Mark and Diane's Trip

rebuttlal- OG to Come

2009-12-04T21:40:00.000-05:00

I would like to apologize to Jean Stryker and anyone else whom I mislead with my letter. I truly meant the Amazon is not being deforested to grow broccoli for local Brazilians. The Amazon was however legally and illegally deforested in 2005-2006 to produce part of the 53.4 million tons of soybeans in Brazil.

Wait, I think we are on to something here…Soybeans are VEGETABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! All that tofu and soy milk vegetarians consume is really at fault for destroying the rainforests! Possibly, but it’s a stretch, and here is why.

The vast majority of Brazilian soy exports go to companies such as Cargill who in turn sell it to companies like McDonalds who use it principally as animal feed. So yes the Amazon is being deforested to grow vegetables- soybeans- but these soybeans do not make it to my plate in soybean form- they are force feed to livestock across the Atlantic who turn the soy into hamburgers!

What should we do though? Contact companies that produce the food you eat! Ask Questions like “does your soy come from areas previously known as tropical forests?” or “Was your livestock feed soy from former forest land?” Be thorough and persist until you get your answer and then tell everyone you know what they said! Gardenburger, a well known meatless burger, states they get their soy from farms in Illinois.

If Broccoli does become an easy to grow, subsidized cheap source of feed for feed lots then yes I would agree the world will turn itself upside down to mass produce broccoli and it WILL have the same destiny as corn and soy- Can you imagine High Fructose Broccoli Syrup! I hope it’s green!

But why does this happen to food? One reason is the cost of feed for commercial animal products account for 60-64% of poultry and egg costs, 17% of beef cattle costs, and between 47%- 65% of hog production costs. It takes 3 pounds of grain to produce one quarter pound hamburger (minus the bun and fixing’s). This could make 2 loaves of bread, or 6 plates of spaghetti.

Give a starving person a burger he/she eats for a meal, give him/her some grain and he/she eats for days.

I will let other writers get into different facets of the food debate while I tirelessly search blackle.com for the connection between broccoli and the Amazon!

We are Home!

2008-08-11T09:51:00.003-04:00

In the words of Michael Franti, "Asheville, How you feelin'??!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?"
Di and i are back in Asheville and our new number that now works is 828-225-6986. We have been able to see some of your friendly faces but can't wait to see everyone and catch up! We are pretty much doing house stuff so if you swing by we should be there!~ Hope to see you all soon!~

Close to home!

2008-08-07T13:09:00.003-04:00

Hey folks we have toured part of the east coast and are heading home soon! We can't tell you how great it was to see some of our friends and family thus far and can't wait to see a bunch more in SMASHEVILLE! Much love- enjoy the random pictures!

North Island

2008-07-29T03:22:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures still of Australia! A shot out to Delaware, a cool picture of Di and i biking, a trailer we stayed in and some cool plant life! Enjoy!

So we have made it to the North Island. Some fun facts about NZ. There are only 4 million people here. 3 million live on the north island and of that 3 million 1 million live in Auckland! Wild stuff! Two of those millions are Drake and Erica who we rocked out with for a few days in Wellington aka WINDington because it is freaking windy as anything! I had to get crampons just to stay upright as we walked around the town. No really it was wild. Drake and Erica were amazing hosts and there housemates rocked as well. We celebrated Christmas in July! It was fantasgreat! The Te Papa museum was amazing! a truly beautiful and education place.

We then headed to Tongariro to do the northern circuit hike- famous from Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, after we had prepared 3 pounds of rice and beans because there is no way to cook while hiking out there a blizzard came through and threw us off the mountain. Their were winds of 200 km/h going on and snowing! About 2 hours into our hike di and i regrouped and decided that this was not the way we wanted to spend our last week on "vacation." So we high tailed it to Auckland and won a cut throat game of Cranium with Anne and her beautiful family!

We are now on Waiheke Island WWOOFing with a splendid family! We have been gardening, cooking, and hanging out with some rather energetic 4 and 5 year olds! It's been fun. We are very excited to come home and see you guys all soon!

Pictures

2008-07-22T00:40:00.002-04:00

Hey folks here are some picture of Australia-

Pictures of Di and i wine tasting in the hunter valley, some cool rock formations in the Blue Mountains, a puppet shop in Sydney, a cool tree in the sunset and the Cliff Mallee tree. I really like this tree b/c the bark is looking like it is melting off!
Enjoy-

Strazzer US Reunion East Coast Tour Dates

2008-07-21T23:37:00.002-04:00

Hey folks New Zealand is great! We rocked out the South Island with the help of James, Biff and both mommie and daddie birken! It was great. We hiked the Kepler Trail a bit in Te Anu, we went cross-country skiing in Wanaka, we went hiking in Queenstown, we eat a "world famous" salad and sausage buffet in Greymouth. Good times!

We are planning out return to the US and it will be a short and sweet tour down the east coast as we make a b-line to Asheville. We would love to see our friends along the way so if you live in any of these areas hopefully we can set something up. Below are our tour dates! Get excited!!!

8/3-5th- NYC- wake up on the 5th and head to NJ
8/5- NJ- wake up on the 6th and head to DE
8/6- DELAWARE- wake up on the 7th and head to DC
8/7-?DC
8/8 or later- Asheville!

NEW ZEALAND

2008-07-12T01:50:00.002-04:00

If you know me well you know how much I love this country. It is interesting to be here in the winter since the last time I came it was sunny summer (during January unfortunatly when most people don't have vacation). It is still sweet now but for a super outdoor enthusiast who likes to hike it is a little bit of a bummer. The cadebury chocolate factory was a good side trip. They have a chocolate fountain that is in an old huge silo that is quite the site and only there for your entertaiining. thank you to all the amazing couchsurfing houses we crashed at. I had my sights set on the Milford trek, proclamed to be the best hike on the planet. There are many avalanche paths though and I don't need that. So we did the kepler hike. We didn't do the top section becuase the snow drifts made you step down into the snow all the way to your hip and doing that for 8 hours does not appeal to me. But it was sure beautiful up there. Mountian ranges covered in snow, last time I was here it wasn't as glourious as this. The forests are covered in moss or ferns, the lake is everywhere and they have huts with tiny wood stoves. really i can not believe wood stoves are made this small. small enough that you have to chop wood down to the side of your foot. we were a little low on food but thankfully our freind farmer neil shared his feast with us. hopefully i will throw a photo up soon. we will be back in the states at the beginning of august and down in asheville by midmonth. i am pretty excited to see you! I get to see my parents in a couple of days here in nz cool!

Hunter Valley

2008-06-28T20:52:00.004-04:00

THESE PICS ABOVE ARE FROM THAILAND. WE WILL SORT IT ALL OUT EVENTUALLY. MAYBE WHEN IT DOES NOT COST 77$ PER HOUR ON THE EMAIL AY? We spent a few days in the Hunter Valley - Wine Country. It was great. We rented some bikes, stayed with an amazing family- The Towers, and went around tasting wines, cheese , and chocolate! It was fantastic to say the least. There were many new wines that we tried b/c they are specific to that region and they were lovely! We eat at Smelly Cheese for lunch twice and hit up a fantastic chocolate factory! not too bad! We made it to about 12 wineries out of 120 and learned a large amount of knowledge about wine. Fun times!

We also got to see a herd of Kangaroo's chillin in the bush and then hop off in line. It was fun to see. they seemed to hop in a line formation with a baby leading the pack and also pulling up the rear.

After that we headed up to Byron Bay and as luck had it we arrived in the middle of Farmers Market day and eat some fantastic foods. A beet, spinach, sweet potato, chick pea layer cake- which we amazingly colored! Good food!

We have done some whale watching b/c the whales migrate up the eastern part of Australia to have their caves. We have seen a bunch slapping the water and breaching as well. Byron Bay is the eastern most part of Australia so we are pretty close to home right now- can you feel the good vibrations coming your way?

Here are some random pictures from Thailand!

Quick Updates!

2008-06-22T18:32:00.002-04:00

Hello folks all is well here DOWN UNDER! Yes we have made it to Australia and we just came back from our first hike in the Australian "Bush" and we were able to see our first kangaroo! Hot Darn! We have seen plenty of Kangaroo testicles because apparently it is funny to attach them to random objects such as key chains, bottle openers and t-shirts! Well done Aussies!

DI and i sat for a Vipassana Course. It consisted of 10 days of not talking and 11 hours of meditation AND I AM HAPPY TO REPORT NEITHER OF US RAN AWAY FROM THE COURSE-(This happens quite often).

I will attach more photos soon. We have couch surfed twice thus far and it is great!!! Thanks Kendall and family, Rose and Lisa!!!

We also took a Thai cooking class in Bangkok before we left-thanks Emi- and we have learned that if you dislocate the the legs of this insect that is in the cockroach family it smells very sweet! look for it at your local international markets!

We'll see you all in about 6 weeks!~

Koh Phangan

2008-05-26T07:32:00.003-04:00

So we have been living the island life pretty much. A lot of chillin', reading, relaxing, eating, meditating, and so forth. We have been to about 6 of teh 16 beaches on this island and we have even "Beach hopped" because some of them are about a 5 minute hike away. I don't want to brag or anything, but i was on 3 beaches in one day! Oh yeah. Here are some pictures from them.
The first is of Di hiking through the jungle as we went from Haad Tien to Haad Yan beach, then a picture of the twig walkway on the rocks, another great picture from our walk, then a picture of the sky, and a picture of Haad Rim beach as we went on a boat tour of part of the island! It was fantastic!

Pictures from the Haad Rim Beach Party

2008-05-26T07:15:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from the party. it was real fun. You drink out of Buckets! it consists of an alcoholic drink, a mixer, and a energy drink. It's pretty tasty and funny at the same time.
The pictures are of di drinking from the bucket, a board of designs you can get painted on your body, the fire sign for the party, me dejected because i had to wear di's purse during the party, and some dude passed out towards the end of the night! Enjoy~

Thailand- Largest Beach party EVER!

2008-05-26T06:28:00.001-04:00

Hello all we are all good!

we just went to the largest beach party in the world on Koh Phangan Island! The pictures are not working right now but i will post some later. we are all good and we are happy and healthy! talk to you guys soon and see you all soon! 10 weeks left!~

Annapurna Trek!

2008-05-15T09:07:00.003-04:00

o we rocked out the Annapurna Trek in Nepal and crossed through the Thorong-La Pass at 17,768 feet. I actually made it to 17,777 feet because once we got up there i had to wee and the "out door" bathroom was up this little hill behind the tea house. A porter and i were heading to the "out door toilet" at the same time and he was heading left so i headed right. Then he switched directions so i in turn changed mine, then he did this the third time and after ascending 5000 feet I really didn’t want to go to much further up so I took control of the situation and told the porter, “Hey go left and I’ll go right, Thika?” That topped me off at 17,777.

Anyway the trip was great. We started our trek strong after a 5 day fast inspired by giardia and luckily is sprung up for us again about halfway through the trek. But we rested and made it through! Well done us!

Here are a few pictures from the trek. There is one of us, “looking the part, ehh?”

Another one is on these cages that porters wear and they hike and deliver chickens! How cool is that. We also saw some mules doing the same, but the porters out number the mule chicken carriers by a 30 to 1 ratio.

One is the sign at the top of the Thorong-La pass. Feel free to down load it yourself , show it to folks, and tell people you made the trek!

One is of the goat herders and their posse! It was cool, we got to be escorted by mountain goats!

And the final one is of a gorgeous mountain range who’s name escapes me but in was in the beginning of the trek. This mountain is BEAUTIFUL and the picture doesn’t do it justice!

All in all a great trek and you should do it before it “goes commercial.” The only road less section will be from Manang to Muktinath (about a 4 day section).

As a side note you really don’t need a guide if you have a decent map, and know something about the outdoors. We highly recommend going to the Acute Mountain Sickness talk in Manang- Very informative.

Also if you can stay where the porters stay if you get the change. It is a welcome changed from the hotels and you get to sit around the fire and hear their stories. It was a very rewarding experience for us!~

Overland to Pokhara Nepal!

2008-05-10T00:38:00.005-04:00

We took a bus from Sunali Nepal to Pokhara Nepal where we would start our trek. It was supposed to be an 8 hour ride.

I truly feel that the three 18-year old boys who drove the bus pooled their money together to allow one of them to get a drivers license to drive the bus and the other two could collect money and be ticket collectors on the ride. The three musketeers were young, free, had a good job and could travel their county at their leisure and at the expense of tourist and that is exactly what they did! The bus was to leave at 4:30pm and arrive in Pokhara at 5:30 am. We showed up at 4:20pm and they rushed us onto the bus. We get on the bus and some crazy guys wants 200 rupees for putting our bags on the top of the bus. Another Nepalise young man is silently shaking his head now at us. We give him 5 rupees to quiet his banter. The guy shaking his head ended up being a jerk but he was quite helpful then and there.

So they rush us on the bus only to take us to a spot no more than 200 meters on the main road where we load 5 more people on and wait for a good hour. 15 people plus our 3 young hostesses with the mostest! We take off again to a “main” bus stop where 11 more foreigners and locals get one. The best part of this stop came when our friend Easton got off the bus to smoke. Four Chinese punk rockers complete with black fingernails, guitar, and one with a very elaborate mullet! Spiked hair on top, short on the sides, and then long in the back that he proceeded to fix in the reflection of his phone/TV/music player. The guy that took the cake was the fella who sat in Easton’s seat. I told him, “Someone is sitting there.” His reply was a very monotone “Yehh, Me.” That was the extent of my liking for our them. It shows that the foreign teenage punk rockers have the same spunk as their American counterparts.

We head off from the “main” bus station and we travel for about 45 minutes- our longest continuous drive thus far, and we get to another “main” bus station. It is blazing hot on the bus so we alternate getting off and checking out the fruit and food vendors. The guy who told me not to pay the hawker for our luggage kept asking for smokes and was trying to be helpful. Every time I would get off the bus he would follow me and say, “hurry hurry the bus is leaving.” I’d rush back to the bus and get on. I would then seat out as much water as I just put in my body while off the bus. I would see that we were not heading anywhere fast so I would get off the bus again. This scenario played out 3 more times until we finally left. As we left the bus terminal, I say my Nepalise guide yell at the f\young foreign tourist he was sitting next to- “hey let’s make love” but he used a different verb.

It was getting pretty dark, which was a bit of a bummer b/c the view was supposed to be real nice. So from 4:30pm-8pm we had actually driven for a maximum of 1.5 hours! Great work guys! At about 9pm the young $ collector walks down the isle and announces that we are stopping for dinner. We pull up on this mountain side road with about 5 shops on either side. The young drivers and loving it. They are eating, flirting with the female waitresses, and bumming smokes from the foreign tourist. We are there for another hour and a half. The young men decide on a whim that it is time to continue on our bumpy voyage. As we struggle with warmth and trying to sleep we clumpity clop up the Himalaya’s. 12am quickly approaches and the young $ collector comes sauntering down the isle informing passengers that it is time to sleep.

We were told it was a continuous trip, but honestly nothing was going to surprise me now. As we try to get comfortable in the seats as the temperature drops, I realize my shorts and t-shirt was not the ideal PJ’s in the Nepal Himalaya’s. I see the isle as an option b/c the metal bones were fingering me through the warn out mustard yellow upholstery. The floor was filthy so I asked the young man if he had any paper to put down. He happily ran off and returned with a roll of paper that looked like it was designed for that exact purpose. He laid the paper down meticulously like he was lining the bottom of a hamster cage. He laid it down in an over lapping pattern as so if I turn during the night’s rest a crack will not appear. He seemed apt at this practice. I lay down, more comfortable, but still cold. People went at their own pace to decide when their personal bed times would commence. As I was waiting for the final conversation to subside and a blanket of freezing slumber to engulf the bus I thought about the different people who had entrusted the combined wisdom of 56 years to lead us on a overnight journey on the sketchy Nepal roads. As the last two travelers ended their final bedtime discussion, not one minutes passed that a man who would haunt the entire bus began to snore. A few people chuckled at the irony of this, but my mind moved on to the dread of a frozen sleepless night. I was thinking, “is anyone going to jar this guy?” After a while I took the position upon myself. After my midnight “anti-snoring” mission was successful I was able to steal away three glorious hours of sleep until the cold was too overbearing. I walked up to the drivers compartment complete with our three heroes fast asleep in their locked in drivers compartment. I knocked on the door and they were kind enough to open and let me in. I asked for a blanket b/c I had seen a few other lucky passengers snuggling up with one. The one young man who was away told me there was not any blankets, left. I sat looking around and sad because I knew no sleep would come over me for the remainder of the night. I saw under his teenage shuttle accomplice a blanket! I asked if I could use it since his friend was not and he happily obliged. I got the blanket, tapped the snorer’s head as I walked back to my paper bed, which had held up surprisingly well for my 3 hours of sleep. I wrapped myself up like a mummy and slept the best I could until the morning stops began on the trip to Pokhara. People walked over me as I tried to convince myself to stay unconscious but I was awake. I got up and tried to share the blanket with Di as we both sat in the seat but warmth and comfortableness on a “paved” road in Nepal is not possible. We arrived at 10am, a solid 8 hour ride turned into 16.

Abdul

2008-04-11T06:20:00.003-04:00

I want to introduce you to a client that I have a soft spot for at the NGO i worked at. His name is abdul and he thinks he looks pretty spiffy

and funny in these glasses so we took a picture. He has three fingers on one hand, is missing one arm and one leg. He had an accident on the train while using heroin. He now works for the NGO by doing random tasks, folding newspaper into usable bags, making beautiful lanterns, etc. He tried to teach me how to fold the bags correctly but I could not do it as well with my full appendages and fingers. I have tried to teach him a little bit about drawing because he is super excited about becoming a better artist. We don't speak the same language but this man is my friend and a huge inspiration to me!

goodbye ngo newsletter article and pictures of meditation blessing and mural

2008-04-11T06:02:00.004-04:00

I am the lucky girl who got to spend two and a half months volunteering for an NGO through American Jewish World Service. My task was mostly to lead art therapy workshops and random odds and ends of other projects. It is good for counselors to get out of the routine of therapy that they are used to doing. When we put effort forth into a new activity we can gain insight into ourselves, our work, and the feelings/lives of our clients. I trained counselors to ask questions to groups for the purpose of drawing interpretation. These questions could be about whatever topic the group session covered a step from narcotics anonymous, or something that occurred within the Drop in Center that needed to be addressed. The questioned I used at each drop in center was “What will you look like when you are completely clean? Who will be around you? What will you own? Where will you live?” I asked the clients to draw what they saw of themselves in the future. We then discussed these drawings with the group in order for one client to help inspire other clients. In the discussion, the counselors are encouraged to ask questions about the drawing to bring out more thought and emotion from the clients. Doing this, conversations can increase between client and staff. Staff can gain new insight into the feelings and experiences within the client’s life in a new way. The drawings were hung on the wall. On bad days clients can see their drawings of what their life may be if they do not use as represented with their own hand. Journaling is an extremely effective way of expressing oneself and discovering feelings. Many of the clients are illiterate. They never have the opportunity of paper and pen to go deep within themselves and experience their hidden feelings. Drawing is a therapeutic tool for even the illiterate. Most of the addicts draw simple things back in their lives for their goals. They draw pictures with families reunited and a shelter to live under. I have learned how incredibly difficult it is for an addict to take steps towards treatment. When asking a group how many have been clean for a three month stretch I was shocked at how few raised their hands. I have experienced secondhand some of the effects of detox. This makes me so proud of those who again and again try to better themselves go through the pain over and over until they are clean.
I feel gratitude for having this experience because of the people. If I came to India to travel I would not have had the opportunity to meet a staff like this one. I have always done jobs that feel fulfilling to me, all social work based in America. To me it is worth it to do what serves the world even if you don’t make a lot of money. The staff here take this to a higher level then I though possible. Many of the staff are so devoted to this work to make their India and their world a better place. I have seen staff speak through their heart even when angry and even have the capacity to put themselves into client’s shoes. This is an ideal that most of us strive for yet few of us achieve.
I spent about a year working with mentally ill adults in America. The motto was “helping others, help themselves.” The work was very challenging. It is such a beautiful concept to get clients to rise and serve others like themselves. This, I believe is where the most potential for service and recovery is. In practice though, many of the clients were difficult to motivate. At this NGO there are many roles for addicts to fill as they recover as peer educators, outreach workers, or even folding paper bags. Clients are allowed to return again and again if they relapse. It is proven here that someone believes in them no matter what happens in their life. I wonder what it is like to be a junkie and meet a peer educator or outreach worker who is now wearing clean clothes and their head is high. I am so proud of all addicts who now work for this NGO. I am happy to know that helping others help themselves is possible.
I am most grateful to work with the clients. Being a tourist in India you see all kinds of new and unbelievable things from the temples to the slums. There are people everywhere in Mumbai. The most striking are the poor. You can observe their habits for they have no where to hide them as you walk by. Sometimes I smile as I pass, but interactions with street people I see everyday, are very limited due to language. Here, the staff was able to translate for me. I was able to have some communication with clients and learn a little about their lives and give them some care. The nonverbal sharing we did was fulfilling as well, taking a break from their struggles by playing games or processing some of their life in art therapy by drawing pictures.There is so much more that I have gained that I don’t even know yet. I think as I travel on and go back to my home in August the contrast between social work in America and my life here will continue to throw out new observations of life and growth. Who knows what I will leave behind me in India: new friends, a few murals, lots of memories, and hopefully new techniques for working with clients that will bring variety to the work that is done here.

Food Dilemma

2008-04-08T08:08:00.003-04:00

An NGO comes and delivers food to the young men who come to our “Drop in Center” on a daily basis. There is a different meal each day of the week but the weekly schedule is the same. Monday – Rice and Yellow Dahl, Tuesday – chapatti and Yellow Dahl, Wednesday – Rice and Mung Beans, Thursday- Sweets and Something that I don’t know the title of, You guys get the picture.

The attendance varies at our drop in center so sometimes the food is completely consumed and sometimes we have 20 pounds of left over rice and dahl. What to do with this food. They usually throw it out if no one wants to eat it. As a huge advocate for not wasting food I thought about what could be done and many questions arose.

I walk by 100 of beggar each day. Surely they could use the food. But then also there are 1000’s of working class people who work all day for Rs 300 ($7.50) and wouldn’t they like a free dinner every now and then?

India’s poverty line is based on the amount of money it costs to by 2,400 calories of food in a rural area and 2,100 calories of food in an urban area. The line is set at Rs 300 ($7.50) in rural and Rs 570 ($14) in urban areas a month.

The problem lies in the fact that this line was set on the prices of food in 1976! Needless to say food prices have risen in the past 32 years! India is currently reexamining this issue and will hopefully adjust the poverty line to more accurately depict the cost of food in this day and age.

Back to the dilemma- there 1000’s of working poor. Working all day for about Rs 120 ($3). Surely they deserve the food more than the beggar on the street pulling in Rs 400 ($10) per day? Right? The worker hasn’t given up, he is contributing to society, he is earning a wage, albeit it is extremely low. Where as the beggar is just sitting on the ground and has given up.

I would much rather give it to a person who worked that day and wants a free dinner- let him keep the Rs20 in his pocket for maybe a cold ice cream that he can’t find enough money for in his everyday budget. Or maybe he could save it and use it towards a new pair of sandals because his sandals blew out last week and has been shoeless since. But these people are sometimes hard to find. They are working while I’m trying to give the food out.

A young man and I went up to a man who was sorting trash. We asked if he was hungry and he said yes. We had nothing to put the food is so we kind of stared at each other until we realized this could not happen and went on our way. It was sad.

Then we came to a group of 5 ladies with about 3 small children among them. They were obviously beggars. They had bowls and news paper to put the food in.

So the question I ask is this?

Is it better to waste the food then to give it to a beggar who has given up on the idea of trying to work? What is this young mother teaching their child? We have seen parents encourage their children to come up to us in train and bus stations to beg from the “rich white people.” What type of values and lessons are being instilled in this small helpless 5 year-old?

This is the conclusion I have come up with- I can’t let the food go to waste so I have tried to first find someone who made an honest living that day, if I can’t find someone who fits that description I then give it to beggars. To off set the fact that I feel I am partially responsible and enabling this beggar to stay in his current state I will only give food to a beggar once. This is what I feel is okay to do.

What will get stared at MORE a Good Looking Young India Woman or a White Man?

2008-04-03T01:26:00.002-04:00

I get stared at constantly. I truly understand in a way what famous people feel like being hawked by paperatzies and what not. It is a trying lifestyle and you long for your regular life back after a while.

As I was walking to the train station I happened to walk stride for stride with a tall good looking young India women and the questions instantly popped into my head, “Who are the India’s going to gawk at more? Me or Her?”

The answer came shortly because we were fortunate to stroll past a group of 3 young India men around the age of 17-22 I’d say. She walked to the left of them and I purposely walked to the right. I slightly gazed up to see where the trio’s wondering eyes would turn to and yes sir they looked at the young lady! Instant jubilation bubbled up in my heart! I could walk to the station without the glare and glower, even if it was just for one 20 minute part of my commute I was off the hook. Out of the public’s always present eyes! But alas my inner excitement was met with a cruel outer blow of fate! Not 20 feet from our first test of “Staring young men” her sandal blew out, she whispered, “SH#%” (which is by the way India’s favorite English word), and I was back in the spot light again for the remainder of my voyage to the train station and then onto the train where I will be groped and shoved and feel like Gumbi as I ride the train to work.

Train Strain

2008-04-02T02:36:00.003-04:00

Getting on the train during rush hour is something I would not wish on anybody in 1 million years. It is tough, crazy, edgy and violent. The problem lies in that rush hour is more like rush 3 hour two times a day from 8-11am and then 4-8pm it is utter chaos!

There are four types of carts

Men’s Second class- about Rs 110 for a monthly pass- 3 bucks

Men’s First class- about Rs 800 for a monthly pass- 20 bucks

Women’s Second Class-same price as above but can be as catty as the men’s.

Women’s First class – same prices but usually pretty empty

There are usually a set of 3 bogies that are for women only. Why is there a women’s only car? Is it because chivalry in running rampant in India, or is it because if a man is in a packed bogie with a women he gets to feel her up?

The train is the life line of the city something like 6 million people ride the train DAILY! Mumbai is huge and there really isn’t any other choice! Buses or driving take about 3 times a long to get somewhere. The train is a huge blessing but it also is a curse to some.

There are two video’s here. The first is a second class bogie on a “light day”

The second is a first class bogie on a “heavy day”

Doing this twice a day six days a week does not seem good for the soul.

My India Life

2008-04-01T00:44:00.005-04:00

Here you can see pictures of where we live. Our living room, mosquito netted bed, kitchen, view out of the window, and our bathroom. In India they do not have a separate tub to shower in, which makes it difficult not to track water all over the bathroom and house. And what follows is my typical walk to the train everyday.
India. A place where an overabundance of every stimulation surrounds you. Where cheap plastic shiny crap is loved. Where the clothes designs have six patterns. Where women's hair is waist long and like black silk. Where when you earn a smile from a native, it starts in their hearts and ends through their eyes. Where men's waists are sized 12 inches and their excess beltage wraps around their backs. Where the guest is god. Tea is served at least 3 times per day. Someone makes it for you, brings it to you, and cleans your cup.
I put on my shoes by the door and slide the latch open. I am grateful some punk kid hasn't locked me in again. I step out on to the white tile landing and look out of the cage enclosed staircase window as I go down the stairs. The air is unusually less humid and smoggy in the early morning hours. I pass the flat with the incense going, devotional flower chains, and ghee oil lamps burning and smile at their intention. I pass my friends door with her assualitive Jesus picture, still sleeping...Lucky. I walk out through the elevator gate, while I look at the black paint hand print on the next building/abandoned house not three feet away. I smile at it. The ally has a chicken drinking from a cement dish with a cat lurking nearby waiting for his turn. A dog runs away from me, it's tail between his legs. "It's ok baby." I say. Down to the street that is already woken up. Rickshaws almost flatten me to the poop encrusted brick road, as women with six year old little boys in oliver twist overalls, white sloppy socks, and black shoes hurry by. The vegetable vendors are setting up, the cows are in the middle of the road as usual munching on imported grass. A rickshaw puffs out diesel smoke right by my face. The man driving it dressed in a kacki cotton suit turns around to stare at me as he drives past. The morning pooja is going on with Hindi music blasting, bells ringing, and incense burning. I see the red retro, puke green inside 220 bus nearing. "Why spend the 4 rupees when you can walk?" I am on my way. There is a scraggly puppy with patchy hair that waggles up. I pass my favorite bum. He is sitting on someones wall where he sleeps. There is a water bottle there partly filled i know with cheap mumbai alcohol. His wool blanket is draped over his head and he stares out looking so deep and philosophical it is beautiful. "one day I will bring him food and eat it with him, " I think. I pas the diamond stores, so many, the banks, and the saree shops. There is a deep fry samosa shop where I see the newly made samosas arranged on a stainless steel silver plate on the floor. "So fresh, that's the best place to get em." I pass the crowded ghetto sidewalk tea stall. Made from stolen sidewalk bricks in the shape of puzzle pieces and one piece of wood laying across. The owner shuffles the men out of my way. I smile at him. The park across the street is round and completely fenced in with only one entrance. It is only open in the morning and the evenings. There's a school with motivational sayings written on a chalk board that change daily. I pass the strange church made completely of bells. Each one purchased with the wish for a child or some other goal. Pantless beggar children get washed by their moms as their too thin fathers slumber on the sidewalk covered in a blanket. I fight my way through the crowd and rickshaws dodging to miss a stray mans hand, covering my purse to avoid its opening. "I'll make the 8:28 again." I go running up the stairs to the platform que for the women's bogie.

Dr. Di Michelle Reams Rockstar

2008-03-31T05:16:00.003-04:00

Got a haircut. Check me out. I am either an 80's rockstar or a Michelle Reams wanna be. You decide.

Holi and the education of our men

2008-03-31T04:29:00.003-04:00

The festival of colors. We were excited. People throw powdered colors on each other and make merry. Sounds like fun. We armed ourselves with water balloons (thank you mike and lark) and walked around getting covered in colors and covering others in water. We found a neighborhood of yelling and screaming children and played with them. It was so fun. They gave us food and beer. It was a bunch of families making merry. Too see more of holi we went to a big beach. We were surrounded by around 100 young men and I was grabbed a few times in inappropriate places. We left with the help of police and their big bamboo sticks. Sitting with Mark afterwards I asked. "What do we need to do to empower women so this does not happen again?" But together we realized it is not women empowerment that is the question here. It is education of our young men. No one has ever crossed this line with me ever. Sex is extremely taboo in India. White women on Hollywood movies are confusingly liberated to India men. If nothing regarding sex is talked about then how do hormone happy teenagers know how to appropriately vent their sexual frustration? We have to start talking about this. We need to educate the young and be open to talk about what is embarrassing. If you ever get hit on inappropriately use this opportunity to talk about ok vs not ok behavior. I need to start doing this. I need you to help with this too. Our silence only hurts women. I know.

Volunteer Work in India

2008-03-25T02:37:00.003-04:00

Folks, we are actually doing volunteer work on our trip. Here are a few pictures from our volunteer placements in Mumbai, India.

Pictures of: Di doing Art Therapy with the people at the center

The boys from the "drop-in" center on an Educational Visit to the Nehru Science Center- It is basically the Indian version of the Franklin Institute.

Mark at the on the beach during the overnight Group Home Camp

Mark with the boys from the "drop-in" center on a picnic to Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Urban Cowboy

2008-03-25T00:34:00.002-04:00

Well folks you would think with all this world travelling and social work my views on life and outlook on the world would have changed the most! Alas, it has not been the case. The real change has come in my appearance. If you know me I am a huge fan of the shorts and a t-shirt look. In fact the less clothes the better! But Mumbai has many different issues that have influenced my current clothing style.

YOU HAVE TO WEAR PANTS! I would personally like to change this norm, but I don’t know if this goofy, curly haired American is the one for this job! I have tried my best to flaunt my chicken legs as much as I can though.
The air quality is 7^th worst in the world! Breathing Mumbai air has been compared to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day.

I have become what people might call an, “Urban Cowboy.” I have provided two pictures, one of my normal appearance and one of my “new image” that has come about because of my time in Mumbai.

Please look at them carefully b/c I have changed a few things from one picture to the next. Try to see if you can spot all the differences. Answers next post!

P.S. I didn’t buy the jeans they were a gift from a friend!

Cows Own Mumbai!

2008-03-21T06:29:00.001-04:00

Dear friends, I am happy to inform you that there is a new king I town! Tata Cooperation’s, Bollywood and Indicom have been over thrown by what I’ve recently been informed is “Man’s REAL best friend” the cow! Instead of stray dogs, which they have plenty of, they also have stray cows that come and go as they please in the city. From what people have told me about the Hindu religion was Lord Kristhna’s views his mother in the image of a Cow. Luckily, there have not been any cow and run cases during my pedestrian travel!

Cheese Puffs...The Breakfast of Champions!?!?!?

2008-03-05T02:54:00.003-05:00

Cheese puffs!

The power food that was chosen for 16 young men as they prepared to explore personal growth and tackle the subject of sexual education as none other than Chai, Upama (a traditional India Breakfast food), and CHEESE PUFFS! How cool is that! America was great enough to invent such an unhealthy snack, but India has taken it to the next level! Cheese Puffs for breakfast! Mothers all across the globe are scared!

Matching Bruises!

2008-02-28T02:32:00.003-05:00

Within two days of each other we got matching bruises! how romantic! India is a dog eat dog world!

pics and links

2008-02-23T02:47:00.003-05:00

here you can see a typical goods carrying truck, pani puri which we made with our friends val and amol, an old muslim womans hands, and one of the clients where i work. check out more pictures athttp://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=581221203751864030/l=353766354/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Oneness blessin-working for the NGO

2008-02-23T02:25:00.004-05:00

hello there my loves. it has been months since i have written. the big news is that you should be able to call us on an asheville number. i have emailed sue as our test pilot today. the number is.....828-333-4656. please call because i miss you. we are around 10 hours after you. so your morning time is best. हे लुक हिन्दी there is a type in hindi option how cool. so i have spent 21 days silently meditation and to date i would rank the wedding and this meditation course, http://www.onenessmovement.org/ the highlights of my life. i am looking forward to seeing how my life will change with this in it. so far i just do the 2x/day short practices. i am looking forward to giving deeksha to more folks. i have been livin in a lil flat and working for an NGO for two weeks. we work with HIV heroine addicts. pretty intense and a great program. they strive for helping others to help themselves. One of the addicts who i got to know a bit, relapsed and died in a train accident. This is what happens with this population a lot, pretty crazy, pretty sad. but i am glad i got to know his beautiful smile! I am conducting an art therapy workshop this weekend, should be great. i miss you all

Bollywood and Delaware!

2008-02-18T01:07:00.001-05:00

The pictures are of me and some locates hawkers at the Mumbai Arts Festival and other arts festival happenings!

I think I forgot to talk about the Kanheri Caves in Sanjay National Park. They were straight up amazing! They were built around 900 AD by Buddhist Monks! Here were over 109 caves. Most were simple dwellings, but about 20 are truly amazing. One is like a prayer hall with pillars carved in the walls and a shrine. Another was like a lecture hall complete with two long sitting areas. Most caves had canal for drainage! It was great. We are planning a field trip to the Park with the youth who come into our drop in center! I’m stoked.

Di and I walked to the Caves and it was a good 2 mile walk. We saw many communities of monkey along the way. When we past one set of monkeys there was a car, about the size of a station wagon carrying about 18 people feeding the monkeys. As Di and I walked by they stopped feeding the monkeys and just stared at us. (This is not uncommon, we get stared at all the time. I suspect any white person gets stared at all the time. It can get quite annoying sometimes) ANYWAY I want to do a study to see what people stare at longer…Monkeys or Foreigners! I will publish my findings in Science Today! Look for it upon my return to the states in the September 2008 issue!

Di and I went to Filmistan the other day. Filmistan and Film City are the sets that many Bollywood films and most India TV shows are shot. It was amazing! I have a new dream! To have my own cooking tv show. I would eat all day! How great is that! So let me report back to everyone what it is like to be on the set of a cooking show. They shoot for about 12-14 hours straight for 6 days. That basically gives them a season of shows. It takes around 20-30 minutes to shoot an episode and they everyone gets to try the tasties! Not too bad. On top of this world class food there is a stream of chai/coffee/soda/water. Of course lunch and dinner are served but they act as a side course the multiple gourmet tastings throughout the day!

If you have read this long you deserve the secret to getting stuff done or going places in India. The person who greets you will refuse you entrance pretty much no matter what. Even if you have a huge invitation that says you belong there or even if the building has a large picture of you face on it. You will not be let in. They will claim you need 5 other forms of identification or need letters from public officials of some sort. Do not be discouraged! Keep insisting that you belong or were invited or whatever the case maybe and after about 3 minutes they will welcome you in! Good Luck~

So Delaware is a real cool place on the other side of the world as opposed to in the US!!! I have gotten the following reactions to me being from Delaware the past 2 weeks!
Our one friend Red is Indian but lived in Chicago for 14 years and has about 340 tattoo’s and is a boat load of fun. (Yes we did sing her the “I used to Work in Chicago” song. This song did not nearly go over as well as I would have hoped with the international audience.) Any way were talking about where we were from in the states and I proudly told her Delaware! She basically fell over in excitement and started touching me screaming “I have never meet anyone from Delaware, that is an imaginary place!” This went on for a solid 5 minutes!
Another volunteer with AJWS was equally as excited to meet a true Delawarian. Over diner we were introducing ourselves and again I got the chance to throw the Delaware title out there and her reaction was equally as exuberant! Your from Delaware?!?!?!? That is amazing. I have never meet anyone from Delaware! What is it like? Can I have your autograph. And then we posed for pictures! It was great!

Update from India

2008-02-12T01:25:00.000-05:00

So how goes it everyone? Things are great here. In the past few weeks Diane and I have partaken in the AJWS staff training for our India Placement. I would like to give a shot out to Sam, William, Sunita, Anna!! They were the staff for AJWS and the training was extremely beneficial and informative for both of us. We also got to meet the other incredible volunteers~ Ron, Debby, Debby, Sylvia, Murrey, and Jason. They are wonderful people and we wish them much luck in their up coming volunteer placements!

Diane and I went to Sanjay Gandhi National Park this past Sunday. There is a cat problem so they say. Between 2004-2005 33 people have been eaten by leopards! LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN IN TWO YEARS 33 PEOLE HAVE BEEN EATEN BY LEOPEARDS! That is wild! How does this happen you might as? Well Mumbai has about 14 million people in it and this National Park is pretty much the only green space around. There are huge high-rises and apartments all around the park. Poor people have started to live in the park because of land issues. This is illegal. The local government is supposed to regular this, but the local politicians want the vote of the people living in there so don’t enforce the law thus 33 PEOPLE GET EATEN BY LEOPARDS! Truly Wild and sad. There was a wedding in the park by some of the local inhabitants. We were able to see the presentation of the bride as well as the party that ensued after the ceremony! It was very lively with music and all. Here are some pictures from our trip there.

We also went to our first house party in India! It was a heck of a good time with lots of food. Diane and I feel that Indian’s are much like Jewish Mothers and Italian Grandmothers! They just feed and feed you. You have to say no about 123 times before their request subside. It’s great food though. Mom don’t worry I’m not starving by any means! I’ve actually put on some wait!

We moved from our temporary home in Thane- (thanks Val and Amul!) to our place in Bandra! This place apparently has Bollywood stars all over the place but I haven’t been able to recognize one yet! The local Crepes places is run by a Bollywood actor but I don’t know who!

We have meet someone who produces an Indian TV cooking show. We are going to his studio tonight to taste some of the foods. I think the show is on ZEE TV on Sunday at 12:30 pm if you get that channel! Look for the two white people stuffing their faces! That will be us!

Me and the Thali have had a falling out or sorts! Well I guess it is really Mumbai’s fault but Mumbai does not believe in the bottomless Thali much like the rest of the country. It is sad so my hunt for a bottomless Thali is underway and I will report back once I have found it! If you know of any near Bandra please do let me know!
Thanks~

Saathi- the beginning!

2008-01-24T01:18:00.000-05:00

Intro to Saathi:

I have been at Saathi for 2 weeks thus far. The first two weeks are for me to familiarize myself with the multiple facets of the Saathi juggernaut. Saathi’s main focus is to work towards a Just and Equitable world with a specific focus on youth living on the streets.

I have visited ad interacted with the youth at the two main “day centers.” One is KPC where the boys go and other is the APC where the girls go. Both provide physical, social, occupational, and emotional support for the youth during the day. I observed and participated in various activities in each center ranging from story telling, physical activities, theater therapy and counseling.
I have been taken on three outreach trips through the various locations Saathi networks in. The red light district and the Mumbai Central bus terminal were the locations I observed and met some of the youth living on the street and Saathi’s Stake Holders. Stake Holders are individuals who have been on the streets for a while and will refer newer youths to Saathi. I spent an afternoon at Saathi’s Muland Home Placement Center. The Home Placement center houses runaways who are relatively new to the Mumbai area. The Home Placement serves as a location away from the city where the youth can reflect on their decision to run away where meals, counseling, and shelter is provided. I visited vocational center where youth boys were making paper bags out of recycled newspapers. They happily welcomed me to learn the trade. It was fun!I look forward to start planning my projects with the staff and implementing them!

Here are pictures from the Mumbai Marathon and the Kathakali Dance in Kerala. Kathakali dance is native to the Southern part of India. It tells a story of various gods only using music and movement. there is a large emphasis on the facial movements of the dancers. it was great to watch!~

MARK GOT A CELL PHONE!!!!

2008-01-21T08:15:00.000-05:00

Well actually i just got a sim card because we already had a cell phone which we are borrowing for the time being so MAYBE I DID NOT GET A CELL PHONE!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway here is the number
the country code is +91 and then 98 3343 8908
i want some prank calls!
talk to you guys soon!

Pictures of India

2008-01-17T06:38:00.000-05:00

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=208129259/a=104446816_104446816/t_=104446816

this is the web site for some picture of our first month in India! Check it out!

These are some pictures of the Himalaya's, the sun set at kodaikanal and pictures from the backwater tour in kerala.

Amazing! Rhode Island you got nothing on us!!!!!!!

2008-01-12T00:55:00.000-05:00

My mother has done it again and sent me one of the most amazing songs to grace this planet. After the Mantra i received at the Amma's Ashram i think this is the second greatest song in my life right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRsWdTO6P7o

And some more pictures: a penguin as a garbage bin, doesn't this look like delaware, the sun rising and setting from Amma's Ashram, and a picture of Kodaikanal

New Years, Rollin’ Solo in India, and Amma's Ashram

2008-01-12T00:34:00.000-05:00

Diane has gone off to her Oneness seminar about 80 km north of Chennai thus leaving Mark all alone in the large country of India! What does he do?!?!?! Well the first thing was get the heck out of Chennai. A decent city, but we didn’t give it much of a chance.

We did spend New Years in Chennai and saw some amazing fireworks. We stood on the top of our hotel and watch fireworks from every angle. It was a bit scary b/c there were some amateur firework displays. The path that some of the fireworks took did not make it past the 6th story of a few of the local hotels. Thus exploding into the side of many buildings. I was a bit concerned but what are fireworks without some danger right?

On New Years Day we went to the beach of Chennai! This beach is straight up HUGE!!!!!! There could be the larges beach ultimate tournament, WITH REGULAR SIZED FIELDS, on this beach. It was mammoth. Of course getting thousands of ultimate players to the beaches of Chennai might be challenging the beach was huge. There was a Shakedown Street of basically “Dollar Stores” on the beach. There were amusement park side, granite small ones, but still in the middle of the beach. It was wild. After being treated like celebrities on the beach. You know how it is, the shaking of hands, the picture taking, the constant gawking. It is tough work being famous! We were off to the state fair.

The state fair is a bit different. Take for example in the Western North Carolina State Fair we dress us pigs and give them names like Dale Swineheart Jr. and race them around tracks. In India the state politicians have large walk through displays of what the different state agencies are doing with the people’s tax month. It was pretty cool.

So like I said, out of Chennai. I headed to Kodaikanal. A beautiful town about 2000 meters up in the mountains of the Western Ghat range. Kodaikanal’s claim to fame is that they have a lot of homemade chocolate and ice cream. I can speak from experience that this stuff is TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is also a pastry shop that I straight up harassed this store to tell me when the wheat bread would be fresh. When I finally got the info and a warm loaf it was orgasmic! Also there was a dairy plant with fresh cheese. I missed the whole milking process by an hour b/c I spaced out one day but the cheese coupled with that fresh wheat bread would make a vegan reconsider their ways!
The views up here were fantastic I might add. I took some cool pictures of baby chickens that were smothered in this bright red sauce hanging from wires on street vendors carts. This is the point were vegans jump back on the bandwagon! I will post these pictures soon. It was pretty interesting. So after a few days in Kodaikanal I headed to Kollam for a “Backwater” tour or the southern part of Kerala.

I was afraid I was going to miss it b/c my train pulled in at 9:42am and they said you should get there at 10am to get on the boat. I was standing in the doorway of the train as it was pulling into the station and I saw the stairs go past me. I looked ahead and saw no other set of stairs. WHAT WAS HAPPENING! I WAS GETTING FURTHER AN FURTHER AWAY FROM MY EXIT! So like any intelligent young man with a 50 pound back pack on would do, I “stepped” off. Apparently that whole day’s lecture in high school science class about “things in motion staying in motion” didn’t really cross my mind b/c when I hit the pavement I fell on my side. By the way i was the greatest 8th grade science teacher ever! Just ask teh three honor boys i let run wild in our dilapitated science lab. (Needless to say the made gun powder and blew stuff up!) The backpack doubled as my cumbersome turtle shell and I wiggled around a bit until I was able to get up right. A few scratches, but I’m ok. I’m an idiot but ok! PS I did make the boat with plenty of time!

The boat trip was great! There are these large wooded contraptions that looks like birds feet all over the backwaters. They are Chinese fishing thingys. They basically get lowered down and pull up some fish a while later. They littered the landscape. There were also tons of eagles, and boys both young and old asking for :”pen, pen” as we floated by. A beautiful and relaxing trip.

After about 3 hours we made it to Amma’s Ashram. Her real name is Mata Artriyumanuouhjgkljrshgkjshkuhfgushioghfusgiofshfgsahfos but people call her Amma, which means “mother” They also call her the “Hugging Saint” b/c she hugs everyone she meets or who come to see her. She is truly an inspirational lady. She is a spiritual leader but preaches “love” and that “all things are God.” The Ashram is basically an Ashram, but gone Hollywood. I at first though I wouldn’t like it b/c it was too big, but I really have fallen in love with the place. To defend myself I did arrive on Sunday, one of the busiest days there are. On Monday things calmed down a bit and I decided to extend my stay.
Let me describe it a bit. There are 5 huge apartment complexes, the biggest being a 17 story building, with a 13th floor by the way, in the middle of about 1,000,000,000,000 palm trees! There is a huge temple, a large autitorium, a huge kitchen, a hospital, a printing press, a swimming pool, 4 different eating areas, and numerous shops and various other things. It is like a resort but for prayer! It is great. The whole place is run by volunteers and everyone there is asked to do a “Seva” each day. Seva is basically volunteer work or selfless work. I got assigned recycling! Hot darn! By the way when you recycle plastic bottles- TAKE THE TOPS OFF, POUR OUT THE WATER, AND WHILE YOUR AT IT PLEASE CRUSH THE CAN/OR BOTTLE! THANKS~

So Amma is one heck of a rock star. She donates millions of $ to causes all over the world. A Tsunami hit Kerala right by her Ashram and she personally paid for and built everyone who lost their home a new one. She gave free food, medical care and most importantly love to all of the victims. She has also helped to rebuild communities after earthquakes and Tsunamis have destroyed towns in Gujurent and in Tamil Nadu. She even gave money to Katrina relief and just helps everywhere. She has build huge apartment complexes in slums and donates food and medical care constantly. So how does she do all this. Like I said before EVERYONE IS A VOLUNTEER. NO ONE is paid! It is great. In a day and age where Non-profits and NGO’s can be iffy with money she is doing it right. She doesn’t have to pay workers so the majority of the money goes to the people in need. I would recommend donating to her cause if you want to donate some $ and know it is going to a good place.

So I have extended my stay here and am taking a 2 day medication course. It has been great so far! That is about it right now. Have a great day and much love~ we miss you guys~mark

here are some pictures:

like i promised the red baby chickens, the circus!, our minister friend brady who married us, some free range beef, and shot out to Delaware! Go Blue Rocks!

Fun in India!

2008-01-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

So India is pretty cool. First off when you go out to eat you can order specific
items or you can get the "meal/thali". I LOVE THE MEAL/THALI!!!!
it is basically all the starch (rice/chapati) and sauces/dahl you can eat with your fingers. The first time we found this out we were eating at this sweet little joint and the waiter kept coming up to me and smiling with this three columned bowl. He didn't speak english but would look at my empty sauce places on my banana leaf (yes you get to eat of banana leaves!!!!!!!!!) i would nod and ask for more and he would refill my sauce spaces. then he would wiggle his head side to side. i got the larges kick out of the side to side head nod! it was great b/c he had this little smirk on his face as well. i have come to realize that this head wiggle is for everything, "when pointing to the bathroom- head wiggle, when just looking around in stores- head wiggle, when getting kicked out of a Hindu only temple- you guessed it the head wiggle!~ i love it

another finer point of traveling in India is the rickshaw drivers get paid if they take you to a store. So when you get into the rickshaw and ask to go somewhere they take you to a store and play dumb or act like they didn't hear you correct. THEN THEY TAKE YOU TO ANOTHER STORE! How can they play this trick twice with the same excuse is what i'm thinking. But anyway on to the story. Diane and i were walking around Dehli and we wanted to go to the metro. a taxi driver pulled up and said 20 rupees to the metro and that was a good deal so we got in. then he went into the whole "behind the sense working of the taxi/store scam"
the driver gets 100 rupees from the store each time he takes a foreigner there. so he wanted us to get in on the deal. if we went to one store we didn't have to pay to go to the metro. if we went to 2 stores he would give us 100 rupees. I was kind of considering it, but di was feeling ill and she wasn't buying it so she said to just take us to the metro. about 2 minutes after we refused his scam he started asking if we showered that day. then he started telling us that we smell and we should go back to our country if we are going to smell up his taxi, and how we were poor and how we really smell. i tried to roll down the window but he just yelled at me. it was real funny!

more to come~

India Organizations Di and Mark are Volunteering with

2007-12-22T10:02:00.000-05:00

Diane will work with :

Sankalp - support service for drug addiction, tuberculosis and HIV

Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust

115 B Belle Vue,

Dr.Ambedkar Road,
Pali, Bandra, Mumbai 400050.
Tel: 2600 6182, 2490 1302.
Fax: C/o 2645 8870.

http://www.sankalp.org.in

Mark will work with :

Telephone: +91 (22) 2300 9117

Administrative Office: Saathi
Agripada Municipal School, 1st Floor
Opp. YMCA Swimming Pool
Agripada, Mumbai Central (E)
Mumbai 400 011
INDIA

Email: info@saathi.org

attached are some pictures from Ghana: dude carrying a lot of stuff on his head, some pictures from the Accra Brewery, and Mark feeding a monkey!

We Finally Made it to India!!!!!!!!

2007-12-21T08:41:00.000-05:00

So after being stuck in Ghana for 5 days and missing Ethiopia totally we made it to INDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will recap minus the mental breakdowns about our 5 bonus days in Ghana!
12/11- get to airport at 4pm wait till 6 to check in at 6:15 were told taht we were not on the list and to wait. waited till 7:40 for a 8:20pm flight and were told we were not on the flight. were told that we need $1400 cash right now to get on the plane. no ATM's no time, no ride for Mark and Diane
We collect ourselves. call our travel agent, e-mail folks and then finally leave the airport and head to a hotel. PS Ethiopian Airlines and The Ghana Airport are not familiar with the term, "Customer Service"
12/12- go back to the airport with hopes of leaving that day and hopes of a real ticket! Get to airport, try to check in and again no tickets!!!!!!!! Yeah Ethiopian airlines has done it again! We were told we would again have to buy a ticket in cash at 9pm at night. Well done~ back to hotel~ where by the way we got some money stolen from us! We really are enjoying Ghana right about now!
12/13 told we have a ticket and can get a day in Egypt instead of three days in Ethiopia, head back to airport - this time Nigerian Air and Ethiopian Air team up to not give us a ticket but again reassure us that if we hand over a boat load of cash we can get on! again no ATM's in sight that will dish out $1,400. Told by travel agent that there is a ticket on the 15th! What about Ethiopia! We missed it!
12/14 chill-
12/15- freak out b/c we don't have any info about our ticket out of Ghana! Finally get some info about our ticket. have to buy the ticket there and finally get to leave Ghana! Finally~ stop by Amsterdam airport on the way to India and finally land in Incredible !inda (This is an ad for India).

India pretty cool! the food is great!!!! we ave loved everything we have eaten! we are still trying to find some good snack foods, but every restaurant is fabulous!
We chilled in Dehli for a few days ands checked out the Craft museum. We saw some beautiful dance numbers from all over India! it was beautiful, colorful and amazing. Everyone danced shoeless and one of the dancers sliced her foot open and she continued to dance as she bled all over the floor! it was cool! WE recommend the metro to anyone who is traveling in Dehli. The rickshaws in Dehli are cool, but annoying. They have this deal where if they take folks to tourist spots they get a commission for each spot. We wanted to go to the Craft Museum and we stopped at two shops before di and i basically just left the rickshaw driver high and dry. He did come after us but Helly Belly, our new friend-who also runs tours, help to show the rickshaw driver the door! Darn Right! Anyway we would recommend going on one rickshaw drive- it is totally like a video game as you peer out out the front windshield!!!

We are in McLeod Ganj right now! This place is just like Asheville but is 5000 feet higher, they outlawed plastic bags, there is NO GOOD BEER, and there are monks everywhere. Mcleod Ganj is where the Dali Lama lives and it is breathtaking gorgeous! We have gone on hikes and runs the past two days and plan on staying here for about a week longer. The hikes are amazing and there are buddhist prayer flags all scattering the peeks of the mountains.

A little info about our work here:
I will be working at Saathi in Mumbai. I will tell you more about the organization later. I also forget which organization Di is working for. Saathi's web site is Saathi.org. you can see they are involved with the Mumbai marathon that i will be running hopefully on 1/20/08. I am working on getting a mailing address so folks can send us packages as well.

i hope all is well with you all and we are sending much love your way!

Goodbye Ghana snippets

2007-12-10T12:12:00.000-05:00

Sitting on a bus with a dead grasscutter on the lap of the passenger next to me*seeing someone carry a poached 4 ft python-headless!*african women carry small babies on their backs with just a piece of cloth*mismatched outfits of tiger stripes and paisleys*women carrying boxes of tomatoes on their heads that i can't even pick up with all my might*touring the accra brewery*getting into a fight with a taxi driver*having samuel bring us food butt naked with a sugar cane balanced on his head*jumping through windows instead of using doors*eating cat, grasscutter, fanice, contumbre, pineapple, the best peanut brittle ever made, chocholate spread* getting stung by termites*tying the tarp to a huge cross on top of a mountain*feeding monkeys*feeling monetarily used and abused over and over and over*beer with no alchol (malta)*watching palm wine being made (drinking palm wine!)*being told that we were god becuase we are white*being offered palm wine for a long backpacketed hike*feeding monkies* having children not know how to read or write their names*cheeks!*baby goats*batik class with emilia* the bamboo forest and my sanity and peace*trotro rides and fearing for mylife while trying to breath in calmness and safety to the driver*the slave castle*laying on a bed with a fan over me....heaven*sneaking into a fancy hotel pool*being covered in children*the amount of dirt that comes out of my shirt from one days wear*hearing william say, "Mark will fly me up to heaven with his hairy angel wings"*trading skin cream for a pineapple*going to the farm*gathering fruits and veggies*watching the locals dance*heading off to a football match*getting my finger stuck in a celing fan*giardia*green turtle resort paradise*kings in the corner, fan tan, rummy 500*far from the maddening crowd, prodigal summer, eat pray love, kite runner, goat, intuition, oliver twist, hidden treasures, the jungle...*

Thank you so much to michelle and kristen for putting up safari pictures. here are the new links. This was done all the way in Indiana for your viewing pleasure.

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=588101197286396884/l=335658189/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=476101197286366797/l=335658188/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=280101197286326470/l=335658187/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Actmbli5ZuWLi4

Info for volunteers at Sankofa Mbofra Fie/ Yaya and at third world countries in general

2007-12-10T05:02:00.000-05:00

If you choose to volunteer at Sankofa there are some things that you should know. We would advise not to give money. The program depends completely on foreign aid donations mostly which come through volunteers and they will not survive if they do not find away to generate their own revenue. If you do choose to give money then NEVER give direct money. Always pay for services (such as we paid part of the cost to register an NGO to the agent-not the program) or buy goods that you deem appropriate, ex. a large cookpot so cooking can go faster. It would be better to educate that your volunteer work and your presence is worth something and you are not just the dollar amount you bring. Keep persistence in advocating for self sustainability. We gave ideas and suggestions on self sustainability until we were blue, but they often feel on deaf ears. Know that this lesson will be learned sooner or later. Please know that all of your actions will impact all of the volunteers who come after you. Apparently before we came, on the last day of some volunteer's stay at Sankofa, large amounts of alcohol were purchased for the employees of the program, since we were not of the means to do this, it was a problem. I am grateful for the children and the experience of living in a rural village in West Africa, I have seen and done things I would never have the option to do in my life otherwise-though this comes with considerable frustrations. Feel free to email us with questions if you have them kumuono12@hotmial.com

Thank You Sankofa Mbofra Fie Sponsors

2007-12-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

Diane and I have finished our time at Sankofa and we wanted to thank the people who sponsored the school and orphanage. Your generosity made it possible for us to start many projects and do a lot of good at Sankofa.

We would like to thank the 5th grade of Carolina Day School, P. Daniels, S. Pyeat, and my mom's church group!!!! Also we want to give a shot out to all those wedding gifts that helped us get over here and to everyone who has ever supported us and loved us! Thanks, your love and kindness has been passed on to many small children in Eguafo, Ghana!

Here are a list of the projects, tasks, events we have used your donations on.

We have mosquito proofed the orphanage
We have purchased pens and purple pencils for ever child at the school (it was surpizingly to find 200 purple pencils)
We have financially prepared the school/orphanage for it's NGO
We have helped pay for the NGO
We have created a web site and hopefully it will be posted soon! www.sankofambofrafie.org
We have made 3 road signs and a welcome sign for the school and orphanage
We have brought the wonderful game of tether ball to Eguafo
We have purchased a clock so the students can get to school on time
We have cooked and purchased food for the children
We have purchased movies for weekend movie nights!
We purchased the biggest pot i have ever seen in my life to cook food for the children!
We have purchased materials for school uniforms
We have set up a batik/tie dye workshop with a local woman, Ms. Emilia. Ms. Emilia will teach batik to 3-4 children 3 times a week after school for 3 months. The students will learn the trade and help make school uniforms for the children.
We have purchased bedding for some of the beds
We made gift baskets for the teachers at Sankofa
We have made shelves for the kitchen
We have donated some books and art supplied

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the help!!!! We could not have accomplished as much as we did with out your support and generosity. There is still a lot of need there! Please if you would still like to support we highly recommend donations of gifts as opposed to money. They still desperately need black and blue pens, pencils, chalk, erasers, notebooks, pre-k-5th grade text books, bedding, food. (toys and soccer jerseys if anyone is inclined would rock as well!)

Thanks again!!!

2007-11-16T05:07:00.000-05:00

Some more photos for you. sorry about the dups.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNmbRm3bs2Lsg

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNmbRm3bs2Lq4

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=699161195206531185/l=325300346/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=699161195206531185/l=325300346/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
so here it comes the rating list for Ghana: are you READY

my favorite animal moment: a baby sheep with full sized legs trying to run away. It hops and skips and is quite hilarious.
typical african woman dress:wear it all together. lepord print shirt, plaid wrap skirt, pokadot head wrap. we are not afraid of color here folks. stay tuned to see diane dressed as one.
most impressive carrying on head:a crate 5 ft by 5 feet filled with tomatos
cutest baby:goats have us beat people!
best food in ghana: pineapples, tomatoes, the dark pink papaya, we also eat a lot of nutella spread made in ghana, digestives, and laughing cow cheesse, boiled cassava and contumbre yum.
best way to get around-tro tro by far-looks like a vw log stuffed with people. they never try to cheat you on price and they are so affordable.
irony:yea, the food is all free range and organic here, but we have a picture of goats/chickens/sheep eating out of a dumpster
most frustrating:that 9 out of 10 people ask you directly or not for money

Mail anyone?

2007-11-16T04:49:00.000-05:00

We have sent out a bunch of post cards and want to know if they are getting to the states or are we just supporting the local Ghanaian post office. If you were born between when we Sept-Nov. a post card should be on it's way! Please let us know if you have gotten one! thanks~ Here is a picture from Halloween!

check out some photos at these links

2007-11-14T12:31:00.000-05:00

here are three links so far!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNmbRm3bs2Lsg
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNmbRm3bs2Lq4
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNmbRm3bs2Luo

A Day in the Life!!!!!!

2007-11-14T11:37:00.000-05:00

So, you might be sitting there and thinking to yourself, what is life like in Eguafo, Ghana? Well lucky you! you have stumbled upon a few folks who currently live there and we are about to tell you about the daily life of Eguafo Broni's (Bromi is the term for "White Man or White Woman")

4:30 am: Wake up time is roughly around this time where we can here the kids starting to clean their rooms and the local church behind us chanting and singing the same song at the same time everyday. Of course we have the pleasure of our backdoor neighbor yelling and making sure her side of the story is being heard by everyone who will listen
4:30-5:15am: diane and i refuse to believe that people are actually up right now and arguing! We try to stay asleep but are definitely awake.
5:30-6:00 am: we actually get up and put on our running stuff and go for a run.
6:00-6:45-7:00am: we run on a trail that weaves it's way through a beautiful farm. We see the sun rising, plantain trees, corn growing, cocoa trees, orange trees, cassava plants, charcoal being made, and a beautiful soccer field. it is breathtaking! The kids used to run with us in the beginning but they have stopped. they do enjoy doing stretches, push-ups and sit-ups with us after we return from our run.
7:00-7:45am: we get our bucket of water and wash our bodies and our clothes with that bucket of water in an outdoor showering area. the blocks are about 5 feet tall so i can see out of them b/c there is no roof. There are 5 "showering" rooms there.
7:45 am we eat our breakfast of cocoa (read: corn breakfast mush, DEFINITELY NOT AS COOL AS A BOWL OF COCOA WOULD BE!) We also eat rice soup and various fruits.
7:55am: attempt to push the kids out the door to get to school and head off to school ourselves.
8:00am:-2:00pm: this is the school day: we have focused on teaching the students how to read. but we also have worked on art, PE, colors, songs, and other fun things like math! But again our main focus is reading and teaching English.
2-5:30pm: After school there are many different activities that we do: Project we have worked on include: creating the Sankofa Mbofra Fie web site! Look for it soon on the famous World Wide Web! We have painted three signs for the school and orphanage as well as a large one on the building. We
have brought that wonderful game of tether ball to Sankofa! We have helped build a duck house! We have built shelving. We have cooked delicious meals for the children and staff. We have meet with the Board of Directors of Sankofa and discussed their future. We have prepared Sankofa to become and NGO. We have put up mosquito nets on all the windows. We have created a monthly budget for Sankofa.
It is not all work and no play for the two travelers! Fun stuff we have done: We have each watched a Ghanaian film. (Not recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!-Mark actually watched a Nigerian film)
We have picked oranges, coconuts, papayas, dug up cassava, made fufu (fact: 75% of Ghanaians eat FuFU for dinner)-what is FuFu- you boil cassava--editors note: cassava tastes darn good just boiled-- but then to make fufu you go through an hour long process of pounding it into more or less mashed potatoes. One person has a large pestle and the other person is placing the cassava under it in hopes of you not crushing their fingers. We have played soccer, ultimate, done gymnastics, and have worked on stupid human tricks with most of the children. Diane has worked on batik and tie dye while there. (They call is tie and dye- Mark really likes that name!)
That is all i can think of right now!
5:30-6:00pm: we eat dinner around here or a bit later. Our favorite foods are Groundnut(peanutbutter) soup, contumbra (green leafy god stuff) soup, rice, boiled cassava.
6:00pm-the sun usually sets around now. we hang out a bit more with the kids, staff, and ourselves.
6:35pm there is a brown out
6:45pm the power goes back on
6:45-7:45ishpm: reading and playing games
8:00pm: diane reads stories to the kids
8:30pm: we read in our room and go to sleep sometimes soon after.
so that is our amazing day! look for some of our favorite things in ghana soon!
thanks~

mark made out with a NUN and other crazy antics

2007-11-14T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hello there freinds,
so yes it is true mark indirectly made out with a nun. We have left the orphanage to see Ghana and take a break. We first travelled to Kumasi-a big city but I loved it. We found this amazing place to stay, far away from the hustle and they let us camp. It was very close to a resturant with AMAZING indian food. and here we sat when it happened...we were on our second box of wine, don garcia i do believe and we noticed that to our right were two nuns sitting drinking guiness-funny to me. so mark went over and poured them wine and made them drink it. When they left there was still a little guiness in one of the bottle and yes-my classy husband drank it, thus making out with a nun! The next day we travelled to lake bosomwe. We camped by the lake at this rastamans place. somehow there was a german there who wanted mark to help film a movie with him,I was cast as an extra. yes, it is a g rated movie people! You may have noticed that mark likes to wear purple plastic mardi-gras like beads around his neck. People in Ghana often think these to be rosary beads and that mark is a devout religious man. (little do they know) an old lady asked for a prayer from mark and he clapsed his hands together and mumbled some gibberish, when done she thanked him. we took a mountain bike ride on the rough roads around the lake. on some garbage quality rented bikes. at least the brakes worked. it was fun though. we love to eat fresh cocoa. it is a squash like plant. when you crack it open there are these seeds coated in sweet goop, that is good to suck off. these seeds are dried, fermented, mashed, sweetened and more proccesed to turn them into chocolate. We have also discovered fire roasted plaintains. holey moley good. i know a few people who have gained 20 lbs on these. oh and mark got cut-off at the buffett lunch today. hee hee. i am working on uploading photos to various sites right now. so check em soon.
love
di

Halloween at Sankofa!!

2007-11-01T08:08:00.000-04:00

So as some of you know, Halloween is my favorite holiday!!!!!!! Diane and i decided that we should teach the children the wonderful holiday of Halloween to our young friends in Ghana. Surprisingly many of them have not heard about this amazing holiday that sweeps the US every October 31st! So how do you teach a children in Ghana about Halloween? With a long educational unit on the glories of costumes, make-up, and acting silly! We constantly reminded the children that October 31st was Halloween. We role played what to do and what to say on that magical evening.
It was intense but we were up to the challenge. Diane made a sweet dress out of banana leaves and i used corn husks and banana leaves to dress up.

The kids did not disappoint. We got some creative costumes and what is Halloween without a young teenage boy dressing up like a female with lip stick, boobs, and all!!! See, it's even funny in Ghana! Our oldest trick or treater was a 40 year old lady who wanted in on some of the fun! (of course we made her say the magic words of "trick or treat" before were rewarded her with candy!)

Here is a link to some pictures of the costumes! enjoy~

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=177382891/a=104446816_104446816/t_=104446816

Cape Coast 10.28

2007-10-28T13:23:00.000-04:00

Hello from cape Coast! A weekend away from the orphanage again. I have never loved the beach more. The children call broni (white woman!) i want to swim with you, i want to be your friend as you walk down the beach. the waves are big enough to surf on and the water is warm but still refreshing. I saw three grown men taking craps on the beach yet I am still able to say ah...what beauty. I think Africa has broken me in people. Yesterday we went to Kakum National Rainforest and for five bucks got to walk suspended in the canopy. It would not pass US high ropes course standards; we were on it in a thunderstorm downpour, but it was mighty cool. We slept in the forest on a platform with a tin roof, our most expensive stay anywhere yet, and listened to the noises of the jungles as we slept. I got to do yoga watching the rain fall around me and we drank our favorite Ghana beer, Castle Milk Stout. We checked out the slave castle museum, where almost all slaves passed through before leaving their continent. We walked in the dungeons where thousands were packed, and thousands died. It was a crazy, crazy thing, something I never thought I would see. The Internet cafe we like is run by Israeli blacks who claim to be the original Jews. I walked out of a class I was teaching when the local teacher canned all of the children...to hard in my opinion. A different way of life here, it makes them behave for sure. Mark and I really want to focus on getting two classes of children from the fundamental stages of reading, to actually read. I am also sign painting, and made a teatherball course, and did a website. miss you all!
love
di

Sankofa Mbrofra Fie

2007-10-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

di and i have spent about 10 days at Sankofa Mbofra Fie the orphanage/school that we are
volunteering at for the next 8 weeks. it is real fun. the kids are welcoming, cool and friendly.
they are of course crazy but then again most kids are pretty off the wall. it has been fun. we have observed and
even taught a few classes.

The students are of all different ability level. the school is free to the students of the small
farming village because many of them could not afford the cost to go to the government school.
They would have to buy a school uniform (about $5 and they would have to buy their own pens and
notebooks) So this is a rather poor village. I guess poor in our standards. they are a very happy
group of farmers and people.

We are having a great time with the kids and are undertaking the following projects: Building a
web site, registering the Orphanage as an NGO: Non-Government Organization- basically
registering the orphanage and school as a non profit. we are going to make signs for the school/orphanage,
make a farm for animals and fruit trees so that Sankofa can feed itself! it is going well. we will post more soon!~
mark and diane~ keep the comments coming!

Don't feed the children!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-20T13:16:00.001-04:00

So Moshi Tanzania is a pretty touristy place b/c of Mount Kili. there are many street vendors working their magic in hopes of some tourist money. When you read travel books they tend to say things like, " bring chocolate and pens to give to local children." FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS BY ANY MEANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The local children need to get an education to better themselves but because of tourist who hand out candy and pens there mastery of the English language consists of one English sentence with 2 alternate endings as well as the great English work "Yes!" The magical sentence that young children will bring them out of poverty is...
"Give me chocolate", or " Give me pen." Some students did not bother to learn this phrase and just posses and understanding of one three English words and they are of course, "chocolate, pen, yes."

It has gotten so bad that there are signs now in many hostels/hotels that plead with tourist NOT to give out chocolate/pens/anything. They want tourist to instill in the children that they need to go to school to get an education and not to be street kids whom depend on tourist for their survival.

On a side note the safari was kickin'! and yes we did not feed the animals either on safari!
We saw it all, hippo's, lions, cheetahs, twig's (the swahili word for giraffe's), dic-dic (which are mini deers that have a family ceremony where they all poop in the same area to mark their land! how sweet is that!, wilderbeast, elephants. The safari was great. there will be pictures to come via our good friend Michelle who was kind enough to spend part of her trip with us. Ron was with us well and we hope he can post some pictures as well if he can get to this blog!

Holy Shit Massai village. 10.6

2007-10-11T12:57:00.000-04:00

Such a crazy experience. I feel so blessed that we got to go through it. It felt like a week and yet it was only 24 hours. We came to this beautiful campground where we met a man dressed in street clothes who was a Massai. He had traditionally stretched earlobes, one had ripped long ago and was dangling. He also had two scars on his cheeks below his eyes, that were from from a iron rob placed in the fire and then on his skin to prevent eye disease. His name was Issac, we walked with Issac through the dusty town to a boma (village) it was located about 3 mi away. There were \huts made of sticks, cow dung, and grass roofs concentrated in the area. The village around 10 huts but there were many more scattered around the valley. Our bags were brought into the hut and we ducked through the tiny opening inside. It was a stark contrast between the hot african sun and it took awhile to adjust our eyes. There were two holes to the outside about three fingers wide, to provide ventilation. Mark, michelle, ron, and i sat on the beds/pallets that were raised platforms with twigs covered in animal skins. I sat on a carved stool. Here Issac told us a little bit about Massai culture. The houses were build by women. In fact, women did almost all of the work in the boma. The men herded cattle, went to market, and drank. Each hut was for a wife and her children. Men had around five wives. He spent on week with each. The children sleep in one room and the mom and dad in the other. To our amazement later that day...so do five or six cow and 12 chickens. A big highlight was watching the young recently circumcised males march our cows into the hut. When we pointed this out to michelle she was drop jawed that our night was to be spent with cows! it was hilarious. The bomas are in the dust of the desert, so the women have to go nearer to the mountainous crater walls to gather wood to build their homes. They then collect cow dung in pots (looks like the same ones they cook with) and mix with water much like cobb. The men are circumcised between the age of 8 and 20. They then begin to take the cows to water and to graze. The men wear mostly red thin wool capes. The women wear blue. The women in the village had much more tattered clothes than the men. In the ear are white beaded earrings, sometimes very long. They wear white anklets and necklaces. there is a pen in the middle where some of the animals are kept at night. No need for barbed wire there are trees in this place that would keep a tank ou8t. They have white spikes out of them. As Ron said "there are many angry trees in Africa." Issac to us to market a few miles away and answered our many questions. There is a masai school. Most of the medical care is done in the village with tree bark. We got to the market and it was a sea of clor, red everywhere. we knew we were in for a color shock treat. no whites anywhere. Issac took us first to the barbecue pits. The market was under huge candelabra cactus trees. The meat was goat. Issac wanted to buy some barbeque they had cut and cleaned that day, but staring at the goats severed head, we were all a little hesitant. Then we were brought to a tarp where people were sitting around a bucket on benches. In the bucket contained a frothy white liquid that was banana beer. Oh, how i wanted to try some. but it is not peeled or cooked...we then went to the market and mark bought shoes made out of tires. we ate our lunch in a little hut where warm sodas were sold. Issac got barbeque and chili. the barbeque was beef and he insisted we try some. As we ate a man was hacking into a goat head by a fire and working hard at it too. it was a little hard to eat. It feels bad to eat when there are hungry people around. Issac's chili had two plantains in it and some red sauce. He left us for two hours as he drank banana beer with his father!!! We strolled around the market but quickly retreated to the edges as we were aggressively recruited rich white people. Some of the Masais wear suits, talk on cell phones, and ride motorcycles. It is a huge contrast. When we found issac again we headed back to the village. The huts were more civilized near to town and less as you moved further away. The children swarmed around us, not asking to be held but clinging, investigating, laughing. They were dressed in Western clothes and not massai. We played Frisbee with them. They were over joyed and hilarious. One boy was instantly amazing. Most of them began by throwing the disc upside down. A large bowl of porridge was broght out and the women and children sat around eating it. No one making sure they had enough, but then again there were children there with no pants on. Mark went to bed but michlele and i sat down on goat shit and cow shit star gazing. The stars were of the best I have seen. The masai village was seeped with as many dis guts as it was gems. The moment that summed it up best was when i put my hand down to sit and it landed in some fairly fresh wet cow shit. I could not see due to the dark. YUCK GROSS yelled I as I frantically scraped my hand on the bottom of my shoe. The little girl with the sparkly yees laughed and took my hand in hers wiping it until it was clean. So much more happened, but if you have read this far your patience is amazing and mine is wavering. Michelle will post the picutres when she gets home in about a week. they are awesome make sure to check them out. i miss you all.

We are in Tanzania!

2007-09-28T03:38:00.000-04:00

So what a trip so far!!! Lots of fun and "Learning Experinces" We are safe, happy and healthy so no need to worry anybody! Jet Lag to the extreme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A fun story...

In the airport in Frankfort were playing with the haky sack and 3 young guys ask if they can hack with us. We find out that they were teenagers from Russia who went to Maryland to work at WaWa for the summer! How cool is that. Diane told them that she enjoyed their sandwiches and they laughed because that is what they did all summer!
SO we were hacking and i kick the hackysack threw a hole in rafters (smooth move). The three teens and i look longingly up into the air sad that the airpoprt gods had taken our toy. The young Russian teens decide to stand on each others shoulders to see into the rafters to see if they can get it back. We help balance one up on the others shoulders and they cannot find it. The tallest of the three teens suggested i stand on his shoulder because we would be the tallest combination of strapping young lads! So i get up on his shoulders and got our toy back!!!! Yeah team work!

Tanzania and Ghana Location: Sankofa Mbofra Fie

2007-09-19T09:51:00.000-04:00

Hello all,

our first leg of the trip will take us to Moshi Tanzania! Very exciting. It is on the outskirts of Mount Kilimanjara. Many people use this town to start their to the summit of Mount Kilimanjara. We will be waiting there until our friends meet us and we will then start our 5 day safari with Adventures Within Reach :https://www.adventureswithinreach.com/tz/safari/ .
Here is our schedule

SEP 30-OCT 4: 5 Day Safari (4nt Zara Prop) -- 4 people
  SEP 30: Drive to Lake Manyara, afternoon game drive, overnight at
Highview Hotel (BLD)
  OCT 1: Drive to Serengeti, afternoon game drive, overnight at
Serengeti Wild Camp (BLD)
  OCT 2: Serengeti, full day game drive, overnight at Serengeti Wild
Camp (BLD)
  OCT 3: Drive Serengeti to Ngorongoro via Olduvai Gorge, overnight at
Highview Hotel (BLD)
  OCT 4: Ngorongoro Crater, morning game drive, afternoon return to
Moshi, overnight Springlands Hotel or similar (BL)

That is our safari and then we will travel to Ghana to volunteer at the orphanage of Sankofa Mbofra Fie
It is an orphanage of about 200 children in Cape Coast Ghana. Here is the address if you would like to mail us anything.
There is a pretty good chance that if you mail a package that it will not make it to us because of iffy postal service, but letters should be fine. And please feel free to e-mail or post on our blog!
So here is the address. 
Sankofa Mbofra Fie
Attention: Mark and Diane Strazzer

PO Box AD540

Cape Coast

Ghana , West Africa

there number is +233243179681

and web site is : www.fanfakids.be

once you are at the web site scroll down to the bottom and the link to Sankofa Mbofra Fie is on the bottom left.

2007-09-17T18:56:00.002-04:00

The Wedding!

2007-09-17T18:56:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

We want to thank everyone who was able to come down to Black Mountain and attend our wedding weekend! It was everything that we dreamed about. Lots of fun, family, friends, and purple!!!! You guys truly did do a stupendous job wearing the color of royalty! Below are a few sets of pictures from the wedding. We will have more on here soon!

Pictures from Friday:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=170699230/a=104446816_104446816/t_=104446816

Pictures from Saturday:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=170700457/a=104446816_104446816/t_=104446816

Pictures from the whole weekend courteous of our rock star friend Dana Villalas who is one heck of a photographer!!!! Thanks Dana!
http://danavillalas.shutterfly.com/action/

We are currently in DC at Di's mom's house and will be here for a few days before we head up to NJ to hang out with my family before we leave on Monday night 9/24/07 out of New York! (Note: Mark will not be able to spend much time in Delaware before he leaves but will observe a moment of silence, maybe the whole 5 minutes in fact it takes to drive through Delaware, to honor the First State!)

Have Fun For Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

First Post

2007-08-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody,

This is going to be Diane and I's bog as we travel the world doing service work and rocking out!!!! It is going to be a blast. We are getting married on 9/2/07 and then we are going to pack up our stuff, head up to delaware to get our fix and then leave around mid September!

Please check the blog and post on it if you wish. We will try to keep everyone updated on our travel and service work as we go. Have a great day~