the other night i dreamed…or rather nightmared…that i showed up to my speech for my rotary club without my powerpoint. i woke up frantic and determined to not let that happen. so i reminded myself over and over again and S reminded me over and over again.
so this morning as i prepared i checked for my presentation, my nametag, and the banner from my sponser club. everything was there as i prepared for work.
of course, being in auckland – home of the volcanoe induced hills – heels were not a good choice for walking to the shuttle. so i dawned my running shoes and threw my real shoes into my bookbag with all of my other stuff.
the day passed uneventfully and right before heading out to meet my ride i reached into my bag to pull out my shoes. what i came out with were two different shoes…kind of. one black one and one brown. both heels. unfortunatley, both for the right foot!
gotta love what dreams tell you…i can’t wait to dream about a happy windfall of money!
Tags: newzealand, rotary, speakinggigs
The problem with reading anything political is that you have to wade through propaganda and perspectives in search of the truth. Everyone does it…democrats, republicans, Americans, Venezuelans. Hence my chagrin and concern when reading about hugo chavez’s recent victory.
I’ve picked my way through “america’s” general dislike for hugo…and from my perspective there isn’t much for us to dislike. He has stopped the corruption of the oil companies (stealing money from years and keeping it for the privileged few), he has redistributed wealth to the masses bringing health, housing and literacy to millions, and closer to home he reduced prices on heating in Massachusetts.
So why all the issues – other than he doesn’t like our president? Lets face it…most people don’t, what makes him so different?
But then the other shoe fell…possibly…depending on if this is American spin or real truth…either way worry rises. I read an article on ABC’s website that mentioned hugo’s eagerness to do away with term limitations and private tv stations. Both are things I feel strongly about, term limitations because it leaves a democratic system vulnerable to subtle changes over time that can undermine democracy in general…and private media because it should be a check and balance to any government.
I hope it isn’t true. I hope hugo continues on his course of doing for the poor and doesn’t get drunk off of his own success – his own power. I hope he doesn’t become a bush, chiselling at government documents set up and agreed upon for the governing of his nation and I hope he doesn’t become a mugabe paranoid and refusing to relinquish his control even at the detriment of his countrymen/women. It would be a shame for him to become his own version of the devil he swears he despises.
Tags: soapbox
i’ll be returning to my temporary roots soon…and in doing so it is the time to begin searching for an apartment in new orleans. an easy enough task, craigslist is full of apartments of all kind…however the rent is the real stunner.
i had heard about the skyrocketing prices of new orleans aprtments and such, but until i started searching and a friend already there sent me a heads up on a special deal ($850 for furnished studio!) i didn’t realize just how bad it was. $850? my old place in midcity…not grand by any standards but filling my basic needs…was only $450. and this other place doesn’t even include utilities which have also balooned out of control (from my hearing) since katrina.
it’s only five months, but at that price you are talking almost my year’s rent in 2005…almost $7000!
resigned to getting in and out and staying only long enough to take my three classes, learn some french and help with the recovery for the time that i’m there…i don’t plan on taking anything beyond clothes and a laptop with me…no furniture if i can help it (i’m not above sleeping on a floor for a few months).
anyone with any ties in the city, any news on apartments, or shared homes or rooms for rent…anything under $700 would be greatly appreciated (utitlites included). in the meantime…i’ll keep my eye on craigslist and pray for something to show its livable head.
Tags: future, neworleans
when ordered the fresh fish sandwhich from the little hole in the wall i couldn’t mask my excitement. i could have had a burger…but why? instead i had fish from the neighboring waters on a toasted bun. what i wasn’t prepared for was the beetroot that soaked my bread and fish read.
it still was a pretty good sandwhich but i often wonder how great it would have been had it not been assaulted by that fiendish root that new zealanders seem to love so much.
fast foward some months and i found myself at a rotary function talking with a woman from sydney.
“what do you call those ghastly things you put on sandwhiches?” she inquired. i looked at her blankly. “you know, green and round, mcdonlad’s puts them on their burgers.”
she meant pickles and i answered as much. she shrieked, “yes, yes, that’s it.” i laughed and told her that that is exactly how i feel about beetroot. and she laughed and agreed that it was the very same thing…only different.
pickle or beetroot…it is all normal somewhere.
and so it goes with everything new. in talking to more rotarians over the last few months, they seem astonished that people live in a place where hurricanes happen. all the while i marvel that they live in both earthquake and volcanoe central.
and today’s dinner at a friend’s house, her english mother marveled that even 26 years removed from a “white christmas” she still finds it odd tht a kiwi christmas includes bbq and sun.
my sweetie peels his banana from the bottom (the flower end instead of the stalk) and thinks i open mine funny, and at a party the other day full of zimbabweans we discussed how nervouse westerners get to see them balance their kids on their backs before securing them with a towel.
one woman’s pickle is another’s beetroot.
Tags: food
S and I are finding our time slimmer and slimmer. Not just in that my days are slipping away like dandelion fluff – but because events keep getting jammed in that little bit of time because there is no place else to jam them. No more putting off ‘til tomorrow because there are so few of them before I depart. And so we find ourselves with parties and dinners and socializing that we are eager to do but that also take away from the quiet lazy weekends that are also attractive.
This weekend we have a market to hit and then an old school party. And Sunday is dinner at a friend’s. next weekend has something in it that I can’t recall…but it is there.
And I always say I won’t do this…won’t wait until the last minute to cram in trips and visits and socializing. But I do…and so I am hurried and wondering what the hurry will show me…what spleandors…what majesty…
so for the end of year party at my office we had a thanksgiving celabration. my boss is american and there are a few of us roaming around and a few others that have spent enough time stateside to fall in love with our voracious appetites for food that will kill you.
so today, paul provided the turkey and everyone brought side dishes. it turned out to be a lovely day. it was a chance to see everyone with their partners (who we hear about in the office) and to joke around and stuff our faces.
of course…never one to look a free meal in the face, i also went to yum char this morning. it was good food and good company…an all around edible day.
nothing is in cement yet…and you all know me and spur of the moment planning…but it looks like i may be in freezing cold new york for new years. what that means is that if you are within train, bus or car ride of the big apple, i will expect o see you for a meal or something. and if that can’t be arranged then…well i can’t promise when i’ll be back (or how long i’m staying in the country).
as for everyone else…i’m homeward bound in a month…i can’t believe how fast time has flow…but it has…so get ready for my return.
Tender moments depicted in high action high drama situations bug me. I’m not sure why. If I think about it rationally, the shadow of death probably does prompt your most basic nature. If nothing else the desire to be consoled – to prove you are alive to feel something more than fear in the face of death. Even so I hate IPLSes (ill placed love scenes – as I refer to them).
Waterworld was the worst…a woman’s child was kidnapped and the first thing she does is bonkk some guy on a boat. Yeah…that’s what most mothers do I’m sure.
It comes to mind now because I’m watching tears of the sun…a movie that pisses off S because it is “set” in Nigeria but he asserts it is clearly not filmed there. But I digress. The tender moment of bruce willis wiping away the single tear of a woman who has been tramping through the rainforest and trying desperately to avoid death but who manages to look flawless and unfrazzled doesn’t sit well with me.
Maybe it is because it feels like a trivialization of the things people go through. But maybe I’m unrealistic. Even in war zones people continue to have families…
Of course I could go on a tirade about tears of the sun for a whole other set of reasons…like why when there is an assault the attention is focused on the soldier as he dies a poignant and meaningful death while all the Nigerians are scattered around in fuzzy focus like afterthoughts. But that is a different tirade for a different day.
Tags: soapbox
morris walked leisurely over to S and i as we pondered which cake to buy as our gift to the family for their kind inviation to spend the weekend with them. we were in foodtown not at the bus station where we had planned to meet. but sandra managed to spot us from the road as we walked over. that is most amazing because sandra had never seen us before.
what she saw was two brown people entering the foodtown in hamilton and she assumed it was us.
she was right. it was us. and that was the beginning of what i can only describe as a wonderous and relaxing weekend.
it started with a leisurely brunch and a chance to get acquainted. and from there we moved to the car and a beautiful drive through scenic new zealand. small towns with beautifully manicured gardens. and the crazy weather even cooperated and offered us sun for our journey.
we made our way to te aroha thermal pools and had a wonderous soak in naurally occuring soda water. it was relaxing and fun and from there we headed to wairere falls. more of a walk then we had time for we gazed from a distance and then headed back to te aroha for dinner. dinner was a wonderful family style buffet with more food than even i could handle.
we drove back home and watched some television and then fell blisfully to sleep.
sunday, we were greeted with a now smiling F (their son who wasn’t too thrilled with us the previous day) and preparations for a southern africa style brai. and since nigeria appartently doesn’t have a BBQ culture S was shown the ropes so he can start one up when he gets home.
all that ended with us being dropped off at the bus stations…hugs all around and a truly relaxing weekend wound down.
It is amazing how much sound and scent can trigger an emotional response. I can’t help but wonder how I will remember new Zealand. Will it be in the scent of lavender? South Africa is clearly the smell of orange blossoms in the air…that and decomposing donkey on the side of the road – don’t ask. And musically it is Ishmael and blk sunshine. Sri lanka is the smell of mangosteens and unbelievably hot curry and the sounds of bob Marley. Famu is the smell of rain and homemade roti and the sounds of sade and scarface.
I wonder what will take me back to Auckland, or the south island? I wonder what will make me smile randomly to myself or well up with a forgotten tenderness…
Tags: newzealand, travel
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