December 6, 2009 at 12:57 pm (Trips)
Tags: france, nature, studying
I’ve now been a full-time student for nearly three months. I’ve sat in on every class, every exam and gone to the usual places for breaks (ie. Monaco, Cannes, Paris, Versailles) and i’ve even enjoyed it at moments. At the same time, the maths remain a puzzle unsolved and the specific workings of pipes and channels remain as elusive as if I was a molecule trapped within them just trying to find a way out. Luckily, my classmates say they also haven’t found the door yet. What about this door I wonder. Will it lead to enlightenment or disillusion? Will it lead to a natural place of beauty or just some ugly man-made infrastructure? How many doors are there before you finally do make your way out and is the fun really in the end or in the means to getting there? Hmm…so many puzzles and the leaders say we all need a strategy and I wonder if I have one. My inept fluency in English seems to be my only leverage and now there’s just 5 more weeks of class before reaching the summit of my French education. Then England will get its peculiar grip on me and they say that is when the challenge begins.
Yesterday was a great day leaving behind the books and the dormitory to frollick in the forest in a quiet hilly place outside Cannes. The six of us walked to several summits with Amine showing me the edible berries and plants along the way and stopped to have our lunch of baguettes and cheese on a covered reservoir. It was a nice sunny day and we finished it with a classical gypsy concert in Nice. I hadn’t had a little weekend retreat like this to relax my mind from the daily grind in a long time. The open spaces and crisp clean forest air that accompanied us on the winding pathway up that included climbing with our bodily strength up boulders, was a welcoming relief to the cramped stale little cell of my dorm room. It reminded me that the wily ways of nature are always waiting for each of us when we tire of our self-constructed order.
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November 1, 2009 at 12:08 pm (Trips)
Tags: france, Paris, travel
On the train on my way back from one week in Paris. I saw all the sights: the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Pere-Lachaise Cemetery and walked down Champs Elysee. Also found a great little thrift shop where most everything is three euros or less and also a cous cous restaurant that served full meals of north African goodness for five euros. I spent two days in Versailles walking around the beautiful gardens where Marie Antoinette and Madame Du Berry once strolled in the bittersweet afternoon. I couchsurfed of course in the houses of three very different french guys along with my new travel partner, my language partner from Algeria.
The lights are off now and everyone is going back to sleep and after my very relaxing week of travelling bliss I return to my life of studies. It is becoming more and more difficult as I delve into math, sciences and the digitized land of the geeks. I still have the memories which are keeping me awake here on this dark silent night train, of sitting and praying beneath the golden silhouette of Jesus’s outstretched arms within the Sacre Coeur Basilica and then going out on the stairs and enjoying some musicians do a Jamaican acoustic rendition of a Michael Jackson song. That view high up on the hill I could never forget. How beautiful and romantic is Paris. Even La Defence where I spent my final two nights – the modern business hub that few tourists ever venture to thrilled me nonetheless wi†h its avantgarde sculptures randomly placed among the towering New York style buildings and the giant cube looming above the metropolitan exit. All of it just completes the mysterious picture that makes this city so alluring.
Finally, sleep is creeping its way in and I can no longer intuitively guess the letters on my keyboard, so here’s the time I must leave you dear reader. The shadowy trees and French countryside slide along outside as this train I’m on keeps churning on non-stop just as the countless dreams prepare to take their place.. au revoir.
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September 5, 2009 at 11:07 pm (Trips)
Tags: dormitory, france, german, nice, nyc
My Park in Williamsburg: From one drug dealer to this
So here I am back in France. Had a whirlwind last 24 hours of saying hi and bye to NYC friends. I got to see some of my old favourite haunts like the sangria places on Park Slope and quality shopping at Beacon’s Closet et al. Then discovered that my little dodgy park on grand avenue off Bedford Ave. had become a mecca for families and couples replete with a new garden walk, benches and newly planted grass to sit and look out at Manhattan just accross the East river. Ah and my spot on a rolling cemented plot along the barbed wire fence was still as intact as ever and I reminisced about watching the fireworks one fourth of July through this concrete cage. Wow! what a really nice relaxing trip walking around the city this time around. Also hit up a sports bar and saw a live international band called Eli-Che who were just as interested in their guests (me) as in their eclectic blend of latin and american music. And sat at a table and chatted between sets and even during. It’s funny how a huge city can become cozy and familiar in a tap of a foot.
After a two day 
repreve in the city I hopped back on the plane, this time on a $330 flight with Air Berlin. Sprechen Sie Deutsch? I didn’t realize that speaking the language of the airline was a pre-requisite. But I learned more German on that six-hour flight to Dusseldorf than I probably ever will. Even though I again and again said that I didn’t understand, the flight attendant continued serving me soley in her mother tongue, I guess that three-quarters on my mom’s side is to blame. Anyway, I didn’t say Auf wiedersehen for the last time until the end of the second flight and I had arrived in Nice, my destination. A Chinese girl came and picked me up along with an Indian boy. When we emerged to the blistering beach sun blaring down on our already tired and sweaty bodies, he stated repeatedly that he could not handle staying in this place. Even in Indian standards, I guess it’s hot here.
So we took a bus to the dorm room which is kind of in town and about a five minute walk from the Mediterranean. Lucky for me, if only I was a beach person. I went shopping and used my achingly bad French and the clerk tried out her even worse English on me. Oh, Europe I missed you! Well, not completely, this country both makes me cringe and thrilled. I guess it will be a matter of trying a little harder to see the positive side of things. At least so far the madame of the dormitory has called me a beautiful little Slovenian. On to my living conditions: The room I live in is really tiny, I think perhaps the smallest I’ve ever had except in Syracuse where I also had the benefits of a common room. Here it is just a long gloomy corridor of rooms with one shared room of urinals and a large room with a sink (the kitchen?). It’s fine, nothing luxurious, but at least it will get me outside more often to explore what this place has to offer…I have four days until school starts.
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June 5, 2009 at 1:04 am (Thoughts, Trips)
Just a quick blog to let everyone know that I made it safe and sound to the United States. Unbelievable trip, I still can hardly believe the places I was when I’m driving around in a jeep, stopping at cafes and restaurants (no drive-thrus yet!) and dressing up to go out to a club how far removed I am from the days of basking on the beach and bathing in passing streams and waterfalls and dumpster-diving at nighttime. Life is truly amazingly beautiful.
Just dropped my stepdad off at the train station, he’s going on a trip to San Francisco and it reminded me of my first days travelling, how nervous and stressful and disorganized I once was. I think it’s about time I wrote a couple travelling tips for those of you going off on their first big adventure:
1. always atleast pack as much as you can the night before, if your flight is in the morning be all packed by dinnertime the day before. Not many of us are morning birds and there’s atleast twice more last-minute details you never thought of.
2. Don’t overpack. You will come back with way more than you need so why leave with a heavy pack? Best to forget a few things and then you have an excuse to check out the local shopping scene. C’mon it can be fun even if you are broke you can always bargain and often end up with a free tea and meal if you’re in the right place.
3. All underwear can last for atleast 2 days by turning them inside out
4. stop washing your hair everyday! It’s uneconomical, inconvenient and not good for your hair. It robs it of it’s natural oils making it work harder to produce grease, so of course your hair will be more greasy. Every 3-4 days is more than enough to start with.
5. Pack some olive oil and some spices; you may just find yourself in a situation where you need to cook or atleast you can use it on a cheap bland sandwich from the supermarket or as mouth and headwash (turmeric), toothpaste (sea salt) and moisturizer (olive oil). Also a spoon is the greatest asset ever.
6. Travel lightly mentally as well as physically. Do yoga, pranayama, meditate, whatever it takes to make sure you are light and fully present for every moment of your voyage. None of these moments ever repeat in the same way so be there for them. If we can pass through this planet as lightly as possible we will also find transcendence to the next realm that much easier.
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November 25, 2008 at 2:01 am (Thoughts, Trips)
Tags: china, meditation, oregon beaches, pu-erh, tea making
I apologize for the delay; I have been busy enjoying life. Even here in America that’s possible. I went on a trip to the coast last week with my parents; we went South to take advantage of the nice weather and it really was beautiful for anywhere. I also had my first experience meditating near the ocean. On the first night we got a condo complete with fireplace and kitchen. The biggest draw was the grand balocony that sprawled in front of the bay with a postcard perfect view of an old bridge and hundreds of sailboats, similar to the dock at La Rochelle except without the castle. I sat out there in the cool of the evening on a yoga mat and immediately I was transported into utter awareness of the peace and calm nature of my mind. The still crisp air kept me anchored in the moment unable to float into the troubling sea of my thoughts. There is definitely something special about peacefully abiding in this place than some other. I suppose with practice it would be this easy even in a samsaric ghetto in Washington DC.
Just three short days hitting all my favourite places on this coast: The hippy shops of Newport Bay, the best clam chowder in Depoe Bay and dodging the viciously rough waves as they tumble the rocky beach of Yachats. I even got to attend a tea workshop and learned about what they predict to be the latest drink craze: Pu-erh tea. They explained all about the province of the Yunnan where all the tea plantations are that make this extra intense yet medicinally potent green brew. It comes from the very south of China right near the juncture of Laos and Myanmar, so close to where I was situated just over a month and so many miles ago.
Now I’m wondering if I should venture back and go to China. So many fascinating things emanate from that place. But, at the same time maybe I should just stop planning and reside peacefully where ever I happen to be. I’m kind of confused right now and finding it difficult to be in the moment when the future is so uncertain. Also, every movement I make seems to have such monumental consequences. Could my soulmate be waiting for me in this or that country or am I going to become someone great if I stayed here or would I miss out on further developing myself if I didn’t go over there? So many questions and uncertainties puzzle me and I suppose this is all part of the journey.
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September 12, 2008 at 6:49 pm (Thoughts, Trips)
Tags: chiang rai, herbal medicine, massage, meditation
Why is it that women were considered witches if they knew anything about plants? Well, all I can wonder at is how amazing are the twists and turns of this travelling life. Everyday completely dashes any hopes of plans and makes me realize how useless thinking about the future and past really is.
I now find myself staying on a college/organic farm outside Chiang Rai, a few hours north of Chiang Mai at the pinnacle of Thailand and the junction between Laos and Myanmar. Somehow I think I stumbled upon a herbal medicine/massage guru who miraculously is eager to dispel all of the eastern wisdom to little old me. I have surrendered myself to his teachings and am giving thai massages every day and we take long walks and he picks plants and meticulously explains all of their medicinal properties and shows me how to make poultices and herbal balls out of them. It’s a dream come true. I’m also practicing more and more mindfulness and finding it much easier in the quiet crucket-fueled hum of the country, walking bare-footed in the dewy grass ablaze soley by the peaceful glow of the moon.
I feel truly blessed to be having this experience.
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July 16, 2008 at 8:10 am (Trips)
Tags: asia, laos, travel, vang vieng, vientiane
Laos is an amazing country. I have to say I agree with the travellers who say they prefer it to Thailand. It had so many rivers, which I discovered is one of my hidden joys, as I floated down the river in a homemade bamboo raft, with the help of my boyfriend; It has great food, less spicy and more sweet and salty flavoured curries; and it is communist! No, that’s not really a reason, but somehow there is more of a renegade atmosphere there, a little less conformist and more traditional. And certainly less westernized. I came to the East to escape the West so I don’t want the burger kings and the 7-elevens and minivans stalking me!
Anyway, I went to Vang Vieng (the inner-tubing capital) and Vientiane (the capital). I also can’t forget to mention that the food and drinks were superb. We found this little local spot that served free Lao Lao shots (hand made rice whisky) along with escargot, banana chips and sausages and sticky rice. It was the best welcome ever after an all-night bus trip. Beer Laos is also up there just beneath Belgian brew.
Into the Song River
Vang Vieng took my breath away with its limestone cliffs and its clean accessible river. I decided I want to buy a little peice of property right there on the banks. But, alas I realized I’d never be fully accepted as a southeast asian so I’m going to have to find a place identical to it in Spain. Here’s a pic of some bloke jumping off one of the bazillion bamboo ledges outside the makeshift bars of Laos. Pure Paradise. Note: I turned a blind eye to the expanding flocks of package tourists and endulged in the wonders of nature.
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