Emily

Camp Bliss

2008-11-04T09:41:00.002-05:00

We are in Camp Bliss, a camp in the desert, which has tents with real beds, bathrooms with flushing toilets and hot water, live entertainment, wireless internet and the most amazing dining tent I have ever seen. This is camping like I have never seen before.
We arrived in Pushkar this afternoon, after having spent the morning having a lazy breakfast and then shopping in Jaipur. We found this great shop with beautiful clothes, where I spent a happy hour trying on all kinds of things, while the others paitently waited, and I managed to be more decisive than usual and actually bought some things.
We spent the day before also in Jaipur, wandering through Hawa Mahal (The Windy Palace) and shopping shopping shopping! Tom is looking for a bed spread, and we have seen many many many, but none quite right. It has been fun though, bargaining and wandering and managing not to buy too much.
In Jaipur we stayed at Alsisar Haveli, which is a self described oasis from the business of Pushkar, and this statement could not be truer!
Before Jaipur, I had two days in Delhi. I arrived at 3am Saturday, and got a few hours sleep, before heading to the Red Fort and, surprise surprise, a little retail therapy! A little dancing at an Indian nightclub was a trip down memory lane of bad eary nineties music and dancing with new friends.
Delhi day 2 was the cricket. Australia vs India, the last day of the test. My first day of test cricket, of International cricket live, and of cricket in India. You know that you're not at the cricket in Australia, when you have to go through two sets of doors, up the stair, around the corner and find a tiny bar, with bottled fosters as your only option...not that we were complaining!
Our current adventure is by car, we have a driver, which is fun and feels pretty luxurious, and allows us to sleep and chill out while we travel.
The weather is hot, there is a lot of dust around, but since we left Delhi, the sky is free from pollution. Dinner is always late, 8.30 is the earliest, and several nights I have eaten around 11pm. Smells abound, as do people who are ready to help our driver with directions, or just say hello and want a chat. It's hard not to feel like a celebrity sometimes, when people want to take my picture for no apparent reason, and we stick out and are stared at, even when there are other tourists around.
Incredible Indiaa it truly is.

Discipline

2008-03-30T07:55:00.002-04:00

I went to Devonshire Street meeting in Sydney last Sunday. What I noticed (again), is how hard I find the hour of worship on a Sunday morning. Quite often by then end, I'm nearly in the right space and could stay for longer, but it takes me a long time to get there. For me, being a Quaker is less about going to meeting on Sunday, and more about living in the light, every day, in all that I do and all that I am. It's important for me to worship with my community, but it's so much less valuable than it could be when I don't have my own spiritual discipline going on throughout each day, and the whole week.

I keep noticing this and know that I need to act on it. At the moment, that's almost as far as I can go before I get stucka nd am not quite sure what to do next.

But I know, and sometimes I remember, that when I try to hold on to everything really tightly, it doesn't work. As scary as it is, when I let go, things are taken out of my control and I don't have to worry so much about 'what next', because the 'what next' is given to me and it's easier for me to be able to see it and do it.

So, here's to discipline and letting go and living in the light always.

Hens

2008-03-30T06:24:00.002-04:00

Last night I went to my second even hen's night, and the first one that was I old enough to drink at! I managed to arrive without any expectations, which meant that I was open to whatever it was going to be, and so I had a great night! We ate, drank, danced, bonded and flirted. It was a chance to get to know the women in the life of my dear friend who is getting married, and for us to celebrate and love her; and the relationships we all have with her. There was a mix of ages and of 'how we know hers', and it just worked.
It's powerful stuff when women get together, there's a different energy there. I mean, I guess maybe it's obvious, and I imagine something similar happens when men get together as well. But it was a real opportunity for me to revel in being a woman and to connect with some other amazing women at the same time.

2008-03-28T06:56:00.002-04:00

This month I have left two Quaker gatherings, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. The local one was with my home meeting, and in New Zealand it was with kiwi young friends. As I sat in the airport and on the plane on Wednesday, making my way back to Australia, I found myself in a familiar place, familiar from the week before, and from many many times in the last 18 months in particular, but from longer ago than that too.

It's a 'happy-sad' place. Filled with joy and inspiration from the amazing people I have met, the things I have seen, done, said, sung, heard, played, wrestled, cooked and so on. Filled with the Spirit and with the knowledge of the presence and vitality of God and of the absolute value and necessity of community. Feeling sad at saying goodbye - again. Of not knowing when or where I will see my new friends. I trust, absolutely, that I will see them again, but sometimes the not knowing when is harder than others.

There's also a sadness of saying goodbye to living in community, while at times it's overwhelming, I love having people around me, and knowing that I am part of 'the group'. I think I find it even harder to say goodbye to that a the moment, because I still very much feel like I am trying to find that community here. My house is amazing, it's home, and I am so blessed to be living with the amazing housemates I am living with. And still I know that I need more. I yearn for that sticky, messy, being in each others lives and space and loving and playing and hurting and creating and...being. Together.

This was a blog that I set up for my overseas travel, and now, that i am home, it feels right to be writing again, as I travel in this place that, once again, I call home. A place that is at the same time familiar and foreign. A place where I continue to travel in the light and in search of the light.

3 more sleeps!

2007-10-19T01:39:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day in Bhopal. Tonight we catch an overnight train to Mumbai. We will spend Saturday and Sunday in Mumbai, with all the thousands of people who will be there celebrating Duschera. We fly out of Mumbai round 9.3pm on Sunday and hopefully will be back home late afternoon Monday.

A few days ago I had an evening of Sari wearing lessons. I practiced and practiced, and yesterday I managed to get dressed in a sari all by myself, and wore it out to dinner, and it didn't fall down or look to disgraceful or anything!

I feel so much more comfortable walking around and catching auto rickshaws and buying things, using very siomle English and some of the important Hindi words I have learnt like, kithna (how much) bas (enough) achcha (good) danyawad (thank you)and ek, do, teen, baatch (1, 2, 3, 4). I am getting better at dealing with people staring at us and am much less freaked out by random people talking to us on the street than I was when we first arrived. My Australian training in 'stranger danger' has calmed down a bit, and I realise that people are just curious and want to be friendly.

It's hard to know how to descrie India. It is very dusty and dirty, and everywhere you go there are strong smells. All kinds of smells, some pleasant, some not-so-pleasant. It is festival time, so there is noise and music and lights and prayers being broadcast all day and late into the night. Yesterday we bought a pair of scissors, and , there is no quiet browsing and deciding on your own. Shoping is a very interactive process. We were shown about 5 different kinds of scissors, several of which we were assured were the 'latest model', and therefore clearly suprior, despite them all being the sae price. In all the chaos of the scissors we managed to both walk away with a pair, despite having only paid for one...they were surprised and pleased when I returned the pair I had accidently ah-hem, borrowed!

I a travelling with the Secretary of the Asia West Pacific Section of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (International Quaker organisation). Yesterday she wrote a thank you letter to all the people we have visited and met on this trip, and got photocopies made of the section newsletter to send with the letter. In a home or an office, this is not a big deal, and it wasn't really a big deal here, it just loked pretty different! We had the addresses merged and ready to print, but no labbels to print them onto, so we printed them onto paper, bought scissors, glue, envelopes and got the photocopies done.

While the photocopy man was compiling the newsletter (the machine was not one that could sort and staple), we sat on the front step of this shop, the shop was maybe 6 metres by 6 metres and the front is totally open, and Valerie cut and I glued the labels. When the photocopies were ready, they brought out a chair for Valerie and I sat on the step and she stuffed and I kept gluing (the envelopes were not the self-sealing variety). We only attracted a small audience in doing this, and the photocopy people didn't seem to think there was anything odd about us setting up camp in their shop (which I had not been at all convinced we should do, but luckily Valerie was feeling braver than me!). Stamps here are of the kind that need licking, and need quite a lot of licking, so we had another production line at the post office, needing to put two stamps on each of 40 envelopes.

We went outside to post the letters, and stood looking at the four boxes in front of us, they had plenty of instructions in Hindi but nothing helpful in English. After a miscommunication from someone walking past (which meant we put the letter to Thailand in the 'Bhopal only' box), someone who had been watching us and who spoke English came over and deciphered the Hindi for us. He pointed to the words and in a 'it's written there quite plainly' kind of a voice, told us what the different boxes were for. So hopefully we got it right after that.

So many more storieds to tell and some photos to share, but I think that they only partially convey the wonder of this country. All I can say is, visit India! Travel with a friend, someone that you can travel well with and who can be brave when you're not and vice versa; bring a torch; walk on the left side of the road; and stay for at least 3 weeks, I needed that much time to get used to being here and if I had left after a week I may never have come back.

Electricity

2007-10-11T06:42:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking today about the days we had black outs at the cafe, and what a pain it was. When the electricity goes out in Australia, we are crippled. Here in India, it seems to be fact of daily life. Today the power went out around 9.30 and was not back on until 3pm. Almost every day I have been here, in every place, there are portions of the day where it is known that there will be no power, and then soemtimes the power goes out at other times as well.

I am in Pachmarhi at the moment. We are staying with a friend who was at Pendle Hill last year, but who I had not met until I stepped off the train in Piparrya yesterday. We are staying in this very cute town, only 10 000, and while it is apparently a tourist destination, we have not been mobbed by shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers like we were in Kajuraho, which is the last tourist place we visited.
We caught our first regular passenger train yesterday which was great. Hard wooden seas, and more people on them that seems possible. Everybody staring at us, but also looking out for us, and giving us their seats, and making sure we got at the right station. We were taken to the station by an Indian, and loads of people came up to talk to him. The only things we understood that he said were 'Australia' and 'Piparrya', and he said those words many time. People are genuinely curious and friendly, and the Aussie training about stranger danger that I have had does not seem to apply here!

Before we were here, we spent two nights at Sohagphur Friends Girls School. They have a boarding hostel there, and we stayed with the woman who is in charge of the hostel. Our second night there, we played games with the girls. We taught the \m a few, then they taught us one. We were playing outside, and it was fairly dimly lit, but then the power went out, so there was no hope of continuing the game. Valerie and I sat down where we were, about 20 metres away from each other, and found ourselves mobbed by the girls, who all wanted to sit as close as they possibly could. They sang us some songs in Hindi and some in English. They asked me to sing, so reluctantly I taught them 'this littlt light if mine' and 'heads shoulders knees and toes'. Then were so excited to have us visit them and play with them. It was great for me to be able to play as well. Mostly we have been inpretty formal settings, even when we have visited schools. Sitting in the dirt and running around and laughing together, even though we often didn't understand the words others were using, it was real. The times in this trip, when we have got beyond the formalities and divisions, the biggest of which has been that of guest and host, have been magical times, where I have truly felt Spirit present and holding us all and reminding us that, we are one and we are the same.

Chhaturpur

2007-10-08T06:24:00.001-04:00

Two 'h's in Chhaturpur...who knew?

I am now in Bhopal, having had an amazing week in and around Chhaturpur. We were mamn (guests) and receied some amazing hopitality. We have met so many people and clocked up many hours in the car, and so have a bunch of the people who come to visit us. My Hindi dictionary is rapidly growing and I am already dreaming of 'next time', and I still have two weeks to go!

Yesterday we went to church and I met with some young friends. Today we are heading out to Sohagpur, a Quaker boarding school for girls.

Too many stories and not enough time at this internet place...but I am feeling blessed and held as I travel amongst Friends and meet so many amazing and generous people.

Chatturpur

2007-10-06T09:53:00.000-04:00

I am pretty sure I have not spelt Chaturpur write either time I have just written...not sure how many 't's and 'r's are in it...oh dear!

I am in Chatturpur until Monday morning. We are being well looked after here. Most exciting is all the Indian food we are being given. We stop on the side of the road for Chai, from a place that in Australia would be considered totally dodgy and not somewhere to consume from...and we drink delicious chai out of sherry glasses. we are given Indian sweets (maithai), like Chenna (milk sweet) and gujia (kind of like baclava).

Today we went shopping in the market with two Indian young women. They wheeled and dealed like I have never even tried to do, and we came out laden with many goodies, and having tried panni pulli and maithai panni pulli, which are little pastry cases and the size and shape of profiteroles, but much thinner. They put this spicy clear soup in one, and some sweet things in the other. So tasty!

Ok, it's time to go home for dinner...there is so much more to say, other than the food...which, I am eating Indian style, ie without cutlery and using only my right hand. using roti to scoop things up...so good, cutlery is such a waste of time!

xoxo

Noida

2007-10-01T07:32:00.000-04:00

Noida is maybe an hour and a half drive from Delhi airport, and it's where I am spending my first night and two days in India. I met the friend I will be travelling with at Heathrow, and we both, independently of each other, got upgraded to 'World travller' (a little more leg room basically, and fancier seats) seats next to each other. We were met at the airport by our Indian friend who will be travelling with us for some of the time.

In the last year I have driven on the wrong )ie right hand) side of the road in USA, Italy and France. In India they drive on the left, but here, driving seems a much more daunting prospect than it was in the countrys where they drve on the right. It seems that the key is to just keep going. As long as you don't stop, and you keep your hand on the horn, things seem to work ok. At traffic lights, and at other random places the line markings on the road disappear, and everyone just kind of bunches in, like a crowd waiting to get into the boxing day sales at Myer, except they're in cars! There are bicycles and motorbikes and scooters and pedestrians on almost all of the roads, even the big ones, and lots of the motorbikes have more than one person on them, sometimes dad driving, mum behind ridig side saddle with one arm around dad, and the other around the baby.

People seem to live on the sides of the roads and so there is laundry hanging along what I would call a highway. Parking is amazing and scary, but somehow it works too. It is hot here, about 30 celsius today, but the fans in the internet cafe I am in provide relief from the heat.

I guess that if you've been to India, none of this is surprising...but I've never been here before. And, despite the craziness and the poverty, it look slike it works. There are people, and they are doing their thing, just being, living, working, whatever. This is their world, and if that means standing on a dusty road to wait for a bus where you're going to be squashed up against loads of people standing in the aisle, or being a cow wandering down the street, or a child walking to school...or whatever, theyre just doing their thing.

Admittedly I haven't even been here for 12 hours yet...so these are my first impressions. While part of me is still scared about washing in non-potable water, and getting malaria, and wondering if the water I bought today is going to make me sick and feeling like a tall white woman who doesn't speak the languge of this country and is travelling with way too much stuff...it feels like the next three weeks are definitely going to be an adventure!

taking off again

2007-09-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I am beginning the last leg of my trip. I wil be leaving Warwick where I have been for the last fortnight and heading into London, to fly out of Heathrow to Delhi, India. I will be there for a little over three weeks and then I will be heading back to the Land of Oz!
It doesn't quite feel real, and I am excited and a little apprehensive and feeling like I can't imagine what the next three weeks are going to be like, and feeling excited and unsure about going home. From the time I left the USA until just a few weeks ago, all I wanted to do was go home. That was made harder by meeting and then saying goodbye to my sister and both my parents. I was sick of planes and airports and of landing in countries where there was no one waiting to meet me at the airport. I am feeling more excited about travelling now! I still wish there was a bit less stuff in my bag...but I am excited about the next three weeks, and excited to go home and see what that will be like!

I would be grateful for any prayers or light that anyone feels like holding me in as I step out on this final leg and then land back home and enter that readjustment phase. I hope to be able to put some bits and pieces up here during my travles...fingers crossed!
xoxo

Cinque Terre

2007-09-04T16:45:00.000-04:00

I spent three nights in Cinque Terre with mum and dad, very cute. 5 Italian towns on the Mediterranean sea; walking tracks between them all; loads of coffe and gelati; rocky beaches; incredible agriculture happening on the terraces of the mountains on the coast; loads of tourists; a bunch of locals; sunshine; sleep ins; lots of bread and olives!

It was nice to be in one place for a while and to have a room to myself! We were staying in Riomaggiore, which is the first of the five towns, and on our second day there we walked through all five towns, to Monterosso at the other end. During the walk we met lots of stairs and hills; other people walking in both directions; sunshine and sweat; loads of photo opportunities; olive trees with nets under them to lay out to catch the olives and this very cool train thing that you can put crates of grapes in so that you don't have to lug them down the hill!

Dublin 10-21 August

2007-08-23T11:06:00.000-04:00

I was in Dublin last week. I attended the 22nd Triennial of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) at Kings Hospital School. There were 308 people from 41 different countries there living together for about 8 days.
It was a busy week. There was worship every morning; Worship and sharing groups; business meeting; working groups; interest groups; late night interest groups; excursions; siwmming pool; craft; book store; project fair; meals; section meetings...and somewhere in there was some games and socialising and even a little shopping!
I was the last one in my room to bed most nights, and one of the first up...not a way of being that I can sustain for a very long time, especially when the waking hours are as intense as these ones were.

The Triennial was a rich experience, for me personally, and also corporately.

One of the highlights of the week was the Young Friends late night interest group. We meet maybe four times during the week, and each time felt like we were truly coming together to do God's work. At the beginning of our last meeting, having put many hours into our work (not just the four meetings, but a number of sub-committee meetings as well) we were not in unity. It felt like maybe we were trying to rush the decision so that we could get it done. One Friend voiced this, and reminded us that if we were truly not in unity, we needed to be willing to lay this down and not push it forward until we found unity, even if that meant not getting it done before we all left Dublin. The worship that followed this was rich and powerful. People shared from a deep place and having found our centre/s, we were able to hear and address all the concerns held by the group and individuals in it. This was a truly awesome experience of Quaker process and the listening and love needed to make it work.

The outcome of our work is a new committee (I mean, we are Quakers after all!) that will be aiming to bring Young Friends across the world together and carry forth the vision of the World Gathering of Young Friends 2005. There was much talk at the Triennial about the importance of Young Friends and of nurturing and supporting them and of bridging gaps between younger and older Friends.

One of the joys I have found in my time away from home, is that there are some people that I keep meeting, or should I say, that I keep being in the same place at. The Triennial was the third Quaker gathering this year that I had attended with one Friend. And with another Friends, it took until this Triennial, which was the fourth Quaker thing we had been at together in the last two years for us to actually meet. If I didn't believe it before I really do now, the people that we need to meet will keep being put in our paths until we actually meet them.

Having a bunch of Aussies at the Triennial was exactly what I needed and definitely added to my homesickness! I had been trying to decide if coming back to Australia was what I was going to do at the end of my travels...and it is! Seeing my Aussie Friends reminded (not that I really needed it) how much there is that I am going home to. Meeting people from all over the world and all over Quakerism makes me want to go home and share their stories and share what I have learnt and to connect people to the world of Global Quakerism. It makes me want to go home and hear the stories of people that I have known for a long time, but have perhaps never truly known, and to let people know me.

So I decided I was coming home, but somehow, I continued to meet so many Americans at theTriennial. Granted, there were a lot of them there, but...I guess that there is a piece of me in that will always be in the USA, and maybe I needed to be remided of that...although I don't think I had really forgotten it!

Okay, so much writing...this is what happens when I don't write in my journal since I left the USA...to much to say!! I am London now, and tomorrow I leave for Rome. My parentals will be joining me on Sunday and then we have three weeks romping around Italy and France!

Where do I live?

2007-08-14T18:13:00.001-04:00

Where do I live? Today it is King's Hospital School, Dublin, Ireland. In five days time I have no idea where it will be, and in a month's time, also no idea...I am in this crazy place of being a traveller...I wonder if that is a legitimate occupation to put on the landing cards I have to fill out when I land in a new country?
I am at the FWCC Triennial, which is a gathering of Quakerd from around the world. Before I was here, I was in London for two night; before that I had a night in New York, the airport that is, awake, waiting to fly out of the country. Before that I had maybe five nights at Pendle Hill, and before that Jane and I were travelling for about four weeks. Before that was FGC Summer Gathering and before that I was at Pendle Hill. It seems crazy that all of that still feels relevant...but it does.
In the last couple of months I have definitely had opportunities to plant myself a little and just be in one place and not have to move...but underneath, I have still felt like a traveller, like one who is in transition.
It's amazing to be meeting so many people and hearing stories and learning and being inspired and running around a doing things...but something is missing. I don't know how to explain it, not even to myself. I guess that I am still feeling very much like I have just left Pendle Hill and that there is so much I need to process and talk about from that experience, that I feel full and trying to have more experiences...well I guess I am cramming them in somewhere, but it is hard to be fully present and to find my own stories to tell.
But, it is so much more awesome than I had imagined it would be to find so many friends here. I mean people who are already part of my life, some who I have for most of my or their life and some who I have only met once or twice. I think that in this time when I am feeling like I am everywhere and nowhere, it is affirming and grounding to have familiar and loving people around me.
I realised today, that I really could be anywhere in the world and I wouldn't know it. I have not seen any of this country yet, which will change tomorrow when we all go out on excursions! Everyone here speaks with an accent, and my brain is so addled I can't even always tell an American accent from and Irish one!
I need to sleep...to live in my bed for a few hours!

Maine

2007-07-22T23:07:00.000-04:00

I am in Maine, just outside of Winterport, staying with a friend from Pendle Hill and her partner. I have done a lot of travelling in the last few weeks...after I Left Pendle Hill I drove with two other people to River Falls, Wisconsin where we attended the Friends General Conference Summer Gathering (about 1450 Quakers predominantly from liberal unprogrammed North American meetings), then went on to Minneapolis. After 5 days there, we drove across to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan where we camped for two days in Fayette State Park, then down to Harrisville State Park in the Lower Penninsula for two nights. We had one night in Geneva Ohio (at one of the most stupid campsites I have ever seen), then two nights at Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca New York. Next was a night in Brattleboro Vermont, where we woossed out from camping in the rain and stayed in a little motel for a night and then we came to Maine.

We have consumed a lot of sesame sticks, hummous, purple cabbage and nutritional yeast; visited co-ops in almost every place we have stayed or spent a chunk of a day in; cooked on Jane's great little white gas stove and slept in her awesome little tent; and walked and swum in some gorgeous places!

We are heading to New Hampshire next, for a quite week (she says hopefully). I am feeling very much in transition mode and between places and communities and in need of some time to re-ground and be still and listen and breathe and get ready for the next parts of my trip. It is less than three weeks until I leave the US and it feels really far away and scarily close. I am excited to see my sis and my parents, all of whom I will see in the next month, in Ireland and in Europe. I am feeling sad about leaving people here and I am missing Canberra and Australia and F/friends and family there.

I went to Meeting for Worship today for the first time since I was at the FGC Gathering, and I have definitely beeen missing that in my life. From the almost dailyness of worship at Pendle Hill, to very little away from there, I realise how important that is in keeping myself connected to me and to Spirit. Jane and I have been having silence before almost every meal, even when we are eating at a restaraunt, and it feels like a really important part of the meal and of my days.

As I am in this transition phase, I welcome communication from people, even if it's just a quick hello. It helps me remember that we are all connected and that conenctions don't cease just because we are not physically present with each other.

moving out

2007-06-13T22:53:00.000-04:00

It's been such a long time since I last wrote here, maybe everyonw has given up checking...but, I am back! Tonight I am moving. The last term at Pendle Hill finished last week, and on Monday we farewelles the last batch of people until I go. I have two more weeks here, and will be working in the kitchen here and will also be doing some work in Philadelphia at the offices of Friends General Conference (FGC) doing some stuff to help with their Summer Gathering, which I will be attending in July in River Falls Wisconsin.

I have to move to a different room for my last two weeks here, which kind fo sucks and is kind of ok. It's good to have to touch everything I own here, and to realise how much stuff I have accumulated while I have been here. I have got most of the stuff out of here, and now just need to rearrange the furniture and take the last things off the wall, which I am avoiding doing. This is the last night I will sleep in this room and in this building, and I have to get up at 6am tomorrow to work!

I have had an amazing time here. I have just read my affirmation book that people wrote notes to me in last week, it was quite a task to write in everyone's book, there were nearly 45 in total! The last time I left Pendle Hill, in 2001, I also had an affirmation book, and that made me cry, like this one did. But last time, my tears were partly because I felt like people hadn't really seen me, like I hadn't really let myself be seen and known. That was hard and really important for me. This time, I feel much more seen. I know that I have been brave this year and taken risks, and let people see me and I have really seen people here. I need to keep moving and take some more things off my wall and move some stuff to my new room...maybe I'll write more, now that the year is ending, as I am processing and reflecting on this experience...maybe she says...

Second day of Spring

2007-03-23T00:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the first official day of Spring. The traditional way to celebrate this occasion in this area, is to head to Rita's for free water ice. What's water ice I hear you asking...well, it's kind of somewhere between a sno cone and gelati. I had tangerine flavour, which tasted as much like ornage food colouring as it did tangerine. Jane definitely had the best one, which was mango passionfruit and coconut!

There were 14 of us who traipsed out from 'the Hill'. It was almost chilly, and certainly when we were standing in line, I was glad I had my coat and my warm kathmandu head band (thanks ma and han) on!

I have done my spring cleaning and rearranged my furniture and am feeling ready to go on vacation! We are going to Maryland for a few days and then up to Boston! We have packed books to bind and books to read and are dreaming of waffles and sleeping in and watching movies by the fire. My to-do list is slowly shrinking...slowly!

Sarah and I went shopping at the Thrift store today, the local goodwill. I finally bought myself a dress almost in the style that Hannah has been discouraging me from for years. Admittedly this one is plain black and not spotty or red like the dresses I have eyed off in the past. All it needs is a big red bow around my waist and it will be perfect!

Last week was festival week, which was intense! I had active roles in two presentations. I sat on the facing bench next to my friend as she gave her presentation. I was her elder and my role was to hold her and the group in the light and help ground the gathering. Also to be there for her if she got lost or stuck or anything else. It was an incredibly powerful experience for me. I was able to listen more deeply and to feel. To feel my response and how she was and to sense where the group was at. It felt really good to be able to do and it's definitely something I have done before, but not in such a visible way.

The other thing I did was to help organise and run a programmed Meeting for Worship. There is a friend here from Kenya who was actually in my Summer School group at YM in Newcastle a few years ago! I clerked the meeting, so did introductions and some explaining and some more holding the space and and the people. During this Meeting for Worship I wondered at what made this Quaker. Not coming from that Quaker tradition, it has in recent years seemed like an important and valid way to be a Quaker, but I have never quite been sure what the link was. What unites all these people who express their Quaerism so differently?

The thing that came to me during this Meeting for Worship, was that Quakerism is about 'living in the world, but not of it'. Quakerism is a faith that calls people to live in the world and be the change they want to see and to live their faith and let their lives speak. What I experienced in this Meeting for Worship was being told about how to live in the world as a Quaker. The message was the same but the delivery was different.

I really love the singing and the way that I can experience God through that. I think it helps bring people together and somehow God can be more accessible through song, like it's an easier way to feel rather than think, and it's when we feel that we are more able to find God.

Last week I also sang in a gospel choir performance. It was AMAZING!!! The audience had a great response and we sang our hearts out and lived it and felt it and I would have happily sung those songs over and over and over! Singing connects people and touches me and opens me and feels fantastic!!

Well, my intentions for a short entry got lost somewhere along the way...so now I must go to bed, so that I can get up tomorrow and head South for some beautiful spring rain and rest!!

YAF gathering in Burlington New Jersey

2007-03-01T23:48:00.000-05:00

The internet is running hot at the moment with posts from other people about the Yougn Adult Friend gathering a couple of weeks ago in Burlington, New Jersey USA. I was lucky enough to be able to go, and found myself in an old meeting house with a new conference centre attached to it, with 102 other Young Adult Friends.
It's hard to know what to say about this gathering.
It was really good and really hard. Part of the hardness was feeling a little bit out of place, perhaps a bit disconnected. It was my first venture out of the bubble that is Pendle Hill since Christmas. There are often more than 100 people in one place at Pendle Hill, but I am usually not trying to interact with them. Having all these amazing people, with so much passion and excitement in one place was overwhelming for me. There were a dozen or so people there that I knew already in varying degrees of wellness. Mostly for the World Gathering of Young Friends, and some from Pendle Hill.
I heard a lot of Truth spoken and a lot of hard things were said and I think heard.

There was a two hour meeting for worship on Saturday night that was gathered like I have never seen before. What was really strange about that for me, was that I could see Spirit working all around the room, and could kind of feel it, but I wasn't in it. It's as though I was sitting on the river bank, watching it all happen, but being afraid to jump in. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't jump in. I think some of it was that I was full. I had too much in and didn't have a way to get it out, and I didn't feel like I could take anymore. God may not have agreed with me, but I was too scared to ask.

In Meeting for Worship on Sunday, I was much more present, and much more in it all. I gave away my resistance, and let whatever was going to happen happpen. One of things that I experienced, was that part of my role for the weekend was to hold space for others; to hold people and discussions and activities in the light. This was an exciting role for me to find. i am often more comfortable with more of an observer role than being in the thick of things, although sometimes that's exactly the place for me to be. I think it helped because part of what was hard for me about the gathering was that the shared history I had with most people, even those I knew was not very substantial. Quakerism in the USA is different than in Australia, and in many ways this doesn't matter, but some of the issues that came up were certainly things that didn't feel like they were mine to get involved with.

I think that I also held back a bit from connecting with people because of s little fear that I have about being connected to too many people here. There are already so many people I have met here at Pendle Hill who I keep knowing for the rest of my life, that I get scared about how I will be able to balance having people I love here and people I love in Australia. I think this was something I wasn't really ready to deal with yet, and so didn't quite understand it when it hit me at the gathering. I have always had people in my life that have been transient, and I always thought that was OK. I think that sometimes it was, and sometimes I was just telling myself it was OK. I sometimes find it hard to think beyond 'now'. Things are so intense now and I am so present, that 'home', Australia seems so far away and I forget how much I love it and how many amazing people ther are there...don't worry, I haven't really forgotten. I have been having more 'home' contact recently and am definitely feeling a lot of love for the land down under and all the crazy people in it!

What a long ramble...I will write more about the gathering, because there is still a lot more to say!!!

watch this space!

The day after Fuhnky Hair Day!

2007-02-25T00:17:00.000-05:00

Just a quickie...

2007-02-19T17:08:00.000-05:00

I should be in bed, I am tired and sick, and have to work tomorrow...but I put some photos up on Flickr today, so you can check out some of the snow scenery and some of the results of Funky Hair Day!! It was a rip-roaring success!
The snow is melting at the moment, which is a whole new kind of slippery, squelchy, muddy excitment to deal with...but fingers crossed we'll get some more snow in the next few days!!

I went to an amazing Young Adult Friends (18-35 year olds) gathering last weekend at Burlington, New Jersey. Watch this space for more details of the weekend when I get a few more things ticked of my to-do list!!!

Funky Hair Day

2007-01-28T22:54:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, that being 29 January 2007, is Pendle Hill Funky Hair Day. An ad hoc committee (that being Jane, Pat and me sitting around in the living room one night) formed one night and decided that we needed more fun injected into our daily lives...so we decided to create Funky Hair Day.

People seem to have taken it on...I announced it today as having come froma committee which in Quaker world certainly gives things an air of authority they may otherwise not have...and, fingers crossed, tomorrow will be full of crazy, wacky and generally funky heads!

On a more serious note...term 2 is well and truly under way. I am doing a class called 'Discerning Our Calls', and one about Book Arts. So far so good on both of them! There is a little bit of snow around, not as much as I would like, but I am being patient!

Tonight I have had a crap night, but I still know (really annoyingly) that this is the place I am supposed to be in, and the crap stuff is just as important as the good stuff. I am learning so much about myself...which I know is vague and annoying with no helpful detail...but, that's all it's gonna be tonight!

Maybe there will be more information when I am less grumpy...although playing in the art studio certainly helped my mood improve! But I have homework to do...so...I guess I'll at least start it now...

Term 2

2007-01-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

The second term has begun! Last night we played games, and tonight we met in small groups and hung out in the small groups at the homes of different staff members. Both of these were great fun, but it is the games I am especially pleased with. Last term we didn't have a 'fun activity' in the official orientation schedule, and so I think we probably missed out on some of the bonding and different kinds fo interactions that happen when people play together. So this time, we played a bunch of introductory, getting to know you type games that were fun and safe and sometimes chaotic! Desptie the fact that I didn't actually get to play any of the games, it was a blast and I hope we will play more group games (of the non-board type) this term!
I am getting up at 6.45 tomorrow to make blueberry pancakes..so I really should be in bed, but I just upgraded my blog, so I thought I'd post something while I was here.
The New Years weekend was pretty crazy here. There were about fifty people attending one of two workshops on offer. They were all very enthusiastic and soaking up the Pendle Hill experience, which made it a bit overwhelming at times. There was such a charged energy around, it was too much at times. Mostly I cooked and washed up and generally hid in the kitchen! On Monday night after they all left, the energy was amazingly low. We were all exhausted! You could feel it in the dining room, like we could all breathe again, but we were also exhausted.
It's good to have everyone back here. There are also a bunch of new people which is very exciting. On Monday sample classes start, and then we are off and running, into the new term and the new year.
Hopefully this term will be a bit calmer than the last one, with more space and more 'me time', less late nights coupled with early mornings, and maybe a little more venturing off campus and into the big bad city, or *gasp* maybe even another state...we'll see!

For now, it is time to go to bed before it turns into tomorrow!

White stuff on the ground

2006-12-19T11:10:00.000-05:00

I am in Middlebury Vermont, sitting in the warmth, listening to Christmas songs and watching snow fall!! At long last, the promised white stuff has appeared!! To my untrained eyes, it doesn't really look as though it's going to hang around...the snow is 'sticking' a little bit, but it's melting after a little while. the next couple of days have predicted highs above zero celcius, so whatever snow hangs around today will probably disappear tomorrow, but there is more snow predicted by Saturday, so I remain hopeful.

Living here I am so aware of all the differences of seasons between here and Australia. I find myself thinking about the weather and the seasons and noticing the changes much more than I do at home. Winter here is very different than in Canberra; both in Middlebury and in Philadelphia we don't get the beautiful warmth during the day that sees you shedding layers as in a Canberra winter...but we are getting snow!!! It's very exciting. It's the third time I've seen snow falling since I've been here, and the most convincing show yet!

Now that snow is falling I feel like we can gear up for the Christmas festivities. Jean and I are grocery shoppping today, and will start some of the food preparation today. There are presents to wrap and tonight we are helping put up a tree. There are Christmas lights all over the place. My favourite that we saw last night had a huge (I mean 6 foot or so) inflatable snowman, father christmas, penguin and something else big and inflatable, next to a nativity scene that was made of fairy lights.
All very festive...and I am sure all of these lights help make things a little warmer outside on these chilly winter nights!!

Knitting Circle

2006-11-26T17:33:00.000-05:00

On Sunday from 3.00-4.30 there is a knitting circle here for anyone who wants to drop in. Today I dropped in for the first time. I have been intending to go for ages, but have never quite made it...until today! During the week i was part of a 'yarn store raid', where we hit the knitting shop in Swarthmore village, and a larger store, JonAnn Fabric (Aussies think Spotlight with harsher lighting). I came home with three new balls of yarn, needles, and plans for a beanie and scarf and socks!
I have been doing a lot with my hands here at Pendle Hill, and especially this last week. We had a 'simple gifts' afternoon in the art studio on Friday, and it was such a delight to spend the whole afternoon and the evening in the studio making things.

The fellowship and support and encourgaement of a bunch of people hanging out together making beautiful, and generally, useful things was an experience I haven't had for such a long time. I am so excited about all the new things I am learning to do with my hands, and the new things my eyes are learning to see, to complement my hand skills.
I have also been thinking about this in relation to the 'work' I do here, being in the kitchen. It's using my hands to make things, but it uses all my senses, and making food that makes using all my senses is something I guess I have always done, but now I am noticing that I am doing it.

Today, among other things, I cut two tins of artichokes. I don't know how many tins of artichokes I have chopped in my life...but it's probably the equivalent of one pre fortnight for six years...and we're talking big commercial size tins. But today, it was nice to do it slower than I ever have before and just do it, without thinking about it, or whinging about it, just to do it and be really aware, sensing it rather than thinking it.

I don't know if this makes sense...i suspect that it probably does, but that we generally don't take the time to be slow enough to notice and to let it make sense. So, I invite everyone who reads this to doing something sensually, rather than intelectually today. I guess that a 2000 word essay or a final exam is probably not a great place to start...but, walking barefoot around the garden, or making dinner, or eating your lunch, or walking to work. Just try being really aware, and noticing what's going on around you and see where that leads you.

And with that, the horizontal surfaces in my room are calling out for some love and attention!

Turkey Day is coming

2006-11-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving! There are no classes on Thursday or Friday, and Wednesday work morning is mostly dedicated to getting ready for the Thanksgiving meal. Jane and I are in charge of making pies, and we have Carol and Tom to help us. I believe that Carol has more experience at this than the rest of us combined, which is a lucky thing! On Thursday the meal is at 2pm, with snacks around midday I think. There is work to be done the whole day, and we all sign up to do a couple of jobs to help get ready. I am doing table rearranging and putting food away after, as well as helping take money for the meal in the hour beforehand.

There is also a table tennis tournament that runs throughout the day. It's a doubles competition, and on Saturday night I discovered that I am not a total klutz with a table tennis racquet...although by no means great, but had fun playing, so found myself a partner for the tournament! It's a double elimanation friendly competition, so we will get to play two games no matter what!

On Wednesday night Yvonne (one of my hall mates) is organising a mega-spoon-a-thon...she has been out buying cards and plastic spoons to be ready for as many people as may turn up!

Stay tuned for more photos as I experience another great American holiday!!

Laundry day

2006-11-21T12:26:00.000-05:00

Tuesday is laundry day! It is my only day with no classes and no work, and it's a good day to do washing, because almost no-one else is, so I don't have to wait for the washing machine or the clothesline...not that many people use the clothesline here...

Tuesday is also the day I meet with my spiritual nurturer. This happens every week and goes for an hour. At first it felt like an odd thing to do, sit with someone for an hour because that was their job and tell them stuff about me and my spiritual journey here. It still feels a bit weird, but also really good. A lot of it is hard stuff to say, and if I didn't have this opportunity I probably wouldn't give voice to some of my thoughts.

I think it's one of the strenghts of the program here at Pendle Hill. Every student has a spiritual nurturer. At the beginning we were told that there were only three things we had to do here: Work morning, Daily work and Spiritual Nurture sessions! I kind of got out of one of the three, but am happy to be doing the others!

This afternoon I went on an outing with two of the kids whose parents are students here and with another student who was the official 'babysitter'. We went to the Brinton House side of the campus, which is across the road. There is a path that goes around the entire perimeter of the property, including both sides of the campus. We walked the Brinton House half, and threw things into the pond near Brinton House. We finished the afternoon with one of my new favourite activities of reading stories in the Reading Room!

And just in time to bring my washing in before it got too dark and cold (it now being 5pm, and is well on the way to getting dark and colder).

My clothes are now hanging around the room, and out in the hallway because it is warmer than my room!! Clean clothes again tomorrow!!

Status: Connected

2006-11-07T14:10:00.000-05:00

I am, at long last on-line in my bedroom, and I am a little ridiculously excited. I am now Skype-able, so all you out there who don't have skype accounts....get them! I am also now 16 hours behind Canberra time, because when yall went forward an hour I went backward!
It's well and turly fall here, the colours are amazing, and while this place and fauna is not my ultimate definition of beauty, it is beautiful here. The trees are in full swing of their colour change, and there are so many Japanese Maples around that are brilliant red, and in the late afternoon sun they look almost smoky. There is still not enough sky at Pendle Hill for me, but Swarthmore college is a twenty minute walk away, through the woods, and there is so much sky there that it makes the trudge up the hill absolutely worth it.
It is so cold here some days that i struggle to believe that it is going to get colder...but apparently it is. Friday was bitingly cold, as was Saturday, but since then it has been a little warmer, and last Thursday we all cracked out the skirts it was so warm! I am enjoying the changing temperatures. The temperature constant is that inside is too hot. The heating was turned on a few weeks ago, and I think I have used it twice, but most people have it on all the time they are in their rooms. I am on the top floor, so I get some upward heat, and I leave my door open to catch the hallway heat...and I am doing my father proud and dressing for the season, both when I am inside and when I am outside.
I have so much news, so much is happening here...and i am going to make yall wait for it. I will do an update of my classes soon...but before I do that I actually need to do some reading, or perhaps some procrastinating!

Panera

2006-10-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

The sun is shining, the leaves are turning and I am sitting in Panera, a nearby bakery with free internet!! The coffee here alright, although I know that my standards have dropped! At least it tastes like coffee, rather than being overwhelmed by the flavour of low fat (ugh!!) milk as they generally are in this country! I have taken to drinking filter coffee at Pendle Hill, which is alright as long as there is full cream milk to put in it!
Last week was the first full week with all the new students. There are five term long classes on offer this term, and last week we all went to a sample class of each. This is a 'try before you buy' type idea, which I was a little sceptical about, because I already knew which classes I was going to do and which ones I wasn't interested in, or was going to do later...

...which only goes to prove that maybe I'm not as smart as I think I am...maybe...The classes on offer are as follows:

Exploring Prayer
Social Issues and Community Spirit in Action
Spriit taking form: Clay and Stone as Spiritual Grounding
Mind-Body Awareness: A Personal Study of the Chakras
Quakerism: Living into a Radical Faith

Who would like to guess which classes I thought I would take and which classes I have ended up deciding to take?

I always intended to take the Quakerism course, my intention was also to take the Social Issues class, and I wasn't interested in Chakras and I thought I would take a prayer class in another term, so I thought I might take the art class.

I am still doing the Quakerism class. Marcelle Martin is the teacher, she is amazing! We have had one class so far (the sample class) and she told us stories of some early Quakers in a way that made it come alive. These people are her friends. They are real and have amazing stories to share. I think this class will be a good mix of learning about other Quakers and learning about ourselves, both individually and as a group and a community, as Quakers.

I am also taking the prayer class. I always intended to take a prayer class, but I was going to do it as a short course, which means doing it in one week, next term. After I went to the class, I realized that there would be a lot of benefit in doing a class like this over 10 weeks, because it allows time to practice and read and try to find a comfortable prayer fit in a way that I think wouldn't happen during one week.

I am also taking the Chakra course. This is the course that I knew absolutely I wasn't going to do!! I wasn't interested in Yoga and I thought that it didn't seem at all to fit with what I wanted to do, and I was relieved that at least there was one course that I didn't have to think about, I could just cross it off my list. So, when I went to the class, I was really surprised to find that it seemed to be calling me in. We are going to learn about Chakras, studying a different one each week, and doing all kinds of exercises and things to explore our Chakras and...I guess I can't really say much more, because I haven't had a full class yet, just the sample. Something about it though seemed like it was a class I needed to be doing.

So we shall see how all this goes. Today is my day off and it has been delightful, I even had a nap this morning! Breakfast is at 7.30, and most days (except today) there are things I have to do at 9.30, and I like to try to get up for Meeting for Worship at 8.30, which generally runs until about 9.15 including after thoughts and announcements, so to get breakfast I need to go before MFW. This also in theory gives my time to wake up and drink tea before Meeting...although it doesn't always work! So I am gettting up early (for me) which doesn't really fit with my natural night time rhythm, so I am trying to go to bed earlier...without an awful lot of success yet, so we shall see!

Alright, thanks for sticking with me for so long...but there was so much to tell...I didn't even get it all out, wait til classes start with a vengance!!

Today's the day

2006-09-29T11:27:00.000-04:00

the rest of the students arrive! I believe there will be about 15-20 new people joining us today, although that number may very well be a myth! I now have floor mates! Since i got here, I have been the only one on the third (but it's really the second) floor on myside of the building. It's nice to have some other people around, and here them moving about and breathing/gently snoring in the night. And I'm sure the people on the floor below are delighted to have some more people jumping on the ceilings above their heads!
We have an afternoon tea to welcome everyone, which means we get brownies!! Desert is a treat here reserved for birthdays...and anniversarys and arrivals and farewells...and other special occasions that people make up. So despite the supposed lack of desert, we have had cake twice, iec cream twice and brownies once while I have been here, and there are bound to be more sweets heading our way this weekend!! I figure that with so many people here, surely we will get desert at least once a week...figners crossed, otherwise I will have to escape for my cake fix every now and then!
I must say I am feeling a little bit institutionalised. It's a bizzare living arrangement, where you eat when meals happen at the same time every day, and do your jobs when it's your turn, and don't have a kettle and a teapot and a kitchen sink and are sharing bathrooms and lounge rooms and internet and so on. I think it will be a good experience, but I know that I will need to escape here on a regular basis, even if it's just via the telephone or the internet!!

Cape May

2006-09-25T22:54:00.000-04:00

Today Jane and I escaped Pendle Hill for the day and went down to Cape May, which is I believe on the Southern tip of on the New Jersey Shore.
As we trudged across the sand looking for the right spot to dump our stuff on the grey sand overlooking the flat grey beach under the cloudy sky, we saw dolphins playing the water! They were maybe 40 metres out and there were four of them just playing. We watched them and tried to take photos, haven't looked at them properly yet, and followed them as they moved down the beach. It was amazing to see them leaping out of the water so close to land that it seemed like we could just swim out there and touch them!

We were so inspired that after lunch, during which time the clouds cleared, so it was warmer and bluer all around and the waves had picked up a little, we went for a swim! It was delicious, so nice to play in the wet salty ocean and hang out with my new friend and try to appreciate the different beauty of this particular beach.

Cape May is a pretty touristy but cute town. Lots of 'cookie cutter' houses, old Victorian style with lots of 'lace' around them, huge houses and many of them have been turned into B'n'Bs. They are a stark contrast to the masses upon masses of cheap hotels we passed on the way in, all of which come equipped with ocean views, swimming pools and fake palm trees! These hotels appear to close down over the winter, as do a number of the other beach side businesses and are only open during the summer months. There was lots of fudge to be found, but no fish and chip shops, so we settled on The Ugly Dog (I may be improvising on the name, but not much) and then had ice-cream on the beach afterwards.

Next time we will take our lunch and our dinner with us, but still splurge on the ice-cream.

All in all a great day. Good to get away and have some time off and away from here and at the beach with a new friend. Tommorrow is laundry day as I discovered when I opened my drawers this morning, and then back to work on Wednesday. On Sunday I cooked the midday meal flying solo in the kitchen for the first time which was great fun, hopefully there will be more of that to come. As long as I don't have to try to cook rice for 40+ people everything should be alright!!!

When the right side becomes the right side

2006-09-22T15:05:00.000-04:00

There was road on the wrong side of me and there was car on the other wrong side; the indicator was on the wrong side; the brake was on the floor...
...thank goodness the accelerator is still on the right and the brake is in the middle!!
So, I had my first USA driving lesson and solo drive yesterday! The van I drove is pretty big, but thankfully having driven the beast I'm used to big cars, but it was still hard to judge where I was on the road, especially when the line in the middle of the road disappeared.
I guess that because everything was backwards, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, there were no remnants of dirving on the left to trick me into drifting into normal habits. I found that if I stopped using my insincts and used my brain (as in, the right turn is the easy, duck around the corner turn, not the left turn) and I found that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. admittedly, Media, the town I drove in is reasonably quiet...but there were some cars around, and a trolley (tram) to negotiate with!
I have been trying to find some decent coffee in this town...to no avail...but the place I am currently at is near a wireless source...so I may find myself back here despite the sub-standard beans...I wonder if it's too rude to ask to make the coffee myself...

Chicken!!

2006-09-15T19:23:00.000-04:00

I have arrived at Pendle Hill! I got here Wednesday feeling 'tired and emotional' but having got a couple of nights of good sleep, I feel much better and happy to be here.

While I am here I will be working 20 hours a week...in the kitchen!! Today was my second day of work and I was helping out with dinner, which was chicken, sweet potato, grabanzo beans (chick peas) and green beans. I got to do the chicken. There were nine bags of chicken bits, and I separated, deskinned, washed, chopped and glazed until all the chicken was in a pot and oven or a freezer! The great thing is that I actually don't smell like chicken!

There are about 100 people staying here this weekend, which is pretty crazy when you see them al lin the dining room at dinner time, especially when last night there were about 30 people at dinner!

Part of being in the community here is doing daily and weekly work. My weekly work is included in my kitchen hours, but there is also daily work, which is done around meal-times. I am learning the ropes of the daily jobs, there are 5 or 6 jobs per meal and with 3 meals a day and 100 people around this weekend, I have plenty of chance to learn them all!!

My room is on the top floor (they call it the third, but it's really the second) and from my windows I cn see the garden on one side and the maintenance shed on the other.

My room is a mess, although I have put most of the clothes away, but there are so many other bits that I haven't yet found homes for. The walls are white and the furniture is wooden and plain. It's a really nice room...snd I am already thinking about how I might re-arrange the furniture!

Joining the 50 mile club!!

2006-09-12T12:27:00.000-04:00

So we survived the bike ride! I’m sorry to say that Han and I only managed 50 miles, but on unfamiliar and ultimately not very comfortable bikes, I reckon we did alright. Han had a sore wrist and tingly fingers and I had a sore knee, both of which slowed us down a bit, but it was nice country and a good thing to be able to say we have done! I got a layer of sunshine all over and a bit burnt on the back of my shoulders…thank goodness for aloe vera!!

When we were about 5 miles from the end we rode past a sign that said ‘Wyoming’…my USA geography isn’t great, but I know that Wyoming is absolutely nowhere near Dover and so shouldn’t be appearing on the home stretch…it was quite a relief to see the Dover sign a few miles later. Such a relief that we had to take some daggy photos of us and the sign, much to the delight of at least one passing bike rider!

So, we are now in Boston, Massachusetts. We went to meeting Sunday morning, which was the first time I have been while I’ve been here. It was nice to feel at home with new people, in a new place (Beacon Hill Friends Meeting House).

one sleep to go...

2006-09-08T10:20:00.000-04:00

...until the Amish Country Bike Ride, which is of course the whole point of me being in this crazy country!! Five years ago when I was staying in Dover I went on this great 25 mile bike ride through Amish country with the delightful family I was staying with.
Well here I am again back in the same town, with the same family at the same time of year...so why not?? Only, the thing is that last year they rode 62 miles...and I know i'm more bike fit now than I was then but...a hundred ks??? The only good thing is, this state is ridiculously flat, so while there aren't downhills to coast, there are no up hills to challenge you!
I keep saying that we should go on a practice bike ride...but we haven' t made it,
my only consolation is that we've been walking around Dover a lot, and from what I can see, no-one is practicing their bike riding!!

So, what have Hannah and I been up to this last week?

Shopping has played a fairly key role, we both got hiking/keep your feet dry in the snow boots, which was the most exciting bargain of the week...whether or not the will squash down in a vaccuum bag and therefore be able to fit into Hannah's bag is another question!

We cooked one night...has anyone ever seen the mess that hurricane smellybubby can make in a kitchen? We made choc-chip biscuits (I will resist calling them cookies for as long as I can) and pumpkin scones and pumpkin soup. Much to my delight (I think it's safe to say this now) Hannah burnt the choc-chip biscuits...for as long as I have been cooking biscuits, I always burn the first tray and she always gives me a hard time...so...I think I can leave it at that! The second batch were perfect though, and gone within 24 hours!
They don't eat pumpkin soup here, so it was a cultural evening...they were horrified to discover that we had not only not made pumpkin pie out of the massive pumpkin they bought, we didn't know how...I think they felt sorry for us!

I fear I am heading down the path of the banal, so I will try to redirect my course...it has been a really good relaxing chilled out week. Hannah has a summer's worth of sleeping to catch up on, I had a bit less to catch up on and so have seen many more hours of daylight than her.

We have been playing the skin comparison game of 'guess who's just come out of summer/winter', which I think I would still lose even if she had been in summer and me in winter...
We have been enjoying Bill Bryson's book about Australia, which Han has been reading aloud to me...can anyone name all of the 24 Australian PMs? we got 10

I have been trying to get run over by not looking the right way before I cross the road

Trying to find food with a low sugar content

And trying not to think about next Wednesday when we have to say good-bye...

We have loads planned before then, and I will make a valiant effort to write here more regularly so that each post is not such an epic...I hope that I hit enter enough!!

Beginnings

2006-09-01T10:12:00.000-04:00

It's hard to know where to start this game...what do I want to say and what do I want you to know? I am here, Dover Delaware. I arrived here Thursday morning, having time travelled from Sydney to LA and then trekked across the country, via plane, subway, train bus and several hours in departure lounges of various kinds!
I tried to throw myself straight into local time, but not having slept at all on Wednesday night, meant that I crashed about 3pm Thursday. I slept well last night though and got up early, which is a habit that I am sure won't last, as I find the lure of late nights hard to resist, but I will make the most of it and enjoy it while my body resets its internal clock!
I have finally caught up with my little sis, who I haven't seen since May and we have a rollicking two weeks planned before she heads off to South Africa.
it is not nearly as warm here as I had hoped, so far I have not seen clear sky, and it has been muggy rather than hot and sunny, which is probably a good thing for my poor sundeprived reflectively white skin!

So, let's call this a start and leave it at that for now!