Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sara (Greece) - Epomenh Stash - United States
So this is it. I've come to the last day of my study abroad experience in Greece. I sort of can't believe that it's over already, as it seems like just last week I first arrived in Athens. And, even though there's been some absolutely hellish experiences, overall, my time here has been amazing. I've met people and done things I would never have fathomed four months ago, and have changed so much in so little time. I have absolutely no regrets and would come again in a heartbeat. Studying in Athens has been one of the most terrifying, gratifying and liberating experiences of my life; one that I will never forget. I think my friend Danielle said it best before leaving "Greece will always be a part of us, and we will always be a part of it." So, on that note, and in true Greek metro fashion, I say Epomenh Stash (Next Stop) - United States. See you all there!
Monday, May 12, 2008
John (Poland) Taking a Dip in a Little Water
Well folks, it looks like it's been a while for me and everyone else on the blog. Hope all the Beloit folks had a good end to the semester and that everyone else's programs are wrapping up well.
Here in Poland, I've had a good but busy last month or so. The weather continues to be beautiful and I've taken to reading on the shady park that surrounds the Old Town. There are flowers everywhere and lots of people with enough time to just sit and appreciate the weather for hours and hours, it's a nice feeling. It's also wonderful how the whole city comes out for nice weather on weekends. The parks are literally packed and there's a communal vibe where people's kids will wander over to play with each other while the grownups talk and the teens make out energetically and unabashedly on benches and in the grass.
My program's work has been heavy, but now, nearly almost finished so that I've been able to have a nice couple of weeks to end the semester. It started last weekend when Kate came to visit. It was a huge holiday weekend in Poland, starting on May Day, which was Thursday, and also including Constitution Day on May 3rd, which celebrates Poland 1795 democratic constitution, which was the second in the world after America's (doesn't Robert have the lucky birthday).
After having a difficult time finding the train from the airport, I finally met up with Kate late Thursday night and the next morning we hit the town. It was great seeing a Beloit peep and to be able to actually show off the city. I think she really liked Cracow, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of that was just because the weather was so nice. At one point we stumbled on a carnival when we were walking by the Wisla, which was way more intense than any I'd seen in the US. The images painted on the rides were generally either inappropriately sexual or just odd non-sequitors and each ride was blasting terrible music at far to high a volume. We ended up going on a ride that invovled being strapped into the bottom of a large pendulum which rotated laterally while simultaneously swinging you well over 50 degrees in each direction. I think it's safe to say it was one of the best 12 zl I've spent in Poland.
Later on Friday night, we decided to hit up a Woody Allen film festival, but to pregame before we did so. To honor Kate's program we started with carbombs at one of the Irish pubs. We were a little surprised when we had to describe to the bar woman how to make a carbomb, but we figured it'd be fine. When she asked us what kind of whiskey we wanted we saw a bottle of Jameson's and decided to also pay tribute to J-Man by choosing that. We were startled, however, when she informed us that our two drinks would be 63 zl (about $30). Apparently, the Jameson's was 12 year old aged whiskey, which, though smooth, was a little much for the drink. After talking her down on the price a little, we downed our drinks (which were delicious), we drowned our sorrows in a quick round of Zubrowka (delicious bison grass Vodka) before hitting up the movie. Unfortunately, it was at this point that Kate found out that despite a semester of Irish beer, she still wasn't quite ready for Zubrowka's kick and we had to head home early. It was worth it however, as she kept freaking out that cars would hit us (apparently the Irish aren't the safest drivers) and telling me stories that she didn't remember.
Overall, it was a great trip, which we ended on a real high note when we found a place that had American breakfast on her last morning in. We enjoyed our pancakes and bagel with lox, respectively, which we had been without for far too long while watching the Cracow marathon go by our window in the cold and rain. It was a good feeling.
After Kate left, my fun just kept rolling along as last week was Juvenalia, a weeklong student festival where Polish students get off of classes, and spend the week grilling, going to concerts and clubs, and, of course, getting very, very drunk. The high point was the parade, which was on Friday morning. For the parade, most people dress up in ridiculous costumes such as Magic Mushrooms, a giant rabbit, sexy killer bees and pretty much anything else they can think of (for illustration see my facebook pictures, I got some pretty good ones). Then they get very drunk by 10 when they go to the parade area and divide up by schools and start yelling chants for their institutions while disparaging others. I ended up by the Jageillonian crowd, which was both enthusiastic and VERY loud. The parade ends with a concert in the old town square, which was quite fun, however I had to duck out early and sober up, since my program had cruelly scheduled classes for that afternoon.
Friday evening was also the height of the student partying and I ended up in my friend Mike's room where there was quite a party going on. When I got there I was far behind everyone else who had been partying all day, so I immediately grabbed a beer and some "little water" (the literal meaning of wodka in Polish) and began trying to catch up in earnest. Several hours later, I had just completed this task, when one of Mike's suitemates, walks in with an unopened bottle of vodka. In the tradition of Polish students he starts pouring rounds for everyone in the room (about five or six people). After the first two I respectfully asked for a brief reprieve, however he would have none of it. His arguments included "What? You won't drink with me? Please, don't insult me that way!", "You're fine, you are big and that isn't even a big glass." (For the record, I was using a shot and a half glass). And finally, after hearing my last name, "You must have it, you are Polish, it is the drink of your people!" Of course, after such an onslaught, I could do nothing but offer him my glass. Finally, four rounds later, he left to get another bottle. Hoping for respite, I started talking to a cool Australian girl named Kaja, who invited me to chill with some friends in her room. Eager to sit down, I agreed, to which she replied, "Great! Let's just finish this absinthe I brought and we can go!." I'll spare you further details, but let's just say that the night was one to remember.
And that's mostly it for the last few weeks. Saturday night, the last real night of Juvenalia was also the night when Wisla, one of the local soccer teams won their league, so plans of drinking were stymied somewhat by hordes of soccer rowdies, riot police everywhere, oceans of broken glass and bars that closed down in self-defense, ah, Europe. Now I'm trying to figure out how to send all my winter clothes home as well as my souvenirs without bankrupting myself as well as looking forward to two incredible weeks in Europe with KO starting on Thursday.
Inspired by Robert, I've been making two lists, one of things I'm looking forward to in America and one of things I'll miss, I'll end with a summary of these lists.
Things I'm looking forward to in the US
- drinks with ice, free refills and sizes that actually quench your thirst
- strangers and making idle small talk with you
- black people (both specific ones and in general)
- not hearing shitty Eurodance songs in bars
- baseball
- IPAs and other snooty micro-brews
- Chicago-style pizza, Greek diners, Harold's Chicken and gyros (not kebabs!)
- salads that aren't just sauerkraut and/or red cabbage
- drying my clothes
- driving with the windows down and the music up
- you all (awww...)
Things I'll miss
- the Poles' relentless devotion to feeding pigeons
- the Planty (the park that surrounds Cracow)
- living in a medieval city where everything is within walking distance
- having a bar in my dorm
- 5 zl meals that leave your stomach distended
- having a bar in my dorm
- Europeans' far healthier and more relaxed attitudes towards sex, drinking and life in general
- not being harassed and hurried by waiters
- the cheap deliciousness that is Jawo brand frozen meat pierogie
- being able to say "zloty" (pronounced z-wat-ay) on a daily basis
- Zubrowka, Zapikanki and Obwarzanki
Here in Poland, I've had a good but busy last month or so. The weather continues to be beautiful and I've taken to reading on the shady park that surrounds the Old Town. There are flowers everywhere and lots of people with enough time to just sit and appreciate the weather for hours and hours, it's a nice feeling. It's also wonderful how the whole city comes out for nice weather on weekends. The parks are literally packed and there's a communal vibe where people's kids will wander over to play with each other while the grownups talk and the teens make out energetically and unabashedly on benches and in the grass.
My program's work has been heavy, but now, nearly almost finished so that I've been able to have a nice couple of weeks to end the semester. It started last weekend when Kate came to visit. It was a huge holiday weekend in Poland, starting on May Day, which was Thursday, and also including Constitution Day on May 3rd, which celebrates Poland 1795 democratic constitution, which was the second in the world after America's (doesn't Robert have the lucky birthday).
After having a difficult time finding the train from the airport, I finally met up with Kate late Thursday night and the next morning we hit the town. It was great seeing a Beloit peep and to be able to actually show off the city. I think she really liked Cracow, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of that was just because the weather was so nice. At one point we stumbled on a carnival when we were walking by the Wisla, which was way more intense than any I'd seen in the US. The images painted on the rides were generally either inappropriately sexual or just odd non-sequitors and each ride was blasting terrible music at far to high a volume. We ended up going on a ride that invovled being strapped into the bottom of a large pendulum which rotated laterally while simultaneously swinging you well over 50 degrees in each direction. I think it's safe to say it was one of the best 12 zl I've spent in Poland.
Later on Friday night, we decided to hit up a Woody Allen film festival, but to pregame before we did so. To honor Kate's program we started with carbombs at one of the Irish pubs. We were a little surprised when we had to describe to the bar woman how to make a carbomb, but we figured it'd be fine. When she asked us what kind of whiskey we wanted we saw a bottle of Jameson's and decided to also pay tribute to J-Man by choosing that. We were startled, however, when she informed us that our two drinks would be 63 zl (about $30). Apparently, the Jameson's was 12 year old aged whiskey, which, though smooth, was a little much for the drink. After talking her down on the price a little, we downed our drinks (which were delicious), we drowned our sorrows in a quick round of Zubrowka (delicious bison grass Vodka) before hitting up the movie. Unfortunately, it was at this point that Kate found out that despite a semester of Irish beer, she still wasn't quite ready for Zubrowka's kick and we had to head home early. It was worth it however, as she kept freaking out that cars would hit us (apparently the Irish aren't the safest drivers) and telling me stories that she didn't remember.
Overall, it was a great trip, which we ended on a real high note when we found a place that had American breakfast on her last morning in. We enjoyed our pancakes and bagel with lox, respectively, which we had been without for far too long while watching the Cracow marathon go by our window in the cold and rain. It was a good feeling.
After Kate left, my fun just kept rolling along as last week was Juvenalia, a weeklong student festival where Polish students get off of classes, and spend the week grilling, going to concerts and clubs, and, of course, getting very, very drunk. The high point was the parade, which was on Friday morning. For the parade, most people dress up in ridiculous costumes such as Magic Mushrooms, a giant rabbit, sexy killer bees and pretty much anything else they can think of (for illustration see my facebook pictures, I got some pretty good ones). Then they get very drunk by 10 when they go to the parade area and divide up by schools and start yelling chants for their institutions while disparaging others. I ended up by the Jageillonian crowd, which was both enthusiastic and VERY loud. The parade ends with a concert in the old town square, which was quite fun, however I had to duck out early and sober up, since my program had cruelly scheduled classes for that afternoon.
Friday evening was also the height of the student partying and I ended up in my friend Mike's room where there was quite a party going on. When I got there I was far behind everyone else who had been partying all day, so I immediately grabbed a beer and some "little water" (the literal meaning of wodka in Polish) and began trying to catch up in earnest. Several hours later, I had just completed this task, when one of Mike's suitemates, walks in with an unopened bottle of vodka. In the tradition of Polish students he starts pouring rounds for everyone in the room (about five or six people). After the first two I respectfully asked for a brief reprieve, however he would have none of it. His arguments included "What? You won't drink with me? Please, don't insult me that way!", "You're fine, you are big and that isn't even a big glass." (For the record, I was using a shot and a half glass). And finally, after hearing my last name, "You must have it, you are Polish, it is the drink of your people!" Of course, after such an onslaught, I could do nothing but offer him my glass. Finally, four rounds later, he left to get another bottle. Hoping for respite, I started talking to a cool Australian girl named Kaja, who invited me to chill with some friends in her room. Eager to sit down, I agreed, to which she replied, "Great! Let's just finish this absinthe I brought and we can go!." I'll spare you further details, but let's just say that the night was one to remember.
And that's mostly it for the last few weeks. Saturday night, the last real night of Juvenalia was also the night when Wisla, one of the local soccer teams won their league, so plans of drinking were stymied somewhat by hordes of soccer rowdies, riot police everywhere, oceans of broken glass and bars that closed down in self-defense, ah, Europe. Now I'm trying to figure out how to send all my winter clothes home as well as my souvenirs without bankrupting myself as well as looking forward to two incredible weeks in Europe with KO starting on Thursday.
Inspired by Robert, I've been making two lists, one of things I'm looking forward to in America and one of things I'll miss, I'll end with a summary of these lists.
Things I'm looking forward to in the US
- drinks with ice, free refills and sizes that actually quench your thirst
- strangers and making idle small talk with you
- black people (both specific ones and in general)
- not hearing shitty Eurodance songs in bars
- baseball
- IPAs and other snooty micro-brews
- Chicago-style pizza, Greek diners, Harold's Chicken and gyros (not kebabs!)
- salads that aren't just sauerkraut and/or red cabbage
- drying my clothes
- driving with the windows down and the music up
- you all (awww...)
Things I'll miss
- the Poles' relentless devotion to feeding pigeons
- the Planty (the park that surrounds Cracow)
- living in a medieval city where everything is within walking distance
- having a bar in my dorm
- 5 zl meals that leave your stomach distended
- having a bar in my dorm
- Europeans' far healthier and more relaxed attitudes towards sex, drinking and life in general
- not being harassed and hurried by waiters
- the cheap deliciousness that is Jawo brand frozen meat pierogie
- being able to say "zloty" (pronounced z-wat-ay) on a daily basis
- Zubrowka, Zapikanki and Obwarzanki
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Robert (New Zealand) - The Blessings of Our Fathers
The trip down to Dunedin and the Catlins was cold, but good. We made our way south slowly, stopping at various boulder fields, and eating lunch at a nice seafood place which was a bit more expensive than we had bargained for. Near Dunedin we hit a rain storm which turned to sleet then snow, unfortunately the snow had stopped by the time we got to the city. In Dunedin we stayed at a backpacker hostel just south of the city center for the first couple days. The place was cool and drafty and laid out in a kind of awkward way, but it was cheap and had free internet. On my birthday Susan and I got up early and bought breakfast pastries at a bakery. We spent the day driving and walking around the Otago Peninsula. We tried to get in to New Zealand's only castle, but they charged $10 just to go to a place where you could see it. Being touristy with no money is a sad sad thing. We did get to see some amazing skies though. Dinner was at a little hole-in-the-wall place, and then out for a few pints at the bars.
We drove two hours south the next day to spend a night in The Catlins, a coastal region on the south of the South Island. We set up in a remote campsite, visited a few waterfalls, and made toasted tuna and cheese sandwiches as the sun set. It was a cold night so we huddled in the tent, drinking wine, talking about how we admired our parents, and having dance parties to keep warm. The stars were amazing though. The Milky Way stretched from one horizon to the other.
In the morning we hurried back to Dunedin so Bryan, Susan, and Liz could go an a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate factory and I could start hitching back to Christchurch. Sunrise over the frost and mist covered hills was beautiful. The others dropped me off on the side of the highway north of Dunedin and we said our goodbyes. Hitching was far more successful this time around than when I tried in Manapouri. Busy highway+backpack+"ChCh" sign=much better situation. I got picked up within two minutes of being dropped off by a great Scottish immigrant not much older than me who was great conversation and gave me a tour of Omaru before dropping me off to visit his parents in town. I then got picked up by a CRAZY woman who ranted to me for an hour about various conspiracy theories including the New Zealand Department of Conservation poisoning people, Marijuana casing paranoid schizophrenia, and 7/11 (I believe she meant 9/11) being a US government action. After she dropped me off in Timaru I caught a ride the rest of the way with a gangster/bro looking fellow. We didn't really talk much, just sat in awkward silence listening to Eminem and bad rock music for an hour and a half.
Back in Christchurch I crashed on Sophie's floor for a night and watched Howel's Moving Castle and Run Fatboy Run. In the morning I went to pick up my father from the airport. We spent the morning walking around the hills on the coast east of Christchurch. In the afternoon he met with Jay to start getting his feet on the ground for next year's New Zealand program. Dinner was at a nice pizza place called "The Ruptured Duck" with the program leaders and their kids.
My father and I then started making our way up north. We stayed two nights in Kaikoura, ate good Thai food, went on Albatross Encounter, and visited the seal colony. Albatross Encounter is run by the same people who did the swimming with dolphins tours. On the albatross trip they take you out in a small boat and chum the water. Wandering albatross will come up and land in the water just a few feet away from you. Very cool experience. We got up early in the dark and drove up to Picton to catch the Interislander ferry up to Wellington. The highway runs along the coast and sunrise over the ocean was amazing.
Right now we're in Wellington, staying in the same hostel the group stayed in when we were here, just a couple doors down from our old rooms actually (it's a really big hostel). Wellington is actually a really nice city. I wish the program had been able to spend more time here. It's been strange sort of retracing the programs travels backwards as we head back up to Auckland for me to fly back to the states. It's kind of a nice way to end my time here. Tomorrow we keep heading north. We have two days to get to Auckland for my flight. We haven't really decided what we'll do or where we'll go on the way yet. It will be nice to wander.
I guess this is my last post from New Zealand. I hope the rest of you are having pleasant ends to your programs as well.
Slan
Things I have been appreciating:
-Bryan beat-boxing in time with Liz's snoring.
-Watching waves roll in when the surf is rough.
-Snow on the mountains.
-Arden (just turned two) who Liz always said acts like she's drunk, sitting at the bar at The Ruptured Duck.
-Sunrises.
-The nightly routine my father and I have developed of having a nice meal out and then going to a bar for a pint.
-Leaving a cool experience and still looking forward to what's ahead.
We drove two hours south the next day to spend a night in The Catlins, a coastal region on the south of the South Island. We set up in a remote campsite, visited a few waterfalls, and made toasted tuna and cheese sandwiches as the sun set. It was a cold night so we huddled in the tent, drinking wine, talking about how we admired our parents, and having dance parties to keep warm. The stars were amazing though. The Milky Way stretched from one horizon to the other.
In the morning we hurried back to Dunedin so Bryan, Susan, and Liz could go an a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate factory and I could start hitching back to Christchurch. Sunrise over the frost and mist covered hills was beautiful. The others dropped me off on the side of the highway north of Dunedin and we said our goodbyes. Hitching was far more successful this time around than when I tried in Manapouri. Busy highway+backpack+"ChCh" sign=much better situation. I got picked up within two minutes of being dropped off by a great Scottish immigrant not much older than me who was great conversation and gave me a tour of Omaru before dropping me off to visit his parents in town. I then got picked up by a CRAZY woman who ranted to me for an hour about various conspiracy theories including the New Zealand Department of Conservation poisoning people, Marijuana casing paranoid schizophrenia, and 7/11 (I believe she meant 9/11) being a US government action. After she dropped me off in Timaru I caught a ride the rest of the way with a gangster/bro looking fellow. We didn't really talk much, just sat in awkward silence listening to Eminem and bad rock music for an hour and a half.
Back in Christchurch I crashed on Sophie's floor for a night and watched Howel's Moving Castle and Run Fatboy Run. In the morning I went to pick up my father from the airport. We spent the morning walking around the hills on the coast east of Christchurch. In the afternoon he met with Jay to start getting his feet on the ground for next year's New Zealand program. Dinner was at a nice pizza place called "The Ruptured Duck" with the program leaders and their kids.
My father and I then started making our way up north. We stayed two nights in Kaikoura, ate good Thai food, went on Albatross Encounter, and visited the seal colony. Albatross Encounter is run by the same people who did the swimming with dolphins tours. On the albatross trip they take you out in a small boat and chum the water. Wandering albatross will come up and land in the water just a few feet away from you. Very cool experience. We got up early in the dark and drove up to Picton to catch the Interislander ferry up to Wellington. The highway runs along the coast and sunrise over the ocean was amazing.
Right now we're in Wellington, staying in the same hostel the group stayed in when we were here, just a couple doors down from our old rooms actually (it's a really big hostel). Wellington is actually a really nice city. I wish the program had been able to spend more time here. It's been strange sort of retracing the programs travels backwards as we head back up to Auckland for me to fly back to the states. It's kind of a nice way to end my time here. Tomorrow we keep heading north. We have two days to get to Auckland for my flight. We haven't really decided what we'll do or where we'll go on the way yet. It will be nice to wander.
I guess this is my last post from New Zealand. I hope the rest of you are having pleasant ends to your programs as well.
Slan
Things I have been appreciating:
-Bryan beat-boxing in time with Liz's snoring.
-Watching waves roll in when the surf is rough.
-Snow on the mountains.
-Arden (just turned two) who Liz always said acts like she's drunk, sitting at the bar at The Ruptured Duck.
-Sunrises.
-The nightly routine my father and I have developed of having a nice meal out and then going to a bar for a pint.
-Leaving a cool experience and still looking forward to what's ahead.
Monday, May 5, 2008
KO (Senegal) The end is near...
Classes are winding down, although they didn't finish nearly as early as they were supposed to, which is disappointing and stressful because it means that now we have to write final papers and keep going to class, which is a little much.
Last weekend I went to an island off the coast of Dakar saturday with a bunch of people on my program who had rented a house on the island for the night. I was planning on leaving later in the day to go home, but I ended up spending the night as well and having a lot of fun. The house even had a pool, which I thought was a little unneccessary since we were on an island surrounded by beach, but it was still a lot of fun. Then Sunday we did actually sit on the beach for a while before heading home in time for lunch and then going to a Senegalese wrestling match with one of our classes. That was a lot of fun to see in person ,we watch it on tv a lot. I didn't bring my camera because my host mom warned me about pick pockets, but this ended up being a smaller match than most of the other ones, so it probably would have been fine. There is a lot of preperation for each match, we saw for, with lots of different little ceremony type things that they do before hand to ensure good luck and that they win the match etc, but then each match actually only lasts for about a minute, but it is still a lot of fun. The crowd gets really into it.
Friday after my class I left for my rural visit, which was a lot of fun, but not all that rural. I went to a village called Diouffior, which is about 3 hours south of Dakar and stayed with a peace corps volunteer who works with small business enterprise, or more tries to work with small business enterprise, with fairly limited success. She was really nice though and from North Central IL and when she is done with her service in November will probably be moving to Chicago with her Senegalese fiance. We walked around the village Saturday and then met up with my friend Margaret, who was actually staying with another peace corps volunteer in the next village. Margaret spent the rest of the weekend with us, Saturday we watched a movie with Elizabeth's host siblings and just hung around and then Sunday we went to this larger town nearby that has a lot of tourists and hotels and went to the beach. The town isn't really on the ocean, but it is in the delta so the river has beach like things. We went to one of the hotels for a soda and stayed for a few hours in their pool, which was a lot of fun, but again, not very rural. Then Margaret and I left at 3am Monday morning to head back to Dakar since we knew a bus would come through then and if we waited until later we would have to stand on the side of the road and hope that some vehicle came by going to Dakar.
Last weekend I went to an island off the coast of Dakar saturday with a bunch of people on my program who had rented a house on the island for the night. I was planning on leaving later in the day to go home, but I ended up spending the night as well and having a lot of fun. The house even had a pool, which I thought was a little unneccessary since we were on an island surrounded by beach, but it was still a lot of fun. Then Sunday we did actually sit on the beach for a while before heading home in time for lunch and then going to a Senegalese wrestling match with one of our classes. That was a lot of fun to see in person ,we watch it on tv a lot. I didn't bring my camera because my host mom warned me about pick pockets, but this ended up being a smaller match than most of the other ones, so it probably would have been fine. There is a lot of preperation for each match, we saw for, with lots of different little ceremony type things that they do before hand to ensure good luck and that they win the match etc, but then each match actually only lasts for about a minute, but it is still a lot of fun. The crowd gets really into it.
Friday after my class I left for my rural visit, which was a lot of fun, but not all that rural. I went to a village called Diouffior, which is about 3 hours south of Dakar and stayed with a peace corps volunteer who works with small business enterprise, or more tries to work with small business enterprise, with fairly limited success. She was really nice though and from North Central IL and when she is done with her service in November will probably be moving to Chicago with her Senegalese fiance. We walked around the village Saturday and then met up with my friend Margaret, who was actually staying with another peace corps volunteer in the next village. Margaret spent the rest of the weekend with us, Saturday we watched a movie with Elizabeth's host siblings and just hung around and then Sunday we went to this larger town nearby that has a lot of tourists and hotels and went to the beach. The town isn't really on the ocean, but it is in the delta so the river has beach like things. We went to one of the hotels for a soda and stayed for a few hours in their pool, which was a lot of fun, but again, not very rural. Then Margaret and I left at 3am Monday morning to head back to Dakar since we knew a bus would come through then and if we waited until later we would have to stand on the side of the road and hope that some vehicle came by going to Dakar.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Robert (New Zealand) - School's Out
Well, the inaugural run of the Earlham College New Zealand Semester is over. About half of the students have left the country already. I'm moving out of my home stay tomorrow morning.
The culminating event of the program was a seven day kayaking/hiking trip in Abel Tasman National Park in the north of the South Island. We drove up to Nelson and spent two nights at a campsite next to a soon to be "mainland island". I mentioned a while ago the strategy of eradicating mammalian pests (rats, stoats, possums, etc.) on offshore islands to protect native bird species. Another strategy is to install predator proof fencing around a section of forest on the mainland, kill all the pests inside, and then have a fenced in sanctuary. We'd visited a few before, but it was cool to see one that was in the process of being created. Back at the campground we celebrated the faculty leaders' daughter Ellie's 4th birthday, played balloon volleyball, and hung out with an sketchy/offensive drunk Kiwi man who looked like Bert Reynolds.
Like the Routeburn trip we split into two groups for the back country. My group got the ocean section first, paddling south along the coast in two person sea kayaks. It was very laid back, only a couple hours of paddling each day, then hours to spend lounging on the beech, although the wind off the ocean could be cold at times. At night the moon was bright enough to light up the whole ocean. The nights were cold and in morning when the sun hit the ocean it would steam.
Our second campsite, at the fortunately misnamed Mosquito Bay, was a great place. At high tide the campsite was surrounded on three sides by a tidal lagoon, but at low tide it was all a sandy beach that extended out to a small island. At night our campground was invaded by possums which aside from being a nuisances are really a blight on native wildlife, so there was nothing to do but go on a nocturnal possum hunt. Shane ended up bludgeoning one after everyone else had given up. One down, 70 million to go.
The switchover point for the trip was a two night stay at a hut in a large bay called The Anchorage. We played a game of capture the flag, pitting the two brigades against each other. It was a hard fought battle but we were victorious. In the end it came down to a daring amphibious assault with a kayak by Julia and myself which served as a diversion while our teammates stole the flag. We also built a massive sand castle/city which we named Panui (Maori for "big fort"), and then watched it get swallowed by the tide.
We traded our kayaks for hiking packs and set off on the Inland Track. The first day was crazy hot and the landscape felt oddly like the American southwest. I got to learn all sorts of things about Jay (one of our faculty leaders) on the hike, including an apocalyptic story of family drama around his step-sister's wedding in Turkey. The huts on the track were small and simple. We shared the space with good people, both Kiwis and internationals from as far away as Wales. We had some of the best stars of the trip the last night before the moon rose. The Southern Cross with the Milky Way spiraling out behind it.
The other group apparently had far more luck with ocean wildlife than we did, with dolphins swimming along side them and baby seals jumping onto the kayaks as they paddled.
After the tramp we wrapped up the program in a campground on the beach in a small town called Pohara Just west of Abel Tasman. We ate a delicious final meal at a local restaurant, filled out massive program evaluation forms, and did a last group check in. Pohara is a beautiful spot. The sunsets were astounding. The last morning we got up early in the rain and fog and standing on the beach felt like the edge of the world.
Back in Christchurch it's become full-blown fall. The air is filled with falling leaves. The weather reports say we might get a dusting of snow in a day or two. Still, the last few days have been pleasantly warm.
We had a farewell potluck with all the host families, which was predictably awkward. It was also kind of a weird way to end the program, with so many strangers around. Some students are decidedly happy to leave their home stays. Mine has been good though, even if living in suburbia drives me a bit nuts sometimes.
Yesterday a few of us who are sticking around for some extra time got together for drinks at the Bush Inn, a favorite meeting place near the university. I really don't know why we congregate there so much. It's a room full of people over 60 pouring their money into slot machines and watching horse racing. Kind of depressing actually. However, beer is cheap, it's a convenient location, and it has a nice outside seating area. Ashley, one of the guides from the Whanganui River trip back at the start of the program was down for a few days visiting us and staying with relatives. I ended up going a cookout at his family's place. Amazingly friendly people. I showed up, a total stranger, and they welcomed me in, hongied me (traditional Maori greeting where you press noses and/or foreheads for a second), and we ate and jammed on guitar for about an hour. After that it was off to the pubs where Susan and I toasted to things we were thankful for every time we drank. I don't know how many pitchers we went through.
Right now my host brother and his friends are booby trapping every door in the house. I'll need to tread lightly to get out of here. Tomorrow Susan, Bryan, Liz and I head down to Dunedin.
Things I have been appreciating:
-The phrase 'Gorsed' meaning "I've been stabbed by gorse, oh god, oh god, look at all the bood." Gorse is an invasive plant that devotes more than half of its biomass to various sharp and pointy protrusions. Touching it results in getting 'gorsed'. I've also been appreciating the mental image of Elliot levetated aboves the ground where he had just sat down screaming "It's Gorse!"
-Bellbirds. Walking through the woods with these little guys singing all around is something I will miss a lot.
-Slapping the sack.
-Dub Dub Dub Internet cafe. Just a really good place.
-Sea-salt stains on cloths and skin.
The culminating event of the program was a seven day kayaking/hiking trip in Abel Tasman National Park in the north of the South Island. We drove up to Nelson and spent two nights at a campsite next to a soon to be "mainland island". I mentioned a while ago the strategy of eradicating mammalian pests (rats, stoats, possums, etc.) on offshore islands to protect native bird species. Another strategy is to install predator proof fencing around a section of forest on the mainland, kill all the pests inside, and then have a fenced in sanctuary. We'd visited a few before, but it was cool to see one that was in the process of being created. Back at the campground we celebrated the faculty leaders' daughter Ellie's 4th birthday, played balloon volleyball, and hung out with an sketchy/offensive drunk Kiwi man who looked like Bert Reynolds.
Like the Routeburn trip we split into two groups for the back country. My group got the ocean section first, paddling south along the coast in two person sea kayaks. It was very laid back, only a couple hours of paddling each day, then hours to spend lounging on the beech, although the wind off the ocean could be cold at times. At night the moon was bright enough to light up the whole ocean. The nights were cold and in morning when the sun hit the ocean it would steam.
Our second campsite, at the fortunately misnamed Mosquito Bay, was a great place. At high tide the campsite was surrounded on three sides by a tidal lagoon, but at low tide it was all a sandy beach that extended out to a small island. At night our campground was invaded by possums which aside from being a nuisances are really a blight on native wildlife, so there was nothing to do but go on a nocturnal possum hunt. Shane ended up bludgeoning one after everyone else had given up. One down, 70 million to go.
The switchover point for the trip was a two night stay at a hut in a large bay called The Anchorage. We played a game of capture the flag, pitting the two brigades against each other. It was a hard fought battle but we were victorious. In the end it came down to a daring amphibious assault with a kayak by Julia and myself which served as a diversion while our teammates stole the flag. We also built a massive sand castle/city which we named Panui (Maori for "big fort"), and then watched it get swallowed by the tide.
We traded our kayaks for hiking packs and set off on the Inland Track. The first day was crazy hot and the landscape felt oddly like the American southwest. I got to learn all sorts of things about Jay (one of our faculty leaders) on the hike, including an apocalyptic story of family drama around his step-sister's wedding in Turkey. The huts on the track were small and simple. We shared the space with good people, both Kiwis and internationals from as far away as Wales. We had some of the best stars of the trip the last night before the moon rose. The Southern Cross with the Milky Way spiraling out behind it.
The other group apparently had far more luck with ocean wildlife than we did, with dolphins swimming along side them and baby seals jumping onto the kayaks as they paddled.
After the tramp we wrapped up the program in a campground on the beach in a small town called Pohara Just west of Abel Tasman. We ate a delicious final meal at a local restaurant, filled out massive program evaluation forms, and did a last group check in. Pohara is a beautiful spot. The sunsets were astounding. The last morning we got up early in the rain and fog and standing on the beach felt like the edge of the world.
Back in Christchurch it's become full-blown fall. The air is filled with falling leaves. The weather reports say we might get a dusting of snow in a day or two. Still, the last few days have been pleasantly warm.
We had a farewell potluck with all the host families, which was predictably awkward. It was also kind of a weird way to end the program, with so many strangers around. Some students are decidedly happy to leave their home stays. Mine has been good though, even if living in suburbia drives me a bit nuts sometimes.
Yesterday a few of us who are sticking around for some extra time got together for drinks at the Bush Inn, a favorite meeting place near the university. I really don't know why we congregate there so much. It's a room full of people over 60 pouring their money into slot machines and watching horse racing. Kind of depressing actually. However, beer is cheap, it's a convenient location, and it has a nice outside seating area. Ashley, one of the guides from the Whanganui River trip back at the start of the program was down for a few days visiting us and staying with relatives. I ended up going a cookout at his family's place. Amazingly friendly people. I showed up, a total stranger, and they welcomed me in, hongied me (traditional Maori greeting where you press noses and/or foreheads for a second), and we ate and jammed on guitar for about an hour. After that it was off to the pubs where Susan and I toasted to things we were thankful for every time we drank. I don't know how many pitchers we went through.
Right now my host brother and his friends are booby trapping every door in the house. I'll need to tread lightly to get out of here. Tomorrow Susan, Bryan, Liz and I head down to Dunedin.
Things I have been appreciating:
-The phrase 'Gorsed' meaning "I've been stabbed by gorse, oh god, oh god, look at all the bood." Gorse is an invasive plant that devotes more than half of its biomass to various sharp and pointy protrusions. Touching it results in getting 'gorsed'. I've also been appreciating the mental image of Elliot levetated aboves the ground where he had just sat down screaming "It's Gorse!"
-Bellbirds. Walking through the woods with these little guys singing all around is something I will miss a lot.
-Slapping the sack.
-Dub Dub Dub Internet cafe. Just a really good place.
-Sea-salt stains on cloths and skin.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Robert (New Zealand) - Autumn
It's starting to feel like fall here in New Zealand. It's getting dark earlier, the days are starting to have that autumn feel, and some of the trees are starting to change (well the introduced European trees are changing, natives don't, but they're pretty much all gone here). We've also started to get rain more often and even a thunderstorm or two (It's been far too long).
We've been wrapping up our time in Christchurch. The last two weeks or so have been regular class schedule. We went on a few field trips to local businesses with positive environmental policies including a metalworking factory that's recycling water, a couple clothing manufacturers with sustainable practices (and got to meet the New Zealander of the Year who runs one of them), and a dairy farm that's using a 'digester' to generate power off the manure from its cows. Probably the most inspiring visit though was a newly started industrial waste reclamation plant that boasts the ability to reclaim for reuse or recycling, 80% of commercial or industrial waste that would otherwise go to landfill. The guy responsible for starting it is brilliant and ambitious. The plant has only been operational for two months and he's already looking into building two more. His ideas for changing how we deal with waste range from powering the plant off the waste it collects (with virtually no emissions), to using crushed glass to help wine grapes grow, to using algae to simultaneously treat waste water and create biofuel. As long as the landfill company doesn't overpower his business/strong-arm him out of the way (yay waste management mob-ties) you really get the sense that he could be on the forefront of completely changing how we think about consumption and waste. Even more interesting, none of it is really done out of environmental ethic, it's all about common sense and is quite profitable.
Over the weekend we finally went to a rugby game. The home team, the Canterbury Crusaders, are the best in their league. A large proportion of the team also plays for the national team, the All Blacks. The game was a lot of fun. Rugbys a beautifully brutal game and I like the flow of it. We did our part as cheering fans (or obnoxious tourists, take your pick), made a good share of semi-inappropriate crusade jokes, and watched the home team kill the Lions something like 31-6.
Shane and Bryan's rap is up on youtube.
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWCxtzaR0I
The video contains footage from around Christchurch, Routeburn, the West Coast excursion, a really bad Maori reenactment we went to and more. Check it out if you want a laugh, or just to be confused by inside jokes.
Classes and our service learning placements are pretty much over now. I did my finals today. Tomorrow is our last class day at the University of Canterbury. There are just a few loose ends of academic work to tie up and then I'm done with that. Wednesday we're headed up to the north of the South Island to do a kayaking/hiking trip in Abel Tasman National Park as a capstone to the program. Upon getting back we'll have a final celebration dinner and Earlham College New Zealand Semester 2008 will be done. After that it's a week of travel down south with some of the other students who are staying longer, then a week of travel with my father when he comes over, and then back to the states.
Things I have been appreciating:
-The Bog (Irish pub) always playing my favorite songs when I walk by at night. First Revelate and then Fisherman's Blues. It's quickly becoming a replacement for the iPod I left in the states.
-Eccentric bus drivers. Some blast blues music, some sing opera as they drive, some pat patrons on the head as they depart.
-Guest lecturers unwittingly mentioning topics that are inside jokes in our group and the snickering that ensues. Poor guest lectures don't know what's going on.
-When CNN international anchors say: "looking a little bit closer, lets broaden this out"
-Pints. 2 pint jugs might be more cost effective, but I love a good pint glass.
-Standing on the Port Hills just south of the city, looking out over Lyttelton Harbor, across the bay and being able to see my wwoof farmstay all the way over on the Banks Peninsula.
We've been wrapping up our time in Christchurch. The last two weeks or so have been regular class schedule. We went on a few field trips to local businesses with positive environmental policies including a metalworking factory that's recycling water, a couple clothing manufacturers with sustainable practices (and got to meet the New Zealander of the Year who runs one of them), and a dairy farm that's using a 'digester' to generate power off the manure from its cows. Probably the most inspiring visit though was a newly started industrial waste reclamation plant that boasts the ability to reclaim for reuse or recycling, 80% of commercial or industrial waste that would otherwise go to landfill. The guy responsible for starting it is brilliant and ambitious. The plant has only been operational for two months and he's already looking into building two more. His ideas for changing how we deal with waste range from powering the plant off the waste it collects (with virtually no emissions), to using crushed glass to help wine grapes grow, to using algae to simultaneously treat waste water and create biofuel. As long as the landfill company doesn't overpower his business/strong-arm him out of the way (yay waste management mob-ties) you really get the sense that he could be on the forefront of completely changing how we think about consumption and waste. Even more interesting, none of it is really done out of environmental ethic, it's all about common sense and is quite profitable.
Over the weekend we finally went to a rugby game. The home team, the Canterbury Crusaders, are the best in their league. A large proportion of the team also plays for the national team, the All Blacks. The game was a lot of fun. Rugbys a beautifully brutal game and I like the flow of it. We did our part as cheering fans (or obnoxious tourists, take your pick), made a good share of semi-inappropriate crusade jokes, and watched the home team kill the Lions something like 31-6.
Shane and Bryan's rap is up on youtube.
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWCxtzaR0I
The video contains footage from around Christchurch, Routeburn, the West Coast excursion, a really bad Maori reenactment we went to and more. Check it out if you want a laugh, or just to be confused by inside jokes.
Classes and our service learning placements are pretty much over now. I did my finals today. Tomorrow is our last class day at the University of Canterbury. There are just a few loose ends of academic work to tie up and then I'm done with that. Wednesday we're headed up to the north of the South Island to do a kayaking/hiking trip in Abel Tasman National Park as a capstone to the program. Upon getting back we'll have a final celebration dinner and Earlham College New Zealand Semester 2008 will be done. After that it's a week of travel down south with some of the other students who are staying longer, then a week of travel with my father when he comes over, and then back to the states.
Things I have been appreciating:
-The Bog (Irish pub) always playing my favorite songs when I walk by at night. First Revelate and then Fisherman's Blues. It's quickly becoming a replacement for the iPod I left in the states.
-Eccentric bus drivers. Some blast blues music, some sing opera as they drive, some pat patrons on the head as they depart.
-Guest lecturers unwittingly mentioning topics that are inside jokes in our group and the snickering that ensues. Poor guest lectures don't know what's going on.
-When CNN international anchors say: "looking a little bit closer, lets broaden this out"
-Pints. 2 pint jugs might be more cost effective, but I love a good pint glass.
-Standing on the Port Hills just south of the city, looking out over Lyttelton Harbor, across the bay and being able to see my wwoof farmstay all the way over on the Banks Peninsula.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Sara (Greece) - GOATS
So, considering it’s been a ridiculous amount of time since my last post, I figured I’d hop on this thing and update! And, for the time being, I’m going to disregard the fact that I start with that exact same sentence almost every post! Wow. Anyway, back to business I suppose.
I don’t really know where to start actually. The last I wrote was right before spring break, so I guess that’s as good a place as any! Spring break was amazing. It was a month ago, but it was still the best time I’ve had here all semester. My family and Derek trekked over to Athens and for about 8 days and we tore up the country! Well, alright, not tore exactly, but you get the picture. We were in Athens for a few days, and then went to Nafplio, Mycenae, Corinth and the Isthmus. My two brothers left for London, and we continued to hike up into the mountains to this ridiculously charming mountain town called Zaklarou! Some of the most amazing pictures I have taken happened during that trip. And…AND I saw goats. AND SHEEP! Not only did I see them, there were huge herds of them way up in the mountains. They had bells around their necks and a legit herder with a little beagle. They were all over the mountain roads and the trails. We must have seen upwards of 6 groups. Crazy.
So, after about 8 days, Derek and my parents left; which left me about 9 weeks of Greece before I had to head home. Since then, I’ve dropped a class, written a bunch of papers and gone to Olympia and Delphi with my class. That in itself was amazing. I got to run a stade (ancient Olympic running event) in the first every Olympic stadium! And Delphi was just awe inspiring in itself, as you will be hard pressed to read any ancient text and not find over 200 references to the oracle at Delphi in the first 3 chapters! Going back to Beloit, and studying Classics will never be the same, as I can now attest to everything that ancient writers are describing in their accounts of the land. Not only can I attest to it, I can picture it. Amazing.
And that’s about it so far. After spring break, things have been pretty relaxed around here. However, this is my last weekend before a crazy 3-week filled time of trips, and so far, its been wonderful. Two nights ago, I went with 6 other girls and we found an Irish Pub in Athens (Weird, I know) where we drank excellent beer and sang raucously to a bunch of iconic American songs until a ridiculously early time in the morning. Last night, I met up with my roommate Danielle and another girl named Danielle and we made burritos…sort of. Apparently, Greece is devoid of sour cream, tortilla shells, tortilla chips, cilantro, beans and ripe avocadoes. Though, one thing Greece has taught me is to improvise at all costs! We had rice with “Mexican Sauce,” basically glorified ketchup. We found canned red kidney beans and combined some tomatoes and onions to make salsa! And finally, we used pita for the tortillas. It actually turned our pretty decent!
Next week, I have a Mt. Olympus trip planned, where, yes, I will be climbing Mt. Olympus! The weekend after is Greek Easter. Cue Danielle, Erin and me going to Crete to see Knossos and hike an 8 hour gorge! The weekend after I will be Santorini with Danielle and Erin again, where we will go tanning and snorkeling! Finally, I come back to Athens to perform the play (Antigone) I’m in. One more weekend after and I’m home. That leaves 5 weeks and I’m back in the states for good! I really can’t believe that my experience here is almost done! There have for sure been ups and downs to the trip, but it just seemed to go so fast. It’s weird to think I won’t be able to look out of the classroom window and see the Acropolis or Lykovitos Hill anymore. Hmm. But I suppose all good things have to come to an end sometime! Well, that’s it. Missing everyone at home and abroad tons, and I think about you guys often! I’ll see you all soon!!
I don’t really know where to start actually. The last I wrote was right before spring break, so I guess that’s as good a place as any! Spring break was amazing. It was a month ago, but it was still the best time I’ve had here all semester. My family and Derek trekked over to Athens and for about 8 days and we tore up the country! Well, alright, not tore exactly, but you get the picture. We were in Athens for a few days, and then went to Nafplio, Mycenae, Corinth and the Isthmus. My two brothers left for London, and we continued to hike up into the mountains to this ridiculously charming mountain town called Zaklarou! Some of the most amazing pictures I have taken happened during that trip. And…AND I saw goats. AND SHEEP! Not only did I see them, there were huge herds of them way up in the mountains. They had bells around their necks and a legit herder with a little beagle. They were all over the mountain roads and the trails. We must have seen upwards of 6 groups. Crazy.
So, after about 8 days, Derek and my parents left; which left me about 9 weeks of Greece before I had to head home. Since then, I’ve dropped a class, written a bunch of papers and gone to Olympia and Delphi with my class. That in itself was amazing. I got to run a stade (ancient Olympic running event) in the first every Olympic stadium! And Delphi was just awe inspiring in itself, as you will be hard pressed to read any ancient text and not find over 200 references to the oracle at Delphi in the first 3 chapters! Going back to Beloit, and studying Classics will never be the same, as I can now attest to everything that ancient writers are describing in their accounts of the land. Not only can I attest to it, I can picture it. Amazing.
And that’s about it so far. After spring break, things have been pretty relaxed around here. However, this is my last weekend before a crazy 3-week filled time of trips, and so far, its been wonderful. Two nights ago, I went with 6 other girls and we found an Irish Pub in Athens (Weird, I know) where we drank excellent beer and sang raucously to a bunch of iconic American songs until a ridiculously early time in the morning. Last night, I met up with my roommate Danielle and another girl named Danielle and we made burritos…sort of. Apparently, Greece is devoid of sour cream, tortilla shells, tortilla chips, cilantro, beans and ripe avocadoes. Though, one thing Greece has taught me is to improvise at all costs! We had rice with “Mexican Sauce,” basically glorified ketchup. We found canned red kidney beans and combined some tomatoes and onions to make salsa! And finally, we used pita for the tortillas. It actually turned our pretty decent!
Next week, I have a Mt. Olympus trip planned, where, yes, I will be climbing Mt. Olympus! The weekend after is Greek Easter. Cue Danielle, Erin and me going to Crete to see Knossos and hike an 8 hour gorge! The weekend after I will be Santorini with Danielle and Erin again, where we will go tanning and snorkeling! Finally, I come back to Athens to perform the play (Antigone) I’m in. One more weekend after and I’m home. That leaves 5 weeks and I’m back in the states for good! I really can’t believe that my experience here is almost done! There have for sure been ups and downs to the trip, but it just seemed to go so fast. It’s weird to think I won’t be able to look out of the classroom window and see the Acropolis or Lykovitos Hill anymore. Hmm. But I suppose all good things have to come to an end sometime! Well, that’s it. Missing everyone at home and abroad tons, and I think about you guys often! I’ll see you all soon!!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Ted (Burma): Yes, I am actually in Burma
I touched down in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma)
yesterday at 8:45 Thai time, but 8:15 Myanmar time. I had
no idea there were half hour time zones. That's too much
math.
There was a free shuttle to a guesthouse with $4 dorm rooms,
and since three Americans had already made reservations
there, I figured it was a safe bet, especially since taxis
from the airport cost at least that much. They threw in free
breakfast even though we hadn't stayed, and what a nice
place. I think it's going to be a common thing here, but
they're also very overstaffed with possibly more staff than
guests, so at least 20 in a small place. Some of the nicest
people I've ever met. I hear that the average wage at the
guesthouse is $40 a month.
After changing money on the streets with a sketchy guy (the
black market rate is nearly twice as good as the official
rate) I went to the Shwedagon Pagoda, the massive golden
religious center of Myanmar. There were a ton of locals
there, and my bare feet were burning from the sun-heated
tiles surrounding the pagoda. The heat is crazy here!
The highlight of the day was when I went out drinking with a
guy from Wales and a girl from Germany, and after a little
bar hopping, we ended up at "Music Pub" where we were the
only foreigners. After passing tons of neon lit signs that
all turned out to be fashion stores, and wading through
crowds of people selling old clothes, eating, drinking and
socializing on the streets in the city center, we were
overjoyed to find an actual "pub". But what a strange pub.
It was almost all guys sitting at small tables facing a
stage. And the entertainment? Dance music would be turned on
for several minutes, and about 7-8 girls would come on the
stage and do little model walks. They would walk forward,
turn around, tilt to the right, and then walk back. The
whole time, looking unhappy at best, and miserable at worst.
After each "set" they would go into a tiny room and change
their clothes. Sometimes they wore matching dresses and
other times they wore varying styles. We couldn't figure out
if this was plain entertainment or some kind of fashion
show, but we eventually decided it was as close to a go-go
bar as you can get in Burma since the girls were all young
and wearing tight clothes. Never seen anything like it.
We also talked to two Burmese guys sitting at our table, and
the conversation really depressed me at one point for
reasons I won't get into now, but which are probably
obvious. They were good guys though and we had a lot more
laughs then serious moments.
On a final note, I'm very very sad that the government
pretty much has a monopoly on beer in the country. There is
Myanmar Beer, and Mandalay beer. The former is great, but
definitely run by the government, and Mandalay is supposedly
sketchy and possibly run by the government as well. But
cruel world! Not the beer!
The semester is almost over! Can you believe that? Looking
forward to seeing you all in Fall.
yesterday at 8:45 Thai time, but 8:15 Myanmar time. I had
no idea there were half hour time zones. That's too much
math.
There was a free shuttle to a guesthouse with $4 dorm rooms,
and since three Americans had already made reservations
there, I figured it was a safe bet, especially since taxis
from the airport cost at least that much. They threw in free
breakfast even though we hadn't stayed, and what a nice
place. I think it's going to be a common thing here, but
they're also very overstaffed with possibly more staff than
guests, so at least 20 in a small place. Some of the nicest
people I've ever met. I hear that the average wage at the
guesthouse is $40 a month.
After changing money on the streets with a sketchy guy (the
black market rate is nearly twice as good as the official
rate) I went to the Shwedagon Pagoda, the massive golden
religious center of Myanmar. There were a ton of locals
there, and my bare feet were burning from the sun-heated
tiles surrounding the pagoda. The heat is crazy here!
The highlight of the day was when I went out drinking with a
guy from Wales and a girl from Germany, and after a little
bar hopping, we ended up at "Music Pub" where we were the
only foreigners. After passing tons of neon lit signs that
all turned out to be fashion stores, and wading through
crowds of people selling old clothes, eating, drinking and
socializing on the streets in the city center, we were
overjoyed to find an actual "pub". But what a strange pub.
It was almost all guys sitting at small tables facing a
stage. And the entertainment? Dance music would be turned on
for several minutes, and about 7-8 girls would come on the
stage and do little model walks. They would walk forward,
turn around, tilt to the right, and then walk back. The
whole time, looking unhappy at best, and miserable at worst.
After each "set" they would go into a tiny room and change
their clothes. Sometimes they wore matching dresses and
other times they wore varying styles. We couldn't figure out
if this was plain entertainment or some kind of fashion
show, but we eventually decided it was as close to a go-go
bar as you can get in Burma since the girls were all young
and wearing tight clothes. Never seen anything like it.
We also talked to two Burmese guys sitting at our table, and
the conversation really depressed me at one point for
reasons I won't get into now, but which are probably
obvious. They were good guys though and we had a lot more
laughs then serious moments.
On a final note, I'm very very sad that the government
pretty much has a monopoly on beer in the country. There is
Myanmar Beer, and Mandalay beer. The former is great, but
definitely run by the government, and Mandalay is supposedly
sketchy and possibly run by the government as well. But
cruel world! Not the beer!
The semester is almost over! Can you believe that? Looking
forward to seeing you all in Fall.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Audrey (Australia)-Traveling
So my traveling can in no way compare to KO's trials in Senegal but apparently it still takes a long time to describe...Good luck with the epic post!
The first thing I did after the last entry was go to Tasmania. It's an amazing island and an interesting place to study what's going on the in the Australian environment. About 40% of Tassie is a World Heritage Area (WHA) because of it's ecological and cultural significance. Within the huge WHA there are mountains, lakes, and impressive old-growth Eucalypt forests. It was strange because it was so different than any other forest I have ever been in. Many of the plants in Tassie are the same as when the continent split from Antartica and when you look at the giant ferns it is easy to imagine dinosaurs roaming through this same land. I also saw: a platypus, an enchidna (porcupine-ish), a wombat (badger-like), and multiple pademelons (very miniature kangaroos). Although I liked Tasmania the whole time I was there I was very concious of being on an isolated island at what feels like the end of the world. It was a little comforting to get back to the familiarity of a city.
Next I spent five days in Melbourne which was great. I really needed a chance to recover because packing my bags and driving for hours every day in Tassie got old really quickly. I stayed in North Melbourne which was great because it wasn't touristy or ritzy. I felt as though I was really seeing the city. In many ways it reminded me of Chicago. I met up with my friend Sarah who was staying in South Melbourne and we sampled international food, admired architecture, and tried in vain to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert for less than $100.
On the train back to Byron Bay I saw my first kangaroos! It was so exciting and so strange to watch them hop around. Somehow it just doesn't seem natural.
Next we went on a three day Aboriginal camping trip. It was certainly the strangest camping trip of my life. We were mostly in the Byron Bay/Lismore region which for some reason I hadn't been expecting. During the trip we were forbidden cameras, watches, and anything to read or write with. However, we were around that sort of technology all the time so it was interesting to get an outsiders perspective. Most of all I was impressed with how open and friendly everyone was to us. There is certainly a vast amount of knowledge to be gained from Aboriginal cultures and it is ridiculous to me that most Australians have never even met an Aboriginal. Staying with our hosts also impressed on me what an amazing loss these people have endured and what it must be like to live in a cutlure that is consistently marginalized and misunderstood. It was a sobering and painful realization.
After our Aboriginal camping trip we spent two quick days in Byron Bay before going to Fraser Island. Fraser was amazing. It all seemed like one big vacation even though we really learned quite a bit about the ecology of the island. Fraser is the biggest sand mass in the world and another WHA. It is accessible only by four wheel drive (FWD) and the roads are really atrocious. The best way of getting around is driving on the beaches at low tide. Driving on the beaches felt a bit like a guilty pleasure but it was also an amazing way to get around. Every morning we would get to wake up by driving down a gorgeous sand beach on our way to 'class.' The ocean isn't much good for swimming because of bad rips and sharks but there are gorgeous lakes that were amazing to swim in. We also got to look at some more rainforest areas in the center of the island. Our teacher, John Sinclair, was incredibly inspiring because he has been the main figure responsible for conserving Fraser Island. He stood up against logging and sand mining in the 1970's when those industries were supported by the government and no one would else would fight them. Despite enduring legal battles, smear campagins and the like John perservered and eventually achieved his goal.
Now I'm back in Byron Bay and we're working on getting things wrapped up before we leave for our ISP's next weekend. I will be working with an organization called Green Collect in Melbourne for mine, studying how this group has been able to integrate principles of environmental sustainability and social justice. I have a big final to study for on Friday and our final ISP proposal on Thursday so I will definitely being schoolwork.
The first thing I did after the last entry was go to Tasmania. It's an amazing island and an interesting place to study what's going on the in the Australian environment. About 40% of Tassie is a World Heritage Area (WHA) because of it's ecological and cultural significance. Within the huge WHA there are mountains, lakes, and impressive old-growth Eucalypt forests. It was strange because it was so different than any other forest I have ever been in. Many of the plants in Tassie are the same as when the continent split from Antartica and when you look at the giant ferns it is easy to imagine dinosaurs roaming through this same land. I also saw: a platypus, an enchidna (porcupine-ish), a wombat (badger-like), and multiple pademelons (very miniature kangaroos). Although I liked Tasmania the whole time I was there I was very concious of being on an isolated island at what feels like the end of the world. It was a little comforting to get back to the familiarity of a city.
Next I spent five days in Melbourne which was great. I really needed a chance to recover because packing my bags and driving for hours every day in Tassie got old really quickly. I stayed in North Melbourne which was great because it wasn't touristy or ritzy. I felt as though I was really seeing the city. In many ways it reminded me of Chicago. I met up with my friend Sarah who was staying in South Melbourne and we sampled international food, admired architecture, and tried in vain to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert for less than $100.
On the train back to Byron Bay I saw my first kangaroos! It was so exciting and so strange to watch them hop around. Somehow it just doesn't seem natural.
Next we went on a three day Aboriginal camping trip. It was certainly the strangest camping trip of my life. We were mostly in the Byron Bay/Lismore region which for some reason I hadn't been expecting. During the trip we were forbidden cameras, watches, and anything to read or write with. However, we were around that sort of technology all the time so it was interesting to get an outsiders perspective. Most of all I was impressed with how open and friendly everyone was to us. There is certainly a vast amount of knowledge to be gained from Aboriginal cultures and it is ridiculous to me that most Australians have never even met an Aboriginal. Staying with our hosts also impressed on me what an amazing loss these people have endured and what it must be like to live in a cutlure that is consistently marginalized and misunderstood. It was a sobering and painful realization.
After our Aboriginal camping trip we spent two quick days in Byron Bay before going to Fraser Island. Fraser was amazing. It all seemed like one big vacation even though we really learned quite a bit about the ecology of the island. Fraser is the biggest sand mass in the world and another WHA. It is accessible only by four wheel drive (FWD) and the roads are really atrocious. The best way of getting around is driving on the beaches at low tide. Driving on the beaches felt a bit like a guilty pleasure but it was also an amazing way to get around. Every morning we would get to wake up by driving down a gorgeous sand beach on our way to 'class.' The ocean isn't much good for swimming because of bad rips and sharks but there are gorgeous lakes that were amazing to swim in. We also got to look at some more rainforest areas in the center of the island. Our teacher, John Sinclair, was incredibly inspiring because he has been the main figure responsible for conserving Fraser Island. He stood up against logging and sand mining in the 1970's when those industries were supported by the government and no one would else would fight them. Despite enduring legal battles, smear campagins and the like John perservered and eventually achieved his goal.
Now I'm back in Byron Bay and we're working on getting things wrapped up before we leave for our ISP's next weekend. I will be working with an organization called Green Collect in Melbourne for mine, studying how this group has been able to integrate principles of environmental sustainability and social justice. I have a big final to study for on Friday and our final ISP proposal on Thursday so I will definitely being schoolwork.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
KO (Senegal) At least there were mangos
Last week was our spring break and I went with Marge and Lizzie to Kayes, Mali. It is a small city about an hour inside the country. We were thinking about trying to get all the way to Bamako, the capital, but decided that with only a week off we wouldn't have enough time in the city to really make it worth while. It turns out that Lizzie's host dad is from Kayes and still has some family and friends in the city, which ended up being very lucky for us. We met his childhood friend Ibrahima and their family, along with their granddaughter, Adji, who is about our age and married to Cheikh, Lizzie's host dad's grandson.
We left Dakar Saturday morning, we got to the station at 7:30am and were told that there was a bus leaving at 8, so we bought tickets and waited. We boarded the bus around 10 and then sat for a while before driving across the street to switch buses and then sit some more and then go to the gas station and then finally leave the city around noon. The ride to Kaolack, the first larger city, was fine, although we learned very early on that the bus only had 2 windows on each side that actually opened, which was not at all good. But after leaving Kaolack it is about a 6 hour drive to Tambacounda, the last major town/city before hitting the Mali border and the road is absolutely awful. There are so many gigantic potholes that the bus had to drive like 10 miles an hour and spent a good deal of time driving in the sand along the side of the road because you could go faster than if you were actually on the road. We got to Tambacounda probably around 10 or 11 at night and stopped for dinner etc and then continued for a few hours to the border, which we discovered is not actually open when it is dark, so we slept on a sheet that some nice man gave us from about 5am-7am and then sat around for another few hours before we wre actually allowed to enter Mali. We ended up getting to Kayes around noon and tried to find a hotel that was recommended to us, but it was too expensive.
So we called Ibrahima, who sent Cheikh to get us, and we went to Ibrahima's and then decided to stay at the youth hostel we'd read about that was about $6 per night per person. We all took much much much needed showers before heading out to search for food. Cheikh came at night and took us to a pastery shop with AC, which was amazing and then we went to bed around 9 because we were all beat, but then woke up at 10 when Cheikh and Adji brought us a cooler with ice in it, which was extremely nice, it was absolutely great.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all spent in similar fashions, so I won't go into detail about each day and just give you a summary of all of the things we did. We spent a lot more time in the ACed pastery shop when we were trying to find a tourist office that we were told about so we could figure out how to visit some waterfalls that are about 15km outside of the city. We never found the office and never got to the waterfall. We did however, go with Adji twice to the river, which is vrey shallow and we walked halfway across to little islands so that we could swim and bath in water that was a little cleaner than the water along the edge where there were just tons of people doing laundry and taking baths. We also spent a lot of time in the great market, it was a lot different from the markets in Dakar where there is a section for food, a section for fabric, a section for housewares etc, here they were all just all over the place. We all agreed that the fabric in Mali was a lot nicer and prettier than that in Senegal. We decided this was because it is all made in Mali and then they send the less pretty stuff to us and keep the good stuff for themselves. One night we went to the end of a dance competition, it was sad because we just got to hear them announce the winners, but it was still fun to see how excited everyone got. It was different neighborhoods in the city competing against eachother. We did get to see a little dancing though as we left the stadium, people were celebrating outside.
So we left bright and early Thursday morning, at 5am and figured this way we would avoid having to wait at the border for so long since we would get there once the sun was up. We thought the trip was going to be a peice of cake because the bus actually left on time and all of the windows opened, but this turned out to just be false. We did get through the first part of the border just fine, but then ended up waiting just inside senegal for about 3 or 4 hours because some of the people who had to declare things at customs decided to disappear for a while. Then on that wonderful road between Tambacounda and Kaolack our bus broke down for about another 3 hours and we overheard someone say that the company was going to send us a new bus from Dakar, which was about 6 or 7 hours away, so it was great that the bus got going again. However, at the next town we came to we got stopped at a police checkpoint, and the entire cargo on the bus was checked, which took another 2ish hours. To top it all off, I got kind of sick, and I'm not really sure why. I first pooped in a "bathroom" at the border when we were stuck there for 3 hours, although it was really a shower and I decided that I would just consider my shit punishment for the border police making us sit there for so long. It got subsequently worse as time went on, and I'm not sure if this has happened to anyone else, probably not any of you in cushy Europe, but I had the unique experience of PEEING OUT OF MY ASS! Literally my shit was the consistency of pee, it was pretty horrible, especially because once in a while I would feel like I had to barf instead and couldn't decide which would make me feel better. The guy sitting next to me on the bus also almost got into a fight with another guy who said he was really sitting in that seat and refused to move. There were also 2 Nigerian missionaries on the bus on their way to Gambia and spent a lot of time trying to convert us, all the while I just sort of want to die. It was horrible in the best way possible.
We got back to Dakar around 6:30am on Friday, which was Senegalese Independence day, and saw some of the preparations for the parade as we taxied back to our houses, but then fell asleep and didn't even get to watch it on tv. We were all disappointed to learn upon waking up that the fireworks were the night of the 3rd...
All in all it was a lot of fun, and I was glad we could all laugh about the situations we got ourselves into, and that none of us died from the heat, and that Mali has the best mangos ever!
Spring Break themes:
1. I feel drunk, but really I'm just hot.
2. Even the wind is hot!
3. Take me to the river, uhn uhn uhn, throw me in the water!
We left Dakar Saturday morning, we got to the station at 7:30am and were told that there was a bus leaving at 8, so we bought tickets and waited. We boarded the bus around 10 and then sat for a while before driving across the street to switch buses and then sit some more and then go to the gas station and then finally leave the city around noon. The ride to Kaolack, the first larger city, was fine, although we learned very early on that the bus only had 2 windows on each side that actually opened, which was not at all good. But after leaving Kaolack it is about a 6 hour drive to Tambacounda, the last major town/city before hitting the Mali border and the road is absolutely awful. There are so many gigantic potholes that the bus had to drive like 10 miles an hour and spent a good deal of time driving in the sand along the side of the road because you could go faster than if you were actually on the road. We got to Tambacounda probably around 10 or 11 at night and stopped for dinner etc and then continued for a few hours to the border, which we discovered is not actually open when it is dark, so we slept on a sheet that some nice man gave us from about 5am-7am and then sat around for another few hours before we wre actually allowed to enter Mali. We ended up getting to Kayes around noon and tried to find a hotel that was recommended to us, but it was too expensive.
So we called Ibrahima, who sent Cheikh to get us, and we went to Ibrahima's and then decided to stay at the youth hostel we'd read about that was about $6 per night per person. We all took much much much needed showers before heading out to search for food. Cheikh came at night and took us to a pastery shop with AC, which was amazing and then we went to bed around 9 because we were all beat, but then woke up at 10 when Cheikh and Adji brought us a cooler with ice in it, which was extremely nice, it was absolutely great.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all spent in similar fashions, so I won't go into detail about each day and just give you a summary of all of the things we did. We spent a lot more time in the ACed pastery shop when we were trying to find a tourist office that we were told about so we could figure out how to visit some waterfalls that are about 15km outside of the city. We never found the office and never got to the waterfall. We did however, go with Adji twice to the river, which is vrey shallow and we walked halfway across to little islands so that we could swim and bath in water that was a little cleaner than the water along the edge where there were just tons of people doing laundry and taking baths. We also spent a lot of time in the great market, it was a lot different from the markets in Dakar where there is a section for food, a section for fabric, a section for housewares etc, here they were all just all over the place. We all agreed that the fabric in Mali was a lot nicer and prettier than that in Senegal. We decided this was because it is all made in Mali and then they send the less pretty stuff to us and keep the good stuff for themselves. One night we went to the end of a dance competition, it was sad because we just got to hear them announce the winners, but it was still fun to see how excited everyone got. It was different neighborhoods in the city competing against eachother. We did get to see a little dancing though as we left the stadium, people were celebrating outside.
So we left bright and early Thursday morning, at 5am and figured this way we would avoid having to wait at the border for so long since we would get there once the sun was up. We thought the trip was going to be a peice of cake because the bus actually left on time and all of the windows opened, but this turned out to just be false. We did get through the first part of the border just fine, but then ended up waiting just inside senegal for about 3 or 4 hours because some of the people who had to declare things at customs decided to disappear for a while. Then on that wonderful road between Tambacounda and Kaolack our bus broke down for about another 3 hours and we overheard someone say that the company was going to send us a new bus from Dakar, which was about 6 or 7 hours away, so it was great that the bus got going again. However, at the next town we came to we got stopped at a police checkpoint, and the entire cargo on the bus was checked, which took another 2ish hours. To top it all off, I got kind of sick, and I'm not really sure why. I first pooped in a "bathroom" at the border when we were stuck there for 3 hours, although it was really a shower and I decided that I would just consider my shit punishment for the border police making us sit there for so long. It got subsequently worse as time went on, and I'm not sure if this has happened to anyone else, probably not any of you in cushy Europe, but I had the unique experience of PEEING OUT OF MY ASS! Literally my shit was the consistency of pee, it was pretty horrible, especially because once in a while I would feel like I had to barf instead and couldn't decide which would make me feel better. The guy sitting next to me on the bus also almost got into a fight with another guy who said he was really sitting in that seat and refused to move. There were also 2 Nigerian missionaries on the bus on their way to Gambia and spent a lot of time trying to convert us, all the while I just sort of want to die. It was horrible in the best way possible.
We got back to Dakar around 6:30am on Friday, which was Senegalese Independence day, and saw some of the preparations for the parade as we taxied back to our houses, but then fell asleep and didn't even get to watch it on tv. We were all disappointed to learn upon waking up that the fireworks were the night of the 3rd...
All in all it was a lot of fun, and I was glad we could all laugh about the situations we got ourselves into, and that none of us died from the heat, and that Mali has the best mangos ever!
Spring Break themes:
1. I feel drunk, but really I'm just hot.
2. Even the wind is hot!
3. Take me to the river, uhn uhn uhn, throw me in the water!
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