New York to Istanbul

I'm sitting in a little cafe with wifi in the airport in Istanbul right now, sippin on my tiny Turkish coffee, munchin on this amazing $15 salad (balls...should've checked the Turkish exchange rate), and listening to "Don't Go Breakin My Heart" and "Stand By Me" (love). I was expecting something a little more...Turkish, but this is amusing.

I should probably start taking cooking classes, but it turned out alright

Olive

I've officially signed the lease on my new apartment. Forgot to take pics, but I'll get some up when I can. The rest of my time in NY was crazy and unreal, as usual. Wandered around Manhattan taking pics of anything and everything that caught my eye (not as many people as I would've liked though, to limit my creeper status), bought some new shoes (Hil, you'd appreciate these 5-inchers), and busted my knee in my clumsiness. One day, I'll be graceful. One day. But don't worry--the bartender at the place we ended up at later that night cleaned it up with 151. Excellent idea. Burned like a sunburned eyeball. Quickly running out of bandaids...I knew I should've brought more. Damn.

Every kind of person is here at this airport--American, French, Turkish, Asian of sorts, backpackers, business men. Kinda wish I could explore Istanbul a bit...but I'd only have three hours or so...and if I missed my flight to Nairobi...well, I guess there are worse things, but it certainly wouldn't be ideal. 

Currently making friends in this little airport joint. Landed myself an invitation to hang out in Turkey. Interesting fella. His parents are from Iran, he was born in Israel, and he now lives in Turkey.

tiny Turkish coffee packs a punch

Well, I'm gettin kinda antsy sitting here, so I think I'll go wander around a bit. Maybe one day I'll come back specifically to see Istanbul. Looks gorgeous.

Up Nextttt

So, I've actually been home for a few weeks, and have had no travels to tell you about...and I've probably seen you in person since I was home for so long, so I'm sure you weren't checking this as often. But now...I'm jetsetting again. A la neyo: jet setter, go getter, nothin better. I'm currently in New York in search of my new home, and I think I've found it: a generously sized hardwood studio...but not just a dinky studio...it's actually big enough to make into a one-bedroom, which I intend to do, obvi. Floors are newly polished, windows let in a ton of light (the view is limited to a parking lot, but it's not Manhattan, so I was kinda stuck), and I get a huge walk-in closet. Excellent. And, it's only 37mins away from Manhattan by train. Super.

Spent my last weekend in the bay exploring the Portola Redwoods--pretty incredible. And the drive's not bad, either...just make sure you don't eat too much beforehand if you plan to sit in the backseat. There are some good 12-milers, but we didn't have time for that since we started around 3pm or so. Still plenty of redwood and sunlight. There aren't any steep uphills, so I wouldn't head here for a workout. The banana slugs (yes, they're real animals) are pretty cool finds, though. Definitely worth a look...especially when Half Dome's still unroped. One day, I'll make it back to the bay to do that. 

So tomorrow, I sign the lease to this place and after a night out in NYC with some old friends (some that I've seen recently, and some I haven't seen in years), I'm headed to Kenyaaaa. So excited. It'll be my first time in Africa, and hopefully not my last. Don't have any fixed plans yet (don't freak out) but playing it by ear has sorta worked for me in the past. First, I'll find my homeboy's taxi dude at midnight in the airport...then I'll spend the day getting myself oriented in Nairobi and outfitted with a working Kenyan phone, etc, while homeboy's at work...then apparently we're going out (during which karaoke will be happening. uh oh) because it's a Kenyan holiday the next day. Beyond that...no idea. Roughly on the books for the three and a half weeks: safari (giraffes, hippos, lions, oh yes!), Mombasa, Diani & Tiwi, Lamu (all beach towns, including the latter which is an island that sounds pretty romantic--my fave kinds), and I was thinking of Malindi, but someone tells me people have been stabbed there. Super. Too bad I'm not traveling with a body guard. So, I'll keep you posted, if I have internet! So pumped. Wish you all could come with me!
xo

On to the next

Back home, cozied up in bed, which has been worth every cent. Waking up to the golf course outside the window, driving through the green hills to get home...there are definitely worse places to be stranded with a flat tire.

The last few days in Guate were rough, trying to wrap things up for the nutrition program, keeping my emotions in check, losing my appetite. Big mess. But I read a lot, talked a lot, drank crazy and mysterious teas. "The Road of Lost Innocence" by Somaly Mam helped me put things in perspective. The true story of this Cambodian woman who was sold multiple times into the sex trade, how she escaped, and how she's helped many others to do the same. Definitely worth the read, however upsetting. Also finished Mandela's autobiography. Another worthwhile, if not chunky, read. Picked out a few lines I particularly liked:

• "It was not lack of ability that limited my people, but lack of opportunity."

• "I always remember the regent's axiom: a leader, he said, is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."
• "...but I have never owned a suit I was prouder to wear than my father's cut-off pants"
• "In love, unlike politics, caution is not usually a virtue."
• "Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs. I again realized that we were not different people with separate languages; we were one people, with different tongues."

Now, it's on to the next book--not sure what that'll be, but I've started "Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives." Maybe I'll pick up a new Dickens too. On to the next...part of my life, post-manfriend and all. And on to the next trip. I'm thinkin Kenya and (fingers crossed) the DRC. I'll keep you posted.

Whoever did this deserves some kind of awful pain.

Witch Doctored

I've now had two experiences with traditional Guatemalan medicine. The first time was a couple years back when I was working in Pueblo Nuevo. One day I was incapacitated by awful cramps. It felt like my insides were twisting themselves into knots. I was supposed to lead a hike that day but I could hardly sit up it hurt so bad...and I'd like to think I have a decently high pain threshold. The woman with whom I was staying used to be a witch doctor, before she became a midwife and married the community pastor. She pulled out this secret pomada of hers--a deep berry red and pasty like Mexican tamarind candy. She had me drink half a cup of tea made from boiled roots and herbs and things I couldn't quite distinguish. Afterward, she rubbed this pomada on my back and stomach while chanting something in Mam--an indigenous Mayan language that other Guatemalans call the "devil's language"--I couldn't understand. Within the hour, I was up on my feet and hiking up to the waterfall. Maybe placebo, maybe not.

My second encounter was here in San Lucas, just yesterday. My man and I broke things off and I was feeling pretty down about it. I don't like to talk to a bajillion people about my issues, but being a guest here with Angel, everyone noticed. Awesome. I didn't say much about it, because there isn't much to say and I didn't really want to talk about it. It was their opinions about my relationship that led me to say things that ultimately ended it in the first place. For something that was supposed to be the right decision, it felt pretty awful and wrong. Every time it was brought up, I'd nod my head and try to focus on something else, willing the tears that welled up in my eyes to find their way back into my tear ducts. To cure what they called my "enfermedad del corazon, or del amor" they had me drink some kinda crazy tea boiled with orange peels and "gotas de maravillosa," the secret ingredient. I didn't believe for a second that this could possibly affect whatever was happening in my head and heart, but coincidentally enough, I felt...I dunno...better. Ha. Mas tranquila, as they described it. Nonetheless, as appreciative as I am of their concern for the health of my corazon, I'm still looking forward to returning to my apartment where I can take full advantage of being by myself and not having to explain the faces I make or the thoughts I have. So far, Guatemalan with doctor medicine, you win 2 for 2, placebo or not. Might be time for another dose.

el camino de lagrimas

Being back in Guatemala had been...good. It's been great seeing the fam again, being so close to the lake, working with the kids, etc. What's less amusing is the hours of data organization, being attacked by mosquitoes, and regulatin. We have a little over 1600 kids in our nutrition program now, and are in the process of adding two new communities. Things are starting to slip through the cracks...thus the regulatin.

Working here can't really be described as efficient, but the promoters are--I hope--doing their best, given the crying babies we leave in our wake. Most are not fans of the hanging scales...something about being suspended in a diaper-looking swing on what could be a meat hook...I don't blame them. Por eso, el camino de lagrimas.

Working in the communities has also reminded me of how much I hate insects and spiders. The words sancudos and aranas make me wince. Flies, for example, are gross. Is it absolutely necessary that they exist in the food web/chain or can they be eradicated? Just buzzin around, all up in your grill. While I was making my rounds, visiting families with kids suffering from third-degree malnutrition (the worst), flies just swarmed EVERYwhere. It was gross. These visits were even more disheartening than the armies of flies, though. These kids were living, for the most part, in awful conditions. A good majority of them had no shoes (typical) and were covered in layers of dirt, their hair discolored from chronic malnutrition, their eyes too big for their thin faces, tiny bodies. Sometimes, you want to reganar las mandres, but oftent he mothers aren't in much better shape. And to make the situation even better, many of the men are too machista to stop having kids. One family had five kids, three suffering from third degree malnutrition, and one more on the way. Another family has nine kids, with a newborn, three severely malnourished. Sad story. It's pretty humbling to see all those families, though. When we came across a kid who was in the normal range for weight AND height, I almost felt like congratulating the mom...for something that should be the rule, not the exception.

But ya know, it's not really my place to say who should do what. To each his own. I've heard some interesting perspectives here, though. For example, one woman was telling me that she believes farmers are smarter than students and professors because they make more money and have nice homes. They get paid three times a year from the three different harvests. "The professors don't have homes like theirs." Very interesting. Sex is another interesting topic. I had a conversation with someone about oral sex and porn. This grown woman was talking about how she couldn't believe that her (now ex-) husband had asked her to give him head and proposed anal, etc. I couldn't help but laugh at the way she talked about it. So, imagine her reaction when she saw a porno for the first time. This was some intense stuff sent to a friend of hers by her kids in the states (interesting mother-child relationship, yeah?). I didn't push her for details, but it involved large animals and pregnant women. She also mentioned her appreciation for the black men in the vid. Cracked me up, imagining this group of indigenous Mayan women holed up in a room watching this porno, blushing from both the vid and the quetzalteca. Hilarious.

picked right off the plant. delish.

trying to grab the bull by its horns. unsuccessful.

up cerro de oro

Chiang Mai Nightlife

300-some steps to the top

 So I ventured out into Chiang Mai after my little tiger adventure, found myself that coffee shop where I tapped out the last post...then made my way up to Wat Suthep, the temple on top of a hill overlooking all of Chiang Mai. The most striking bit about this temple would be the golden chedi, so geometric in design, and the 300-some stairs it takes to get up to the temple. There's an elevator, too, but I've been missing out on way too much cardio so I opted for the stairs...while checking out the inside of the "Buddha Room," I found myself amongst a group just then being blessed by a monk. Splashes of water hit my head and face from the wooden sticks he was using--at the end, he gave me a little bracelet for good luck. Apparently I'm supposed to wear for at least 3, if not 6, days. Neat little memory, so I may just keep it on. Can never have too much luck, right?

pretty cool guitar

Reminded me of Janelle

Met with a guy from Shan Health Committee, an active NGO working along this border here. Stimulating conversation, once again. I really need to go over my notes--they're getting a little out of control. After my meeting, I decided to check out the Saturday Night Market, on Saturday Walking Street (there's a Sunday one, too). Left my Lonely Planet in the hotel, but didn't feel like grabbing it so I decided to wing it. Walked out of my hotel, swung a left, and found myself in the red light district. Tiny bars lined up next to each other with neon signs displaying such classy names as "Juicy," "Cherry Pop," and "Why Not," facing other bars, some with pool tables, disco lights, and scantily clad girls sitting around like "Sassy," "Voom Lounge," and "Pleasure Place," (no--I am not making these up). Pretty funny. (On the way back, these little bars were much rowdier, and I had to mean mug it and speed walk down that stretch because someone said, "Pretty girl like you shouldn't be walking around alone. Do you need boyfriend tonight?" Ew. Gross. Found myself at a Muay Thai Boxing Ring in the middle of this mini city of sin...I couldn't watch for very long because the bloody faces were making me uncomfortable.) Anyway, there are these red pickup trucks all over town...I never really know where they're going or if they even have a route, but people seemed to be getting on and off as they pleased. So, after walking several blocks in the general direction of Saturday Walking Street, I crossed into one of the lanes where I saw a red pickup with open seats and hopped in, just as the driver hit the accelerator. Wasn't really sure if I was going the right way, but I figured, worst case, I'll get off and grab a tuk tuk. After a few minutes, we hit an intersection teeming with motorcycles, tuk tuks, and people. This had to be it...and if not, well it was another market that had lots of crafty things and street vendors--all I needed for dinner and "window" shopping. It was pretty cool, but packed. I managed to try enough things from different vendors to make up a decent dinner, and picked up some amusing souvenirs for the homies back home. Next time, I'll have to remember to pack less--I always end up with too much crap.

Sitting at the Bangkok Airways airport lounge right now-- swanky. The food's not great, but it's for times like these that I have balance bars. The free wifi is appreciated, too. Thailand's been pretty easy in terms of wifi, with plenty of coffee shops and such. I'd love to come back to see more of the country, especially the deep south--the beaches look incredible. Getting on this flight puts me one flight closer to the one eventually landing in SFO. Can't wait.

Gettin Adventurous in Chiang Mai

the peds inpatient ward

vaccine clinic

Chiang Mai is awesome. At first, I was a little intimidated by the big city feel. As soon as I got off the bus (which was thankfully, at the right stop) I had a variety of tuk tuk, motorcycle, and pickup drivers surround me. Still knowing only three words in Thai, and none of them related to transit, I'm surprised I made it to my hotel (which is way less classy and a good deal dingier in person than it was on the website). But it's all good--hot showers and softer beds. Mm, miss me my cushy bed and squishy pillows.

The past couple of days have been relatively productive. I met with a couple people at Thammasat University in Bangkok, which led to several conversations with the international Masters and PhD students, some from Zimbabwe and Burma. They had valuable input regarding the situation in Burma. What's interesting is that the info I got from talking to UNICEF is significantly more optimistic than the info I'm getting from almost everyone working on the Thai border, particularly the NGOs.

made from fish

Basically, everyone living on the borders of Burma (ie ethnic minorities) get most, if not all, of their care from sources other than the government. On the Thai border, that involves crossing into Thailand or getting care from mobile clinics--mobile in the sense that they are built to disassemble within minutes when word of military action comes through. These communities will literally run into the forests to hide to avoid becoming victims of gross human rights violations or killed. The Mae Tao clinic is a pretty big hub for Burmese refugees, migrants, and those just crossing in for the day, as well as your average (very dedicated) NGO lot. I got a chance to tour the facility as well as talk to an American PA working there and some of the patients in the peds/newborn depts. It's been incredibly interesting to hear from these different perspectives, but just as frustrating--the ever-present dilemma of seeing unending need meet limited resources--an every day story at MTC. Saw quite a few kids with malaria. Drug resistance to the last remaining antimalarial medication that had not before seen resistance has been seen on the Thai-Cambodia border, and they're beginning to see some on the Burmese border. This makes the situation particularly urgent because if this resistance were to spread, we'd be SOL all over the world and we'd see a surge in malaria deaths. Within the last few days, the WHO has acknowledged this little predicament and convened what they call GPARC (Global Plan for Artesunate Resistant something or other). HIV drugs also pose a big problem. I won't go into details but basically the most effective and cheapest drugs don't get to these patients efficiently because the Thai government has really high import tariffs on drugs and will only buy from China. USAID money only allows for drugs manufactured in the US, and malaria drugs aren't a big priority for US pharmaceutical companies (I know I switched back to malaria, but it's all infectious disease related.) NGOs can get HIV drugs for, on average $2/pill (vs. $14/pill in Thailand) if they go over to Cambodia, but the import restrictions imposed by the Thai government make that difficult. Up on the northern border, Shan refugees aren't recognized by the Thai government and are pushed back into conflict zones in Burma (acting against human rights agreements, but Thailand technically hasn't signed'em). Without legal status in Thailand, and targeted by the Burmese military government, these communities are SOL for life. Frustrating. And that's just scratching the surface.

In lighter news, I ate real gold while in Mae Sot. Emmie (the Thai Masters student I had with me there) had me try these little yellow sweet things. Yes, that's real gold in the pic. Pretty crazy.

real gold!

Here in Chiang Mai, I've been keeping pretty busy. Talked to a big NGO here, SWAN, for a couple hours, before checking out the city and finally the Night Bazaar. So overwhelming how many vendors there are...and I'm terrible at bargaining because I always feel too bad. ha. The jewelry and crafty things are neat, and the artwork was absolutely amazing. I suppose the subject matter is pretty typical, but the talent is evident.

I wish I had infinite space in my pack...and cash money...cuz the market's a fun place to bargain hunt.

amazing talent

Karen hill tribes

Even better than the market here though, are the tigerssss. I have always wanted to play with tigers and today, I got to get up right next to them. So muscular under all the fuzziness. The big ones liked having their tummy rubbed. The smaller ones (2-4 months) were really playful (except for the sleepyheads). The guy who was driving me around also took me up to see this Karen hill tribe. I almost asked him not to because I had heard about the "Long neck" tourist attraction and it kind of bothers me that people come through like they're zoo animals...then again, I ended up conceding and played the tourist role myself, so I can't start to criticize. It was interesting to see the women with rings around their neck in person, though. They start ringing it up at around age four. Pretty intense stuff.

Other than that, haven't done too much. Tried a couple different restaurants. Mango and sweet sticky rice seems to be a popular dessert and the curries are awesome. Nothing unexpected, of course. Gonna check out more of the city, do some work maybe. Hope you like the pics!

I've .always. wanted to play with tigers

they like belly rubs

a two-month old

fell asleep on my lap

mango and sweet sticky rice