Time going. Fast.

I´ve just completed 30 of the most intense, spiritually fulfilling days of my life. When was the last time you had a whole month to focus on yourself, learning, meditation, yoga and personal growth? The Moon Course at Las Piramides offered just that for me. And, for me it was the perfect way to close out my ten-month adventure.

I spent a week studying medicinal plants and learning how to make tinctures and teas, got my Reiki I attunement, had my chakras aligned and balanced, was ¨reconnected¨ to the universal energy, had a crystal healing (very cool!), got a few acupuncture treatments, read at least 6 books, learned about astrology, numerology, alchemy and Atlantis, did yoga every single day, swam at least a dozen times in the sacred Lake Atitlan, and settled into a rewarding meditation routine! It know that it sounds a bit fluffy, but it was delightful to be able to spend so much time just LEARNING and BEING and LISTENING. Total bliss...

We spent the last five days of the course in silence. I withheld solid food for 9 days and completely fasted for 5 of those. In that time, we had a project to do that involved about 20 pages of my journal. The course ended with a very special, positively magical Full Moon Ceremony that I will never forget.


In my class, there was a really fantastic group of people from all over the world. There was Gil from Israel, who is working on an ambitious world peace project; Mat, the adorable musician from LA who travels with his guitar; Mo, the retired nurse now living in Nicaragua; Andrea, the awesome free spirit from Argentina; Ifat, the former accountant creating a new life for herself; and many others. When you have so much time, and share such intense experiences, you tend to grow rather attached to one another! I know I have made many lifetime friends here.

I had been feeling a bit apprehensive about coming home. Not dreading it, but just not really feeling ready. I realized in the last month it was largely because I have had so many experiences during the past year, and had not taken the time to process everything that I have learned. But in my journal, my head, my heart, and with time...everything has become clear and easy. My apprehension is gone, and I´m finally really looking forward to my return to Seattle next week, and I hope to see many of you this summer!

With love and gratitude,
Pam

The Sun, the Moon and the Rain

San Marcos, Guatemala could very well be the one place that I have traveled to this year that I feel like I could live indefinitely. It is a peaceful place, with a very magical energy about it. It attracts travelers, but not so many tourists. Mostly people who are moving at a very relaxed pace and they tend to stay for 2-4 or even 50 weeks!




I´m stationed here for my final weeks of my journey. Every day in the Moon Course, I spend about two hours each in meditation, yoga, and equally about that much in class, learning about things like the tarot, numerology, reiki and medicinal plants. It´s about as healthy as healthy living comes here. I´m eating a totally vegetarian diet (nearly vegan), learning a ton, sleeping about 9 hours a night, and surrounded by amazing people. You see how people get stuck here? Oh, and this is my own private pyramid that I call home!


I didn´t realize when I sent all of my warm weather clothes home that I would be living here in the middle of the very rainy season at around 5,000 feet! Needless to say, it´s been a bit damp and dreary for the last few weeks, which actually has been good for my studies and personal time. I am nearly constantly chilled and spending a lot of time in the sauna, preparing for a balmy Seattle summer to warm me up!

That said, I did have a mystical experience the other day. The weather, being quite moody, brings with it a lot of thunder and lightning storms. This one was special... there was not a cloud in the night sky, the air was warm, the stars were shining, and lightning was flashing. A magical silence hung.

Before I came to San Marcos, I took a tour of a fantastic organization in Guatemala City called Safe Pasages. A couple of my friends here were volunteering there for an extended period of time, and I wanted to see what it was all about. WOW. It was started by an American woman around 12 years ago because she (then 25 years old!) was visiting Guatemala and wanted to see the ¨real¨ Guatemala. She went to the local garbage dump and watched in amazement as thousands of very poor Guatemalans work there, salvaging through the rubbish to find anything of value. An average salary for them in this filthy life is around $2-3 US per day. So she started Safe Passage in order to support the children of these families so that they would have a safe place to go during the day. It started with 40 kids, and now has over 800. It is a professionally-run, wonderful organization and I would love to come back some day and volunteer myself! Next trip...

I can honestly say that before I came to Guatemala I was wondering why I had chosen this place, so far from everywhere else that I would be traveling, to close my trip. I was questioning my ïnstincts¨ that had led me here in the first place. Now that I am here, I know without a doubt that this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now! Guatemala´s magical pull that got me back here (I first visited for 3 weeks in 1993) was just the magic I needed.

With love,
Pam

Roosters, Turtles & Other Blessings

At 1:00 in the morning the roosters had started crowing already. Don´t they know what time it is or do time zones affect these things? I lie awake, and somehow find happiness listening to the song of the day yet to come.

I´m living in San Antonio Aguas Calientes about 15 minutes outside of Antigua, Guatemala with a wonderful woman and her extended family in their guest house. (Above is the view of my deck, with the volcanoes hiding behind the clouds.) As I´ve discovered and experienced, in most of the world families support each other, live together, work together, cook together, eat together, and often sleep in the same room as each other. This family, though poor by American standards, has one of the richest collective lives that I´ve ever witnessed. Four generations of the family live in one house, with four bedrooms. They care for each other in a way that I envy, with genuine love and concern for each others well being. Great grandma is cooing and cuddling her 9 month old grandson while the in-between generations prepare the meal, feed the animals, do the morning´s dishes, sweep the floors and wash the laundry. I´ve been invited to stay with this family indefinitely, though my schedule will only permit one week at this time, unfortunately.

It´s such a striking contrast to life in the States. Which way would I prefer? What is better? It´s just too difficult, and frankly impossible, to compare cultures in that way, but it does make me think that they have figured out a way of living that the Western world needs to embrace

Yesterday I spent the day participating in the family life, and then receiving a tour through the lovely old town by my family´s two nieces, Eugenia and Mariela. We had a lovely afternoon enjoying ice cream, and teaching each other our native languages. In the evening I helped prepare a delicious dinner of fish, beans, tortillas, rice and salad. We all ate together at one table, as we do for each meal. The conversation is lively (all in Spanish) and the laughter is hearty. Above is Lidia, my Guatemalan mama, and below are my tour guides.

I spent a week in Costa Rica, with Joanie and a few other friends from the states. We had a great time, and it was so good to catch up with mi mejor amiga! Of all the fun things, we did the best will be no surprise to anyne who knows me...we got to go on a Leatherback turtle patrol at Estacion Las Tortugas (the project that Parsons PR has been involved with for more than 6 years) and help to midwife the births of more than 200 baby turtle eggs. We were also lucky enough to be there to see the hatchlings (tortuguitas) before they began their courageous journey to the sea. Our timing was perfect! The weather held out, and the turtles came out to play...magical!

We also had a few other pretty fantastic wildlife sightings including a mamma sloth with her baby eating about 20 feet or less directly above our heads, and a wild boar (think of Pumba!) with a slight disability who was disowned from his clan and had taken up friendship with tourists. Oh, and I got to hold a toucan and the largest (thankfully dead) beetle known to mankind. Eeeewwwww..........

This is my Spanish teacher Aura, who's been teaching me the beautiful language for four weeks in a row now, eight hours per day. Me gusta mucho este idioma!

Every single day, as I have been doing for several years, when I crawl into bed at night I allow my final thoughts before passing into sleep to count the day´s blessings in addition to those of my life. I am grateful that my life is so rich, and that this nightly tradition seems to take me longer each day. Life in Guatemala is keeping me up for more than one reason!

With love,

Pam

Rediscovering the Joy of Reading

A short diversion from the life of a Spanish student in Guatemala...

While I've been away, one of the hidden pleasures has been the opportunity to read books. That's not to say that I don't read at home, I just don't really give myself the opportunity to read very much or very quickly. That's because my books all sit in wait (usually 8 at a time) on my bedside table. The only time I would usually get around to reading was after I'd crawled into bed for the night. Not a very good plan, if you want to read, or remember, or enjoy.

So, I have learned to love to read again. To pick up a book when it doesn't

involve 10:30 pm and a cozy bed. To read in the middle of the day, because I have the time and gobs of books yet to disover. To devour books. Fiction. Non-fiction. Poetry. Biographies. Read them. Devour them! Dream about them. Go to bed late and then wake up early in the throes of someone's life or imagination.

Here are a few of my favorites from this journey...

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman

This is one of my favorite books I've ever picked up, and hardly was able to set it down before it was complete. It's a poignant tale of cultural misunderstanding, all revolving around a sick, young Hmong girl living in California. I can not recommend this one highly enough. Should be required reading for all medical professionals everywhere, and for those traveling to non-Western countries.

May You be the Mother of a Hundred Sons, by Elizabeth Bumiller

The author is a former New York Times columnist who moved to India with her husband, and ended up becoming entranced by the lives of women in India. Bumiller is an amazing storyteller, and her portrayal of Indian women is spot-on, and gripping.

Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder
Am I the last person in the world to read this book? It's the history of philosophy as told to a 14-year-old Norwegian girl. Her "teacher" starts by teasing her with questions about who she is and what is the meaning of life. Then he begins with the Sophists and moves through the history of philosophy to modern times with ease and clarity. Reading this felt like I had taken a 10-week Philosophy 101 course as given to a high-school student. I was exhausted, enlightened and delighted that someone had put all this wonderful information in such an easy to swallow package!

The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy

A tale of childhood lost by one of India's most popular authors, this story took a while to reel me in, but once it did I was lost in her imagination and story. Though it is a bit dark and depressing, it's certainly compelling nonetheless. (It is, afterall, still making my

favorites list!)

Daughter of the Killing Fields, by Theary Seng
This is the first hand account of a Cambodian woman who had lost both of her parents to the Khmer Rouge by the time she was seven years old. She survives, but not without a novel to write about the atrocities of the Pol Pot era. A really truly inspiring tale about survival, and a good dose of recent Cambodian history to boot.

The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
What was the last non-fiction book you read that gripped you like a Dan Brown novel? The Glass Castle was it for me. It's the story of a slightly dysfuctional, poor, nomadic family as told by one of the children. It's the story of a girl who wants to believe that her alcoholic father can perform miracles, and that her mother can do no wrong. She dumpster dives, flees from angry landlords and ultimately winds up living on Park Avenue in NYC. It would even be a great novel, but indeed it's a true story.

Annapurna Circuit, by Andrew Stephenson
This one scores brownie points for me, since I read it during my own personal trek through the same paths and through the same small villages that he recounts here. Stephenson has the luxury of taking his time doing the trek, and meandering into some life-changing situations. If you have ever dreamed of trekking in Nepal, this book will inspire you to make it happen!

Currently on my nightstand is A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris, alongside my Second Year Spanish Study Guide and 600 flash cards. Whee! I'm going back to read some more now....

Loving Life

Welcome to Guatemala! I just need to start by saying how happy I am to be in a country where I speak the language! I didn´t realize until now how liberating it is to be able to communicate with local people in their native tongue. I´ve been studying Spanish for about 40 hours per week for the past two weeks (4 hours in class, 4 hours studying) and I´m starting to get the hang of it. All that college knowledge is apparently stored somewhere in my cob-webby brain. I still have a long way to go, but two more months of practice should help!






Since I finally have access to my photos (thank you CD burner man!) I wanted to share images of the last month of my life... Above, those are Lidia´s hands. Lidia is an amazing Mayan woman that I met in the local market here. I visited her house, met her family, and have spent many hours sitting in the market just talking to her. When I´m done officially studying Spanish I will live with her for a week or so and she´s promised to teach me vegetarian Mayan cooking and weaving, like she´s demonstrating for me there. She is amazing, and I´m looking forward to the experience very much!

This is San Jose El Viejo, my Spanish school. You can´t see my classroom, but it´s a sweet little two-person open air room with a table, two chairs and a white board. Oh, and a big, adorable golden lab named Tonka. My teacher is fantastic, and her name is Aura but you say it something like oudda.

These are the adorable faces of enthuastic Guatemala kids. They live in the hills above Antigua, and I have a dozen other equally cute photos like this of them smiling, laughing and clamoring towards my camera. I fell in love a thousand times that day...

This was my house for four days while I stayed at Earth Lodge. It was SO fantastic to sleep in a tent overlooking THAT. I mean, check that out. Oh, and it didn´t hurt that they put a futon matress inside and about 6 nice warm blankets. And when I woke up one of the volcanoes was spewing ash into the air. It was delightful and I´m sure I will go back to stay in ¨my room¨ again soon!

This is what a typical Guatemalan family looks like. The mother was probably around 20 years old and she had three kids with her. This is how they dress every day. It is so beautiful, and I´m constantly in awe at all of the color and the tight family bonds in this country.

One of the really fantastic things about traveling is that you get to meet amazing people from all over the world. People who have also chosen to spend their time, energy and money exploring another country. At left are two of my favorites, Christine and Renee from the good ol´ USA.


I mentioned in my last blog post that I made a quick stop in the States before heading to Central America. Pictured above is my ¨New England¨ family: (l to r) Fran, Heather, Chris, me, Steve, Beth, and Lorrie. I didn´t want them to feel left out by not making my blog!

Then I stopped in Los Angeles for a very full 36 hours. I stayed with Meredith & Lou, two of the nicest people that you could ever know. I met Meredith, an LA-based garden writer, during a media tour about five years ago. We´ve stayed in contact, and it´s fair to say that we´ve changed each other´s lives for the better.

About six months ago when I was thinking of going to Cambodia, Meredith introduced me electronically to her friend Jennifer who was volunteering with a non-profit there. As fate would have it, I got involved and spent time in Cambodia helping to execute all of her efforts remotely. In LA, she prepared a proper ¨high tea¨for us, and here it is, well spent. I should´ve taken the photo before we devoured it all! Jennifer also invited a friend of hers to visit, Julie, who is a survivor of the Cambodia genocide. At the age of 19 she ws thrown into a pile of dead bodies because she was too weak to walk. She survived, and thrived. And now lives in LA and is getting her PhD, while working as a motivational speaker. It was an amazing afternoon, to say the least.

And finally, here´s Debra. Debra is a good friend from Seattle who´s now living in the LA area. We met for a lovely sushi dinner (the one food that I was really missing!) and talked about life and love and work and everything else. Thank you Debra!

And now, I am getting ready to go to Costa Rica to do some scouting for a turtle trip next year, and when I return to Guatemala who knows! It´s hard to believe that Guatemala will be my last country before I return to the states. But I´m not ready to say goodbye quite yet. My heart is still dancing...and the avocadoes are still ripe!

With love,

Pam

Volcanos, Eathquakes & Avocados - Welcome to Guatemala!

The other morning, I woke up to a loud boom. It wasn't quite a crashing boom, but more of a deep rumbling boom. Perhaps like a bomb might sound. As I was staying in the remote hills of Guatemala, I was pretty sure it wasn't that, so I peeked out of my tent and before my eyes was the source - a huge cloud of black ash from Volcan Fuego spiraling into the bright blue sky. I have to admit, it was beautiful and a smile transformed my face. Me in my lonely tent, on this beautiful slice of heaven in the hills above Antigua, watching nature show Her power.  About an hour later during breakfast, I noticed that I had grit all over my body. Then, I saw it...the white and black dust falling from the clear sky. Volcanic ash in my fruit salad. Again, a smile! 

About an hour after that, while talking to some new friends around a picnic table we all stopped and looked at each other. "Are you shaking your foot?" "No, are you?" "What is that?" It was an earthquake! A 6.1 magnitude quake (or so my mom tells me) centered not too far from where I was. Amazingly from our mountain perch it was not so dramatic, but again a sign from Mother Nature that she is The Boss. And again, a smile. It's not surprising the the ancient Maya worshipped nature as their God.

Guatemala is beautiful. It's simple and slow like Nepal and Laos, but with a strong Mayan culture backdrop. It's exactly like I remember it, which is exactly why I am back. After a visit over 15 years ago, I swore that I would return in my life and study Spanish. I knew that my time then was too short, and this country deserved a deeper exploration. And, what better excuse is there to do something you've always wanted to do (learn Spanish) in one of your favorite countries?

Back to the volcano: One of my first outings here was to hike the local active volcano. I'm pretty sure this kind of activity would not be encouraged in the states, but I took the bait. I hiked with a group of ten other tourists to the top of Volcán Pacaya (there are about 10 active volcanoes in Guatemala). It was a slow haul up a steep slope, through a dense tropical forest. Close to the top, and now embarking up an even steeper slope through loose volcanic ash (imagine running uphill in loose sand) we arrived at rough, sharp volcanic rocks. In the distance I could see red hot lava slowly making it's way down the mountain. And surrounding the lava? What else but marshmallow roasting tourists! While I thought it was an interesting lunch, I wasn't tempted enough to try it for myself. After a quick visit to within five feet of the flowing cauldron, I decided that my luck had served me and it was time to remove myself from the precarious situation. Climbing back over the same really sharp (and loose!) rocks, I broke out my camera just in time to hear the marshmallow-roasting tourists screaming and trying to run over the very dangerous terrain. I managed to snap one photo before beginning the quick exit myself. The earth had "burped", and sent a huge volume of lava over the top of the cauldron. While I did find humor in it, it was a reminder that sometimes laws are a good thing, since the laws of nature don´t read laws. By the way, the only injuries to the masses were simple flesh wounds.

Back in Antigua, my Spanish school, a recommendation of Marjie is fantastic. I have of class each day with a teacher who speaks exclusively Spanish, and study about four more hours. Since I haven't had any formal instruction in 17 years, my learning curve is about as steep as that volcano.  It's one-on-one instruction and we've covered as much in three days as I learned in a year of high school instruction. My teacher Aura is good! And I am working hard to keep up with the lessons, but enjoying every second of it. I will continue to study here for at least another week, but up to four weeks total if I'm still having fun.

Fun for me includes exploring the food, which right now in Guatemala means eating lots of delicous, fresh, juicy mangoes (my favorite!) and perfectly ripe avocados just falling from the trees. I usually am able to incorporate at least one during every meal. Today for lunch it was a spinach salad with mangoes, strawberries, avocado and thin strips of toasted tortillas. Yum!

I am excited to learn more about the Mayan customs, culture and calendar while here in the heart of Mayan country. This is from the Lonely Planet:

"The ancient Maya's astronomical observations and calculations were uncannily accurate. They could pinpoint eclipses, and their Venus cycle erred by only two hours for periods covering 500 years.  Time was in fact the basis of the Mayan religion. They believed the current world to be just one of a succession of worlds, each destined to end in cataclysm and be succeeded by another." 

Interestingly, their current calendar ends in 2012. I hope to find out more in June when I spend the solstice at a month-long course in Mayan shamanistic studies on the beautiful shores of Lake Atitlan. The sun, the moon and the stars were all critical to their beliefs, so I will look to them for divine guidance!

Is it coincidence that my brand new memory card is not being read by my memory card reader?Yes, I know who´s the boss. Unfortunately, no photos for this post so your imagination will have to do.

Next week I will go to Costa Rica to spend a quick week with Joanie researching and planning for Parsons GoodWorks upcoming fundraising for the turtles. (Send me an email if you would like to be kept on the list to receive more information.) 

Besos,

Pam

Visiting the Motherland...with My Mom

Some of you may not know that I am Polish. OK, my maternal grandmother is one-half Polish, which makes me merely one-eighth. But I have been raised feeling that Poland was my European home. While on my "world adventure" I decided that it was important to see where I am "from", where my ancestors lived and died, and meet the relatives with whom my mom has held the torch for more than 30 years. So I did it. With my mom. To the motherland. Amazing!



We flew into Berlin a few days apart from each other (for which I was forgiven - thank you Mom!) and left the next day for Torun, which would be our home base in Poland. Greeted at the train station by Kuba, my cousin, I was immediately comfortable and relishing in the feeling of "home." Kuba and his wife Kasia, are wonderful. In their early 30's, they both work as English teachers and embarrassingly have better grammar than me. (Does anyone remember "future perfect" tense?) But their language skills certainly enhanced our experience. As did their two adorable children who I have promised to be able to communicate with the next time I visit.




Upon arrival, Kuba said to me, "Pam are you REALLY a vegetarian or was your mom just playing a cruel joke on us?" I confirmed that indeed I was and I got the most hilarious, confounded head shake because Polish people really don't know how to cook without meat. I sent his mother, who was planning a feast, into a fit of craziness until she learned that I ate fish. Phew! Crisis averted... Oh, and all those desserts? I ate plenty of those vegetarian delights in addition to all the other delicious foods that they learned how to cook on my behalf. Thank you Kasia & Maria!







Here are two of my favorite things in Poland - above is Franek, who's a year and a half, and Bella the beautiful golden lab. At left, that's Anastasia, Kasia and a very cold and ill-prepared me!


Coincidentally, while we were in Torun, Kasia's Saturday English class was on "cross cultural communication," so she invited me to speak to her class about the cultural differences and communication styles in the different countries that I have visited. It was a great experience to speak in my best "simple English" to these students, which included doctors and teenagers alike. It was a joy!




Above are my Polish cousins...Lucy, Kuba, Mariusz and Gabi.


We spent the weekend, a gloriously sunny one, meeting our "live" relatives and visiting the graves of some deceased ones too. Not to be krass, but I've never spent so much time at cemeteries in my life. And it turned out to be a really powerful part of my Poland experience. We visited great-great-grandfathers and grandmothers, aunts and uncles and cousins. Standing next to Kuba at the gravesite of our common ancestors, I felt connected to a world much larger than me. This was the world of my ancestors, and I left feeling the love for their homeland.















Mom and I also went up to the north part of the country on the Baltic Sea, to the cities of Gdansk and Sopot. Talk about beautiful places! The weather was fantastic, the rich seafaring history of the area was evident, and the town - which was 80% destroyed by bombs during World War II - is alive and thriving. We shopped, ate, drank and laughed. I also got to visit my first ever castle in Malbork near Gdansk, that was built beginning in the twelfth century. It is the largest brick castle in the world. Spectacular!



Unfortunately, I only got to spend about two days in Berlin but I really loved it! The cosmopolitan vibe, beautiful architecture, rich history, beautiful museums, lovely walking path along the Spree River and the great food contributed to our nice time in the city. That said, we were there during the Easter weekend, which here means Saturday, Sunday AND Monday which meant that most of the shops were closed. Oh well, I will just have to go back!

After I made my plane to Amsterdam (whee!), I got to spend eight days with Gerdien in her home country, and Jaya who also was a part of the Annapurna Circuit trek. We biked everywhere, ate constantly and abundantly (lots of cheese!) and laughed constantly. It was a fantastic week, and cemented a lifetime of friendship with these two amazing women.

I'm in New England now hanging out with my paternal relatives. Coincidentally, there is a family party while I'm here so I will get to see all the cousins! Last night was karaoke at the American Legion Hall in Medford (say "Meffa" and sound like a local), and Beth and I did the worst rendition of "I Will Survive" ever. But of course, because it's Beth we had a great time entertaining the "blue heads and nearly deads" (her words!) and never stopped laughing the entire evening.



I leave tomorrow for a quick day in LA before heading to Guatemala. Chapter Two of my World Adventure is coming to a close, and Chapter Three will begin on Tuesday.


I got a fantastic email today from "The Universe" and I love it. It says,

"Pam, isn't it nice to know that you haven't yet laughed, all that you'll
laugh? That you haven't yet met some of your very best friends? And that you
haven't yet dreamed all that you'll manifest?

That all bridges will be mended? That all sadness will be healed? And that life never ends? That all your challenges will be won? That all of your triumphs will be shared? And that the difference you'll make has already begun?"

I am grateful for all that I have learned, and looking forward to growing into it all.

With love,
Pam