Éric surfed our couch yesterday. He had quite some days of heavy rainshowers and strong headwinds on his bicycle. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to get to know each other better. He must have a lot of storys to tell ……..

Read all about him at http://roulerosieroule.blogspot.com/

]]> http://popadu.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/svetingumas-ir-svetimkuniai/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:45:54 +0000 panelė adu http://popadu.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/svetingumas-ir-svetimkuniai/

Kartais imi ir pamiršti tokius regis paprastus ir nereikšmingus dalykėlius kaip kaučserfingas ir tai, kad esi šios programos dalyvis. Prisiminiau studeniškus metus ir sutikau priimti pakeleivius į amžinąjį Sankt Peterburgą. Audrey ir Genevieve. Studenčiokės iš Marselio. Išskirtinis moteriškumas ir prancūziškas estetizmas – atviras susižavėjimas dar nuo pirmo perskaityto Dumas romano, na o natūralumas ir nesivaržymas kelius pakirsdavo žaibiškai.

Kiek keista, kad pergalėjau savo tingumą ir pasisiūliau būti Vilniaus kultūros gide. Matyt kalta silpnybė šio krašto moterims. Ir diena, turiu pasakyti, buvo puiki. Kiek mergaitiška, naivoka, tačiau įdomi. Na, o vakaras – krašto vynai svečių rekomendacijomis. Kolegos jau pas mane, kaimynai perspėti, o aš niekaip negaliu aitraukti akių nuo Genevieve… O ši, regis, mėgaujasi mano dėmesiu. Have mercy!

Genevieve Poulet

Ta ta!

Couch Surfing

Couch Surfing:
Eine abenteuerliche Reise um die Welt
von Brian Thacker
Eichborn Verlag
- der Verlag mit der Fliege

»Ich lebe mit meiner Frau und meinen fünf Kindern in einer
kleinen Wohnung. Da wir keine Couch haben, musst du im
Kinderzimmer schlafen. Ich wohne weit weg vom Stadtzentrum, und es gibt keine öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel. Vielleicht sollte ich noch erwähnen, dass ich vor Kurzem aus dem Gefängnis entlassen wurde.«
Brian Thacker. Melbourne, Australien.

Zu Gast bei Fremden
Think global, act global, sleep global — der Australier Brian Thacker schläft auf der Couch von Leuten, deren Adresse er aus dem Internet kennt. Ein Reise- und Erlebnisbuch der besonderen Art.

Wie lernt man ein fremdes Land und seine Menschen am besten kennen? Man bucht sich nicht in einem Hotel ein, sondern macht Couch Surfing: Über Netzwerke im Internet findet man überall auf der Welt einen kostenlosen Schlafplatz, auf dem man einige Tage übernachten darf.

Ein wunderbares Abenteuer, denn man springt rein in eine andere Kultur, den Alltag und das Leben der Gastgeber vor Ort. Alles ist völlig fremd — und aufregend. Der Australier Brian Thacker ist von Couch zu Couch um die Welt gereist.

Er war auf Safari in Kenia, Skifahren in Chile, Biertesten in Belgien, bei Familienfesten in Island und Indien. Er wohnte unter anderem bei einem Wildhüter, einem Skilehrer, bei einem Architekten, einem Studenten, einer Krankenschwester, einem Arbeitslosen.

Sah die gleiche TV-Show bei einem Muslim in Istanbul und einem Katholiken in Santiago. Seine wunderbar erzählten, skurrilen und berührenden Erlebnisse und Begegnungen zeugen davon: Couch Surfing lässt die Welt zusammenwachsen, über alle Unterschiede und Differenzen hinweg.

Zitat Amazon.de: Schwere Zeiten für Hoteliers. Der neueste Trend für Reisefreudige, die knapp bei Kasse sind, heißt Couch Surfing und ist – wie könnte es anders sein – eine Blüte der weltweiten Vernetzung im Zeitalter des Internets. Denkbar einfach das Procedere: Die Protagonisten melden sich mit persönlichen Profilen nach dem Vorbild von MySpace oder Facebook auf Websites wie GlobalFreeloaders.com, Hospetalityclub.org oder eben Couchsurfing.com an und bieten gleichgesinnten Mitgliedern aus aller Welt kurzfristig kostenlos Logis auf Gegenseitigkeit an.

Mindestens einen Schlafplatz auf einer Couch, gerne aber auch Dienste als Fremdenführer oder als Gesellschafter für Freizeit- oder Abendgestaltung lautet das ebenso simple wie bestechende Motto dieser sogenannten „internetbasierten Gastfreundschaftsnetzwerke“, die stark im Kommen sind.

Ob und wie die Sache funktioniert, schildert uns aus erster Hand Brian Thacker, dessen Buch nun auch in einer deutschen Ausgabe vorliegt. Für seinen Selbstversuch hat sich der Australier, der seinen Lebensunterhalt hauptsächlich als Reiseschriftsteller bestreitet, kein geringeres Ziel vorgenommen als eine Weltreise für lau.

Zumindest was Übernachtungskosten betrifft, die ja bekanntermaßen am höchsten zu Buche schlagen. Beim Lesen werden wir Zeuge einer offenbar unvergesslich spannenden und abwechslungsreichen Reise, die uns angefangen in Chile und Brasilien über die USA und Kanada nach Island, Belgien und Luxemburg sowie nach einem Abstecher in die Türkei noch nach Kenia, Südafrika, Indien und auf die Philippinen führt.

Wen nach der Lektüre dieses Buches nicht das Fernweh packt und die Lust, fremde Menschen und Kulturen kennenzulernen, der muss ein echter Couch Potato sein.

Mehrerlei lernen wir aus diesem Buch: Die digitale Globalisierung kann offenbar tatsächlich zur Völkerverständigung beitragen und zumindest innerhalb der Internet-Community auch zu einer kulturübergreifenden Interessenbildung.

Aber für Langschläfer, Rückenleidende, Haustierallergiker, Abstinenzler, Misanthropen, Individualisten und solche, die das Wort Urlaub mit Ruhe, Erholung oder gar Einsamkeit verbinden, ist das Couchsufing denkbar ungeeignet. Zitatende.

In der Internet-Community couchsurfing.org haben sich unzählige Menschen aus über 200 Ländern zusammengeschlossen (allein im deutschsprachigen Raum gibt es fast 200 000 Couchsurfer) und bieten Reisenden ihre Couch zum Übernachten an.

Brian Thacker hat sich auf dieses Abenteuer eingelassen und berichtet in seinem Buch Couch Surfing über die skurrilen, aber auch berührenden Erlebnisse und Begegnungen auf seiner Reise um die Welt.

Buchperlen-Bewertung: *****

Online Versand und Verleih: Bücher, Hörbücher, DVDs, Video on Demand und mehr

Philosphie: CouchSurfing versucht international Menschen und Orte zu vernetzen, Bildungsaustausch zu ermöglichen, Gemeinsinn zu verstärken, Toleranz und interkulturelle Beziehungen zu fördern. Als Gemeinschaft soll versucht werden, gemeinsam und als Einzelner zu einer besseren Welt beizutragen, der Austausch von Gastfreundschaft wird zum Mittel, dieses Ziel zu erreichen.

Weder Einrichtung noch kostenlose Unterbringung stehen im Mittelpunkt sondern weltweite Beziehungen. Durch das Öffnen des Zuhauses, der „Herzen“ und des Lebens soll zu einer besseren Welt beigetragen werden.

Mit offenem Bewusstsein soll das Wissen begrüßt werden, das der Austausch von Kulturen mit sich bringt. Tiefgehende und sinnreiche Beziehungen sollen Ozeane, Kontinente und Kulturen überwinden. CouchSurfing soll nicht nur die Art zu Reisen verändern, sondern die gesamte Weltauffassung. Quelle: wikipedia

I arrived in Trieste a bit confused. The map in my book made me think that Trieste was in Slovenia and not Italy. I wandered around trying to find a suitable spot for me to swim. I asked a passerby in broken Spanish where the beach was, thankfully she understood and pointed me in the direction of the swimming area.

Greek warship

I got to a small organized area with changing rooms, lounge chairs and such. It was 3.50 Euro to get in and use their facility. Having taken a train all the way from Venice I wasn’t going to let 3.50 Euro get in my way of taking a dip.

After I changed, I realized that the area wasn’t a beach or even a shore line. It was a series of concrete docks and patios. There were various areas to jump off of and into the roped off swimming area. There were tons of excited children jumping off the docks, and I of course joined them. I love jumping off things!

I swam around for a bit and discovered two diving boards. Both were already elevated high above the water because of their relative position on the high docks. On top of that one was also a high dive with a nice big fall in store for whoever decided to climb up the slippery steps. Figuring that I better jump off the high one I ran up the steps and had an exhilarating time plunging into the sea.

After a great time of swimming and diving I laid out on the upper patio and probably fell asleep for a while. Taking a cold shower without soap, I considered myself “clean” and changed into my street clothes and headed out toward the train station looking for a grocery store.

The town was beautiful! There were hardly any tourists present as I strolled through. I certainly felt like I was off the beaten path a bit, which I enjoy.

I found a grocery store and got myself a bag of croissants, a can of tuna fish (in water), a package of cheese, and a box of wine which I had to get because it was only 0.89 Euro! I headed toward the train station and got my schedule for my journey to Rome and then headed back outside onto a park bench. I have become more and more accustomed to dining on a park bench.

Today I was in a beautiful park in Italy and certainly not alone. There were several other clearly either homeless and or mentally unstable joining me in the park. Some of them eyed me with curiosity and stared while others accepted me as “one of their own” and let me be. Due to my lack of personal hygiene over the past several days, the added spunk of salt water in my hair and my ever growing aptly named “homeless guy- beard” I was not bothered.

Because I had not eaten much over the last few days my box of 0.89 Euro wine started to kick in rather early. I staggered back to the train station chuckling at myself along the way, trying not to lean against the walls too much. I headed for the convenience store inside the train station and although I knew it was a bad idea at the time I still decided to buy a gigantic bag of potato chips, and 500 grams, roughly  a quarter of a gallon, of gelato.

Giant bag of potato chips

I picked a seat among others waiting for the train and started eating my chips, wine and cherry swirl ice cream. I ate the entire thing in about 20 minutes. When I was almost done I really realized that it was a terrible idea for me to eat the entire thing. Once I finished it I swore off buying 500g containers of ice cream… for a while.

Before I got on the train, I made sure to brush my teeth in the bathroom and try to “freshen up” a bit. It is at this point in Italy that I realized that my Italian journey was going to be absolutely insane. I had no couch surfers for my stay in Italy except my last night. Most all of the Italians on couch surfing were male and had only requested to have female visitors, of the small percentage that I could stay with, many were either busy or on vacation themselves. Being cheap, I knew I wasn’t going to spring for a hostel or hotel or anything like that, so I tried to plan my journeys at night and far enough away that I could sleep on the train ride.

Over the next few days in Italy I had a very hectic schedule of taking a train from one town to another to another to connect to a train to get to someplace else. Most of the time I didn’t really know where I was, I had to take pictures of the town I was heading toward on the schedule sheets so I could remember. I found myself in all sorts of places over the next few days.

The more dedicated among you may be interested to know I´ve added a couple of photos to my previous posts. As usual, I probably haven´t take nearly enough photos but I hate standing out so much as a tourist by snapping away all the time with my camera. I also didn´t take it out in the evenings so that I didn´t have to carry a bag. Anyway, it brightens the blog up a little.

Johanna and I

The last few days I´ve been staying with An Argentinian girl called Johanna, her brother and gorgeous dog, Yara. Yesterday and Friday night she took me out with her to parties with her friends. Friday was clubbing, Saturday a birthday dinner and both were a lot of fun and people have been so  nice to me even though they have to make the effort to speak English because I can´t speak Spanish. People in Argentina are real night owls and so both nights I wasn´t in bed until gone 6am which seems pretty common here. Luckily, not being in a hostel makes it easier to sleep in and be a bit lazy which I´ve taken advantage of.

Drinking mate

Yesterday, we cycled to a nearby park with me sat on the handle bars and poor Johanna doing all the hard work! We stopped to drink some mate which is a typical Argentinian drink, kind of like very strong herbal tea. Afterwards, we passed by the racetrack and discovered that we were there in time for a big national race. We couldn´t resist having a little flutter on a couple of horses, chosen purely on how pretty we thought they were! One of our horses came 3rd which wasn´t much use because we´d bet on it winning but never mind. It was quite fun to experience the atmosphere and get into the excitement of it.

Yara

As a 1st experience of couch surfing, it has been very positive. It´s great to be able to meet people living in the places you´re visiting and I suppose that most of the people hosting travellers will be fairly open and friendly people. It´s incredibly generous to open your home up in that way and include a stranger in your life for a few days.

I’m a world class surfer.  Not when  it comes to the rolling waves of the Pacific or the salty coves of the Caribbean. In fact, I don’t use a surfboard at all.  My kind of surfing involves a couch, futon, hammock or cot.

Still with me?  I’m talking about travelling the globe in a more meaningful, connected and affordable way.  No more dirty, overpacked hostels or cold, impersonal hotels.  How about being welcomed into someone’s home?

It’s called CouchSurfing.  Let the word bounce around in your mind for a moment.

Couch + Surfing = Incredible times ahead!

A year ago, I joined an international friendship and travel network called “CouchSurfing.”  I’d been all over the world during the past ten years, but had suprisingly never heard of the CouchSurfing concept until recently.

Since then, I’ve surfed on a variety of locals’ couches in the Hawaiian Islands and have hostedover 35 guests on my own couch, as well as planned day trips and weekend excursions with 20 more.

Go ahead, ask those questions that spring to mind: What? How? Is it safe? What’s the catch?  Brace yourself, because this will sound a little strange at first as a method of travelling…

CouchSurfing is an international non-profit hospitality and friendship network.  It brings travellers and locals together for cultural exchange, friendship and fun in over 230 countries worldwide and has been on the go for five years.

This spring, CS celebrated passing the million member mark as participants continue sharing hospitality in a unique form of cultural interaction.

Hosts have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world without leaving home. Surfers (travellers) are able to participate in the local life of the places they visit and have a key to experiencing the real place and real people.

Also known as “CS” (i.e. CSers, CSing), it’s also a great way to meet like-minded people in your own city.  It’s a big part of my social circle now. The St. John’s CS community has been regularly active with monthly meet-ups, activities, events and outings since January 2009 when myself and another local member kickstared the Ciy of Legends CouchSurfers.

In 10 months, it’s grown from virtually invisibles to over 130 members in the Avalon Peninsula alone!  We’ve had potlucks, beach bonfires, hikes, picnics, road trips, pub nights, camping, bowling, theme parties and more.

A few months ago, I became an official CS City Ambassador (and the acting provincial ambassador). My profile has now reached over 1,500 hits in less than a year and I have more than 50 positive references, testimonials and vouches.  I’ve been pretty much flat out as a host and a surfer in 2009, and plan to make CS a part of my life for many years to come.

Now, let me tell you more about it. First of all, you don’t have to be a backpacker to be a CouchSurfer, either.  There are even host families that welcome other families with kids at their homes and vice versa.  CS is for open minded people from 18 to 80, from all sorts of lifestyles – hippies to professionals, students to seniors, singles to families.

The concept  is simple. People post profiles indicating where they live and whether they’re willing to offer up their couch as a place to crash, or if they’re just willing to show a visitor around their home city. Travellers can then make contacts at a certain destination by searching the site for interesting and compatible people.  Sounds pretty cool, right?

What about safety? This was the first thing I was concerned about at the beginning, like most others. Couchsurfing has safety features built into its system, with real name and address verification, and symbols showing levels of trustworthiness  (like eBay’s system “trusted seller” symbols).

Written references are left on members’ profiles by those they stay with or host, giving details of the experience whether positive, negative or neutral.  This helps you get an even better feel for a person before contacting them to meet up for an activity or to potentially stay at their home. Privacy settings also allow members to restrict how much information about them is available online.

Your own profile allows you to state the ground rules of your offer (house rules if you like) so that guests will know what to expect when staying with you at your home.  For example, my profile clearly shows that I welcome non=smokers who are animal lovers only, and that the home is strictly vegetarian.  I also do not provide a key to my home and visitors are not allowed to remain in the house while I am out.  It all depends on what you’re comfortable with.  Out of over 50 experiences, I’ve only had 2 bad ones (i.e. people overstaying their welcome or just being rude/freeloading). Statistically, this is something that is bound to happen when you host as much as I do.  That’s why it’s important to have clear, solid rules and communicate a lot before the person comes to stay with you, or before you arrive to stay with them.

You’re never obligated to let anyone stay at your home. You screen requests and use common sense, and also match it up to your own schedule.  It’s up to you how much or how little time you can committ to playing host – sometimes you have time to show them around your town or just a few hours in the evening after work to have a meal together and chat.

Surfers (guests) repay their hosts by helping out around the house, bringing a gift from their home, cooking a meal from their regionor taking you out for supper.  Sometimes they trade skills with you or simply make for good conversation and company.  CSing is free, but etiquette includes returning your hosts’ kindness, generosity and hospitality in whatever way you can while staying there.

When you’re not travelling, hosting can be a way of bringing the world to you, with every guest who comes to stay.  You can learn about a culture, language or simply exchange life experiences.  It’s incredibly enriching and a whole lot of fun.  I can honestly say it’s changed my life in the best possible way.

I’ve had guests from as far away as Haiti, New Zealand, Iceland and Columbia.  Some have come from Canada and the States, and many others from Europe (particularly France and Germany).  I’ve even hosted (and stayed with) people from across Newfoundland and Labrador while travelling around my home province.

Over the past year, I’ve stayed with amazing individuals, couples and families who opened their homes to me while travelling Hawaii. Filmmakers, scuba divers, writers, naturalists, students, retirees.  It made a world of difference to my experience there, and I know I will never travel any other way now that I know about CouchSurfing.

I’ve slept in seaside guest rooms on par with classy B&Bs, spare rooms, living room futons and outdoor cots halfway up a tropical volcano.  Being injected into people’s lives for a few days to a week makes your travel so much more real and connected.  I spent Christmas day with one group of people who adopted me as family, and I am in constant contact with them ever since.

Through CS, I’ve made friends for life, different folks I’d never expect to have things in common with and find myself having a blast. A friendly face during a rainy or dragged out day of travelling on buses and planes. I’ve met inspirational everyday gems who’ve helped renew my faith in people.

Because I usually travel alone, CSing can help you avoid feeling lonely if you are somewhere on your own if you want someone to share a day with – and it lets you be as independent as you like, which is always important to me when I am travelling.

Check out the FAQ section of CouchSurfing online here. Membership is free, with a more secure and higher access rating when making a donation (mainly used to keep the website going).

CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, and not just about finding free accommodations around the world -  it’s about making real connections and making the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives.   I have a hundred stories I could share with you based on just one year participating with CS.

SURF STATS:

–>Since 2004, 1.25 million successful CouchSurfing stays have been recorded.

–>Almost 1.5 million members currently participating as hosts, activity partners and travelling ’surfers’. Every day, people across the world share coffee, camping trips, meetings, language exchanges, discussions and all sorts of other experiences.

–> Worldwide, CSing is most popular in Europe and North America, but you can find couches all over the globe now, growing in number.

–> The Top 10 CS countries are:  US, Germany, France, Canada, UK, Italy, Australia, Spain, Brazil and the Netherlands.

–> The Top 10 Most Active CS Cities are: Paris, London, Berlin, Montreal, Istanbul, Vienna, New York, Melbourne, Barcelona and San Francisco.

–> The average CouchSurfer is age 27. It seems to be most popular among those between 24 and 34. Meanwhile, there are 100,000 CSers aged 40-50, and amazingly, about 11,500 who are over 60 years old!)

–> There are more than 1,500 Ambassadors worldwide (of which I am included) who provide guidance and leadership to fellow locals and visiting members.

Check out more cool facts here, as well as the current geographical map with hundreds of thousands of red dots symbolizing CSers worldwide.

Where do you want to go? Couches available everywhere!

What are you waiting for? Come on in, the water’s fine!

thanks phoebe, i’ve been in singapore with wonderful people ,

you made me welcome in your home, and i hope to do the same in italy..if you’ll go here!
singapore is a nice city, people are genuine and kind!
evrythings ok..smooth and tidy, is full of mall and tower like an europe capital but not busy and without angry..stressed people!
but you know i prefer the temple in chinatown and little india,

i love see new culture, smell not mine, etc.etc.,

about shopping center with prada store and versace outlet …the world is plenty!

i reckon the true wealth is not in the new armani dress or  something like that..but be able to apreciate while you are walking in a temple without shoes or  tongue, where is almost sure that you’ll get a fungus

but doesn’t matter because you are there…and you are seeing amazing things!

see you around the world!

sono qui nella mia cameretta.
mi trovo a malacca citta malese,

dal punto di vista storico una delle piu importanti di questa nazione anzi credo la piu importante,

porto strategico per il commercio delle spezie che ha fatto gola ad olandesi spagnoli e inglesi,
il mare non è nulla di speciale e questo perche ci troviamo in uno stretto..lo stretto di malacca..che divide la penisola malese dall’indonesia.
il mare bello si trova nella costa est, io sono in quella ovest…ma perche carlo sei qui..e non di là? semplicemente perche dall’altra parte ci sono i monsoni, i famosi venti che regolano questa zona, il mare bello mi aspetta in thailandia dove la brutta stagione è finita! .-)
ma smettiamola di parlare di geografia!
dopo aver passato 2 notti a singapore ospitato dalla gentilissima phoebe , dove ho anche conosciuto billy e moritz,
ho preso il bus e sono sbarcato in malesia, per la precisione a malacca.
devo dire che mi piace proprio questa città..ma dopo tre giorni credo di averla girata tutta e quindi è ora che mi sposto!
sia a singapore che qui ho incontrato persone splendide, pronte ad aiutarti in qualsiasi momento.
per farvi degli esempi a singapore montato sul bus per andare a casa di phoebe ho chiesto all’autista se sapeva quale fosse la fermata giusta, bhe ha fermato il bus e si è messo a controllare con lo stradario, ma continuava a non capirci..cosi lo ha chiesto ad un passeggero..che guarda caso abita nello stesso palazzo!!!
qui a malacca invece ho chiesto ad un signore se sapeva dove si trovava la strada della guesthouse, non sapendola ha fermato un altro signore che mi ha indirizzato, e dopo 10 minuti che stavo camminado.. lo stesso signore in motorino mi è venuto a richiamare dicendomi che avevo gia sorpassato la guesthouse e spiegandomi meglio dove si trovava!  BELLISSIMO!
cosa è una guesthouse?
magari alcuni di voi non lo sanno,
sono piu o meno le nostre pensioni, generalmente offrono dormitorio e stanze singole con bagno in comune ma pagando di piu si piu avere il bagno in camera e pure l’aria condizionata.
io ho trovato questa www.melakaguesthouse.com è aperta da un mese quindi nuova ed è di un ragazzo francese e una ragazza malese.
spendo per una camera singola(che in realta è una doppia ) con ventilatore circa 3,5 euro a notte, con colazione, cafe, the e wi-fi incluso nel prezzo.
non ho preso l’aria condizionata perche dopo quasi 3 mesi alla cattle station il mio corpo si è abituato a dormire dentro ai forni,

qui la notte non sudo neppure…anzi se lascio acceso il ventilatore ho quasi freddo….

e per questo ringrazio la cattle station per avermi dato una camera con ventilatore malfunzionante…e ringrazio il sole che scaldava tutto il giorno la mia cameretta…e le notti calde e umide..per avermi temprato…in modo da affrontare al meglio questa avventura!!!hehehe!
cmq qui mi trovo veramente bene, non è la classica bettola piena di backpacker ricchi ed irlandesi ubriachi!
in questo momento cè jeff un ragazzo inglese che lavora al sansbury..hehehe mitico! angela di melbourne che sta andando in irlanda dal suo boyfriend, isak o qualcosa del genere hehehe giapponese ed infine una coppia olandese, robert e ….di lei non mi ricordo il nome, ma gentilissimi e simpatici, tutti questi ragazzi  hanno viaggiato in malesia e per me sono una fonte di consigli…e sono sempre a stressare tutti quando sono nella guesthouse!

quasi mi dispiace andar via!

da come avrete capito dal prezzo della sitemazione..
la vita non è cara,
mangio tranquillamente con 1,10 fino ad arrivare ad 1,40 euro per pasto,
di certo non mangio 10 portate e non mi siedo in ristoranti di lusso, ma mangio per strada dove mangia la gente normale, e per quelli che mi dicono che è facile stare li e mangiare con meno di 2 euro…bhe non credo che tutti voi ci mangereste dove mangio io,
le condizioni igieniche sono sotto al livello europeo..ma di tanto hehehe
qui i NAS arriverebbero con il carroarmato e inizierebbero a sparare a vista!!! hehehe!
ma a me piace!
inoltre sedermi in mezzo a queste persone e venire guardato con curiosità perche sono diverso e perche non sono nel grand hotel mi piace!:-)
prendere il bus pubblico che costa neppue 2 centesimi di euro anzi che quello privato che usano quelli dei tour operator e ritrovarmi ad essere l’unico senza occhi a mandorla bhe è buffo,
ieri per esempio finito di cenare… lo “chef” ha controllato se avevo mangiato tutto..hhehe forse pensava che ero sofisticato,
oggi ero in un museo pieno di bambini e mi osservavano ed ogni tanto qualcuno coraggioso veniva a salutarmi o chiedermi come stavo!
cmq non sono in un luogo inesplorato…qui l’uomo europeo cè dal 1500 ma vedere che ancora la gente è curiosa è bello!

una cosa bellissima sono i templi,

se guardi una moschea oppure una chiesa, il silenzio e il  grigiore che cè ti soffoca, invece nei templi, sia che siano cinesi, indu o buddisti …tutto è piu bello, i colori, i suoni i profumi!
la gente non è passiva ma partecipa attivamente, sembra di essere a teatro e vedere qualcosa di irreale,
specialmente i templi indu…sono fantastici, la gente fa casino, fiori latte cibo candele, cantano urlalo…è bellissimo!
e tu che sei li e non capisci nulla di quello che sta accadendo vieni comunque trascintato dentro!

oggi sono stato al carrerfour ed ho confrontato un pò di prezzi:
ad esempio il kinder bueno in australia costava al supermercato 0,90 euro, qui viene 3 kinder bueno quasi 2 euro, quindi costa di meno nonostante venga dall’italia.
altra cosa le stesse cuffie per l’ipod in australi le ho pagate 10 euro qui costano 4 euro e sono cuffie della philips. anche i computer..ho notato che con 200 euro puoi comprarti un portatile…eppure lo stesos modello in europa magari costa almeno..il doppio…come mai???
chi sta meglio? loro che vivono con poco e li vedi sorridenti che non gli frega nulla di come va la borsa oppure noi che abbiamo stipendi piu ricchi macchine piu costose…ma siamo sempre stressati e incazzati???

sempre parlando di soldi…gia da un pò ho capito che non fanno la felicità ma cè un ma!!!
anche se è da prima di andare a londra che non mi compro un vestito firmato o qualcosa di tecnologico e costoso…devo dire che avere a disposizione denaro…bhe aiuta altro che!!!!

un esempio lampante sono le mie ciabatte, in australia ho vissuto con un paio di scarpe da 15 euro e con  ciabatte da 2 euro che pero erano usa e getta…ho cambiato 4 o 5 ciabatte perche dopo poco si rompevano, adesso ho fatto il mio grande acquisto..un paio di reef da 35 euro e non me ne pento..perche sono soldi ben spesi..sono comode e robuste e spero di farci tutto il viaggio!
a darwin il giorno prima di partire mi sono comprato un paio di occhiali da sole a 5 euro.
ieri mi si sono rotti…
se avevo un paio di  oakley…erano ancora intatti! ma avrei dovuto spendere 200 euro di piu!
stessa cosa per la macchina fotografica, se avevo una macchina tropicalizzata la mia macchina funzionerebbe bene..se avessi una reflex farei foto di ottima qualità, se avessi asciugamani in microfibra risparmierei peso e spazio , stessa cosa se avessi uno zaino piu leggero..ovvero costruito con materiali piu tecnici,  un computer piu performante e leggero, tutto questo vorrebbe dire viaggiare con piu comfort,  ma tutto questo vuol dire spendere…
spendere, e non posso spendere soldi che non possiedo

quindi in definitiva… i soldi servono ma solo per aiutarci nelle nostre “attività” e non come status di ricchezza, la vera ricchezza come scritto in inglese poco piu sopra…sono altre cose!!!

domattina prendero il bus per kuala lumpur ma non credo di fermarmi, ci sono gia stato l’anno scorso e stare altri giorni sarebbe tempo perso, quindi una volta lì prendero il bus per le cameron highlands, una zona nell’entroterra dove ci sono le piantagioni di the, voglio stare qualche giorno in montagna a bere the e rilassarmi, ne ho davvero bisogno!!!

ps
da qualche giorno non uso piu il numero australiano
adesso ho questo:
+60147266300

un bacio a tutti!!!

carlo.

I need to start a list of all the people that have been offering to let me come inside for a while. People are so kind! Although the whole purpose of this exercise is to be self-sufficient and independent in my little rolling home, I know it’ll get cold sometimes, and lonely sometimes.

Also if I go further with this idea that I have a serious job— which is to go swimming in the mornings and to the library in the daytime to work on projects and learn about architecture and then to yoga in the evenings and then find a new spot to park and sleep at night— then it makes sense that I should get a few days off work every week. Right? I’m picturing that I’ll work my ‘job’ Monday to Friday and then go visit a different friend each weekend. Awesome!

I’m looking forward to connecting with people this way; there are so many that I haven’t been able to stay as close to as I’d like, simply because we’re all leading our busy lives. What a great way to get some real quality time with people, not just the once- or twice-yearly catch-up. And to form new connections too.

So, many thanks to all who offered, I’ll be coming soon! And if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for??? (ha ha, just kidding)

Its been a wild week for the kid to say the least. I wont get into the gorey details but the mafia, couch surfing, sex to a point of too much, major life decisions, the World Series and a pending return of SF’s finest have all played a role. The bottom line is that I need to start really getting paid. I’m finding it more and more difficult to keep convincing myself that the path that I’m traveling is the right one. More than that, Im sick of telling you about it.

*This post isn’t really about anything except decompressing this past week. Reading it back, it isn’t interesting at all.*

Major Life Changing Decisions

I dont know if its the lack of motion in my life as of late or the final close of the summer months but I actually convinced myself that I should move back to Connecticut for the winter. Am I fucking insane? I don’t own shoes! I cant do that but at the same time I already gave up the room in my house so now Ive got to be very fast and make some on my feet decisions as to where I’m going to write my next blog post from. Not only did I rent out the room in my house, I rented it out for $400 more than what I pay. That kind of hustle should get me paid in this world but I cant seem to figure out what outlet to plug it into. This drives me fucking crazy, I have the drive and the ability to make things happen but have no forum to do so in a way that will become a living. I seriously feel like I could be “The Wolf” from Pulp Fiction, I think on my feet and get things done in a timely manner when under pressure. With all that said, again, I have zero outlets for that in the real world. I’m actually hoping someone out there reads this and sends me an email titled “Relax, I have the perfect position for you”. Fuck!

There is No ‘S’ On My Chest

But sometimes I feel like there should be. No let me preface this by saying I love sex, period. There is no grey area, it is black and white- I love sex. With that said, I can not perform like a Superhero. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about a one and done kind of thing- I can rally. I really dig this girl, she makes me laugh, she turns me on always but now we’re getting in to areas of the human body. As a man, I can not perform 4-5 times a night every night! It just doesn’t happen that way. I not ashamed of it, I just simply can not do it! I understand shes leaving in a few weeks and we really have passion for one another but I feel like I’m being turned off by the amount of sex that she wants to have. Am I crazy? Is this a normal thing? Fuck!

The Mafia

No Comment

Couch Surfing

Yeah, I’m going to be a couch surfer for a month or so while I figure out what the fuck Im going to do. I cant really say that I’m upset about it, I enjoy things like this. Completely cutting free from obligations and just being out there and free to do whatever the fuck I want BUT at the same time- Ive done this before. I wish I could just figure it out already. Its not the economy because the jobs that I want aren’t affected by the recession. I have the ability to entertain, that is recession proof. I just need to entertain the right people so I can stop this bullshit. I know the future, although immediately might look uncertain, will be very good for me- I know this. I have no quit in me, I Will Not Lose- that’s the truth. There is nothing short of death that can keep me from believing that I will have everything I desire, I just wish I found what I’m looking for already! Fuck!

The World Series

My boys are back and I was there from the very beginning. Me and a fellow fanatic snuck into the most anticipated home opener in the history of baseball- we snuck in! We were at opening day of the new Yankee Stadium where you couldn’t find a seat in the house under $400. We were there to see CC Sabathia give up ‘X’ amount of runs and watch our boys lose, badly, to the Baltimore Orioles who finished the year in dead last. From there to here, from taking my nephew to his first game, to drinking 40s on Metro North with an old lady from the Bronx- twice, to watching Arod earn his stripes up to this point, to watching each pitch religiously as if I had personal stock in the team. This team has been there for me when I needed them, they provide comfort and an escape. When things in life get out of hand- they are there. The pending World Series championship means a return to glory for me, I was always on top when we were on top and since then I feel like Ive fallen to the depths. Not to say that if and when we win #27, all doors will open for me but its a start. NYY 09!

Yeah, You Know What It is

I will not go in to detail for a number of reasons, one being that she reads this blog now. Hopefully every morning, noon and night. I will say this- with all the uncertainty surrounding me, I am very happy to be reuniting with her. Where it will go is a mystery but I want her to know that there are no expectations to live  up to. The last thing I want is pressure to feel a need to satisfy the readers. Yeah I adore you and write about you in an internet blog for an average of 76 people to view daily but that’s not to say that I know what the hell I’m talking about. To quote the Prince Of Darkness Himself, “I’m a dreamer, I dream my life away”.  Just know this, I am me 100%- You be you 100% and maybe we can be we 100%.

Lots of Story lines to be continued on. Stay up readers

One Hundred

The Otago Peninsula - just outside of Dunedin

All these lambs may be cute, but they’re starting to cramp our style! We had plans for a couple of really cool hikes in Dunedin, but when we got there we found out that the tracks had been closed for lambing season because they were on private land. Bummer.

Instead, we spent an afternoon touring about the Otago Peninsula. I feel a bit like a broken record, but I have to say it… it was gorgeous (just like all of New Zealand). Dunedin is a big university town, but the hills and cliffs of the Otago Peninsula makes the exam special happy hours seem a million miles away.

The view of Dunedin from the Otago Peninsula

I was super excited about our trip out to the peninsula because of the Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head. Albatross are the giant (wingspan 3m) white birds that spend most of their lives at sea; this particular colony is the only mainland colony in the southern hemisphere, and is now a protected nature reserve. It’s Spring down here, so it is also nesting time. Since 19 of the 21 species of Albatross are threatened by extinction, nesting time is treated very carefully at the colony, and visits are not allowed. Although I was a little disapointed not to see them, I can appreciate and respect that it is better to close the reserve and give them so peace and quiet!

Albatross in flight. Photo credit: Royal Albatross Colony & Centre

The roads were very narrow and windy, but luckily there was very little traffic!

Beautiful pasture and hills

The girl we were couch surfing with told us that we had to check out Sandfly Bay and the sea lion colony. On the eastern side of the peninsula the coast at Sandfly Bay was very exposed and it was a really windy day. We could barely stand straight at the view point, so we decided not to go down onto the sand dunes… personally, I’m not a big fan of being turned into a piece of human sand paper.

A bit windy and wavy at Sandfly Bay

Fits of giggles as we were almost blown away!

Miranda won the contest for "Best Hair" today!

Back in Dunedin, I watched a ‘classic’ New Zealand flick called Black Sheep. I usually don’t watch horror films, but I was assured that it wasn’t actually scary. It wasn’t, but it was hilarious. I would consider it an essential component of any trip to New Zealand.

"An experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into blood-thirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm" - IMDb

I will never look at sheep the same way again.

After two months in Peru, Rob and Jessie take a look back and try to put their fingers on just what it is that’s kept them here so long. In Part 1: The Peruvian People, and How Much They Rock.

One of the harder parts of traveling constantly is the inability to form good longterm friendships. When Rob and I get bored with each other, we can’t just go meet a friend for a beer down at the Summit. We can’t just go over to the Elysian and see who’s working. It can get lonely sometimes, but in Peru we’ve found amazing people everywhere we’ve turned.

We’ve definitely seen a marked difference in the way we’re treated in more touristy areas versus those that are more out-of-the-way. In touristy places where we’ve been just one more gringo couple with shaky Spanish skills people haven’t always had the most patience, but who can blame them? Would you want to live in someone else’s Disneyland?

In Northern Peru, however, backpackers are a rarity. Every place we’ve gone we’ve been met with smiles, patience and amazingly gracious hospitality. Here’s an ode to some of the people we’ve met along the way.

The Kindness of Total Strangers

Flor.

From Flor, the campesina woman who led us around the Celendín countryside for hours just for company, to the three different men who went out of their way to walk us ten, fifteen blocks to various apartments during our Great Huanchaco Apartment Hunt we’ve been blessed.

During our stay in Chachapoyas we learned first hand why it is said the people of the Amazonas region are the friendliest in Peru when we found ourselves taking shots of pisco in 400-year-old Spanish home with Pepe.

The Brilliance of Local Guides

José

Despite the One Bad Experience we had in Huancayo (a touristy town), we’ve had nothing but a string of competent, passionate, knowledgeable guides. There was David at the Gruta de Guagapo, Antonio at Cumbe Mayo, José at Kuelap, and Señora Teo at Gocta Waterfall.

The generosity of Couch Surfing

Generous

For anyone who hasn’t tried this service, it’s an amazing way to meet up with people. We’ve used it to find free lodging in two of the most different places you could imagine: an empty room above a popular Trujillo bar and a spare bedroom of a family of Colombian immigrants in Chiclayo, and also to meet up with Kelly in Cajamarca.

The Fervor of Football Hooligans

Futbol

Peru’s not so great at football, but their fans will never be defeated. We’re in the season of World Cup Qualifiers, and though Peru was never even remotely in contention, their fans and players still fought with pride. We were told before the Peru vs. Uruguay game that Peru hadn’t scored a goal for months and that we shouldn’t waste our time, but watching that surge of joy when Peru, the worst-ranked team, scored to win 1-0 was amazing. Text and Photo Essay.

That was the only game we’ve seen so far that hasn’t ended in a 0-0 draw:

• Sport Huancayo vs. Alianza Atletico was one of the worst football games I’ve personally seen, though I wouldn’t take back the chance to take shots of rancid rum from a toothless old man: Text and Photo Essay.
• Cajamarca’s UTC vs. Trujillo was mostly memorable for the extraordinary variety of food you could buy from wandering vendors: Text and Photo Essay.
• Chiclayo’s Juan Aurich vs. Sporting Cristal had by far the craziest fans we’ve run across—though I’m inclined to argue that because their team at least is farther up in the stats we should give that title to the few but diehard fans of Sport Huancayo. But they were indeed crazy. Long live the Hurricane of the North! Text and Photo Essay.

The Varied Products of Street Vendors

If it can be carried, someone will try to sell it to you on the street. My personal favorite thing you can buy on the Peruvian streets is dry-erase boards. Men walk by with boards of varying sizes hung around their neck, edging past you on street corners, gesturing to the giant boards. Rob and I have our backpacks on and are looking at a map. Do we look like we need a white board? Yes, apparently.

Trujillo, it seems, has a monopoly in needle-threader vendors. Nearly every street you walk down has a man or a woman hawking the neon plastic things—perhaps I’ve underestimated the amount of hand-sewing that goes on in this city.

Every city has a street market, generally located in one area, such as the galerias of downtown Lima. The Tarma Market is the only one that seems to shift so erratically from street to street so that you can never be quite sure whether you’ll find a traffic jam or a shoe shop outside your door when you wake up in the morning.

Thank you, Peru!

These are only a fraction of the amazing people that we’ve met on our journey so far. I’ll be posting a weekly column every Friday highlighting other folks we meet, be it an interview with a friend (or stranger), a profile of an interesting occupation, or just general musings. Keep an eye out for that, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s “travel edition” of our Two Month Recap: How We Get From Here to There.

My arrival in Wellington was quite unusual. As I was arriving late at night, with a work visa and items that had to be cleared through quarantine (stuff I bought in Thailand) my bag was searched! Ha ha. Good thing I actually declared everything I had. It was quite an interesting experience. I was actually quite relaxed because I knew I didn’t have anything to hide and I was joking with the customs guys and stuff the whole way through. I thought I would be more stressed out if that happened to me but I was fine. I then had to take a taxi into town because the last shuttle had left while I was getting cleared through customs. Boo.

I got to my hostel without any problems and the next day I headed out into the great wide Wellington. Its quite a walkable city. As long as you stay in the central areas as the suburbs are quite sprawling and hilly. I checked out all kinds of practical things like banks, phone companies, the library, etc. and then met up with my couch-surfing host for the next two nights. The next day I actually got a bank account, a phone and printed off my resumes to head out to Miramar and paper the film neighborhood!

The infamous WETA WORKSHOP.

I managed to look at one room in a house but they decided to rent it to their friend instead. The next day I braved Miramar and felt quite good about it.. but then I lost my phone on the bus on the way back into town. This put a rather large WRENCH in my agenda to look for a place as everyone texts here and payphones are nearly all credit-card only. Internet is also quite expensive, almost prohibitively so. Oh yeah and did I mention food is also super-pricey?  Oh boy.. it was a really hard day.

Today was a little bit better. I managed to find a place where I could get Internet for 24 hours for 10.00 which is a MUCH better price for me since I am pretty much using it all day while I have no phone. I hope to get my phone back but I wont know anything until Monday, when the Lost Property Office for Metlink (the bus company) opens again. If it hasn’t been found or turned in, then I will buy a new one and start again.

I got to skype with my husband, mom, dad, and stepmom today and they helped me feel a lot better about things as I was starting to get a little sad and downtrodden by my rough start here in Welly. I am feeling renewed and ready to apply for some jobs tomorrow. I’m sure a little bit of income will help my mood immensely. Ha ha.

A night time view of Evans Bay... this is the view from one of the rooms I looked at.

}Esse domingo vai rolar a Couch Surfing – Halloween Party @ Café Uranus.

Em versão übber-glamorous em um cabaret decorado como anos 20 no centro da cidade! O som fica por conta da banda Jokers (Pop Rock) (a partir das 21hrs) e os DJs: – Le Garfs (Electro)
- Croft (Trance House)  – Special Guest (Indie Rock, 80s). Concurso com premiação das melhores fantasias, nas categorias:
- Originalidade individual,
- Fantasia em grupo (ui!)

28OCT09 21:08 Hotel Accademia, Firenze, Italia

Last night was one of the best I’ve had in a while.  My friend Roberto (one of my fav Couch Surfing hosts ever) picked me up on his scooter and cruised me around Rome for a while. We stopped in Trastevere where he treated me to dinner and then we got some gelatto.  Not too much better than cruising the streets of Rome on a scooter with a good friend.  Aw, life!

me and roberto

Today we took the train into Florence.  The scenery on the ride up was gorgeous.  Nothing but hills with villas and vineyards.  The train through Tuscany is simply breathtaking. 

Florence is quickly becoming one of my top euro-cities.  Saw the David today at the Accademia and also saw the Duomo.  Walked the streets up and down stopping for a fabulous lunch at The Oil Shoppe.  The chef made me a special vegan sandwich that was to die for.  O-M-G!!!  Also, his name was Alberto so I made him come out from behind the counter for a quick snapshot with the daddo.

Alberto e Alberto

Tonight I am hoping to see another CS friend of mine, Davide…until then…

I managed to hobble through Christchurch at a snails pace while recovering from Abel Tasman blisters. Although Christchurch is one of New Zealand’s larger cities, the pace suited the city and we managed to find lots of things to do within a few blocks radius from where we were staying.

Speaking of where we were staying, urged by many of our Couch Surfing friends in Vancouver, Miranda and I decided to give it a shot. What is couch surfing? I think Wikipedia describes it well:

“The CouchSurfing Project is the largest hospitality exchange network, with approximately 1.4 million members in 231 countries and territories…read more.”

The stove wasn't working so we resorted to using the camp cooker and opening all the kitchen windows

We connected with Dada, currently studying circus and performing arts, on Couchsurfing and had a great time. Luckily he had a whole bedroom available to share, so we didn’t even need to stay on a couch! He and his school mates rent two next door houses, and people seem to flow freely between them. Everyone was very friendly and interested to hear about where we were from and where we are going. Couchsurfing is huge in Europe and getting very popular in North America, but Australia and New Zealand are a little slower on the uptake, so we were happy to find such an awesome host.

Close to downtown, we were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go – the park, farmers’ markets, museums, and Cathedral Square. The river that flows through town is really beautiful, so we couldn’t help but stop to go punting.

Punting on the river in Christchurch

While we were punting we learnt that the reason there are no building higher then 12 stories because of the high water table caused by the river that runs through town. So Christchurch will always have a quaint old town feel leaving the sky scrapers for Wellington and Auckland.

While in Nelson, Miranda did some research on renting a car and found an AWESOME deal with Quality Car Rental – $20/day for a station wagon! Now we’re cruising the South Island in style for one month. We’re headed down the east coast from Christchurch to Invercargill at the southern tip, then we’ll dip into Fiordland and Milford Sound, stop in Queenstown before heading back up the west coast, and across Aurthur’s Pass back into Christchurch. Looking forward to it!

Cute ducks on the river

Last night Chris and I hosted our first Couch Surfer, Jonathan.  He is currently biking across America, from Seaside, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia, following the trail of Lewis & Clark.  What a cool guy and a great first experience with Couch Surfing.  He’s even a Minnesota native, and so it was nice being around a Minnesotan again.  :)

I’ve been thinking about traveling a lot lately.  In fact, that was why I updated our Couch Surfer profile just a few hours before Jonathan contacted us.  It might seem like a scary idea, letting strangers into your home (or staying in a stranger’s home).  But the concept is superb: it’s like ebay–you get good reviews, and only trust those who have gotten good reviews and who look trustworthy.  Chris and I would love to Couch Surf someday (especially in Europe, where-apparently-it is HUGE) and we wanted to start by giving instead of getting.  Can you imagine only having to pay for hotel accommodations once in a while?  He took us out for pizza last night and we made a big delicious brunch this morning.  Meals and everything aren’t expected in the Couch Surfer agreement or whatever, but it was just a great time.  He told us about some of the interesting people he had met so far, and some of the sights he had seen.  If you look at his journal, you can see how tough this kind of trip is.  It’s cool to think that we were part of one of his experiences.  I’d love to go on a journey like that and meet people and have episodic adventures and experiences.  Maybe we would’t bike, but Chris and I have talked about taking the Amtrak or something.  Driving would be great, if only we had a reliable car.

Either way, I totally envy him!  I can’t wait until Chris and I finally have the money and time to go on a really long trip.  Maybe once we’re finished with grad school?  That’s the most likely point right now.  After Master’s, before PhD.  I think there are aspects of life that you just can’t understand if you’ve never been a wanderer. I love to wander, even for the short term.  Chris and I have been researching some shorter trips that we could take for just a couple of days.  We’re already quite a bit further West than we were in St. Paul, and places like Denver aren’t really that far away.  I think Omaha, the Badlands, and Denver may be in our near future.  Next Friday we get to hop in the car and head back home for Halloween.  I always love the drive between Vermillion and home.  It’s part of the reason I wanted to move here–so that we would have a place to stay at either end, and we could just drive back and forth.

I love traveling, but I also love having a home to come back to.  That would be the hardest part of traveling for an extended amount of time.  We’d have to give up our apartment and sell most of our stuff (or put it in storage).  That would be all right, but another really great idea would be WWOOFing!  As a WWOOFer, you are provided with free room and board in exchange for daily work on an organic farm.  You stay with a family (anywhere in the world–it is a global project!) and you learn all about organic farming and husbandry, and you can stay for as long or as little as you wish.  This would be a great first step in a larger traveling experience.  Chris and I could keep our apartment and go for a few weeks.  This would be ideal in the summer, while Chris is out of school and since neither of us has a demanding work schedule.

These are the kind of experiences I want to have before we start having kids and “settle down.”  (Although, WWOOFing farms welcome families with kids; what a fun experience!)  I’ve wondered long and hard why Chris and I haven’t been able to get pregnant (we’ve been trying for two and a half years), but I’ve always felt like there must be some reason, some bigger picture that I just didn’t really see.  Perhaps this is it.  It feels like it.  There are many adventures yet to be lived, and the one that involves buying a house and starting a family just needs to wait its turn.

A week ago, a couple of my friends were talking about accommodation for our trip to Vienna, when one suggested couch surfing. Couch surfing? Basically, you log on to this website and scroll through a list of people who are willing to host you in their apartment for the period of your stay, for free.  We were really lucky to have found a really nice host and his room-mates were amazing too! They cooked for us, made beds for us, offered us towels and also let us sample just about the best liqueur have ever tried in my life; Barenjager, which is a German Honey Liqueur. Tip: Choose your host wisely( good looking guys are not always the best host ) , pimp up your profile page (if people know you better they are more likely to pick you to stay over.) There’s always some risk involved, but let’s have some faith in the trust system, shall we?

stacey

This was first published on www.tattlermag.com

48 Hours in Mysore – for Dasara

By Tory

Mysore at Dasara

After only 10 days in India, a weekend visit to Mysore for Dasara served as a bit of a crash course on life in India. It was the first time I was completely on my own, without the constant help and support of my gracious new coworkers and housemates. So, I thought I should write down what I saw.

Short on cash, and with hotels charging extra for the peak season, I decided to try out couch surfing – a site that connects travelers looking for a free place to stay with people who want to host them. Though I have been a member of the site for over a year, I had never “couch surfed” before. Unsure of what I was getting myself into, I reminded myself that at least it was free.

When I got to the Mysore Bus Station early Saturday afternoon, I called my soon-to-be host, Sharvan, a 23-year-old environmental engineer. Sharvan was clearly sleeping when I called, but he repeated that he would pick me up in “five to ten minutes, five to ten minutes”; I later recognized this as his default estimate of how long he would take, regardless of the situation. I wondered if India is like Brazil, where you can count on people drastically underestimating the time that they will take to meet you somewhere – if they meet you at all. Or, maybe Sharvan had just heard this phrase a lot in movies, and out of ease, repeated it. Regardless, it became endearing.

About an hour and a half later Sharvan showed up on his motorbike, and after a confusing fifteen minutes of misunderstandings over our mobile phones, we “converged” – Sharvan’s way of saying “meet up” – and motored off to his apartment in a residential area outside the city.

Along the way, Sharvan immediately proved himself to be an incredibly gracious and dedicated host. He was constantly pointing left and right and explaining the history of various places to me; in the meantime, I stared ahead, terrified of the oncoming traffic to which he seemed oblivious.

When we reached Sharvan’s apartment I took a moment to observe the living conditions and, seeing that there was no soap or water to be had, I realized I would have to get used to feeling dirty for a while.

After showing me some pictures from his “Motorcycle Diaries”-inspired bike trip to Leh, on the Chinese border, Sharvan, who currently seems to pass his days smoking, listening to Eddie Vedder and studying for the CAT (he nervously informed me that he needed to be in the top 99.9 percentile to gain admission), told me that he would call his best friends from his “gang,” and we would all go out. Then he began to hem. I wondered what was up. He said, “Well, these are friends but I am not very close to them,”  – but aren’t they from the “gang”? – “…So, I cannot tell them about couch surfing. So we will tell them we met at the beach some months ago.” He told me the beach name, but after asking him to repeat it ten times I gave up on remembering it. I had been wondering about how socially acceptable it would be here for a young man to host a hitherto unknown young woman in his home after getting in touch online. Sharvan’s beach story answered that question. Luckily, his friends did not interrogate me, so, I was spared the guaranteed awkwardness of attempting to repeat the name of the beach where we’d met many months ago and become fast friends.

I quickly realized how lucky I was to be with Sharvan and his gang, rather than in a hotel. They took me to a wonderful lunch “joint,” where in spite of my resolute insistence on paying, they treated me to a perfect lunch of idlies with sambar. “You are our guest,” they echoed. In India, I have realized that this seemingly limitless hospitality is common, at least in the South. I wonder if this is the same in the North, where I have heard the culture is quite different.

After lunch we scooted around the city, visiting the majestic (and they tell me affordable) Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, the kaleidoscopic musical fountain at Brindavan Gardens, and finally Chamundi Hill, where we got a beautiful view of the city all lit up for Dasara, and I watched the cows make a feast of the lavish floral arrangements on the cars in the parking lot.

Brindavan Gardens, and cows finishing up their dinner of Dasara wreaths on Chamundi Hill

My fellow visitors in all of these places were, in themselves, a delight to behold. Most families were quite done up; the colors of their outfits exquisitely complemented the colors of the fountains at Brindavan Gardens. To my surprise, some families asked to take pictures with me. My host explained that many people from rural south India only venture out of their tiny villages to celebrate Dasara in Mysore; the sight of a foreigner is therefore extremely rare for them.

Later, after a stop for a late night chicken-and-roti dinner at Café Biryani (a very good restaurant, with the fastest service I have had so far in India), Sharvan dropped me off at the room so that I could “take rest,” and he left to “booze with the gang.” I confirmed at this point that there was no water except some that was left over in a bucket. I gave a bucket bath my best effort, and slept.

The next morning Sharvan arrived around 9:30 AM. After he eagerly showed me a bit of “Into the Wild” – another inspirational movie, he said, except for the ending – he said we would “do one thing”: he would drop me off early at Mysore Palace, so that I could be a tourist and he could avoid the crowd. He informed me I would be the “perfect tourist, roaming around alone,” and therefore gave me a wonderful piece of advice: smile at everyone.

…To be continued next week!

[ New York/Texas Trip ]: Day 8

So.. I stayed in Brooklyn for a couple of nights at some cal poly architecture alumni’s apartment. Evidently I was like number 56 to stay on their futon of death, as I somewhat affectionately call it. Their apartment was really cute (very architecture person-ish). There was a wall that was written, painted and drawn all over.

It was cute.

Oh, and I went out to dinner with my Cuban-American, English-teaching, Squat-inhabiting, tour-guiding, new friend at a fab little bistro, somewhere rive droite.

I am back in Paris. On a whim. It’s been a strange and wonderful time already; I’ve been here less than 48 hours. It’s been like this: I dropped off my bags as the sun was setting, no time to bathe or nap, I’m off to the other side of the city; there are artists awaiting open microphones and small beers for which to exchange small coins. The guys who started talking to me on the street seemed nice enough, so I brought them along. There is nothing like a cheap meal, cooked in bulk, giant pots of healthy things concocted in co-op kitchens. La musique est froid, but the crowd is totally high; I am high on speaking french with Africans, the way they sing the language and throw in some yo! wassup! every now and again. And again. The subway is humming and never open as late as I wish it were. Sometimes fun is better than sleep. And sometimes it isn’t. The morning disappears after nights like those and the afternoon drags; smoke something and look out across the roof tops of Paris; so many little chimneys and balcony window balconies rising into the cold blue sky. There’s something about having the TV on mute while some music is playing that is strange but not ugly. Spicey immigrant food, is nothing like bread and butter. I had been craving to see Brian’s film since we first went out for drinks after he got back to Santa Cruz, and he seemed like he was, maybe more wise than he was before. And it was as beautiful as expected, reminding me of my own bike excursions through strange lands. I probably would have cried, but it’s not so easy to smile like that and cry at the same time. I sat with a lovely math nerd and we had a beer together after the show, wading through fixed gear bicycles and mess’ bags, I felt oddly at home despite how they spoke mostly German or British English. We escaped to a quiet bar du quartier, mellow and cheap. Someone sent me a text message about cheese and another read “REGAE SOUND SYSTEM BAP BAP” so, do I need to tell you which I chose? Thirty minutes in the metro, maybe more and the tiled station names fly. You know, there is some music that makes a part of your body move, that’s the way the rhythm works. But, also, there is music that is everywhere head-to-toes music, intoxicating music; no need to think and follow steps music. You know? No, I don’t want a beer, they were playing California when I walked in the door and that’s enough for me. Hey, can I crash the couch if we stay later than the metro, dance danser rebellution. And then there’s a cold walk that still feels rhythm, now bumping tinny through mobile phone speakers. J’ai sommeil, ma sœur. I could sleep for a long temps. And I do. And in the morning I drift out, quiet and blissful from coffee and the good sort of fatigue, into another day.

The less poetic version of things is that I’ve made some new friends and they’ve all taken me along with them to do fun things. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that I’ve met people with very different backgrounds, who experience Paris in very different ways. I’m staying in a vaguely artistic squat in the south of Paris with a kid I met through couchsurfing. I’ll be here until Wednesday so that I can see Eva sing with Slavic Soul Party. There are a few more touristy things I’d like to do while I’m here, but who knows what sort of adventures will show up en route.

The countdown to our November 18 departure continues – 34 days remain! Although the real question is how many work days remain (I’ll save that calculation for while I’m actually at work, I clearly have more important things to do right now).

This still hasn’t become a standard travel blog, as the only traveling I’ve done so far is from a friend’s spare bedroom in Maida Vale to another friend’s pullout couch in Paddington. Next stop, Fulham on a blow up mattress!  We thought we’d give up our flat 6 weeks prior to leaving, which seemed like a brilliant and foolproof way of saving some cold, hard cash. However, now I think I may be spending more money on taxis moving my suitcase from one London neighborhood to another (try lugging a suitcase around the tube during rush hour. Absolutely impossible).

In addition to my mounting black cab expenditure, after all this couch surfing, I may also need to invest in a chiropractor. Like I said, brilliant and foolproof.