Still Here!

I finished week 2 of spanish school and am still a major beginner...but I have some basis now. This coming week, I am sort of "taking a vacation" - going to Lake Atitlan with 2 friends and then to Xela (Quetzeltenango) to check it out and also meet up with Rafman! He was my most recent / last boss I had a Lehman. I am really excited to see him and his family. Rafman has always been encouraging to me exploring my interests and we always have long conversations about world issues and random things.

From Guatemala

As for my paper - I encountered an organization called As Green As It Gets (per a lead from Eric!). I went and helped them out last week and tomorrow I am going to interview the founder, Franklin, to get more official info for my paper. As Green As It Gets works with local coffee farmers to process, market and sell their coffee at real prices (not the crap prices they get offered by larger farms). Check them out.

After my "vacation" next week, I am going to volunteer for 2 weeks at another collective of coffee farmers, IJATZ. This will be really interesting/hilarious because it is Guatemalan-run and I will be on the only native English-speaker there. But I want to dive in - its probably the only chance I have to improve my skills in so short a time.

From Guatemala

Yes, if you saw my facebook, I had quite a time hiking Pacaya, an active volcano. OMG. 2 hour hike, rain, thunder, lightning, flowing lava, pitch black, holding two walking sticks and my backpack, steep climb through volcanic rock, etc. There is no way in hell you would be allowed to do this in the States. You'd be lucky if they let you stand at the base. Seeing the lava was really cool though, once I realized I'd survived. If I may impart a true by cheesy metaphor - I realized that the worst thing to do when hiking upward is to look up - its totally demotivating. Much better to focus on what's in front of you and just keep ploughing.

From Guatemala

From Guatemala

~~~ shout out to sarah and mark - congrats on the little one on the way!! ~~~~

Status in Guatemala

In Antigua - Week one complete.

I have been taking 4 hours of spanish lesson each day, one on one with Cesar, mi maestro. It is *tough* learning a language from scratch. The first few days I didnt know enough basic words or grammar to say much (although I got by fine with english). It's weird not even being able to say "can I have" "what is that", "that is good" "where is" etc. I am realizing how much French I actually know, ie, vocab and how to make sentences with approximately correct grammar. It's just that I just never got to put my French knowledge into practice. When I open my mouth I keep defaultingto French phrases. My brain seems to equate "speak foreign language" to "speak french." Without thinking I respond with "oui", "c'est bon" "et" "ici" "il y a", etc.

From Guatemala

I plan to take another week of class and in the meantime I am:

(1) working on papers for my Sustainability class. Between that and studying Spanish, my day is quite packed, as is my brain.

(2) looking for volunteer opportunities for August

I am enjoying the social scene here - ex-pats and travelers always make for an interesting bunch. Being a school atmosphere, you also get some more serious types. I've made good friends with a girl from my homestay, Eng. Homestay is not great so we are moving to a new house next week.

I had a great first 4 days with Eric (NY friend), his brother Evan and his girlfriend Betsy. We partied it up on Guatemala City and Antigua and were lucky enough to be able to hang out with his extended family who are locals. They know the areas AND speak Spanish! :)

From Guatemala

Guatemala

I am going to Guatemala tomorrow for 6 weeks, maybe including other countries. We shall see! I wanted to learn more about sustainable agriculture in central america and the effects of US policy decisions on agriculture there. That is the topic of the paper I am writing for me class. Should be interesting! Hopefully I will find some good contacts on this topic while I am there because I havent had much luck getting in touch with anyone in advance. Well, worst case its another good vacation / travel experience :)

Ciao!

The Complete Packing List

Packing info that may come in handy for you or my future self.

I like to organize things by function / frequency of use, because I am that sort of crazy. But its worth the effort when you are living out of a bag.

Toiletry bag #1 - meds:
- Tylenol/Advil
- Pepto and Tums (also put a roll in my daypack)
- Tylenol PMs or Nyquil (emergency sleep aids)
- Bandaids, moleskin (for blisters), gauze, Neosporin
- Mosquito-killing arsenal: repellent with 35% DEET (small), repellent with less or no DEET (larger size), cortizone for bug bites, bug spray for clothes and mosquito nets
- Tampons, backup (hard to find there)
- Nail clippers and nail file
- Laundry detergent, small package (for emergency sock washing)
- Emergen-C or vitamin / hangover cure of choice

Toiletry bag #2 - regular toiletries:
- Your basic toiletries (deodorant, lotion, toothbrush, hair brush, hair bands, etc).
- All purpose liquid soap (camping stores) is nice to have, for hands, backup body wash, washing water bottle, etc

Toiletry bag #3 - shower stuff:
- I separate shower stuff into a separate water resistant bag for easy transport to showers.

In a ziploc or other bag, kept in a handy spot - electronic stuff:
- AC Adaptor
- backup batteries for anything requiring them (flashlight)
- chargers for camera, etc, as needed
- More memory cards for your camera
- Flashdrive, potentially useful

In a handy part of your bag, like the outside or top pocket - general purpose items:
- Iodine (for purifying water...this is the first time I am bringing this, for Central America)
- Travel / quick-dry towel
- Silk sack sleeping "bag" (can buy there ...nice-to-have but not necessary)
- Plastic bags of all sizes
- Padlock for zipping bag shut or for lockers (I rarely use, but always bring)
- Mini roll of toilet paper and/or tissue packs
- Swiss army knife with bottle opener
- Flashlight or headlamp (great for places with no electricity, but I dont have one)
- Sunblock (better to bring from US)
- Extra pens
- Extra books and notebooks (I had trouble finding good books to swap in Asia)
- Playing cards (learn rules to games! well I never do, but it would be useful)
- Water-proof jacket and/or poncho
- Mini umbrella? (nice-to-have but not necessary)
- Water-proof cover for your bag? (nice-to-have but not necessary)

Day pack / purse:
- Passport (for initial flight day, but then I usually keep at the hotel front desk)
- Tissues (which double as TP in times of need)
- Anti-bacterial hand stuff (dont forget to remove before flying)
- Tums (they are a cure-all, im convinced)
- Mini sunblock is nice to have if you come across it, rather than carrying a huge bottle (remove before flight)
- Camera! and related equipment
- Lonely Planet
- Notebook (small/thin, nothing heavy)
- Pens
- Bandana or scarf useful for covering up or random towel use
- Ipod? (I brought mine to Asia and it was useful but I am not bringing it to Central America. I am more worried about crime there and I will be on less long bus trips, and there for a shorter time, etc. Plus I have a lot to read)
- Water bottle? (buying water in plastic bottles is unavoidable but in asia enough places offered filtered water refulls that I think its worth bringing)
- Phone? (unlocked that can take a foreign SIM card. Used mine in Asia but decided to rent a phone in Central America)

Organized into a few packing cubes* - clothes:
- Bottoms - a combination of the following not to exceed approx 6 pieces :) Lighteight pants (potentially the ones that convert to capris), pair of jeans, capris, shorts (less socially acceptable in many developing countries), a jersey skirt and/or sundress for night time or bathing suit cover, comfy pants/capris for sleep or yoga
- Tops: a few tshirts (I may pick up some quick-dry ones), 1 tank top for layering or westernized beaches (not really socially acceptable to wear otherwise), 1 long sleeve shirt, one fleece, one light-weight hoodie (for hoodie addicts)
- for completeness - underwear, sports bras, socks
* packing cubes rock

Floaters:
- Shoes: hiking shoes or running shoes, flip flops for shower and walking, more sturdy walking sandals
- Mesh bag (not a big regular sized ones) for dirty clothes
- Copy of your passport (keep somewhere in your bag)
- Extra cash and extra credit card (keep somewhere in your bag. Good for when (1) you lose you wallet in Italy and need a way to eat or (2) get stuck in a small town with no ATM and need to exchange your stash for local money at a sad exchange rate).
- Cheap watch which can double as an alarm clock

Other to-do:
- Call credit cards re. international travel
- See if a visa is required for any countries
- Check for special vaccinations needed
- Make a list of important phone numbers if you arent bringing your cell phone

SUSTAINABILITY...

It's becoming quite a trendy word.

I am taking a class this summer called Comparative Sustainability Practices in Local/Global Settings. It's an online class through UCLA. I am going to plan some more traveling for my final project (more on that soon). In the meantime, we get to read and write a few short papers on a variety of topics: Transportation, Food, Waste, Economics, etc.

I've found a few interesting tidbits to share...

- What is your ecological footprint? Apparently we need 4 earths to sustain my habits....geez and I dont even have a car!
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

- Fish no-nos. It seems like these days most people are relatively aware of the fact that they should eat less meat, even though most people also dont do anything about it. But another detrimental problem is overfishing, and this seems to be more ignored. Did you know we shouldnt ever be eating Chilean Seabass? At least as of last year, this fish is on almost every restaurant menu in NY. And what about sushi? Cheap & Healthy = Good? Unfortunately the sushi market is huge enough to also cause huge problems for our ecosystems. :( Here's a fish guide to browse:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=17

- I learned an interesting fact at the Brooklyn Food Conference in May, that puts food practices into perspective: apparently eating locally for a year isnt NEARLY as impactful as eating normally, but giving up meat one day a week. (They provided the stats, in food miles, CO waste, etc, which I dont have on hand). Also, did you know Swine Flu and Bird Flu were born out of nasty industrial meat farms...! Eeek. Here is a great quote from Pollin's NY Times article Letter to the Chief:
Whenever farmers clear land for crops and till the soil, large quantities of carbon are released into the air. But the 20th-century industrialization of agriculture has increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the food system by an order of magnitude; chemical fertilizers (made from natural gas), pesticides (made from petroleum), farm machinery, modern food processing and packaging and transportation have together transformed a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil- fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food. Put another way, when we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis — a process based on making food energy from sunshine.

Enjoy your lunch :)

Guess What?

Asia pictures are up! Well, mostly. So far: for Seoul, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Enjoy! (NB: I also back-posted pictures in my old posts.)

Vietnam:


Seoul & Hong Kong (no autoplay):

Busy-ish Bee

Here is what I have been up to the last two weeks in California (still here!)

(1) Actual, physical stuff:

- Road Trip with sibs and their friends. 2000 miles: LA -> Grand Canyon -> Las Vegas -> Yosemite National PArk -> San Francisco -> Santa Cruz -> Big Sur National Park:


- Chilling with Christina and her adorable newborn, Sophia (better pics pending). Baby yawns = amazing:

- Explored LA food: Highlights so far are Little Ethiopia and Diddy Reise - ice cream sandwiches for $1.50. Drool here: http://www.diddyriese.com/sandwichbuilder.php

(2) Sitting-at-my-computer-or-home stuff:
- Lent money to a farmer in Cambodia on Kiva. SO COOL. Thank you Vijay's friend Kim for introducing me to the organization. Check it out...www.kiva.org
- Phone discussion for a potential opportunity with Save the Children doing data analysis / website requirements
- Looked into all sorts of summer classes, volunteer opps and grad school. Er, that's all I can say at this point.
- Made yogurt

yeah!