day 3 of my trip was cause for alarm. the Australian and i were heading to visit his family in south australia, and i had no idea what to expect. after a two-hour flight (which lands you in a 1.5 hour time zone because apparently Victoria is a bitch) and an initially awkward 6-hour car ride with the Australian's brother (that is, until i implemented a game that sam selfrige taught me called "hey cow/sheep/emu/kangaroo". thanks, sam!), we had a great comfort-food dinner in mt. gambier at the brother's house and proceeded on to Australian's parents' house.
right before we arrived at his parents' house, i had awkwardly seen that Australian's ex-girlfriend had texted him. i may or may not have lost my mind for a hot minute, but managed to pull it together to meet the parents of the man of my dreams.
later that night, we managed to talk about what happened, and im glad we waited a couple of hours and had some wine in us, because otherwise i would have totally lost my shit.
Aussie's parents are farmers through and through. they live on a vineyard that is 20 miles from the nearest town, and that has been in the family for at least 3 generations. they have also intentionally left 80% of their land as natural bushland. so frickin rad.
in the morning Australian and his dad took me on their version of a safari through the vineyards and to "have a look through the scrub." this tour included all of us straining to find the resident koalas, bitch about the kangaroos eating the veggies from the garden, and watch all the predatory birds circling in the sky. Aussie showed me here that one of his many talents is the uncanny ability to name almost every native bird/plant/animal he sees. i say again: so frickin rad.
i am clearly my mother's daughter, so when we got home i tried to make myself useful to Aussie's mom by offering to pick oranges from the trees outside the window. she looked incredulous. i reiterated that i would love to help in any way i could. she then handed me a longsleeve tshirt of dubious durability, gloves ("because they have prickers"), and a hat ("in case the ants fall on you. be careful, because they bite pretty hard.") oh, ok thanks! wait... what?
yes, the orange trees had ants the size of your fingernail that bite the bejeesus out of you when you try to steal their food. i was unaware of this when i offered myself for this job. awesome.
everything turned out ok and i didnt fall off the ladder and ants didnt fall on my head or down my shirt. great success.
then we all packed up the cars and headed out to the family beach house in kingston, which somehow reminds me of what santa cruz would have been 20 years before the hippies arrived. its a really charming little place.
the next few days were a blur of driving long distances to meet friends and family members of the Australian. luckily, hes a good road trip buddy, and his family is totally sweet.
ill post about christmas tomorrow. its so good it deserves its own entry.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
days 1-2
days 1 and 2 of my trip were absolutely wonderful. the Australian is an exceptionally caring and attentive man who alternately let me sleep off my fijian frustrations and showed me around brisbane. we did laundry, drank rose wine in the backyard, made dinner, and napped excessively. it was perfect.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
flying to AUS
the flight to australia was hands-down the worst flying experience i have ever had. cyclone evan delayed my plane by 12 hours, but none of the passangers were informed until about 2 hours before the flight. un/luckily for me, Queen Chrisann had just dropped me off at the airport and wished me bon voyage not 10 minutes prior to some airline employee casually walking by me mention that "oh, if you havent heard, youre going to be delayed 12 hours." so i quickly called the Queen and she swung back by to take me home, because ill be damned if im going to be this close to home and sleep in a shitty motel by the airport.
so i finally got on the 915am flight to Nadi, Fiji. the 14-hour flight really wasnt that bad, and the airport itself looked pretty much unchanged from the last time i was there- last year.
so i hurried up and waited in the trasnfer line for a layover that i knew was going to be 14 hours. clearly, i was thinking that this is going to give me plenty of time to walk outside the airport, take in a couple of sights, have soem local food, etc.
no.
i was dutifully informed- after waiting an hour in this line- that i needed to go back downstairs, outside the airport, to the front desk and rebook my flight because even though there was a cycone, i apparently missed my flight. i rushed downstairs to rebook the same flight that i was already booked on.
i start this comment by saying that i recognize vast cutural differences in a number of suddenly obvious ways. fijians live in a wonderful time/space continuum called "island time", where western definitions of work ethic just cannot be applied. there is quite literally no sense of urgency, and oftentimes there will be 5-8 other employees wandering around and admiring the mayhem occurring around them.
this would have been highly entertaining if you werent the one waiting in line FOR 6 HOURS to rebook your flight with the 100 other people who needed to do the same thing. this would not have taken 6 hours had they simply turned on another computer and had more than one person working the front desk. because of "island time", the other workers stood around, watching all of us miserable passengers pleading for their help, and all of them saying that it wasnt their job.
it actually is hilarious looking back on it now, probably because i know that i will never vacation to that country and probably never use it as layover destination either.
all turned out well in the end, because since i was the very last person to be helped at 1130pm (i had arrived in fiji at 2pm), the only hotel with room still available on the entire island was a 5-star resort. so i spent my last 5 hours on fiji, sleeping, in a stunning, beautiful room on the beach... with non-fuctioning AC... because its "island time".
so i finally got on the 915am flight to Nadi, Fiji. the 14-hour flight really wasnt that bad, and the airport itself looked pretty much unchanged from the last time i was there- last year.
so i hurried up and waited in the trasnfer line for a layover that i knew was going to be 14 hours. clearly, i was thinking that this is going to give me plenty of time to walk outside the airport, take in a couple of sights, have soem local food, etc.
no.
i was dutifully informed- after waiting an hour in this line- that i needed to go back downstairs, outside the airport, to the front desk and rebook my flight because even though there was a cycone, i apparently missed my flight. i rushed downstairs to rebook the same flight that i was already booked on.
i start this comment by saying that i recognize vast cutural differences in a number of suddenly obvious ways. fijians live in a wonderful time/space continuum called "island time", where western definitions of work ethic just cannot be applied. there is quite literally no sense of urgency, and oftentimes there will be 5-8 other employees wandering around and admiring the mayhem occurring around them.
this would have been highly entertaining if you werent the one waiting in line FOR 6 HOURS to rebook your flight with the 100 other people who needed to do the same thing. this would not have taken 6 hours had they simply turned on another computer and had more than one person working the front desk. because of "island time", the other workers stood around, watching all of us miserable passengers pleading for their help, and all of them saying that it wasnt their job.
it actually is hilarious looking back on it now, probably because i know that i will never vacation to that country and probably never use it as layover destination either.
all turned out well in the end, because since i was the very last person to be helped at 1130pm (i had arrived in fiji at 2pm), the only hotel with room still available on the entire island was a 5-star resort. so i spent my last 5 hours on fiji, sleeping, in a stunning, beautiful room on the beach... with non-fuctioning AC... because its "island time".
Sunday, December 2, 2012
nothing extraordinarily funny has happened to me in the last few days. just the normal stuff while living at home and working at a bar, like so:
mom- "taryn, dont say 'penis'! good thing youre going to austr-"
me- "mom! if i cant make dick jokes, you cant make dick jokes!"
random patron- "youre serbian? my friend here is serbian! well, hes russian. thats the same thing, right?"
me- "actually, its not."
RP- "well they are both in eastern europe."
me- "..."
my life is the alanis morissette version of 'ironic': white-girl, mildly frustrating "problems". like so:
its like youre on a skype date with your pseudo-bf and his parents decide that that is the best time for their weekly phonecall.
its like when you get super excited about a gift you bought for someone for christmas and you cant wait to tell them but when you do youve just spoiled the surprise for them and for yourself.
its like when you live with your parents and they keep buying the shitty cheap wine instead of the good cheap wine.
its like that.
mom- "taryn, dont say 'penis'! good thing youre going to austr-"
me- "mom! if i cant make dick jokes, you cant make dick jokes!"
random patron- "youre serbian? my friend here is serbian! well, hes russian. thats the same thing, right?"
me- "actually, its not."
RP- "well they are both in eastern europe."
me- "..."
my life is the alanis morissette version of 'ironic': white-girl, mildly frustrating "problems". like so:
its like youre on a skype date with your pseudo-bf and his parents decide that that is the best time for their weekly phonecall.
its like when you get super excited about a gift you bought for someone for christmas and you cant wait to tell them but when you do youve just spoiled the surprise for them and for yourself.
its like when you live with your parents and they keep buying the shitty cheap wine instead of the good cheap wine.
its like that.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
ahhh thanksgiving. twas indeed a day of thanks. i stayed in bed til 2 watching reruns of Angel and then drove 45 minutes to my aunt's house, only to get lost because my dad's dyslexia reared its ugly head and left me stranded in front of macy's at the lakewood mall. awesome.
after getting it all sorted out, we proceeded to sit at the kids' table (which is suddenly now the "cool table") and drink the many bottles of nice wine that i brought before breaking into the cheap shit and getting wacky and playing dirty board games with our parents (because apparently thats what you "get" to do when youre old enough to drink and all of your family members are out of college.
the last few days have been somewhat normal. i actually cleaned my bedroom and unpacked the last few boxes (i moved back in 8 months ago...), and in the process located a lizard and accidentally chopped off part of its tail (mom- "omg!! will its tail grow back?!"). so there's that.
then i hit up a local brewery with a friend and had a perfectly fabulous afternoon talking while drinking craft beers. i came home to my mother having a pinched nerve and in an obviously large amount of pain, so i shoved a prescription-strength painkiller and some wine down her throat and handed her a hardboiled egg.
ill check on her in about 20 minutes. i think itll be fine.
tomorrow is my first day at "TR". TR is an interesting place and i have no idea how it is going to work out, but its a paid internship and i am thanking my myriad of lucky stars that i have this opportunity. im supposed to fill out paperwork and take over this woman's entire caseload, but we'll see what happens. either way, im so unbelieveably fucking stoked to be using my brain again (hello brain! i missed you! how have you been holding up under the massive quantities of wine and no sleep?). im excited to be doing what i am good at again, and i am doubly excited to be making a difference in the world.
after getting it all sorted out, we proceeded to sit at the kids' table (which is suddenly now the "cool table") and drink the many bottles of nice wine that i brought before breaking into the cheap shit and getting wacky and playing dirty board games with our parents (because apparently thats what you "get" to do when youre old enough to drink and all of your family members are out of college.
the last few days have been somewhat normal. i actually cleaned my bedroom and unpacked the last few boxes (i moved back in 8 months ago...), and in the process located a lizard and accidentally chopped off part of its tail (mom- "omg!! will its tail grow back?!"). so there's that.
then i hit up a local brewery with a friend and had a perfectly fabulous afternoon talking while drinking craft beers. i came home to my mother having a pinched nerve and in an obviously large amount of pain, so i shoved a prescription-strength painkiller and some wine down her throat and handed her a hardboiled egg.
ill check on her in about 20 minutes. i think itll be fine.
tomorrow is my first day at "TR". TR is an interesting place and i have no idea how it is going to work out, but its a paid internship and i am thanking my myriad of lucky stars that i have this opportunity. im supposed to fill out paperwork and take over this woman's entire caseload, but we'll see what happens. either way, im so unbelieveably fucking stoked to be using my brain again (hello brain! i missed you! how have you been holding up under the massive quantities of wine and no sleep?). im excited to be doing what i am good at again, and i am doubly excited to be making a difference in the world.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
i think im like a lot of people, in that i have a discussion/argument/whatever with someone, and i dont realize until the next day what a total asshat i was being.
this happened to me while i was at the gym today. last night i had a discussion with the Australian about how i sometimes feel alone in our relationship (the asshattery begins here, obvs) because i am more open with my feelings about him. i suppose my whole point was to get to a place where i could ask him how he feels about me and whether or not he will be dating someone else when i come to visit him, but the whole thing devolved quite quickly because apparently i cant formulate a question without hurting someone's feelings or making them think i am craycray. last night i appear to have accomplished both negative outcomes. huzzah.
flash forward to today. so im in the gym, and all of a sudden, it dawns on me: we both have fears about me coming to visit and about our relationship, but they stem from different places. he is afraid of getting too close to me and upon finding that he wants to spend more time with me, cannot, because i live a billion miles away. i on the other hand, am not afraid of the pain of the long distance relationship. i am more afraid of discovering that we do NOT have this intense, sensitive connection that i thought we did, and that i have just been deluding myself for a year.
To You: i say im sorry for trying to sometimes make this relationship (and you) something that it (you) are not. i realize that i recently had to apologize for this same fault not too long ago, and again, im sorry. i often overthink things without considering your perspective; without realizing that you are perfect just the way you are and that our relationship is what it is, and i really do love it.
so then i must wonder, as i did so many months ago, what is love? in my opinion true love requires a mutuality of feelings and when it is only one-way, it becomes an obsession. it's one of those feelings that will devolve into nothing but a pile of words and connective sludge if you analyze it too much. you can never be in love if you are constantly questioning it, because part of love is indeed falling and in a way, losing you hold on reality. yet this can never happen if you ask too many questions.
to be in love means that you have shared secrets: embarrassing parts of yourself, shameful parts of yourself, smelly, broken, disfigured parts of yourself with another person. you have shared time, feelings, and still wish to spend copious amounts of your short existence with them.
then again, what do i know? its just one bitch's opinion.
this happened to me while i was at the gym today. last night i had a discussion with the Australian about how i sometimes feel alone in our relationship (the asshattery begins here, obvs) because i am more open with my feelings about him. i suppose my whole point was to get to a place where i could ask him how he feels about me and whether or not he will be dating someone else when i come to visit him, but the whole thing devolved quite quickly because apparently i cant formulate a question without hurting someone's feelings or making them think i am craycray. last night i appear to have accomplished both negative outcomes. huzzah.
flash forward to today. so im in the gym, and all of a sudden, it dawns on me: we both have fears about me coming to visit and about our relationship, but they stem from different places. he is afraid of getting too close to me and upon finding that he wants to spend more time with me, cannot, because i live a billion miles away. i on the other hand, am not afraid of the pain of the long distance relationship. i am more afraid of discovering that we do NOT have this intense, sensitive connection that i thought we did, and that i have just been deluding myself for a year.
To You: i say im sorry for trying to sometimes make this relationship (and you) something that it (you) are not. i realize that i recently had to apologize for this same fault not too long ago, and again, im sorry. i often overthink things without considering your perspective; without realizing that you are perfect just the way you are and that our relationship is what it is, and i really do love it.
so then i must wonder, as i did so many months ago, what is love? in my opinion true love requires a mutuality of feelings and when it is only one-way, it becomes an obsession. it's one of those feelings that will devolve into nothing but a pile of words and connective sludge if you analyze it too much. you can never be in love if you are constantly questioning it, because part of love is indeed falling and in a way, losing you hold on reality. yet this can never happen if you ask too many questions.
to be in love means that you have shared secrets: embarrassing parts of yourself, shameful parts of yourself, smelly, broken, disfigured parts of yourself with another person. you have shared time, feelings, and still wish to spend copious amounts of your short existence with them.
then again, what do i know? its just one bitch's opinion.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
i am frustrated with my dating life. suffice it to say that the last two men i dated disappeared suddenly, and the one man that i really want lives in australia and is completely emotionally crippled, which makes him irresistible to me. natch. and lets just say that i would seem to be the perfect woman for him because we live 8000 miles away, making a potential relationship impossible. plus he has never been in love despite being in multiple long-term relationships.
so why the fuck am i still talking to him and allowing our NZ-turned-skype relationship to rent space in my head? probably because he is sweet and damaged and inquisitive and intellectual in ways different than myself, and has cloyingly blue eyes (to quote elizabeth wurtzel) that make me want to rip his clothes off and ride his KTM900 into the night.
ugh.
do not mistake me for a complete fool, though. i am the last person in the world to believe that a man in his 30s who has never been in love, would magically happen to love me of all people. i am also the last woman on earth to believe that a man who has been emotionally and/or physically unfaithful to every woman he has ever dated would somehow- magically, again- be faithful to her. let alone from 8000 miles away.
all this begs the question, why do i attract men that seem to subconsciously use me as a surrogate for whatever psychodrama needs to be played out in their lives? i hate feeling used like this. it feels so disconcertingly familiar, probably because its happened so many times to me before. in other words, im like all of my ex's mothers. double ugh.
where does this leave me? preferably quitting this pity party and hitting the gym more often. its not that i dont work out often enough, its just that i definitely need to channel these self-destructive impulses that i keep having in a constructive way. clearly destroying myself emotionally isnt going to be helpful.
and you can be certain that i will be destroying myself emotionally, because as much as i know that it would be a terrible move to continue these things with the aussie, i just cant forfeit the feelings i have for him.
this makes me an idiot. what promises to be an emotionally intimate, loving, sexually-evolved affair on my end, will end up being a fling on his end. tis the story of my life.
sorry about that. pity party: complete.
so why the fuck am i still talking to him and allowing our NZ-turned-skype relationship to rent space in my head? probably because he is sweet and damaged and inquisitive and intellectual in ways different than myself, and has cloyingly blue eyes (to quote elizabeth wurtzel) that make me want to rip his clothes off and ride his KTM900 into the night.
ugh.
do not mistake me for a complete fool, though. i am the last person in the world to believe that a man in his 30s who has never been in love, would magically happen to love me of all people. i am also the last woman on earth to believe that a man who has been emotionally and/or physically unfaithful to every woman he has ever dated would somehow- magically, again- be faithful to her. let alone from 8000 miles away.
all this begs the question, why do i attract men that seem to subconsciously use me as a surrogate for whatever psychodrama needs to be played out in their lives? i hate feeling used like this. it feels so disconcertingly familiar, probably because its happened so many times to me before. in other words, im like all of my ex's mothers. double ugh.
where does this leave me? preferably quitting this pity party and hitting the gym more often. its not that i dont work out often enough, its just that i definitely need to channel these self-destructive impulses that i keep having in a constructive way. clearly destroying myself emotionally isnt going to be helpful.
and you can be certain that i will be destroying myself emotionally, because as much as i know that it would be a terrible move to continue these things with the aussie, i just cant forfeit the feelings i have for him.
this makes me an idiot. what promises to be an emotionally intimate, loving, sexually-evolved affair on my end, will end up being a fling on his end. tis the story of my life.
sorry about that. pity party: complete.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
well i guess its on to new things. the next new friend. the next new hobby. the next disaster or success.
speaking of which, i was at the bike shop today and met this man that i had no idea i was looking for.
i have been drowing in information on the internet about how to more effectively ride a bike for long distance and how to eat/train/etc. this guy at the store is extremely knowledgeable about cycling, cycling theory, ways of maximizing your energy potential, and human anatomy. im telling you, he knew the answer to every question i had. i wanted to shrink him down to pocket-size and take him on all my training rides. not to mention he used to do the ride that i am training for just for funzies.
good lord i felt like such a noob, but oddly in a good way. again, life is funny when it gives you exactly what you need just when you need it like that.
perhaps life is just odd in general.
speaking of which, i was at the bike shop today and met this man that i had no idea i was looking for.
i have been drowing in information on the internet about how to more effectively ride a bike for long distance and how to eat/train/etc. this guy at the store is extremely knowledgeable about cycling, cycling theory, ways of maximizing your energy potential, and human anatomy. im telling you, he knew the answer to every question i had. i wanted to shrink him down to pocket-size and take him on all my training rides. not to mention he used to do the ride that i am training for just for funzies.
good lord i felt like such a noob, but oddly in a good way. again, life is funny when it gives you exactly what you need just when you need it like that.
perhaps life is just odd in general.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
so i know all of you must be wondering what i have been up to since i got home. the answer is: everything. i was home just a few days when my grandfather went into the hospital so i had to fly out to michigan for a few days. clearly i have not been sleeping what with being in several vastly different time zones in the last few weeks. hopefully i can make this happen soon.
in the meantime though- including today- i have been going on looooong rides on my new road bike.
i love this thing. it is my new Precious. these guys at cyclewerks in costa mesa hooked me up with a used $3200 bike for just $700. i know what youre thinking, and the answer is no, im just that charming!
ive been working out as much as i can trying to get in shape for the AIDS/LifeCycle because lord knows im not strong enough to do it all right now. its about 600mi long and i think im gonna kill myself tryig to finish, but it is for a good cause, and im stubborn, and im way too ambitious. plus im doing it with one of my besties in whole world. shes way more in shape than me and way more awesome than me, so that keeps me going.
i think we should start a biker gang. i mean, her BF is a biker and we just went to a legit biker motorcycle- biker bar during our workout today, so that gives us street cred right?
either way, im so friggin stoked to get back into shape. i missed the feeling of bodily strength. that feeling seems to infiltrate other areas of my life once i acquire it. i must have it back! (read in the voice of keanu reeves or something).
training on the road is a whole different experience than i thought it would be, much like many of my endeavours. the smells and sounds are so much more intense than when youre driving in a car or walking along the road. the cars whizzing by, the crazies (like that woman who walks around with a towel folded into a turban on her head along the freeway) that you pass every time you run a particular route, the pain of riding on a seat with no padding for hours on end; its all part of the experience. i love it all.
a crazy kiwi i once met had the same experience as he traveled around his home country on a motorbike. i never thought that he and i would have something in common. he was fucking nuts and lets leave it at that.
ah well, its back to the old grind here at the Bar.
ttfn.
in the meantime though- including today- i have been going on looooong rides on my new road bike.
i love this thing. it is my new Precious. these guys at cyclewerks in costa mesa hooked me up with a used $3200 bike for just $700. i know what youre thinking, and the answer is no, im just that charming!
ive been working out as much as i can trying to get in shape for the AIDS/LifeCycle because lord knows im not strong enough to do it all right now. its about 600mi long and i think im gonna kill myself tryig to finish, but it is for a good cause, and im stubborn, and im way too ambitious. plus im doing it with one of my besties in whole world. shes way more in shape than me and way more awesome than me, so that keeps me going.
i think we should start a biker gang. i mean, her BF is a biker and we just went to a legit biker motorcycle- biker bar during our workout today, so that gives us street cred right?
either way, im so friggin stoked to get back into shape. i missed the feeling of bodily strength. that feeling seems to infiltrate other areas of my life once i acquire it. i must have it back! (read in the voice of keanu reeves or something).
training on the road is a whole different experience than i thought it would be, much like many of my endeavours. the smells and sounds are so much more intense than when youre driving in a car or walking along the road. the cars whizzing by, the crazies (like that woman who walks around with a towel folded into a turban on her head along the freeway) that you pass every time you run a particular route, the pain of riding on a seat with no padding for hours on end; its all part of the experience. i love it all.
a crazy kiwi i once met had the same experience as he traveled around his home country on a motorbike. i never thought that he and i would have something in common. he was fucking nuts and lets leave it at that.
ah well, its back to the old grind here at the Bar.
ttfn.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
my last night in bali and of course in kuta was ridiculous. i started off by arriving in kuta slightly carsick with the two dutch kids and 3 english kids. we promptly lost each other in the madhouse of poppie's gang 1&2 but reconnected some hours later at the previously agreed-upon hotel.
after some much-needed food and swimming in the hotel pool, it was off to the liquor store with a canadian man that we had met poolside. (backpackers and travelers just seem to glom on to each other in really fun ways.) he told nilou and i about some party at a surf shop and asked us to join him before meeting up with the others at some rancid club. natch, we agreed.
so we hustled off down the streets on the back of their motorbikes to a building that was a restaurant-turned-surf shop-turned bar (kinda) with a tattoo parlor upstairs. nilou, myself, jj, and his friend mosh arrived to the sight of a grip of tattooed indonesians and one busty aussie smoking, drinking, tattooing, playing video games, and jamming to sumatran love songs mixed with american favorites on a guitar and bongos.
i had the best time. i sat there watching the whole scene unfold and thought to myself, "this is the kind of experience i have been looking for in bali." by that i mean i was wanting to find some balinese people and talk, like really talk with them.
naturally i was thinking about getting a new tattoo because, well, it was super convenient. decided against it after seeing what a heavy hand the tattooer had. F that.
after some drinks the 4 of us ambled down the street to the night food market down some unseen alley. probably the most authentic and adventurous food i have eaten. loved it. wish i had figured it out sooner. isnt it always true that you figure your shit out just before its time to leave on a new adventure? the fresh mango juice that i spiked was also uncommonly good.
after some more partying back at the shop, we made our way to the clubs to see our friends and meet up with some more of the locals' friends. spent the rest of the night dancing, singing american rock and roll with an awesome band, lying on the beach, skinny dipping in the hotel pool at 4am, and finally getting into bed around 5am.
true to form i woke up at 730am, and couldnt go back to sleep because i was so excited to come home. instead, i opted for a motorbike ride and hike through mud up to my ankles out to jimbaran point with the canadian at 9. hours later we finally got back to the hotel, covered in mud from literally head to toe, hungover, and attracting gawking stares from the hotel staff and our friends. im surprised we both came back with shoes intact. no matter. i managed to roust the hungover comrades enough so that they could check out and sit with us in the hotel restaurant and alternately puke and generally destroy the bathroom there. photos to come. truly hilarious.
now im running on about 2 hours of sleep and standing at a computer station in taipei waiting for my 10-hour flight back to LA where ill arrive at about the same time and on the same date as today. i know, its weird.
so, so glad that i was able to relax enough to truly enjoy myself and very happy that i spent my last week with the people i did. they are amazeballs, but it is nice to be back in a country that values orderly processession and efficiency. bali was for me a lesson in patience, futility, culture, and finding my own ability to slow down... all under the cover of lotus-scented incense.
ah! i must away to my plane. have fun, be safe, and ill see you all very soon.
after some much-needed food and swimming in the hotel pool, it was off to the liquor store with a canadian man that we had met poolside. (backpackers and travelers just seem to glom on to each other in really fun ways.) he told nilou and i about some party at a surf shop and asked us to join him before meeting up with the others at some rancid club. natch, we agreed.
so we hustled off down the streets on the back of their motorbikes to a building that was a restaurant-turned-surf shop-turned bar (kinda) with a tattoo parlor upstairs. nilou, myself, jj, and his friend mosh arrived to the sight of a grip of tattooed indonesians and one busty aussie smoking, drinking, tattooing, playing video games, and jamming to sumatran love songs mixed with american favorites on a guitar and bongos.
i had the best time. i sat there watching the whole scene unfold and thought to myself, "this is the kind of experience i have been looking for in bali." by that i mean i was wanting to find some balinese people and talk, like really talk with them.
naturally i was thinking about getting a new tattoo because, well, it was super convenient. decided against it after seeing what a heavy hand the tattooer had. F that.
after some drinks the 4 of us ambled down the street to the night food market down some unseen alley. probably the most authentic and adventurous food i have eaten. loved it. wish i had figured it out sooner. isnt it always true that you figure your shit out just before its time to leave on a new adventure? the fresh mango juice that i spiked was also uncommonly good.
after some more partying back at the shop, we made our way to the clubs to see our friends and meet up with some more of the locals' friends. spent the rest of the night dancing, singing american rock and roll with an awesome band, lying on the beach, skinny dipping in the hotel pool at 4am, and finally getting into bed around 5am.
true to form i woke up at 730am, and couldnt go back to sleep because i was so excited to come home. instead, i opted for a motorbike ride and hike through mud up to my ankles out to jimbaran point with the canadian at 9. hours later we finally got back to the hotel, covered in mud from literally head to toe, hungover, and attracting gawking stares from the hotel staff and our friends. im surprised we both came back with shoes intact. no matter. i managed to roust the hungover comrades enough so that they could check out and sit with us in the hotel restaurant and alternately puke and generally destroy the bathroom there. photos to come. truly hilarious.
now im running on about 2 hours of sleep and standing at a computer station in taipei waiting for my 10-hour flight back to LA where ill arrive at about the same time and on the same date as today. i know, its weird.
so, so glad that i was able to relax enough to truly enjoy myself and very happy that i spent my last week with the people i did. they are amazeballs, but it is nice to be back in a country that values orderly processession and efficiency. bali was for me a lesson in patience, futility, culture, and finding my own ability to slow down... all under the cover of lotus-scented incense.
ah! i must away to my plane. have fun, be safe, and ill see you all very soon.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
scattered showers here on my 4th day in uluwatu. i totally dig it here. its full of surfers and backpackers and crazy people. the first two days i was here, i partied with two dutch teenagers and a hungarian woman. we took motorbike rides all day in the monsoon rains all over the island and laid out on the beach getting awesomely burned. yesterday we again hit the beach all day; cruising from place to place on the bikes and enjoying the shit out of the sun finally. then last night the hungarian left and we picked up an italian, and we all went to have beers on the water and take part in what eventually morphed into a late-night bob marley's birthday moshing. madness. the two singers were fucking crazy and we had such a blast with all the shoeless tourists and tanned and blonde surfers and of course the stereotypical locals who showed up and raged with everything they had. rock on.
i eventually got sick of the reggae, so the dutchman and i went home to find some englishmen to play card games like bullshit and shit and pool with until the wee hours of the morning. the italian, being his characteristically all-too-forward italian self, asked me to promise to keep my door unlocked for him, so naturally i set the deadbolt and the doorchain when i went to sleep. oh italians.
i woke up feeling quite refreshed because ive been on antibiotics and happily choosing not to drink on them after an unfortunate incident yesterday morning. it was rather fabulous slowly watching the drunkenness creep over everybody last night. actually, thats probably why i left the party before midnight. haha oh well.
well its time for breakfast and a prayer to the universe that this plane ticket on an airline no one has ever heard of is actually real and not standing-room only. and i think ill actually go see the traditional balinese dance at the temple tonight if its not raining. its one of those things i have to do before i leave.
with that, i leave!
i eventually got sick of the reggae, so the dutchman and i went home to find some englishmen to play card games like bullshit and shit and pool with until the wee hours of the morning. the italian, being his characteristically all-too-forward italian self, asked me to promise to keep my door unlocked for him, so naturally i set the deadbolt and the doorchain when i went to sleep. oh italians.
i woke up feeling quite refreshed because ive been on antibiotics and happily choosing not to drink on them after an unfortunate incident yesterday morning. it was rather fabulous slowly watching the drunkenness creep over everybody last night. actually, thats probably why i left the party before midnight. haha oh well.
well its time for breakfast and a prayer to the universe that this plane ticket on an airline no one has ever heard of is actually real and not standing-room only. and i think ill actually go see the traditional balinese dance at the temple tonight if its not raining. its one of those things i have to do before i leave.
with that, i leave!
Friday, February 3, 2012
I think if I were staying away longer, I would not be so homesick and excited to get back. But as it stands I am so friggin stoked to come home and start my life again. I miss you all. I miss creature comforts like being able to brush your teeth in the shower and ordering a salad without having to simultaneously gamble with your life, or having to put on bug repellant to go to sleep, or whatever.
But I also like have no responsibilities. No deadlines excePt for plane flights. Nothing mandatory. No commitments. No work. No ringing phone.
Wait. I kinda like the phones and the commitment. Well you know what I mean.
Anyway Uluwatu is full of surfers and home stays. Perf. I'll be here for a bit, thanks.
Monday, January 30, 2012
i figured it out. i think. the reason that the balinese only smile at each other and just throw trash everywhere. and why i am not totally comfortable in this country. and why i all of a sudden became happier everytime i rode my motorbike through the poorest areas of the countryside. this comes as a revelation after chitchatting with an english expat over too much bali coffee and not enough sleep because of too much bali coffee last night so forgive my shaky hands that arent typing properly right now.
they are angry. angry as fuck. angry at the tourists who have possessions and money that they never even dreamed of. angry that the tourists fuck up their way of life. angry that they will probably never have those kinds of opportunities. angry at the corrupt government and its officials that are inept and totally ridiculous. angry that there is no free, clean water. no medical care. no public transport. not enough educational institutions. HUGE class differences that are now extremely visible because of the unbelievably exponential grow of the tourist market in the last 10 years. angry that they have so few options to make a living.
id be angry too.
so they throw trash on the ground because they hate the land that their government officials cant seem to take care of, even though they love their people and their customs and culture. they hate the tourists that dont seem to care or see whats happening and yet they are forced to cater to their whims in order to survive. they go about their lives with angry or utterly bored looks on their faces and drive like fucking maniacs to release some kind of stress due to their frustrations. you cannot tell me that people who drive like they do and look bored as often as they do are actually happy. you cannot tell me that people who push the personal boundaries and try to cheat people as often as they do are actually happy people.
the reason i felt differently almost immediately after driving into the countryside is because it is the poorest part of bali. these people live their lives almost completely without tourist interaction, and almost exclusively within their tiny, tiny towns. they never travel anywhere or go anywhere and are more content to live their lives as they have for decades, even a century. they do not have to face the complications of living in a larger city and thus are able to maintain a more pleasant existence. now, you may not believe in the ability to feel energies, but as a therapist and just a generally intuitive person, i believe that i can. i swear i felt the air change in these areas. the roads were cleaner. the smiles were genuine. the children were excited to see blonde hair coming out from under the helmet, like it was a kind of new experience.
all this makes me very sad.
but i have to go run around now before my heart palpitations make my body explode. too. much. coffee. good lord i must bring some of this back for the doc program. oo maybe ill start taking orders and charging for this shit! market to my gf's in the program... haha jk girls. love you.
they are angry. angry as fuck. angry at the tourists who have possessions and money that they never even dreamed of. angry that the tourists fuck up their way of life. angry that they will probably never have those kinds of opportunities. angry at the corrupt government and its officials that are inept and totally ridiculous. angry that there is no free, clean water. no medical care. no public transport. not enough educational institutions. HUGE class differences that are now extremely visible because of the unbelievably exponential grow of the tourist market in the last 10 years. angry that they have so few options to make a living.
id be angry too.
so they throw trash on the ground because they hate the land that their government officials cant seem to take care of, even though they love their people and their customs and culture. they hate the tourists that dont seem to care or see whats happening and yet they are forced to cater to their whims in order to survive. they go about their lives with angry or utterly bored looks on their faces and drive like fucking maniacs to release some kind of stress due to their frustrations. you cannot tell me that people who drive like they do and look bored as often as they do are actually happy. you cannot tell me that people who push the personal boundaries and try to cheat people as often as they do are actually happy people.
the reason i felt differently almost immediately after driving into the countryside is because it is the poorest part of bali. these people live their lives almost completely without tourist interaction, and almost exclusively within their tiny, tiny towns. they never travel anywhere or go anywhere and are more content to live their lives as they have for decades, even a century. they do not have to face the complications of living in a larger city and thus are able to maintain a more pleasant existence. now, you may not believe in the ability to feel energies, but as a therapist and just a generally intuitive person, i believe that i can. i swear i felt the air change in these areas. the roads were cleaner. the smiles were genuine. the children were excited to see blonde hair coming out from under the helmet, like it was a kind of new experience.
all this makes me very sad.
but i have to go run around now before my heart palpitations make my body explode. too. much. coffee. good lord i must bring some of this back for the doc program. oo maybe ill start taking orders and charging for this shit! market to my gf's in the program... haha jk girls. love you.
The tour in Ubud was quite the shitshow. totally hilarious on a number of levels due to the elderly man and his penchant for saying things to incite our driver who did not speak english very well, but knew enough that he should be getting pissed. well at least it was funny from the backseat with the two finnish girls. we saw rice paddies, kintamani, coffee plantations, a major water temple where a huge ceremony was taking place, the mother temple which was absolutely beautiful, and then we stopped at a cockfight on the way home. and the weather was perfect. such a fab day. then the girls and i went out for drinks and super cheap, best meal that ive had in bali. super simple tofu curry with potatoes, carrots, and ginger that i had to wait an hour for, but totally worth it.
oh right, the cockfight. it was the kind with chickens, not the fun kind you see at a gay bar. as it turns out, tis the season for cockfighting in bali and all the men of the local areas bring their cocks out, tie blades to their legs, pull feathers out of their faces to make them angry, and then pit them against one another while betting. needless to say, this was deeply, deeply disturbing, and the girls and i left right after the first blood was drawn.
another disturbing part of the experience was that i was among the only white or female faces in the bunch, and this kept drawing stares from the circle of about 200 dark men around me. i started to think about what it must be like to live as a racial minority, and i did not like the now personal conclusions that i came to.
side question: why is it that here in bali many strangers come up to me and ask to take their picture with me? is it because i am a tall white woman with curly hair? it cant be because im american because most times people dont even ask where im from. is it because- unbeknownst to me- there is some international scavenger hunt and somehow i fit the bill for one of the items?! if so, i want in!! i think i should start charging money for pictures...
anywho, the balinese people are an interesting bunch. they seem to only smile when looking at another person, and if not they appear to be intensely miserable. its quite drastic to witness. they also have perfected the ability to make and use leisure time by constructing raised structures on every corner and at every home for people who suddenly feel the need for a nap or simply get too hot. as a person, i totally admire this, but as an american, i dont understand the siesta mentality. they also wear thick sweatshirts when riding motorbikes. wtf?? how is that possible?? its hot as balls out here and im sweating just from typing at 8pm. the balinese are also extremely proud to be balinese. like intensely. they talk about it all the time and often engage me in welcome conversations about their religious ceremonies, people, families, lives, etc. this being said, why do i constantly witness people throwing their trash in the streets and rivers and peeing all over the sidewalk? why do they allow dogs to run around with mange so terrible they cant even open their eyes? why is there garbage everywhere? why?
i realize that much of the trash situation has to do with the lack of education, people doing what has been done by their parents, and the necessity of using ephemeral methods to honor their gods and statues twice a day. still though... at least there is a huge effort to recycle plastic bottles and glass. it seems to be rather recent but is making huge progress with at least part of the trash.
well, i am currently in sanur and feeling mucho better, but i think this town is a little too commercial (read: expensive) for me, and tomorrow i might either stay another night or head to nusa dua via motorbike for a couple of days so that i can see the sights on the bukit peninsula and whatnot. then hopefully ill head up the west cost to tanah lot if i have time.
just 8 more days left in this trip and im rather excited to go home. i feel that restless american urge to achieve/accomplish/further my career/start my life/train for the LifeCycle again. i have so much to do and its all i can do to keep my brain from spinning when i think about it. when i am not though, i find myself conversely at almost a complete standstill. i simply sit for minutes and stare at nothing, not moving, just thinking about whatever. its rather pleasant, mostly. i mean its pleasant until i hear my mother's voice in my head saying something like "what are you doing?! go out and see some shit! youre in bali for gosh sakes!" i love you mom, but im ignoring your voice haha. i like not doing anything here. i think thats really what bali is for: following your passion and right now mine is turning the brain off.
well its been 2 hours playing on the internet. i think ill go have a beer to calm the caffeine shakes and maybe swim in my hotel pool. maybe ill even shower! i already did my laundry with shampoo in the sink yesterday when i was sick because i pleasantly had nothing else better to do, and nothing better to wash my clothes with. incidentally, im going to have to go through all the clothes i brought on this trip and either rewash them or just throw them away. yeesh.
oh right, the cockfight. it was the kind with chickens, not the fun kind you see at a gay bar. as it turns out, tis the season for cockfighting in bali and all the men of the local areas bring their cocks out, tie blades to their legs, pull feathers out of their faces to make them angry, and then pit them against one another while betting. needless to say, this was deeply, deeply disturbing, and the girls and i left right after the first blood was drawn.
another disturbing part of the experience was that i was among the only white or female faces in the bunch, and this kept drawing stares from the circle of about 200 dark men around me. i started to think about what it must be like to live as a racial minority, and i did not like the now personal conclusions that i came to.
side question: why is it that here in bali many strangers come up to me and ask to take their picture with me? is it because i am a tall white woman with curly hair? it cant be because im american because most times people dont even ask where im from. is it because- unbeknownst to me- there is some international scavenger hunt and somehow i fit the bill for one of the items?! if so, i want in!! i think i should start charging money for pictures...
anywho, the balinese people are an interesting bunch. they seem to only smile when looking at another person, and if not they appear to be intensely miserable. its quite drastic to witness. they also have perfected the ability to make and use leisure time by constructing raised structures on every corner and at every home for people who suddenly feel the need for a nap or simply get too hot. as a person, i totally admire this, but as an american, i dont understand the siesta mentality. they also wear thick sweatshirts when riding motorbikes. wtf?? how is that possible?? its hot as balls out here and im sweating just from typing at 8pm. the balinese are also extremely proud to be balinese. like intensely. they talk about it all the time and often engage me in welcome conversations about their religious ceremonies, people, families, lives, etc. this being said, why do i constantly witness people throwing their trash in the streets and rivers and peeing all over the sidewalk? why do they allow dogs to run around with mange so terrible they cant even open their eyes? why is there garbage everywhere? why?
i realize that much of the trash situation has to do with the lack of education, people doing what has been done by their parents, and the necessity of using ephemeral methods to honor their gods and statues twice a day. still though... at least there is a huge effort to recycle plastic bottles and glass. it seems to be rather recent but is making huge progress with at least part of the trash.
well, i am currently in sanur and feeling mucho better, but i think this town is a little too commercial (read: expensive) for me, and tomorrow i might either stay another night or head to nusa dua via motorbike for a couple of days so that i can see the sights on the bukit peninsula and whatnot. then hopefully ill head up the west cost to tanah lot if i have time.
just 8 more days left in this trip and im rather excited to go home. i feel that restless american urge to achieve/accomplish/further my career/start my life/train for the LifeCycle again. i have so much to do and its all i can do to keep my brain from spinning when i think about it. when i am not though, i find myself conversely at almost a complete standstill. i simply sit for minutes and stare at nothing, not moving, just thinking about whatever. its rather pleasant, mostly. i mean its pleasant until i hear my mother's voice in my head saying something like "what are you doing?! go out and see some shit! youre in bali for gosh sakes!" i love you mom, but im ignoring your voice haha. i like not doing anything here. i think thats really what bali is for: following your passion and right now mine is turning the brain off.
well its been 2 hours playing on the internet. i think ill go have a beer to calm the caffeine shakes and maybe swim in my hotel pool. maybe ill even shower! i already did my laundry with shampoo in the sink yesterday when i was sick because i pleasantly had nothing else better to do, and nothing better to wash my clothes with. incidentally, im going to have to go through all the clothes i brought on this trip and either rewash them or just throw them away. yeesh.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
so. i was in ubud. stayed there for a couple of days and just wandered around the city and surrounding areas via motorbike by myself. heavenly. saw many, many temples and took ridic amounts of photos. had lunch in random places and totally made an ass out of myself repeatedly. quite a good time.
but i felt like i needed some sun and beach time because im in bali dammit! so i hi-tailed it over to padangbai where i knew i could find a whole lot of nothing but sun and sand. i was correct.
after being harassed repeatedly by the locals who wanted to give me a ride somewhere, i finally found a shabby but exceptionally quaint place to stay at the end of a beach that looked like it had been fairly abandoned. Topi Inn. it was perfect. it has a restaurant on the first floor frequented by tourists and their local guides alike, as well as single rooms and dorm mattresses on the floor overlooking the bay. i was lucky enough to get a room to "myself" with a couple of fans and a mattress that smelled of sweat. i say "myself" because the walls were just sticks of bamboo and at one point i thought the girl who sneezed in the room nextdoor was in bed with me. no matter. i was about 10 yards from the beach at any given point in the establishment and i travel with my own sheets.
i may come off sounding elitist and like a shitty american tourist, but i really dont mean to sound that way. i loved that little hotel and made it my home for 4 days and 3 nights. i spent those days in PB sitting in the shade of the hotel and watching the waves, reading, hiking over the cliff to the next bay over for more sheltered swimming. actually, the water currents were quite interesting to watch because even though they were calm for about 200 yards out, they proceeded to become incredibly choppy and tumultuous just past that point. i had no need for that business so i settled myself into some snorkeling in bloo lagoon.
the topi inn was a funny place. the staff seemed to both hate and love their job, and really dislike the people who stayed there. fair enough. tourists can be quite demanding, im sure. nevertheless, i found some lovely people who turned out to be mostly scandinavian. couple of swedes and couple of finnish. even one croatian.
i spent one of those days riding all over the east coast of the island. i even found myself a little beach and posted up for a couple of hours. that would be where i caught a really nasty sunburn. whatev. i rode of and got myself again pleasantly lost in the hilly valley between two volcanoes. pictures abound. it has to be one of the most beautiful scenes ive ever seen. i had to pull over and withstand being honked and hollered at to take some amazing pics. it was on this ride that i did some off-roading on the shitty rental bike and and got a dragonfly stuck in my helmet as i was riding. totally didnt freak out and managed to get it out of my hat and hair without crashing. bravo!
decided to forego the gili islands and lombok because the ferry had been put out of order indefinitely- causing a traffic jam of semitrucks for literally 5+ miles- due to bad weather which makes tourists throw up on the boat and just a general mishandling of everything, as far as i could tell.
that being decided, i made my way back to ubud because i felt like i hadnt yet experienced all it had to show me. this bus ride was of course taken after a night of drinking local arak with some scandinavian misfits and promising some balinese man that i would attend a cockfight with him the next day.
needless to say, the cockfight didnt happen and the bus was late and our busdriver was sideswiped by a truck which caused him to jump out and punchthe offending driver. making us later into ubud. and i still needed to find a room. and i needed to eat. i ambled across the street from the bus "depot" and had an interesting lunch which proceeded to make my stomach unhappy.
this unhappiness made me snap and yell at some guy who accosted me asking if i could come with him to his homestay, but finally settle for a room in a house with a gorgeous temple.
stomach unhappiness continues today, but yesterday was a fun tour with some other people from my hotel. it included two finnish women and an elderly kiwi who thinks he knows more than god. either way, i had a blast and made a couple new girlfriends in the process.
i must go. toilet calls... again. shitballs.
but i felt like i needed some sun and beach time because im in bali dammit! so i hi-tailed it over to padangbai where i knew i could find a whole lot of nothing but sun and sand. i was correct.
after being harassed repeatedly by the locals who wanted to give me a ride somewhere, i finally found a shabby but exceptionally quaint place to stay at the end of a beach that looked like it had been fairly abandoned. Topi Inn. it was perfect. it has a restaurant on the first floor frequented by tourists and their local guides alike, as well as single rooms and dorm mattresses on the floor overlooking the bay. i was lucky enough to get a room to "myself" with a couple of fans and a mattress that smelled of sweat. i say "myself" because the walls were just sticks of bamboo and at one point i thought the girl who sneezed in the room nextdoor was in bed with me. no matter. i was about 10 yards from the beach at any given point in the establishment and i travel with my own sheets.
i may come off sounding elitist and like a shitty american tourist, but i really dont mean to sound that way. i loved that little hotel and made it my home for 4 days and 3 nights. i spent those days in PB sitting in the shade of the hotel and watching the waves, reading, hiking over the cliff to the next bay over for more sheltered swimming. actually, the water currents were quite interesting to watch because even though they were calm for about 200 yards out, they proceeded to become incredibly choppy and tumultuous just past that point. i had no need for that business so i settled myself into some snorkeling in bloo lagoon.
the topi inn was a funny place. the staff seemed to both hate and love their job, and really dislike the people who stayed there. fair enough. tourists can be quite demanding, im sure. nevertheless, i found some lovely people who turned out to be mostly scandinavian. couple of swedes and couple of finnish. even one croatian.
i spent one of those days riding all over the east coast of the island. i even found myself a little beach and posted up for a couple of hours. that would be where i caught a really nasty sunburn. whatev. i rode of and got myself again pleasantly lost in the hilly valley between two volcanoes. pictures abound. it has to be one of the most beautiful scenes ive ever seen. i had to pull over and withstand being honked and hollered at to take some amazing pics. it was on this ride that i did some off-roading on the shitty rental bike and and got a dragonfly stuck in my helmet as i was riding. totally didnt freak out and managed to get it out of my hat and hair without crashing. bravo!
decided to forego the gili islands and lombok because the ferry had been put out of order indefinitely- causing a traffic jam of semitrucks for literally 5+ miles- due to bad weather which makes tourists throw up on the boat and just a general mishandling of everything, as far as i could tell.
that being decided, i made my way back to ubud because i felt like i hadnt yet experienced all it had to show me. this bus ride was of course taken after a night of drinking local arak with some scandinavian misfits and promising some balinese man that i would attend a cockfight with him the next day.
needless to say, the cockfight didnt happen and the bus was late and our busdriver was sideswiped by a truck which caused him to jump out and punchthe offending driver. making us later into ubud. and i still needed to find a room. and i needed to eat. i ambled across the street from the bus "depot" and had an interesting lunch which proceeded to make my stomach unhappy.
this unhappiness made me snap and yell at some guy who accosted me asking if i could come with him to his homestay, but finally settle for a room in a house with a gorgeous temple.
stomach unhappiness continues today, but yesterday was a fun tour with some other people from my hotel. it included two finnish women and an elderly kiwi who thinks he knows more than god. either way, i had a blast and made a couple new girlfriends in the process.
i must go. toilet calls... again. shitballs.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Indo is so different than I thought it would be. I mean I guess i thought it would be somehow be different than I had experienced but not quite like this.
At the airport they just asked for $25US and then sent me on through security. Nevermind that I brought what could be deemed as weapons into the country. Then I got gouged on a 10 min taxi ride to a hotel that I'm sure was in cahoots with my taxi driver so I went next door. Had a fab two days there and stumbled around kuta just enjoying the hell out of the madness and trying to get drunk before I ate so that I didn't freak out. It must be working because I'm not dead or starving yet. I didn't even freak out when I started crunching on chicken bones in my soup last night. Rock on, me. After dinner I went wandering the long way home but was stopped on the street by two men my own age looking for adventure and asked if I knew of any. I did not have any places up to their standards of partying so we meandered in the pouring rain for either loud music or a bottle shop hat sold whiskey.
Turns out these guys were not meatheads after all as I had judged at first by their muscles. One guy (who was ethnically chinese but born and raised in France and went to school in Boston for 5 years)worked for the Malaysian government. He got his degree in political science and his masters in modern warfare. No lie. The other guy was Malaysian and also went to school in the US for many years. Apparently Indonesians and Malaysians speak the same language so this was incredibly convenient and got us cheaper drinks. Perf. Between the 3 of us we spoke 7 languages.
We had a ridiculous time clubbing! They took turns peeling the aussies stoned on mushrooms and ecstacy off of me and carrying my purse around while we danced our faces off. Things were going swimmingly until they had some awkward argument about who would take me home right in front of me. Needless to say I had none of those same intentions and proceeded to run away from the Malaysian guy who keeps grabbing my arm a little too hard. I literally ran into a cab after threatening to palm strike his nose. A sorry end to an amazing night.
I seem to be meeting so many people who are highly intelligent and extremely well-educated. It feels good when no one looks at me strangely for going to grad school. It's so different from Newport in that way. I like it. Ah the well-traveled, educated elite. I love how they make me feel even if it isn't the real world.
I seem to be meeting so many people who are highly intelligent and extremely well-educated. It feels good when no one looks at me strangely for going to grad school. It's so different from Newport in that way. I like it. Ah the well-traveled, educated elite. I love how they make me feel even if it isn't the real world.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
I went from chasin the sunset in my car in auckland a couple of days ago to sittin beachside in kuta at some mildly-posh Italian restaurant. Hilarious. And still I can't stop thinking about whether or not I'll get sick. I haven't eaten (until just now) in 12 hours and have slept about 3 hours in he last 36. I was feeling a little loopy after one beer and decided I was just drunk enough to pay $10 for a meal in Bali if it made me feel a little more safe.
I think I'll feel better when I get out of kuta. It's a wild town just on the brink of utter chaos all the time. I also didn't think my first marriage proposal would have been a woman squatting on the sand selling shitty leather brace lets, but life is all about the journey I suppose. I observed my first temple ceremony, almost got run over like 4 times, and waded through what I'm pretty sure is sewage seeping up from the middle of the streets. I'm adventurous in most ways...!
Now drinking beers with the owners of my hotel. I'm gonna let them tell me where to go.
Oh god I need sleep.
Taryn
Monday, January 16, 2012
Going to be a day of assholes tomorrow, but getting excited.
Moved out of my car this morning and back into a backpack. Took me all of an hour to do so and I filled up an entire trash can when I was done. Ok maybe not an entire trash can but you know what I mean. Makes me miss traveling with kaleb because he was definitely the more organized one.
Was thinking about all the people I've met in this country and how they are all special and different and taught me different things. Kaleb is this totally amazing man with a lovely intelligence that he keeps secret from most other people. I was lucky enough to be deemed worthy to see it. We had these unexpected and deep conversations a out everything and nothing at all and I don't think we stopped talking for the first few days we were together. It immediately felt like we had been together for ages in a really nice kind of way.
There were the ubiquitous friends that you make in the hostel dorms of course, but some especially fun and forgiving ones were in Byron bay. Super warm and welcoming people from literally all over the world. No one was from the same place.
Then there were the kiwis, some local and some who lived abroad, but all were quick to include me in their conversations and circles. I love that openness.
Then there were the Americans. An immediate connection was there because of the mutual language and culture stuff, but Ryan and of couse kaleb were especially cool.
Ah, the Aussies and Germans. Some traveling together and some alone, but whether I met them in Australia or NZ, they were just fabulous. Sebastian and John whom I know I will never see again, I genuinely wish I didn't lose your emails because it would have been great to have some penpals.
Ah well I must find something to do with my last day here since its cold and rainy and I have al my gear. I think I might hang with the "occupy Auckland" crowd. I have to get rid of my chair and the rest of my food anyways. Gday > bintang?
Taryn
Sunday, January 15, 2012
im not gonna lie, ive gotten really comfortable with the small town, idyllic, sometimes downright pastoral vibe of NZ. it is comfortable and not altogether unforeign, but still exciting and different. and this place is so small its fairly difficult to get extremely lost without some government signpost or a nearly unintelligible local to to guide you back the right way.
auckland is a whole other story, but thats because it qualifies as the largest city in NZ with the largest population of pacific islander peoples in the world (learned that at the auckland wartime museum today- which is awesome btw). its got millions of people and its fairly overwhelming to someone who has spent pretty much the last 6 weeks in towns with no more than 2000 people.
and having said that, im really nervous about going to bali. of course i am a giant pansy when it comes to my throat phobias. im worried that the food isnt going to sit well with me; that ill get sick. im worried about having panic attacks more than usual even though ive had them here and it hasnt really been an issue. im not going to dwell on this thing too much because ive got to find a place to stay tonight, a place to keep my car for the night, and a place to have a beer in the next 15 minutes.
meh, ive done more with less.
the last few days have been just spectacular. i went from camping in the tongariro national park (but didnt do any walking for days because of the multi-day heavy rains) at a ski resort-type town, to taupo where i promptly took the advice of some natives and located a natural (free!!) hot spring and played around for a bit.
after feeling totally refreshed and ready for some sightseeing, i did what i usually do and drove around town a bit before finding a good spot to do some walking and get to know the layout of the town. coincidentally, one of the bikers i met in tekapo was heading down my way and we decided to meet and catch up with beers.
we had a fabulous evening filled with live bands and a wayward attempt to go back to the hot spring after the park had closed. it was such a good time, we decided to hang out there for another day. we toured around the lake on his motorcycle, and he definitely tried to scare me more than once. i totally appreciated the gesture because as you probably know, im a bit self-destructive and love me some speed demons. i think we topped out at 150-180kph? i have no idea because the wind coming through my too-large helmet was making my eyes water.
such a friggin blast. i must get me one of those contraptions.
then it was naptime induced by large lunch and hangover, before doing it all over again. we stayed up all night drinking wine, playing on the camp's trampoline, him trying to describe why cricket is awesome, and generally having the time of my life.
i really hope that the universe lines up and i get to see that wonderful man again. he has to be one of the most gentle and introspective people that i have ever met, and i greatly respect him for those qualities. plus hes super hot! omg those eyes... haha.
i set off from taupo for the coromandel peninsula where i stopped at hot water beach and took the time to pick up a grip of 17 year old hitchikers. they were distracted by the fact that i had forgotten to put on pants after the beach and things were slightly awkward until i began to understand their thick accents. i pulled over in coromandel town and stayed at a hostel that looked like it had been plucked out of santa cruz in the 1970s. it was plush, comfortable, and for universe saw fit to give me a room of my own. i was grateful for the personal space even though the room was clearly haunted.
dont look at me like that, i swear it was haunted!
this morning i stopped a few times on the way here to take photos, but generally stayed on track and went to the tallest mountain in the city and perused the wartime museum. now its beer o'clock.
well on that note ive been sitting here for way too long and its gonna cost a pantload for the internet and i still have to book a ticket home from bali. wish me luck!
taryn.
auckland is a whole other story, but thats because it qualifies as the largest city in NZ with the largest population of pacific islander peoples in the world (learned that at the auckland wartime museum today- which is awesome btw). its got millions of people and its fairly overwhelming to someone who has spent pretty much the last 6 weeks in towns with no more than 2000 people.
and having said that, im really nervous about going to bali. of course i am a giant pansy when it comes to my throat phobias. im worried that the food isnt going to sit well with me; that ill get sick. im worried about having panic attacks more than usual even though ive had them here and it hasnt really been an issue. im not going to dwell on this thing too much because ive got to find a place to stay tonight, a place to keep my car for the night, and a place to have a beer in the next 15 minutes.
meh, ive done more with less.
the last few days have been just spectacular. i went from camping in the tongariro national park (but didnt do any walking for days because of the multi-day heavy rains) at a ski resort-type town, to taupo where i promptly took the advice of some natives and located a natural (free!!) hot spring and played around for a bit.
after feeling totally refreshed and ready for some sightseeing, i did what i usually do and drove around town a bit before finding a good spot to do some walking and get to know the layout of the town. coincidentally, one of the bikers i met in tekapo was heading down my way and we decided to meet and catch up with beers.
we had a fabulous evening filled with live bands and a wayward attempt to go back to the hot spring after the park had closed. it was such a good time, we decided to hang out there for another day. we toured around the lake on his motorcycle, and he definitely tried to scare me more than once. i totally appreciated the gesture because as you probably know, im a bit self-destructive and love me some speed demons. i think we topped out at 150-180kph? i have no idea because the wind coming through my too-large helmet was making my eyes water.
such a friggin blast. i must get me one of those contraptions.
then it was naptime induced by large lunch and hangover, before doing it all over again. we stayed up all night drinking wine, playing on the camp's trampoline, him trying to describe why cricket is awesome, and generally having the time of my life.
i really hope that the universe lines up and i get to see that wonderful man again. he has to be one of the most gentle and introspective people that i have ever met, and i greatly respect him for those qualities. plus hes super hot! omg those eyes... haha.
i set off from taupo for the coromandel peninsula where i stopped at hot water beach and took the time to pick up a grip of 17 year old hitchikers. they were distracted by the fact that i had forgotten to put on pants after the beach and things were slightly awkward until i began to understand their thick accents. i pulled over in coromandel town and stayed at a hostel that looked like it had been plucked out of santa cruz in the 1970s. it was plush, comfortable, and for universe saw fit to give me a room of my own. i was grateful for the personal space even though the room was clearly haunted.
dont look at me like that, i swear it was haunted!
this morning i stopped a few times on the way here to take photos, but generally stayed on track and went to the tallest mountain in the city and perused the wartime museum. now its beer o'clock.
well on that note ive been sitting here for way too long and its gonna cost a pantload for the internet and i still have to book a ticket home from bali. wish me luck!
taryn.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
so kaleb and i parted ways in wanaka. he went on to do
what i can only guess is probably a shitload of mountainbiking. i
continued to winetaste and drive up the west coast then went for a hike
after running out of gas. all in all it was a pretty good day.
i got to the fox glacier and it was truly beautiful but i was tired as shit and unable to admire it properly. so i found a campsite, made a bed and had the best nights sleep i had in a while. then it was back to the glacier to see it like i should have the first time, but i was too distracted by the fact that i lost my car key somewhere among the slate-grey rocks. perfect place for my key to hide. bastard.
true to form, i depended on the kindness of strangers who found my key and then i set off for the Franz Josef glacier. hiked around there for a few hours and even got to walk right up to the glacier itself. kinda disappointing due to th amount of tourists and the fact that the glacier is the color of dirt. haha
when it came time to find a campsite there, i realized that there is absolutely nothing to do in that town but drink. alone. just you and the bartender, if they have one. lame. so i drove up the coast for a few hours and landed at this DOC campsite right on a lake in hokitika. and they have this truly amazing dive bar that even surpassed the Balboa Saloon and Class of '47 in sleaziness. amazeballs. turns out they have been a destination on the Kiwi Experience route for about 20 years and the walls are just coated with the lost dignity and old booze. needless to say, i felt right at home.
so i showed up there at about 5pm and see these two really, really old men at the bar sharing a pitcher of beer and chatting with a bartender in her 50s. they turn out to be lifetime locals and one of the owners! perfect. they gave me the best scoop on where to go and hike in the area.
the next day was made for more driving along what is claimed to be the most beautiful drive in NZ. did some touristy things and bought a necklace from an aritsts' co-op in punikariki (sp?). i finally pulled over in motueka with the intention of spending the next day in the able tasman national park.
the coast tramp there is just spectaular and i spent a good 4 hours there and stumbled across a nude beach. ill let you decide whether or not i took part in the activity. afterwards i made my way across the top of the island by winetasting all the way to Nelson.
i was feeling really out of sorts by the time i got there because i had been on the move every day for what seemed like forever, and no one had said anything in particular about nelson, and i had no idea about where to go or spend the night. that was when i heard some street music. they were playing american oldies and it was calling my name. then i was drawn over to a table with some other travelers who could tell i was alone. we all spent the rest of the day together, ending with a really fab meal and cocktails with alcohols that i coud not name.
the next few days were pretty mild: hiking and camping on beautiful beaches and a lot of driving.
i left picton a couple of days ago on the ferry after spending a couple of great days hiking and lying on the beach getting a tan. beautiful pics to come when i can find a proper portal.
then onto wellington where i spent i beautiful day and had a really great meal again at one of the sport recommended by my guide. i think thats the first time ive ever done that intentionally. funny...
last night i again camped right on the beach in opunake, and i tell you i had a really great night's sleep. even on the ground while it was raining. perhaps it was the wine and huge dinner i made myself, but i woke up happy and satisfied. now i must decide if i want to drive out of my way to see new plymouth before some hiking around the truly stunning mt. taranaki. (seriously it seemed like it just arose out of nowhere when i was driving here.)
hm, i think ill just head straight for the mountain/volcano and then make my way to the tongariro national park, spend a day or so there before heading to taupo. im really gonna try hard to do some bungy jumping there and not be a total wimp.
oh man that was a big update. sorry about that.
i got to the fox glacier and it was truly beautiful but i was tired as shit and unable to admire it properly. so i found a campsite, made a bed and had the best nights sleep i had in a while. then it was back to the glacier to see it like i should have the first time, but i was too distracted by the fact that i lost my car key somewhere among the slate-grey rocks. perfect place for my key to hide. bastard.
true to form, i depended on the kindness of strangers who found my key and then i set off for the Franz Josef glacier. hiked around there for a few hours and even got to walk right up to the glacier itself. kinda disappointing due to th amount of tourists and the fact that the glacier is the color of dirt. haha
when it came time to find a campsite there, i realized that there is absolutely nothing to do in that town but drink. alone. just you and the bartender, if they have one. lame. so i drove up the coast for a few hours and landed at this DOC campsite right on a lake in hokitika. and they have this truly amazing dive bar that even surpassed the Balboa Saloon and Class of '47 in sleaziness. amazeballs. turns out they have been a destination on the Kiwi Experience route for about 20 years and the walls are just coated with the lost dignity and old booze. needless to say, i felt right at home.
so i showed up there at about 5pm and see these two really, really old men at the bar sharing a pitcher of beer and chatting with a bartender in her 50s. they turn out to be lifetime locals and one of the owners! perfect. they gave me the best scoop on where to go and hike in the area.
the next day was made for more driving along what is claimed to be the most beautiful drive in NZ. did some touristy things and bought a necklace from an aritsts' co-op in punikariki (sp?). i finally pulled over in motueka with the intention of spending the next day in the able tasman national park.
the coast tramp there is just spectaular and i spent a good 4 hours there and stumbled across a nude beach. ill let you decide whether or not i took part in the activity. afterwards i made my way across the top of the island by winetasting all the way to Nelson.
i was feeling really out of sorts by the time i got there because i had been on the move every day for what seemed like forever, and no one had said anything in particular about nelson, and i had no idea about where to go or spend the night. that was when i heard some street music. they were playing american oldies and it was calling my name. then i was drawn over to a table with some other travelers who could tell i was alone. we all spent the rest of the day together, ending with a really fab meal and cocktails with alcohols that i coud not name.
the next few days were pretty mild: hiking and camping on beautiful beaches and a lot of driving.
i left picton a couple of days ago on the ferry after spending a couple of great days hiking and lying on the beach getting a tan. beautiful pics to come when i can find a proper portal.
then onto wellington where i spent i beautiful day and had a really great meal again at one of the sport recommended by my guide. i think thats the first time ive ever done that intentionally. funny...
last night i again camped right on the beach in opunake, and i tell you i had a really great night's sleep. even on the ground while it was raining. perhaps it was the wine and huge dinner i made myself, but i woke up happy and satisfied. now i must decide if i want to drive out of my way to see new plymouth before some hiking around the truly stunning mt. taranaki. (seriously it seemed like it just arose out of nowhere when i was driving here.)
hm, i think ill just head straight for the mountain/volcano and then make my way to the tongariro national park, spend a day or so there before heading to taupo. im really gonna try hard to do some bungy jumping there and not be a total wimp.
oh man that was a big update. sorry about that.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
musings from En-Zed:
hahhahHAHHAHA (please read as evil laugh).
welcome to the inner sanctum of my brain. ive been driving pretty much every day for at least 5 hours for about a week and these are some of the things ive been thinking about.
-when they are far away in the fields, sheep look like lice. from personal experience: yeesh.
-sometimes, you just have to stop taking photos because youre going to miss what youre trying to capture.
-all of the cars that ive rented seem to be ultimate POSs. this one has taught itself to whistle quite loudly whenever you drive it longer than it likes. it def causes some stares in these small towns with like 2 people on the streets.
- the clouds in this country defy words. they seem to always be forming multiple layers of beauty; coming from everywhere and delineating the pattern of the wind like something ive never seen before.
-i still hate other people's children. especially at campsites where the walls are actually just tent flaps. their only redeeming quality is the fact that they cant drink yet and i can. its tenuous i know, but whatever.
-vegetarian diet seems to be agreeing with me. probably because i sleep in a tent by myself and can allow myself to do all the things that veggies do to you.
-there are idiots in every country.
-def going to have to come back here. theres too much to see and 6 weeks was not enough.
-people here have no idea what salsa is.
-i seem to be continuously and comfortably redefining myself.
-living out of a car is fairly comfortable as long as you shower regularly as have money for gas and booze. coincidentally, i do.
-the best meal i have yet had in NZ was some take-away fish and chips from a seafood market in a port called Mapua that was accompanied by some locally brewed (like, right next door) beer. that, and wandering through a swap-meet-type market in nelson constituted the best day that ive had in a couple of weeks.
-if he doesnt interest me to the nth degree, its really not worth it. there are a million of him.
-OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MUCH SHTI TO DO WHEN I GET HOME.
-i really must do more camping back in the states.
-i almost said "sweet as" today. kinda cool.
-omg. SANDFLIES. omg. MOSQUITOS.
-i miss you. you know who you are... and to the other ones: just email me crazypants!
-i cant wait for bali!!
-so glad i took some time off from the DocProg.
-i should really think about starting a restaurant around granny's recipes. maybe supported with some serbian cuisine as well. could be pretty awesome.
thats all i can think of for now.
love you,
Taryn
welcome to the inner sanctum of my brain. ive been driving pretty much every day for at least 5 hours for about a week and these are some of the things ive been thinking about.
-when they are far away in the fields, sheep look like lice. from personal experience: yeesh.
-sometimes, you just have to stop taking photos because youre going to miss what youre trying to capture.
-all of the cars that ive rented seem to be ultimate POSs. this one has taught itself to whistle quite loudly whenever you drive it longer than it likes. it def causes some stares in these small towns with like 2 people on the streets.
- the clouds in this country defy words. they seem to always be forming multiple layers of beauty; coming from everywhere and delineating the pattern of the wind like something ive never seen before.
-i still hate other people's children. especially at campsites where the walls are actually just tent flaps. their only redeeming quality is the fact that they cant drink yet and i can. its tenuous i know, but whatever.
-vegetarian diet seems to be agreeing with me. probably because i sleep in a tent by myself and can allow myself to do all the things that veggies do to you.
-there are idiots in every country.
-def going to have to come back here. theres too much to see and 6 weeks was not enough.
-people here have no idea what salsa is.
-i seem to be continuously and comfortably redefining myself.
-living out of a car is fairly comfortable as long as you shower regularly as have money for gas and booze. coincidentally, i do.
-the best meal i have yet had in NZ was some take-away fish and chips from a seafood market in a port called Mapua that was accompanied by some locally brewed (like, right next door) beer. that, and wandering through a swap-meet-type market in nelson constituted the best day that ive had in a couple of weeks.
-if he doesnt interest me to the nth degree, its really not worth it. there are a million of him.
-OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MUCH SHTI TO DO WHEN I GET HOME.
-i really must do more camping back in the states.
-i almost said "sweet as" today. kinda cool.
-omg. SANDFLIES. omg. MOSQUITOS.
-i miss you. you know who you are... and to the other ones: just email me crazypants!
-i cant wait for bali!!
-so glad i took some time off from the DocProg.
-i should really think about starting a restaurant around granny's recipes. maybe supported with some serbian cuisine as well. could be pretty awesome.
thats all i can think of for now.
love you,
Taryn
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