathe. But, writing this out has made me feel a bit better.

For now, at least.

Man, You'd Better Hope So!

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

I wasn't worried until they broke out the Earth Science questions. Go ahead, click on it and take the quiz yourself. I know you want to.

Last Chance to Boogie

Photo of my sister Dre in one of her many fabulous costumes.

It's 10"30pm on a Sunday and I just got home.

Tomorrow is my first official day of work with the San Carlos School District. It's an orientation, a day-long meeting for all their new hires, so it's no big whoop. Anyway, at 4:30 I was getting all settled into my normal, humdrum Sunday afternoon when I received a call of distress on my BatPhone.

My sister needed me, or someone, to shoot the vid for her dance revue. Ummmm....maybe I need to do some 'splainin'. My sister Dre is a professional bellydancer and the Tannourine Restaurant in San Mateo is one of her regular performances. Froody and I had been there before a couple of months ago for one of Dre's dance revues, where she and other local/national dancers perform throughout the evening. They are all very primo, and the food there is excellent. (OK-plugs are in, now on with the story.)

So, I get this call for help and I decide to go. After all, what else was I going to do but cook chicken for Froody and I and then sit in front of the computer working on school stuff and stressin' out over it. This sounded much better and it was so much fun! It was one of the few times this summer where I got to be social without the husband. I met some of Dre's friends, worked the video recorder, which really consisted of turning it off and on. I also got to eat some awesome food. For free. Man, I wish you all lived up here, 'cuz then I'd tell you to go there and eat.

Oh, and my glasses of wine were also free. Can you tell I've been drinking? Maybe a bit? Dre was the final performer and at the end of her set she and some of the other dancers got pretty much everyone in the restaurant up and dancin'. Even me. (It's been a long time since I took any belly dance lessons, but I remembered a move or two.) That was fun! I think the owner got dragged in for a song. It was like being part of "teh dance party" at the end of a movie. I must have been pretty good, because a couple of people came up to me and asked if I was a dancer, too, like my sister. Me! Can you imagine?

The perfect way to end the summer.

Crock Pot Belly

I've heard people say on the WeightWatchers boards and meetings that they've dug out their old slow cookers and have made many low-calorie meals. I've read blogs (OK- one blog) where people raved on about the glories of their crock pots. Even the FLY Lady recommends using a crock pot to make your life easier.

So I finally gave in to my curiosity and bought a crock pot. A Rival, which regards itself as the "original" crockpot. Right now, it's kinda nice to cook dinner out of the Joy of Cooking and serve it up to Froody, but the first day of school is looming ever closer and that usually means stir-fry for dinner. Now, don't get me wrong; stir-fry is great. But not every day. Five days a week. 36 weeks a year.

In my mind's eye, I see myself chopping up veggies and stirring up sauces on Sunday or Saturday. Then, sometime during the ensuing week all that is tossed into the crock pot along with some sort of meat and the baby is switched on. Lastly, I arrive home to the sweet, sweet smell of my dinner being cooked for me. *ahhhhh*

My first recipe for the CP was one from the WeightWatchers website for what they call Chicken Paprikash. I would call it Hungarian Inspired Chicken. It was OK, not bad, but Froody wasn't asking me to make it again. Tonight I decided to use a recipe from the interwebs- Apple Sausage with Onion and Mustard Sauce. I did a little switcheroo, replacing some bratwursts for half the chicken apple sausage called for in the recipe. I hope it turns out.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Being a summer housewife leaves me much time during the day for observation, especially when walking. I'm always curious who else doesn't have to go to work. I guess you wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are other stay-at-home wives, most of them mothers. I also see nannies pushing strollers about, sometimes collected in a small knot as they chit-chat in front of the library or playground. Retirees also abound. Most of them are older but a few are about my age.

If I go walking in the morning before 10am, then I see the bike-commuters. Now, I'm going to use a stereotype here, but they do look like computer programmers. For one thing, they're all dressed like Froody. And, since we now live in/near Silicon Valley, it probably isn't a bad assumption. Especially when they're biking around with backpacks that say "Google" on them.

Anyway, besides road bikes some of these commuters also use fancy-ish bikes like recumbent bikes or folding bikes. I have never seen so many folding bikes in my life! I used to associate them with RVers, but a folding bike makes sense for urban commuters as well. They fit neatly in your office or cubicle.

Of course, there are those who drive to work. A lot of these commuters do own fuel-efficient cars like the Toyota Prius, Honda Fit, and Toyota Yaris. I have even seen a Tesla parked in someone's driveway, all plugged in for the night! (And, yes, it was the roadster. Did you see the pricetag on the website???)

The people in my neighborhood seem to enjoy drinking coffee and eating Indian food. They also like gourmet pizzas, Hagen Dazs, and buying organic groceries. They don't like using plastic bags. Except at farmers markets. But, they do clean up after their dogs, a big plus. :-)

In the end, these people, my neighbors, seem to be alright. They are a lot like me, I suppose.

We're in the Money

I think I told you all that Froody has a new job. Now that he's working 5 days a week instead of 4 he is bringing in more money than before. Natch. Once I start working I'll be making money as well. Not only that, but I'll be earing more than if I had stayed in my old district.

Let's do a little math, shall we:

Froody's income + my income = a ton of money!!

I'm finding it hard to wrap my head around how much money we'll be earning. On the other hand, the money explains what I'm doing here in Menlo Park which, for some reason, feels ritzier than Santa Barbara. I'm surrounded by people who make a lot of money. The homes are very nice. The stores are very, very nice. The neighborhood is clean and beautiful.

Part of me feels like I don't belong. Living here feels surreal.

I do remind myself that we don't really have much more disposable income than before the trip. Any "extra-earnings" are going to the higher rent and etc. we're paying to live here.

I do think I'll get over it, however. The signs are good: I've got my eye on a pair of fancy Dansko shoes I'm trying to convince Froody I need. :-)

Home Sweet Home At Last

Froody and I just spent a week in New England visiting his side of the family. It was a nice, long week and a chance for Froody to finally relax, which he hasn't really done since we've gotten back. We spent a few days with his parents in their huge RV at a campground in rural Massachusetts. One afternoon, we went to an alpaca farm. It was kinda cool. Even Froody and his dad enjoyed it. Man, alpacas are so soft, no wonder I love knitting with their wool!

After that, it was off to my sister-in-law's house. She and her husband had a baby a few months ago so it was so nice to finally meet my new niece. :-) She is very adorable! Of course, it was good to re-establish ourselves with our other niece and nephew. We also managed to meet a couple of old friends of Froody's for dinner.

One really nice thing was getting on the plane this morning and realizing that we were actually going HOME. I think it's the feeling we didn't have when we returned to the US.

The difference was that we had our own place in our own neighborhood in our own climate we were heading for. It so feels good to finally be home!!!!

Back in teh US of A!!

Now that we've been home for 5 weeks, I can finally say that it feels so good to be home.

It didn't start that way.

Don't get me wrong- nothing bad happened or anything. It just didn't feel like home at first. It just felt like we were in another country where we happened to speak the language. And understand what was going. And knew some people.

Some of my initial reactions to America were mainly in amazement at how RICH everyone is! Yes, even you are one of the many rich people in this country.

There's also a lot of white people here. I guess everyone else in the world is right- Americans are white.

American's are also spoiled, spoiled, spoiled! Yes, even you! Even me. There is so much strife we never experience. I know, we've got plenty of problems and hardships, but, we live in a country where people spend $5 a day on large choco-caramel coffee drinks with extra-whip.

We also live in a country where people pay. to. pick. fruit. People, we PAY real MONEY to do this. I mean, what? srsly. No one outside of the Western World would even think to have a business like that.

But, now that I've been back and Froody and I got jobs and we got a new apartment and moved our stuff from Southern California to the Bay Area and visited my family and visited his family and unpacked and Froody started his job, NOW I feel like I'm home.

Although it still feels weird.

One More Adventure

Our time in South Korea was too short. It's a lovely country. We were both surprised by how quiet everyone and everything is, especially after staying in the Philippines for two months.

We were planning on spending 11 days in South Korea, but on the 10th day our ship had come in. Literally. We decided to book passage on a freighter from Busan to Long Beach, California. It was way more expensive than flying, but we couldn't pass up the chance of just one more adventure before arriving home.

The Hanjin Pretoria is a huge ship! And it isn't even the biggest one around! We arrived at night and got to take some pictures among the containers and giant cranes while waiting for the gangplank to be lowered. When aboard, we met the captain in the "office" on the Upper Deck (which is the lowest deck, just above the engine room, so I don't know why it's called the Upper Deck) and handed over our passports. Then the steward came and led us to our room. Actually, he loaded us into the elevator and met us on D deck. We had one of the two Extra Rooms to ourselves. It's a good sized room with a big enough bed, banquette, table, comfy chair, TV with VCR and DVD players, a head w/shower, and a small refrigerator. We flossed and brushed our teeth, rejoicing in being able to use water right from the tap. (The ship makes its own freshwater from the sea.)

The next day began early, at 6:30am. Plenty of time for Froody to do his morning stretches and for me to do a highly modified Crossfit-esque workout. This is pretty much how each of our 15 mornings began aboard ship. The rest of the day/s was spent filling in the time between meals: 7:30am - breakfast, 10:00am- tea w/cookies, 12:00pm- lunch, 3:00pm- tea w/cookies (cake on Sundays), 5:30pm- dinner. It was very relaxing. We both did a little of nothing and a lot of hobbies. I read a ton of books; all of the used ones I bought in the Philippines and some of the English ones in the Officer's Rec Room (most of the books were in Russian). Froody did computering and we both looked through and labeled all 6000+ pictures from our amazing trip. It was neat to see a pic and go, "oh, yeah, I remember doing that cool thing!"

I was surprised by the size and make-up of the crew. This huge ship had only 21 men working on her, including the captain. The captain and chief engineer were German. The cook and half of the crew were Russian. The steward and other half of the crew were from Kiribati. Everyone spoke English, and Froody and I spent a lot of our meals talking with the captain about traveling and the life of a sailor. The captain liked to bring up how certain German things like food and beer were better than their American counterparts. (Especially sausages. I couldn't get him to even consider the tastiness of gourmet chicken apple sausage.)

We spent some part of each day outside, walking a lap around the ship. The most exciting time was being in the ports of Osaka and Tokyo when containers were being loaded right outside our window! Watching the tugboats was a reminder of the ungainliness of the huge ships. I liked watching the crew as we pulled away from the dock, wondering if they still enjoyed the harbor sights after all their time at sea.

Some more nice pictures:

**Lovely morning in Long Beach

** Steward serving up German-inspired food to the captain

** Huge flippin' ship's engine. It's 10 m tall, people! With 9 cylinders! (Here we are standing in front of the spare cylinder. Did I say it was big?)

**At long last, LAND!

In retrospect, I'd say traveling by container ship is more of a retreat than an adventure. We were the only passengers on board and didn't mix with the busy crew much, although they all seemed to be very nice. It's a very quiet way to spend 2 weeks. Much of that time you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, not having seen land nor another ship for days.

Out of My League

Koreans take hiking to a whole other level. Seriously.

At home, if I wanted to go on a hike, I'd put on a pair of shorts, hiking shoes, sunglasses, and a t-shirt. I'd bring some water, an apple or orange and, if I'm feeling particularly saucy, a granola bar. Then I'd hike up to wherever, have my snack, enjoy the view, and hike back down. Easy-peasy.

The people we've encountered hiking in South Korea go all out. In everything. Take their trails. So many of the trails here go straight up, up, up. No switchbacks, I mean it. Parts of them are pretty steep. On our way to Manjangdae, in Songnisan National Park, the last 2km were not only steep (and up), but consisted almost entirely of stairs. STAIRS. How many of you want to climb up 2km of stairs?

The Korean hiker dresses the part. Almost everyone wears a well-put-together outfit of mesh cap, bandana, wicking pants, long-sleeved wicking shirt with a zip-up vest, hiking boots, and sunglasses. Half of them also use trekking poles, which means having a pair of wicking fingerless gloves. Hikers are mainly adults. We saw a lot of senior citizens, since we went out during the weekdays.

Lastly, Korean hikers do not mess around with their snacks. Once at their goal, they're either going to eat at one of the many small restaurants along the trail (like we saw on our hike around Sangdang Sanseong fortress) or munch on the wonderful foods they packed in. On top of Manjangdae peak, I saw one family settle down with sushi rolls and instant coffee (ie: carrying up a thermos of hot water) and another bring out bottles of soju for everyone. We chose to go back down the trail and eat at a restaurant when a couple of hikers, Miha and Kyam, invited us to share their lunch with them. They had brought an orange, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, greens cooked with sesame, watermelon, sushi rolls, a thermos of hot rice and beans sprouts, a smoked fish and red sauce dish, some sort of thick noodle in red sauce, squares of seaweed (for wrapping things in), kim chee, and, of course, soju.

It was a tasty meal and they really enjoyed sharing it with us. Her English was a little better than his, but there was a lot of charades, pointing, smiling and giggling on all sides. Miha would also use her cell phone for looking up English words. Once we learned that they lived in Cheongju and we were staying in Cheongju (we took a 1.5 hr bus ride to the park), they offered to give us a ride back in their car. We said yes and we all hiked down together. Before getting in the car, Miha bought us more snacks and drinks to try.

We were looking forward to a nice day in the outdoors, and found so much more. Thank you Miha and Kyam.

SOUTH KOREA

Flying into Seoul, South Korea was, thankfully, quite easy and boring. We did get scanned for fever at the airport, but since that didn't slow us down or anything, it was no big whup. Just for fun, each time either of us sneezed or cough before leaving the Philippines we'd say to the other, "Uh, oh! Better not be swine flu!"

Ah, the silly jokes between travelers.

Anyway, as soon as we arrived we met Paul, our Couchsurfing host, and he immediately took us out for traditional Korean bbq and soju, some really strong national liquor. The food was good. Any food would be good after the unsatisfying fare of the Philippines, but, really, Korean food is very good. I didn't know if I'd like the kim chee, but I love the crunchy spiciness of it! Korea is the first place we've been to in a long time where you get lots of veggies with your meals: kim chee, cucumber salad, pickled radish, and more kim chee.

Since we only have 11 days here, we've decided to spend a lot of it sightseeing. Our first sight was a quiet hillside, popular with the local shamans. It's tucked away behind huge apartment buildings and is quite peaceful and green. There's a small buddhist temple nestled there as well.

The next day (my birthday!!), we visited the DMZ and it's about as weird as what little I've read said it would be. The weirdness began about 30 min away, with the banks of the river Han covered with barbed wire and high fences, with guardposts every 200m. It's strange to think that South Korea has been on edge, anticipating an invasion from North Korea, and has been for years. Strange that North Korea has dug tunnels into SK (at least 4, that have been found), and that they tried to disguise one as a coal mine. Strange being told not to point, when to take pictures. Strange seeing soldiers on each side poised, still as statues, facing each other. The photo-happy Indonesians and the gift shop at the end were also weird.

Speaking of weird, we're currently staying at a love motel. Yes, that's love as in "bow-chikka-bow-waah." I know you're picturing some tiny, dingy room with questionable linens, but the rooms are quite nice. This current one has a big bed, huge-screen cable TV (with one free porn channel), mini-fridge with one beer and one small soju, instant coffee, one juice, several bite-sized candies, his and hers robes, full bath, big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, gels and lotions, toothpaste and toothbrushes. The food items are included in the low-low price of W30,000 (less than USD30). AND all you have to do is pay up front for the night and leave in the morning. No paperwork or nothing! (The manager didn't speak any English, but thanks to a couple of phrases in the guidebook we were able to make our wants known. I guess the big bags weren't much help.)

The Philippines- Your Next Vacation??

I think I've said before that I knew nothing about the Philippines when we got here- no sights, no activities, no nothing. I think that's probably the best way to visit a new place. You have no expectations so you cannot be very disappointed (very buddhist).

Well, I sure am enjoying my time here, especially once we're out of Manila. Don't get me wrong- Manila has it's historical quarter, modern and old sites, food, etc. But in the end it's just another big city and we've seen a lot of big cities on this trip. They all have their own vibe, but life seems better for the budget tourist outside of the city.

Anyway, after hanging out in Camiguin we headed out to Donsol, on South Luzon. Since we're short of funds we thought it best to NOT FLY. That means taking it in short bursts of 3-4 hour bus rides and one-night stands in hotels before boarding another bus or ferry. Fortunately, we've got the time to travel slowly, and it's allowed us to see just a little bit more of regular life in the Philippines.

Donsol is known as the whale shark capitol of the Philippines. We're so fortunate to be here during the right season! Froody made a bunch of text messages to a guy named Taks who organized a place to stay, two trips out to see the sharks, and one evening on a river to check-out fireflies. He was a very relaxed guide and happily answered our questions about himself and the island.

He picked us up at sunrise and we all hopped onto his motorbike, stopping for breakfast before boarding our whale sharking boat. We spent about 3 hours on the water and had 7 "encounters" with the beautiful animals. I wish Froody's pictures did justice to the awesomeness of the experience.

After that, Taks took us to his uncle's house, who was having a party for his entire baranguay. It was nice relaxing, eating authenic filippino food (complete with scary red and awful tasting hot dogs. But it wasn't all bad.), and drinking warm beer poured over ice. That afternoon, Taks again picked us up and brought us to the river where we all loaded onto a small fishing boat--me and Froody, Taks, and the two young men who ran the boat. We stopped at a piece of land owned by Taks's family on which another family was living. We all relaxed in the shade of coconut palms and Taks asked that someone climb up and bring us all some young coconuts (buko). Froody and I had one and a half coconuts between us, water and meat. Young coconut is a bit different from the mature fruit we get at home. As evening approached, Taks (Froody) bought a fighting cock off the family. The young men and Taks then killed it about 3 yards away from us and gave it to the wife to clean and cook up for our dinner. Froody and I agree that while this chicken was tasty and flavorful, it did not taste like chicken. This took a while to prepare and it was full dark by the time we were served rice and chicken. I think Taks was a bit embarrassed and very hungry by the time it arrived. Anyway, when all of us were done eating, we slipped and slid down the mudbank onto the small boat and found the fireflies. Seems there are a few trees where hundreds-up to 1000- of fireflies congregate. It was beautiful,the tree outlined by silent, moving light.

The next day we did another whale sharking boat trip! We had another 8 encounters with about 6 sharks. One shark Froody and I had to ourselves, as the others on our boat couldn't keep up with it. :-) Of course, Froody didn't have his camera for this, but it's a good thing. I don't think he'd have been able to keep up with it while worrying about his camera.

Well, after that we thought it would be cheaper to stay on the island of South Luzon. So, it was off to Legaspi- the biggest town on the island- where we enjoyed cable TV and internet before deciding to get to the small island of Cataduanes, just off the coast of South Luzon. This meant a van trip to Tabasco, an overnight in a hotel, and an early (7am) ferry ride to Catanduanes. I had arranged for someone to pick us up through the Majestics Beach Resort, where we hoped to stay for a week. The "resort" is actually a main house with the kitchen and dining area and a small library. The guests stay in small, bamboo huts behind it, all encircling a small lawn of nice, green grass. The huts are very basic- a bed, mosquito net, fan, and toilet, with a faucet and bucket for washing! We also had a small porch and hammock where we spent most of our afternoons.

Our days here started around 6am. We'd eat breakfast (whatever Irene made-usually an omelette with toast or pancake), then go for a snorkel. The snorkeling was very nice, notwithstanding the loss of my mask and snorkel in a wave on our first day. I ended up renting snorkel gear from Lacy, the guy who owned another resort nearby (this one was a real building with a/c, cable tv, and an actual menu). After our snorkel we'd wash. Then, we'd read on the porch until lunchtime. After lunch we'd stay in the shade of our porch until 4 or 5, when we'd go snorkeling or Froody would go try surfing and I'd snorkel by myself. After that, we'd visit Lacy and check our email. We used that time to organize our final stage: the trip home.

We were lucky enough to book passage aboard a huge container ship bound for Long Beach, CA from Pusan, South Korea. This shortened our stay in the Philippines (ok by us) and allowed us a quick visit to one more country!!

During our stay we got to talk with some of the other guests. Many come here for the surfing. The coral reef we liked to snorkel around made an excellent wave break and in the mornings and afternoons you could find everyone, including Irene and her brother Alan (those who run Majestics), grabbing their boards and heading out. One such guest was a 58 year-old man from Japan who has been surfing for 40years!

Maybe I should add that Froody and I drank a lot more soda and beer than we're used to.

After Catanduanes (yes, you could call it a tropical paradise) we realized we have time for only 1 more big site- the rice terraces of the Cordillera, in Northern Luzon. We took a ferry from Catanduanes to Tabaco. From Tabaco we caught an air-con van to Naga. From Naga we boarded an all-night bus to Manila. After one day and one night in Manila (in the smallest room we've been in this trip) we got on one more all-night bus for Banuae...

...We arrived in Banuae butt-early, as Froody would say- 5:45 am. Luckily, we were able to check in to our room at the Banuae View Inn. We were greeted on the bus by Lolita who was politely if determinedly trying to get us to hire her as a guide for one of the many walks and trips to and through the rice terraces. (Because that's why tourists come here- for the rice terraces.) We were able to leave her at the door of our inn, both of us too tired to really commit to anything or anyone. Once in our room, the innkeeper brought us towels, soap, and Lolita's business card.

Anyway, Froody and I got to sleep for a bit. After showers and breakfast, he decided to give Lolita a call and she ended up meeting us at the inn. We decided to do the short 3 hour walk from the viewpoint back into town. This time, we all got into a tricycle (operated by Salvador, Lolita's husband) and had a pleasant ride up to the viewpoints where we took some pix. Then, Lolita and Salvador lead us up and down the rice terraces, following the irrigation canals downhill. Again, Froody's pictures capture only a part of the quiet beauty of this place. Having spent almost my whole life in SoCal(really the best place to be in the world), I could not get over the green of the young rice plants, the furry green of the mosses and ferns that covered the mud terraces, built by hand over many generations. I also loved the sounds of water that just fills the terraces.

Really, you should come here. The only thing to remember is to not have any hight expectations of the food.

Blehh for Blogging

I've been putting off blogging because I'm pretty much tired of blogging. I'm also tired of writing in my journal. Froody is very good. He blogs about every place we've been and includes info on hotels, guides, etc.

I just feel like I'm done with it all.

However, Froody does remind me that if I don't write or blog it, then I'll regret it later. I'll be wondering where we did that cool thing and not be able to search for it here or in my several journals. :-(

Anyway, I think I'm going to read my Google Reader for now instead of blogging some more. :-P

3-in1 Philippines

On this trip, I've learned that good coffee is hard to come by. I know that I've blogged about it before, but I'm still searching. It's even harder in the Philippines than India. In Hong Kong, there were Starbucks and Pacific Roasters and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf everywhere, but it seems that hot places don't really do coffee.

But, they do instant coffee. And the brand of choice is NesCafe. Seriously.

As a result, I've become inured to drinking NesCafe. Usually, it's nothing that milk and sugar cannot make palatable. But in the Philippines, as I've discovered in other countries, milk is very hard to come by. So, what do you get? You get instant creamer, namely CoffeeMate.

OK-I had to admit to being enough of a junkie to really not mind sinking this low. (Oh, how my pre-trip self would shudder at the thought: instant coffee! powdered creamer!)I think having it all happen in small increments has made my decent possible. But just when I thought this was pretty bad, it got worse.

Now when I ask for "coffee", I don't just get a mug of hot water and instant coffee anymore. I get NesCafe 3-in-1. That's one packet complete with instant coffee, sugar, and CoffeeMate creamer. :-( I didn't even whimper at this. In fact, I'm impressed with whomever had the guts to put it all together.

OK-so I've been drinking my 3-in-1 for a couple of weeks now, when Froody and I went to the store last night for water. What did I find in the coffee aisle? Not only did we see 5-in-1 coffee, but I even saw 8-in-1 coffee!!! As if instant coffee wasn't enough with sugar and powdered creamer, but now you can get it with powdered mushroom and ginseng and other herbal kickers!!!

Of course, I bought an 8-in-1 and had it this morning in my hotel room. Sad to say that it made me miss my 3-in-1.

The Philippines!

Is where we're at. I know, it's been about 3 weeks since I blogged, but there really wasn't much to say. We left Hong Kong on the 26 March and arrived in Manila in a few short hours. We spent a few days getting to know our new city. In a word, Manila is big. In another word, it's hot. We spent a lot of time in air-conditioned buildings or in front of fans. We did get away for a couple of days to the town of Tagaytay. It's main site is a lake in an extinct volcano. In that lake is a small volcano with another lake in it. It was very pretty and picturesque.

After that we returned to Manila. Why? To meet our friends from America! We really liked hanging out with people who know us for a change and they took us to some good Filipino food (we hadn't been lucky enough to find good food on our own at the time). They also invited us to attend her aunt's 30th wedding anniversary. It was fun; full of family, food, and disco!

When that was done, we finally left Manila for good. Wanting to go snorkeling, we decided to head out to Camiguin island and spend a week staying in a cottage on the beach. Sounds delish, right? Well, turns out that was Holy Week and every place on the island was booked up. However, we found someplace for that night only. It was cheap and very near the beach. The owner actually helped us out and called a relative who had room for the next night in one of her beach cottages. This other owner, Rosie, had another cousin with a private cottage who was willing to let us have it for 2 nights. So, with a little flexibility (which I was short of for a bit there) we had our first 4 nights covered, which gave us a chance to relax and get some snorkeling in.

One morning, I was sitting in front of a window, reading and watching the waves lap the pebbley beach when I realized that I was in yet another country. And it didn't feel weird or anything, like it was normal. That thought made me happy, and a little sad that our next country is the USA. (But, our travel budget is dwindling and we do like to eat and sleep in beds.)

Anyway, after our quaint cottages we got a room in a hotel on the northern side of the island for the weekend- all the Holy Week travelers having gone home- called Secret Cove. We chose it for better snorkeling and the on-site dive center. Turns out they have a really good restaurant, albeit more pricey than we wanted. It was cheaper to take a motorcycle (all 3 of us on one) into town, eat bbq chicken with rice, cokes, and halu-halo, than it was to stay and eat there. But, the food at Secret Cove is very, very tasty.

We snorkeled and even did a dive skills review. Man, diving in warm water is so different from diving in California. I can really see what all the fuss is about! You wear a much lighter wetsuit, no hood/gloves to worry about, and the viz is so nice! We saw so many different types of fishes, corals, sponges, and tunicates. We even saw a sea snake and a sea turtle. :-)

It was during our stay on Camiguin that Froody looked into the budget and was shocked on finding that our travel allowance was almost at an end. :-( After some discussion and compromising we decided NOT to go to South Korea and instead stay in the Philippines until our visas expire...on May 24.

Then, we fly home. :-)

Hong Kong Adventures

Today is our final whole day in Hong Kong. :-(

There were those who scoffed at our intention to spend 10 days in the city. "You really only need 4, at most," is what one person said. I can now scoff back at them!

Pah!

While we've managed to check-off all the major attractions and sites of Hong Kong, we could easily spend another 4 or 5 days here. There is so much to do! Some of you may not know that HK is comprised of a bit of the chinese mainland and a few islands, so there's something for everyone. It's fortunate to have a harbour bisecting it, making it very easy to view its famous skyline.

HK seems to do a lot of things over-the-top. There's no such thing as an understatement here. The parks are beautiful and well thought out and carefully maintained. The ones we've seen have man-made lakes, waterfalls, and the big park near central HK has a walk-through aviary. All this is free. The architecture is amazing. I've never tired of seeing this city at night and I don't remember feeling this way about a cityscape before. DC comes close.

And, of course, there's the food. I think what we really like is the diversity. We've managed to eat a lot of cheap Chinese food, which means tons of noodles, dim sum, street food, and a little bar-b-que. But we've also enjoyed a surprising array of international foods: Australian, American, Turkish, Balinese, and Lebonese, for starters. I can't say about all of China, but in Hong Kong people do love to eat. We met Joel and his girlfriend, Sunny, via Couchsurfing and they took us to a hotpot place. Now, this was a lot of fun! More fun than shabu shabu. You get a pot of water and veggies and then you order meaty stuff to add once the water boils (with the help of a hotplate). We let them do the ordering so this is what we got: fried fish-skins, fish balls, shrimp balls, squid balls, shrimp wanton, veggie wanton, thinly sliced beef, thinly sliced lamb, pig intestine, and goose intestine. And, Froody and I ate a little bit of everything! Once all the boiling of all the balls and meats and intestines are done and all the veggies eaten, the flavorful, oily water is thrown out! Joel did say that (if you did this at home) you could separate the fat out and use the water to cook rice in. But, usually, it's just tossed out.

After dinners Froody usually makes his way to dessert. Sometimes it's a bakery. In Central HK we walked by a bakery that was full of people buying egg tart (very yummy) and taking photos in front of the bakery holding their egg tarts! Obviously this must be some famous egg tart place, so after lunch we did the same. Sometimes it's a restaurant. Here we are with a tasty chocolate fondue at a place called Choco-Cat. Yup, they serve chocolate desserts and drinks, and have at least 5 cats that customers try to coax onto their laps. Joel and Sunny introduced us to sweet soup. Froody ordered the papaya soup. It was served hot and had some kind of mushroom in it, too. That really drove home the fact that the Chinese not only like food with flavor, but they like food with texture. Different textures than what Americans are used to. They also aren't held to any conventions about food. Sunny said she could never understand why Westerners eat cereal for breakfast, when in HK you eat pretty much whatever you want whenever you want. Including noodles with wanton for breakfast.

If you are a shopper, then Hong Kong is your city! I'm not just talking about 5-star malls and Fendi bags. The street markets are fun. We spent our days among the flower market, bird market, goldfish market (my favorite), jade market, ladies' market, wet market, and produce markets. Nathan Road, where our hotel is, is also known as the Golden Mile 'cuz it's full of jewelry stores, fancy restaurants, and name-brand everything.

Hong Kong isn't all city. The suburbs are still green, naturally. There are hiking trails outside of the downtown area. (We went to the Wetland Park yesterday, hoping to do some trail walking and birdwatching, but it was closed. :-() Lantau was very pretty, with only a few highrise apartments and the largest outdoor bronze statue of Buddha in the world....

..but it was still over-the-top!! We went to see the large bronze Buddha statue. The trip out there seemed like fun: first you take the ferry, then you take a cable-car, then you walk up to the Buddha statue. I thought it would be a quiet place, full of people who've come to pray at the statue. *pshaw* There were tons of people! It was like a buddhist-theme park! You ride the cable car and a "monkey" takes your pic and you can buy it at the end of the ride. There are two short films, one of a fable about sharing and another about the life of the first Buddha. (We didn't see either.) Between the cable car and the stairs leading up the the giant statue are all sorts of restaurants (really classy places) and gift shops, even a 7/11 and a Starbucks!! We just bypassed all this (excepting the restroom) and walked up the stairs to the statue. It was pretty cool, even in the fog. I wish the day was clearer; the views would've been great.

Overall, we really liked being in Hong Kong. Yes, they're always building something and there's the whole issue surrounding reclamation, but there's something to be said for tearing down the old and making way for the new. The city is able to adjust to its growing population and traffic problems with many footbridges (some go on for what feels like a mile). Buildings can be outfitted with energy-saving technology. Everything has running water and electricity. And functional plumbing!

On the other hand, all this organization requires a lot of rules. Now, India and Egypt had rules, but Hong Kong can afford to enforce them. Another downer is the feeling that you're living in a mall. All the footbridges and pedestrian subways have stores in them. Not just a snack-stand or newspapter stand, but high-class shopping and sometimes you have to walk through a fancy mall just to get to the other side.

Still, I'm going to miss Hong Kong. It was fun and I hope we come back someday.

HONG KONG, BABY!

We've just arrived at our next destination- HONG KONG!!! After all the bacterial infections and watching people pee and poop all over the place I told Tim I needed something totally different if he wanted to keep traveling and not go home right away, so we chose Hong Kong. I can't believe how different it is from anywhere else we've been to on this trip. HK is so clean, so busy, stuff is easy to find, people obey traffic laws and use the crosswalks (I've missed the green man!). That said, it's also way more expensive than East Africa, Egypt, Jordan, and India so we're limiting ourselves to 10 days. Just enough time to fall in love with Hong Kong, before all the bad stuff gets annoying.

Arriving late at night was pretty cool, as I was able to check out the skyscrapers' lights reflecting on the water as we traveled by express train from the airport to Kowloon. From there we actually queued up for a taxi- we lined up inside a hallway with glass doors on either side and a man in front directing us to the correct door beyond which was a taxi! It was so weird to be calmly standing in line, no one pressed up against you and no one cutting in front. It was also weird to drive through the town at midnight and see how clean the alleyways were by Egyptian and Indian standards and, this is important, no one. was. peeing. or. pooping. anywhere. srsly.

This morning we wandered a bit in search of a cheap breakfast (alas, I get the feeling we'll be doing a lot of searching for good, cheap food) and it was so nice! You could actually walk on the sidewalks! No stalls or piles of garbage to walk over, no huge holes or mysterious puddles to watch out for, no poops from various animals to be careful of. I mean, you have no idea how awesome it is to just walk on the sidewalk and not have to walk in the gutter/street dodging cars, bikes, and motorbikes (OK- some of you do, of course). Oh, it was so nice to be able to look about you at the tall buildings, storefronts, windows full of fatty cooked ribs and ducks with crispy skins or windows full of beautiful jade and diamond jewelry (sometimes next to each other), and signs. There's garbage bins everywhere! And people use them!

Oh, I think I'm going to like it here. :-)

What Have I Learned?

I guess you shouldn't be surprised when I tell you that a teacher-friend of mine asked this of me on Facebook. I mean, we're all about learning, right? Anyway, he was the first one to ask me that, so he made me think about it in a way I hadn't before. Sure, I felt that I would learn something from this trip- who wouldn't? And, I felt that I probably had learned something by now, but hadn't put it to words.

So, Hugo, wherever you are, thank you for giving me the opportunity to think about....

What Have I Learned?

*No matter what the background, everyone wants the same thing- a decent job, some dignity, the ability to support a family.

*People are basically nice. To date, I've never encountered any flak for being American.

*I really don't need a closet full of clothes nor do I need an apartment full of stuff to be happy.

*I may be traveling with only one bag of possessions, but I've seen people who own a whole lot less.

*More people than you think still rely on wooden carts being pulled by donkeys, oxen, or camels.

*And, they live in mud and straw houses. Srsly.

*And, they sweep with bundles of reeds only 2ft long.

*You can fit an entire family of 4 on one motorcycle.

*I like school kids, no matter where they are from.

*As Americans, we are very isolated. We don't have to worry about attacks from neighboring countries, refugees flooding in across the borders (whatever # of illegal aliens we get, it's not what other countries in Africa or India get), cholera epidemics, or a government so corrupt that it would rather see the entire nation die of hunger and thirst than change.

*America is diverse, yet we don't have bloody clashes involving whole cities or states over ethnicity or religion.

*Democracy isn't always the answer. Some countries have wonderful monarchies and, for lack of a better word, dictators who genuinely care for the well-being of their people.

*Many countries rely on man-, woman-, and even childpower to build skyscrapers and repair roads.

*What I've paid for one cup of coffee in a Western-style coffeeshop in Egypt, Jordan, and India is about what one person earns in a day in that country.

*In America EVERYONE can have the opportunities to improve their lives by hard work and education. (hello, President Obama) That is not the case in many of the countries I've seen.

*Not enough Americans travel internationally, and those that do seem to stick to Europe.

*****************************************************

That is a good start. Some of you may be asking what kind of lessons will I carry with me or how will these experiences affect my life, but I think I'll have to wait until I get home to find out.

Desert Adventures

Western India is mostly desert and in Rajasthan, camels are very important beasts of burden. So, Froody and I had to take a camel safari in the Thar desert. Actually, we only spent one day and one night in the desert, but after 5 hours of camel riding, it was plenty.

While in Bikaner (former capital of Rajasthan), we stayed here at Vijay's Guesthouse. We had a good time and Vijay was a jovial host, sharing drinks with us on the veranda in the evenings. He was our guide of a day and took us to the neighboring sights, including the Karni Mata temple. It's also known as the rat temple and it's someplace I've been wanting to see for ages. It isn't as big as I thought it would be, but it was crawling with rats! We went in the late afternoon when the crowds were less and the rats were more active. Vijay said he's seen the white rat, but that was 17 years ago. We didn't see it, but enjoyed seeing rat-enthusiasm taken to the extreme! Everyone was praying to the rats. There was one very holy inner-sanctum we weren't allowed into, but I peeked in and saw a woman bowing in front of a shrine, with rats pouring out of it. Vijay said that here Western tourists aren't very common, so some people show Froody (and Pietr) a lot of interest.

India- Not So Bad?

Well, now that I've been out of the hospital for a couple of weeks and we've got our tickets for our next stop-HONG KONG-India isn't so bad. I mean, I still grumble every time I see someone pissing or pooping (which is quite a bit), but at least I'm able to see the good stuff, too. Like birdwatching in Keoladeo National Reserve, where we hired a guide for the three days we spent there. He was very knowledgeable and showed us over 70 different species of birds.

The tiger safari in Ranthambore wasn't that bad, either. We saw several large mammals, like the sambhar deer and black faced-langur monkeys. I saw a wild tiger. Froody would have, too, but I think he was busy trying to take pictures of it.

This is what 1.2 billion people feels like. Actually, this is the mela (festival) our friends took us too. Froody and I even tried out a McDonald's. No beef, of course. Froody got a chicken royale. This looks better, though: a thali bought at a restaurant where we were the only western tourists.

Internet use in Delhi is more than what it seems. Anyway, our last day in Delhi before heading for Rajasthan was spent walking around the presidental palace and hanging out at the India Gate. Pretty, isn't it?

Oh, India. Where Danger Lurks Inside Every Meal and Snack

I expected some adventure on this trip, but I didn't think there was danger in each mouthful. Froody and I just spent another week in the hospital. This time I had a bacterial infection and Froody had that plus giardia. bleh. I felt as pathetic as I looked. That IV really, really hurt! These infections have kind of extinguished what little remaining enthusiasm I had for India. One of the two things I am looking forward to is the Kari Mata, India's infamous rat temple. Gosh! I just realized that going someplace infested with rats, with floors made extra gooey and gross from thousands of rats running around, probably isn't conducive to maintaining good health. Froody and I are also determined to see the Himalayas. But I am heartily glad knowing we leave soon.

So, here are some of the pictures Froody's taken these past couple of weeks.

* View on the train to Agra.

* A pair of rose-ringed parakeets. These birds are everywhere, but we love them anyway.

* Some remaining blue tile on a mughal-era tomb, the Chini-Ka-Razza.

* Sandstone and marble gate to the Itimad-Ud-Daulah, aka the Baby Taj. We loved the detailed inlay work and how quiet and peaceful it was around the monument.

* Our driver brought us to a "marble institute" where we got to see how the tiny semi-precious stone pieces for the inlay in the Taj Mahal was made. Yup, it's still made the same way and looks like a lot of difficult, painful work. It surprised me how much Froody liked the marble work, and we bought a couple of souvenirs.

* Next day we went to the Jama Masjid in Fatehpur Sikri fort. The Jama Masjid is a huge mosque. The fort had a palace and other rooms full of beautiful carvings. Oh, better pic of the gate.

* The. Taj. Mahal. It's one of those place I NEVER thought I'd ever see. It's more beautiful than I expected. It's a tomb for one woman, the favorite wife of Shah Jahan.


* Also saw some Egyptian vultures when we were there.

* Froody ate all of this huge thali- metal plate with different types of breads, rice, and sauces.

Traveling. Is. Work.

I know. You're sitting there, reading this and you're thinking, "No way is what you're doing work." I know you are and it's OK. But I'm here to tell you that long-term traveling is work. Really. It must be, because Froody and I are tired a lot the time.

Part of it is doing all the actual stuff you wanted to do in that country. Sometimes this requires getting up early- butt-early according to Froody. You get up early to catch a plane, train, or sunrise. Or safari or tour. Or bus. Or check out because you checked in at 6:30am and the hotel has a 24hr check in/out policy.

Part of it is all the learning you do. Where is the hotel? Where are the restaurants? How much should a taxi/tuk-tuk/rickshaw cost? How do you say "hello," "good-bye," and "thank you" in this language? What is the exchange rate? How do you get there? Is this a large or small bill? Where is the bus station? What are we doing here? How badly are we being ripped off? Are we still on budget?

Part of it is just dealing. It gets tiring saying "no thank you" all the time. And I feel bad because I'm probably offending 1 in 50 people who are truly trying to help and not sell me something. Not to mention dealing with all the cultural differences, like giving up my personal space and wondering where all the women are. Or trying to make room for the mother and two boys seated next to me on the train. (Mom only bought one seat, so she's half on mine.) And, it's hard having beggars grab me. And, it's hard when the child beggars are not begging for money but for whatever food you just bought. And begging for money.

And dealing with each other. Sometimes Froody gets grumpy and it takes all my energy
not to get angry with him. Sometimes I get cranky and it takes all my energy not to take it out on Froody. Sometimes we get on each other's nerves and there's nowhere to go to get away from each other.


Froody and I like to blog and that takes time. So does uploading all the pictures Froody takes. So does packing up in order to leave the hotel. So does writing postcards. And if we decide not to do anything, we feel guilty because shouldn't we be seeing the sights?

Anyway, this is a lot different than a regular vacation. But, I'd do it again. :-)

Delhi, Part 2

So, just showing you all some more pix, then I'll be able to tell you what I've been doing this last week.

* Just outside our hotel room were these guys, waving stuff and whistling. We think there are pigeons involved.

* The Red Fort is another major Delhi sight. It's made of red sandstone, but back in the day it was covered with painted plaster, and gold leaf. This is wherethe throne sat in the public audience pavillion.

*The private audience pavillion at the Red Fort. It's made of white marble and used to be covered in semiprecious stone inlay work. A lot of it was looted, of course.

* How cool is this door handle?

* All this was behind the Fort walls.

* Of course, there are sacred cows everywhere. This one was looking very majestic. These are window shopping, which is what I like to do, too.

Delhi Pictures!

So, Froody has been up and at'em for almost a week now, and that means finally seeing Delhi. It's a big city, of course, and is old enough to have a lot of monuments scattered about.

*Froody gets his IV removed at last.

*View from our rooftop restaurant of Main Bazar in the morning.

*Another morning, this time a procession of sorts. None of the waiters could explain what it was about. There's always something going on, even if it's just one man on a drum walking down the street.

*On a walk around our neighborhood we found a Christian cemetary. It must be very new, as none of the dates on the graves were before 1995.

*OBAMA

*Our first walk through Old Delhi was near the mosque, Jama Masjid.
We walked by the poultry market (or what's left of it), some butchers, breads and pasta, and everything else.

*Froody at a small restaurant on Main Bazar. His tummy was ready for a bit more Indian food!

*Humayan's Tomb is part of a big complex with his tomb and several others, and a couple of mosques. It's also known as the Red Taj Mahal.

*I bought myself a salwar kameez, a very comfy, traditional Indian outfit.

*We also checked out the Bahaia Temple, also called the Lotus Temple. It is very beautiful and very modern.

*The Qutb Minar is a 74m tower erected by the Arabs when they conquered northern India and introduced Islam.

*In Islam, representations of people are not allowed, so the muslims chopped the faces off of many Jain and Hindi temples (and lots of Egyptian temples, too) and used the blocks of a temple in the area to build the first mosque in India.

*The Qutb Minar and Humayan's tomb are made of blocks of red sandstone. Some of the patterns reminded us of Petra.

*We also visited Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. The guidebook says that every Friday 30,000 people go to the mosque!

*Imagine tens of thousands of people here, not pigeons.

*Back in the day of Shah Jahar, the women of the royal court would sit here and perform prayer, safe from common, male eyes.

*It's interesting to see the common structures of mosques, be they Indian or Arabic. They all have a place to wash, this one the biggest we've seen, and a mihrab, the niche that faces Mecca.

*This mosque has relics of Mohammed and is made of red sandstone and white marble.

*We climbed a minaret and got some nice views of Old Delhi.

*Here I am about to go down the wrong street as we walk through more of the market place around the mosque.

*Mmmmmm.....lots and lots of colorful fabrics. This is the bridal section of the market where you can buy fabric for your wedding sari.

*A parade for something, but we don't know what!

*In the mornings, people stop and worship at a temple. This includes chanting and ringing a bell.

*We decided to splurge and eat at a revolving restaurant near Connaught Place. It's nice knowing we can spend USD20 on one meal and then USD5 on the next, and still be on budget.