2 Mice Travel Adventures

"Thank you for visiting my country"

2011-01-24T11:19:00.001-08:00

I think that when most people come here, most white people that is, they stay in their cars and fear the people. They are afraid of people begging or stealing or afraid of the filth and the chaos.
We visited the church on Sunday morning. Everyone was beautifully dressed and clean and pressed, even though some of them came across the street from the tent city. The church was packed because it was first communion for the kids so we couldn't find a seat.
So we went across the street to another fancy hotel and I had pumpkin soup for breakfast. Much better than the pumpkin soup I tried to make. The hotel was another gorgeous building and had a pristine landscape. Again, with a tent city right outside its windows. Every inch of public landscape that was free is being used now for tents. There are no public spaces left for gathering, playing soccer, no parks or statues or fields. In the tent city we visited, people were using a public sculpture representing the Haitian freedom from slavery to do their laundry and tie up their tents.
We visited the Caribe hotel- where we were supposed to stay- and it would be a fancy hotel by US standards. It was super nice, pool, tennis courts, spa. We sat in the shade and talked for hours.
In the afternoon, Antonio, Cheryl, Ray and I went for a walk. People stared. They aren't used to people walking their streets and sharing their space with them. We were never in danger, the only thing uncomfortable about the walk was maybe the smell and the heat. My favorite part of the experience was the joy on the kids faces when we would wave at them. We acknowledged them- that's all. We talked to a few different people (Ray speaks Creole) and one group of guys asked us if we felt safe walking and if we were comfortable and they were happy that we were. One man actually said to us in english, "Thank you for visiting my country" We walked into a soccer stadium- inside the teams were warming up for a game and right outside there was another tent city. We went into a cemetery and a hospital. We saw a pile of rubble with a teddy bear and a little shoe. But everywhere we went if we said Bon Swa (I'm sure that's not how it's spelled but it means Good afternoon) they'd respond happily and in a friendly manner. I think that hour and a half walk has been the most impactful time on this trip for me, to see how the people know they are perceived in a negative way and to try to break down those barriers.

The view from the back of a pick-up

2011-01-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

So day one in Haiti, we visited the Haiti Y, which is a nice new clean building with a computer lab that I'm using now, and meeting and office space. The kids mainly play outside at the front of the building and do their homework. To get from place to place with 11 or so people we often have to not only cram into a car, we also have to cram into the back of a pick up truck. So I have had the opportunity to do something I would never do at home!
Buildings are in ruin here. Tent cities everywhere. Rubble and trash everywhere. Pigs eat garbage in the street. The Y is a safe clean place for these kids.
For dinner we walked to the Olifson- an old mansion converted to a hotel and restaurant with open porches and decoration. I tried some Conch. Everything is good. And again, there is such a discrepancy between those who have money and those who don't. We walked to the hotel through streets covered in sewage and trash, walk up the stairs and we're in a different world. It's not like there's a bad part of town and the hotel is in the fancy part, they're right there together. It's hard to understand why it is that we can eat a fancy dinner where we throw food away, when the people outside probably only eat two meals a day that they cook over a little stove or fire on the street. It's not like we deserve it more, we were just born in a more privileged position.
People here aren't as accepting of us taking photos- who can blame them? Where they're living isn't always a pretty scene and it is again treating them somewhat like a zoo. Although, despite the unsanitary conditions they live in, most of the people are clean and neat. The little girls have their hair in braids and bows and are just beautiful.
Day Two, we heard from a professor about the history of Haiti, including some politics. Then we went to visit the tent city across from the Presidential Palace. It is an amazing image- imagine the White House caved in, collapsed and destroyed, still that way a year after the destruction. And then imagine the yard in front of the White House covered in a city of tents, one after the other, each leading to the next, a maze. No sanitation. 6 people living in one tent, but where else do they go? Their buildings and businesses are still in ruin. They don't have the machinery to remove it. And if you were to stay and work on removing the rubble from the site of your home- first of all where do you put it and second of all, if you're doing that all day how would you ever earn money for food? So homes are abandoned for tents and selling things on the street seems to be the way to earn an income. And the hillsides here are just homes built up up up one after the other so that if any catastrophe comes they all come tumbling down.
The kids jump rope in front of the Y with a simple piece of rope, like something we'd use to haul something. But they dance and laugh and enjoy life. The Y has an area at the back that was donated to them because it was a tennis court that was damaged in the earthquake. So we painted it all together. Us foreigners and then the kids quickly took over, all pitching in to paint different parts.
We went for dinner that evening at the Plantation, a french restaurant. I tried a snail. Super fancy. The Haitian staff joined us, they are inspiring in the passion they put into their work here. Some of them only volunteers. We spent four hours at dinner, just enjoying conversation and one anothers company.

Starting over

2011-01-24T06:10:00.000-08:00

So, one big thing I was afraid of in Haiti was the airport- before I came. I was told that that would be the scariest part of going to Haiti and it was nothing- no one bothered us, it was orderly, no chaos. And since that was so easy, I should have known everything would be fine there on out.
The Y of Haiti, we're going to learn more about it this morning, but because of all the support they've received they've been able to build a completely new building after their Y was destroyed in the earthquake. They are very proud that nothing was looted from their old site, the people of the community respected them too much to steal anything. They've built the first building of its kind in Haiti- earthquake and hurricane proof. The furniture can all be collapsed quickly to make this an emergency center. It is also environmentally friendly. They wanted it to be a model in the community that they have to rebuild the right way. It was $100,000 to build and 15% of it went to pay customs including bribes to get the materials into the country. They could have rebuilt somewhere else- it would have been easier but they didn't want to let down this community. We interviewed the director, Gwenael and one of the staff Guerline and I can't wait to share it with you. It was so impactful and I think it brought tears to everyone's eyes. But right now, I'm headed out to learn some more :)

Tricky Tricky

2011-01-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

So Day 3 in the DR we had an amazing leadership seminar from Ray Smith who will be visiting me at some point in the future and I hope will always continue to teach and challenge me.
We went to a very nice oceanside restaurant and experienced our first taxi ride. Having said nothing about the DR and Haiti traffic I feel the need to comment a little here. There is no order. No rules, no lines, no traffic signs that are obeyed. You turn when you want to turn and traffic has to stop for you. I would never survive in an aggressive driving environment like that. City Mouse might. . . hmmm.
Then we had an afternoon at the beach. Andres wanted to send us off happy and we did have a really nice relaxing afternoon. He sent a bodyguard and his son with us . . . Some went shopping but I had a foot massage and got braids put in my hair. I would never have done this on my own but was forced and by golly, 3 days later I still have my little bead braids. Ray loves Haiti and the woman on the beach in the DR was Haitian so he bought a couple of us the braids and the massage and through his example I see the importance of investing in these people- not giving them money when they beg but supporting them in their work. Because no matter how little money I think I make, it will always be so much more than they can imagine.
I also stood in the ocean for awhile and it was super nice, even though the beach was just down from an oil refinery. So here's my lesson for the day.
We had several little boys with shoe shining equipment leave their tools under our table, the asked us to watch them for them. They did some gymnastics on the beach and played around and we took photos and they looked at them and they were so sweet. So after an hour or two they came back. And I can't understand the language but they are talking amongst themselves- it seems almost like an argument. They begin counting their money and still talking. I'm not paying too much attention but then they start using my sandal to dig in the sand so we try asking them what they've lost. And they are missing 25 pesos which is a small amount but they are digging frantically in the sand for it. So we give them some money to make up for their lost amount. They sincerely say thank you and go on their way. Later it comes up and many in our group comment about how they have a nice little scheme going on and Cheryl and I say what? Noooo. They were sincere, we believe them etc. And so we ask the bodyguard who only speaks spanish and he said no, they tricked us! And that about made me cry. I can handle the sights I've seen here. The poverty and the filth. But when it comes to deception, I can't handle that.
Ray says that if you give a Haitian women 1000 pesos to go buy you sandals, which he did, she will go do it and bring you back the change. Because you have honored her by trusting her. They are different cultures so I'm not sure the same applies for the Dominicans but I have felt less threatened about someone taking my stuff in Haiti than in the Dominican.
We went to a nice farewell barbecue at the beach with music and dancing. We all joined in and I'm sure the Dominicans were like, these crazy white people!
That night before we left for Haiti we were all so fearful. Ray told us not to open our eyes in the shower! And then there's Baby Doc (Duvalier) and all the "scary" things in Haiti. I just think back to all that fear and shake my head.

Dominican Republic with the Y Day 2

2011-01-23T18:11:00.000-08:00

See how I need City Mouse to create the titles? No originality! My friend Vicki titled this day "Frogger" You know, the old Atari game?
Today we went to two more DR Ys. The 2nd was in a very poor neighborhood. The Y came there in the 70s after a hurricane to help rebuild houses and saw that there was not one school in the neighborhood so they started a school. They have a ton of space to build on and an old broken down basketball court- outdoors and no money to expand. The people here cannot pay for the school, it's only $100 a year and they get physical checkups and two meals a day plus an education. We went across the street to visit the village- dirt floors, leaky roofs, cook over fires, bare feet in a nasty field, a skinny pig tied up in the yard, naked children but. . . families grouped together, older kids helping to care for the young, respect for adults, playing baseball with the simplest tools in the only space they have.
It's hard to be in these countries and to keep from feeling like it's a zoo. I don't want to walk around and stare at them and take photos and do nothing to help them.
On the way back, one of our cars broke down and they had to push it off of the road (thus the frogger). We had pizza that night and ice cream bars and french fries. Everything here is very relaxed and it makes me a little disgusted with the American culture- no offense. In the US we value every minute instead of every person. We rush around accomplishing tasks- and we all know I am one of the worst offenders. But here, you spend 4 hours at dinner discussing things that matter. You take the time to enjoy every minute. We've talked about how ours is an individualistic culture and here it's collectivist. In the US we look out for #1 and here it's your family and your community that you value.
We went to another beach for beer and coconuts. I drank coconut milk and ate some coconut and coming from a coconut hater- real coconut is nothing like the artifical stuff.
When we came back to the hotel room there was a pair of pink underwear that didn't belong to me on the table beside my bed! We had a number of speculations about how that underwear got there but I have decided to believe that they cleaned under the bed and found it and hopefully it was clean. But I assure you I sanitized the area after I removed it. I suppose I should have titled this blog- pink panties and more people would read it :)

The Dominican Republic Day One with the Y

2011-01-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

So now that I've been in Haii a few days, my time in the Dominican Republic seems like it was a year ago. I have some great travel companions, from Florida, Tennessee, Minnesota, New Mexico, Chicago, Des Moines. The first night, we were all nervous about venturing out on our own and how to manage the water and what can we eat, and what do we do when people ask us for money. . . and of course there's the whole getting to know you thing but we're all family now. In fact, we are discussing now how our leader, Antonio, is the youngest of us. There are three younger than me.
So the DR YMCA is led by Andres. A jolly man who draws small children like a magnet and leads the Y with a passion and desire to serve and better his country. He has gone to every effort to make sure we are taken care of and comfortable. His leadership is led with passion and vision but not so much organization. The big problem in the Dominican is that there isn't enough public education, so the Y is in place to meet the community need through schooling. But most of the families can't afford the $5 per month for the half day of school on weekdays so the schools loose money. So he's trying to develop ways to earn an income by building a new facility in a middle class neighborhood that will provide a fitness area and aerobics.
So, we went to the main Y, it has a classroom, a computer lab with computers that were probably used in the US 20 years ago. A Technical school to teach adults skills needed to work in restaurant services, beauty salon, fixing computers, electrical. Then we went to talk to the president of the DR Lawyers Association, and he talked to us about the history of the DR and Haiti. And there is just so much there that I am totally unaware of. We've heard so many different perspectives here from some really really smart people. The DR and Haiti don't really get along. Yet Andres was one of the first to support the Haiti Y after the earthquake. Haiti was the 1st independent nation from a slave revolt and they never want to be enslaved again- this affects their relationship with us and with every foreign country. We went through the whole history about the dictators in the past that behaved like Hitler with killing off of certain ethnicities and people who opposed them. Currently, the biggest challenges facing the island (a bird with two wings) involve migration, as the Haitians migrate to the DR, they aren't citizens so they take the benefits of the country but don't pay taxes because they don't have citizenship, even if they are born here. This drains the DR. There is no leadership here because the leaders were all killed off during the dictatorship so there is a void of leadership. I think it is definitely something we should all become more aware of. . . I mean I had no idea that there was a genocide going on here just a few decades ago. And this affects all of us, as we learned yesterday, you can't choose your neighbors, we have to work together like it or not. Of course, this is the girl who doesn't watch TV or follow the news.
We traveled to another neighborhood within Santo Domingo to visit a Y facility that has several classrooms, a computer lab with absolutely no working computers, a playground on the roof, a health clinic area, and a preschool. The children sang and prayed and ate lunch with us. They are all taught core values. We communicate through gestures and we take their photos and show them to them on our digital screens and they love it! They are all clean and dressed in uniforms but Ray told us that they're putting their best foot forward for us. The preschool is for single mothers- mothers from Haiti, husbands in jail, domestic violence while they work as street vendors.
We visited the new Y site. He wants it done in 3 months, they work by hand. He has amazing vision for this place. It was a huge beach house with a view of the ocean and they are building onto it a gym, aerobics, a medical clinic (that's the other thing, they provide medical check ups for their students) 8 classrooms, computer lab, kitchen. . so many dreams and not a lot of cash. It would be like us starting building a building without the money to finish. They don't want to borrow money because they come from a history of bankruptcy. After seeing the Haitian men that work in the sun laboring over the construction site for under $3 an hour, we went to the navy social club and sat by the beach and drank beer. That is one of the main things I am going to take away from this trip- the amazing discrepancy between those who have money and those who don't. And the beer in the Dominican Republic, by the way, is el Presidente. And I like it. We also had wine. I totally thought I wouldn't drink alcohol my entire time here - because of expense and the malaria pills-and I've had a drink every day. Mainly because of my generous family members here. I've also learned that females should not pour their own wine. Huh.
We went to a traditional Dominican Republic food buffet. I danced with a Dominican Republican man. He kept having to put his hands on my hips and say side-to-side No! Meringue. We have been eating very well in both countries. I'm probably gaining weight. I remember clear back on that night, sitting by the pool discussing Baby Doc (Duvalier) and our fears about going to Haiti. Ha! There is no need to fear Haiti.

More about Kim

2011-01-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

By the way, I'm in Haiti now. Arrival and airport transport all went well and we're at the Haiti YMCA in the cybercafe.
So back the DR. Kim ate six pieces of pizza and ice cream! We had a great time asking one another questions. The zoo and aquarium were both closed so we just ate and drove around. She didn't get disappointed or anything, they were all so sweet- It was her, her mom, her two sisters, a translator, a driver and the woman from Children International who works with Kim's family. It was a great day. Kim takes 12 courses at school and it's only an afternoon school. All three girls have great dreams for the future- to be a dentist, accountant and Kim wants to be a pediatrician. They sang and danced for me and tried to teach me a little. She asked three times if I would come back someday. . . and I think maybe I will.
My spanish is a struggle. I speak a few words and revert back to english!
I have to go to lunch now. I hope to tell you about the DR Y later.

So much to say. . .

2011-01-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can't belive it's only been 3 days since I left. So everything is fine, there may be difficulties that I didn't anticipate in the cleanliness area and choosing what to eat but I'm having a good time.
To start with at the airport as soon as I got in line, a man started talking to me about universal religion- because I had a Y shirt on. Not only did he want to talk in line, he wanted me to meet him at the gate and continue our conversation! But he ended up being a nice guy, I thought he was misguided, he thinks I am but we agreed to disagree. . . or I stopped talking and maybe he thought he'd given me something to think about. He also did me the favor of finding Antonio- my Y leader. So, the dynamic of a flight in the middle of winter to Miami- want to take a guess of the median age?
So arrival in the Dominican Republic was very welcoming, Andres is the director of the DR YMCA and also the leader of the Carribean Alliance of YMCA's. We met up with him and his son, and Ray, a gentleman from Kentucky who used to live in Hait and is our Haiti expert. They took me out to a beautiful restaurant on the beach with multi levels and colors and I tried Mofundo, or something like that, plantains mixed with some meat and tropical fruit juice. It was good. Probably the most cultural food I have had so far. It was a great introduction to the country. I was warned not to expect that every night.
The hotel. So that first night, I had a room alone. And I know I thought to myself, I haven't done this for awhile. . . and it's almost panic when you realize how far you are out of your comfort zone. And I'm still only in the DR. When we came to my hotel room, the refridge had been left open and leaked all over the floor. . . and some of you know the problem I have with wet floors. Someone was supposed to clean it up while we were gone and didn't. Then, the shower didn't work. I got all ready for my nice hot shower after a day of travel and then a trickle of cold came out. It was about 12:15 a.m. and I had to get up at 6:30 a.m. Uh oh. So you deal with it. I imagine it's going to get a lot worse. Sleeping in bug repellent. Man.
And I'm thinking, how did I get here?
And I think back to a night where I was sitting in the pool office catching up on my reading because there weren't enough lifeguards and I read a Y Discovery Magazine about these ILI experiences and I thought, I'd like to do that someday. . . and then at a training this fall I heard about this opportunity again and I made it one of my short term goals. . . and I've wanted to come to the Dominican Republic for a few years because I have a sponsored child through Children International that I wanted to meet. Kimberlyn. And then I just happen to notice on our national Y website this ILI opportunity in the Dominican Republic (and Haiti) and I thought. . . well maybe I'll apply for that, just a few days before it was due. And I got in. So there you go, I'm here.
So after a breakfast of scrambled eggs and what I found out today is SPAM I headed out to meet Kimberlyn. . . which was amazing. Honestly. Not only is she real, she's really sweet and mature, and tall and gets along with her sisters and is considerate. But I should probably get off this computer now, so I'll have to tell you about Kim and the amazing work of the DR YMCA later. I've been drinking beer.

Country Mouse is off to new lands!

2011-01-10T15:24:00.001-08:00

One week and counting

The Mice Coast to Coast: By The Numbers

2010-09-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

2626 miles traveled
200 cough drops eaten by City Mouse
47 rocks collected by City Mouse
30 degrees difference in temperature in 1 day(91 to 61)
15.5 rolls of film taken by Country Mouse
15 coffees/lattes
12 days of vacation
10 states
10 meals with eggs
10 bottles of wine purchased
8 bodies of water
8 friends we saw
7 places geeps directed us to that did not exist
7 things we ate that had blueberries
7 postcards sent
6 modes of transportation: walking,driving,the train,sailboat,ferry boat,tour boat
6 tanks of gas
6 wine tastings
5 Farmers Markets
5 delicious meals cooked over a campfire
5 state parks visited
4 nights camping
4 nights with friends
4 islands visited
3 successfully built fires by City Mouse
3 times we ate ice cream
2 hotels
2 national parks visited
2 times we heard Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson
1 Bed and Breakfast
1 the number of times we had to use nature as a bathroom (we won't tell you which mouse...)
0 the number of speeding tickets acquired by City Mouse

All in all, a VERY successful trip.

We thank you for following along!
City and Country

The Mice get their rainbow...

2010-09-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

After a nice breakfast in Sketch-nectady, we moved on and made the mistake of trusting Geeps again and following her direction to a Meadery and Honey Farm that did not exist in the middle of nowhere far north of our original course. But we made the most of it and found another winery and Chimney Bluffs State Park where we dipped our toes in Lake Ontario and City Mouse collected rocks and driftwood for awesome art projects she will make in the future. We then headed further west to Niagara Falls with our first bout of weather that was less than desirable. It cleared up though as we walked toward the falls. I have always been under the impression that Niagara Falls was a big touristy gimmicky place but it is really a pretty and well serviced State Park. We went first on the Maiden of the Mist, a boat that takes you pretty close to the falls and you get soaking wet, they do however provide you with a nice blue poncho. As we were going by, the sun came out for some great rainbows and the falls were pretty amazing. Then you walk across the rapids on a pedestrian bridge and over to another area where you can do a Cave of the Winds tour. This tour provides you with a pair of awesome sandals and another poncho and you walk up a bunch of wooden stairs and on a boardwalk growing algae right next to the falls and you get drenched. It was pretty awesome. The water was really clean. We had possibly our last vacation dinner at the Top of the Falls restaurant complete with a chocolate decadence cake. And then we watched the colored lights on the falls change colors and the evening was completed with a firework show over the falls. The whole Niagara Falls experience was spectacular and highly recommended.

Country Mouse

I don't know, City Mouse makes up the titles and she is busy. . . she'll fill it in. . . maybe we'll call it Hillbilly Fun Park?

2010-09-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

(Country Mouse, again City Mouse is busy) So on Wednesday we explored Camden, Maine. Quite the cute little tourist spot, complete with lots of little knick knack shops and a harbor full of beautiful boats. We had breakfast and coffee at Zoot and then walked about stopping randomly and always being very thankful when the store we were searching had air conditioning. We went out to the Cellardoor Winery and sampled a few wines which were pretty good (I’m up to seven in my road trip collection) they even had a wine that mixed blueberry and maple syrup into the wine. On the way back into town we spontaneously decided to take a swim at the lake, because really, how often can you take a swim in a random lake in Maine among the mountains? There were fish visible beneath us, the water was clear and it was quite refreshing. Then we headed back into town to continue our shopping after eating Lobster Rolls and Lobster Bisque while overlooking the harbor. And I’ve also discovered how great blueberry soda is. . . We tried to buy some to bring home today but apparently they only make it on the coast. We went to the Camden Farmers Market and headed down to Rockport, home of the Maine Photographic Workshops. I walked around the harbor and went up this little path I know to a bench that overlooks all the boats. It’s lovely. Great little town really. If you want to visit Maine and see the boats but don’t need all the hustle bustle of touristy shops, I would hang out in Rockport. Our last night at the campsite with some pasta, tomatoes and pesto and potatoes and zucchini. And finally we had the thing that defines camping- smores. The marshmallows were in one large clump from being in the car, but hey, they taste the same.
Thursday morning we took one last look around Camden and headed west. . . Through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to New York. Vermont was gorgeous, winding roads, mountains, a river and sunshine. We stopped at one point and ate a watermelon in a parking lot outside of what I think was a senior center. A not-nice-lady observed us and seemed a little put out by us using that parking lot and we’re pretty sure she called the police so we moved on. Safe and sound now in a motel in a place I can hardly pronounce. . . Schenectady, NY. Niagara Falls tomorrow.

Mad Mice

2010-09-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

The mice are going to stop writing if we don;t get some comments! is anyone reading this?
City

Adventures of Sailor Mice and the Carins

2010-09-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

Country Mouse again, City Mouse is too busy talking to ETBFM on the phone. We are being camping mice again, sitting at the campfire after finishing smores in Camden Hill State Park, Maine. A call out to my sissy who probably isn’t reading this (until mom tells her she should), this is the same park as your favorite hike! The hike to Mt. Battie.
The mice didn’t get to make that hike today since it’s somewhere above 90 degrees and humid. But wait, wait, I’m not talking about today, I must start back on Monday night since City Mouse never filled you in. So we’ve only been on this vacation for a week. I worked last Tuesday. That seems like a different lifetime ago. Maybe that is what vacation is? It makes you forget board meetings and deadlines and WORK (but I do love my job). Every day has been a new adventure.
So Monday night we stayed at this splendid Bed and Breakfast the Seaside Inn. We had a very early breakfast and hopped on the 7:00a.m. ferry to Monhegan Island. It was a little over an hour and gorgeous and sunny the whole way. Small boat. There was apparently a wedding on Monhegan Island on Tuesday and everything was shutting down so the island folk could go to it. We hiked along the sea to a shipwreck and absolutely beautiful cliffs and waves and cairns. We explored the seaside and all the little caverns rocks can make. I’ll let City Mouse tell you more about that if she wants to. She knows what I mean. We made a cairn and sat on the rocks and read and then hiked back in to the village. There was quite a bit of rock climbing and maneuvering. This mouse thought it was super fun. Then we had lunch and I had a lobster. It’s been awhile since I’ve had one and I remembered all the nasty water that comes out of a whole lobster but I’d forgotten about the green brown nasty stuff. But with a little butter, it was super good. We browsed and shopped and the sun was very intense, there was no relief from it. We watched all the wedding guests headed to their wedding. A man in a tie, a button down shirt and shorts, a lady with ripped up jean shorts with patches and a shirt that said What Wedding? Which was funny because there were signs everywhere and everyone was talking about it all day, lots of sundresses and some suits in the 90 degree heat. City Mouse wanted to crash the wedding but I restrained her. Then we sat for awhile by the beach. I fell asleep on these great big rocks by the water. Then the ferry return home. It was a beautiful day on Monhegan. What I am shocked by as I am revisiting places I was at 4 years ago is how little they change. I took a photo then of a pitcher in the window of a red house. . . And I took the same photo yesterday because it looked exactly the same!
We drove up to Camden then and spent another night in the tent but this one wasn’t quite so comfortable. . . It’s a little warm out. So warm in fact that they had to cancel school for the first time due to heat. None of the schools have air conditioning because they’ve never needed it. I guess this heat wave is very rare. And we definitely noticed it in the sauna of our tent. City Mouse gave up after four hours of marinating and slept in the Prius instead.

City Mouse additions coming soon. Stay tuned…..

Little Mice, Big City.

2010-08-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Country Mouse here to tell you about our lovely second day in Boston. We arrived in the city after once again successfully navigating the train system around 9:00 a.m. We observed a lady on the train with super high heels with glitters and a nice top with sweat pants on in between. Who knows? Living in the city must be entertaining. Unfortunately today our friend Emily had to work so the two mice were off to conquer the city on their own. First stop was breakfast and I had the best tomato basil tort and I’m not sure what it’s made of but it was the best thing I’ve had so far. So good. Then we ventured toward the Boston Common. . . Now I think we all know what the “Country” mouse favors in the way of an environment. But Boston is a contradictory place, there are nice country areas within the larger city. The Boston Common (5-sided) contains a frog pond, a swan pond, a public garden area, lots of sunbathers, and lots of green grass. Would any of you wear an itty bitty little bikini and lay out near the Swan Pond in Winona Lake? No! But this is what the people of Boston do. . . Wear as little as possible and lay out in the green areas of the city. To their credit, I heard someone saying that it has been the hottest day all summer. And it was very warm, especially for the mice in their matching black tops. But on with our journey. We waded across the Frog Pond, which does not contain frogs at all but is a lovely shallow pool for families to come and enjoy. It may be my favorite spot in Boston- or close to it. We observed the Swan Boats in the Swan Pond. Some poor soul paddles these huge boats around like a bicycle and people just sit on them and move very slowly. We passed on that adventure. We walked down Newbury Street. And then we went to the Esplanade. For the life of me I cannot keep in my head how to pronounce that word- but it is an area around the river that is very green and peaceful and full of runners. And. . . The tannest man alive. I may let City Mouse tell you more about him. We took a nice little nap there by the river because we had been walking FOREVER in the heat and we were tired little mice. We also went by the Hatch Shell which is an outdoor area where they have concerts and movies. I am going to have to go back sometime when I can witness this- the idea of sitting outside on a blanket and drinking wine while watching a movie really sounds fun to me. But then comes the best part of the day. . . We met up with my friend Ashley and he took us sailing. SAILING! We had a delightful time. And then we ate at a nice little restaurant where the menu is made up by the best chefs in Boston. And then he took us to his place and we sat out on a deck to drink some wine and listen to music. It was great. This house is a skinny six stories tall and it has an elevator. Cool place. I could not have imagined a better evening. It was just about the perfect day. . . And yes country mouse is saying the perfect day was in the city. We went home around 11:30 p.m. so we were in the city walking for 14 plus hours . . . We were sweaty messes when we arrived back at Emily’s.
Unfortunately we had to depart this morning but we were on to a new adventure, driving up the coast to Port Clyde Maine. . . Via Gloucester, MA.
We stopped in Gloucester because I was there nine years ago with my family and it’s quite a pretty little place. When I was there then my dad and I got up one morning so that I could shoot photos of the sunrise between these two lighthouses. So today we set off on an adventure to find the same place again. And we did- when I was there before it was sunrise and abandoned. This time there were hundreds of people with bright umbrellas but it was cool to find again. It made me really appreciate that memory where my dad took me to take pictures. Thanks dad.
There’s also an artist colony there so we checked out some art and traveled up the coast some more.
I will tell you that I am eating entirely too many eggs on this vacation. I had then last night for dinner, today at breakfast and this evening in a quiche. Enough is enough.
We are staying in this awesome Bed and Breakfast (my favorite) and there’s a barn restaurant next door, too cute.
I was in this area nine years ago with the fam and again 4 years ago . . . I came up here for almost 2 weeks on my own to take two classes at the Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport (near Camden). It was a big time for me. I am struggling now with whether or not we should go to all these places that I have in my memory or try to see new places. So far I’m going for the memory and tomorrow we’re going to Monhegan Island, a place I loved before.
I’m going to hand it over to the City Mouse now. . .

City Mouse is tired. She will write later….

The Scenic Route

2010-08-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

City Mouse: Yesterday morning we left our Yale friends and headed up the coast toward Cape Cod. We opted to take the more scenic Rt 1 vs taking the interstate. This took us through cool little seaside towns, such as Mystic, CT. We made an attempt to stop at our winery for the day, but quickly opted out (costs...tastes...strange pushy wine lady...). We made the decision on the way up the coast to stay in Cape Cod for th night before heading to Boston so we could explore the national seashore a bit. with the help of ETBFM we secure a camp site at Shawme-Crowell State Park, in Sandwich, MA (the oldest town in the cape). We hit a local farm market to grab goods to make dinner (which country mouse came up with the recipe on the fly, in the car), then headed out to see the cape. Everyone warned us about all the traffic from the vacationers for the weekend, but I didn't find it that bad. We drove all the way to Provincetown at the tip of the cape and back to Sandwich. with some little adventures inbetween.
we got back to the campsite (after dark again, but this time we had already set up the tent during daylight), and made our dinner. the fire didnt go so very well this time. I think the wood was a tad wet. it wouldnt burn. but we made it work. and it was delicious.

in the morning we enjoyed a cute and yummy breakfast (involving whipped cream made with sugar) at a little tea house in Sandwich and headed up to Boston. An easy drive, a little over an hour. Since I just wrote about our time in the country, I will have Country Mouse tell you about our time in the city today....

I would like to say that one of my favorite adventures on the way to the end of Cape Cod, was chasing the sun. I really wanted to see the sunset so we chased it down a road called Pleasant Point. . . we mostly missed it but it was a pretty anyway. We also found a dumpy cottage on a dead end road that was $749,000. Unbelievable.

We arrived safely in Boston at my friend Emily's who just moved here a little over two weeks ago. She is very nicely hosting us for the next two days. When you enter the city you go under it for a long time. It was pretty cool.

We navigated the T Train taking the Orange Line from Malden to State Street. I would be a fish out of water without my two pals to guide me around. We ate some Italian sausage from a street vendor because it smelled so darn good. We wandered the streets a bit and saw street singers, and people who act like statues and awesome architecture everywhere. We took the National Park Service's Freedom Trail tour with a very entertaining elderly chap who really liked Paul Revre and wore a ranger hat. He "had no vocal cords" so we all had to gather in close to hear his tales. I learned some history and saw a lot of interesting things around Boston. There were pastry stores that must have something special because the lines for them would extend half a block out of the store. There's a huge farmers market with a box of tomatoes for $5 and 8 peaches for $1. There's quite an interesting mixture of old and new, huge skyscrappers built from glass and then there in front is a much smaller brick building that looks like it's painted in, it looks so out of place.

We went through the Holocaust Memorial that's here in Boston. It's here because of all the history symbolizing freedom here, having to do with the Revolutionary War. It was pretty powerful. There were glass pillars inscripted with all the numbers of those who died in the concentration camps. As you walk through, steam would rise underneath you- like the gas in the gas chambers. There were quotes all along the way from survivors about things they saw. It makes you very thoughtful and quiet and I really about cried there in the middle of sunny Boston. And then on the other side of the street were all these people laughing and talking and eating at Irish pubs.

There is one section of Boston with 138 Italian restaurants. We went for seafood instead and City Mouse got her crab cakes (the one thing Nicole wanted to eat in Boston). We sat at the harbor for an hour watching skateboarders and models and boats and bride-to-bes.

Tonight, despite how much I love the outdoors and camping, its nice to be somewhere comfortable and safe. A car alarm went off in the middle of the night last night while we were camping, and for some reason I thought it was my car, although, I don't think I have a car alarm, and it made me super anxious that a person or a bear was going to attack us in the tent at any momment. It's just nice to not have to worry about that tonight.
Over and out.

see ya later,
History Mice

What do you call two mice in a Prius...?

2010-08-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

awesome.

City Mouse here, checking in from a cute little joint called Cafe Romeo at Yale in New Haven, Ct. We are just sitting amongst our smarty-pants peers, soaking up the knowledge and culture, enjoying lattes and coffee cake and sunshine and conversations on how to improve the world. but let me back up and fill you in on the adventure so far.....

we got off to a start tuesday night by driving separately to my brother's house in Mt. Vernon, OH. Country Mouse did a nice job following the big redheaded van across the miles. We were just at brother mouse's house long enough to enjoy my too-cute-to-boot niece, who entertained us with smiles and jabber.
Wednesday morning we had breakfast at the local greasy spoon and headed east. To the end of the world to be exact. World's End State Park, PA. it was a LONG drive. much longer than we expected. We arrived at our site after dark. But being the Wilderness Mice that we are (and by we, i muean summer), we got the camp site set up. After setting up we needed to find some firewood so we could make dinner (no propane fueled camp stove for us--unlike our camping neighbors--thats cheating), plus we had no cell phone reception, so we drove 15 miles back out of the state park. We found a gas station to sell us firewood, and much further down the road we found ice cream, and more importantly, cell phone reception! Counrty Mouse would like you to know that the reason we didn't have firewood is because we arrived 8 minutes after the camp store closed. such luck. oh well, we are resourceful. We checked in with both momma mice and extremely tall boyfriend mouse and headed back. Country Mouse prepared a delicious dinner of chicken tacos, potatoes, and corn that we picked up a farm market on the way. I built a fire. a darn good fire if i do say so myself. (i know how to do this because I paid attention on vacation last month and watched extremely tall boyfriend mouse (ETBFM) do it. it was stellar, as was the food. it was soooooooooo delicious. the we climbed in the tent and hit the hay.

In the morning we make delicious pancakes over the fire (that i also built!), got ready and went mini hiking.
Country Mouse here to tell you about how beautiful Worlds End State Park is. We walked along the river on a lovely little path complete with my favorites, pine trees and ferns. I took pictures. Do you know how long its been since I've shot a roll of film all in one day? Lovely flowing water and rocks and the air. . . all those of you in Indiana, just imagine air without humidty that is just the right temperature that you can actually feel sunlight as it filters through the trees. Perfect. Then we drove on this dirt road up a mountain to a scenic area with a rock garden. We climbed around for a bit and then had to move on.
The gps (geeps) guided us through the back roads of Pennslyvania, maybe not in the most direct route. But it was an enjoyable scenic drive. . . but then I got sleepy so a stop had to be made. We decided to use the geeps to find a lunch stop. It said that Back Mountain Tomato was just a few miles away. We drove out into the middle of nowhere and had the nag (voice on geeps, not Nicole) say via point on right. . . not so. So we tried another 4 restaurants and they weren't there either. Lovely technology. At this point, we are a few hours behind schedule, but you can't pass up a winery when it's on your path. Family owned at that. Had to make some investments there. Finally we got on the road. . . for hours. Traffic and craziness. So glad city mouse is driving. I saw New York City across the Hudson River.

City Mouse back....We got into Yale about 730 last night. I took Counrty Mouse to one of my favorite Thai food places, York Street Noodle House ( I love me some noodles). Then after a nice visit with our friends Gabe and Sarah and their awesome dog, Delft, we slept. Great long day. Good to sleep.

So here we find ourselves, getting ready to head up to Cape Cod National Seashore, via Mystic, CT and Newport, CT. Pray for less traffic. Its not our favorite.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more adventures to come.....

love,
the Mice

Coast to Coast Adventure, Part II

2010-07-28T05:07:00.001-07:00

Stay tuned. . . August 25th

2009-12-16T01:17:00.001-08:00

Day 7 “Still Going…”
Where did I leave off…
Oh yeah, Gerard Butler-look-alike and I did become friends. He’s pretty cool. His name is Sean, but I call him Hawaii, because that’s where he’s from. He’s the same age as me and he’s moving from New Orleans to Anchorage for a girl. Hawaii and Fox and I have pretty much become the Three Amigos on the ship. We play games, we joke, we laugh, we cry. Ok, maybe not cry, but we are having a smashing time. Hawaii looks out for us too. He hooked us up with the air mattress, pillows, and blankets. He pretty much has our backs. He would make the perfect big brother. He’s also driving the same route to Anchorage as us, so it will be nice to know some one out there on the road through Canada. I think we amuse him quite a bit.

Hanging out on the ship has been so much fun! The time has gone surprisingly fast. Lights go out in our lounge at 9pm so Fox and I have been going to bed at that time. I’ve been getting up around 6am and hanging out with Hawaii, drinking some coffee and watching the sunrise over the mountains. Its extremely beautiful. This morning we docked at our first port, Ketchikan, AK. The three of us walked into town , got some coffee, then went looking for an internet connection. After several tries Hawaii found us one and we were good to go. We stopped at a local supermarket and got some delicious goodness for lunch, then Hawaii got us a cab ride back because we were all too cold to walk the two miles back to the ferry. The scenery has been amazing. I’ve been surprised how close we’ve gotten to the land at points. They keep telling us to be on the lookout for wildlife. I haven’t seen anything on the land, but we did spot a bunch of Orca whales and some porpoises swimming along side the ship. Pretty cool stuff….

Ciao,
Mouse

P.S. Word on the water is that we may get to see the Northern Lights soon… I really hope so!

AKRT
Day 8
“…and going”

We have been having such a fun time on this ferry, I think we’re making people jealous! Last night Fox, Hawaii, and I found New Jersey Nick and a bottle of wine and had the most hilarious time playing cards. We played poker for awhile, but the boys kept having to give us their chips because Fox and I went all wild with our betting (since we weren’t playing for money). I think the boys got tired of that so they taught us how to play spades. But we were laughing and talking so much each round took about an hour! The boys nicknamed me “Ginger” (because of my hair) and Fox “Hot to Trot” because she gets a bit sassy . Finally around midnight we gave up and went to sleep.

In addition to making friends with half the passengers we also had the ferry crew quite fond of us. Which works in our favor because we got a lot of stuff for free….the guys in the kitchen hooked us up with some breakfast… our galley guy ”Bert” (named because of his crazy eyebrows) went and got me a blanket (for free) from the blanket rental because I was cold playing poker…we even managed to get ourselves a stateroom to sleep in for the night. Dang we’re good. I mean nice.

In the morning the four of us met for breakfast and then hung out and talked until we docked at the port we were all departing from. As it turns out there are several people we met on the ferry that are making the same trip as us so we are all kind of caravanning through Canada. We have about a 4 hour drive ahead of us through the Yukon wilderness until we get to our stop for the night in Haines Junction, Canada. This drive is AMAZING. Its all snowy and frosted over. Pure wilderness, which looks a bit like Narnia, if you can imagine. We drove through a bald eagle preserve and saw TONS of bald eagles. It was awesome. Some were even perched along the side of the road. The boys are ahead of us on the road and we are thankful that we have them to follow. We made it to the Canadian boarder crossing after about an hour. It wasn’t to hard to get through. They asked us a bunch of questions and took our passports. They were going to make us open the car but Fox convinced them that would be a terrible idea. They took one look at the packed pruis and agrees. But I am kind of ticked, I don’t think they stamped my passport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are now crossing the pass. The pass is what we were told was the most dangerous part of the journey. Its basically a narrow road that crosses over the summit of the mountain. If the pass isn’t clear you can’t go on. Its going to start getting dark soon, but the border guard said it was pretty clear, so Hawaii in his white Grand Am, Jersey in his white Silverado, and Fox and I in our silver prius disappear into the snowy distance. This is one of the craziest drives I’ve done. The ground is white, the tree are white, the mountain peaks around us are pure white, the sky is white, the air is even white, and we are trying to follow two white cars. By this point Fox’s knuckles are white. We have about 3 hours now till we get to our destination for the night. The four of us are going to find a place to eat and call it a day.

See ya in the morning, eh!
Canadian Mouse

AKRT Day 6 "Going to Sea"

2009-12-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Fox and I left Aunt Debbie’s house Friday morning and drove north to a town called Bellingham, WA, where our ferry was. We checked in at the terminal about 2pm and they told us to go get our car in line to board the ferry between 3 and 4. So we did. Friends, all I’m gonna says is they did not start boarding us until 6:30pm. 6:30! We sat in that prius for 4 hours!!!!! Poor Fox had such a headache. She was just about ready to burst. I had a great phone conversation with someone cool so my four hours when a lot better until my phone died. Eventually we did get on the ferry and started to unload the things we thought we’d need for the next 3 days and nights.

A little about our ship:
We are taking the Alaskan Marine Highway from Bellingham, WA to Haines, AK. It will take 3 days to get there. They stop at several other ports along the way which is why its taking so long. We are on a ship called The Malaspina. It’s 408 feet long and can hold up to 701 passengers. I bet there are less than 200 people on our ship. The lower deck is where all the cars are parked. Fox and I were surprised to find out that people have pets that they have to leave in their cars. You can access your vehicles during specific times throughout the day, but we can’t figure out where the pets go to the bathroom. Gee, the things that make us go hmmmm?

Our ship has a mini movie theater (which is only showing kids movies on this trip), a cafeteria, a recliner lounge, a cocktail lounge, an observation deck, a play area (if you can call it that), some video games, a gift shop, a dining room, a shower room, a bunch of cabin rooms (that you have to pay extra for), and a solarium. All in all a pretty decent ferry.

Fox and I were one of the last ones to board with our car (go figure) and get unpacked and to the upper deck before we left port. I have never carried so much stuff at one time, I should change my name to Pack Mule instead of City Mouse! We had to carry our stuff up 3 or 4 flights of stairs, many outdoors, to the top of the ship, the Solarium. The plan was to pitch our tent, put our air mattress inside and make a little private campsite. As it turns out, the Solarium was really tiny and only had 3 walls, and the rest was open deck. There were heat lamps, but many of them were not working and in our mad rush to get out of the car deck before we left port, we left behind most of our blankets. (duh.) There were lounge chairs on the Solarium deck and about 7 or 8 were already claimed with sleeping bags. One of the men informed us that we couldn’t pitch a tent under the heat lamps, it had to be out in the open air. I looked around, noticed that it was almost all men out there and we decided to explore the ship for other options. We hit gold pretty quickly in the recliner lounge. Basically a big, enclosed room that has rows of chairs, similar to a large airplane. We noticed people setting up little sleeping areas on the floors, between chairs, and across rows of chairs. We spotted and empty row, claimed it, and moved out stuff in from the Solarium. We spread out all our stuff, made ourselves something to eat from the food bag, and then noticed some other spots that were good ones. I found a dark little corner in the back of the lounge and moved my camp there. Fox found a table that opened up where she could lay across the row of chairs (being a shorty comes in handy at times like this…my 5’8”ness was not going to fit), so we moved her camp to there. By this point everyone in the lounge in now probably wondering where else we are going to move to. But I think we are pretty content with our choices. There are a row of lockers by me so Fox and I decide to get one to keep our purses in for the night. We fish around and find the only two quarters we have and get a locker. About 5 seconds after we lock them in and pay for it, Fox realizes she wants her crochet needle out of it. So we open the locker back up, loose our $.50, and decide to forget the lockers.

Fox came over to “my room” for awhile and we watched some Friends episodes on my computer. Then they turned lights out around 8:30/9:00 so we decided there was not much else to do but go to bed. I didn’t sleep to well. Not because I was uncomfortable, but because it was 9-freaking-o’clock and I wasn’t tired. I woke up about 2am. Stayed up for a bit to write this entry, then went back to sleep about 3:30. I was up this morning at 7, took a shower, and Fox and I went and got breakfast in the cafeteria. We are now hanging out in Fox’s “room” aka, the table. Me, writing, she, crocheting. I spent most of the morning walking around meeting everybody. I met two girls that are going to be making the same drive as us to Anchorage, so we are going to try and caravan together. I met 2 guys named Nick, on from AK and one from Jersey. And currently there is a cute guy sitting across the isle from me that looks just like Gerard Butler and I’m thinking about introducing myself, just for Jessica’s sake, because I know HOW MUCH SHE LOVE GERARD BUTLER. I am probably gonna have to talk to him, because it would probably be pretty weird just to walk up and take his picture. Ha ha! I am having fun talking to everyone here. My goal is the be the most popular girl on the ship by the time we reach our destination! Plus Fox brought all kinds of games and movies. Whats not to love about two hot girls with fun things to do on a ship out to sea for 3 days!!!
To be continued….
Ice Cube Mouse

AKRT Day 4 "Keep Going".

2009-12-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yeah. Its Tuesday night and I'm sitting in the living room of our Couch Surfing host's home, waiting for him to return so I can meet him. His house is super cold and I don't feel comfortable enough to poke around and try and find heat so i just put my coat on and wait for him to come back. I was almost ready to just leave him a note and go to bed when he came back. I'm super glad I stayed up because we had an awesome time visiting. His name is Guy, and he's 29. He a sociology student at the University in Billings. We had a great conversation about weather, and age, and travel, and beliefs, and movies, and books, and people, and places, and life in gerneral. All while sitting in the freezing living room in our coats and hats. We are kindred spirits I have decided. Guy is someone I would definitly be good friends with if we lived closer. The we said goodnight and we didn't see each other again (he had left before we got up). Although he's txted me a bit checking on our trip and just to say hi. Another A+ for Couch Surfing.

And then we drove.
11 hours.
No fun side excursions this time.
Montana is freaking huge.
Drove through the rockies...GORGEOUS!
Drove across Idaho in the dark.
And into central Washington State.
Good times.

We arrived last night at Aunt Debbie's house in Zillah, WA where we will be hanging out for the next 2 days. Friday afternoon we will drive north of Seattle to board the Ferry that will take us up near Juno. I am super excited about the ship phase of the journey. Word from Alaska is that we may get to see the Norther Lights!!!!!!

ok...gonna chill for a day. Catch you on the flip side.
Mouse

2009-12-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

AKRT
Day 3
“Going the distance.”

This morning we left Huron, SD, population 11,893. Three of those people are the nicest people west of the Mississippi, the Erdmans, who hosted us for the night. Made us dinner…made us breakfast…packed us a lunch. Who can ask for better than that.

Then we drove. And we drove some more. After that we drove a little father. And then we did some more driving. When we got to the western side of SD I made Fox take a mini detour to Wall Drug. She seemed quite skeptical, but I assured her it was a must see of the West.

Sadly the visibility was not good enough out to swing down and see Mt. Rushmore. But I did convince Fox to leave the highway, on another mini adventure to the town of Belle Forchs, which is home to the geographical center of the US. By this point Fox isn’t feeling so great and kind of feels like she’s in the geographical center of hell. I get out, do a self photo op, realize that its -11 degrees out and my furry mouse butt is frozen so I hop back in the prius and we drive again. We drive through WY, but didn’t get to see much because it started to get dark a little before 5. This evening we arrived in Billings, MT at our Couch Surfing hosts house for the evening. I’d tell you about him, but we only met him for a second because he had to head out and meet some people. So we are in his house, which is pretty cool (both decoratively and temperature wise) waiting for him to return. He seems like a pretty nice guy, so I am looking forward to getting to visit with him. Fox is already in bed. She had a long day. And I know she is looking forward to getting to AK…but we still have a ways to go.

Some notes of importance:
1. They sell milk (and OJ) in bags here. Yes, they have cartons too. But lots o’ bags.
2. We have driven thru 7 states now and had virtually no snow. The most snow on the ground that we have encountered was about an inch in Huron. This has made driving awesome! Pray that it continues.
3. Fox and Mouse have vastly different tastes in music. Fox: Nsync; anything Christmas; Country- songs about tractors and cold beer; and some song by Nellie called Pimp Juice. Mouse: Jason Mraz, Duffy, Edie Brickell, Devotchka, and Kate Rusby. Driver calls the music.
4. So far Montana still has a speed limit. I was kinda hoping that the rumors were true and there was no speed limit. That would be like my heaven. J
5. Before going inside tonight I stopped to look at the stars. There’s just nothing better than looking at a sky full of stars on a cold, clear night. And this is Big Sky Country. I’m almost positive you can see some of the stars in the southern hemisphere from here. Just nothing better….well maybe I can think of a few things…

Alright my little lovelies. Good night.
Mouse (and Fox who is passed out in bed.)

2009-12-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

AKRT Day 2
"Going Rogue"

Last night we arrived in Minneapolis, MN. I introduced Artic Fox to Couch Surfing. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with Couch Surfing check out: www.couchsurfing.org. It will change your life.)
We were graciously welcomed by our host for the evening, Esteban. Let me tell you a little about Esteban. This guy is a Rock. Star. E is originally from Akron, OH. His parents are Costa Rican. He’s lived in Minneapolis since June, where he is a category manager for Proctor & Gamble. Baby and FemCare to be exact. Xavier grad. Speaks three languages. Is a foster parent for dogs. Traveled all over the world (mainly attending the world cup each year). And owns pretty much the most kick-ass bachelor pad condo I have ever seen! Did I mention he’s on 23! Seriously. This guy is a million times better than awesome. He had made dinner for us when we got there -chicken tacos and rice and beans. And we had some fantastic wine from Portugal Delicious! We hung out with him and his current foster pup, Reuben. A delightful little toe-biting mutt. Mostly we just hung out and talked. He had just gotten his Christmas gift from P&G which was a cooler filled with all sorts of P&G products. He just started going thru the thing and giving us stuff. It was awesome! Fox score some Gucci Perfume. I scored an Olay skin care wrinkle reducing kit (which, if you know me at all and my OBSESSION with skin care, made me happy as a clam). We also scored some snacks for the road and some Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner. E offered to take us out and show us the finer points of Minneapolis, but having been in the car all day, we decided to just chill at his place and watch a movie. The Boondock Saints to be exact. So E and I watched the movie, while Fox passed out on the couch and Reuben struggled with intestinal issues and kept stinking up the room. Then we made our beds up, me in the spare room, fox still passed out on the couch and hit the hay.

We got up early to the smell of fresh brewing Foldgers coffee (Proctor & Gamble) and brushed our teeth with Crest toothpaste (P&G). Esteban made us a nutrious breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon and bagels. (did I mention he’s only 23), and shortly thereafter, bid him farewell. Yet another amazing and awesome Couch Surfing experience and new friend to add to the list. And yes, Meadow Vole (Jon), keeping in true City Mouse fashion, Esteban was super cute! (Jon always accuses me of only choosing cute guys to CS with….is that a crime?)

We headed out to our first stop for the day: The Mall of America. Mostly because neither of us had ever been there, and , well, when in Rome…
We got there about 9 am and walked around a bit. It really is pretty cool. We both enjoyed it quite a bit. We kept noticing that there was a huge line of people forming as we looked down from the top floor onto the main level. I noticed that everyone had books with them, so we figured it was a book signing. And right we were. In a mere few hours, none other than Sarah Palin would be in front of us. Which totally cracked me up because before I left, literally EVERYONE who found out I was going to Alaska asked me if I was going to see Sarah Palin. Go figure it happened. I was a bit disappointed that she didn’t speak, but it was still cool to see her. She’s really very pretty. (sorry about my pics. Apparently my camera is a democrat and decided to be ridiculous when I was trying to take her picture. So, FYI she’s the one in the red coat.)

Fox and I did a bit of shopping (bought some MadLibs for the AKRT (Alaska Road Trip), had some lunch at the Rainforest Café next to a huge fish tank, and headed back out on the road. We are now driving across MN and into SD, headed to Huron, where we will be staying with my friend Jon’s Family. We have about a 6 hour drive to get there. 1.5 of those hours has been Fox and I choreographing dance moves to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA“, which is now our official AKRT song.

Side note: As we turn onto the highway that will take us to ours hosts house we pass a sign that says, “Home of the Corn Palace.” Of course I squeal with delight, because I’ve heard of this wondrous place, only in legends…who knew it really existed!!! Well friends, it does. And it’s magical. Although, Artic Fox didn’t really see the magic in it like I did. She’s never even heard of the thing. She spends the next 20 minutes calling people to see if anyone else (beside the clearly insane redhead beside her) has heard of the Corn Palace. So if any of you fine folk in cyber land have heard of it, please leave a note and back me up….

Well, all I can say is its been a wonderfully unexpected day. See you tomorrow.

"Go west, young man. Let the evil go east."
Fox and Mouse

2009-12-06T19:43:00.000-08:00

Alaksa Road Trip (AKRT)
Day 1
"Go West"

You may not know this, but I am an avid “to do list” maker. It’s pretty much how I organized my chaotic self so I can semi-function on a normal day. I was feeling quite frustrated with myself that I haven’t “done much” lately, despite the multitude of things to do scrolled across scraps of paper floating around my studio. I need to do more, I tell myself. Not because it’s expected of me, but because its is the fiber from which I am woven. I need more yardage. I have done a lot, but I need to do more, I tell myself with a little grace.

So I am leaving today on another adventure. And a much needed one at that. For the next week and a half , my friend, Janel, and I will be road tripping across this great nation of ours, destination Kenai, Alaska, as we mover her back home to be with her family. Continuing in the spirit of this blog, we can’t just let my friend go by her name, so we have given her the alias of Artic Fox. She wants you to be sure and know that despite the “arctic surname” she, in fact, despises cold and prefers warmer climates. WHY? We ask, is she moving to AK….that’s one of the things we plan to discover on this journey. So, I invite you my friends, to come with us, as City Mouse and Artic Fox get in touch with our inner Jack Kerouac and hit the road. The Prius is packed. The itunes and blasting. The mittens and hats are on. Let the fun begin….

Reflecting on my love of “to do” lists, I have decided to make a “have done” list. Enjoy!
I have heard the sound of children’s laughter rise out of a dank orphanage in China. I have known the colors and sounds of Easter morning in Sorrento as the people pour out of the churches carrying boughs of remembrance and peace. I have seen a rainbow appear while sitting on a cliff in western Ireland as storms roll in over the Atlantic. I have felt the warmth of the sand between my toes on a beach in Perth in the middle of winter. I have seen the fog lift over the ancient mountain ruins in Peru, revealing a sight so sacred it gave me my breath back. I have slept peacefully in the depth of the Amazon jungle with nothing but a net and a sense of adventure between me and the deep black unknown. I have wished upon a tree in Hong Kong that made more things come true on the journey to it, than I tossed upon its branches. I have broken bread with a Quechan woman in her Amantani home, and balanced upon the Floating Islands of Uros with an old man whose hands made the boat that carried us. I have walked in awe amongst the Roman ruins of Christ’s time. I have been lost and found in Venice. I have talked politics over brunch in Munich, and climbed a mountain side in the Black Forrest in search of a goal. I have accidentally encountered Van Gogh in Vienna, had my soul haunted at a desolate concentration camp in the Austrian countryside, and watched the orange sun settle down on the streets of Dublin. So for I think I’m off to a good start. But I still need to do more, I tell myself.

The joy is in the journey.
City Mouse and Arctic Fox

It's what we do. It's how we do it.

2009-05-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of days have been fun. the weather is totally gorgeous here. its been 75 degrees everyday. on thursday i went into the city with the boys and explored, and by "explored" i mean shopped, and when scott got off work, he and natalie and i went to an art museum until marcus got off, then all four of us walked around down by the water. later that night i went to practice with the babies. on friday i went into the city with marcus and waited for scott to get off work then scott and i met natalie at cottelsloe beach, then we went down to freemantle beach and walked around the town and ate dinner at this great fish & chips place. we came back to nat's house that evering (where the babies are staying for awhile) and nat's host family took us all out to the F A N C Y restaurant on the 33rd floor of a building downtown called 365 because it rotated. it was amazing. and rediculously expensive. we figure the dinner bill for the 8 of us came to about $800 au!! crazy!! then we went home and crashed. today (sat) natalie and i went to breakfast, ran errands, rented 6 movies for $6 and video EZY (see what i mean...), and now we are waiting fo rthe boys to get back. they have a game tonight and i am really excited to see them play!!! pictures coming soon!

city mouse

SURPRISE!!!!!

2009-05-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

so recently i decided that i was just going to take a leap of faith and fly half way around the world to surprise my little brothers, who are in western australia playing basketball. i wanted it to be a surprise so i didnt tell very many people. i touched base with the pastor of the twins church and made arrangements with them to pick me up at the airport in perth. beyond that, i did not have a plan....

so i boarded a plane in chicago..which was delayed due to mechanical problems..(gggrrrrrrr america airlines), then i arrived in san francisco, only to have them keep us sitting on the tarmack for another 45 minutes b/c the plane ahead of us was having mechanical problems.. (double gggrrrrrr american airlines). upon which i find out i've missed my connecting flight to sydney by 10 minutes and the next flight out isnt until 10:45 pm the next night. not one to be told i can't do something, i argued for other possible options, briefly thinking that i could catch a flight to hong kong then perth..alas it was full. so i begrudgingly accepted a complimentary nights stay at the sheridan hotel in san fran and all my meals paid for the next day and settled in for the evening. trying to convince myself that for whatever reason, i was not supposed to be on that flight.

the next day i decided that i would enjoy my mini vacation in SF and go exploring. i had been here once in high school, and remembered all the place we went so i decided to check out other places instead. so i hopped on a city bus and went exploring. eventually i found myself in Haight Ashbury, which was totally crazy! hippies still do bread here. and if you need any drug paraphernalia, any at all, there is certainly a store here that will sell it you you. it was like stepping into the summer of 1969!

after exploring the neighborhoods of SF all day i headed back to the airport to catch my flight. thank God i am no longer dealing with american airlines (can you tell theya re not my favorite). i am now on a qantas flight, which, with the exception of virgin atlantic, has to be one of the best airlines i have ever flown on. I sat nxt to the nice australian man from Adelaide and is 7 yr old redheaded daughter. they were super nice. he was some big time wine maker in southern au, and he gave me lots of great ideas of things to do in perth. I managed to sleep most of the flight (which is a talent i am fortunate to be blessed with). and arrived in sydney 14 hours later.
notes of importance: I left SF on Monday the 25th, arrived Wed. the 27th. technically Tues the 26th never existed in my world. how cool is that!

after being hearded through customs, surprise!, i have missed my connecting flight to perth by about 5 minutes. no longer phased by this thay put me on one 2 hours later. i finally arrive in perth 26 hours later than originally planned, where i am met by lisa, the pastors wife. she and her husband dean have done great undercover work and have found out for me that both twins are at work and scott works till 3 and marcus until 4. they work very near each other so seeing as it is now 2, we hustle downtown ans go looking for scotts store. (both boys work at mobile phone stores as demonstrators.) we soon find scotts store at about 2:45 and i walk in with my heart racing. i dont see him anywhere so i ask the girls at the counter if this is the store he works at. yes, he is in the back changing, she goes to get him. i hand lisa my camera, and after about 10 minutes he comes around the corner and does a double take at me and just starts screaming :WHAT THE HECK!! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" it was hilarious. he just couldnt believe i was standing there. after talking to him a few minutes one of the other store employees comes running over and says that our brother just walked by. scott ran out to get him and lisa got the camera ready again. scott catches up with marcus out on the street (who has gotten off work early) and tells him he needs to come in scotts store. someone wants to talk to him. of course marc is not jazzed about this, but scott convinces him and as he walks around the corner and sees me standing there he gets a huge smile on his face and shouts out "WHAT?!?! YOU'VE GOT OT BE KIDDING ME!!!". totally same reaction. it was hilarious.

a very expensive surprise, and worth every penny.

so we have been having fun here. hanging out. checking out perth. their roommate natalie is awesome. yesterday i went to practice with them. today we are going to the harbour and their host family is taking us out to eat. tomorrow is their game, which i am excited to see. other things i want to do while i'm here: learn to play cricket, see and aussie football match, go to the beach, and see a kangaroo. the weather is gorgeous here. about 75 everyday. everyone in this city is super nice. it is a very clean, laid back city. i love it. i would totally live here. and i have come to the realization of how much easier it is to travel when you speak that language, compared to most places i travel to. however, just because we speak the same language doesn't mean i understand a bloody word anybody says. the slang here is RIDICULOUS! basically they take every word over 2 syllables, shorten it and add a 'y' to the end. breakfast is 'brekky', football is 'footy', university is 'uny'. its crazy. plus they way they influctuate their words, i never know if the are making a statement or asking a question. i must look like a dumbass half the time as i stare blankly back at people becausee i clearly dont understand a thing they've just said in english. and it works both ways too...i asked a lady yesterday what the time was and she looked at me and said "I don't know where Kmart is." oh well.

i'm going to go get ready for my day now. I'm heading into town with marcus, until scott gets off work, then going with him to meet natalie at the harbor until marcus gets off work. then we'll probably do something fun and ridiculous until dinner tonight.

have fun back home, mates.
see ya later!
city mouse down under

Jungle- take two

2009-04-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

How funny! I just went back and read over City Mouse`s adventure in the jungle and found that we had mainly the same adventure- just a month apart! So, I started the trip to the jungle sick with a super sort throat- seriously that`s a bit of a downer on a vacation, to be sick twice! We got up early on Sunday and took a bus to the airport, a plane from Cusco to Puerto Maldenado, a bus from the airport to a boat (very cool long boats), and then hiked a few minutes to the lodge. And I slept on everyone of those modes of transportation- and later slept in the lobby of the lodge waiting for dinner! We were all pretty wiped out with the heat and all the hiking from the previous days.
On the bus ride they gave us a little basket with banana chips, brazil nuts, an orange and starfruit juice and on the boat they gave us rice wrapped up in a large jungle leaf. This group- Rainforest Expeditions- does a good job. I recommend them if you ever want to go to the Peruvian jungle. We rode on this boat for an hour, slathered in deet and soaked with sweat. The lodge was amazing- all open, with mosquito nets over the beds, no doors, no complete walls, showers with clear curtains so you can really see outside into the jungle while you`re showering- but it`s a cold shower, so not a lot of time for looking around. We took a short hike to a huge tower in the middle of the jungle to look out over the trees. We saw a lump that was supposedly a sloth, and saw some Macaws fly by, which I really wish I could have gotten on film or wish I could remember it forever because it was beautiful. Then we had some free time at the lodge, in which I think most of us fell asleep and at dinner Arturo (our ACTIVE guide) took one look at us and decided that maybe we would save the night hike for another night and all go to bed!
So the next morning we woke up at 4:00 a.m. and took the boat up river and a short hike to a flat boat that we took around a lake and looked for birds. We saw some toucans flying and some monkeys in the wooods, and a way chunky brown heron, and some big birds with crazy hairdos. Then we went fishing for pirranhas. Chunks of meat with a bamboo pole. Pirranhas are little dudes, I imagined something much bigger. I caught one after much persistent trying! Then back to the lodge and out again (I have decided I love maracuya juice. Does Owens carry Passion Fruit?) after a brief nap in the hammock. We went to see the birds on a clay lick. We saw three macaws. Hanging all upside down in the trees and jumping on to the hill of clay. I guess it`s a supplement to their diet. In the afternoon we went to visit the Shaman and see his forest of medicines. We tried a piece of a plant that was like novicane (I`m not sure on the spelling, the stuff they use at the dentist`s office), were written on with a purple dye from a leaf, drank one of his concoctions that was supposed to be for a cold and it must have worked because, my sore throat is finally gone today! He told us about different ingredients, one to cure cancer, one a natural viagra, another a love potion. Quite interesting. After dark, we went on a night hike to look at insects. We saw an itty bitty possum, a rat, a wolf spider, a tiny frog, and some monkeys in a tree. And I saw the leg of a tarantula. At the lodge of all places. I wasn`t much intersted in sticking around to see the rest of it.
This morning the journey back to Cusco. And most of the group went on another bike ride. I decided to decline that opportunity out of fear for my life, but we ate lunch overlooking Cusco. Tonight is our last night here and it`s off to Puno tomorrow.
I`ll be home in a few days, and looking forward to seeing you all.

Machu Picchu

2009-04-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

City Mouse, did we go to the same Machu Picchu? I didn´t think it was small at all! We took a 2 hour tour and learned about a lot of places and still I would have loved more time to look around. It was beautiful.
Then we took a bus to Aguas Calientes where we were supposed to visit the hot springs. But, Arturo said they were a bit crowded and dirty so we all decided against that. We´ve had enough of dirty. They did rent bathing suits though- what a funny thought! We were still super dirty but had a few hours to walk around the town and shop at the markets. I visited an internet cafe and drank a latte. Pizza for dinner at 10:00 p.m. after we got back to Cusco and it was marvelous.

Today was a free day, doing a little wandering the streets and shopping. And now I think I´ve spent a few hours on this blog. So I best go pack and take a nap! But first I must tell you of the little boys I met this morning in the Plaza. I just wanted to sit and relax and write in my journal. Well every two minutes someone would come up to me wanting something. Selling paintings, postcards, cigarettes. Wanting a donation to such and such. It was maddening. Two different boys tried sitting with me and talking to me for awhile. One of them was 13 and he lives in Cusco with his brother and sister who are 16 and 18 and his parents live near Lima. He is here for school. He sells "his" paintings all day on the weekends. We talked about the weather and our plans for the day and our families. All in Spanish. He still creeped me out a little when he asked if I was alone or with a group and what hotel I was staying in but hey, it was a nice conversation.

We´re flying to the jungle tomorrow.

The Inca Trail

2009-04-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

The Inca Trail. I think that I am still making up my mind about it. I think under different circumstances I would have really enjoyed it.

I started feeling a little sick to my stomach on Monday night, and even considered not going, since I was still having problems breathing as well. The alternative though, would have been 4 more days in Cusco. A city. I am the Country Mouse. So I went. It involved departing at 5:00 a.m. Only five of us were taking the Classic Inca trail, the rest of the group took the Lares Trail. . . and I hear they had nice weather. So Arturo (our guide), Claire (my British friend), Coleen (61 year old), Kim (45 year old physician) and I met up with another group: 4 friends from San Francisco, a couple from San Francisco, a guy from London and our guides Roger and Casiano. We took a bus for a few hours to the starting point Kilometer 82, I think. And we set out. It started really well- flat ground- but as we started going uphill, I started falling behind. We stopped for a lunch.
And let me stop right here and describe the meals on this camping trip. . . Amazing. Whenever we arrived we had a tent set up for us with plastic chairs around a table. Silverware, metal plates, bowls, cups, tea cups. I remember the first meal distinctly because I had not expected the extravegance. Garlic bread, an appetizer (maybe it was avocado and tomatoes), a soup (which were always delicious), and plates and plates of pasta and two different kinds of sauce. Every lunch was like this- a bread, appetizer, soup, and multiple food dishes, sometimes chicken, beef, fish, in wonderful sauces, with rice or quinoa, or potaotes. They even decorated the food like on a cruise with little birds and flowers made of vegetables. Amazing! And the breakfasts were the same, porriage in a cup, bread and jelly, pancakes one day, eggs another. The last day we had a cake for breakfast! Baked right on the trail. And between lunch and dinner we had happy hour with popcorn and crackers and Milo.
Porters. We had 18 porters carrying all our bags, tents, food, chairs, etc. They run up the mountain in front of the group and get set up either for lunch or a campsite before the hikers get there. They carry 27 kilograms each (I´m not sure how much that is), and they all had sweet personalities. There wasn´t much conversation because they spoke Quechua, but they woke us up in the morning with cocoa tea, brought us warm water for washing when we arrived for the day and when we woke up in the morning, and they watched over us at night.
So back to the hike. I think the weather that first day wasn´t bad- brief rain, so I was able to get some photos which was nice. I think we probably hiked 7 hours that first day and all I kept hearing was how the 2nd day was much harder. My stomach bothered me that day but was really unpleasant that night and I think I zoned out a bit because I don´t remember much of that day or evening. We played slaps and a version of spoons for dinntertime entertainment. The bathroom at this campsite was hopefully the worst bathroom I will ever see in my life. It consisted of a hole in the ground covered in logs and surrounded by a log frame with plastic over it for privacy. And that´s all I really want to say about that place.
There was actually no peeing in the woods. Every few hours they had bathrooms. They were disgusting but most were buildings with a plastic hole in the ground that you stood on either side of and there was a flush at the top. I survived.
I had a tent to myself which was unexpected and made me feel a bit bad because someone had to carry that extra tent up but what´s done is done. I was a bit cold at night in my alpaca hat, 2 long underwear tops and a fleece, and long underwear bottoms and the sleeping bag but I didn´t sleep too poorly.
We woke up to rain on Wendesday morning. And rain and rain and rain. And if you thought that it might stop raining and take off your rain coat and put it away, in five minutes you would have to get it out again. And it was uphill. Forever. To Dead Woman´s Pass. My stomach was awful and my breathing was awful and I was way last. By lunch time everyone knew I was a bit sick but thankfully it turned around that afternoon. For the most part. So the morning´s rain was just a misty type rain. As we switched to the downhill portion of our journey it became a downpour. I was freezing and soaked but I really enjoyed the downhill much more than the up. We went down steps that were covered in mud and water and I was so glad someone had talked me into buying the walking sticks at the beginning of the trail because I would have been toast without them. I fell down once- looked around- saw that no one saw me and kept on going. I didn´t get many pictures this day because of the rain and because of the constant fog surrounding everything. I´m sure it would have been beautiful, had we been able to see it. We hiked a lot that day. I think we set off at 6:30 a.m. or something and arrived around the same time at night. It was rough. The most challenging day I´ve ever had, probably. But you have to keep going of course.
Our campsites were all lovely, perched on the side of a mountain and while it poured all Wednesday night we awoke to a bit of a clearing on Thursday. At least we could see some pretty cool Inca ruins on a mountainside a ways away and we had a dry start to the day. And it was a pretty good day because it was mostly downhill. Thankfully, I fell in with the girls from San Francisco and they had a way of getting through the uphill parts- setting goals. Okay, we´re going to make it to that bush there, or we´re going 20 steps up. They made it bearable. We finished around 2:00 this day so it was a shorter day. It rained off and on. Toward the end of the hike on this day we started seeing electric lines and hear the train and it seemed quite out of place after all the quiet of no technology.
There were supposed to be hot showers at this site so everyone got very excited. However, they were closed for maintenance when we arrived. So a few of the girls ventured to use the cold porter shower. Now if the above was the grossest toilet I´ve ever used, I hope this is the grossest shower I ever use. First of all, if you know me, you know I´m a bit modest. And the door on this shower shut very poorly- no lock or latch and there were porters outside the entire time. The water wasn´t just cold. It was like ice falling out of the wall. And the water on the floor. Uggg. Gross, gross gross. But I was a small bit cleaner.
We went to see an Inca ruin a few minutes away and it was pretty awesome. I can´t wait to show the pictures.
So let me tell you what I learned about the Incas. Well, I learned a lot of things but coming to mind right now:

They built 354 of these sacred sites I think. The ones that the Spainards did not find are the most intact ones.
They had fountains, and terraces for farming and they did experiements to see which forms of agriculture would work at what altitudes.
They built their buildings from the natural rock that was at that location- white granite, which when the sites were created would have been polished and the ruins would have been white. Their buildings were created with interlocking stones that no one has been able to replicate. They withstand earthquakes and go in at an angle a bit.
They didn´t have money, they all worked together. There was some sort of service period where they worked on the various Inca sites for the state and then they got to go back home.
The Incas were still building- never finished and more and more is found every day.
The reason the Spainards were able to overrun them so quickly was because they had just had a civil war between two brothers or rulers, or something. Also, it took them a while to realize that they were enemies.
Some Incas fled to Machu Pichu when the Spainards conquered and lived there for forty years undiscovered. The Spainards never found Machu Picchu.

Forgive me if some of my facts are wrong, and there is much more fascinating info, but this is getting rather long.

So the next day we got up for a 2 hour hike to the Sun Gate. The entrance to Machu Picchu. Did I mention that we got up at 3:30 a.m.? So we had to hike with our headlamps 5 minutes downhill in the rain (again torrential downpours during the night) to this checkpoint. The checkpoint didn´t open until 5:30 a.m. but for some reason our guide wanted to be first in line. There were a lot of other groups at this point. And honestly, when it opened, I thought I was part of the Amazing Race. For 20 minutes we raced through the cloud forest- still in the dark mind you- until I got so hot, I tried to take off my fleece so then I was carrying my backpack, walking poles, fleece and raincover all in my arms trying to run and keep up and finally I just stopped and took my time. I´m not sure what the race was about anyway. Running through the puddles, pushing by people (not me but people pushing by me!), and then there was some uphill so that finished it for me. It was kind of fun though, hiking in the pre dawn light. Hearing all the little frogs chirping. We arrived at the Sun Gate after some steep steep stairs to. . . what was supposed to be Machu Picchu in the sunrise but it was just fog. Everywhere fog. So we hiked down the final half an hour and then the day turned lovely. And we were at Machu Picchu.

In hindsight there were some really great things. The views, the Inca Trail itself was made by the Incas and was pretty cool, and I didn´t get blisters or have any awful muscle or joint pains which was great. But if you decide to do the Inca Trail, I would suggest going when you´re sure the rainy season is over. I wish I could remember what website I looked at that said April was the dry season- ha!

No brake! No brake! Stand up!

2009-04-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

So on Monday, I got to try out my first real mountain biking experience. Yeah, sure, I tried the Winona Lake Bike Trails a few years ago and ended up walking the bike more than riding and with bruises all over my legs, but this, this was real mountain biking- and a near death experience. To start with though, I must tell you about Peruvian strikes. They don´t involve people just not working for a period of time until the two parties come to some solution. If the Peruvians don´t like something, they put piles of boulders all over the road and cut down trees to fall across the road. They are downright violent about it. This strike had something to do with the privitization of the water supply, frowned upon by the Peruvian people. The boulders in the road interupted our plan so we may have taken a slightly harder bike route than was planned. Everyone else seemed fine with this. . . but it was probably the most scared I have ever been. There was no way I could have trained for this experience. Only taking Nancy´s cycling class with my bike´s back wheel propped up at a 60 degree angle could have been similar. First we biked up a road with all the boulders and trees on it. Then it was a dirt path with rocks and ruts and dogs randomly running out and barking at you. And then it was all down a mountain. Sometimes, I could look in front of me and see nothing but the great expanse of Cusco out in front of me because it dropped off that much. Again, I have never been more scared in my life. Toward the end, Arturo, our guide, tried giving me some advice, because I was at the end, which consisted of "No brake, no brake, stand up!" I had no idea you were supposed to stand up when going over the ruts. Which left me very sore the next day. And I didn´t really take his advice much- I griped those brakes with all my might. I only fell once. Just a few scrapes. Man, not something I want to do again!
Then we went on a hike, after a brief lunch sitting among some trees. I think it was a 3 hour hike around some Inca ruins. I sadly don´t remember much of it now, even though Monday was only a few days ago. I think the weirdest food of the day was a fried potato with an olive and boiled egg stuffed inside. Interesting.

Inca Trail

2009-04-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

I´m headed out. Scared to death.

Sexy Woman

2009-04-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

So apparently the computer I was using was possessed because it is dead this morning. Now the guy at the lobby desk says- just use mine. How nice ey? So yesterday, where to begin really. . . we got up early to go to the Catholic mass and we attended half of a Quechua mass and half of the spanish mass. We couldn´t understand anything but it was interesting. then we went in search of some alpaca hats with ears for ourselves for the Inca trail. It was fun to look at all the markets- they had all colors and the hats can turn inside out for different patterns.
We met up with the group at noon. There are 9 of us. A family of four from Canada, a lady from Mass. who is around 60 and another lady around 60 who is from New York, another lady who isn´t meeting us until today and claire and I and Arturo our guide. Most everyone is very fit. I already have a p roblem keeping up.
So I really probably should have taken more Cardio Challenge because I was gasping all the way up the hill. So these hills make the hills that I walked with Allison seem like a molehill. We went to Sacayhuanen- thus the title, it´s pronounced Sexy Woman. It was an Inca temple and we learned a bit about Inca history. It started to rain while we were up there and while it was really pretty at first because it was still sunny and raining and there was another rainbow, I ended up putting on my raincoat over my camera bag- had several comments about my being pregnant. We then hiked up to the Christo Blanco- white Christ. Which yesterday when I saw it on the map, I said- there`s no way I´m hiking up there! It got dark very quickly and we hiked back down into the city. I have to go now but I´m sure you`re very interested in the food of the day. I had Quinoto, an Alpaca steak, asparagus and avacado, a soup made of poro a peruvian tuber and andean ice cream with a fruit on it I`ve never heard of- salco, I think. Oh and I didn`t tell you about the market! Meat, animal heads, vegetables fruit- you name it. That may just have to wait for the pictures.. . . Adios, the INca trail is tomorrow. I hope i don`t die!

The Dancing Day

2009-04-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well, let me tell you about this computer I am using. It looks kind of like the computer that my family purchased for our first computer. It´s acting kind of posessed tonight so I´m not sure how far into this marvelous day I will get. We woke up to sunshine. After several days of clouds, this was a wonderful way to start the day. We set out around 8:00 a.m. ready to discover Cusco. We mainly wandered the entire day and I am very lucky that Claire has a good sense of direction because mostly, I have absolutely no idea where we are. We went to see all of the churches, just the outside because you have to pay to go inside. And we saw many fabulous views. I made up for not taking any pictures last week today and am quite happy about it. We struck out up stairs and down narrow alleys and passed men working on the street by hand and open sewers and little children who want to shine your tennis shoes or who want you to pay them to take pictures of them and their llama. We learned the phrase "No gracias" well because so many people want to sell you something. We wandered through alleys that had open doorways that led to beautiful courtyards of merchants and restaurants and stores selling Alpaca which is very soft- and expensive. We did go into one exhibit Qorikancha and the Saint Dominic Priory. It had beautiful gardens and a bathroom- which is very important! And there are remains of an Inca Temple there. And we learned about the Incas. Cusco was the center of the Inca empire.
Claire and I are good travelmates because we both like to take pictures and because we both want to learn about what we´re seeing. Also her sense of direction makes up for my lack of. It´s amazing that there can be a bit of a language barrier when we both speak English but. . . we just use different words sometimes.
We took a little snack midday of coffees and bread and we bought the bread because the place where we had the coffee smelled so amazing. I wish I could bottle it up and keep that smell with me. The bread came with 4 different toppings, a tomato spice herb chutney (that´s what Claire called it, I´m not sure I´ve ever used the word chutney), guacomole (yes the green stuff-for bread), mango orange jelly, and a really soft cream cheese with rosemary. Cereleun step out of the way!

We stepped into the Plaza (our main reference point) to see that there were some more festivities going on. We aren{t sure if they´re for Easter or just for the weekend or what but it was amazing. Dancing galore! Many different types of traditional dress, men dressed up as llamas, all sorts of things and we think that they danced througout the maze of streets all afternoon to live music playing so that you could hear it everywhere. And they were so happy and can you imagine- these heavy customes and it was really sunny and dancing all day! And they were cool dances, sometimes acting out some sort of scene. It was just amazing- you can bet that despite the crowd I took a whole roll of film! There was an instance where a little adorable girl, maybe 4, came up and stood with us, talking to us- in spanish so we didn{t understand her, i think she asked me if i was a mother at one point- and put her arms around us. A little too close for comfort. It´s sad when you´re afraid to trust a 4 year old but. . . we got out of there. We had really great up close seats by the street but we moved on.
We hiked up a mountain- or so it seemed, i´m sure in a few days, it will seem like a small hill- to another church and we saw a rainbow over the city!
Then we made an afternoon stop for some maracuya pie (one of those fruits with the gelatinous seeds, I think it´s a passion fruit) and I had strawberry milk- I{m pretty sure they were fresh strawberries.
In all the places we´ve eaten here we´ve had the privelage of sitting on balconies that overlook the street or the plaza with amazing views. I think our eating clock is a bit off so we eat very early- also so we can get in before dark, but it means that everywhere we´ve eaten has been almost empty. Fine with us, we get the good views! A lot of the restaurants here have a wood stove because the evenings get quite chilly.
One scene that made me think. . . as we were looking down into the plaza, a man jogged by and some change fell out of his pocket. There was a little girl who helped him pick it up and handed it over to him. She was maybe 5 or 6. And I couldn´t tell that he even thanked her. He moved on, still at a jog, but she found some more money on the street. I thought she would keep it because he was several yards away at this point. But no, she runs after him, yelling "me amigo" I mean, she sprints after him to give him this change. I never saw whether or not she caught up with him, but really, I hope he either thanked her well or she didn´t catch him and got to keep the money. She was just so sweet and sincere about getting him his change.
Well it was an amazing day and we wrapped it up with a lite dinner- I had a crepe with potato and cheese. There were tomatoes on my plate and I was dismayed at not being able to eat them because I wasn´t sure that they had been washed and then I noticed that the skin had been removed- so I decided they would be okay- right?
Tomorrow we meet up with the tour so I may not be able to post for awhile. Everyone have a lovely and blessed Easter!

Peru, in a better mood

2009-04-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

I will first apologize for my typing on any blog posts in the future. This keyboard is not natural. I have not yet told you about my interesting last meal in Quito. We went to a lovely restaurant on the 13th floor of a building with an almost 360 view of Quito. It was quite awesome. I wanted to order something Ecuadorian and Allison recommended the Corvina so we asked the waiter which of the Corvina (a fish) dishes he recommended and he said the Corvina con salsa de mariscos (seafood sauce). Someone taught me that when you ask for a recommendation, it´s rude to not take it. So, I did. And I think it was probably the strangest meal I´ve ever ordered. It was good fish in a good sauce but it also had some strange things on it, I think one was a baby octopus.
Fast forward to today, I successfully met up with Claire and we made it to the hotel and went out to the Plaza de Armas which is fairly close to us. It´s really beautiful here but I didn{t take my camera because im a little unsure how safe it is but i wish i had because its just pretty cool. We each had a soup for dinner, i had a quenoa soup (oh where is Allison who can help me with all my spelling! And im fairly positive would not have allowed me to get ripped off by the taxi today) with vegetables and potato and cheese and split a rocoto relleno (im not sure about that spelling either) but its a spicy pepper with meat vegetables and cheese. Good dinner overlooking this ancient plaza and an awesome backdrop of moutains.
I have read not to stay out after dark here. But the sun did go down while we were eating out dinner. But being that it{s Good Friday, there was a parade and a mob of people crushing us. The parade included a Crucified Christ and i think people must have been throwing flowers. But i didn{t really get to see anything else. We were happy to make it back to the hotel safe and sound. And I was super happy to find a computer with free internet!
I want to congratulate my little sister on her art opening tonight and I wish I could have been there!

Peru

2009-04-10T15:01:00.001-07:00

We have made it to Peru. Having trouble getting money because all banks are closed because of Good Friday and the ATM gave us large bills. Got ripped off (over charged) by taxi. Welcome to Peru!

My last day in Quito

2009-04-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

So we had Sushi at Sake last night. Yes, again, I am eating non Ecuadorian food in Ecuador. It was some of the best sushi I have ever had- no offense to Caleb and Nate and Noa Noa. We had the spicy tuna, while not too spicy was still excellent. And we had one with white tuna (Ethel, I am so sorry you couldn't join us) that was tempura fried with cream cheese, avocado, and wrapped in a banana. In a peanut and soy sauce- it was amazing. But the best one was called the Volcano. It was tempura fried shrimp with avocado, lettuce, salmon, the usual rice and seaweed. And it was covered in a sweet honey soy sauce. But then they poured flaming alcohol over it. I'm realizing that this blog has become less about traveling and more about food!
Today we tried Pan de Yucca- bread made from the root of the Yucca plant, like the plant we use in landscaping- and mini bananas.
It's rainy and cloudy again today so I'm hoping for better weather when I head out for Peru tomorrow morning!
I am set to meet Claire, who I met in New Zealand, on our flight from Lima to Cusco. Then it's us on our own until Sunday at noon. I'm not sure what I would have done here without Allison so I'm hoping Claire has a better directional sense than me! I enjoyed Quito very much and now I am ready to start the next part of my adventure!

More time in Quito

2009-04-08T07:53:00.001-07:00

So yesterday morning it was cloudy once again so we decided to go the other Guayasamin museum, farther up on the hill, the chapel of man. It was pretty amazing also- huge paintings and it's at his house so you get to look around it a bit as well. Here's the website if you want to see some Guayasamin work. We went out for a traditional Ecuadorian lunch and the translation in the menu said that I was getting "Chicken Stew with Rice" (Seco de Pollo) but when it came it was this huge dish of like a fourth a chicken, a ton of rice, a tomato, potato and an avocado! And I had juice of tomate de arbol another fruit that we don't have anything similar to. Then we went to have pedicures! I used to think that I would never like such a thing, but I've discovered that I was very wrong. Then we came back to the apartment and took another afternoon nap/read. Allison and I decided to try our hand at cooking a traditional Ecuadorian meal Corn Sango with Shrimp. I will say that we did very well and it was excellent! I wrote down the recipe so maybe I'll make it at home sometime. They use this white corn here that is huge and all puffed up, that was the basis of the dish. We also tried baked tomates de arbol but alas, that was not so successful.

Today. . . you'll never guess. . . it was cloudy again! We went for breakfast at this little cafe and had cappuccinos- so I am not at a total loss here, I can still get coffee with lots of milk in it and we had humitas which are like a corn pudding (I thought it tasted like cornbread) wrapped in a corn husk. Carrie, a friend of Allison's had a tamale, and it's different from a mexican tamale, I'd say it was corn based also with meat and maybe some vegetables and wrapped in bananna leaves! We also had a Quimilito which was a sweet version of the humita and then we finished it up with chocolate cake! You have to try everything, right!?

We decided to try venturing out to the Mitad del Mundo- which is where you get to see the line of the Equator. But it's a bit tricky- there are two different places that claim this status. We went to the original one first. I guess the first people who tried to measure the earth claimed that the line was here. They have a huge sculpture and have marked the line and Allison named it the Disney World of Ecuador because it is very touristy. We took a few photos on the line and went into the Insectarium/bug museum where I let a giant beetle type thing set on my arm (not on my skin- no way- on my raincoat)- Ethel you would be proud. But then we went to the other place and I loved it! It's just 210 meters away from the original spot (so the old guys were pretty accurate) but this is the actual Equator as measured by GPS. They took you on a little tour and did little experiments to show you that you are on the Equator.
Which leads me to the learning section of the day, these are especially for Jason:
5 Ways to Know that You Are on the Equator
1. When you drain water in a sink, the water goes straight down and does not create the spiral that normally occurs. This can be demonstrated by placing little leaves in the water that kind of just stay where they are instead of getting sucked into the spiral.
2. An egg is easier to balance on a nailhead. I say easier because it was still impossible for me to do.
3. It becomes harder to walk in a straight line- making you look like you're drunk. Something about the two centrifugal forces of the earth coming together at the equator.
4. You weigh less and your resistance is less when exactly on the equator. I'm not sure that I understood why on this one.
5. And something about on a sundial on the solstices the dial creating no shadow for a period of time. This was very hard for him to demonstrate as there was no sun today.

We learned all sorts of things about the indigenous people of the area- how their houses were built, and about some of the animals in the area, which I would really not like to think about, but City Mouse he did describe how tarantulas will spring at you while you are taking their picture. And he told us about shrunken heads and really I never have considered that something that is real- but I guess it is, Gross. And I got to try shooting an arrow with a blow gun, and we saw some guinea pigs in a pen- because they eat them, and he talked to us a little about the plant life. A plant that looks like aloe vera but is bluer is what is used to make tequilla, who knew? And also he told us a little about burials and the indigenous people used to bury a person's family with them when they died, it may have just been the prominent people but they would give them this cactus juice that would cause them to hallucinate and then they'd put them in these giant vases and bury them alive. How terrible!
But I think that little place is my favorite so far in Quito. Our tour guide was fun and he spoke english so it was a good experience for me. We also got our passport stamped at both of the Equators so now I have some new stamps.

I tried some empanadas this afternoon, with cheese- excellent! And they flavor (with orange in this case) their soy milk which I also have found that I enjoy.

One note on the driving. I wouldn't make it one day. I really don't think they have rules and sometimes in the taxi I have to close my eyes. Our taxi driver was so nice today- he drove us all the way out to the Equators and waited for us for like two hours while we were there. And he wasn't mad at us or anything for making him wait. Good guy.

Country Mouse in Quito, Ecuador

2009-04-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

You may notice something alarming in the title here, "Country Mouse" and Quito. A bit bizarre, right? What is the country mouse doing in the city? Well I am following my dear friend and leader Allison in dodging cars, catching taxis, and trying out the local cuisine. So country mouse has arrived safely and has managed to not get hit by a car for two days.

I feel I must make a comment about air travel and how bizarre it is that we wander around in masses from one gate to another and although we know that we are being flocked down this tiny tunnel just to sit longer on an already longish flight most people rush and are in a hurry to get on the plane and then they're in a hurry get off the plane to stand in line at customs. We are odd creatures. I arrived after a great flight, despite the child behind me throwing tantrums and kicking my seat, to Allison waving roses at me. Flowers are a bit cheaper here in Quito and I saw some calla lilies at a flower stand today that were blue and green. And in another side note- calla lilies grow here. In the yards. Anyway, I am staying with Allison is this beautiful apartment with a beautiful view.

Sunday morning we went to the older part of the city and saw a Palm Sunday parade. People were carrying around these baskets made of fronds of some sort and in the parade, they were waving cornstalks and rosemary behind a statue of Jesus. And they were singing. I liked it. I also liked the architecture in this older part of the city. But alas, for safety reasons I did not bring my camera so no one will see any pictures of it. Just imagine in your minds, masses of people carrying and waving cornstalks and singing to God. Families and little kids.

Although it may be a little bizarre, I like that the streets here have an incline a lot of the time. Just visually it's something I like vs. the flat streets of Indiana. Walking up them is a bit challenging but. . . it's awesome to look back down the street and see the city laid out in a way you couldn't see a minute before.

Then we took a bus to the artist market- something like an art fair where they sold jewelry and textiles. I think it's good that I don't wear jewelry because I might be tempted to buy a lot here. Then we took a cab to Guapulo, I'm mainly including names here for Gretchen who is from Quito. If I understand correctly it's on the other side of the mountain and it's on very steep roads and has beautiful views. I guess last week sometime a plane failed to make the ascent back into the Quito airport and crashed into some buildings in Guapolo. We tried my first Ecuadorian meal, ceviche. I loved it. It's a soup made of citrus juice and oil, cilantro, onion, tomatoes and shrimp and topped with popcorn and plantain chips. It's served cold which alarmed me at first because I'm not so much a cold-food-that-should-be-hot type person but it was good. I guess sometimes the seafood is not even cooked beforehand but the citrus in the soup "cooks" it.
Then we went to the grocery store- inside the mall! Super maxi it's called. They have so many fruits here that we don't. And they're much smarter about the environment. Instead of doing the huge plastic containers for everything, they have smaller packages that are cheaper that you can use to refill the big things. And the milk and eggs are not refrigerated. The milk comes in cardboard containers.
Then we went to Corfu. I'm so sorry Gretchen to rub it in, but they have so many fruit flavors and it's just lovely! I tried a passionfruit flavored one. It just makes me wonder why we have so many sugar sweet flavors instead of these awesome fresh fruit flavors.
Then we watched some Fairie Tale Theater, Now I don't remember many of these little classics but they're pretty corny. Thumbelina. . . sister? Do you remember that one?
Then we went out for mexican. I think tonight we're going out for Indian- isn't it bizarre that I go to Ecuador and mainly eat international foods? I guess that's one of the benefits of living in a city. (Yes, country mouse did just imply that there were benefits to living in a city.)
I have to say that it's great to be in the spring weather. It's not really too hot- although I did burn a little yesterday, and it's not too cold. And everything is green and flowery. They never have winter or fall here, it's always this same springtime weather. The bad thing is that the clouds roll in in early afternoon and then it's rainy looking and dark. At least it's been that way for the past two days.
We watched Benjamin Button last night. It's not out on video, you might point out. . . but it is here!

Today, we went and had a breakfast of pastries and lattes at Cyrano. Sat outside. Really, breakfast should be savored more, instead of downing a bowl of cereal and running out the door. We went to the fruit market to pick out several weird fruits for me to try. More on that later.
Then we climbed another steep street hill to a Guayasamin museum. He was an artist and in addition to having his own works on display his collection of pre-columbian artifacts was also there. Quite a difference from museums in the States- the artwork and artifacts were just on the wall- not in glass cases, there was someone there wondering if you have any questions. In the States, people are just mainly there to yell at you if you get too close. And we could take pictures- not with a flash but normally if you want a picture of the artwork you have to pay for it. It was a refreshingly open little exhibit.
We set out to have a picnic lunch but the clouds rolled in so we ended up eating out picnic in the apartment. Here are the strange fruits we tried:
Pitahaya- an orange spikey fruit with a grey gel inside with little black seeds. This one was probably the best of the ones we tried.
Granilla- a harder exterior orange fruit with a brainy looking inside with what looked like sunflower seeds in tapioca.
Taxo- a long skinny fruit with squash like interior and it was not good.
Tuna- a green oblong fruit that was gellike with the seeds on the inside like the other fruits but it was harder to get the fruit.
Allison wasn't even sure about some of these fruits- how to eat them so maybe we're going about it the wrong way? Any advice Gretchen? I also tried Naranjilla juice today- you can get just pure fruit juice for like $1.50 and it's so good and refreshing. Then the grey clouds really rolled in which inspired naps and blogging.
I would like to say that I like Tobey, Allison's cat. He's just entertaining and pretty well behaved. I'm not saying I want a cat- just if I had to have a cat, I'd want it to be like him.
That's all for now, I know it's not as exciting as City Mouse's account of South America but just wait. . .
Also, here is Alison's blog so you can see her cool pictures of some of the fruit we tried and pictures of Quito and her apartment- they're back a few months but pretty cool. . .www.greycatadventures.blogspot.com

The Country Mouse goes to South America

2009-03-31T04:19:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned. . .

Where the wild things are

2009-03-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the jungle!! sister mouse and i have had a crazy cool past 4 days in the amazon jungle. on thursday we arrived at the office of Rainforest Expeditions at 7am...like they told me. when we arrived they said that they had called our hotel the night before and said we didnt need to be there till noon...did we get the message? clearly not. i was a bit irritated as you can imagine and went in the office to voice my frustration. they lady felt bad and tried to fix it by saying, `oh we can have stuffs for you to do until then...i will send you to see the snakes. wait..i no have a guide for you. oh well, maybe you just go by yourself.´

ok. im in the middle of the freaking amazon jungle...i´ve just pissed off some woman who is now going to send us by ourselve to a pit of snakes?????? wth!! i nervously laughed to myself as i go back and tell sister what mess i´ve gotten us in. she´s still groggy from the 5am wake up call and looks at me as if im crazy to go hiking in the jungle to a snake pit. but at this point im pretty bored, so what the heck, right?
as it turns out, the lady found someone who spoke some englis and took us there. it wasn´t at all wheat i thought i was getting into. we walked down a dirt road a bit to a little wildlife refuge. it had a pen of torises, and ocelot, and about 20 kinds of snakes in fish tanks, mostly boa constictors and anacondas. we learned about allt he different kind of snakes and then walked back...killing a half hour off out time. the rest of the time we just slept on the benched and ate popsicles. FINALLY the bus arrived with the others that were joining us.. we all loaded up on this crazy bus thing and headed down what was supposed to be a road...if you can call it that...for about 45 minutes. then we got out and climbed down the banks of the tambopata river, onto a boat, and headed down the river for an hour. they then pulled the boat up to the side of the river and we got out and hiked all the way up this steep bank of ancient wooden steps and another 20 minute hike through the jungle until we reached our lodge.

it was the coolest thing i have ever seen. there are no walla on the thing, just a series of connected cabanas. there was a hammock lounge, at main lobby, and the dining room. they met you with a cool wash cloth and a glass of freah sqeezed local fruit juice. it was amazing. they they assigned us a guide and showed us our room. the rooms were crazy too. it was set farther into the woods. and itlooked like a big bamboo hut that was sectioned into 4 or 5 individual rooms. no doors. no windows. no wall on the side that opens into the deep jungle. our room had 4 beds, each with there own canopy cover. and a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower.

after we got settled in, sister and i, our guide luis, and an older couple from south dakota jon and krista, went on our first expedition. we hiked through the woods for about 40 minutes to a canopy tower that was about 4 feet by 8 feet wide and 120 feet tall. you climbed around and around and around until you reached the top. at the top you were about the tree line and could over the entire jungle. from there luis set up a telescope and pointed out different kinds of birds and parrots and macaws for us to see. it was so beautiful up there.

later we hiked back to the lodge and got ready for dinner. oh yeah, i completely forgot... on our first bus rid to the river they gave us a small woven basked full of snaks made by the local indigenous tribe, the Infierno people. ther were finger bananas, brazil nuts and banana chips. there was also so fresh squeezed juice from a local fruit. it was amazing. sister mouse still hasnt stopped talking about the banana chipss. then on the boat ride they gave us lunch, which was the coolest thing ever. they passed us these large banana leaves that were wrapped up and tied with a natural twine.. i opened it to find warm fried rice. when we finished eating you just tossed the banana leaft into the river. it was all sustainable and biodegradeable and made from local produce. it was awesome!!!!!!!!!

i can´t remember what we had for dinner the first night. but as we were waiting for dinner to begin, i went in the dining room lounge and there was a guy sitting by himself so i sat down and intorduced myself. he was a super cool guy. his name is brad and he is 32, and he is from brisbane, australia. (and, by the way, he´s a redhead.) he had been traveling through south america for the last 2 months, and was at the end of his journy and on his way to visit NYC for the first time, before heading home. after dinner we sat and talked until the place was empty and it was time to turn out the lights. you see, there is no electricity in our cabins, only kerosene lamps and they get turned out at 930. so i bid him farewell because he was leaving the next morning and headed to my room, where sister mouse was already passed out under her mosquito net. in bed by 930. that´s a new one for me. but it was ok, because our wake up call was 4am! i slept really well, and surprizingly the sounds of the jungle were quite peaceful at night. plus it is pitch black and you cant see a bloody thing. so good luck trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...i hope you have a flashlight. or radar.

at 4am, we were awoken, got dressed and headed to the dining room to have breakfast and head out. our first expedition was to a nearby lake called oxbow lake. it was a 20 minute boat ride down the river and another half hour hike throught the jungle to get there. it was sister and i, jon and krista, and peruvian couple who didnt speak much english, and our guild and another guy. we got on a small makeshift catamaran and headed out onto the lake. it was so beautiful and peaceful so early in the morning. the mist was rising off the water and there were birds flying about in the brush. were looked at wild life for awhile, and we did the most awesome thing i have ever done. we went pirahna fishing. the guides gave us the bamboo poles and we baited them with raw meat and put it in the water. i think gramps would be really proud of me. i had some mad fishing skills going on. i caught 3 pirahnas and one sardine. sister caught some kind of flying fish. when i hooked the first pirahna, luis took it off my hook, held its by its body between his fingers, grabbed a leaf, and put it to the pirahnas mouth. it instantly clamped down and bit off the leaf!! luis pulled back the pirahnas lower lip and revealed the crazy sharp teeth. then he handed me the darn thing and let me hold it. it was amazing! after we used up all the meat we went around the lake looking for the giant river otter. we didnt get to see any, so we headed back toe the lodge for our next adventure. it was about 9am at this point and starting to get pretty hot.

next, luis walked us for about 30 minutes to a clay lick where macaws and parrots gather. it was kind of uneventful because it was so hot and the birds stayed up in the tres. we did get to see some, but after a while we hiked back. oh yeah, on the way there luis, who is amazing, by the way...he will walk throuht the jungle, then stop and point out an animal or something that i would have never noticed. we saw poisonpoud toads, snails, bugs, birds, lots of monkeys, capybarras, a tree sloth, more birds, more monkeys, a wild turkey, and my favorite (NOT), a HUGE FREAKING TARANTULA: luis stops us on the path, grabs a long sick with a leaf on the end, lickes it, looks at me and tells me not to move a muscle, and sticks it in a hole at my feet. out comes the biggest trantula i have ever seen. i think i wet myself. but i did not move. mostly out of sheer terror. to say that i am not a spider person is an unserstatment. this thing was twice the size of my hand. it came out biting on the twig luis stuck down there, and it we moved it would go back in. then he´d make it come out again. i would freeze up again. sister would try and take pictures but couldnt get her camera to work and kept telling luis to bring it out again. i was about to killer her beacuse i couldnt take it any more. finnally she got a damn picture, the thing went back into its nest, and i scurried away.

we went back, had lunch, and had a nice afternoon siesta. then that evening we took the boat down the river to see the local shaman. this was really cool. he would tell us about all these different plants, and how to make different medicines with them and what they were good for. they had a plant that gave you energy, he called it the Red Bull of the jungle. they had a plant that made a love potion, one for arthritis, one for parkinsons disease, and ever one that was a natural viagra! after the hike and learning about all these things, we got to go inside his laboratory and we could try some of the medicines he had made. you could try cat´s claw (for strss), the one that gave you energy, or para para (the viagra one. sister tried the energy one. i decided to try the cats claw. it tasted pretty gross. i cant believe i´m in the middle of the amazon jungle drinking some medicinal comcoction made by a shaman. crazy! you could actually buy some of his medicines. i tried to buy the Love Potion No. 9 (no kidding) but i didnt have enought soles on me. oh well... guess i´ll have to just depend on my charm.

we headed back, had dnner and then went to bed. that night i was woken up by a ruckus in our room. i´m still not too sure what the heck was in there, but something was. sister heard it too. but i wasnt about to reach out from under my netting to get my flashlight to find out. some things are better just left unknown. we also ahd a ton of bats in our room that night. they were freaking loud too. cant a girl just get some sleep in the jungle please!

in the morning we got up, had breakfast, and headed onour journey back. when we got to yhr puerto maldonado airport, we checked out bags and waited about 1.5 hours for our flight to lima. as were were getting ready to board, low and behold, who do we see but my aussie friend from the jungle. he was on our flight to lima.

when we arrive in lima yesterday afternoon, we grabbed a bite with the aussie, and our couch surfing host came and met us at the airport. brads flight didnt leave till midnight, so the 4 of us sat in the airport for about 6 hours just talking. it was a ton of fun. then we bid farewell to him once more and headed back to helenas place to change and go out to a disco. she decked us out in her clothes and jewelry, stoped and picked us a canadian friend of hers, and went dancing at this really trendy latin club. it was tons of fun. we danced all night, until about 3 am, then went back to helenas to crash.

that brings us up to now. sister and i are going to go out and explore lima some more today. then this evening there is a big couch curfing get together, that we are going to with helena. then we fly out tonight at midnight and we will get home sometime tomorrow evening.

this trip had been absolutly amazing. never have i met so many kind people. mever have i done such a diverse amount of things all in one country. every single day had been chock full of crazy goodness. i love peru. a piece of my heart stays here now too.

see you at home..a little more rugged...but happily so,
City Mouse (i´ll bring sister mouse too...i think she misses her husband!...)

p.s. i want to say a special thank you to sister mouse. she had been the most wonderful travel partner. i dont think i have ever laughed so much everyday when i wake up, than i do around her. she is amazing. you should all travel somewhere with her. i look forward to our next adventure together! xoxo

ciao.

the joy is in the journey...?

2009-03-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

on tuesday we finally got to go to machu picchu. there are 2 ways of getting there: you can hike the inka trail for 3-4 days, or you can take the train up from cusco. due to time restraints we took option b. our original plan was to go up on monday, spend the night in the nearby town, aguas calientes, and go back up tuesday morning and finish seing the thing. since the roads were closed monday, we only had the option of doing the whole thing in one day (this is also known as `God has other plans for you´). so it goes a little something like this: 4-5 hour train ride to aguas calientes. get put into a group. (ours was White Pedro). separate by english or spanish. get corralled onto a bus with the other 200 people there. take the crazy bus 30 mins up to the top along roads the drop right off the edge of the mountain. get out of bus. find your White Pedro group. try and keep from kicking the crazy serbian man in the shins because he is super annoying and acts like he knows everything. enter into monument. climb all the way up to the entrance gate. step through and look down upon the ancient inca machu picchu.

all in all it was cool. i learned alot. we got to walk through the whole thing. the guide was very informative. with the exception of crazy serbian man, White Pedro got along well. it was really beautiful. and WAY SMALLER than i had expected it to be. we got through the whole thing in 2 hours. therefor, i am glad we didnt end up spending the night and going through it for a second day. the pictures are gorgeous....i cant wait to post them. and sister mouse made a really good point.... she said she was glad we didnt do the hike, because if she had hike for 4 days and this was what waited for us at the top, she probably would have been disappointed. i agreed with her. i think for the inka trail hike, the joy would definitly be in the journey, not the destination.

you dont come to peru and not go to machu picchu. but looking back, its by far not the coolest thing we´ve done. however, i am so thankful we got to go...i was a little worried the other day that we had gotten so close and we wouldnt be able to go.

this morning (wed. march 4th), we left cusco, a breezy 50 degrees...hopped on another plane..and 30 minutes later stepped off it in puerto maldonado in 90+ degree heat. what the heck. we are staying the night at this cute little cabana inn in town and tomorrow we head into the jungle for three days to stay at and ecolodge and research center. so you wont be hearing from us for a few days but stay tuned.... good things are to come...i´m sure of it!

xoxo,
The Jungle Mice

p.s. in honor of my friend, scott, i would just like to point out that today is my favorite day of the year.

March 4th.
It´s a date.
It´s a command.
It´s generally just good advice.
Come in like a lion...go out any way you want.
March forth, my friends, March 4th.

new contest!!

2009-03-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

whoever leaves us the most comments by the time we return wins an awesome peruvian present. game on.

its a small world after all....

2009-03-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

for the last two and a half days we have been in cusco. its a really cool city. we were supposed to be couchsurfing with this nice guy named wilman but since i was not feeling well we decided for everyones sake we would go to a hostal. sister mouse went on a tour of the sacred valley yesterday, while i stayed in bed and tried to get rid of this migrain. today i feel much better though. since cusco is built into the side of the mountain we decided to go to the top and shop our way down. it was so much fun. we had no idea where we were going so we always took the direction of down. we stopped at a delicious cafe for lunch. popped into part of a catholic mass. and as darkness fell and we decided we should probably hail a cab and go back to our hostal, we looked up and low and behold...it was in front of us! it is a small world after all. and God does a good job of keeping an eye on us.

originally we were supposed to go up to machu picchu this morning but there was some kind of strike going on and the roads were closed. so we have a minor change of plans, we are going up early tomorrow and coming back late tomorrow night. our couch surfing host arranged everything for us and is picking us up at 6am. on wednesday we fly to puerto maldonado and prepare for our jungle adventure. there sure is a wide variety of things to do in this counrty!

Notes of importance so far:
1. with the exception of some nicer restaurants and shops nobody takes credit cards.
2. to make things more complicated, not everyone always accepts the national currency of Nueve Sols. sometimes they only take american dollars. so its hard to figure out how much sols you need and how much dollars.
3. everything here is incredibly cheap. you would not begin to believe how much you can get for 1 sol (0.31).
4. the peruvian people are very short. most dont come above my shoulder. and therefor my feet hang off the end of all the beds about a foot.
5. these have been the kindest most helpful people i have ever met. every single person we have met has bent over backwards to help us. peru wins the ¨nicest¨ award
6. cuy is on every menu. cuy is guinea pig. its named after the sound it makes (probably whiles its being roasted over an open fire..) still havent eaten it...not planning on it...
7. sister mouse loves her some llamas.
8. there is an unbelieveable amount of stuff to do in this country!
9. my spanish is getting a little better, however i wish i would have learned more before i came.
10. we miss and love you guys.

xoxo,
the (soon to be) queens of the jungle!

climb every mountain... part3

2009-03-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

where did i last leave off...oh yeah, sister mouse and i were hopping a flight to puno, peru (near the coast of bolivia) at 4 am. damn, the lima airport is busy at 4am! we were go to puno to do an eco-tourism journey on lake titicaca. at the last minute i realized that i had not given our information to our tour guide on where to pick us up at, so at 3am i shot him an email letting him know when our flight was arriving (in a city about 45 mins away.) then we jumped on a plane and started praying that it would work out, because neither of us had any way to contact the other. as we walked off the tarmack at the juliaca airport i saw this cute little old man holding up a sign that said NICOLE MOORE. i breathed a sigh of relief and thanks the Lord for, once again, seeing me through. these are the parts of life i love the most.

we hopped in a van-thing and scooted toward puno. victor, our host, and owned of the company we booked the tour through talked to me all the way about the history of the area and what we would be doing. victor is a rockstar. he reminded me alot of my grandpa ray. he knew everything there was to know about the indigenous people of the area. we were kinda late, so we ended up with our own privat tour and our guide john. john was the best! he was 23 and grew up on one of hte islands we would be visiting.

we arrived in puno, dropped off our big packs at the tavel office, and only took what we needed for the night. then they wisked us down to the pier and popped us on a boat. lake titicaca (i know, i know, funny name. get over it.) is absolutly stunning. it is the hioghest nagigatable lake in the world and borders boliva.

after about a 45min ride we arrived at out first destination, The Floating Islands of Uros. Dude, this place is CRAZY!! there are about 60 islands and they make them out of reeds, so they are literally floating on the water. it was so weird to get out an walk on them. each island has between 2-16 families who live there and each island has a pricipal elder or president. the principàl elder of our islad greeted us at our boat and showed us how thay make the islands and how they make their boats out of the same reeds. he also let us go inside their house. and he gave us a ride on one of his reed boats. all the islands have a community kitchen, and one even has a primary school. it was crazy! the island people also made lots of hanidcrafts so we got to buy some goodies from them. tourism is their main source of income, so it was a bit cheesy unless you focused on how amazing the place was.

after that we hopped back on our boat and took a 2.5 hour ride to the Island of Amantani, where we would be staying with a local family for the night. its a good sized island, and once we arrived we were greeted by all the host families and assigned to one. Sister mouse, john, and i were hosted by mario and sylvia. they dont speak english, and only a little spanish. their native languae was quechua. but since john grew up there, he was a great translator for us. we went back to sylvias house and she shoed us our room. it was nice, basic, 2 beads, very clean. the bathroom was downstairs and sister mouse got to discover that you have to add water to the toilet tank to get it to flush. they fed us lunch , just about hte time the altitude sickness hit sister and she vomited all over their house. twice. after she was feeling better, we went down to the primary school and worked with the kids teaching them english. i had the table of ten 4 to 8 year olds. and sister had the 9 to 13 year olds. by the end of our time there i had lost all the interest of the kids at my table and they were now over in the corner laughing and saying something in quechua abouyt me. sister mouse on the other hand, had her table speaking fluant english and signing all kinds of songs in english. so kids aren´t my thing...

that evening we were to climb to the highest peak of the island Pachamama. it is carnival time here and there was a big celebration happening. 40 minute walk, john said. i don´t know what it is about johns and making me climb mountains but SERIOUSLY. this place made the black forrest hike a walk in the park!! it was at about a 70 degree incline, and lets not forget we are over 13,000 mile above the sea, so ther is NO oxygen. seriously i could feel everyone of my organs shutting down. i took us over 2 hours to get to the top. the party was long over by the time we got up there. we passed everyone coming down. 3 little boys approached me as i sat to catch my breath and i let them paint my face with chalk for carnival. it was pretty funny. by the time weapproached the top the lake was glassy calm and stained red by the setting sun. as we rested at the top the rains came in as night fell and as sister, john and i began our decent down in the dark, with just my tiny flshlight to guide us, we both agreed there was nowhere else in the world we would rather be....

we made it down much quicked than going up, went back to our host family for dinner, where it was my turn to get sick. mine in the form of the worst headache i have had in a long time. i ended up skipping dinner and going to bed. that night while i was sleeping the island threw a fiesta and dressed the visitos up in traditional Amantani clothing. i awoke to sylvia decking out my sister in a killer outfit! sister and john went to the fiesta and danced and i passed out and prayed for death.

when morning came, we ate breakfast with our family, then it was off to another island, Taquile. it was so sad to say goodbye to sylvia and mario. they were soooo sweet to us. as we were boarding our boat sylvia kept giving us kisses on our cheeks. sylvia was the best. we love you sylvia.

an hour later we arrived at Taquile island. we were only there for part of the afternoon. it is absolutly gorgeous. we ate at a small home restaurant overlook the main square and en joyed the towns people as the marched around playing musical instruments for carnival. then back to our boat and back to puno.

once we got back to puno, victor helped us find a place to stay that night and arrange for your bus ticked to cusco the next day. our little hotel was nice. we met up with a girl from holland, sonne, that we me on our boat and we all had dinner together. then back to our room for a HOT much needed shower, and to bed. tomorrow we leave for cusco.... stay tuned....

xoxo, the mice who are now so freah and so clean!

what´s red and white and red all over?

2009-02-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

answer: the two mice who decided to vacation near the equator and not put on sunscreen!

people, we are a couple of crispy-fried mice!! but OH MY SOUL we are having such an amazing time!! after my last post on wednesday, we walked around lima and checked out a few places our host, helena, recommended. we walked around the miraflores neighborhood, which is extremely gorgeous. we walked along the ocean for miles. there were some great parks. one was called the ¨love park¨ because of the giant sculpture in the middles of two people making out. apparently that set the tone for everyone else because EVERYBODY was making out. sister mouse and i were the only people not sucking face with someone!! we also got the check out this cool ancient ruin in the middle of the city called huaca pucllana. we stopped at this street side taco stand and grabbed a delicious lunch before meeting up with our host, helena. she wanted to show us all her favorite parts of lima. we has such an amazingly great time with her. she is absolutly the best. in fact, we like her so much that no matter what state her apartment is in, we are going to stay with her the last two days of our trip. one of my favorite things we did in lima was ride on the CRAZY city buses. they are these tiny little buses that a person hangs off the side and yells where the bus is going to. and about 25 too many people are crammed on, and they are driven by crazy drivers, and i think it is wonderful! also everything is soooo cheap here. ours meal cost usually between $2 and $4 dollars. i love it!!
at sunset we walked to a park in a nearby neighborhood, barranco, and it was packed with people everywhere. it is carnival time here so the whole country is in one big party! we got some kind of strange and delicious dessert at an outdoor cart in the park. it was a mixture of two kinds of sweet rice, and some jam-like stuff made from purple corn with chunks of fruit in it. it was pretty tasty. Then we met up with one of helenas friends from couch surfing, Enco. he picked us up in his car and we went down to the beach. there was a restaurant on the ocean that had outdoor seating so we sat out there and helena and enco ordered us some tradional peruvian food they wanted us to try. potatos, corn (that is about 30 times bigger than our corn), and steak on skewers. there was fried cheese in corn tortilla, some kind of delicious chicken, and inca cola. helena and enco kept asking us what we thought of the beef. it was good, we said. do you know what it is, they said? Cow heart. yup. we ate cow heart. good thing i didn´t know before i ate! it tasted fine though. we walked along the beace for a bit after dinner, then enco took us back to helenas place. helena and i got dressed to go out and sister mouse decided to skip the club and sleep (given that we hadnt gotten much the night before). secretly i think she likes sleeping there with that mangy pooch (however, at some point during the night sister mouse must have tamed the wild beast because he didnt bother her too much). so helena and i headed out to meet some of her friend at a disco. it was a huge club and there were tons of people there from all over the world. apparently there was this really well-know peruvian band playing that night that played modern kumbia music (a kind of latin dance music). oh my soul we had so much fun! when we got to the club we greeted everyone in our group. (when you greet people in peru, you kiss them on the cheek). so i started kissing everybody with our group. helena grabs my arm and says, ¨you can stop kissing everybody now. you have already kissed everyone i know and now you are kissing people i dont know.¨ so i am a friendly american. what can you do... well we danced and danced and danced until about 2am, then we went back to her house to wake sister mouse, pack our bags and head out for our next destination. i had mentioned that we had changed plans in the last post, but we decided to change them back, so we had to catch a 4am flight to a town called puno. in my next post i will tell you about the amazing adventuire we had in puno, but for now i MUST SHOWER because we are pretty ripe by this point. anyways, ciao!
city and sister.

p.s. i only had one comment left from our last post. how do we know if you guys are reading this if you dont comment. if we dont have at least 5 comments before our next post we arent going to leave any more. yup, that´s a threat.

bugs and bathwater

2009-02-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

hola mi amigos y amigas!
city mouse and sister mouse have safely (as far as we can tell) arrived in lima. i`m not going to going to much detail here, because the computer i am typing on is a piece of caca from the spanish inquisition and it`s making me say cuss words.... however, we got in late last night. the flight from miami to lima was intersting.... sister mouse and i did not get to sit together. she got to set next to a cool guy named teddy who gave her lots of good travel suggestions...i got to set next to a strange peruvian woman with BAD gas and behind an american couple who were apparently on their honeymoon which they decided to start on the plane. i was about ready to tell themto cut it out or cut me in! we into the lima airport about 11pm, got our luggage,andtried (unsuccessfully) to negotiate with a cab driver a reasonable fare (according to instructionsof our host, Helena. I finally gave upand paid his price because i figured at least we were safe. i took forever to find our hosts house, but the taxi ride was an adventure for sure!! i got to see parts of the city in the middle of the night that i dont think i would want to see in the day. our host helena is great! she is so sweet and is very very helpful! her apartment however, is another story... lets just say it`s rough. (jessica, this place makes shoebilly inn look like a 4 star resort!) i can not describe it in justice, nor do i want to freak anyone out, becase we are safe!!, but i did take photos... i will post them later. also, sister mouse got the pleasure of sleeping with helenas little mangy pooch (that she has lovingly named psycho-dog), while he bit/licked/sniffed/yapped/gnawed on her all night! all you could hear all night was helena yelling, ^Jesus Christos, Poochy!!^ I had the priviledge? of sleeping on a couch that some french guy just slept on out in the ?living room?... hmmmmm....i`m glad i stold that fleece blanket from the airplane!!! that`s all i`m going to say about that! if you need an explanation on the `bugs and bathwater` title, you will have to ask sister mouse about her experience this morning.... weare now out exploring lima. we are meeting up with helena later for lunch and she is taking us out to a disco tonight top celebrate Carnival. tonight we are switching up our plans and hopping on a night bus to Ariquipa for a couple of days. all is well here! this place is so interesting and cheap!! take care,all. leave us messages so we know what you are up to. love love love, (and YES MOMS, we are being safe.)
City and Sister
(we smell kinda bad today)

Heading south....

2009-02-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

as i may have mentioned, I am heading to Peru tomorrow. before you ever start (matt), NOT peru, indiana. peru, south america...just to clear up any confusion. I am definitly blessed to be able to head out into the world so soon after my last adventure, this past oct./nov. i would like to thank everyone who makes my life possible: the academy, my family who hold down the fort while i'm gone and deal with all the false emergencies, and my awesome girls, kayla, lauren, tammy, and bev, who run my store for me while i am running around the amazon jungle. so thank you. i will bring you all peruvian presents.

on this installment of "traveling city-mouse-style" i will be joined by my dear friend and former roommate, stephanie moore compson. for this blogging journey she will be referred to as "sister mouse" because before she got married, her last name was also moore, so i refer to her in present-day-time as my sister. i want to give a shout-out to her husband, lee, for letting me kidnap her for two weeks. we will bring you back a nice peruvian present too.

a little synopsis of our upcoming journey... traveling around the capital city of lima; navigating the worlds highest elevated lake, lake titicaca, on the border of peru and bolivia; staying with a local indigenous family and working on their farm; couch surfing in cusco; hiking through macchu picchu; staying at an ecolodge on the mountain top, taking a peruvian cooking class; possibly paso horseback riding across the sacred valley; and a three day excursion to an ecolodge into the amazon jungle, participating in canopy walks, caimen sighting, night jungle hikes, piranha fishing, kayaking into the mano bioshere, parrots, monkeys, snakes, and sleeping in a treefort under a mosquito net. it sounds a bit "survivorish" but i think it will be incredible!i cannot begin to imagine what the next two weeks have in store for us. sister mouse, i hope you're ready for this!! game on.

city mouse

Sights and Sounds of Vienna

2008-10-31T01:27:00.000-07:00

It is morning and we are getting ready to depart the beautiful city of Vienna, my favorite city thus far....very historical.....very rich in culture.....we visited museums, ate würstel, and shared some really fantastic times with our local hosts.

Time does not permit me to try to recall all of the German names for the various sites u see below....that, and the fact that it is morning and i am still a bit groggy.....so, i am just going to post a few pics here....the others in the pictures are our wonderful, hospitable hosts, Wouter and Isabella....they are awesome as!

Notes of Importance...so far

2008-10-31T00:44:00.000-07:00

1. These countries have GREAT food. I don't think we'Ve had anything yet that we have not liked.
2. However, bread is eaten at EVERY meal. And for 2 of those it is the main course. One of our hosts said that the only diet that exists here is that you just cut out bread.
3. Counrty Mouse you will appreciate this one: The restrooms here have been far superior to any other counrty I have been in... including alot of public restooms in US. There are also some interesting restooms. There is one at the Vienna Opera House that starts playing this rush of opera music when you enter the stall. There was one co-ed one, with a couple of stalls and a common wash area. And my favorite, a public toilette, costing .50, that you paid to the bathroom attendant (a man) and he escorted you to your stall. weird.
4. Matt Moore, you would love it here, all they eat is meat, potatoes, and bread.
5. I can drink beer!!! here's the lowdown. I only like dark beers, and i think i prefer wheat beers (however i will have to do some more research...)
6. I really like Vienna, however it is the most difficult to navigate city I have ever been in! Subway system is very easy to figure out....streets are a bitch!
7. Couch surfing has proven to be the superior way to travel! (unless you don't enjoy cool people and great conversation, and learning, and laughing, and saving money.)
8. MV's threshold for hanging out with me is 4 days. :-)
9. If you want to go to Berlin from Vienna, book your train ticket several days in advance or else you will be going back to Munich...which is fine too!
10. I miss you guys!
CM

Ch. 3 Friends and Family

2008-10-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening, Oct. 26, 2008 to Tues. afternoon, Oct. 28, 2008
Trostburg, Germany, Bavaria Region (and various local towns)

Sunday evening Mv and I met up with my dear friend, Ansgar. I met Ansgar when he was attending Purdue, and roommates with the lovely Sarah and Gabe Grant.

We took the train from Munich to Trostburg, where Ansgars family lives and stayed with them for the next 2 nights. Ansgar showed us all around the area around Trostburg. He took us to some really beautiful churches and monistaries. We had some great traditional Bavarian food. We took a ferryboat to and island on a local lake, Lake Chiemsee. It is the second largest lake in Germany. We had a really great time hanging out with him. Even though Ansgar himself hadn't really lived in Trostburg that long (because he'd been away at college), he was so knowledgable about the history of the area...and pretty much everything else he talked about. Ansgar is a cool dude. You would like him. He family was also really great, and very welcoming. When we arrived we sat down for a late sncak and visited with his dad, Joseph, his mom, Irmgardt (sp?), and his younger brother, Martin.
They were great. They made us feel right at home. They immediatly pulled out a selection of local beers for us to try (is anyone sensing a pattern here...). The Bohmanns reminded me so much of Gabe's family, espescially their beautiful house, and gorgeous yard and garden, as well as their conversation. Mrs. Bohmann has a great collection of art as well, which I particularly fancied. All in all it was a great Bavarian countryside experience, with a good friend. Denke Bohmanns!! It was good times!

Stuffed with great Bavarian food,
City Mouse

Freiburg - Black Forrest - Heidegger Hütte

2008-10-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

Our couchsurfing hosts had a wall with paper that they used to express their art....cool, huh?....so since City Mouse is an artist, she painted a picture while I was out on the porch sharing a joint that had far more tobacco than anything else....below is a picture with our cool Freiburg host Stefan....also the Black Forrest and our hike to find Heidegger`s Hut - colorful, eh???....other than that, there are pics of the city.

Ch. 2 Never Again

2008-10-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008
Dachau Concentration Camp
Dachau, Germany, near Munich

Wow. There just are no words right now for this. The best I can come up with is 'haunting'. I have thought about this over and over, and there is jsut no way for me to describe this experience. I am going to give you the link to MV's blog. I think he captured it as eloquently as possible.

http://theosproject.blogspot.com/2008/10/dachau.html

There were a few main things that really affected me. 1.The torture the Nazis inflicted on the prisoners was beyond comprehension. Especially the human experiements, as well as a thing they called pole hanging. For punishment they would tie the prisoners wrists behind their backs, then hang them from thier wrists from a hook in the ceiling for several hours while they would beat them. 2. This place was huge. It was originally constructed to hold 6000 prisoners and ended up housing 40,000. There was not enough food, so people basically starved to death.
But what really captured my heart was the expression that these prisoners were able to survive with the solidarity and brotherly love of each other. They kept each other going. Even though it is hard for me to understand why one would want to.

It is hard to understand how something like this could have happened. But as the memorial states insife the camp, NEVER AGAIN.

In memory of all who had suffered there,
CM

Das essen - Sampling some local bavarian cuisine

2008-10-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

The food has been gut thus far.

Together with our friend Ansgar, we ate at a beautiful restaurant overlooking Germany's second largest lakes. In the background were the Alps. What a view! Das ist gut!

City Mouse ordered a pumpkin soup (temporarily satisfying here recent pumpkin fetish) and I had a Bavarian Mushroom soup. Both were excellent. Very flavorful. My soup was served with a large dumpling.

For our main courses, City Mouse had a turkey dish and I had a sampling of assorted meats. We washed it all down with a local Bavarian beer (bier). Unfortunately, we had no time for dessert, b/c we had to get going...the daylight was burning away and we had yet to catch the boat out to a little island on the lake. But this resaurant (with a rather pricey bill!) was traditional Bavarian food--and well worth it!

We sampled another traditional Bavarian restaurant. The meat we ate was Braten, with Semmelknödel (a breaded dumpling), Kartoffelknödel (potato), and of course a local German beer from the local brewery (Wochinger Urtrunk). Once again, no dessert--had to rush to the train station to catch the next ride to Vienna!
MV

Ch. 1 Footnotes

2008-10-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

After we left Freiberg Saturday evening we took the train to Munich (4.5 hrs) where we were met by our next host, Florian. Since we arrived at 11:30pm we did not get to spend too much time with him, but we did get to sit and visit with him that night. Florian is a 3rd year med student in Munich. He lives in a huge house with his brother. He is very tall. He is very cute. MV suspects I am up to something, only choosing cute guys to host us, so I owe him a cute girl. We will see about that. Anyway, Florian was a great guy. I enjoyed our conversations with him. He drew us a map and gave us some good suggestions on what to see and where to eat. I wish we could have spent more time with him.

Ultimatly we never quite made it to Munich (city center). The closest we got was underground. We ended up spending most of the day at Dachau. I am sad I missed Munich. I guess I will just have to come back.
CM

Ch. 1 Climb Every Mountain

2008-10-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Friday, Oct. 24 - Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008
Freiberg, Germany and the Black Forrest

Well we arived successfully in one piece. The flight was great. Meadow Vole (MV) was smart and slept while City Mouse (CM) was excitable and watched Indian movies the whole time and paid for it later. We arrived in Frankfort at about 7:45 am and hopped on a train to Freiberg which is located in southwest Germany (almost to the borders of France and Switzerland) in the Black Forrest. We were starving once we got off the train in Freiberg so we walked a bit until we found a deli/bakery. Freiberg is nice. It is a college town. And it seems to be quite progressive in terms of environmental awareness and attitude, compared to the US...come to think of it ALL of Germany so far has blown me away with how integrated being environmentally concious is. Note to the US: YOU REALLY HAVE TO STEP IT UP. All the trash bins are separated into 4 parts for different kinds of of recycling. EVERYONE rides bikes and the towns and cities seem to be very well planned around that. Everybody recycles. It's very refreshing.

After lunch we called our host, Stefan, and he met at the train station and we walked back to his place. (For those of you who don't know, MV and I are CouchSurfing through our trip. For more information go to www.couchsurfing.com and learn all about it. It is an amazing organization!) We ended up dropping off our bags at Stefan's place and roaming the city. Stefan gave us some suggestions of wheat to see so we set out on our day's journey. Here's the basic breakdown: He suggested a local mountain to climb, called Schlossberg..I think...(I have trouble remembering). And also because MV and I have vowed to "eat our way through Germany" MV was on the hunt for some good bratwurst. Stefan suggested a place, and friends, can I say that we spent 4 freaking hours walking around looking for sausage. Do you think we could find any?!?! NO. On top of that I got us completely lost and we walked about 30 minutes in the completely wrong direction. After that MV was self appointed as the Prime Minister of Directional Information. I am not allowed to have any more input. After we had given up on the "Great Sausage Hunt", we settled again for yet another delicious soft pretzel and a variety of pasteries. Germans sure do like their carbs! Finally we headded off to climb the mountain, because there you are able to look out over Freiberg as well as see the Alps. First, we couldn't find the path. MV said it was one way, I found another, so we went with my path. So we started to climb up this very steep and narrow plath deep in the woods. OH MY SOUL, I was quite unprepared on how it was going to be to climb to the top of this mountain (which I'm sure is just a large hill, but for my purposes it is a FREAKING HUGE MOUNTAIN). Finally, I sent MV ahead because I figured my fate was to die of exhaustion on the side of this mountain. Eventually we made it to a landing where I stopped to enjoy the beautiful sunset over the city, and MV climbed higher up to the top of a tower on the peak. As I was on the landing and woman walked by me pushing a baby stroller! So I followed after her a bit. And guess what I found....A FREAKING ELEVATOR! Again, Prime Miniter of Directions has no business taking my advice. I clearly have no idea how to function properly.

After that we walked back to Stefan's flat where he put together a dinner party for us with his flatmates and some friends. Can I just say right now that this was one of the greatest experiences I have had with people. Stefan and his roomates were so kind and generous! He is from Germany, and lives with two girls, Alicia, from Poland, and Elnaz, from Iran. They were so wonderful to us. Also there were some of their friends, Christoph and Jon (pronounced Yon), and Benjamin, all German. We had the most fantastic time with all of them. the cooked us a shrim scampie pasta dish, with salad and really delicious beets. The also got a sample of some local beers for us to try. We sat around the kitchen table for hours visiting and learning about each other.

It was really spectacular. The said that they were so impressed with us. That we seemed so much more open minded than they thought Americans were. They told us that they thing we are more European than American. They asked us alot about politics. Apparently the US presidential race is heavily covered over here. They also had this cool wall covered in paper for people to make artwork, so I did a little painting for them. And Stefan was so great. He spent the day getting us the information and train schdules we needed for our adventure the nest day. None of it would have happened without his gracious help. So raise your glasses and toast to my friends, Stefan, Alicia, Elnaz, Christoph, Jon, and Benjamin. Is it possible to love people you only know for a short time and are so sad to leave? Yes it is.

Saturday we got up and headed out on an adventure that MV was the mastermind behind.... you see MV is interested in the writings of German philosopher, Martin Heidegger. Apparently the house he did some of his more prolific writings is located deep in the hills of the Black Forrest. And friends, we ste out ot find that hut. I will make this short. We took a bus from Freiberg to Trodtnauberg (sp?). We got off. We walks to the Information center to get a map, (apparently Heidegger's Hut is not a big tourist draw). and we started out. First we climbed up this huge hill, then we climbed this other huge, steep hill. Then we climbed up some more hills. Then I lost all feeling in the lower half of my body. After that we climbed up this really steep mountainside. Then we climbed up another steep road going up this mountain. At this point I am pretty sure that I am going to die here on this mountain side, so I started making out my will. However my brain got numb and I stopped being able to think. Finally we reached a path with some indication of his hut. so we alked along this mountain top dirt road (at an incline, of course) till we found a dirt path leading into the woods. Fortuantly this path goes straight down. We come to shat we think is an electic fence. We find out it is not. We open the gate and walk through. We climb straight down this steep hill ot another "non-electric" electric fence that said something resembling PRIVATE. I opened the freaking thing and went on through, because lets face it...when did a DO NOT ENTER sign ever stop me? Finally we arrived at this little boarded up house, way up on the mountain top overlooking this gorgeous valley below and off into the distance you could see the Alps. We sat in the grass, nest to the hut, busted out some fruit that we bought at the market in the town, and a pretzel we had gotten at a bakery that morning and had lunch. It was not Cliffs of Mohr, but stunning none the less. I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. Mostly for not dying.

After that we caught the bus (the wrong bus) and eventually made it back to Freiberg, picked up our bags and headed off to Munich. Black Forrest, I bid you farewell. You were lovely, but your shining star was definitly the night we spent with Stefan and gang.

City Mouse (aka "I have blisters on every one of my toes" Mouse)

2008-10-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Mouse and Vole have arrived! I have lots to tell you but we have a train to catch to munich so stay tuned.....

2008-10-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

Friends, it's that time again.... time for adventuresome red-headed mice everywhere to jump the pond to the magical land we call Europe. Specifically Germany and Austria. Alas, Country Mouse will not be joining City Mouse (CM) for this journey (for she will be joing her zimmer-mice in the land we call Kentucky.) But have no fear, we have a new traveling companion along for this wanderlust installment. May I introduce to you my dear friend, Jon.

Jon is a great guy. Jon is a smart guy. An intellectual some might say. (did I spell that right?)... anyhoo... Jon writes a great blog, check it out, it will make you smarter: http://theosproject.blogspot.com/

In keeping with the "rodent theme" of this travel blog I needed to assign Jon an alias. He requested to be the Dirty Rat, but it just doesn't suit him. As is often the case, NPR came to my rescue. I heard an interesting clip on what is know as the Meadow Vole. (Here is the link, in case you want to follow my reasoning: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94194990) . Good stuff, that NPR. SO, from this point forward Jon is no longer know as Jon, only as the Meadow Vole (MV).

It is now 1am. we are leaving in 9.5 hours and counting...both City Mouse and Meadow Vole have yet to start packing...and someone, (cough, aaron) thought it would be a good idea to do tequila shots tonight. I hope MV is in better shape than me right now.

So with that, I say Auf Wiedersehen. See you on the other side of the world....City Mouse

New Zealand Recap on Nov. 27

2007-11-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

Wednesday Nov. 21
Nelson Lakes Area hiking
So we all woke up pretty stiff and sore after our first day of backpacking. This is where I would like to thank God for snow in the mountains. If there had been no snow in the moutains we would have had to hike up and over the mountain- with our backpacks. Since there was snow and we couldn't get to the second hut we JUST went out hiking for 9 hours up half of a mountain- Ange thought 13 to 14 miles with our daypacks.- mine consisted of two cameras, rain coat, fleece, two bottles of water and lunch.
It was beautiful I'll admit. There were 8 of us hiking plus the two guides. I was at the tail end of a group of 5- we were called the "National Geographic group" since we went a bit slower and took a lot of photos- Christina, Patty, Valerie, Me and Ange. But at the end of the day, I had no energy for photos, I was only trying to survive!
It was gorgeous- mountains, streams, waterfalls, trees. We drank water from the mountain streams. We crossed several streams/rivers where the water would go over the waterproof boots. At the end of the day I actually poured water out of my boots. Poured it. And then squeezed water out of my socks. And now I have really awful nasty blisters on my heels. But at the end of the day it was still awesome. Lots of good memories. We crossed a swing bridge that only allowed for one person at a time. Again that night we were in the hut with a different group of New Zealand girls. And again the food was amazing just by the virtue of being food.

Thursday Nov. 22
We hiked out around the other side of the lake with our backpacks- a 4 hour hike I beleive. I actually took a shower in a campground shower- not something I would normally do because I'm picky about my showers but after 2 days of hiking and no showers, it was necessary. So anyway, we met up with the kayakers and drove for a few hours to Charleston and had fish and chips- yumyum. And I had a organic fruit juice that was amazing. So we headed to the west coast and stoped in Punakiki. That evening we went out on the beach and watched the sunset. The weather here has been awesome the whole time. So great. The only time it rained we were in Bert (the bus) so it didn't matter at all.
On the beach we found a dead shark, a dead cow (go figure) and a dried starfish.

Friday Nov. 23
Started the day with some pancakes. We hiked through the Punakiki in the rain forest. River crossing first thing. Gorgeous ferns, fern trees, streams. We stopped at a river for a stone skipping contest. Patty and I got way behind taking so many photos. We meander through the forest- not hike. After "hiking" for maybe 3-4 hours we went to see the pancake rocks which are these stacks of roacks that look like they're layered. Pretty cool. I had a latte here and I think they believe in a lot of foam in New Zealand because I had to eat it with a spoon. I made my first souveniour purchase here -"The Whale Rider" book. I love the movie. Then we went on to Hokitika where there are a lot of craftsman that carve jade. It was pretty. Then we traveled on to Okarito. Population 35. The rooms were so artsy with nice stones and photos everywhere. Awesome dinner again with Morrocan chicken with dates, couscous and salad. You'll notice that I do write about food a lot- because I love to eat!

Saturday Nov. 24
Breakfast Burritos! Then kayaking on the Okarito lagoon. It was very calm and flat when we started- the water a gray color. You navigate through the lagoon going around these tall skiny sticks and then into a chanel that goes into the rainforest. We saw a few birds. As we came back out of the lagoon, the sun had come out but it was also very windy- a lot of work. The water turned a nice blue color and it was all pretty but Patty and I ran out of steam and had to have the the kayaking guide bring us back in. I felt like we were moving backwards- paddling as hard ad we could! That afternoon we had free to do what we wanted so Paul (his wife is Joy) and I went ice wall climbing! It was awesome. It's like the climbing wall at the Y except covered in ice and you use two ice axes and crampons on your boots. You have to swing the axes into the wall and then shove the front of your boot in the wall and move up that way. It was great. Ange did it too. Then when we got back to Okarito I went for a solitary walk on the coast. It was a sandy and rocky coast so I got to see lots of nice textured rocks with mollusks on them. And I sat out on a rock on the beach and wrote in my journal. Trying to think if I'd ever walked on an ocean beach by myself like that before. . . it was nice- no destination, no pressing time limit. Ahhh. Just time to be.
We had thanksgiving dinner that night ( a day late)- lamb, parsnips, potatoes, asparagus, pumpkin, yams. I'm liking trying all the new food. I still don't like yams though. Or mussells.
Just a side note on Okarito- there are only 4 or 5 children there. With two expecting. They have to take their kids 20 minutes away to a small school were there are two classes- one for junior and one for senior (I'm not sure of the ages) 40 kids in the whole school with two teachers. One of the teachers is also the principal. The mother we talked to isn't sure what she's going to do when her son is high school aged because there isn't a high school around there. They may move.
It's just amazing all this beautiful country and it's so remote. The beaches are empty.

Sunday Nov. 25th
We hiked several hours up to the terminal face of a glacier today! A glacier. Franz Josef. It is formed in a valley with water running out from it in a tunnel. We had a picnic in front of it. It was kind of dirty looking. I guess the glaciers in New Zealand are actually advancing instead of receeding. Waterfalls all over the place. We made a few scenic spots during the day and then stayed in Makarora. Also a population in the 30s. The place we stayed was called "The Homestead" they were raising deer, sheep, chickens etc. There was a 2 week old lamb running around the place and a baby goat testing out his legs. Another gorgeous mountain view. We hung out that evening at the local pub. And a few of our group sang some karoke. Played some ping pong.

Monday Nov. 26th and Tuesday Nov. 27th
I'm getting kind of tired of typing so the descriptions are getting a bit short but just know it's all been beautiful and awesome. The people are great. We're all getting along really well.
We went for a hike yesterday morning up a mountain to see a view of Lake Wanaka and Lake something else. Then we drove on to Queenstown. We were free for the afternoon to do what we wanted and I obviously wrote on here. Tried some shopping. I wanted to get a bunch of gifts but everything is either a $100 or a bunch of crap. I'm still working on it for the rest of the afternoon. Had some good ole Thai food for dinner last night followed by some wine with Valerie and Patty. Now I'm headed out in search of some Sushi. I kind of like rambling about on my own. No one can get annoyed with how long I take!

I may not be in again so I'll see you next week!

New Zealand Update Monday Nov. 26th

2007-11-25T19:33:00.000-08:00

So, where to begin really. . .
Saturday Nov. 17-18
The flights went well. The first flight I talked to a guy for several hours and then we watched the move No Reservations together. . . I had quite a good time with him. Seth. Anyway, after that 5 hour flight I had not much of a wait in California (I already forget which city I flew out of, I think it was San Francisco) and off to Auckland North Island New Zeland. The flight was 12-13 hours and I slept almost the entire time. Except for eating, so it was really not bad. I never read a bit of my Stephanie Plum novel! So then a short flight from the North Island to the South and it all went well.
So as for our group. . . I'm with Active New Zealand. We have 11 Americans, 2 Brits, and 2 Germans. Sometimes the Brits are harder to understand than the Germans! We also have two guides, Richie and Ange. Our trip is the Rimu if you want to check it out at www.activenewzealand.com

Monday, Nov. 19th
It's been a week that we've been traveling around together. . . I'm not sure if I can remember everything that happend that far back. . . well we started out with a short drive from the airport to a coastal spot where we had a little picnic- and most of our lunch meals are like that, just outside in front of something really beautiful and scenic.
Then we stopped off at our accomadations and got ready for some snorkeling!!! in wetsuits. It was ice cold water. But imagine this amazing beautiful moutain and then the ocean in front of it and then you get in the water and swim around in it a bit. I shot my whole underwater camera- we saw some seals and picked up an octopus out of the water and we ate two things right out of the sea- kina and paua I think. Not two things I really want to have again. I touched a lot of seaweed. Then that evening we stayed in this little Bed and Breakfast right in front of a mountain and a little creek. Had wine and milled about getting to know one another.

Tuesday, Nov. 20th
The next morning we headed along the East Coast north to Blenheim and a winery where we got to taste a few wines. I wanted to buy a case and ship it home but alas it was $100 just to ship 6 bottles. No wine for Christmas. . . sorry everyone. Forest Estate Winery I think it was called. We learned about the grapes and how if there is a threat of frost helicopters will actually come in to fan warm air down on the grapes. Like herds of helicopters. I'm learning all sorts of useless interesting info like that! Then we split into two groups kayakers and hikers. I was a hiker.
So we headed out with out backpacks to the Nelson Lakes National Park-Lake Rotoiti I believe. A lake infront of moutains again- so we went from this gorgeous coastal region to a beautiful mountainous vineyard region to an alpine lake area. Really I don't know how to express how beautiful it is all over- Just wait till I bring my moutain of film back then you can see for yourselves. . . back to the hiking. This is where it gets a bit embarassing . . . We had a three hour hike in- with our backpacks mind you and I immediately fell behind. I mean, it's partly because I was taking pictures but also partly because I'm not in shape. And most of the other people are runners- triatheletes actually. But Patty was also a bit slower so we met up and walked in together. Stuck our feet in the lake. . . ahhhh. Patty is from Georgia, she is 54- 4 kids I think. And she left her husband at home because he was too busy working. She is an artist and does airbrushing. So, we walked to Lake Head Hut. No electricity, no flushing toliets. . . But man food eaten after hiking never tasted so good!
We eat a lot of veggies here so I'm probably a lot healthier this few weeks than I ever have been before. I've decided I like hummus and real fruit drinks. And they have these little round cracker/chip type things that are fabulous.
So also staying in the hut, which consists of a kitchen, a table and a bunch of bunks all in one big room, was a group of teenage girls. They taught us the game of slaps, and we tried a Tim Tam Slam- which is a choclate cookie wafer that can be used to suck up hot chocolate- Milos is what they're called here. It was all quite primitive and a bit disgusting when you have a bunch of very sweaty people that can't shower but we still had a great time. . .

That's all for now. I think I've been on this computer for an hour. . . I need some very fresh windy windy air and a bit of shopping.

New Zealand Nov. 23rd

2007-11-22T19:12:00.000-08:00

Holy cow I'm in New Zealand!!!!!

city mouse synopsis Day 5 "our last day..."

2007-10-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

well today (10/16) was our last full day of our trip. we started out with a fabulous traditional irish breakfast at the b&b. dolores, our host, said the breakfast included waffles so we were really excited. alas, they were just potatos (again) disguised as waffles. good thing country mouse didn't put syrup all over them. then we walked into galway to the little pedestrian street with all the pubs and shops to do a little shopping...
**side note: this is the same place we came to last night to have dinner and go to a pub. after blogging we were walking around the pubs trying to find one with good music (about 10 pm) and some grub. we found one that looked promising so we headed toward it when a group of irish guys stopped us and said, "you don't want to go in there." "why not?" we said. "a red-headed american girl in an irish pub? you'll get eaten alive..." said the irishman. "WHAT???" we said. we never did figure out what they were talking about. or how they knew we were american.
anyway, we found another pub called The Queys (pronounced Keys) and went it. an awesome irish band was playing traditional music so we bellied up to the bar and ordered.....yes, you guessed it: a guiness. and friends, the statement i am about to make is true: we drank it. all of it. (granted it was only a 1/2 pint and we shared it, but we did it.) a very proud accomplishment in my book of life.
after breaking the bank we headed out of town to the Connemarra, a national park. we drove along hte coastal road and stopped randomly to take pictures. at one point we stopped along this rocky beach and i did a little temporary art installation in the sand. then we headed inland and drove toward the mountain ranges. at one point we turned the bend and there was the beautiful old abbey. there were lots of lakes, and sheep dotting the mountiansides, and, at points, the roadside. then as were were driving down this stretch of road there was a shepherd with a flock of sheep, about 150 or so, just marching down the road toward us! it was seriously the coolest thing ever. and i got a video of it!! (i will try and post that too, however that requires me trying to figure out how to work my computer...) we finally started heading back across the counrty at about 7pm and made pretty good time. we arrived in dublin a little after 10 but got lost (big shocker) trying to find were our hotel was AND to make matters worse our gas light was on. which was pretty much stressing me out becasue i kept having visions of us being stranded along the side of the road and not having a clue where we were... we pulled off at an exit to get gas and as it turns out it was really a blessing that we stopped because we had already gone too far and didn't know it. finally wer got turned around and eventually found our hotel.

the flight home went smoothly and we arrived in one piece (or minus a piece in my case), with lots of goodies, a million memories, a couple more stamps in our passports, and a rejuvinated spirit.

it was one hell of a trip counrty mouse. thanks for making it so memorable!

stay tuned for pictures to be posted, and more information on our next adventure: 2 Mice in Peru, coming this spring.

peace and blessings, city mouse

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Five

2007-10-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Notes of Importance:
1. When the sign says "To let" it is not a sign for the toilet with the i missing. By the way, the toilets in Ireland are superb compared to the ones in Italy.
2. I got a hat with ear flaps and mittens today. It'll go with my scarf made from the yarn I bought in Florence. I'm very happy with that.
3. My two favorite men in Ireland were #1 the man at the winery and #2 the bartender at the Quays Bar. City Mouse says it's because they gave me alcohol but I say its because they were friendly and funny.
4. The City Mouse made it to the speed limit and exceeded it for the first time today. Yes friends, Nicole Moore can drive below the speed limit. . . at least in Ireland.
5. When you see a great photograph worthy scene and you rapidly back up to shoot it, take heed of the large cement curb behind you and maybe don't run your rental car into it. All was well however, no visual damage.
6. In Ireland, the sheep roam the mountainsides and roadsides. They are spray painted with pink and blue dots. While you are looking at one sheep off to the side of the road, there may be a whole flock coming up the road toward your car. Make sure to test your bakes before heading out.
7. I've heard more American pop music in Ireland than I've heard in the U.S. for the past year. Even some music my sister would be proud of. I heard the new Maroon 5 and Avril Lavine songs for the first time and I really liked Hey there Delilah, which is now the theme song of our trip because we heard it so often.
8. So as in Ennis and Galway we got lost on our way back into Dublin. We were also out of gas. Don't ever run out of gas when you have no idea where you are or where the next gas station is- it'll give you an ulcer. Thank God for the lady who we probably scared to death at 10:00p.m. outside her apartment building who gave us directions. Because really, what were we going to do if we ran out? Call dad and ask him to bring some? No phone, dark, no idea where to go- that would have sucked.
9. So I'm super glad I made sure I had camera insurance before I left because right during the awesome sheep flocking toward our car experience my lens stopped working. No joke, the one time during the trip I was taking a picture of action instead of scenery and my camera won't work. So I missed most of it. Had a little panic attack for awhile while I thought it was the whole camera but discovered it was just the Autofocus function and if I press on the lens while taking a picture it'll still shoot, just not focus. (When I got home my dad told me that insurance doesn't cover things like the camera just breaking, so I guess it still sucks that my lens doesn't work.)
10. We ran across this beautiful Abbey today, on the side of a mountain and beside a lake. . . it just appeared all of a sudden. The Connemara (I'm not sure that I'm spelling it right, but it's a national park on the west side of Ireland) was beautiful, mountains and rocks and sheep. I think Ireland is absolutely gorgeous.

city mouse day 4 (monday) a.k.a "A 2 Rainbow Holiday"

2007-10-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

ok, today was pretty much a top-notch awesome day. we started out having breakfast at our b&b on the farm (which by the way i didn;t get off to a good start with the lady who ran it because apparently we were supposed to arrive by 6 sharp, although she never told me that there was any specific arrival time, and because there is nothing resembling a street sign in the whole of ireland we did, indeed get lost and we didn;t find it until 9:30. sooo sorry miss joan quinn. i didn;t mean to ruin you life by being 3 .5 hours late. anyways...) it was raining this morning and i have photos of country mouse trying to jump out the window. actually i have a video of it. hmmm...i smell a YouTube. then we drove south to bunratty and went to a winery. had some delicious Mead--honeywine- and then headed back into the town of ennis to check it out. then the sun came out and so did country mouses sunny disposition so we headed out to the atlantic coast to the cliffs of mohr (pronounced 'moore'). on the way we stopped in a little village at a grocery store and got stuff for a picnic. the cliffs were incredible. you hike up to the viewing area. just off to the side of the tourism center was a path leading around the top edge of the cliffs and a rather large sign that said RESTRICTED AREA. of course we went on it. you could walk along these narrow paths along the edge of the cliff which was about 640 ft. above the ocean. completely terrifying and absolutely amazing. it was really windy but we found a little grassy spot off the path and had our picnic. yes folks, country and i had lunch today upon a cliff overlooking the atlantic ocean...what did you do for lunch today? we watched a storm come in off the sea, then we climbed another cliff up to a castle. stunning. as soon as the weather broke there was a beautiful rainbow. (the second of our trip! we saw one on us30 on the way to chicago.) after that we took the coast route along the ocean, stopping along the way if we saw something cool to take pictures of, i.e. a graveyard, rocky cliffs, beaches, sheep, horses.... we arrived this evening in galway, a college town and we are about to hit a pub that was recommended by our very very kind b&b owner, bernard. (i'd like to give a shout out to bernard who drove into town tonight to pick us up when we couldn't find where the heck he was located. again, ireland has something against roadsigns and street signs...) today was a glorious adventure!
Praise God for his beautiful work, city mouse

p.s. things i've learned on this trip:

1. I LOVE DRIVING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!! and i pretty much rock at it.
2. i love roundabouts. i wish we had them more in the US.
3. i'm pretty sure country mouse has narcolepsy. the girl can fall asleep anywhere...in a pub..in a shop...in the car passing the most beautiful scenery ever...she could probably fall asleep standing on one leg while getting a root canal.

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Four

2007-10-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Notes of Importance:
1. Today was the best day yet! Give Country Mouse the outdoors, some cliffs, ocean waves, fresh air, blue skies (even if they're just occasional), green grass, a picnic, an apple tart, wine, sheep, graveyards, coastal roads, stone walls and a bit of rain (the bit part is important) and she is a happy girl.

2. Top day of film shooting with 9 rolls and the day's not over yet folks!

3. No matter how hard you try, you can not get sheep to move where you want them. . . you can take pictures before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast, hanging out the window and as you're leaving but still. . . it'll either be raining or the sheep will be too far away. But I still like sheep.

4. Wine. Wine will always make the day better. Even if it's raining and you're drinking it before 11:00 a.m the sun will come out and the rain will dry up. Irish moonshine however cannot be considered good by anyone. (Although I hope Ryan Lemon likes it)

5. What better place in the world could there be to have a picnic of cheese, tomatoes, turkey, bread, Club Pomengranate, and apple pie than the Cliffs of Moher? No where. Even though you're half afraid the whole time that you're going to blow off.

6. I ate a piece of cheese today the size of texas. And half of an apple pie.

7. So when you see a wall of rain coming toward you across the ocean and you're standing on cliffs 640ft. high what do you do? You take more pictures of course!

8. When getting directions from an Irish Man in Friar Tuck's fast food joint, make sure he knows which church you need directions from and what side of the church you're located on or you might end up in Lissycassie instead of at your Bed and Breakfast. And your Bed and Breakfast lady might not like you very well if you show up at 9:30 p.m.

9. We have seen two rainbows on our trip. One on the way to the airport and one today at the Cliffs of Moher. So awesome. Had to decide between taking 20 more pictures of the cliffs or turning around and taking some of the rainbow. Doesn't that imply something about a pot of gold?

10. Bernard. Nice man. Again, we could not find the bed and breakfast and he drove to find us and lead us in. Of course, no regular person could find his bed and breakfast with the directions given us- only an Irishman could. Because once again I will point out that the Irish do not believe in road signs.

Now we're off to try the Guiness again- but with some black currant syrup. Hope all of you are well. Country Mouse.

city mouse day 3 (sunday)

2007-10-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

today was a day of little victories. little vicory #1: getting the car out of the rental place with out killing anyone. we were clearly having some struggles but the car rental guy was nice enough to get in, drive us across the way to a gas station to get us started and walk back to his office. all in all the driving went quite well. l.v.#2: we didn't get lost trying to get out of the city. l.v.#3: we have many random and fun off-road excursions ( didn't go off the road, we just stopped wherever we felt like along the way.) i think the radio stations here kinda stink. they only play abba, phil collins, the eagles, and elton john over and over again. only one time did i forget that i was supposed to be ont he other side of the road...we were pulling over for a car to pass us and i pulled off to the right. he gave us the crappiest stare and i couldn't figure out why...duh. lots else happened but my internet time will soon run out so i will save the stories for later. tonight we are in Ennis which is completely cool. oh yeah, almost forgot... some old gentleman at lunch today asked me if summer was my daughter. now i'm depressed.

peace and blessings, city mouse

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Three

2007-10-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Notes of Importance:
1. Road Rules: Driving etiquette is different in Ireland. Apparently you just pull out in front of people and they don't seem to mind, there are no left or right turns just round-abouts, there are no road signs and cars take turns going down narrow roads and even when you're driving down the wrong side of a narrow street people don't honk- they just look at you funny.
2. Traffic Calming = Split Lanes (we think), Loose Chippings= Gravel, Diversion = Detour (this one was somewhat important)
3. Country mouse has to agree with City Mouse that it is only by the grace of God that we made it across the country today. I don't know how many times I was a bit confused on the direction we should go and then everything worked out alright.
4. The Mice want to give a shout out to mom Z because she is the only one emailing them.
5. Country Mouse likes potatoes, but she doesn't want to eat any for a few weeks after she returns home.
6. Country Mouse thinks her grandma must be Irish because she likes to eat like the Irish.
7. Apparently Country Mouse looks 12. This is in no way an insult to City Mouse who is not her mother.
8. Ireland has crazy skies like the skies over Winona Lake before a storm. And purple moutains. And sheep. And cool stone fences. And really soft green grass. And castles and cool stone structures all over.
9. Taking pictures in a graveyard should by no means be considered by anyone as creepy.
10. Country Mouse has irregular shaped ears because she cannot seem to fit earplugs in them.

city mouse synopsis day 2

2007-10-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

apparently i snored AND talked in my sleep last night so counrty mouse got no shut-eye and had to sustain herself with lattes today. we've been going for a long time today. breakfast at the hotel was awesome. wierd, but awesome. went to trinity college, saw lots of cool churches, more shopping, and spent an unnatural amount of time at the Guiness Brewery (shipe, i did this for you). i even tried a beer. well, if you mean by "tried"- smelled a beer and made a face, then i did that. counrty mouse actuall drank about 1/4 inch of hers. i was impressed. tonight we have reservations at a fancy place with live irish dancing and music. all in all a good day. *and bonus, i didn't loose any more teeth. (or any other body parts for that matter.)
love, city mouse

p.s. temporary oral surgery (done on myself since counrty mouse whimped out) went pretty well. next time any of you need some inexpensive dental work done, give me a call.

Country Mouse Synopsis Day Two

2007-10-13T10:18:00.001-07:00

Notes of Importance:
1. Country Mouse does not like Guiness- not even in Ireland and no matter how hard she tried.
2. Country Mouse will admit that city mouse was right when recommending that the credit card company be called before using the card in another country.
3. Baked Beans for breakfast?
4. Country Mouse learned a lot about the Book of Kells and Guiness today. Hmmm. I am now well rounded.
5. Country Mouse loves European breakfast Lattes. Ahhhh.
6. The Dublin Castle is not red (inside joke).
7. Country Mouse does not like crowds. Especially when she is trying to educate herself about the Book of Kells, scribes, pigments, and vellum. . .
8. European mustard is spicy.
9. The Irish must like Avril Lavine and the Police.
10. Country mouse is ready for the country.

Love, The Country Mouse

Country Mouse Synopsis Day One

2007-10-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Notes of importance:
1. City mouse's tooth fell out
2. Europeans do not sweeten their lattes- even if they're called Sugar Daddy Latte
3. I love shopping with money that looks like play money (Euros)
4. Brent Wilcoxson should look into flower markets in the Village. I'm sure European women get more flowers than American women.
5. Ireland is gray.
6. Country mouse should drink more coffee because city mouse just caught country mouse sleeping -on film-in a store while city mouse was shopping.
7. Country mouse is very sorry but she left all of Aaron's recommendations in the car- she was trying to save space by elminating two sheets of paper.
8. Country mouse's father will be very proud- her checked baggage only weighed 19.5 lbs. (See no. 7)
9. I love potatoes.
10. Country mouse (and city mouse) is looking forward to trying a Guiness tomorrow at the brewery.

Love to you all (And congrats to Priscilla)- Country Mouse
PS. Country mouse hates city traffic and lots of people. But Dublin is still cool.

city mouse synopsis of day 1

2007-10-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

unusally quick plane trip with yummy food. love the accents! love the redheads!

so countrty mouse and i had lunch this afternoon at a pub in temple bar... as she was enjoying her potato and leak soup and i my fish and chips, i bit into what i thought was a fish bone....as it turns out my tooth cracked in half and fell out! i am not joking. seriously folks i am walking around dublin with half a tooth on the top side. it's rediculous. after a quick trip to the pharmacy i am now the proud owner of a do-it-yourself-temporary-crown/cavity-filler-kit. and this evening country mouse will be performing a little do-it-yourself-oral-surgery. wish us luck. all in all we are haveing a great time. a lovely lovely day.

much love, city mouse (a.k.a. toothless).

hello from across the sea...

2007-10-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

to our moms,

we have arrived safely.

love, the mice