Last night I arrived in Nairobi. The people without visas were getting through the lines faster, it was funny, of course they only had to wait like an hour for their bags after that! Some people didn't receive their bags, but fortunately I did. It really was about an hour. They just don't have the set up to transport that many bags quickly, I think there were only 3 cars with trailers transporting the bags from the plane.

I met Junior - the coordinator here - easily, and we took a cab back to his house where they have a whole set-up for volunteers, two bunks with mosquito netting. The house is very comfortable and relaxed, it is so nice to not feel rushed or stressed. Even on vacation in big cities it's easy to feel sort of frantic with people moving at such high speeds and their tempers and everything.

Tomorrow I'll go to the first village and discover what it's like there! Nairobi is bustling with people walking in the road, selling goods, flagging matatus, and going about their daily lives. I don't feel horribly out of place, mostly it's just really little kids that stare at me, but there really haven't been ANY white people around until I got to this internet cafe, and there's a handful - not more than five. It's not weird being the minority, of course I'm also accompanied by Junior everytwhere, so that helps a LOT, I wouldn't want to be navigating this city by myself.

They're playing lots of cheesy 80s music in the cafe (Billy Ocean - KT heheh), it's really funny. Everyone digs the 80s I guess. Soon we will get my phone situation figured out and I'll have my 4th phone number of this trip! Who knows how much it'll cost to talk with folks in the US, we shall see.

Signing off now, next time I should be immersed in a Maasai village - can't wait!

One would imagine my life is pretty exciting right now, but in fact, it is not. Obviously since I am sitting here writing on the computer during New Year's Eve. Truthfully, this holiday has never been a very important event for me. My plan is to write a bit, then around midnight take a bath with some champagne (it's not actually from champagne but it's French), and a candle. Seems like a good way to ring in the new year.

Miriam and Barry went out to dinner. I had a failed omelette (which = a scramble) and...some chocolate. There are some roasted potatoes as well but I am busy, the potatoes can wait. Earlier on this trip as I was attempting to read a label in French I mistook Pomme de terre to mean "fruit of the earth," it gave a guy a laugh I think. I don't think a potato would be insulted though, it's a much more poetic name than - potato - don't you think?

Miriam and I went to a Medieval museum with Miriam where we saw the big beautiful tapestries featuring the Maiden and the Unicorn. It was pretty cool. Today we went to the Rodin Museum and it was wonderful! We also went and walked near the Louvre and a neighborhood near our apartment. I got a crepe and we bought our fake champagne. It was a good day.




We've been eating an insane amount of bread, crepes, and nutella - it has been wonderful! Here are a few more pics since the parents left.






Happy New YEAR!!!!!

Tonight I said goodbye to my mother. For the second time. The first was in Seattle in October, now it's Paris in December. It is not sadness I feel, it's panic, a deep, hidden, terrifying panic. I am going to a place where I know no one. In my bag there's a varitable pharmacy of substances ranging from homeopathics to corti-steroids and beyond. The thought that I have no fucking clue what I am doing keeps trying to surface despite my attempts to push it down, bury it beneath, beneath what? The panic? The fear? The inadequacy? It is natural, I suppose, to have self doubt appear in great force when one leaves the familiar, especially one's own mother. Here's to it then, if it can't be avoided!

It only occurs to me now that most people don't leave their jobs to travel different continents and volunteer with people halfway across the earth. But just as I felt earlier this spring, I am far more terrified of NOT going to Kenya than I am of going. This is an intentional sharp turn from the norm. Not to differentiate myself from the norm, but to shape myself as a person, and stretch myself in new ways, test my own boundaries. It is a deeply personal choice that I feel called to make and act upon in the best way I can.

These are the things that keep twisting in my head, blinding me for moments. I don't feel completely present. Look where I am!! Wake up.

So Christmas in Paris was nice. Not exactly what anyone expected, but it was filled with good food and warmth, which are the most important things anyway right? Mom and I got colds, but I rested quite a bit, both out of necessity and my paranoia about being healthy before I leave for Kenya.


The supermarket here was insane, period. It was an experience though. The Parisians definitely have perfected the art of gourmet food in supermarkets, the spread was spectacular. All the poultry is displayed with their heads and some feathers, due to the wide variety of birds. I even saw a whole rabbit on display in the butcher's case. The fruit is beautifully displayed and the cheese is positively smelly. It took me a moment to realize where the smell originated because at first I thought it was rotting produce, but no, it was definitely the cheese, and LOTs of it. The crazy thing is we only went into the very front of the store, there were still aisles and aisles we didn't even visit. And still, there were magnifiscent displays of chocolate, teas, spices, and herbs. All I can say is .... OMG, that's a lot of food.

One could argue that it is a gross display of over opulance, and they'd be pretty accurate except for... the church we visited today. It was Sacre couers (hahaha, spelling atrocities!!) in Monmartre where Amelie was filmed. The church itself was beautiful, but upon entering it I wanted to start shouting. It is possible this is because of the noise restriction, but it was also because there was an overwhelming amount of money practically growing from the walls. It struck me as absurd. Yes, I know the Catholic church does a lot of great charity work all over the world, but they could do SO much more. The church has so much bloody money it is almost sickening.  But then we went to an Abbey nearby and it was much more peaceful and it felt more sacred.  Mom and I lit candles, it was really beautiful.  Here are a couple of pics of the stained glass windows - Mom said they were 12th century.  Sacre Cours looks lovely at night from outside.

Here I am in Berlin, sitting in a hostel called East Seven, Berlin Hostel. It is pretty nice, but once again the keyboards are all funky with the y and z switched, some extra letters, the @ symbol in a completely different place as well as several other characters. But that's not important.

This weekend I visited some of our relatives in Kassel, near Frankfurt. My great, grandmother, Mia Poole, moved to Minnesota when she was only 18 years old, quite a while before WWII began. However, the rest of her family remained in Germany and the family I visited is my grandma, Marian Karpoff's cousin Mia (yes I am the third) and her two sons, Otti, and Hanjo. Cousin Mia's father is the brother of my great grandmother Mia. There, that's the complicated bit. I didn't really know all of this until I clarified with them in Kassel (so, how are we related again?).

It was a wonderful experience, and there is much to tell despite the short visit. Mia was born in a town called Hann Münden about an hour from Kassel. The village is still pretty quaint and old because it wasn't a target during the war since it was so small. I took some dark photos that I will download once I am back in Munich, but I can tell you it is an adorable little town. Friday Mia met me at the train station in Kassel and we went to her apartment before going on to Markthalle, an indoor market in an old brick building. There we had pickled herring with potatoes which I happen to love! Then Otti met us there and Mia went home. Orri drove me around the city showing me the naked man statue that stands in the middle of one of their squares, and a castle on a hill above the city. During the summer they have a water park where the water flows from the top of the hill where Hercules normally stands, all the way down through various stone waterways. It must be beautiful, and it is quite old, relying solely on water pressure (no pump I guess...) to keep it going. We then went shopping for groceries and Otti bought me way too much chocolate and a few dairy products that I couldn't refuse (although I tried to remind him of my allergy). We ate a small dinner at Otti's, bread with cheese, and meat mostly, before I got tired and went to bed.

On Saturday Otti and I went to the Christmas market in the city center near the bank where Otti works. There I tried many delicious treats and he bought me a 2006 Kassel mug, a gingerbread heart with Warm Welcome written on it in frosting, and a calendar of Kassel. I also bought myself some pretty brown suede boots which I love and are nice and warm. We met Mia later for tea, then many photos, and dinner (meat, bread, cheese). Mia showed me some pictures that my great grandmother had sent of the Poole family on the farm in Ohio. I saw many pictures of my beautiful grandma, Marian. In every photo my great grandpa, Mark Poole, looks the same, it is kind of funny because I think people didn't smile in photos as much then. He has a weathered look and is quite lean, almost always wearing overalls and looking serious. My mother never even met him since he died in his early-mid 50s. I even saw some early photos of my great grandma, she looks so different than the shrunken old woman I met when I was 4 years old in Ohio. She was sweet though and I could tell she cared about me and my family.

Later cousin Mia showed me photos of her and her brother Otto. I saw a photo of Otto with his classmates and they were all wearing German army uniforms with the swastika armband, and of course I said 'oh, they were nazis?' Oops. Don't worry though, I recovered gracefully as Otti explained that in order to have a job teaching in flight school Otto had to join the 'party.' Mia also explained that her father lost his job because he wouldn't join the party, so THEY weren't Nazis, but they were still soldiers in the war against the Germans. Eventually Otto was shot by the Russians, I did not get the exact details of how it happened, but Mia motioned that he was shot in the back of the head. She had so many photos of him and spoke so highly of him I knew it must have killed a part of her when he died. It was still rather difficult thinking about those uniforms, which I only associate with evil, on someone real, someone who did what they thought was best for them and their family. It is hard for me to reconcile all the thoughts and feelings I have about this.

Sunday I spent with Mia and Hanjo. We went to a Chinese restaurant and then on to Hann Münden. Hanjo's English is pretty good, but I was used to Otti's isms and so at first it was a little difficult figuring him out, his humor is very different. During lunch I learned about the conflict between Hanjo and Otti - the reason I saw them seperately - and it was very sad for me to hear. Mia lives in a very small world, her sons are her life, they both live in a building right next door to hers (yes, they live in the same building and do not speak), and this rift between Otti and Hanjo is tearing her apart. As we drove to and from Hann Münden I thought about what her life must have been like. Heinz, her first husband and the father of her two sons, was a policeman 24/7, and used a bamboo rod to beat his children. I can only imagine what he may have done to her. I learned that Hanjo is closer to Mia, that Otti has done some very horrible things to his mother and his brother, and while there must be more than one side to the story I think Otti truly believes it isn't his problem. He told me that Hanjo doesn't want to see him, period. Hanjo wants an apology, but it has been so long that it may be too late. Mia may seem like a victim, and one could blame her for this, but I can't help but feel empathy for her since I doubt she ever heard anyone tell her she could do anything she put her mind to. Women of her age weren't given many options, and especially growing up during a war, the depression, and then the cold war, things must have been so difficult. Other than visiting again in the spring I don't know what I can do for her. I wish I spoke German so I could hear what they say to each other, and I could hear more stories about Mia's life.

Today she brought me to the train. She told me a few more things that had happened with her and Otti. She doesn't know what to do. When we parted and she wished me a good journey (she speaks some English, more than my German!) she had tears in her eyes. I genuinely enjoyed my time with her, and I feel for her deeply. So many things that I am thinking about. My time is up on this computer, and that is probably enough anyway.

Blessings. Peace. My thoughts are in Seattle...

It has taken me a while to make the time to write an update. At this point it's more important than getting a full night's sleep tonight. I still have to pack for a few days of travel. Tomorrow I leave in the morning to visit some relatives in Kassel, which is north of Munich about three and a half hours by train. Then on Sunday or Monday I will take a train to Berlin, where I will stay until Wednesday when I will fly back here to Munich. I arrived here last Thursday night. I headed straight into the center of the city and stayed in a hostel called Wombat's. There I met a lovely young Austrian woman named Christine, who was in town volunteering at the Style and Air show - a big snowboard fest of sorts, I did not go so I'm not exactly sure what they actually did at this event except snowboarding?

The next morning I contacted SOMAhaus, a house I'd found on couchsurfing.com, and I caught a train out to Neuaubing on the far western edge of Munich. I was greeted at the station by a couple of guys one might describe as "hippies." They were very nice and walked me back to SOMAhaus where I entered another world. There were a few guys in the livingroom and crap was everywhere. The kitchen was absolute chaos and a thick layer of grime covered almost everything. The people I met were very inviting and I had a lot of fun talking with them.

I cooked a strange concoction of food that evening with the various things they'd retrieved from nearby dumpsters. It was all fresh food, the pineapples were absolutely perfect, golden and juicy, and there were lots of leeks which I added to potatoes. One of the men who often hangs out at the house is named Mansta, and is from Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya! We talked a lot about Kenya, and he really supported my trip and my documentary project. He kept stressing that I should interview mostly women because they will be the most interesting and honest, heheh. I figure being a man and having lived there for most of his life he would know better than me!!! The following night I went to a huge world market in the city centre (same grounds as Oktoberfest) called Tollwood, where I had gluwein - hot spiced wine - and some good Polish food. Here is the entrance to the festival:

There was also some lovely Zydeco music playing in a big tent with lots of tree branches and pretty lighting. Afterwards we went to see Mansta's reggae band play at a local club. I danced and talked with the guys from the house (yes there is only one woman living there right now and she had to work). We caught the last train back out to Neuaubing and I went straight to bed. I tried to buy stollen from a bakery one morning, but the woman weighed and told me it would be 10.90 Euro and I said "No way!" like, "That's impossible!" and quickly recovered by declining nicely....I was just so shocked, I mean, my grandma makes the stuff, the ingredients can't cost that much or she probably wouldn't bother making it!!!

I saw some really cool graffiti on my way to the concert too:

Sunday morning I began packing up my bags to move to the house of my friend's from Mercer Island. The Williams family is living in Munich and had offered for me to visit them. After just two days in a filthy, smoke filled house, I was ready for a change. Don't get me wrong, the people were very nice and I intend to visit them again, there's just only so much I can take, especially when one is not surrounded by dirt but by the absolutely pristine streets and houses of Munich. Now I am staying with the Williams' in their lovely home with their wonderful three kids and their sweet geriatric cat, Dashaway. I have not yet done that much site seeing, but this has been a wonderful time to relax and regroup before I make my way to Paris next week. I have not visited a concentration camp, however there is a river just at the end of the street here where the Nazis marched thousands of Jews to death because they knew the Americans were coming. There is a statue alongside the river less than two blocks from the house. Someone had just put flowers underneath it just before I got here. This part of Germany is very strict, it will be interesting to see what Berlin is like in comparison...as well as Kassel.

I am doing well, and I am looking forward to spending the holidays with my family in Paris!!! WOO HOO! But right now I am just living one day at a time, it is nice.

Peace

My trip to Jordan was fantastic. I would like to write a lot about it in detail, but I fear it would be too long. Miriam and I had a fabulous adventure in Petra which is truly a lost city, only 20% has been excavated thus far. We met a bedouin man named Abdullah, in Petra who Miriam had met on her previous visit, and he really wanted us to come stay in his family's home that night. We almost did, but on top of the mountain we climbed to reach the monastery we met an older man who did not recommend staying with Abdullah, because he drinks in the evenings and has issues with women since his American wife left him. We took this advice and the older man helped us get a ride back to Amman for a reasonable price. We ended up riding back with a man and his 8 year old son in a brand-new, silver pick-up truck with a huge cab. The man really liked Miriam and I discovered I could follow their conversation reasonably well. Miriam's vocabulary is limited since she's only been studying Arabic since the beginning of September, and by that time I knew most of it or could at least figure out what they were talking about. Apparently in Jordan they have a reason for installing speed-bumps on the highway....very strange. I also saw a triangular warning sign with a camel silhouette inside. I'm assuming this is the euqivalent of "camel crossing." It made me grin. The driver said he would name his truck after Miriam because he loved it so much. He was very sweet and not creepy at all though, and kept inviting us to dinner with his family the next time we visit :) That is how everyone was, they're all so beautiful and warm that way.

In Jordan I saw the most beautiful coffee pots as we drove to the bus station the morning we left for Petra. The men selling coffe (or tea) will bring it out to your car or the taxi and you pay them quickly before driving away. I also learned that satellite TV is a one time fee, just for the satellite dish and components, and costs only around $150! But people get away with all kinds of illegal stuff there, so I guess that shouldn't surprise me! I also learned that Tamam means perfect, which I should have guessed since we ate at an amazing restaurant in Hania called Tamam. I even went to a produce market with Miriam's friends Phoebe and Harley. Oh my, it was crowded and overwhelming. Imagine Pike Place market with smaller aisles and ten times as much produce and everyone is yelling in Arabic! A man selling lemons gave us a yellow tomato for free because it was lying there with the lemons and we made a joke about it. Just after that I watched a cat scamper past and a man selling lettuce and beets hollered "Cat? You take!"


I met Miriam's host family in Amman and they fed us lots of delicious food. It is like eating at Grandma Karpoff's with Grandpa saying "eat, eat, don't be afraid!" Declining more food takes persistence, but they give up more quickly than Grandma Karpoff! However we were sent home with quite a bit of food. Here are all the women at the big lunch - after all the men left to go smoke outside - and somehow we all wore matching clothes and accidentally sat in this order!

I left Amman on Sunday the 26th and arrived in Athens where I met Kris and his friend Danielle, who is amazing! It was lovely to see Kris again. We had a couple days in Athens and then he left yesterday for London and is currently on a plane bound for Seattle where there is snow, ice, and temperatures in the 20s. Yikes, that's quite a change from Greece where the weather is quite pleasant and mild.

This time was even more difficult parting with Kris. I feel so heavy. It's more than sadness. It is numbing sometimes. There's not much more to say, it is too difficult to express, and this is public anyway.

Tomorrow I leave for Munich where I will hopefully stay in a house listed on couchsurfing.com, otherwise I'll find a cheap hostel until I can stay with family friends on Sunday. It will be nice to meet lots of new people and discover things about the city. The house has internet and actual beds and a big kitchen with lots of people who like to cook. I think it's basically a hippy commune. They even have musical instruments and an art space, a food garden, and a private recording studio. Very cool.

Apparently the markets for Christmas are beautiful and a lot of fun, I'll have to check them out. It's also time to let the family know that I'm coming - our German relatives, Otti, and Mia, who live in Kassel. I'll probably visit with them for 3 days or so which should be interesting. I know nothing about the region but I'm excited to learn more when I'm there.

Pictures are coming, sorry for the wait, but it's worth it. I promise.
Okay here are the pictures, as promised:
This is Jerash, Roman ruins an hour north of Amman.





Here is Petra, the sandstone city.














Here is Thanksgiving and and fun at Miriam's apartment.







And the lovely ladies.

I arrived in Jordan Thursday evening. My flight was a little early and there was no line to get a visa or go through customs, then my bags were already off of the conveyor belt, which shocked me. But Miriam wasn't there. I walked over to the other terminal and was starting to panic. I was ready to buy a phone card from a mobile company - my Greece number does not work outside the country - but the man at the booth was very nice and offered to call Miriam since it was local. She was just arriving at the airport, and moments later she walked through the door with her friend Phoebe and....what appeared to be a security guard. A VERY young security guard. She told me the US embassy had hired security detail because of her Independent Study Project. I was just ready to get out of the damned airport so I totally bought it. We argued about whether or not to take the bus, the "security guard" acted like a complete dick, and then we eventually got into a cab. Once in the cab, the guard turned around and gave an interesting hand motion and squealed for us to 'keep it down!' This is when Miriam confessed that he was in fact one of her fellow SIT students. Yep, I'm gullible. I noticed lots of strange things about this security guard but I just thought he was a jerk and Miriam therefore was not very nice to him. She also kept laughing about strange things. Once again, I am very gullible.

Okay, so what you don't know is that Miriam had sent me a serious email about what to expect in the airport and that it is completely inappropriate for men to touch women, and to make a scene if one touched me. Also to avoid eye contact with men and only interact with officials. This proved to be a bit impossible. Like I said, she was serious. So I was on guard. In any case, I forgave them for playing their practical joke on me, because it was funny.

The following night they had Mexican night which was also my birthday party and almost all of the SIT kids came - 15 or so - and we had a blast! Since then I have gone to downtown Amman, a bookstore/cafe, the National Art Gallery, a poetry reading, and all over the city in cabs. Miriam and I are going to some Roman ruins north of the city tomorrow. Then on Thursday we're going to Petra, WOOO HOO!! I am soooo excited. Then Friday we're having Thanksgiving with all of the SIT people. Saturday we're having a group of local women over for tea, and at some point I'm going to visit Miriam's former host family. Apparently Mama (her host mother) is a wonderful cook, and they are intersting people.

Last night we watched American History X. They don't have movie rentals here, just pirated copies of videos that you buy for 1 JD or less (a little over a dollar). These copies vary greatly. For instance, we watched Burat the other night, which was simply filmed in the movie theatre and then burned onto a CD. The subtitles were half cut off and you could occasionally see people's heads. Nonetheless it was hilarious. An EXTREMELY offensive and controversial film. If you're familiar with the Ali G show, Burat is one of his characters. One of my favorite less offensive quotes is "Oh, what kind of dog is this?" when he sees a turtle, and then "is this a cat in a hat?" when the people tell Burat it is not a dog. It is real footage he got from all over the country and although it is very offensive, some of it is very telling.... Our culture is so varied and bizarre that it's difficult to criticize others.

That said, Jordan is an interesting place. Miriam keeps telling me it's full of a million contradictions. From my experience so far I would agree with her - I have witnessed many contradictions. It is a dirty place. But the call to prayer 5 times a day is quite beautiful, especially at dusk around 4:30, when the sky is pink and the call floats across the valley and around the buildings from the various mosques. It is not too loud and it has not yet awoken me (at 4:30 in the morning). This is, again as Miriam described, the eye of the storm that rages from varying degrees all around us. Everything comes back to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. For instance, at least 60% of the population in Jordan are Palestinians. Then there are the large number of Iraqi refugees. There is a tension that exists here and it crosses many boundaries. Girls and women do not have boyfriends here and vice versa. A passing glance can mean far more than I am used to, and horn honking or yelling from car windows is quite common. It's strange to be in a place where it is racy to have your hair uncovered, or for your ankles exposed. As strange as it is I am very grateful for this opportunity to be here, and I am enjoying simply observing, since I feel much less independent here than I did in Greece.

Peace be with you.

Today Kris and I said goodbye. He took a flight to Thessaloniki in northeastern Greece, where he will spend his last two weeks before returning to Seattle November 29th. I am quite sad as you can imagine, because we will likely not see each other for close to a year, 9 months at the very least. This is a time of great change and I am feeling the pressure as it demands to be recognized fully and intentionally. If that makes any sense at all. I am not broken, but I feel stretched, in a slightly painful but positive way. So far.

I did some shopping today since I have done very little. There will be no surprises. I have decided that the best piece of Greece I can offer to most of the people I love is a good photo, taken by yours truly. The USD is about .77 cents to the Euro, and I am not the kind of person who feels there is much value in cheap tacky souveniers. A photo is the best way I can say, I love you and want you to have something from my grand experience, without buying something truly unique and therefore largely outside my pricerange. I suppose writing this may seem tacky, but hopefully you know by now that I am a very straight forward person and would rather be as up front as possible. Sorry to ruin the surprise ;) but you still don't know WHICH photo I will choose for you, or even when you will recieve it!! Hahahaaa! See, I didn't reveal everything!

Tomorrow morning at 10:35am my airplane will take off from Hania, Crete. I fly to Athens and then on to Amman, Jordan to visit Miriam. People's reactions to my visit are quite varied here, compared to in the US where most people's response to Miriam's whereabouts was some form of shock mixed with horror. Many people here have actually been to the Middle East, and therefore show much more understanding (generally) of what it is like in such a place. I did not say all feedback is positive, since our concierge this morning described how "those people" (arabs) murdered his grandfather over a very small amount of money and the fact he was managing some farmland, but was not actually the owner. This is obviously a horrific story and is a valid reason for holding hostility. Still he did not display the same kind of vengeful feelings that one would expect from your average American (if there is such a thing.)

In any case, I am looking forward to my visit and will be careful, just as I am anywhere. Frankly I have become somewhat lax here in Greece due to the very low rate of theft in the places we've been. People just don't jack your stuff, and I have gotten used to this. Sure there's vandalism and raucous idiots doing stupid things, but I have not heard any stories of pick-pocketing or other tourist targeted thievery as I have from places like Italy, Spain, and even London. However these may just be larger cities, which we have avoided for the most part.

Yesterday we saw the palace of Knossos, and had a guide, thank GOD. We have some photos that I will post later and describe in some detail as there is much of great interest. As for now, I would like to return to my room -an old venetian mansion turned pension - and watch a film on STAR, the Greek NBC. They actually show American films almost every night as does another channel called ALTER, which I'm sure is very intersting to you.

Miriam warns me I will experience a great deal of culture shock, and I'm sure it is very different than Greece, but I have also left out a lot of the information about the cities we have visited, the cultural differences I have experienced, how at times I really truly feel like an alien, so I am confident that I can handle the culture shock and even the attitudes towards women. They are not all that progressive here - although things are changing - however I'm sure it cannot really compare with the attitudes imposed by many Islamic nations.

Peace.

We finally had our opportunity to camp - twice. The first night we finally got out of Hania (which is nice, we just wanted to see other things), we went to Gramvousa peninsula in the northwest corner of Crete. We bought some canned foods, bread, and nutella before we set off on the ten mile or so drive on what our map described as a 'minor unpaved road in poor condition.' Basically we were off roading in our rented Taewoo Matiz, a vehicle the size of a Geo Metro. Kris was driving and did a splendid job, we only bottomed-out once. We kept driving until we came to a very large puddle and a car similar to ours was parked just before it. We measured and discussed the possibilities when along came ANOTHER car of similar size and shape, with a driver and four passengers. They also decided it was unwise to drive through the puddle. We packed up what we would need for just one night as a small Nissan hatchback (with all wheel drive) ploughed its way through the giant puddle. They had quite a bit more ground clearance than us though.

The scenery was similar to how I might envision a mountainous rock forest. Small shrubs grew across a landscape of large rock forms reaching toward the sky. Goats and sheep were everywhere, perched above cliffs, along the road, munching on shrubs and groundcover. In each group there was at least one that had a bell and all the other would follow it because it was their leader. I have no idea how this is predetermined, it just is.

We hiked the 300 meters or so to the car park (parking lot), and then followed a trail that led down the mountain. The trail became a series of stairs that became increasingly steep heading down to a gorgeous beach fit for a postcard, the kind that needs no words to say "Yeah, you should be jealous 'cause look where I am!!" Basically the perfect picture of paradise, only colder. I'll have photos when I'm slightly more put together. We hiked down just before sunset and picked a place on the sand in between thousands of mounds covered in heather or some cypress scented spiny shrub. It was almost a moonscape really, looking very alien to me. We discovered on our hike down that there had recently been an oil spill of some kind. It covered some rocks but hadn't fully reached the sandy beach. Hard chunks of it were found lying around, but it wasn't covering anything. It made me sad but that's just how things are here. There is lots of trash littered in beautiful places, and the attitude seems to be quite casual. The peninsula had a surprisingly small amount of litter, and most of it clearly washed up onto the beaches.

We awoke in the night to horrible gusting winds. Then it started to rain. The wind had changed in the night and was now blowing from the opposite direction of our strong "Jake's Corner" on the tent. The rain fly flapped brutally and neither of us slept much. We finally decided to begin packing - inside the tent - at 11:30am. We figured we could be as prepared as possible and the rain had slowed, so we'd just get out of there as fast as we could. It was gusting probably 60-70 miles an hour. The rain fly whipped me in the face and a hard piece hit me just below my right eye. I was pissed but just wanted to get out of there, as much as we'd imagined spending the day on the gorgeous beach, fishing and exploring the caves in the cliff above. We packed up, hiked out, the whole process taking about 2 hours.

It was very fun. Even with the crazy weather. The goats didn't seem to be bothered and were eating happily as we hiked all the way up those extremely steep stairs. Last night, on my birthday, we camped a second time on a beautiful sand and pebble beach on the south side of the island. The weather was calm and we were better prepared, cinching the rain fly on very tightly, facing the right direction.

All in all, what a lovely adventure, and a lovely birthday.

Now we are in the city of Hania. This is our 5th day here. We are waiting for our driver's licenses to come so we can rent a car and drive around. We are finally going to camp!!! But someone said the weather is going to turn this weekend, which may not bode well for camping, we shall see.

I have uploaded more photos which you can see: http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p238/miakarp/
Notice I have arranged them into sub-albums for each island, the main album being photos from Athens. That way even though I haven't tagged most of the photos you will at least know where they were taken. Below is the Hania port taken from the old Venetian fortress. Then there's Kris with the Mosque (I mistakenly wrote in some postcards that it was the synagogue, oops) behind him. Then me on top of the wall.








Hania is about 50,000 people and is a university town. It is here that I have been frustrated the most with service. We went shopping and people try to tell you what you want and what you're looking for! Not just people who are trying to lure you into their shop, but in big stores too. They won't actually try to find what you're looking for, which just seems like bad business to me. And it's not the language barrier either. Even at some of the restaurants we have experienced similar things. It is a bit maddening. I find it especially true with Greek men. The women tend to play more of a guilt-trip game that is much less annoying to me - it's easier to ignore.

This internet cafe is much more equipped than any others we've been to. The photos upload quickly. But they also have computer games which can be tough since they draw Kris - quite strongly - and do not have any such affect on me.

I will be glad to get out of the city for a while and see some natural beauty. The Venetian old town here is quaint, but it's still part of a city. The main gorge here on Crete - Samaria gorge - is closed, but there is another smaller one that we hope to visit. I'm excited about visiting beaches that are more remote as well. There is a beach here, but I didn't even bother photographing it because there was so much garbage and several men in speedos.

Today we moved from our pretty studio to another nice one that is only 25 Euro per night. Much better. But soon we will replace accomodation cost with car rental! In the off-season we should be able to strike yet another great deal, especially for almost a week.

Peace.

It's been a few days since my last post. Our full day on Paros we drove west from Parikia and followed the road all the way along the southern part of the island which is much less developed (although unfortunately they're working on changing that), and has a peacefully rugged feeling that pictures probably wouldn't capture. It was lovely, we drove all the way to Piso Livadi again and I wrote a note and left it on Christina's porch (I'll tell you exactly where, lady) and then took the mountain road back to Parikia. It was a lovely adventure.

Then on Sunday we caught a ferry to Santorini where I am now. We were only planning on staying for about 3 days but the weather has been bad and the only ferry to Crete is tomorrow - Saturday - at 4:40 AM!!! Yup, we're doing it because flying would be much more expensive as we'd have to fly to Athens then on to Crete.

Santorini is beautiful because of its catastrophic past. The island literally imploded on itself and the center fell into the ocean about 5000 years ago. It was the largest volcanic erruption in recorded history. We visited the volcano which is ACTIVE. Yep, it was steaming in two places. The last erruption was in 1956 - also when a large earthquake devastated the town of Oia (our favorite city so far). There is evidence of this disaster and I will have photos uploaded when we get to Crete. The cafe here doesn't have a way to upload photos - sorry. But imagine a crescent shaped island with a volcano right where the center of the island once was, and then there's an islet that was connected to the northern part of the crescent but separated about 1500 years or so after the initial erruption. That's Santorini, and our view from our cave suite looked right out onto the volcano. The towns on the inside of the crescent are literally built into the cliffs! It is incredible.

Tonight we will find a cheap hotel since we won't even have a full night before we have to catch our boat. We met this wonderful couple from Ohio (props to the motherland), and had dinner with them three nights in a row and went to a wine museum and Oia with them yesterday. We had a lot of fun and they seemed to enjoy themselves too! They just came from Crete which was helpful since they gave us some tips and helpful information. Crete is so much bigger than the other islands we've visited that we'll have to rent a car to get around to see the sights. We may be able to take buses, but we'll see. There is a gorge we want to visit and hike the 8km hike down to a beach (we think), and of course many ruins - mostly Minoan cities. I have read and re-read my travel guide so much that everything blends together, but at least I have a good idea what to expect!

I will send an e-mail with our cell phone number since this site is technically public. The Greek country code is 30. I don't know what the cost is to call cell phones, but if you have any interest in calling I would recommend doing a little online research first - there are tons of great phone cards.

So far we have had the best food here. We have also gotten better at picking restaurants. They have the BEST Vinsanto here and another dessert wine that's made with 70% red grapes. Can't remember what it's called. Wish I could bring some back, but that's just not possible. Blessings to all!

Yesterday we visited Naoussa, a little port town east of Parikia. The wind was so strong as we drove there on our moped, but fortunately it was coming directly at us and not from the side. Kris said we were pretty stable and felt comfortable despite the gusting wind. On the way back we had a little push from behind :) I thought I'd try to give a few more details about what we're doing since my posts have been kind of scattered.

Generally we start our mornings with breakfast on the veranda/balcony. Agiris gave us fresh eggs yesterday so I made egg-in-the-pokes (bread with a whole egg in a hole that you cut in the center of the bread), and bacon. Then Kris has coffee and I have VERY strong hot chocolate with dutch cocoa, sugar, and hot water. It's Mia coffee. Today I walked down along the cliffs to the right of our studio. Again the wind was gusting, but it was clear and gorgeous. We have been reading a lot. I started a novel called 'North of Ithaka' by Eleni Gage, and it's about her experience moving to Lia, the small village where her father grew-up and rebuilding her grandmother's house - which was taken over by communist guerrillas during the 1940s and used as their headquarters and a prison. Maybe you've read Eleni, by Nick Gage, which is about Eleni's grandmother - her namesake. It is great reading about Greece after being here for a bit. I understand many of the things she talks about - except the part about being half-Greek obviously. Kris is reading a book about Alexander the Great and wants to visit some of his battlefields, so both of us are truly steeped in this place - outside and inside.

We leave Paros on Monday around mid-day, and may go straight to Santorini, skipping Naxos, in the interest of having more time on Crete where it may be a bit warmer and there is tons to do and see.

Adjusting to siesta has actually been nice, our schedule is shifting, sort of. Each day is a bit different. There are all these little things I notice all the time, but once it's time to write they all fly out of my head. Lately I haven't been keeping up my physical journal so there really is no record of these little observations I have. In terms of the language we are both determined to learn as much as we can, but we still need a book - I found a good one by Rough Guide that we will hopefully buy tomorrow. We say (I'm spelling these phonetically): efaristo - thank you, and yahsas - hello formal, yahsu - hello inf., and I understand but have not yet said: parakalo - please and you're welcome, ohi - no, neh - yes. We also have discovered that yahsas means goodbye too, which I think my guide book neglected to mention. I guess that's a start. Pretty pathetic, but a start.

No more photos today, but soon, we didn't take all that many in Naoussa and none today. Love and blessings. May this find you well!

Today was quite wonderful. It started with breakfast on our balcony where we fed our host's cats tiny sausages and enjoyed petting them - although all the cats here are pretty scrappy. A our waiter at a local restaurant referred to them as "gypsy cats" the other night as we watched a tabby drink from a puddle in the square. Hopefully I will have a few photos up on photobucket.com - I think this link should work, http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p238/miakarp/ if not please let me know. Anyway, after breakfast we went to the old capital up in the mountains, the town of Lefkes. It was designed to confuse invaders (pirates) which is also why it's in the mountains. There are a few pictures on photobucket from today. Then after wandering around in Lefkes, visiting a cemetary and having lunch, we went on to Piso Livadi on the southeastern coast of Paros. That's where all the pretty water pictures are from. Wait and I'll put up descriptions eventually.
Then we went back to our studio for the rest of siesta time and came in to town for OJ and espresso. Yeah, this is the life. We've been here at this internet cafe for over two and a half hours. The photo thing takes time. But we have all the photos on cds in their full-size format which will be nice for prints later.




This is me on a rock on a little pebble beach just down from my friend Christina's house in Piso Livadi, which you can see below (it is boarded up for the winter - her mom is in the States so we only saw the outside).




Here are some of my favorite things about our life here:

1. The fresh squeezed orange juice is phenomenal :)
2. We have very little to worry about (yes that's second heheh)
3. The weather is quite pleasant, not too hot, not too cold.
4. There are parts of the towns that are winding little cobblestoned alleyways.
5. We get to ride a moped!
6. There are lots of kitties and doggies.
7. Life is much more laid-back, slower paced.
8. AND they have siesta from 2:00-5:30, ROUGHLY, which can be annoying at times but still cool.
9. Our studio is sweet, not too far from sandy beaches.
10.We have about three more weeks ahead of us!

The other day I wrote some postcards but I haven't sent them yet. Please let me know if you would like a postcard and don't think I have your address. All the kids are covered, and my mom and grandparents, but no one else. All my love.
Peace.

Well there still are no photos uploaded anywhere because I have over 120 all together and I can't find anywhere that will do it quickly, so after almost an hour and a half I gave up trying to figure it out yesterday. Maybe tomorrow. I want to go to the beach today and it's already 2:00pm here. I am hungry as well. So there's not much new except we moved to our studio today and it is wonderful. Our host grows his own olives and makes olive oil. He gave us a huge bottle. He grows everything organically. He has some oranges and tangerines and tons of grapes that are all gone, and we had a pomegranate right off the tree! It was very sweet.

It is beautiful and I really just want to go to the beach and enjoy it instead of typing away anymore here ;) which I'm sure you can understand.

Peace.

Finally an update. I am alive and well. We just arrived on the island of Paros (pah-ros) this morning and already I feel sooo much better. It is warmer today than it has been since we arrived in Greece Wednesday night. Athens was a trip, especially since Kris was sick with a cold which he acquired on our first flight over to London. Plus we were both quite jet-lagged from the day of travel, one night in a hostel, and the ten hour time difference. It was tough at first. Plus it's a huge sprawling city like LA but MUCH more dense. I am currently trying to download photos, we'll see how it works trying to upload them onto here or another site. Shutterfly and Photobucket want me to download some program before I can upload onto their sites, which I can't do since this is an internet cafe.

I just met a woman from Indiana, I am lending her my travel book right now :)
All the camping on Paros is closed for the season so we secured a small studio on the opposite side of the bay from the town Parikia. There is a crappy beach right here in town but just past our studio there are a few beautiful beaches including a really tiny cove-like one that I plan to check out tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will hold for a while. Our current plan is to stay here for a week, head over to Naxos which is a 90 minute ferry ride from here. Stay there for a bit and then go to Santorini. Since it looks like we may not be able to camp until Crete we may shorten our stay on Naxos and Santorini.

The ferry from Athens was a little over 4 hours - we left our studio in Athens at 6:00am, we were so excited to get out of there. The city was a bit oppressive, kind of dirty, and simply not what I was looking for right now. Immediately stepping off the ferry I felt lighter and happier. We rented a moped today which I haven't photographed yet, but I will. It is fun but I would NEVER ride one in Athens, people drive insanely. On our way out this morning I saw a smashed kitty on the side of the road just a block from our studio, it made me even more happy to leave. We enjoyed the stray dogs and cats that wander all over the city so seeing one of them destroyed was a bit sad. Yeah, I know that's life and everything but I like animals, they speak a wordless language that makes sense to me and always has.

Kris is very happy right now watching Futbol while I type away, I think it's Liverpool and some other team, heh heh. Well I will try to upload pictures now, I've already been using this for an hour - my first download attempt failed due to a couple of videos I forgot about.

Love to you all.

PS. My fundraising thermometer has gone beyond my original goal and was at about $3,185 last I checked. This is actually good because transportation costs will add up in Kenya and are not included in the hospitality fees.

So lovely people, I am very excited to tell you all the things I've been receiving from people as well as a thermometer update! You have all helped me tremendously, THANK YOU!!! See below the following material donations/gifts I have already received:

-Multi-vitamins
-Hand sanitizer
-Wipes
-Sunscreen
-Water filtration system
-Sewing kit
-Ponchos
-Mini first aid kit
-Water filtration system
-Shampoo
-Condoms
-Two night-time GladRags
-Six day-time GladRags
-Lavender essential oil

Wonderful isn't it? I hope I haven't forgotten anything, right now I'm just looking around my living room at the little piles everywhere.

Now check out the fundraising thermometer below, I am so amazed!!



Wow, look what we have done. Truly magnificent!
Asante!

It is very exciting to post my fundraising progress because it is coming along so well! I am blessed with a large community of people who love me and I am so very grateful to all of you.


Yesterday my mother and Ed hosted a party for me that was a spectacular success. I was blown away by the things people said to me, and I still feel like I'm glowing from it! The support I am receiving (in so many forms) is helping propel me through the final days before my departure. It could be very easy to get bogged down by the overwhelming list of things I must accomplish in just over a week - but your words and love helps me maintain my energy and focus. Thank you!

Later I will post a few photos from the party and maybe even my recent trip to the Bay Area, but I must go right now.

Thank you, thank you, my wonderful human family!

Yet another happy update on the progress of my fundraising for Village Volunteers!!! Yay sponsors! Yay! You are so fabulous :) Thank you!

Other updates... Still plodding along trying to pack up my life here so it can go into storage until next May or June. I still am unsure of how to actually transport everything I want to bring to the villages in Kenya, but I figure anything that I can't carry myself can be given to Village Volunteers here and brought over by other volunteers. It operates kind of like a family that way.

I hope everyone is enjoying autumn, it is a lovely time of year, after all _I_ was born in autumn hee hee.

Boy am I crazy tired right now. It is time for a vitamin C boost or maybe a cat nap. Thanks for reading, I'll have more later

I am very happy to post this message because below you will see my fundraising progress!



Halfway there! Thank you, thank you, thank you, my kind and generous supporters.
It feels good to raise money for an organization I believe in and when I know exactly where all the money goes.
To break it down for everyone -> there is a one time $950 program fee that goes to the organization here in Seattle. Then there is a weekly hospitality fee of $137.50 that goes to the village programs with whom I will be staying. So if you multiply $137.50 by 12 (weeks) you get $1650 plus the $950 program fee.

There you have it folks!

The time is quickly approaching when I will leave for Greece with Kris (my sweetie), and then I will be in Europe for 2 1/2 months - then on to Kenya. But I'm packing for both because I will be sending a bag or two over to Paris with my mom and Ed where we will meet my sister and her boyfriend for the holidays! Miriam is in Jordan right now and you can click on the "friends" link on my blog to view her entries. It is currently a rough point in her trip, but I think she's having a very profound experience over there. Boy is she brave - most people are shocked and look at me as if to say "She must be insane!!" when I tell them where she is. But then most people think of the Middle East as one big terrorist hideout, filled with extremists and violence. From my understanding, Jordan is a fairly stable state and has been so for a long time. The world is violent, and people are doing crazy things everywhere - whether it's violence towards humans, animals, or the Earth itself, it's happening.

I know that travelling will force me to yank my head out of the sand and face reality in a whole new way. I don't expect it to be easy, but as I have said before, I invite it, I invite change in myself and hope I am able to in some small way change the lives of those I meet as well.

Again, asante! (thank you!)

For a more hands-on donating experience, please view my Material Donation List at http://myndcove.blogspot.com and leave a comment if you plan to buy something from the list so I may update it. Asante! (Thank you in Swahili)