Beijing CHINA

Can’t believe it’s been a week since I arrived, then again, Arkansas seems like a distant dream. I was lucky enough to spend three beautiful days in China with out students. The adjustment time wasn’t too terrible and it was really lovely getting to spend time with the other leaders in country site seeing. We started off the trip with a BANG.
After an eleven hour flight, a dizzying hours drive into the Dong Cheng district to our hostel, we took our first cruise through the streets of the city. The Dong Cheng district is a very quaint area with lots of touristy shoppes and fun alley ways to wonder down. We walked to the river then quested for a place to eat. At this point I was sinking pretty deep. I agreed to some food though and what an agreement I made. For our first meal in China we happened to pick a restaurant that specialized in donkey meat. Correct, donkey. I’ve gone from vegetarian to donkey eating very quickly. I ordered a donkey type wrap thingy… I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between donkey and pastrami. It wasn’t bad
As much as being with the other leaders was amazing, per usual, I did get a bit overwhelmed with the amount of energy and information and stories about trips of your that where flying around. I finally got some quiet space with Kim one morning as three other groups started there trip. Kim and I drank coffee, talked and planned for about three straight hours. It was the quiet space I needed to organize my thoughts and get my homework done.
Another challenge that I had been facing, up until today actually, was my presence here in country.
I have been restless settling in here. Mainly due to the fact that I finally decided that I want to have a bit more stability in my life and be a bit more rooted in California so as to be with friends and family, and I uproot and leave for China! My girlfriends are all together at a music festival and it seems everyone I love has fun summer events that they are traveling to and from. I have felt pulled in two directions. One direction is with friends and comforts and home life and the other is an opportunity to make an impact with the youth of California.
The first two days with the students has been exhausting! Literally JAM PACKED days of site seeing and air travel, quite seriously both in on day. Today they changed my mind. Today I made friends with my students. The Chaperones are unbelievably interesting and real which is great but the students are so key. We spent the day bamboo rafting the Jungshuo river.
None of us knew what the rafts where going to look like, the lack of expectation made the actual raft that much more funny. Twelve posts of bamboo strapped together with a light weight park bench like double rcliner seat, also made of bamboo, an umbrella if you where lucky and a personal paddler on each vessel. We got bombarded by women selling water guns immediately and I was not about to pass those up on a river trip. So, all ten bamboo ships where equipped with one water gun each, including the Chaperones. What followed was about an hour and a half of laughing and water explosions. I paired up with the girl LOD for the day and we went to work. A full on war erupted between the final four boats to set off. We had one girl who we called the “Power Pump” as she could blast about 20 blows a minute continuously. I discovered that my newly purchased rice hat was an efficient shield. Though my friend and I had to work at our efficiency as in our excitement of the discovery her first blast shot straight into the hat, deflected and splashed me! I felt like I was also 15 again. I got to continue to encourage fun and serious water splashing way beyond the point any normal adult would consider fun or funny. I don’t think I have EVER had so much fun in a water fight before today!!! We had so much fun between the last four rafts that we broke two of the guns!
On the intermittent moment that water stopped flying at my face I got to sit back and admire the enormous cliffs shooting out of our river valley, covered in greenery and fading shades of tan, orange and yellow rock. The look is all very Thailand-esc except there are taro and rice fields that sprawl the bottom valley.
I am fully present now and am so excited to spend the next nine days exploring, laughing and discovering. I am excited to aid these youngsters on their own path to self discovery and have already started meditations and conversations. I titled my discussion series ” A divulgence into the depths of differentiations on a path to self discovery.” It’s going well.
If anyone would like to follow along:
1. Mindfulness
What does mindfulness mean to you?
What does it mean to have a closed mind?
What does it mean to have an open mind?
What are things you notice that you are close minded to?
What are you more drawn to be open minded towards?
How can you bring further awareness and acceptance to the things you are closed off to?
How can you share those things you are passionate and open minded to?
2. Culture in respect to food
How would you define culture?
What cultural things do you and your family practice?
What are some cultural norms in the US? In China?
How do you feel about these differences?
What do you normally eat at home?
What is distinctly different about the food in China and the food from home?
How does the food in China make you feel? Make you smell?
Can you put yourself in the shoes of a 15 year old from China visiting the US? Can you feel their hesitancy about the change in diet, in environment?

A remembrance in Arkansas

Back in November on the legendary island of Hawaii I completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training with Sadie Virginia. Those many months ago I made a promise to make a visit out to see her when the weather got warm enough to take a canoe trip down the Buffalo river. Another lesson that I have learned along my travels is that the deeper connections you make with certain individuals are worth nurturing; this friendship is worth every bit of nurturing.
Upon arrival I was thrown into a world of progressive people my age that are passionate about making a difference in their community. Their passions are very entangled in mine, food and education. Both passions where stoked up and set ablaze once again in Arkansas. I say once again because I had forgotten. I had forgotten what fuels my passion for food, plain and simple good wholesome clean food. Food clean of pesticides and GMOs. Food that has been grown locally with love and prepared with the same adoration and care. I forgot how much I love to have my hands in the dirt. I had forgotten that the food prepared in restaurants is not coming from the families backyard or farm over the next hill like it had in Peru. If I had asked where my food was coming from the people would probably have gladly taken me back to meet the rest of their chicken flock. Sadly I had forgotten that it takes 10,000 years for plastic to decompose and become blinded to its insistent prevalence in our EVERYDAY LIFE.
Sadie and her partner Bill opened my eyes and helped me reAwaken. They also enlightened me to the world of young entreepanurship. Bill, Sadie and their great friend Matt own a skate, art and women’s yoga/active wear shop. Their shop is based in the ideals of responsible consumerism, carrying products made in the US, locally and with the environment in mind. I was blessed enough to get the opportunity to accompany them on a few meetings regarding a festival they are putting on in collaboration with their other young business owning friends; one owns a cold press juice shop, the other a clothing and art company. This group is inspiring not only to me but obviously inspiring their greater Fayetteville community.
I have made forever friends in Fayetteville and fallen in love with Arkansas and the Ozarks! It was a bitter sweet trip to see Sadie and Bill. They are well rooted in their community. They have a beautiful wooded home with a garden, two dogs and a cat, Curtis, that snuggled me every night. They have purpose in their community and they still get time to get out an travel. Their set up is something that I would love to work towards in the future; slowly moving towards grounding.
Sadie is one of the most giving beings I have ever met. She openly gives her merchandise to the ones he loves and openly shares her yoga practice with anyone who is interested. It was refreshing to practice and share with her. As well she set me up to teach a free community class in studio! My first studio class! The class went smoothly and I felt so at home and ease leading. That practice with those Fayetteville individuals who I didn’t know struck a “home string;” I felt at home on my mat. The feedback I got was great, I even got compliments on my playlist! This is also a feeling I would like to foster in the upcoming…. Year.
I left Arkansas with the memories of running flat out through the woods of the Ozarks, the taste of deer chili in my mouth, and an adornment of Arkansas crystals. Until next time Fayetteville.

Filling in the missing pages …

Upon my return from Peru I opened more than a few texts and emails asking for the season finally of my trip to Peru, which I knew was coming. There was also a surprising number of people that reminded of the purpose of this blog, ” one woman’s tale of her adventures out of a backpack.” Seeing as how my life still resides in my backpack and I am currently on a plane to China, my story has yet to come to a close.
THANK YOU, to all of you who helped me to this realization and gave me such beautiful feedback. I am truly grateful.

So what happened upon my return?! Welp, I only gave myself three days to transition from plane to work… Maybe not the best idea but a body in motion stays in motion. I found myself getting dropped off in the heat of the Joshua Tree desert with a gang of dirt bags aka dear friends, some old and some new. In all honestly getting welcomed back to the US by the Booju, community was the best way to return. Never in my live have I worked with more passionate, goofy and fun loving group of people. Within twelve days of being in the country I had lead a full course, made a handful of new friends and entered into brand new territory with a passionate new man.
The month of April seems more like a dream than reality. I have not had a full blown spring in two years and in reality have never in my life really appreciated spring to its fullest. Between the Joshua tree wild flowers and the flowers I encountered in Folsom, Santa Cruz, Pinnacles, Camario, and Calabases, I fell in Love. It was invigorating and rooting to once again be sleeping outside under the stars were I feel most alive and most balanced. Even though April was filled with work it was also filled with friends and it really didn’t feel like work at all. Especially because after work was over we all stayed to play for a week in Joshua Tree. I have images of standing on the tops of rocks in Hidden Valley forever ingrained into my memory. There is something untouchable about the feeling of accomplishment and intimate trust you create with those that you climb with. There is also something untouchable about the time spent going through your college crap in the garage with your Dad, finding silly items like Melvin (a fake raccoon skin hat) and watching your Dad sport the hat the rest of the day. Dad I love you. Like I said, Spring was a dream, is a dream.
Leaving Joshua tree and saying “see you laters” to the ones I love was difficult. I felt like I had just started to find my rhythm and I was uprooting again.
I was off to Arkansas!

Loki Mancora, Peru’s version of Hotel California

Where to being, where to begin. In the words of the Mad Hatter I will start at the beginning and when I get to the end I’ll stop.
After 19 hours on semi treacherous coastal roads I finally stepped off the bus to explore Mancora in the morning heat. I had no hostel reservation, the bus station had no maps, so I did what anyone would do and started down a street towards the ocean with my life on my back. I had a general idea of where I was from maps I had looked at previously. I walked for two hours stopping in at a few different places to channel my inner Marta and ask as many questions as possible; pricesess, work trade, yoga? The responses where unsatisfactory but entertaining non the less. One campground manager tried to lure me in with moi Thai classes and a joint to share. Another “camp and stay” hostel pointed me in the direction of where to camp, turns out the side of the road only cost 10 soles a night($3)! Feeling indifferent I picked up a Chuppi and headed for the other side of town where the more well know travel hostels could be found. The white wall and castle sized wooden door of Loki Mancora greeted me with unspoken possibilities. Speaking Spanish with the woman working the information desk was the right idea. Moli, gained my respect and friendship that minute. Moli is one of those people that you meet and instantly connect with because you know you’ve met before; before, before. Moli set me up with the bar manager for a little chat about working behind the bar for two weeks, I still didn’t have a reservation. Two hours later I had a “Loki nights” shirt and was set up to train and work in two days time.
So began my stay at Loki. I took only two pictures of the staff room I stayed in, Kindergarden. I refused to enter the other, the Jungle. The staff dorms where covered in sharpie graffitied. Kindergarden had its own splattering of profanities, penises, vaginas, diagrams on “how too’s” of the worst sort, Spanish I will not translate, and the apex of it all was a four foot web of peoples names connected way more intimately than the thin line of sharpie could portray. The smell oozing out of the Jungle was indescribably disgusting. My thoughts raced my first day, “Where am I and what the HELL did I just get myself into?” The benefits where worth while and the prospect of not having to pack my backpack in two days was tantalizing. I took myself out for another stroll to get to know the area around the hostel and to check out rental prices for surf boards. Upon arrival at “Good People” surf shop I once again made instant friends, Christian and Carlos. These two where my men of Mancora. The three of us went out to eat together, went out to surf together and occasionally drank and where merry on the beach.
Here is where my experience takes a divergence, one a tale of the sea and one a tale of madness, both have one grand over lying theme, community.
THE SEA
The first two days of attempted surfing were a travesty, especially the second day. I couldn’t catch a wave and I was terrified of the loco locals aggressively mastering the fast, left, point break Manora has to offer. The second day I went out I was way out of my league with the size of the waves, got seriously pummeled on the rocks and swam to shore defeated. My pride and confidence was smashed to pieces and I was scared to the point of tears. It took me two days to get back into the water and when I did get back in I got smart. I picked up a boogie board and charged. I spent two days ripping around on the boogie board. At first I got laughed at by the locals but after the end of the second day I had gained a bit of rapor. In those two days boogie boarding I familiarized myself with the break and regained my confidence. I surfed everyday after for 16 days. Work was second and waves came first, quite literally first thing in the morning. Everyday was different; different water conditions, different wind conditions and, not to be fooled by the locals wearing wetsuits whom had no idea what cold Pacific water really feels like, the water was always warm. When I got the chance to sleep, which was rarely, I dreamt of surfing. When I was on break, I watched the surfers from the highest railing by the bar. It became a bit of an obsession. I made good friends with one of the three other women that frequented the break, a German girl on her winter break. Most days we where out numbered three to about thirty dudes, not always a predicament. Many a time towards the end of my session Davey Jones with the two gold front teeth, or Marco with the sweet talk and innocent smile that was laced with promiscuity, or Jaime my rental man and coach would grab my board at the last minute and throw me into a wave with more velocity than I could muster with my arms. Jaime was the only Peruvian man out there that I really trusted to have good intentions, he had a wife and kids. The rest most certainly didn’t have wives and goodness knows if they had kids. Regardless of the surfer boys’ intentions it was nice to have people to say hello to in the streets as well to have strong men watching my back in the evening ( Hahaha). It was an adjustment to a new normal for sure, the whole trip has been. By the end of my stay in Mancora I could competitively catch a 5 foot wave on a 6 foot board, stand up, and begin to cave slowly. My body had taken quite a beating from the rocky point. I came back with a new cut or cuts everyday, the deepest of which is still healing (more than a month after my return!) Loosing a bit of blood was only just a physical reminder of the work I put in all month and I had nothing but fulfillment for my accomplishments on a board; no matter how small they may seem. I had only intended to stay 14 days in Mancora and then continue onto Huaraz to trekk the tallest peak in Peru. However, my surf obsession, new found community, and consistent checking of the weather in rainy Huaraz kept me in Mancora for another six beautiful days. Along with not missing a day of surfing I never missed a sunset. Twenty days of sunset yoga and meditation sessions. Here is where we find the intersection of the tale of THE SEA and…
THE MADDNES
Loco Loki, as it was rightfully nick named by the locals, was the bane and center of my existence. For twenty days, I worked seven hours a day, four days a week for a bed in Kindergarden, one free plate of food, and 40% discount on all other food and beverages. However, adult beverages where most always free because friends worked behind the bar. Luckily I only had to work two night shifts at Loki. I happily offered to work the morning shift because no one really woke up till after noon and by the time the shift started at 9am I could catch two hours of quality surf. I was a different fish compared to Loki’s usual catch. I had left the lifestyle of binge drinking every night and promiscuity many years previous. At Loki, beer pong started at 10 am and lasted till the bar closed at 2am. Beer was served as long as the bar was open and hard alcohol started flowing at 1 pm. Many mornings I would start work serving the wildlings that where still high from their nights adventures and near misses with the law, idiots. Regardless of there state, they where always good for a story. Two come to mind. The first from a young Brit whom had tripped on LSD the night previous and claimed an eel penetrated and commandeered his body. The eel always had control of one of his limbs and would cause it to convulse. If one limb stopped shaking another would start. I made sure he got lots of water that morning. Another story, a bit on the darker side of life and travel, is of corruption. A group of Loki guests got pulled over by the police in a tuk tuk early one morning solely under suspicion. One of the guests had illegal substances. The cop arrested all three, two male, one female, and put them in the back of a cop car. The cop then proceeded to barter and bribe the three for there release. Luckily one new a bit of Spanish and was able to talk the cop out of a very highly priced bribe and a bribe for the female. The cop got paid off and the three walked back to the hostel. It turns out that the tuk tuk drivers more often than not have contracts with the corrupt police and get a cut of whatever bribe the cops gets out of the unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately this tale was only one of many. Loki’s crazy party hungry guest draw the wrong kind of attention in a corrupt town like Mancora. I made sure to loose my Loki wristband first thing and there after befriended all the gate keepers as well as the rest of the local staff, security, cleaning crew, receptionists, and bar staff. A few are note worthy to mention.
Santos was my favorite keeper of the door. He had very small facial features on a very big head. He reinforced the stereotype that all Peruvian men, no matter how old, think they can make it with any lady they please. Regardless, Santos touched my heart with his kindness and conversation. His second job was opening coconuts on the beach so lucky me being his “Mejor amiga de els corazon” got free coconuts. He also introduced me to a brilliant concoction called the CocoLoco, coconut with rum and lime poured into it!!! Ah Santos I will never forget you, you creepy old man you.
Others that I will never forget worked as my fellow lady bar staff and receptionistas. Elle was my first and best friend behind and outside of the bar. Elle stands about 4 foot something but loves tall foreign white men. We would laugh for hours and after we would go exploring to find the best ice cream in town; which we did! Elle was, is, a great friend.
Claudia worked the front desk and was just about the sweetest thing around. We would go out after the bar closed and dance salsa on the beach till the beach bars shut down. She took care of me when I sliced my finger on a glass that had broken in my hand on a particularly rough night shift. After visiting her was my excuses to get away from the bar when I was on shift.
Kaylee bears, Michelle, and Alek were the three people that truely made my stay worth while. All four of us worked as volunteers behind the bar as well, we were all roomies. Alek and I started work together and ended work together. He is a wild Canadian that works in the national parks seven months out of the year and then travels the remaining five. He is raw, honest and always down to go to the beach. The kindness he showed to me is unforgettable. I recall one awful night Alek found me wrapped around the toilet with a fit of food poisoning. He had the same bit the day before and decided to take his shift off work and we would recoup together. Thereafter he cap fed me water and powerade, and rubbed my back till I fell asleep. He showed this unconditional love and kindness to everyone he met.
Michelle is a chilled out chick from Santa Barbra. We spent many a days out on the water together and even more behind the bar working. It was great getting to connect with a fellow Californian. Michelle was always down for an adventure out of Loki and in Loki as well.
Kaylee was traveling with her boyfriend through all of Central and South America and was on her way back up north when we met. Kaylee unknowingly taught and enlightened me on a few different things in life. Like Moli at the front desk, Kaylee and I connected instantly. We would sneak away like little girls giggling to go take moon lit walks on he beach; and we always brought protection, our pocket knifes just in case, Haha. We spent hours taking about life and relationships and energy and manifestation and everything. She wasn’t afraid to take a conversation to the “next level.” Kaylee taught me about love. Before meeting her I had subconsciously built walls, perimeters and expectations about love and relationships. Kaylee opened my mind to the simple truth that love is worth perusing even if there is a definite end to it in the future. Regardless, learning about yourself and your needs as well as the needs of a partner is a passionate and beautiful experience. It is silly writings this now because it is so simplistic and something my teenage heart deeply believed in, yet something I have forgotten over the years. We have made plans for many adventures in the future and I know that we will be reunited one day soon!
Sleep didn’t come easy in the mix of the madness. In actuality, I probably slept four hours a night, surfed two or more, worked seven, and practiced yoga for one. My bed was the loveliest in kindergarden because it had graffiti flowers and quote about living life to the fullest. Surprisingly twenty days flew by and I found myself leaving my mark on the polluted walls. I found the one spot that had yet to be touched, the ceiling. In large letters I left the words “Beauty can be found in truth,” for the wildlings to mill over in their perma- drunken state.
Upon my departure Moli and Elle accompanied me to the buss station and paid for the tuk tuk fare there. Moli hooked it up and sent me off with an assortment of decadent bread rolls and a coke; apple cinnamon cakes and garlic onion bread. We had been out to the beach to do a slow flow yoga practice and meditation the day before and she found out I like delicious breaded treats. Before her and her dog Coco left ( before the Budapest she is not good at good byes) she told me that I had changed her life… I was thoroughly taken back by this statement and didn’t think I had any credit to take in the change. To this day I am still boggled at the kindness she showed me and the deep connection I immediately felt with her. The interesting fact that just by being myself I can have a deep impact on someone’s life is inspiring and a bit overwhelming all at the same time.
I promised Elle I wouldn’t cry until I got on the bus, which is exactly what I did, and once the flood gates broke they stayed open for a while. I was a slobbering mess. I can’t remember the last time I cried for so long or the last time I felt so heart broken. It took me a while to figure out why I did feel so heart broken as I have left many other places and not felt nearly as sad. I came to this conclusion and life revolution:
Before living in Mancora I considered the kind of work lifestyle I found there to be below me. My thought was that the people behind the bar, or the guys constantly giving surf lessons, or my friend selling coconuts on the beach didn’t have any ambition. Why where they not striving for more? In reality it turns out their the ones that have more. They have a community that supports them and that they support. They live simply for what makes them happy and make enough to get by. The shallow reality of the United States self constructed societal standards began to sink in. A wall of “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” crumbled in my mind that day. The voices of so many of my peers and family asking where I’m going with my future, quieted. The questions of, what am I passionate about and what makes me happy, began to roll around in my dome.
With all this said, to play devils advocate, I also found a new appreciation for the United States. Admittedly I have often fled the country on excursions because I couldn’t stand the entitlement of people and what seemed to me ignorance towards many environmental issues. I still have a very hard time just looking at a Target or Walmart let alone going into one. In Peru there was no presence of these super stores in the country but I could see a push for this type of Mono culture in Lima. Truth be told is that the environmental issues the US face are the same that Peru, and the rest of the world are also facing. Stories of food, air and water pollution and big name corporations trying to keep it that way resounded from many travelers. In the US I have the ability and education to make responsible choices. The difference between the US and Peru is that many people in the US have the education and ABILITY to make conscious decisions and ARE. We have laws for fuel emissions and protection of wetlands. Granted, as my mother often reminds me, some of these environmental laws can be a bit strict when it comes to trying to implement resourceful things like a high speed rail system through California.
I could ramble on in circles for a while but the point being is that I have finally found pride for my country and a greater appreciation for our education systems (however twisted some of the public systems maybe). The US is still looked to as a trend setter for the rest of the world. In my idealistic and optimistic reality, I dream of healthy trends being set and responsible choices being made. I also believe that these trends need to be set by the people and not the politicians.
I mulled all this over in the returning 19 hour bus ride from Mancora to Lima; between the crying and heavy philosophical thoughts my head was about to explode. When I finally arrived I checked into a hostel and headed straight for the ocean and the surf board rentals.
I spent the last hours of my trip in Peru catching waves on a long board and watching the sunset. I will never forget the electric orange, pastel pink and perfect midnight blue that can only be see at sunset, reflect off the rippling waves. It was the perfect closure for South America and for this adventure. Until next time….

The Second Chapter

He journey away from Cusco began the second chapter in my Peru Jouney. The first portion of this chapter flew by in a whirlwind of events. I arrived in Puno at four in the morning, hooked up with a travel agent and purchased a one night two day tour through the Peruvian portion of the Lake. Lake Titikaka is the second highest lake in the WORLD and looks like an ocean. Big sky covers the clear blue green waters sprinkled with tall reeds along the edges and the Andes run proudly over the Peruvian border and spill down into Bolivia. The lake in its beauty and vastness is breath taking. I was feeling emotionally more stable after I found an Isralie girl whom I could speak English with, I now understand the idea of a home language. We visited three islands in all, one of which was something out of Middle earth. The Uri people lived on floating islands that they made out of the lake reeds. Each island has it’s own president whom decides the number of people allowed on the island and each island eats and lives of the reeds! I was not very impressed with the tour of the islands sourly because I didn’t like the impact I was making in touring them as I was, though I was short on time. I was trying to get to the North of Peru to be in the waves and sunshine as quickly as possible. Immediately after finishing the tour of Lake Titikaka I hoped on a bus to Ariquipa, spent a long night in the Ariquipa bus station and hoped on another bus to Nazca at 4 am. I made a new friend right off the bat from Beging, Kody. Kody and I spent the next 48 hours together, I her translator and guide through the markets and madness of Nazca and she my side kick who knew how to haggle for room and a plane over the famed Nazca lines.
We flew over the Nazca lines in a six engine prop plane with another new Dr. Friend. Our Dr. Friend specialized in leach therapy and had flown to Peru with her babies and put them all over her body to get them threw customs, hahahaha! A bit of my life was complete after flying over the lines. The mile stretches of perfectly symmetrical petroglyphs in the middle of the Peruvian desert that can only be seen by a plane and that I had watched mystery shows about on the history channel since I was a chil, life is good. My time in Nazca was also short lived and I hoped on a bus to Lima before heading on my long journey north to Mancora.