Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Birthday cakes and massage outings

Last Friday: My special day this year started with a senior's home. Everyone from school went to give 2 different seniors a 2-hour massage. It went really well and I think the seniors were very appreciative. It will be the hardest massage we will ever give, first because it was our first to a stranger and second because it was very difficult to communicate since most of us didn't speak Thai. It was definitely a good experience albit a challenging one.

My birthday night was wonderful. I found a really cool bar/restaurant near my house that had live music every night and warned them in advance that a large group of Falangs (foreigners) would be showing up. Almost everyone from my massage school made an appearance! I was very touched by their wishes and the gifts they showered me with. I now am the proud owner of two ukuleles :) Let me know if anyone wants to have an uke jam!

I recieved three cakes as well, the most ever, and some lanterns which we waited till dark to set off into the air. Very beautiful. Everyone had a good time that night and there was much dancing and making merry. A party not to be forgotten. Thanks again everyone for all the birthday wishes. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Today we went to a special children's school and massaged some kids and some of their teachers. We had a lot of fun. First I had a little boy with cerebral palsy, meaning he didn't have very good control over his left side, but he was very sweet and we played a lot. Then I had a boy with severe autism which was challenging because he can't express emotion in the same way we do, so it's hard to connect with him. By the end I had him laughing by making funny noises and playing with the zippers of his pillow. Then in the afternoon I worked on a boy with blood cancer. He was so cute. He also seemed like he was emotionally challenged and had such a crooked spine that he had to be in a wheelchair. Very sad. He became very attached to me right away. Then I did another very quiet boy also with autism, who was so relaxed that he fell asleep :) A very tiring, but rewarding day.

A lot of us are glad that the course is coming to a close, only 3 more days. I've been practicing after school as well with some friends, which has been helping me to remember all the different sequences. Tonight I've taken a break though. It's my guesthouse owner's, Aoy, birthday so I got her some art supplies and a piece of cake from the shopping center. I've made plans to spend some time with my friend Aude from France on Saturday before I head out in the evening and am looking forward to that. On Friday afternoon we're having a little celebration at school for our graduating class with some food and a ceremony and then I'm sure some people will be going out in the evening, but I'm not sure I'll join them. I am feeling so tired.

This Thursday is a big festival called Loi Katong, which the city has been preparing for since November started. There are fireworks going off every night and laterns being set out into the sky. They look like orange coloured stars. On Thursday there will be many more laterns and a big display of fireworks, as well as candles being floated down the river. I will go out with Aoy and her son and maybe if there's anyone else in the guesthouse that wants to join, to see some of the displays. It's meant to be very beautiful, so I'm looking forward to it.

Busy, busy, busy!

This will probably be my last post before I head home. Much aloha for you readings :) Pehaps I shall continue from beautiful Kauai.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A bit of massage here and there

It's funny how time passes when you're away floating around. It seems as if all the friends and family that are in other countries live their lives in fast forward, whilst I am still moving at a normal pace. I can now understand why grandparents may still treat us as if we are much younger than we feel ourselves.

I am into the 3rd week of my Thai massage course and I can't say that it is what I expected considering I made the decision to attend so quickly that I didn't really have the chance to expect anything. But I'm enjoying it. It's a different kind of massage than I am used to. We are currently discussing the 10 energy lines and a lot of the massage follows these lines to unblock energy blocks and relieve people of different kinds of ailments. All very interesting stuff.

This morning we did a special Thai ceremony to honour our teachers and the teachers that came before them. We each brought a flower to school and an alter was set up and we did our prayers all together setting our flowers on the alter and bowing to the buddah. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Each morning we all do our prayers in smaller groups, but it was a nice sound to hear everyone as one voice together, much more powerful and beautiful.

Massage is exhausting to say the least. We spend the entire day either massaging or being massage and it sounds wonderful, but really it's very hard to enjoy. While I am being massaged I am usually focusing on the technique of my partner and going through the sequences in my mind as they do them to my body, making sure I have the number of each sequence correct in my head.

A few of us girls go to yoga each week and there are lots of get togethers outside of school with the other massures. Movies nights, girly-boy shows, dinners, elephant treks. I don't know how everyone does it, by the weekend I'm usually so wiped I end up spending a lot of my time reading in bed. But considering that the weekend after next is my birthday, the big 24, I'm going to try and make an exception and organize a little dinner gathering in celebration.

There are plenty of other interesting people at the school, including yogis, massueurs of different varietys, travellers, and all ages as well. I've had many a interesting conversation and am going to try out a digestive system cleanse that was recommended to me by the yogi specifically tomorrow. Wish me luck. It doesn't sound as gross as the cleanse another friend is doing that involves grapefruit juice and olive oil...  We all are into weird things to say the least :)

I'm enjoying being amongst a bunch of weirdos, I fit in nicely and am constantly entertained. There is much laughter at all times.

Looking forward to heading home, just 2 1/2 weeks to go!

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Mystery of the Market

I was invited to go the market in the wee hours of the morning this morning by a woman orginating in Japan, living in Amsterdam, and owning a cafe in Thailand that teaches microbiotic cooking and theroy. Say that 3 times fast! A very interesting woman to say the least and speaks a variety of languages, one of them handily Thai which is a great asset when going to a market where you are the ONLY white person. Not that I minded, and no one really paid me much attention. It was very fun.

They have quite the variety of different foods. The market is held next to the mosque so there was quiet a variety of middle eastern halal foods, people come down from the mountains and over from Myanmar. Lots of avocados, vegetables, chilli concotions, soybean products, whole dead chickens of the white or black type, a variety of smells certain to please anyone. We had doughnuts dipped in molasses, I tasted many things that I can't pronounce, some more familiar falafels and samosas, and we had a soybean soup which was quite gelantenous, but also very delicious!

The market is quite a popular concept here in Thailand, and is gaining popularity more and more around the world. You can find a market just about any day here in Chiang Mai. There is a particular Sunday market that I've been frequenting each week. It's visited by tourists and locals alike and is live with music and food and various wares for sale. Some of the most interesting things I've seen is a food stall selling only deep fried insects, some of them quite large in size! You can even smell the oil as you pass by. Some of the more tasty foods that I've seen are bananas and grapes dipped in chocolate, smoothies and fruit juices everywhere, banana leaves piled with little fried quail eggs or noodles, phad thai (which has continued to disappoint me in Thailand), there are many different foods to be had.

The market is so big that I still haven't see all of it and it gets so busy as the evening wares away to night that you often find yourself slowly inching your way between stalls surrounded by other people, which I find a bit clautrophobic and exhausting after my limit of 2ish hours. There are so many colourful things to look at, paintings, and dresses, and baggy pants in all shapes, colours and sizes. And bargaining is always welcome. The typical thai pants are not so typical after all, I've only really seen tourist wear this baggy monstrous things, all the Thai people seem to be wearing normal tshirts and tank tops just like the western world. I have to admit to owning quite a few pairs myself :O

Markets are fun. Great place to just people watch if you're not in the mood to buy anything. Find a curb, plop yourself down with some watermelon juice, and you'll see all kinds of different people speaking ALL kinds of different languages. No end to entertainment.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Shopping Mall Experience

I went to the mall today and really took a look around. It felt like a very foreign place. I'm not one to go to the mall even when I'm home, but somehow it was more interesting in Thailand. It's a very strange place, the mall. It could almost be an American mall, but there are so many clues as to the fact that it is a very, very Thai mall.

My first clue was when I kept getting randomly lost down these hall ways that seemed endless and when I got to the end of them I wasn't really sure what a lot of the stores supplied. I followed a sign for about five minutes that led down one such hallway, it was advertising the "IT store". I was really curious what 'it' could be. Is 'it' even a That word? I think not. It ended up being an electronics store, not very interesting. Except for the fact that it looks like laptops cost as much as cars, due to the fact that prices are in baht.

There was another hallway I wandered down with loud music and noises. I just followed the noise past random shops that were hard to identify, lots of game machine tooooo... a whole section set up with booths to play video-game karoke! And there wasn't even an empty booth for me to play :( I'll have to run there before school gets out next time :) Seems to be the 'thing to do' after school hours. Shove as many people as you can into a tiny room and sing away! 

Another clue telling me I am not in Kansas anymore, was when I headed upstairs to follow a craving for some comfort food. A big red glowing "DQ" sign. Dairy Queen is the original mcflurry. I don't care what McDonald's has to say about it, they totally stole the idea and DQ has better flavors, RESSES. Although I'm sure they don't have an inkling what peanutbutter is in this country, so of course they didn't have Resses. BUT if I really wanted to I could have gotten a waffle cone with corn ice cream. CORN, really! Big yellow kernals of it mixed into white soft serve. I went with the safe dipped in chocolate variety myself, but I was a bit tempted. Why make it if it isn't good right? Somebody must eat it.

Since I am taking my foot reflexology course I had the mission of finding all the materials I needed to practice. It's always good to have a mission when you enter a shopping mall, or you get lost, or maybe that's just me :) Foot cream was on my list, and while I was scouring the pharmacy shelves for cream, I just happened upon the lustrious and wonderful 'beer and egg' shampoo. LOL! I couldn't help but secretly smile to myself. Really I need a friend to laugh with. I hope you guys think these things are funny and I'm not just slowly going crazy unbeknowst to myself...tell me if I am would yah?

Crazy Thai people with beer shampoo and doughnut sushi and tiny, tiny clothing. I'm always afraid to try anything on because I'm not sure if my size is really my size. What if nothing fits me? It would be embarrassing to carry all these clothes to the changing room, if I could figure out how to get to one, and then all things are too small.

The whole thing was a mystery to me. A shopping mall of mysteries.

I wonder what Thai people think of us when they come to our shopping malls?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Where in the world...? ( title thanks to Whitney's family :) )

Sometimes I pause a moment and I think, 'where the heck am I and what am I doing?'. I look around myself, sitting on a hard, lumpy little mattress on the floor, surrounded by the few meager possessions I own in this world, the rest of the large white room empty, except for the small picture of my boyfriend Tom next to my bed, whom I miss dreadfully.

Having a romance while you're traveling is both very exciting and very difficult. We both think about each othre all the time and write loads of emails each week. We're currently working out the skype thing, but so far only one us has been able to get the video to work and it's a bit off-putting watching yourself talk and hoping you don't forget the other person can see you in case you decide to pick your nose or something :) But we're in love and absence really does make the heart grow fonder. I promise ;) I love you Tommy!

So why am I on a hard, lumpy mattress desperately missing my wonderful boyfriend?

Because every night I get to see the biggest rainstorms of my life, the fattest drops, the thunderous noise on the tin rooves that I fall asleep to, they are spectacular. AND I had forgotten how much I love to read, but now I read for hours on end, EVERY single day. AND even though my massage class wasn't that great today, as far as a class could have been in the teacher even pretended she wanted to be there...I Loved It. I really did. Im so excited to practice my new techniques I learned yesterday and memorize them before I learn any more! First thing tomorrow I'm going out to get some massage tool, and a new book :), and I'm going to practice on Aoy (the owner of my guest house).

My boyfriend, my friends and my family all love me even if I'm not close by, and I can only love myself and be fun for them to be around when I'm doing what I love and sear4ching for what that is.

Sometimes I just need to remind myself :)

My whereabouts and what-doings

I am in Chiang Mai at the moment, just settled into my new residence for the next few months just outside the city square cause I got a good price. I've also rented myself a shiny red bike for the month so I can whip around. I considered a motorbike cause they're really fun to ride, but figured exercise is more important and I won't be travelling far enough to merit a motorized vehicle, but I'm definitely inspired to one day have a motorbike :)

I took a cooking course yesterday which was good fun. It's a very popular tourist activity and is advertised everywhere so it wasn't hard to book in. We started out at the market and were explained a few typical thai ingredients, and then just wandered around a bit, I saw a kg of dried grubs for sale! Yummy! Then we headed to a house to cook up a storm. We began with a soup, then a stirfry, salad, curry paste, curry with our paste, and a dessert. Got a handy dandy cook book at the end so I can make some stuff for my lucky friends when I see them again!

My new residence is 3500 baht per month, which is about $113 USD and I'm sure the cheapest I will ever pay in my life. The owner, Ayi (pronouced OYE), is a really lovely woman who is determined to make me feel at home, starting with introducing me around the neighborhood. I am currently the only occupant besides Ayi and her son, who's 19, but I'm hoping that will change and I'll get a companion of some kind at some point. My room is quite big, with a little balconette, but I have nothing to fill it with so it sits quite empty. There's cat images all over the walls and there are two pet ginger cats lurking around during the day. I'm on the 3rd floor and just below me is a little tea area with cushions, perfect for a tea and a chat with a friend when I make some.

So life is looking good. Just passing the time until my course starts. Learning a few key thai phrases, kaa poon kaa (or kap for man) means 'thank you' and saa waa di kaa (or kap) means 'good day, good morning, good night'. They really hold their vowel sounds. These are pretty useful and I use them about a hundred times a day. I'm slowly learning my way around and am looking forward to taking the bike for a nice long spin to get my bearings. There are times where I wish I could just run to the store and grab a chocolate bar or some similar familiar comfort food, but my figure is saved from the fact I wouldn't know where to get these things. I did have the most delicious chicken skewers and a small bag of sticky rice for breakfast though, so it's hard to complain.

I took the train here from Bangkok and I saw the strangest sight I'd ever seen. Apparently there had been quite a bit of flooding in some towns along the way and the train passed directly though them. The water was surrounding the tracks, if it had been much higher the train wouldn't have been able to run I'm sure. There was water for miles and house after house flooded, some of them only had rooves visible and there were people on the sides of the train tracks, just sitting. I guess they just wait until the water receeded. What a crazy sight to see though. Really sad and heartbreaking for all the houses ruined and lost. Something I will never forget I'm sure. I can't imagine they had house insurance. It makes me understand what a privilaged life I lead. We should all thank the heavens for our wonderful lives.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I rant in your general direction and your grandmother smells of elderberries!

Feeling a bit lonely on the street of Phuket Town.

I tried to get a late lunch and was turned away from an adorable looking food place just near my hostel. I assumed it was because I was white, but know now that I've gotten over the hurt, I realize that I was in a negative mood which merits negative thinking.

After crying into the 4th book I've decided to conquer since I've gotten here, I went across the street to a 'safe' restaurant. Obviously catering to tourists, having english signs and advertising Phad Thai. I know now being here, that it is the most commonly ordered dish here in Thailand, as it is the only one that most Westerners recognize. I'm not even sure if it's a real Thai dish, or if we invented it ourselves. Needless to say that tourist restaurant across from backpackers= worst phad thai I've ever tasted. If I get food poisoning from it, that's just the icing on the cake. They probably poison it on purpose because they're tired of all the cliched tourists.

I'm a bit of a party pooper when it comes to tourism. I'm still trying to understand what it is for me. I'm never really interested in the real touristic tours offered everywhere, and would much prefer to stay in a place for a minimum of a week. I don't see the point in spending heaps of money on one day doing something really fun, when you could use that money and spend an entire week somewhere and really experience it. But on the same hand I'm here experiencing it and I wonder why. I don't doubt being here 90% of the time. I'm happy to be, but why come and spend it with other tourists doing things like tubing (a popular tourist activity in Laos), when you could tube anywhere? Maybe there's something I'm missing.

I want to be superior to all these other 'tourists' that don't make any effort to experience the place, they're just hungry for these 'sights'. I spoke to a girl that went to see the famous beach from the movie with Leonardo Dicaprio called "The Beach". She said there were hundreds of people there and tons of tourist boats and it didn't really look that beautiful considering. Sounds like a nightmare to me. I'm happy making jokes with the lovely lady at the front desk and listening to the monsoon rains going on outside while I peacefully read my book.

I'd love to hear someone's opinion on all my ranting if anyone cares to share.

I'm headed to Bangkok tomorrow. Not sure how long I'll stay, I feel anxious to get to Chang Mai and learn the city that I'll be spending 5 weeks in before my massage course starts. I want to find a guest house that I like, a favorite place to take my breakfast, settle in and mine my niche. I just want to fit in really. I hate standing out. I hate when people try to sell me things when I know that if a Thai person walked by they would be ignored. I don't like being paid attention to because of the colour of my skin or my race! How can I be upset though, when I'm new in another country and have that typical lost look on my face?

It's not all bad, and I don't mean to make it sound that way. I'm not a masochist if that's what it sounds like. I do truely want to be here, but it always takes awhile to settle in to somewhere new.

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This is an adventure I had yesterday which I very much enjoyed and wrote my boyfriend about:
I did venture out into town, but not far as I came across a market to explore. I scoured for good bananas and cheap purple garlic fruit, which I found and purchased. (purple garlic fruit are these delicious fruit that are round and purple and when you squeeze it open with both hands, the little fruit inside look like cloves of garlic, but are very delicious and sweet). The garlic fruit was 60 baht per kilo, around $2, while the other ones I saw were more like $10+ per kilo. I also found this other fruit that I used to eat when I was a kid, my dad's friend had a tree and gave them to us. We called them jabong and they look kind of like a citris fruit, but they're not sour. At the market they were already peeled and sectioned and put in plastic wrap with this spice made from chilli and sugar. Delicious!

I also tried to eat at the market, curry. When I approached the food stall another man was in the middle of his order, but he turned to me and pointed to the curry directly in front of us and said, 'spicy'. Without thinking, as soon as I was handed a bowl of rice, I took a giant scoop and smothered the rice with it. I sat down at the table, complete with the tolit paper rolls and random condiments, and battled through, trying to impress all the Thai people around me. They were all laughing at me and saying 'spicy, spicy'. God it was spicy. The spiciest thing I've ever eaten. I was practically crying against my will. I struggled for about 15 minutes or so and finally gave in with about 3 more spoonfuls of rice left in my bowl. You would think I could've of done it, but I was really suffering that much. I'm not really looking forward to my poo tomorrow.
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It was totally worth it by the way. I've been back to the market twice already today. Once in the morning and again after the awful phad thai, right away I passed a food stall that was selling freshly bbqed meats in all different delcious smelling sauces...lesson learned, no matter how homesick you are, do not trust tourist-trap food places! On both visits I got some more jabong. I ate one and the other is for my 13 hour bus trip to Bangkok tomorrow. Which reminds me, I need to go book my accomodation.

Thanks for listening my avid readers. I really means alot to me. Aloha.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Time travel to Thailand

My dear readers, I'ved skipped off to Thailand without warning, booking my flight 3 days in advance because it was cheaper. This may have seemed reasonable at the time, but a hasty departure ends up costing more and making up for the money saved in the first place.
But here I am and so far so good. It has only been about 15 hours since I arrived and half of them were unconscious.
I decided to land in Phuket, instead of the usual Bangkok, which involved me flying backward to Sydney and then forward again from whenst I came. It was worth the hassle though because it's nice to arrive in a calmer environment.
I was feeling quite nervous just before I boarded the airpland, but once I was on there's no turning back so my mind and my nerves slowly adjusted accordingly.
Thailand reminded me of Bali in quite a few ways, so I'm very glad to have had that experience under my belt with company beforehand.
I'm staying in a Thai version of a hostel in Kata Karon. It doesn't involve bunk beds and you are allotted your own privacy, but still get the benefits of meeting fellow travellers, which I am very happy for as I am on my own.
Hazel is about my age and from England. She's already well seasoned in SE Asia having visited Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and this being her second time in Thailand, her favorite of the big four.
I'll be in the country for 2 months and my 5-week Thai massage course startes October 10th in Chang Mai, which is over 1,000 kilometers from where I am currently.I hope to travel the distance all by land so I feel like I'll see a bit of the country along the way.
Being in a foreign place makes me want to hide in my room, but thankfully I am human and get hungry and thirsty and am forced to venture outside at some point, where I realize that it's not so scary afterall. I walked all the way to one of the three nearest beaches.
One of the things that helps me when I'm feeling vervous about going somewhere is to picture my dad and imagine how he walks, the long, slow, careful steps, and before I realize it I"m out of the hostel and on my way to new adventures! Thanks Dad!
A second thing that always calms me is being close to the ocean. THe sound of the waves crashing, the smell of the salt arir and the feeling of the warm ocean rushing around my ankles always drags me away from my fears and worries and clears my head to make room for some more positive thinking.
Today was no different. The water was so warm, the sun bright and the sand soft and wonderful under my bare feet. I couldn't ask for more.
I've eaten 2 meals so far. For breakfast a chicken and coconut milk soup with all the usual beautiful Thail fresh herbs and spices: lemongrass, ginger, chillis and these delectable mushrooms! A few Thai people nearby were impressed with me eating the local cuisine so early in the morning.
And just now was my second meal, some fish with a sweet, sour, spicy sauce. Delicious.
Both meals were between $4 - 5 USD, and I reckon I can find cheaper because both places sported a large selection of "western food" on the menu and are obviously quite touristic.
I saw a food car motorbike drive by, but I was neither close nor brave enough to stop them or get a good look at what they were serving. Soon enough I will be frequenting these travelling delicacies.

More to come soon I do not doubt. I have enough time on my hands for 10 people at the moment.

Much aloha to my faithful readers!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Beans, beans the musical fruit

I've landed in Ayr, where I've been residing for the past 3 weeks. Living at a working hostel, which is pretty much a  hostel that doesn't put any frills into the package, but instead finds you a job, or 2 or 3, at a nearby farm.
After doing our research, we found that Ayr, was the best place for farmwork. So here I am, 4 jobs later on one of the few days off that you are allotted. The veggies don't wait for you!
I just reread my previous post and realized that I already said we were in Ayr, what ended up happening was that we moved to another hostel that got us work the day after we moved in. Looks like we chose the wrong one in the first place.
I started with 1-day gig planting and picking chillis. Luckily we had picked up these rediculous sobreros in Cairnes at a Mexican-themed bar night just before we left. So in addition to half a bottle of suncream and a 4-Liter jug of water, I donned my stylish hat.
The planting wouldn't have been so bad if there weren't prickly surprises waiting for your tender fingers every time you poked a hole for the little seedling you needed to stuff into the ground. I think we planted around 10,000 seedlings between the 6 of us. For the second half ot the day we picked chillis, was was sweet relief for our fingers and our backs.
My 2nd job was a permanent one, if you could stick with it. Chillis again. 9 hours of them each day every day. 57 cents a kilo then minus tax. The first couple of days I hadn't figured out how to prevent myself from becoming dehydrated so I was suffering a bit. But after that I began to get used to the routine of picking chillis and was improving my numbers each day 180 kilos, 200 kilos, 224 kilos! I did it for a week and then decided I wasn't satisfied getting less that $10 per hour for the labour. I used to get paid more to clean the house for my mum! I knew there were other better paid jobs out there from fellow backpackers, but in order for them to be available to me I needed to quit my job and take a gamble hoping I got something better assigned to me next.
My next gig was at an eggplant and chilli farm, but everything paid a decent per hour wage. I weeded the eggplant (or eggfruit as they called them) rows the whole day, but was mysteriously asked not to return the following day with no explanation offered. Still not sure what happened.
The next job I was assigned was back to the original chilli planting/picking place, but this time just to pick and also to help with the sugar cane. I picked in the morning and afternoon for 40 cents per kilo cash-in-hand and in between stared at a conveyor belt that carried shredded sugar cane past my eyes faster that you could say boo. It made me feel pretty motion sick, but I steeled myself and got myself through. My job was to pick out the big bits that didn't get shredded enough.
Thankfully the next day I was assigned a new permanent job at the green bean shed. Everyone had told me it's one of the best jobs. You're not in the hot sun and you work long hours so you get paid heaps. Little did I know what they meant by Long hours. I am now an expert green bean sorter, taking out the rotten, broken, or old beans so fast that you can't even see my hands move. I worked alongside 5 other women and feel a bit like I'm back in the 50s when women started working and got jobs at the factory. Again I was staring at a conveyor belt, but it was moving a lot slower and the only time it gets dizzy is when the belt stops, then it looks like it starts moving backwards. Neat trick on your eyes.

Well I wrote all that on my 2nd day off, which I had off from the beans because my boss was 'punishing' me for asking for a day off. I though after working for 50 hours in 4 days that it wasn't too much to ask, and my fellow workers wrongly lead me to believe that I was expected to request a day off when I felt the need. So after my 1 day of 'punishment' I was fired on the basis of being "too slow". Another job down. It's a bit disappointing, and the manager of the hostel told me he was running out of places to put me, so I felt a bit down, but I was one of many that had been fired from the beans so I didn't feel too alone about it.
By that evening I was already assigned a new job...the dreaded zucchinis! I had been told how they were the hardest thing to harvest, but everyone thinks their job is the hardest in this industry, so I was keen to give it a go. It was pretty hard. Pretty really hard. I realized that I just didn't have the motivation to do this work about 2 hours into the day, but I stuck out the remaining 5 hours with a smile on my face and the manager said I did a good job but it was a hard job so she didn't blame me for quitting.
Now I'm leaving Ayr. All the other backpackers have the motivation of receiving a 2nd year on their Australian visa that pushed their behinds to go to this kind of work and break their backs every day. I only came to make a bit of money and to be with Tom, but it's time to go. When I'm travelling I always know when I hit the point when it's time to move on, just instinct. No one tells you, you just have to feel it. I'm sad to be leaving Tom behind, but am excited to see him again when he comes to visit me in Hawai'i in December!
Not sure when I'm going next. Will keep you updated!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Since Bali...

Well, it seem like it's been awhile...

We flew our way to Cairnes and chilled out there for a few days, gathering information on how to aquire harvest work, meaning working on farms. We made a lot of phone calls, celebrated Tom's 21st, and then decided we needed to stop wasting time in the city and get into the thick of farm country.

We managed to get a few rides from fellow backpackers and made our way to the country town of Ayr.

Here we are four days in and number 18 and 19 on the waiting list for work. Today we're moving to a competing hostel, as we went to check them out last night and they seem to have better luck with work and they have a shorter waiting list as the hostel holds 50 people less than our current one. We've booked in till Wednesday here, so we're going to lose a bit of money which stresses both of us out, Tom and I that is, but hopefully it'll land us a job quicker and make up the difference. (Tom has decided to eat 2 minute noodles for a few days out of guilt, I don't know how he does it)

Everyone says there really isn't much to do in Ayr, but we've definitely managed to entertain ourselves these past few days, having instruments always helps. We've walked around and explored many different nooks and crannys of the town, found a few favorite benches to sit on, spoken to some of the locals, read and read some more, lots of sitting the park, thought about climbing a tree (Tom is deathly afraid of spiders, and Australia has a bad reputation for deadly ones), visited the open-air cinema (awesome!), cooked, library, internet, and stared at each other with the question in our eyes of 'what now' (every minute counts you know :).

So yeah, we're a bit bored, and the stress of not having work, and all the other backpackers boredom combined makes for an interesting environment. We'll see what happens....

Monday, August 1, 2011

The Real Bali

Tom and I decided after 3 nights in Kuta, that it was high time to see "the real Bali". We did our research, talked to other tourists, looked at fliers, and haggled with various motorbike rental guys and settled with a lovely feisty blue number for 35,000 rupia per day, as in around $3,50 Australian. Crazy good, helmets and insurance included.

But, if you've never been to Bali, you don't really know what you're getting yourself into when you climb aboard a motorbike. Boy did we find out. You pretty much make your own rules on the road, especially if you're on a bike. Going the wrong direction on a one way road, flying through red lights, and parking wherever you stop is commonplace. By the fifth day, Tom had a good handle of the road, but I was happy to return the bike still alive and unhurt from our wonderful, yet heart-stopping adventure.

For a better image go to http://mapsbali.com/areas/bali.php

We began the real Bali experience in Uluwatu, which is at the Southwestern most tip of the island. Spent a night there in our first homestay and watched the sunset from the cliffs. The next day we headed to Sanur for a bit of a dip before zooming over to Denpasar where we spent, literally 7 hours looking for our hotel. Really I don't know how we kept going after the 4th or 5th hour, but Tom was really determined as we had already paid for it, and I think men are just determined like that :)

We had a couple of different addresses for Piliau Residence, as they may have moved or had a really terrible webdesigner, I may have to refer them to Reg, but the website only gave street names and no number for the address. So 7 hours of driving, crying, rain, darkness, and mixed language conversations later, we stopped at a restaurant that was about to close in defeat to find out where else we could stay. The woman, Melan, was wonderful to us and called all her friends, who called all their friends, and no one knew it, but the hotel happened to call us back in this time and gave her directions so she drove me there with Tom following behind. To this day, we would never be able to find our way back there. PHEW!

The next day we were pretty exhausted, but we made our way to ubud and saw the monkey forest, where there were heaps of monkeys wandering around, jumping on my head and reaching straight into my purse to look for goodies. Those buggas even know how to use zippers! They're pretty darn cute though. That night Tom took a nap, I got a massage, and we went to a shadow puppet show. The next morning we got a tour of the Gaia Raja, which is a Hindu temple also in Ubud, and we learned heaps about the Hindu religion and how the Gaia Raja came to be. Afterwards the tour guide took us swimming in a lovely river. Nice day.

After the tour, we made our way though the mountains to the north coast, buying a snack of fresh strawberries for $1 along the way, and stopping for a cup of coffee at a local families house that we just stopped for a stretch.We were admiring their view, when Katrina, who's 7 decided to practice the only english she knew by asking our names. The mother heard and came to investigate and offered us some coffee. It was a bit awkward because we couldn't really have a conversation, but they were very lovely.

Then we arrived in Singaraja, where a man on his motorbike invited us to stay at his homestay, we got there and it was full, but he set us up with a friend and we got a pretty good deal on a sunrise dolphin cruise and snorkeling. Tom's first time snorkeling! The dolphins were beautiful and intent to impress us with flips and twists and the coral and fish were beautiful and reminded me of home.

Finally we made our way back to Kuta area, stopping in Tanah Lot to see a temple on a small island in the ocean and getting a feast of some of the best chicken I've ever tasted from a local family grilling some on the side of the road. They were very pleased to show off their delicious cooking to some foreigners. Along the way we have been eating as local as possible, and have discovered that we quite like the local cuisine, even thought we're not sure we always know exactly what we're eating, but it doesn't necessarily agree with our stomachs. I think I had to visit the little girls room 4 times last night and again twice when I woke up this morning. Tasted good the first time around anyways :)
Tonight we head back to Darwin and the next morning to Cairnes to look for work. Wish us luck and blessings to you all.


Monday, July 25, 2011

Billy Bali

It's my first time in Asia and we have been here for 3 days now. I'm really glad Tom decided to come along with me, as the people that are constantly getting in your face was a bit intimidating to me in the few few hours. I do believe I would feel a bit lost by myself, but as the days pass I'm feeling more comfortable and would be okay with venturing off for a walk alone. Bali does not feel like an unsafe place at all. I would guess the biggest cause of deaths would be tourists getting drunk and getting hit by a motorbike, as there are many. I don't think there are many road rules either. Do whatever you can to avoid the obstacles. We considered renting a motorbike and found out that you could probably rent one for a month cheaper than what a small bottle of sunscreen costs. Apparently suncream is a tourist item because the darker skinned locals wouldn't need it.


I have been thinking lately about heading to Southeast Asia, as I feel I have seen as much of Australia as I care to, for the moment, and would like to experience a different culture. These ideas have caused much stress to me as I have been getting mixed messages from both my family and my friends. My family all have warned me how dangerous Asia can be and that a young woman should not travel there on my own, while one of my very good friends has told me how she went there for a few months on her own and had no troubles besides the usual theft and over charging that can occur to anyone. It is commonplace for people to either go from Australia, both Aussies and backpackers, to SE Asia, or through SE Asia on their way to OZ. From these backpackers I have heard the occasional story of something bad that may have happened to them, but not one of them has told me not to go, and all of them say it's definitely worth it. So you may understand my confusion surrounding the issue. I think I will do a bit more research, being in Bali is part of that, and will have to come to my own conclusions as we adults must do every day, don't we?

There are a few tricks I've learned so far in Bali, such as booking hotels online is much, much cheaper than actually booking at the hotel, we usually get about 50% off what the hotel tells us. The price is ALWAYS negotiable. There aren't really prices marked on anything and most people look at the color of your skin before making the price up. I haven't really been comfortable with bargaining yet, something I need to work on, but I still haven't spent much on anything. We're looking to get out of Kuta tomorrow and see some other, less touristic, parts of Bali where people aren't trying to sell you stuff constantly. We'll see what happens.

OH yeah, about the rest of the road trip. It went pretty smoothly until the very last day where we lost 2 of the girls for about 3 or 4 hours, it was dark by the time they were found. So the next day there was still a few fuses blown when we arrived in Darwin and it was hot and we had to prepare the car to return, which took hours, there were many arguments and a few unkind words, but all in all we worked it out and the day was done to get a well-deserved beer and hot meal.

Darwin was nothing to write home about for me. Mostly a party city and I just wasn't really in the mood, so happy to be off to Bali and experience something new and different.

ALLLLLLLLLLOOOHA.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Red Center: Chapter 1

It's day 15 of our epic road trip through the center of Australia and I'm having the most awesome time of my life.

I'll set the stage:
We have Lara who's from Ulm, Germany and a cosmotologist by trade, she cooks a mean meal every now and again
Amy is from Adelaide and is currently finishing her nursing diploma, she loves to have us pull her finger and let it rip loud and clear so everyone can hear
Baptiste from Paris, France has a certificate in wildlife preservation, he is a bit self-centered, but very good at eliciting help from strangers when we're having car troubles
Vanessa, Baptiste's partner, from Montreal, went to Concordia at the same time as I and studied sociology, she is very nice and says she never farts, how disgusting!
Tom, my boyfriend, from Dresden, Germany is a musician and is about to study something when he returns home from Australia, he's wonderful and adorable and loves to count my hiccups and make wishes on them...
AND me

We don't always get along being smashed into a car together for 21 days straight. There have been a few arguements, a couple of breakups and reunions, and heaps of swearing in various languages.

But we laugh CONSTANTLY and we cry and we are getting to know each other and their habits REALLY well.

We started in Adelaide and our target is Darwin, but currently we are in Alice Springs and sleeping in beds for the first time in 2 weeks, which feels amazing.

Along the way we saw The Olgas, Ularu, King's Canyon, a domesticated Emu that grumbled at me when I disturbed it to go take a pee in the middle of the night (who expects to see a giant bird outside their tent at 3 in the morning??), Flinder's Ranges, a crazy 4WD trek to Palm Valley, tons of mice (as there is a plague at the moment), heaps of nothing but salt bush dotted with random mountain formations, a baby joey in his mother's pouch, some wineries, done a few bush walks, got stuck in the mud at Lake Eyre, had a few car problems, slept under ground in Coober Pedy, saw a few wild dingos, and met many wonderful friendly people along the way.

We've named our rig Trudy, after a woman we met in the first couple of days. When Trudy's feeling a bit temperamental, she doesn't like to start, this can happen in the middle of nowhere off the main road or in a small town, which, let's face it, it's all in the middle of nowhere. We give her pats and tell her we love her and that usually gets her going. So, we're chugging along.

We only have 6 more days to go and it's passing quickly. Four of us are hoping to go to Bali together to keep our trip going because we love each other so much.

Will have to update when I get to Darwin, until then send your love to Trudy, we can use it!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Goodbye Adelaide *lower lip pout*

We'll I've always believed if you're patient, you will get what you want. So I stayed here in Adelaide with a dream in my head to drive to Darwin through the center of the country and make a heaps of stops along the way to see the sights. I have my previous WWOOFing host, Todd, to thank for this dream, as it was his suggestion that turned me on to it.

So I patiently made a life for myself here in Glenelg, as you can see in my previous post, and settle in for the wait.

Things often seem like fate when you're traveling, it's quite a beautiful feeling and has really changed the way that I look at life.

So fate made me start looking for the perfect ride on gumtree right about when the perfect advertisement popped up.

Me and four others from various countries are headed off, hopefully Monday, to do exactly what I had been waiting for: Renting a FWD and traveling up the middle to see the sights and I'm excited. I'm trying not to be too excited because I don't want to have too high of expectations, but, oh hell I'm pretty excited.

Upon making my plans to leave, I've realized how attached I'm come to Glenelg, so settled in that I forgot to pay for my hostel because I just felt like I lived there. Me and Rich, the man I had to pay, had a bit of a laugh about it.

I have so many beautiful people around me that I had share laughs, tears, ideas, and moments of silence with.

I've learned quite a valuable lesson that I hope to carry along with me: No matter where you are in the world, you are not alone.

Love to all my readers,
Sarah Rose

Friday, June 3, 2011

The nitty gritty of Glenelg, Adelaide

Glenelg is a Palindrome, same spelling front and back. A lovely woman named Karen informed me of this at singing group last Thursday.

Singing group is wonderful! A whole heap of people, about 80 of us, get together and sing our hearts out every week. It's better than drugs! You actually get an endorphin rush. People don't sing enough these days. I hope everyone will go off and sing a song after you read this blog. I know I've had Bohemian Enrapsody stuck in my head this morning if you have trouble picking a song it's one of my favorites to belt out at the top of my lungs whilst running down the lovely beach that is literally a minutes walk from my hostel! Who could've drempt a better location? Sorry for that incredible runon sentence. I just feel like I have a lot to say today! :)

I have been hanging out with quite a few elderly people actually. I quite enjoy their company. They're (usually) pretty accepting and curious about me, unless they're feeling a bit grumpy (usually the men *coughcough*) AHEM! :D

I found most of my new friends at the lovely community center that has given me free range on their craft room. I'm currently making baby hats and practicing for when I'm older. Don't worry mum! Much, much older. They have also convinced me that I must come to folk dancing class on Thursday and Tai Chi on Wedensday AND Bingo on Tuesday, need I go on? They love their hobbies! I'm not complaining, it's keeping me well entertained.

I even gave a little computer class to a couple ladies who were wondering how to use in the internet. I found it requires quite a bit of patience, but I do enjoy teaching. Hmmm..career opportunity???

I made a friend, Karen, at my singing group. She's lovely and lives just around the corner from me so we walked her dogs on the beach AND I'm invited to Family dinner on Sunday. Boy do I love family dinner! It reminds me of home. Thank you mum and dad! Dad especially for all the lovely meals. I think it was one of my favorite things in the whole world. And now I get to enjoy it on the other side of the world, hehe.

Otherwise, I'm going to have new adventures every day and I will keep you updated. Key words: free internet. Gotta love the local library eh?

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

From beyond Tasmania at the edge of the outback

So the Tasman Penninsula was AMAZING. I had such a good time there, if you check my facebook you can see some photos of the hike, or as they say in Aussieland 'bushwalk', that I did whilst I hung out and chilled at a community that my friend Ilan was attempting to create. They had just put up the 'for sale' signs on the different lots on the property.

While I was there I helped out by doing a bit of garlic planting and cooking. There was a couple from Taiwan that were wonderful and we took turns making our local dishes from our home countries. They were fascinated by my gourmet mac and cheeses as well as the hamburgers where my friend Lian (Lee-Ann), also from Taiwan, and I made the buns and dipping sauces for the handmade french fries. It was all good fun. I was only going to go for a couple of nights, but ended up staying 5 and got a free ride back to Hobart with another backpacker that was also moving on after being there for 2 1/2 months. He was from Holland. It was quite an international crowd with another girl from England and a couple from France topping it all off. Wonderful place.

I stayed with a friend and his family at their home just outside of  Hobart for a couple of nights. Two beautiful young daughters, the oldest of which, 4 years, challenged me greatly by wanted to play the game 'how much does that hurt'. I told her I wouldn't play with her if that was the only game she had in her repertoire :) A couple days, a few curries, and a lecture from Vancouver about midwifery, isn't the internet wonderful, later I was dropped off at the airport with a hug and a warm adieu and back in Melbourne.

Melbourne wasn't hugely exciting, but it was nice to see old friends and have a bit of a chin wag (I learned that one in the past couple of days.

I decided to wait till the last minute to decide where I was going next, and headed to the train station on a bright early morning. Needless to say the teller wasn't too impressed with me not having a destination in mind and made me stand to the side for a while until I could give him one. I saw a sign that said Swan Hill and gave him the word and 3 hours later I was off.

Luckily I made friends on the bus who made sure I was safely in an accomodation before leaving me to my own devices, she even got me a discount on my room. The town was so small and not really touristy so it only had motels and single rooms. I spent a lovely night by myself with a hot shower and some telly before heading off the next day to cheaper beds.

I ended up in Mildura and booked a couple nights at the backpackers that looked like it had the most character, it had shoes hanging off the electrical lines out front. Mildura is a huge grape, almond, and citrus growing area. There are lots of people that go there to do some seasonal work in order to earn their 2nd working/holiday visa for Australia. I quickly made friends with the family of backpackers who had united together in their efforts to reach this goal. They were from England and Germany and Italy and Korea. I had such a wonderful time, but knew that despite this I was not ready yet to settle down.

So I decided to come here to Broken Hill. It's a strange little mining town that is literally in the "middle of nowhere". Actually. My new friend Nick and I had a bit of a drive around in the nothingness and ended up in the next town Silverton, population: 42! Hahaha. His friends were the proud owners of the Mad Max II museum which I got a free tour of. Interesting.

I'm off to Adelaide tomorrow or the next and shall continue to blog along the way.

No more pictures from here on out, it's too hard with not knowing when I have to pay to use the internet everywhere.

Love to all!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Tasmania

 I decided to take the ferry from Melbourne...
 I'm on a bit of a ground transport kick, it's nice to feel the distances your traveling in real time. The ferry was quite relaxing, read, slept, lounged...

From the port I knocked on the window of a future Olympic rower, lucky me, who drove me to Launceston. Then from there I got a ride to my first WWOOFing host on the Northeastern coastline from a lovely man named Clive. He had two babies, sold wheelchairs and was building new house in Launceston, your typical family man. We stoped in a tiny little town on the way to pick up a boat and I was facinated by the petrol station...I'm guessing it's self-serve?

My host dad, Todd, taught me how to eradicate Spanish Heath, which is a pesky weed that took over their property. One bush at a time, there were throusands...they are the rosemary-looking brush behind us.
 
 On the last day I was there, it was mother's day and my host mum, Astrid's, Birthday so we all spent the day baking cupcakes and cake and...

Host mum with all our yummy baked goods.

 Vegemite scrolls. That would be vegemite and cheese rolled into bread and baked..deeelicious. I grew a love for vegemite when I lived in New Zealand and have rediscovered it since I got to Aussieland.



Todd and Astrid had 2 daughters, Eve and Grace. Grace lived in Launceston during the week, but came home for the weekends and Eve in this photo is still in high school.

This was my home for the first week. I snuggled up in my sleeping bag like a cocoon, with a hot water bottle shoved down by my feet. You could only see my eyes peeking out, it was pretty cozy.

After a week I sadly parted and made my way south to a new family. Brenda and Stephen, with little 3 year old Quinny and 6 year old Elanta their two 11 week old kittens. Living in a purple house, much like the one I grew up in back in Kauai. Little did I know how much work it takes to be a parent, but I walked away with a much better idea of what life can be like when you have small people to take care of.

I luckily found a ride to the lovely Tasman Penninsula, which I arrived at last night and am about to venture out into the town of Nubeena, population 277. See what I can find. Until next time....

Monday, April 25, 2011

An ode to Melbourne

Sometimes I ask myself, "what AM I doing with my life." There are days where I do what some people would consider nothing. Today I woke up and wrote in my journal, went and sat in the sun to eat breakfast, called my best friend and talked for 3 hours, played my ukulele in the park, read my book, and watched a movie. I feel guilty about it at times, like I'm not improving the world and that is what I'm supposed to do with every minute! But my friend reminded me of all the amazing things I HAVE done despite these lazy Sundays, when it's really a Tuesday :)
So I'm thinking as I spend my last couple of days here in Melbourne, what have I gotten out of these past 3 months, besides finishing my university degree of course! And I looked around the back yard and came up with a few things...
I made friends with this silly cat who stalks invisible things in the backyard and despite taking himself so seriously, he has a silly disney character and a bell hanging from his collar.

I realized how much I love hanging laundry in the sunshine.

I found out I could actually grow my own food!

I experienced the joy of finding a vegetable that I had not yet discovered because it was hiding amongst the leaves trying to grow big enough to impress me ;)

I now know what an artichoke looks like once it  blooms. 

I read heaps of books.

In the end I know my ukulele is always there for me no matter how much I neglect it.

So despite looking like I'm doing nothing, I have actually accomplished heaps. It feels like a lot less is happening when you're stationary in a foreign place. There are lots of other things I've learned about that I can't take pictures of, such as relationships and not being afraid of the dark and entertaining myself, things I won't even know until I use them later. So despite the doubt that invades my mind from time to time, when I say to myself, 'wahhhhtt am I doing with my life?' I know that I'm in the right place. My life is giving me a sense of confidence in my abilities and who I am. Every day I feel challenged and I must often rely on the friendship of strangers, and sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy in my head because I don't have anyone to talk to. 

So yeah that's me.


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Brining Olives

Olives are going wild all over my neighborhood, and little did I know they would turn purple and go soft when they ripened. But I saw an old italian looking man going for them at the park and I decided he probably knows what he's doing so I followed suit.

 Then of course, google told me exactly what to do with them next....
Container


Slice into their juicy little sides to allow the brine to seep in more effectively.

Brine is heaps of salt and water.

They look like they're taking a bath.

Now you have to shake them around once a day and change the brine once a week until they're not bitter anymore. I'm making a checklist to remind whoever takes responsibility.

Voila....edible olives

Sunday, April 3, 2011

More foodie adventures and some Great Ocean Road ones too.

Another food adventure occurred, sourced from the Victoria markets. We had more kangaroo, but in the form of burgers...

 As well as some crocodile sausages, which were mighty tasty. Light in flavour, a cross between chicken and fish.. This photo makes it look huuge...

And I'm always the vegetables with every meal! Nazi, so I try to make a salad most nights, using some stuff from the garden.


On another note, I was told by most people that I was to not miss going on an adventure on The Great Ocean Road. So finally a coworker of mine, Kristy, and I headed off on our own little adventure. Da Dun Ta Dah!....

We camped for two nights, the first in a trailerpark in Angelsea and the second at a beautiful camping park in Joanna Beach. But shhhh don't tell, it was the only free spot to camp and there weren't many people there so we don't want word to get out!


On the second day there was a fancy sign that announced that we were, in fact, on the Great Ocean Road. Ahhh, this whole time I thought we were already on it!



We made camping food, mine tasted a bit like dog food, sang tunes to the neighbors and went to sleep along with the sun.

We saw the 12 Apostles, bit limestone fixtures, of which there are only 6 left.


Apparently some people went out on the cliffs and it crumbled away underneath them awhile ago.

And Kristy had a sharp eye and spotted an echidna on the side of the road. They are apparently not related to the porcupine, despite some slight resemblances.
All in all it was a fun trip. I love to camp and sleep in a tent. It's very cozy. I'm not too fond of sights with lots of tourists. Perhaps I've had enough of that in my life. Despite the huge variety of beaches, there wasn't many people swimming. Apparently the water stays cold all year round. I went for a quick dip right before we headed back to the city, it was a bit...fresh :) The currents are also pretty rough, there was a sign at the second beach we camped on warning not to go swimming so that you didn't get swept out to sea. Not a risk I was willing to take.

Otherwise, my last exam before I graduate is looming on the horizon. 29th of April, Australia time of course. My last month in Melbourne before I hit Tasmania is passing quickly and is filling up with all the things I meant to do. Working hard, occasional couchsurfers here and there, same old. Love to all.



Sunday, March 20, 2011

On death and dying

Death is a subject that hasn't really had much meaning to me until the more recent years. When I was young I remember the first person that died was my GG, great grandmother. I think I knew what it meant at the time, and I remember wanting to go to the funeral, but I wasn't allowed. So I was curious about what exactly went on at funerals, I had seen them in films, but I hadn't experienced one.

Until later on my Aunt May, who is an old girlfriend of my grandfather, but is pretty much family at this point, lost her husband Erwin. I don't ever remember meeting him, but I ended up visiting my grandparents while his funeral was taking place. I can't remember what happened exactly, but I remember there being a 'forbidden room' that was allocated for the family to go and cry. After the service was over, grandma and granddad took me outside because they said it was time for the viewing where the casket was to be opened and only close family was allowed. I an adolescent at the time and I wanted to see a dead body! I still didn't understand what it felt like to lose someone and to me it was just a fascinating opportunity, but I did what they told me followed them out.

Then over my teenage years my great uncle died, a coworker of mine and another of my brother's, people I knew, but I didn't see often. This was when I started to experience the sadness that came with death.

Now as an 'adult' or young adult, my uncle and my cousin died in a plane crash last year and I experienced the devastation of death. I couldn't move or breath when I found out. It was a similar experience to after I had been mugged when I was 17 and had first moved to Montreal for my studies.

Later in the year last year I was driving home from work with my boyfriend at the time and we were the first two people to come across a man who had flipped his car and died. I will never be able to rid myself of the image of him hanging out the window of the flipped car and his life slipping away before my very eyes. It seemed such an intimate moment for me to be witnessing of a stranger. Who am I to be there for the moment of his death? I've not even been to more than one funeral and I wasn't allowed to see the dead body. It was the first dead person I saw. Again it made me frozen and unable to speak or breath. All I could do was stand and stare while my boyfriend called the police. I was afraid to be alone for at least a week. All the fears I had when I was a child about monsters under the bed and darkness and just plain irrational thoughts overflowed my mind. Eventually enough time passed that I thought I got over it.

Why do people cover their mouths when they look at something terrible? I have to say that is what I did.

More recently I've dealt with the death of my boss, where I worked at the wake and watched how the relatives and close friends of this man I had never met dealt with his death. I went out the back for a snack and encountered Mark's brother-in-law who was losing it because of a song that came on the record player and went to go hide away. Who am I to witness this man in his grief?

It is allowing me to learn what to say, which is generally nothing, and to be more comfortable in the wake of death. Since Mark, two other coworkers have lost family and friends. It's a death party right now. I'm wondering to myself if there is a death epidemic or if this is just life. Just a part of life that seemed mysterious and hidden and now that I live in the 'real world', it is everywhere.

The last death that made me need to write this, was a 4 year old boy. There's a school next to my house and a boy ran in front of a car and died last Friday. It looked just like when I came across the accident in Ontario, the road blocked off, police taking photos, people crowding round and staring, flashing lights. Thankfully, this time I was on the outside of the police tape. It really made me sad when I saw the little boy's shoes still lying in the road.

Those thoughts and feelings from the Ontario accident came rushing back that night, and I had a hard time sleeping and a hard time snapping out of a weird disconnected state of mind. Little kids aren't supposed to run in front of cars, that only happens in movies, and in movies they always stop just in time.

One thing that gives me a bit of perspective was listening to my friend Danika describe what it was like to witness the earthquake in Haiti. There were so many dead bodies that you didn't even notice anymore. They were no longer people.

Death is a cultural construct. From how we express ourselves about it, how we celebrate it, how we mourn. It is something that I wish I had more exposure to at a young age. Not exposure in that I wish more people died, but I wish it was talked about more freely, in front of me, with me, around me. Demystifying it, making it less of a secret.

Who knows?

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Golden Plains Music Fest!

Hey Hey all my blog followers. I have recently attended my 2nd music festival and the 1st overnight one at that. Twas a lovely weekend with heaps of sun, music and fun. I'll do a little photo journal for yah.

 I was feeling a bit nervous about going by myself for two days and two nights, but as per usual, my mouth got the better of me and I made a 'festival family' on the shuttle from the city before I even arrived at the festival. They're all from Brisbane, so I'll have a place to stay when I head that way.


 Here's the home I had for the weekend. Set it all up myself, on loan from my housemate, but I'll sure have to get myself a 'traveling home' one day.

It was very cosy...and blueeee

















Mine was just one of many in a giant tent city. I could've stayed for longer....


Soon enough you're going to ask...Where are the toilets? Golden Plains, which is the name of the festival, is held on farmland near a small town called Meredith which is about 90 minutes outside the city of Melbourne. They try hard to keep the land as pristine as possible and minimize the impact of a large group of drunk and dirty hippies :)





Isn't shit lovely?

There were quite a few different food stalls to choose from, in case you forgot how to pack the correct food for camping, which I did. Always a learning experience. The Hare Krishna curries seem to be a staple everywhere I go in Australia.


Soon after arrival, it was time to set up for the festivities. Why didn't I think to shove a couch into my backpack???



They have a tradition at the festival that if you like the band, you take off one shoe and wave it in the air. These people perhaps had left their shoes at their tents? Or they're new like me :)

Some guys played some music. This is the Hold Steady, loved the name, but didn't get too into their music.


 Eventually the day had to come to an end...I guess. And that was when I stopped taking photos.

The next day was just as awesome and I also had to do my volunteer shift, as I got a free ticket in exchange for volunteering some of my time to make sure everyone was okay in all the different tent cities. My shift was Sunday night from 12am to 3am. I was paired with a girl named Rosemary and we had an awesome time handing out water and lollies to passerbys. They were all very greatful, we felt a bit like red cross workers in a lose sense of the term. Then this awesome girl came by and we had a little bit of a girl's night, chatting and laughing and dissing men. It was all very fun and healthy for us ;)

That was my festival. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Love.