Aww, Snap!

2012-01-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

Bestest friends, laughter, beautiful beaches and fruit shakes...if this isn't heaven I don't know what is!

We spent a week chilling in hammocks, catching up on each others love lives, sunning our bums and scheming for our 2013 rendezvous, which consequently will be held trekking up Mnt. Kilimanjaro! 2012/13 is the year of Africa!! Come one come all!

You know you've got irreplaceable friends when the reunion is seamless, like you haven't been separated, living different lives for 9 months...when being together is as easy as breathing. Every once in a while there are hiccups and heartaches, but life is what we do best together! :)

Safe travels dear ones! And here's to our next 2013 adventures! xx

Quotes to live by:

"You need to sun your moonshine" -V (after we taught miss South African some new hillbilly lingo)

"We don't not pay we just steal!" -V (while explaining SA)

"Just float like debris in the ocean" -M (said in a very profound, zen tone)

"It could be atomic waste"
"Bust I sparkle!"
"You could grow a third arm"
"BUT I SPARKLE! -(During a night skinny dipping session when we found that the ocean sparkled around us when we moved due to microscopic glowy marine plankton)

"Grab a bottle, I'm peeing magic!"

2012-01-15T00:46:00.000-08:00

After almost a year apart, we're finally ALL back together in Thailand! Three loco chicas! We really bring out the best in each other, can't you tell?!

We spent the morning roaming Khao San Rd for a good breakfast joint, introducing Gail to the wonders that are Thai fruit shakes, and having the most hilarious photo booth session together! We've planned two wild weeks of fun; first we're off to the islands for loads of swimming, dares and giggles (sprinkle in a few massages, snorkeling and delicious fish and you've got a winner!) and then it's up North to my home away from home, Chiang Mai!

I can't tell you how much I've missed my besties and how incredible it is to have this final time together before we go off in our separate ways; Inge to the US and Europe, Gail back to South Korea, and me off to Africa.

Bring on the fun! xx

SP#18

2012-01-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

I know I've been deplorably lazy when it comes to the Self Portrait series. It's always, "I'll wait until things calm down," or "...until I've got firmer footing." I'm now starting to think that it's not about gaining a secure foothold, but learning to move WITHOUT one. Life is unpredictable, things are always changing. People coming, people going, what seems like your happy place 10 minutes ago is now your hell, what you thought was a great job is no longer tolerable...Life is in a constant flux and if you're always waiting for the right time to move, well my friend, the time is now! So here is to the old and the new, what was and what will be. Here is to looking ahead even when the ground is shaky. Here's to looking towards the future and letting the sun set on the past!

Check out Inge Kathleen's new SP#22!

2012-01-11T01:55:00.000-08:00

I had the phenomenal opportunity to spend Christmas at the foot of the ancient Angkor Wat ruins. We explored the huge complex, chasing the sunrise and scoping out the best place to be for the sunset. And then when we were exhausted and about ready to pull our hair out if we heard "Hey laaady, want sumting?" for the millionth time, we settled down for the MOST delicious fruit shakes at the Blue Pumpkin. Every Christmas I find myself in a different corner of the world, sharing a holiday with new shining faces and celebrating in new ways. This year I was at the Art orphanage where 27 Khmer children put together an incredible Xmas celebration with a lovely wee Xmas tree and balloons and a huge dinner. They were all smiles and laughter and happiness. Afterwards they held their very own ladyboy show and taught us to dance Khmer disco style around a chair in the center of the room. It was an incredible experience and I am honored to have spent this day with such wonderful people, yet again. I am truly blessed!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2012-01-05T23:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday ya'll!
Today I've been camped out at a Chiang Mai coffee shop editing photos from the past two weeks of being on the road. I stumbled across this lovely old face of a Cambodian man I met near Siem Reap and wanted to share. I've two more days of rest here in Chiang Mai, Thailand and then I'm off again, this time to Vientiane and Luang Pabang, Laos. Boy do I love my whirl-wind, photo taking job! :)
Enjoy!

2012-01-03T03:52:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a little slice of Paradise Koh Wai style, with all you poor babies mired in snow and ice...*shivers*

I'm finally back in Chiang Mai, Thailand after an incredible Cambodian Xmas, Bangkokian birthday, and beach bumming New Years Eve! It's nice to have one bed to lay my head (even tho it feels like a stranger) and not have to live out of my small, beat up old backpack. Being a beach bum for a week gives you some good time for New Years resolution reflection in between snorkeling, sea kayaking and whooping some serious ass at sand volleyball (you know who you are). This is usually a time where I look backwards to see if I lived, laughed and loved hard enough. Did I climb higher, work harder, push myself farther, and break boundaries?! All I have to say is I am happy! 2011 has been hands down phenomenal and I am happy with where I am and what I've done and what I've got lined up for 2012. 2011 was my year for SEA Asian and 2012 is my year for Africa! Since the next year must always trump the last I think it's high time I start to do some serious planning. Anyone keen on a easy-breezy Kilimanjaro climb and a little para-glide down? Last one down is a rotten egg! :)

As new years resolutions go, mine was summed up in the parting words of a wacky old Austrian beach bum: "Try to be a good girl!"

2011-12-26T20:39:00.000-08:00

I'm turning 27 on the 27th! I even woke up to 27 messages in my inbox. What's the chance of that happening?! The stars only align like once in a lifetime and it requires some serious old age celebration (and a blog post;)! So it's a wild night in Bangkok with friends (one word: pingpong) on my Asian birthday and then hopping on an overnight bus that will deposit me happily on an island with beauutiful white sandy beaches and aqua blue oceans for some serious beach bumming time on my American birthday! (Yes, I totally extended my birthday to TWO whole days not one and I'm considering making it a whole birthday WEEK!)
So dear oldness, you better get ready because here I come! And I'm gonna do it in style! ;)

Khmer Christmas

2011-12-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week the children at the ODA orphanage (Orphaned & Disabled Arts organization) were each given $5 for Christmas and asked if they would like to use the money to buy themselves something special or to throw a big Christmas party for everyone. They choose a party and we were invited guests! When we were dropped off we were greeted by many smiling faces and a wreath of balloons and a scrawny Christmas tree that they had gone into the jungle to cut. The children were cutting pictures of Santa Clause and snowmen out of old wrapping paper to hang on the tree for decorations. This little girl, Sunshine, inspects the small pile of gifts under the tree. She was born with AIDS however her smile is bright enough to warm anyone's heart. She dressed up as a beautiful princess and we held hands while learning to dance Cambodian disco style in a circle following the steps of the older children in front.

This may have been an unconventional Christmas, however it is experiences like these that keep me traveling and dreaming of a better world.

Happy holidays everyone! xx

2011-12-18T04:00:00.000-08:00

And you were wondering why I've been spending so much time in the mountains with no shower, electricity or contact with the outside world?! One word: Coffee. :) Haha, liesss, but it IS a nice perk! In fact, the school children were being taught how to make complicated drinks like Mochas and lattes and guess who was the #1 taste tester?! That's right, be jealousy, VERY jealous! ;) But really what keeps drawing me back again and again are these beautiful people. Enjoy!

Mamma Mo

2011-12-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I found myself on the back of a motorbike, backpack full of camera, audio and video gear, zoom-zooming up the side of a mountain on a road covered in carnivorous, man eating potholes. I like to fancy myself afraid of nothing, but faced with the very real possibility of tumbling off the back of the motorbike and then down down down the mountain, had me nearly peeing my pants.
At the top, I kissed the red dirt and said a thank you to whoever was watching out for me, then got to work. I hiked 6km to the village of a very special student and there I was welcomed into the remote and lovely Karen hill tribe village with open arms. The village leader greeted me and fed me ocean fish and beer (two incredible luxuries) and the village woman crowded into the room, fat babies bobbing on their hips and youthful faces lined with the sun of a hard life.
This beautiful lady in the photo, invited me into her house and stuffed me full of rice and veggies, telling me to "eat mok mok!" We communicated mostly with charades and hand signals and through which I learned that I was to sleep in her house, on the floor, with three other students to keep me safe. It ended up me and five other village kids all armed with their crumpled English books trying desperately to communicate. Neither of us could pronounce the others name so she asked for me to call her "Mo" for "mother" and she would call me "daughter" in Karen. She told me I must come back and stay a long time. Her generosity and kindness warmed my soul!

2011-11-30T22:52:00.000-08:00

This land smells of sweet sweet flowers. I first noticed it while zooming home thro the rice fields on my motorbike one evening, singing happily to myself while watching loose lanterns scale into the sky to join the stars. At first it reminded me of the sickly sweet, poignant smell of death and the flowers that lined my grand mother's coffin. But now it will forever remind me of warm Thai evenings, of laying on my back watching Loy Kathong lanterns travel across the sky and setting banana boats free on the ping river.

Thailand just celebrated the gorgeous Loy Kathong festival. We were invited to the local elementary school where the small children rolled out mats and showed us the art of folding banana leaves to decorate our floating banana boats. The boy scouts all practiced lighting and releasing the lanterns into the sky, which is far more difficult than you might think. After three attempts that the lanterns crashed and burned, the children finally hit pay day and off floated their white lantern into the afternoon sky. The children raced after it, running and jumping in excitement!

In the evening, we all made our way to the Ping riverside in Chiang Mai where we stashed prayers on our little banana boats and lit their candles and incense then set them free to sail down the river, far far away. I tied all my fears and worries to a Loy Kathong lantern and sent it sailing to the moon. It was a beautiful moment of bidding farewell to the past and opening my arms wide open to the future. :)

Karen Hill Tribe Village

2011-11-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

More images from our time at Huaysampoi, a remote hill tribe village in Thailand. Each one of us was touched in different and poignant ways by these incredible people.

Doi Intanon English Camp

2011-11-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

One fine morning we loaded all our bags and 10 gangly volunteers into the back of a pickup truck, arms and legs sticking out in all sorts of weird directions. We headed 2hrs out of town to a remote Hill Tribe village in the mountains where we would teach English for a week. Here we would live in tents with no phone or connection with the outside world, using the local waterfall as our shower and the moon as our night light. Each morning we were greeted by misty mountains and the beautiful shining faces of our students, some of whom had woken up super early and walked hours through the mountains to get to school on time. The following are a few images from this week, with loads more photies and stories on the way! Enjoy!

2011-11-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

This past few weeks have been jam packed full of incredible things! One of which is the English Camp Travel-to-Teach volunteers put on at the local Buddhist temple, Wat Doi Saket. I've always been a little scared of monks in Thailand, mainly because if a female touches them they have to say a gazillion prayers to be purified again or do penance or something crazy like that. Either way it's bad news bears. But after a week with these baby monks or "novices," it's pretty clear to see that these are just rowdy boys dressed in orange. Here are a few of my favorites from the past week, more to come soon! xx

Introducing...

2011-10-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

The wild Travel to Teach volunteers!!

After a long day exploring Chiang Mai on our motorbikes, we cooled off at a beautiful waterfall on the way up to Doi Suthep. The place was absolutely stunning with a natural slide and monks splashing in the water. After a fun time of chasing each other to the top and riding the water down, the boys decided to hop off a cliff into the falls and decided I had to do it with them...and like a crazy person I agreed. I made them go twice before I would go and then I stood there for literally 10minutes staring down and trying to swallow my fear. I had to jump over a rope tire swing and aim for the waterfall's V, the deepest portion of the pool. I had been dared to do cliff jumping once before while up in the boundary waters only from an even greater height and I chickened out. But this time I was determined...I told everyone if I died it was their fault, took a running step, and hopped off. When I came up my body was still humming from the adrenaline rush and I was smiling SO big and SO proud of myself!

I like to keep my quota of firsts pretty high as it makes life loads more interesting and in one day I managed to do TWO firsts: jump off a cliff into a waterfall and munch bugs...

2011-10-30T04:03:00.000-07:00

This is the story of how I convinces a group of innocent volunteers to eat the biggest, ugliest bug at the Chiang Mai Sunday market...

After a day of motorbike explorations, we sat in a small cafe near Thapae Gate sipping fruity smoothies and cooling down. On my second sip I had an epiphany, "Let's eat bugs today!" Every Sunday a sweet little Thai lady gathers all her dead, partially dead, or soon to be dead bugs and heads to the market place to show her munchable friends to oogling foreigners and bug loving Thais. I had been waiting for just the right moment to dare a group of people (preferably males) to a bug munching competition and the time was exactly right, we were all suffering from an adrenaline overload from jumping off a cliff into a waterfall and extremely hungry. To my surprise Kyle responded with a very serious face, "Today is the day we eat bugs."

So we went in search of the bug lady...She had big bugs, small bugs and in between bugs...Nick got a weird glint in his eye and said it would be lame if we didn't eat the BIGGEST bug there ever was...with a falling feeling in my stomach, I told him I'd munch anything he munched... Kyle tried desperately to talk us out of our decision, he couldn't be shown up by a girl...but to no avail. We left the bug lady with our arms full of plastic baggies full of cooked buggies. We found a quiet table to set out our wares with coke chasers and convenient shadows to run to if our stomachs weren't as stupid as our brains...

First, Kyle eyed Mr. Massive Bug...

And Mr, Massive Bug eyed him back...

We finally convinced Nick to go first (he decided to play with the bug a little bit before giving it a good munch)...

And then we watched closely to see if he died...

He didn't, but Anna and Kyle nearly did...

Guess what?! We survived! We were so proud of ourselves we pranced around the the market place. For proof check out this FB video.

The world doesn't look quite the same after you've eaten the biggest bug you've ever seen. On the way home a cockroach tried to surprise us (Like they always do) by running out of a hole on the sidewalk right under our feet...not one of us blinked, we kept walked unimpressed muttering, "We've EATEN bugs bigger than you buddy...*sniff*"

2011-10-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Munching bamboo shoots and catfish on-a-stick with our fingers, perched on the banks of this raging river with Inge = heaven!

Goodbyes

2011-10-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

Never feel good...
This sweet little man has taken a piece of my heart with his soulful eyes and beautiful smile. It always surprises me how hard leaving can be and it's never the people you would initially expect. I never got the chance to tell this little guy in Thai that I was leaving, but he seemed to know clinging to me like a monkey, legs and arms wrapped around me for the entire workshop. When anyone else would work with him he would always reach back for me, and I took him for rides while he guided my steps. To the fence so that we could pick little flowers and take them back to the home or to the sink to wash our hands. He took my hands in his and scrubbed them with soap like a little grown up, tsking over my cut and wiping it so clean it hurt. When it was time to finally say goodbye, his eyes welled up with tears and he kissed both my cheeks and forehead. As we headed to the van, he stood by the fence looking so sad and desolate I had to go back to give his salty cheeks one last kiss. There is no easy way to say goodbye.

Photogrpahy Workshop

2011-10-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

Last week we gave the neighborhood Burmese refugee and hill tribes children cameras and sent them home with the assignment to tell the story of their life in photographs. A big project for little tykes, yes? Some of them came back with cameras full of unused film and others fully used and reluctant to give back their new toy. After developing the roles of film, the REAL fun began! As I opened each folder I got to peek into their lives, to see the faces of their mother, father, sisters and brothers. I got to see little girls playing dress up in princess clothes and where they sleep on the floor at night. Below is the pieced together story of 11 children's lives. 11 children whose families came to Chiang Mai to escape poverty, cruelty and abuse and who started a new life in this city. These series of photographs give us a rare peek into their personal lives from the perspective of a child. Enjoy!

2011-10-05T03:34:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we held our weekly Young Lions workshop with the neighborhood refugee and hill tribe kids. We gave them each a film camera to take home for a week of snapping fun! After teaching them some simple photography rules, we let them go wild in the yard on a photo scavenger hunt. Every time they saw me put my camera to my face to take a photo of them they would do the same to me...I suppose that's fair play. ;)

Gotta just keep bookin' it...

2011-09-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

So my time in Thailand is swiftly winding down and it's off to the next big adventure! Where ever that may be...Will it be Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand or Africa? (Anyone wanna vote?)
I've got to remember to do like a lizard and just keep bookin' it! ;)

2011-09-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Introducing the beautiful mammas at Wildflower Home! Each week we head 30mins out of Chiang Mai, down a long pot-holed road (that's usually flooded during the rainy season) to spend some lovely time with these young single mothers to teach them in-come generating workshops. So far we've helped in the leaf printing and seed card production and are continuing with fabric flowers and copper jewelry making! They are phenomenal to work with usually by the end of the day we are holding one of their happy, rolipoly munchkins in our arms!

Mandolyn Sports Portfolio

2011-09-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

2011-09-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

A big shout out and a happy birthday to Lowell who celebrated her 30th a few days ago! I dragged her out of bed and made her get all gussied up (I know, I'm heartless) for her birthday portrait! (I DID try to stick 30 candles in her hair, but decided the singed look would not be a good one to sport to your birthday party...) In the end, we stuffed ourselves full of sushi and went out later for red wine under the stars (-er clouds;). According to the people we polled, the thirties are the best years of your life, she is in for a treat! ;)

SP#16

2011-09-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hello crazy world!

Finally SP#16 is up live, it just took a wee bit longer than expected thanks to the wild ways of life.

But sometimes, little speed bumps come along in your busy world and you get the chance to sift through all the road you've traveled and let all the lessons learned settle around you like dust (Can't tell I'm itching for a road trip now can ya?;) This week the lessons are finally settling and I can't say I've learned them right, but I'm working on it! With a little down time comes inspiration and this idea for self portrait #16 which does well in summing up the past month for me both physically and emotionally. But as it turns out, I'm still in one piece! ;)

I would like to send a shout out to Lowell, thanks for lending your spooky hands girl! ;)

After nearly 5 months of this self portrait craziness, Inge and I are still plugging away here! There may be some speed bumps on our self portrait road thanks to all the new adventures life is throwing our way, but this journey is far from over!

Be sure to check out Inge Kathleen's beautiful journey at her new location in Thailand!

One starry starry night...

2011-09-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

We lit a wee bonfire and lounged around its orange flames on fluffy mats, staring at the beautiful night sky as the lake gently rocked our floating house.

Miles away from any city and in the middle of a huge lake, the stars hung so low you felt like if you reached up, you could swirl your fingertips through the milky way.

We all hopped into kayaks and onto paddle boards and made our way out to our own little pockets of the lake. Laying flat on your back, it felt like you were cradled in the arms of the world, rocked back n' forth. The waters shushed you like a soothing mother and the stars twinkles and frogs sang a sweet lullaby.

Hope Home

2011-09-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

As Art Director and Volunteer Coordinator at ARI, I get the wonderful opportunity to work with loads of volunteers coming to us from all over the world. Each one brings with them unique skills, talents, ideas and their own special perspective of the world. What fascinates me is the transformation that each one of the volunteers goes through while working with the children at Hope Home.

Hope Home is a foster home for Thai children with severe Cerebral Palsy. In Thailand, disabilities are largely misunderstood due to the lack of education. Many times the child's inability to walk or talk or interact with the world "normally" only goes to reinforce the believe that they are less than human.

Each week I watch as our volunteers walk through the Hope Home gates and see these small children largely immobile and silent staring back at them with the most expressive eyes. When we take them into our arms and lean them against our chests so that they can feel the vibrations of our singing and encourage them to move their arms and legs to the songs, their faces break out into the biggest, most beautiful smiles.

I watch each volunteer transform in their own small way as well, as they work with the children. From fear and uncertainty to love and enjoyment, they walk out with a new love and respect for the endearing spirits of these bright and loving children. With each painting, each art piece, we demonstrate that these children are just as human as you and me. That they feel happiness, sadness, hurt and pain. That a small touch or a song can brighten their worlds and that love goes a long long way!

Let me introduce you to these amazing children!

SP#17

2011-09-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine challenged me to do a self portrait that showed the emotion during a particularly dark period in my love life (Don't worry, it was awhile back...I'm perfectly sane now;). He wanted raw and visceral. In response, I shot this, but could never bring myself to post it. The public display of extreme emotion makes me queasy. I like emotion, it's a beautiful part of being human, but I'm not exactly comfortable with EXTREME emotion. Maybe I think it's a weakness, maybe growing up with it helped me develop an aversion to the drama or an aversion to emotional manipulating...regardless, I wasn't keen on this photo. However, through the years I've discovered that whenever my initial reaction is to hide something, it's usually because I'm not being entirely honest with myself and some internal inventory taking is necessary.

Relationships are a pill. They have the potential to hurt, maim, and dis-empower us, yet we constantly put ourselves back into the same situations over and over again. Most likely we do this because they have equal potential of such beauty, love and companionship. (But until I find those three things in a relationship I maintain that they are a bitch!;)

So I got hurt, yep, in a new and unpredictable way (I thought I had covered all my bases, wrong!). And its embarrassing, because in my head I should have seen it coming (duh!) and protected myself by not believing there is good in humanity (how irresponsible of me!). Instead of experiencing the emotion, I compartmentalized it away and went a wee bit numb. But I've learned that emotion (good or bad) needs to be experienced the whole way through or you continually revisit that chapter of your life. You just have to feel it, you don't have to react or lash out, but you do need to let it run its course. Sometimes that takes a friend flying all the way from South Korea to unlock those stubborn tear ducts...

So here it is...experiencing emotion in all its raw, gory glory. And I'm still uncomfortable looking at it and will probably post again quickly so I don't have to...and you don't either. But it's important for me to remember that life is beautiful BECAUSE it's full of both intensely happy and painful moments and it's about time that I own ALL of these moments!

Does this SP make you feel uncomfortable?

(I hope so!) ;)

For a little review, the Self Portrait Challenged between myself and my best friend Inge, began months ago when our paths went separate ways after a long traveling stint. To keep us shooting and pushing the limits of photography, portraiture in particular, we devised a monthly self portrait challenge that would push our comfort zones by putting ourselves in front of the lens (escaping this is largely the reason WHY you become a photographer...) and allowing us to try new techniques and explore new ways of portraying your personal journeys. Take a peek at her beautiful work! Inge Kathleen photography

2011-09-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here are more photos from the crazy weekend at the floating houses. Introducing the wild ARI crew! ;)

2011-08-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

Floating houses, night kayaking, bonfires, grilled bananas, learning German lullabies and how to do grind dance moves, laughing so hard our tummies hurt and sleeping beneath the stars...this was by far a successful weekend! Hope you enjoy the photies! :)

2011-08-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

Hope Home is a foster home for disabled Thai children. We do bi-weekly art workshops with these sweet children using art as a means of physical therapy and self expression. Chiang Mai, Thailand.

2011-08-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

On one fine Friday afternoon, a crew of us loaded up our wee and smoking motorbikes ans hit the road to our weekend adventure at the Floating Houses. 30minutes into a 1hr+ drive, I started to feel raindrops on my nose, so as leader (yes be afraid, very afraid) of our fearless pack, I pulled over to put on my raincoat. Everyone else thought I was crazy, that it wasn't going to rain and opted to stay cool. No worries. We took off again and after literally 5minutes of driving all hell broke loose. If cats and dogs could have fallen from the heavens, they would of...and so there we were, zoom zoomin' on our motorbikes all hunched over in the pelting rain (which hurts like a bitch when going any speed above 20mph) and there I was smiling all cozy in my raincoat. ;)

The floating houses were a little piece of heaven! They took us on a long boat to the other side of a big green lake and there tucked back a little nook was a floating sanctuary. The beds were luxurious comfy things (extremely rare in Asia) and the floor was all slatted so you could see thro to the green murky water below. You could sit on the toilet and watch the fish swim peacefully by beneath you. I seriously considered rigging a fishing pole in the bathroom so that I could snag a couple of those happily floating fatties while on the pot. :)

We had an incredible weekend of swimming, fishing, kayaking, relaxing and playing games!

~SP#15

2011-08-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

So I thought maybe I should go back and add an explanation to this self portrait. I don't want people thinking *cough my mom* that I'm suicidal in any way. So this self portrait is kinda raw, but shooting me was very therapeutic (haha all puns intended). Oddly enough this one is not about death. It's about how when people that you care for and put trust in lie to you and hurt you in a horrible way it kills pieces of your trust and innocence or whatever it is that causes you to believe in the best in people. Sometimes without even knowing it, your faith and trust in people is the collateral damage of relationships gone wrong. But I can't loose the part of me the believes the best of people because that IS who I am and how I live my life. That's what I love most about this world, that people can change, grow and become better, strong, wiser. That we can learn from our past mistakes and create a better, happier world. Things that have happened in my personal life recently have definitely shook my trust in others, but more severely my trust in myself and my judgement of people. I did something that's not normally like me, I tamped all these emotions down deep inside and just ignored them for as long as possible. Shooting myself in this self portrait was actually incredibly relieving and helped break up the stoney exterior I was fakin.' ;)

And yes Mom, the Land of a Thousand Smiles will be back in my portraits next time. ;)

2011-08-19T04:46:00.000-07:00

On the way to Vientiane, Laos.

SP #14

2011-08-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

I'll believe you, everyone word.

Oh boys. You can create a whole lota heaven and a whole world of hurt. There's a point in your life (or is there) where you realize trying to be someone else is a losing game. All those little lies you tell that accumulate into piles and mountains eventually catch up to you and the better you are at telling them, the farther you get buried in the end. Boys, this is you being BURIED (hopefully alive).

I know I owe you all one more self portrait (*cough* don't punish me teacher inge!) and it's on it's way, promise! :)

Check out Inge Kathleens #15! (Yes, we made it already to #15! I can hardly believe it!)

2011-07-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

School for Shan students.

2011-07-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

My roomie took one look at this shot and said, "If you had boobs, that would be porn." I..i.was going for Wicked Witch of the West (to continue with my fairy tale gone wrong theme, duh)! See?! There's even a mortar n' stone for evil potion making and my broom stick is laying right there! But then again I'm not sure why I'm being so defensive, if you think about it there really isn't anything wrong with Wicked Witch of the West porn...right? Neways, I got a little wild with the eye makeup and hair this time, the inspiration for which came from a recent young volunteer. It's good to have those skills up your sleeve, you can pretty much make anyone look super spooky with a wave of your evil wand! And you know how much I love spooky...

Thursday I am off to Laos for a border run/long weekend of exploring another country! It's been a crazy hectic week and this girl needs a little one-on-one time with her camera. Photies to come soon! :)

Check out Inge's Fairy-ness!

2011-07-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

Today as I was walking home with my pack shucked full of delicious fruit (yum!), I saw one of our little Burmese girls selling flowers on the street and she ran to give me a big hug, which always puts a huge smile on my face. I bought a string of jasmine from her, which she over charged me for, and halfway down the street I heard her call to me. She ran to me, pigtails flying, holding out 10bhat and saying "sorry". Small things like a 8yr old kid who as been working the street all day in the hot sun (lives in the slums) deciding for herself what is right, gives me hope! She got a 10bhat tip to buy some candy with for being honest.

2011-07-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

In the 3 months I've been here in Thailand, I've watched this little girl absolutely blossom. She has gone from being all clenched up and afraid to look at the world and showing little to no expression, to now being able to move more freely and smiling when Judy gives her little kisses. It is beautiful to work with these children and to see them improve in such a short amount of time. When we walk in with the volunteers for our weekly workshop, they literally light up; faces break into smiles, legs begin to shake with excitement and joy. It's equally fun to take new volunteers to Hope Home because the expressions on their faces when they walk in and meet the children initially is so tragic and full of self doubt as to whether they can handle it. But the kids always win them over with their big smiles and happy laughter and heartrending effort to do what we want them to do. We always leave feeling lighter and happier having spent time with these special little children!

Self Portrait #11

2011-07-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

I always thought Princess and the Pea was an incredibly genius and silly story all at the same time. To complain about feeling a wee pea to score truckloads of mattresses?! Genius plan! (Kinda jealous I never thought of it myself) But then not to use them for what God made them for?! (jumping on, of course!) Super silly! But then that's always the trouble with darn fairy tales...Like prince charming? Puhlease...I can think of all sorts of better things to do with a pair of glass high heels than wear them around to attract a silly boy. Or to live in a house full of 7 midgets?! (Ever heard of midget bowling?) And I dunno, I kinda like the idea of having an evil grandmother who can cast spells on random people...call me crazy.

Self Portrait #12

At one point or other in our life, we start looking for Prince Charming. I know, I just made horrible fun of the guy above, but it's true, we all want our knight in shining armor to come sweep us off our feet. But sometimes our knight in shining armor doesn't always look like what we envision. Our lovely dog Murphy is possibly the most atrocious dog you can imagine, and yet for some odd reason this makes him terribly endearing. I say 'terribly' because, well, he's pretty terrible! He has some seriously gross tendencies, like slobbering profusely and wiping it all over you at any given moment, going #2 right in the lane so you get a nice squishy midnight present whenever you sneak home late at night, snorting goop in your face...He is the most bumbling stinky mess of a dog that we have even give him his own Murphy voice that sounds very droll and dopey. He is seriously lacking balls (unless a dainty poodle is put in his path) and a number of teeth, and always wants you to rub his bum and if you don't he solves the problem and rubs it ON you. This is why I thought he was the perfect candidate for Prince Charming! Admit it ladies, men have a lot of these characteristics too! ;)

Check out Inge Kathleen's greatness of the week: http://www.ingekathleen.com/blog/

Raincheck

2011-07-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

I would like to apologize for all you waiting with baited breath for my side of the Minge Self Portrait Challenge. There is this rule of threes for all failures and successes in life (but mostly failures) that I read about once. Three things must go wrong (or right) for there to be a horrible/lovely tipping point...in this case I changed jobs to Art Director that increased my workload 10X. I hit the Muay Thai boxing gym hard this week which lead to making crazy fun Muay Thai friends who have tried to get me drink every night this week with varying success...AND my 4th card reader of the month broke after using it once...(grr...I am starting a real nice graveyard for all my broken SUPER cheap made in China CRAP!) AND I'm traveling to Burma tomorrow...All in all I know this is a pile of excuses, however a rain check is in order! I promise not one but TWO awesome self portraits on this coming Tuesday! Pinky promise! Until then please enjoy these photies from our past workshop:

Burmese refugees, immigrants, and hill tribes people tend to have a hard life in Thailand . Without proper papers their children are not allowed to attend school, have legal transportation or get a decent job. You will usually find the whole family on the streets selling strings of jasmine, babies strapped on backs and small children running around with grubby fingers begging. Or you will find them working in the hot sun in construction camps where they get terribly exploited and live in the surrounding slums. I run into my little Young Lion students while eating out at restaurants or sometimes even when going for drinks at bars because their parents will cart them around and drop them off to beg for money from foreigners. This also puts the children in dangerous situations where human trafficking occurs and where the jump from selling a few strings of jasmine and selling yourself is a very easy and encouraged one. It is a sad cycle that is only perpetuated by racism and lack of education.

Wat Pa Pao is a Shan temple that provides schooling for these children and gives them the chance to break out of this cycle of poverty and exploitation. It is not a well funded school, but the need is incredibly high for what they offer. The classrooms are located around an ancient old crumbling temple where teachers will take their classes to sit in the shade and teach. Some classes have 50 students varying significantly in age.

We went to Wat Pa Pao for just one art workshop which now seems to have become two or three. They adore us and because the children rarely have the luxury of art classes and meeting strange looking foreigners, they literally begged us to come back.

2011-07-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

"Front yard Salsa"

Art workshops that turn into impromptu salsa dancing in the front yard have got to be close to my favorit-est things ever! We all bumped into each other randomly at Sizzling Salsa night in Chiang Mai and decided to share that crazy dancing experience with the Burmese refugee kids who come to our Young Lions workshops every Thursday. Well really, this little charmer was all over the girl volunteers and spent the hour terrorizing us with his fancy little eye lid flipping technique *shivers*. So to distract him, Laura decided to teach him some Salsa dancing moves that she'd learned the night before. It was such a hit we might just make a whole Salsa dancing workshop out of it! :)

Self Portrait #10

2011-07-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

Some days what you've got your hiney perched on isn't all that much to boast about. One of my favorites songs has a super sweet line that I think is necessary to live by:

"You might be a big fish

In a little pond

Doesn't mean you've won

'Cause along may come

A bigger one"

(can anyone guess the song?:)

Neways, yes this is a portrait of complete randomness. My new cool roomie (blog shout out to Loweell!;) strapped me into this crazy corset thing I found in a random box upstairs (I also found a feather boa...hmmm) and I ran outside to catch the light but found it had left without me...heartless. So I chased it around back and found some of it's last beams perched on an old broken toilet. I thanked it kindly for my new throne, hopped aboard and took self portrait #10. This will have to be revisited in the future, but currently life has taken a turn towards chaos. Embrace the chaos! Due to a bad tempered dog who randomly bit our former ARI Art director/coordinator lady, I've moved into her job early, working with our awesome volunteers to put together super sweet art workshops that will wow the world. That's not as easy as it sounds. BUT I adore the challenge! I will try my utmost bestest to keep up with this self portrait craziness, BUT if I'm a wee bit late *cough* *cough* please forgive me! :)

2011-07-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we visited a home for children with disabilities in Chiang Mai. Our volunteers decided to do a music workshop that consisted of decorating small instruments made out of paper cups and plates. Then we sat in a circle and sang songs rocking the children back and forth and using our new instruments to accompany our singing. The children were beautiful and the staff incredibly loving. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite ARI workshops.

King of my Heart

2011-06-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Today I went in search for the littlest of our Young Lion kiddos, (Young Lions is an a art workshop we hold in our front yard for the local Burmese refugee kids) and back a short, trash strewn soi I found dozens of families crammed into a tiny, broken down house. Once you understand the life these children lead you also start to realize how small projects like the one we hold in our front yard, can mean so much to them. This little guy held my hand on the way back to the office and we skipped and jumped and chased our shadows all the way home. He stole my heart with his beautiful long lashes and stunning smile.

Self Potrait #9

2011-06-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

I've had a ton of different portrait ideas pouring into my brain since we started this self portrait craziness. Part of the challenge for me, is to see if I can take what I have in my current surroundings vs. what I can do in photoshop, and create my ideas. Well, with this one I definitely broke my promise with Liz Lauer to not be so creepy. Sorry Liz!
I figured I tackled the closet last week and of course the natural progression from there is definitely bottles... ;) My concept was pent up emotion, how we bottle up our emotions and shove them down deep inside...I'm sure if we could see our internal storage system of things we've failed to deal with, it would look something like this. Only with TONS more bottles...hmm...maybe that would help this image...This idea of heads in a jar isn't that novel and I'm still tweaking the outcome (all suggestions and comments welcome!), but the feeling of being able to have this portrait in my mind (yes ok maybe i'm a wee twisted) and figuring out the way to make it reality was challenge enough for me to tackle it.
Oh, one more thing:
Dear Photoshop, I ❥ you!

Take a peek at a 1810 Inge Kathleen here! :)

2011-06-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

"Foreigners come and abuse the children badly in our country."

These are words and similar messages I heard this morning at the human trafficking prevention conference this morning that brought a number of local and international orgs together in hopes to join forces and start to create a network of protection for these young children and adults who fall prey to trafficking. Each Friday I usually post my "Favorite things" from the past week, however I would like to change it up this week and as I am not thinking very happy thoughts today.

We have been working with the New Life Center, a partnering org that provides a safe refuge for young women who have been trafficked, to create an interactive maze for the MTV Exit concert to stop the exploitation. These girls wrote their personal messages and hope for the future and artwork that hopefully 30,000 concert goers will have the chance to view here in Chiang Mai. Above are examples of a couple completed panels.

It is hard to imagine anything more horrible than the sex trafficking of young boys and girls. The staggering statistics just here in Thailand and hearing the heart rending stories of those who have lived this reality, literally makes my heart throb. My anger towards the individuals when benefit and find pleasure in this trading of flesh is staggering. How can people be so horrible to one another?! How can men with wives and children of their own, come to another country and be such monsters?!

Today I wanted to dedicate my blog post to what I believe to be one of the most horrible occurrences happening today! I know "Human Trafficking" is a word that we can easily be disassociate with because it feels so far away from us, especially those living in the states, it's not our direct reality, however human trafficking still occurs even in the states and it is the horrible reality of so many little children and adults around the world. There should be no tolerance in our world for this sort of behavior and as a global community, please help by supporting people, organizations and causes that dedicate their time and resources to preventing and protecting against this carnage.

Thank you!

Below is one of my favorite songs that I wanted to share:

"It's not about win or lose

cause we all lose
when they feed on the souls of the innocent
blood drenched pavement

One day this all will change
treat people the same
stop with the violence
down with the hate
One day we'll all be free and proud to be
under the same sun singing songs of freedom like"

Self Portrait #8

2011-06-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

So life has been crazy busy these days. A part of me congratulates myself for stuffing life so full that I can't find the time to do photography...This might sound strange coming from a person who is having a mad love affair with her camera and even thought about naming her...But you know you're doing something right when life is so vibrant and busy that it equals that feeling of clicking the shutter button! Plus I truly believe that every photographer should have a camera-less quota they must fill every week. There is a huge difference experiencing life from behind your camera vs. in front of it. The true goal is to be so good you can do both simultaneously with great flare and personality! ;)

So this morning I hauled my carcass out of bed at 6am to shoot my self portrait...had an internal debate as to whether i could physical get the wardrobe down the huge twisting stairs and out to the front yard...decided the probability of injury was greater than success and proceeded to tear my bedroom completely apart (and when i say completely i mean there is a couch currently sitting on my bed). Then I shoved myself into all sorts of awkward spaces, all before my morning cup of coffee.

This week on the job, we've been dealing a lot with human trafficking. Human trafficking statistics: who is affected, what countries it occurs in most, and what it looks like here in Thailand. We are partnering with MTV-Exit, who will be putting on a concert on June 25th here in Chiang Mai, to end human trafficking and promote awareness. Our ARI team is working one-on-one with a partnering org who provides a safe home for girls who have escaped from being trafficked, to create artwork and messages for the maze. The more you learn about this horrible occurrence, the more you start to look at the people around you in a different way. The sweet faced little Burmese girls who fill our yards with the happy sounds of laughter every Thursday, they are so vulnerable to this that it makes my heart hurt.

When I started shooting this self portrait, I was thinking about how we are forced into places, consigned to boxes, and put into roles that aren't exactly our own and don't fit. As I was editing the images in photoshop, I started to see visual similarities between my poses and the images from our human trafficking research. In a way human trafficking is the ultimate way of being forced into a role that is not your own.

Learning about human trafficking and working with people who have been victimized by it, changes your whole perspective on the men and women you see working the streets. It makes me absolutely LOATH the dirty little middle aged western men who come to Thailand for a very particular and horrible purpose. Some days I am just too embarrassed to be a Westerner in this world, and that is not something I typically say. "Western" has a very different meaning and connotation to many Thai people. Some days I feel like I can never do enough good to make up for all the horrible bad in this world and that is the most terrible feeling!

After 8 consecutive self portrait craziness, we're still going strong! Check out missy Inge's beautiful creation this week: Inge Kathleen blog.

2011-06-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

FRUIT! I'm a fruit-a-holic! Me and fruit are one...well at least when it's inside my tummy that is. As you can imagine, I am in fruit heaven here in Thailand! Little fruit ladies can spot a softy a mile away and start waggling their eyebrows and hand fulls of papayas and mangos in my direction when they see me coming.

My good friend Reid likes to say, "You are what you eat." Yes, I totally embrace my fruity side and just for future reference, if you need to ask a favor or have bad news, or good news, or no news...(hmm getting off track here)..it's ALWAYS better accompanied with a basket of fruit...hand fulls of mangos...pineapples peaking out of your bag!! Just sayin'...

2011-06-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

So I've had this fascination with movement lately. There is just something I love about the unpredictability of long time exposures and human movement. When you look at the back of your camera it's like Christmas every time! Colors and smears and lines...gosh it's a gorgeous thing when it works. The world can be such a fascinating place when it's out of focus! But then again I was also one of those children who would lay on my back in the grass for hours staring at the world from between my squinted lashes or behind closed eye lids because it made everything look so different. (yes, yes, strange child I know) Long exposure photography is sorta like that for me...laying on my back and watching the world through my camera's blurry eyelid.

2011-06-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Self Portrait #7

Whew, busy busy whirlwind weekend with loads of good things happening, but not so much time for shooting. I'm a bit of a gimp these days with two lovely scraped up legs that make me hobble around like a 90yr old, but I made it to first base, I did! (I'm maybe a little too competitive when it comes to sports) So this is a bit of an older self portrait that will have to be a stand in until the old ticker gets back to...ticking! ;)

Anyone who knows me knows I can kill the most hardy of plants. My sisters even went as far as to buy me cacti for a birthday prezzie because they knew how much I LOVE green things in the house, but it's the remembering to water them bites me in the butt. Let's just say the cactus was found dead as a doornail a few months later. There is just no Mandy-proof plants on the market these days! My trail of plant carnage has left me with minus karma points and I've spent a life time trying to make sweet to mother nature. But really, whose fault is it that I was born with a brown thumb anyways?! *cough cough nudge nudge*

Check out the Inge Binga self portrait greatness of the week!

2011-06-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Goofy tan lines from work always bring a smile...to both my face and those who are lucky enough to see me running around like this! Yesterday, I boasted to a friend about sitting outside a coffee shop doing grant writing research and karma paid me back kindly with the most hilarious looking tan line ever! Now I just gotta figure out how to lose this baby before the weekend! But on the flip side, I'm sorta getting attached to it, every time i look down i'm reminded that A. i live in a fantastic tropical place and B. I never have to experience winter ever gain! :)

2011-06-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

"Home"
Being footloose for a few years will make you start to think about the word, "home.' It could be your memory of that grey asbestos childhood home in Lynn IN, with its huge old dilapidated barn whose sloping roof you used as a sledding hill (because Indiana is so flat they couldn't manage to make any natural ones of their own). Until your mom found the bum ripped out of every single one of your snow pants from the roofing nails and banned your slipping, sliding fun permanently. Or maybe it's that big white house near Williamsburg, IN, where you used to lay on the warm, broad back of your old quarter horse for hours watching the clouds drift by and listening to him munch and gurgle. Or all the number of apartments you lived in for college, internships? Maybe it's that tiny one roomed Yangsu-ri digs (that turns into an icebox in the winter) with the rows of windows looking out over the Korean village square and you could hear soju soaked Korean shouts in the wee hours of the morning. Or Chiang Mai, where two dogs wait for you to come home with sad brown eyes (my personal weakness) and mangoes fall from trees in the middle of the night sounding like bombs on the tin roof, but make you dream dreams of sweet, sweet mango-ness.
Really, you set up home in all sorts of places with all sorts of different objects; sometimes even other people's objects, and you start to realize that home isn't a place or time, isn't a state or country, or even a house.
Home is where the heart is!
(Oh yes, I totally was just that corny!;)

Does anyone else get the odd compulsion to cart out all the living room furniture to the yard and set up shop? I'm telling ya, it's the best seat in the...(wait for it)...home! ;)

Ever seen Inge Kathleen's barbarian side? Nope?! Me either! Take a peak here!

2011-06-03T04:49:00.000-07:00

This month has been brimming full of new adventures, discoveries, and friends! Moving to Thailand, getting to know the CCT family, and meeting incredible new volunteers and friends has been an exciting experience! I would post all my great memories if I could, but there are to many to fit, so here are just a few fun moments from the past month. Happy June everyone!

2011-06-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

One fine Saturday, I hopped on the back of a motorbike and was transported up a windy mountain road to the most beautiful mountain top temple in Chiang Mai. So much blinding gold and chattering people and deep jungle colors set my photo brain a-whirl. We sipped coffee and listen to the bells ring as people circled and circled. Here's to good friends, great conversations, and new adventures!

2011-05-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Why in tarnations has this book never been written?! I know, I know, all females are suppose to emerge into the world, born with an innate sense of knowledge of all things womanly: cooking, cleaning, fashion, popping out babbies, makeup, picking out good husbands, wearing high heels, and all those gazillion beauty products. But it's just not so! In fact, I feel like I've been playing catch up most of my life when it comes to being a woman. We're suppose to do WHAT?! Put what WHERE? Who the freak makes all these rules anyways! And so I've decided to start a bit of a themed self portrait series on the comedy of womanhood. It is a comedy...at least when I do it. ;)

And for all you peeps just tuning into my crazy bloggin' world, my bestest bud in all the world, Inge Kathleen and I, began a self portrait challenge about a month ago. So far we've pasted ourselves with newspaper, live snails, and flowers, tried a power tool makeover, fallen asleep in a Korean field, levitated, and hopped up and down on broken washer machines all for the sake of a good photo. All in the span of one month! You can only imagine what else our wee warped minds will come up with next! ;)

2011-05-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

The feeling of the wind rushing through your hair. Perch on the back of a motorbike. Speeding through the jungle. Leaning back to stare at the trees and sky. Arms out stretched like a kite.

Best feeling in the world. Even when it rains.

(Best done when someone else is driving the bike! And if you're a camera crazy girl like me, put him through a little training first or he might have a heart attack the first time he sees you leaning off the motorbike, swinging your camera wildly with a goofy, possessed smile on your face ;)

2011-05-25T01:33:00.000-07:00

The Stratton ABC Foundation, one of our fantastic partnering organizations here at CCT, provides a home and education for 14 hill tribes children whose parents cant. Our ARI volunteers designed and built a playground and jungle mural for the children.

Tools of Beauty

2011-05-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Self portrait challenge numbero quatro!

When you walk into the bathroom and open your makeup case, do you ever feel like you might as well have just packed a chainsaw and a high powered grinder?! Some days are just like that, but lordy, the things we do in the name of beauty! We tear ourselves apart stitch by stitch, and build ourselves back up with fake lashes and painted lips and fake tans. And really all that muck just covers up the deep seeded insecurity and over critical-ness that no amount of perfection will appease.
When did we stop believing that its what's inside that counts and all that healthy mumbo-jumbo about natural beauty?! When did we buy into all that crap that the only valuable thing about a woman is her looks?!

I lived in South Korea for nearly two years and it was like a step back in time. Women were only as valuable as the amount of makeup they could slather on or the tightest dress they could shimmy into. Women were committing plastic surgery on themselves every time they looked into the mirror. And do you know that's not the scariest part?! The scariest part is that plastic surgery really IS that easy in Sk! Teenagers receive it as a graduation present from their parents, young girls believe it will solve all their life problems. You don't like your beautiful almond, Asian eyes? Cut them open. You hate your beautiful high cheekbones? Shave those babies down to have the skinny Western look. Beauty is a measurable formula, an equation that Korean plastic surgeons have supposedly perfected. It's measurable in the height of your nose, size of your eyes, and skinniness of your body. Got a muscle from, oh say, walking?! Shave it down!

The world becomes a scary place when a woman is just a customizable barbie doll in heels and men hold her strings like a puppet master. A scary scary place.

The self portrait challenge is going full steam ahead, but if you want to see someone who is really stepping up to the plate and taking it to a whole new level, check out Inge Kathleen's work this week! The woman's got mad portrait takin' skillz!

2011-05-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

When I was a wee kid my dad made the tragic mistake of telling me that women belonged in the kitchen and from that day on I made it my burden duty to NEVER be caught in the vicinity. He also told me that girls couldn't play basketball or baseball and I spent my teenage years beating up every boy I could find on the court and field. I'm not entirely sure if this strengthened or stunted my development, but it definitely revealed a very integral aspect of my personality that can be summarized in one word: stubborn.

I adore good food and can be bribed to do almost anything for a delicious supper...hike mountains, run half marathons, wash dishes...etc. Thanks to my two incredible foodie friends, Inge Hooker and Gail Harris, I've developed a desire to be able to whip up good food in the vicinity of my own kitchen. Last weekend I tackled a Thai cooking class. Thai food is one of my all time favorite cuisines, but in addition to its incredible-ness, I also have this grand idea that someday when I find myself back in the states, I will throw a huge party for all of my friends and cook dishes from all over the world and from places that I've lived. You don't know what a scary thought this is for someone who spent the majority of her life avoiding anything culinary, but being able to bring back the taste of places I've been and lived has lit the fire of determination! (See? Stubbornness can be a good thing! You just gotta figure out how to out think your own silliness! Now to work on the "barefooted and pregnant one...;)

2011-05-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Introducing my weekly "Favorite Things" Friday blog updates! Every week I'll post random photies of people, places or things or just crazy stories and random events that make life so rich and fantastic!

As if having a million cutesy coffee shops around every corner wasn't enough, these beautiful little contraptions are also zooming around Chiang Mai, Thailand serving you espresso on the go! Literally! You don't even have to stop walking! ;) They've single handedly found a way to make my college day dreams come true: caffeine IV drip without the IV! I've made fast friend's with my little espresso truck men and next to the wee fruit stand ladies, they JUST might rank one of my favorite things...ever.

Welcoming...

2011-05-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

The two newest, hairy and slightly slobbery members to the CCT family!
Introducing:

2011-05-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

What a wild holiday week! Monday night, I joined the Chiang Mai hordes making a 6hr night pilgrimage up to the mountain top temple to wish Sir Buddha a happy birthday, enlightenment and death. Every person, children, granny, dog, cat, motorbike, tuktuk and red truck in the city of Chiang Mai could be found in a very intricate human traffic jam on one tiny road winding up the mountainside. I'm pretty sure that the city down there looked like a deserted ghost town, not a car or creature on the usually busy streets.

It was a fantastic feeling letting my legs stretch out in a fast walk and feeling the blood and muscles pump again, reminding me of my EBC trek. If you go fast enough, people blur by and I swear it feels like there is wind beneath your feet!

At the top was an elaborate layout of food vendors, foot massage stations, and people crouched down in groups to spend the special night beneath the stars at the foot of Buddha. In some ways, the atmosphere felt a bit like Christmas and yet, in place of materialism and self indulgence, the entire population went out for a 6hr hike up a mountain. hmm...wonder which tradition is healthier for you.

After filling my screaming tummy full of steaming cups of what taste like sweet corn porridge, pieces of cold pineapple, and spicy papaya salad, I settled in for a long, delicious foot massage to rub the knots from my tootsies. This may be a surprise considering my love of massage, but I've never had just a foot and leg massage, and now I wonder why?! With a full tummy and happy feet, I set off for the long walk down and made it home just as the 5am morning rains began to pour. Happy soggy Buddha Day everyone! ;)

Self Portrait 03

2011-05-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

NO SNAILS WERE INJURED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PHOTO

(except for that one that fell in the pond, clumsy little guy...)

So I've added a few new jungle moves to my life these days...My new workout regime goes something like this: 50 sit-ups *squash creepy crawly* 15 push-ups *squash idibiddy tick* 25 lunges *squash HUGE tick and shoo out misguided tree frog* I find I am now lost in between sets if there aren't moments of insect genocide. I've a very happy tree frog in the kitchen who greets me with a croak when I stumble, in half awake to cook breakfast in the mornings. And I've still not become entirely comfortable with the geckos who scurry across my walls fleeing from me and munching bugs all in one go. But instead of fighting nature, I've decided to embrace it! Tap into the inner animal. Become one with...snails. You wouldn't believe how moody those little guys can be. One moment they're tightly holding on to your arm and the next they're committing kamikaze suicide off your shoulder...tsk. I wonder if they've got anti-depressants for the poor wee fellows. Snail blues have to be the bleakest!

This is one in a series of self portraits that Inge Kathleen and I began at the beginning of May. The goal is not so much to torture ourselves, although judging from this image and those to come you might disagree, but to fine tune our portrait taking skills so that when we find a model willing to, say, levitate in the air, pose on top of rusty ol' washers, or cover herself in slimy snails...well we'll be ready! It's a lot tougher than it looks, trust me. In fact, anyone want to join in the self portrait fun?! The more the merrier. ;)

2011-05-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Today, I escaped the office for an afternoon and hopped into the volunteer van on its way to our partnering organization: Hope Home. Hope Home is refuge for Thai children with disabilities. Social taboos and and an overall lack of knowledge about disabilities here in Thailand, has added to the misunderstanding and mistreatment of these wonderful children.
It's only my second workshop with them, using art to help with their motor skills and to give them a chance to be creative little kids. As we walk into the room their excitement is palpable. Smiles spread across faces, legs begin to shake in excitement and anticipation. My little partner's name is Pancake. She's my little pigtailed explorer. She is partially blind, but explores the world through sound and has the most rebelliously adventurous spirit I've ever known. Some days she gets a wee bit sour and refuses any help at all, even if it means running into tables and chairs, she'll do the opposite of what you ask. She wants so terribly bad to be her own person and to do her own thing and anything less will make her scream bloody murder. But today I can tell that she is having a good day the moment I hop out of the van. Her little face is like a beam of sunshine and she wears a devilish smile. She seems to remember me and wanders my way so I can scoop her up and we weave across the floor dancing to the music and singing silly songs to ourselves. Today she even joined in with her own rendition of the 123s, which completely stole my heart. Phil has mad skills painting with his feet. In the beginning of the workshop, he is like a mad artist attacking the canvas. All flailing limbs and happy concentration etched on his face and in his big brown eyes. Tiny Joy watches the world, inspecting everything and everyone. At the end of the workshop we always have a race; each one of us manning a wheel chair and someone else standing at the end of the lane to mark the finish line. Smiles break over faces and the excitement builds. "Ready, set, go!" Squealing tires (compliments of my sound making abilities) and the patter of bare feet on stone. Joy and I win our second race and I raise her hands in celebration and she gives me my first smile!
Not every day goes smoothly, and not everyone is in a stellar mood, but the outcome, whether it be winning a wheeled race, painting a beautiful picture, or summonsing a tiny smile, is always rewarding enough!

Hope Home

2011-05-11T03:12:00.000-07:00

Today our fantastic volunteer Nicola, created a print making ARI workshop for our partnering organization, Hope Home. Hope Home is refuge for Thai children with disabilities. Social taboos and and an overall lack of knowledge about disabilities here in Thailand have added to the misunderstanding and mistreatment of these wonderful children. Here is a wee preview of a more extensive post to come! Enjoy!

2011-05-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

Fear [fir] noun. 1. A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

If there is one thing that prevents us (me) from living life to the fullest, it would be fear. Seeing how this is the theme for my Self Portrait 02, I should probably talk a bit about the long term relationship I've cultivated with the nasty little creature called Fear.

So Fear and I have been tight, like best buds tight. Somewhere along the way you tell yourself that Fear is really trying to help you, not harm you, and you sorta embrace the stinky feller. Or maybe there never was an obvious choice at all, it just felt like you were sorta born this way. Well that was kinda me t-minus 20 years ago...or actually not so long ago. It may be hard to believe now (ha), but I've been afraid most of my life. Feeling helpless, insecure, afraid of what people were thinking or saying, and just plain scart of my own shadow. My poor mamma can testify that I was the most ridiculously freaked out child; scared to put my head under water (even in the tub), scared to walk across a log that straddled our creek (or just a fallen tree), scared to climb trees, or walk on barrels, or shoot a gun...and my all time personal favorite: scared of puking in the toilet (don't ask me why, but that toilet was the menace of my childhood!). So yes, me and fear were tight. Maybe because my relationship with fear started at such an early age, I also learned a bloodthirsty habit of whipping it at its own game. It's not that I've conquered it or become scary enough that fear doesn't scare me (although some might beg to differ), nope, I deal with fear every single day. It's more that once you learn about its nasty habits, you also learn the best ways to wrestle with it n' win. Some days, which are now more like hours, minutes, or seconds (if I'm really on my game) I am the curled up creatures you see above. Afraid of failure, of decisions, of trying new things, or making new mistakes. But anymore, it doesn't last long and this is where I thank baby Jesus I was born with the most ridiculously rebellious and competitive spirit (competitive within reason I might add). It's almost like a game these days: grab a stop watch and think of something that tweaks you out, then turn that stop watch on and you see how long it takes you to conquer that desire to run and hide. Because when you do it that way it becomes a war between you and the stopwatch not some obscure voice inside your head telling you that you're not good enough or you're not smart or fast enough. And really, who can handle being defeated by a bloody old stopwatch?! Not I.

So to all those tough decisions, to taking a leap of faith, or getting on a plane to an unknown country…alone. To insecurity and looking dumb and trying new things and to falling flat on your face; I say bring it on! Each one is just another chance to grow a little bit more, to become a little bit stronger, and to fear a little bit less!

Check out Inge Kathleen's self portrait awesomeness!

2011-05-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

This big old house is starting to settle in around me and the jungle noises that emanate from the overgrown pond area and backyard, are starting to sound more like greetings rather than threats, as I walk home through the gate at night. Some of my favorite things in the whole world can be found here...loads and loads of delicious fruit, cozy little cafes to hide from the rainy season and sip a hot cup of coffee, fresh food markets whose loud bartering noises and jumble of people and fruits and veggies always bring a smile to my face and make me feel terribly lucky to be livign and breathing and experiencing all this. Burmese refugee children come play on my front porch in the evenings and we sneak around with my camera, surprising volunteers with our stealthy picture taking abilities. These kids adore using my camera, anyone keen on doing a photography workshop with Burmese refugee children sorta patterned after Listen to my Pictures? This is a photo workshop I've been dying to do for years!!

Self Portrait challenge

2011-05-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Why yes, that is me, getting all down n' dirty with some smelly laundry and two broken down ol' washing machines that just happen to have been in my backyard. My bestest friend and partner in crime Inge Hooker, who's lovely face I've not seen now for two full weeks, *sniff* issued a weekly self portrait challenge that would broach the distance between Korea-land and Thailand and give our photo skills a run for their money! And when I say a run I mean a painful long distance run that causes you to start wheelin' and dealin' with the power that be. So Sunday morning I grabbed my camera, a stool, and an old flip flop and headed out to the over grown backyard. Call me crazy, but there is nothing like weeds up to my eyeballs and piles of discarded treasure (aka junk) to make me feel right at home (I blame this on growing up in Indiana). So picture this; I've got the camera popped up with a wedged musty flip flop, on top of a stool, on top of an old rotten table...and there I am hopping like a deranged bunny rabbit onto two dirty ol' washing machines, striking a dramatic pose, checking the back of the camera, shaking my head while muttering curses/instructions to myself, hopping back up to try again...and repeating the whole silly sequence over and over again. Not a special moment you want to share with a stranger...or a whole group of strangers...or even better, a whole group of MONKS. In the middle of one of my dramatic poses covered it dirt and sweat and thinking there was DEFINITELY a reason I am behind the camera and not in front, I looked to the heavens for a little guidance and found...a VERY entertained group of monks on the second floor of the building next door. I think as far as new neighbor introductions go, this one takes the cake. And this is only the beginning! Keep tuned every Tuesday (ish) for more strange tales and self portrait adventures!

2011-04-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I set off to explore Chiang Mai, the first step of which (of course) was to get lost down small alley ways and back streets. I've made a name for myself on my own little Soi (alley) as the fruit girl, making fast friends with the best fruit lady (she's even tried selling her son to me!) and espresso lady on the street (you must have those basics covered where ever you go!). Chiang Mai is a city surrounded by pieces of an old wall and a mote that was used to protect the city from invasion. This means you can't get too lost without bumping into a gate or wall that helps re-orient you and bumps you back in the right direction. If that doesn't do the trick, then the million little temples scattered along the way and tons of helpful smiling Thai people should keep from wandering indefinitely! I successfully located the Sunday Market street, where vendors and stalls set up selling everything from clothes and jewelry to food. I wandered around chatting with vendors and learning the ropes of Thai bartering. There is just something challenging and invigorating about bartering that makes every purchase just a little more satisfying! I think I could become a bartering addict...hmmm
I also found a superb running trail in my neighborhood in a beautiful little park that makes me feel like i'm running through a mountain jungle filled with lions, tigers and bears! (more incentive to run faster) I scored my first sunburn of the season, getting rid of the last traces of the Korean winter blues! Woot!

Land of a Thousand Smiles

2011-04-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hello from sunny Chiang Mai, Thailand!
The chicken has official flown the coup! The Korean coup that is. So I made it. After flying all night and weedling evil luggage weight Nazis, and slipping them a few bills under the table (rolls eyes), me and all my respectable luggage have touch down in the Land of Smiles. And it's true! These people actually DO smile back at you! It was actually an almost uncomfortable sensation at first to have someone return my goofy smile. I think I even tripped in surprise at the toothless little Thai lady who seemed to find me tromping down the Chiang Mai backstreets as exciting and smile worthy as me! I haven't had much of a chance to do anything except make up for lost Zzz's slobbering on my new Apt veranda and getting lost a couple times down random back streets (which is the best way to explore a new city if you asked me!). For my first Thai food experience I channeled my inner Inge and scored a grilled fish popsicle from a friendly street vendor. It may not sound like heave but trust me, I got weak kneed at how delicious that wee stuck fishy was! I have made close buds with the fruit lady (pineapple for under a buck?!) and espresso lady on my Soi (alley). And yes, all you who had sneaky suspicions about my travels always follow the trail of delicious coffee, Thailand DOES grow its own delicious bean and YES I'm drinking massive amounts. It's so good I haven't even gone to Starbucks once! *gasp*
Yesterday, our ARI volunteers did their weekly Young Lions Art Program workshop with the local Burmese refugee children and I was able to sneak out of the office to spend some time and take some pictures of these beautiful children. Chiang Mai is home to approximately 120,000 Burmese refugees and migrants in search of freedom from fear and oppression. What they find here in Thailand is far different from what they expect. The family members are utilized for cheap construction labor and not given rights or residency by the Thai government. As a result, they have no choice but to live in construction camp slums and their children are not allowed to attend school. Instead, you will find them wandering the streets trying to put food on the table. Yesterday morning, three beautiful Burmese girls came up to me with strings of sweet smelling jasmine flowers clasped in their grubby hands and hopeful eyes. I smiled and told them that I was not buying and to my amazement the oldest one, who had bruises circling her neck, gave me the most incredible smile and told me how beautiful I was with thumbs up. As they walked away she kept looking over her shoulder reluctantly and called out the few English words she knew. I was so touched by these children. The Young Lions Art Program is an art workshop Zoe Lambe, the managing director of Cultural Canvas Thailand, put together to reach out to these children, to give them a chance to just be kids as well as to express themselves creatively. It has been a smashing success! We are trying to raise funds to reach out to the larger community of refugee children here in Chiang Mai. Take a peak at our project and lend your support! Young Lions Art Project
If you can't tell, I am a happy girl here in Thailand! I think I was made for tropical weather, fruit galore, delicious Thai food and working with this beautiful organization: Cultural Canvas Thailand

Farewells and Happy Trails!

2011-04-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Last Supper

I cried all over my last samgapsal school lunch. I should have known I couldn't hold off the waterworks with my favorite little 4th grade students. I'm so glad they were my last class, ever! There was just no way to resist the,"I love you Man-do-lin.Bye-bye" I know you're not suppose to have favorites but there are two boys from the orphanage in my 4th grade class that I would like to steal away with me. One always lays his head in my lap so I can play with his hair and the other holds my hand and tells me that every time he looks at the new teacher he will think of me instead. *sniff* I bawled like a baby. In front of my principle and all the Korean teachers. Teddy, my teddy bear boy, wouldn't look at me and sat sadly in the corner as if pretending I wasn't leaving would stop it from happening. I later found him sadly wandering the empty school hallways telling the teachers who passed by how much he was going to miss me. So I took his little face in my hands and told him how much I loved him and then we rocked back and forth. The rest of the day we made hand hearts at each other every time we passed by. I can't believe how much these children pull on my heart strings!
Later, all the teachers circled around me in the break room and told me how much they enjoyed having me and would miss me, giving me farewell name brand shoes and hugs. I had to make a little speech about my time with them and all the things I had learned from each of them. And I cried again. "Happy tears," I said, as they watched me bemused.
Goodbye my darling Korea and munchkins. I will miss you stax and stax!

The Time Hack

2011-04-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

A while back I referenced an article about slowing down our perception of time by doing something new and crazy every day. Well today I stumbled across the blog again,The Time Hack, that outlines Matt Danzico's year long project aimed at exploring whether our perception of time is influenced by our actions. The blog archives currently contain 102 documentations of his wild experiences. Even though I'm not wild about taking my noon day munch out of a waste basket or chewing a piece of ABC gum, I find the idea of challenging yourself to do something new and outside your comfortable zone daily, as a way to enrich your life and slow your perception of time, to be an inspiring way to tackle life.
Give his blog a read!

"You've got to jump off time and build your wings on the way down."

2011-03-23T22:28:00.001-07:00

It's just about that time, my lovelies...time to say goodbye. But not the sad sort of goodbye, the happy-I'm-moving-to-Thailand sort that makes you wanna do a goofy little jig! I feel in some ways that I've been waiting with outstretched wings for the wind to catch me up and away; for my path to become clear. And now it finally has!(A portion of it anyways). My ticket is booked, my sundress and flip flops packed, and my course set for Chiang Mai, Thailand. I will be working for this fantastic little NGO called, Art Relief International. They work with tribal groups, Burmese refugees, single mothers, members of the gay and transgender communities, special needs and orphaned children using art as therapy and a means of self expression for groups that are often cast out and ignored. Check out their amazing work of the heart here. I am excited to join their crew in April and can't wait for this new chapter of my life to begin!

2011-03-08T21:48:00.001-08:00

Said Reid as I began to whine for warmth and coffee, two MUSTS in my life that I cant go for more than 2hrs (*cough* more like seconds) without (might as well hook me up to a coffee IV and roll me up in an electric blanket). We strolled around a little mountain side town searching for noodle shops and doing goofy photo shoots in front of a brightly painted wall. That morning we had hijacked the birthday girl, Gail, and sent her on a journey into Seoul with an address and nothing else (ok ok we let her wear clothes, but that's it!). She wound up at a luxurious Korean cooking class and it turns out that cooking classes for extravagant foodies, like she is, is like handing dope to a addict, cocaine to a junkie, a cup of coffee to me...And yes, I am totally proud of being the enabler AND honorary taste tester! After she worked her magic on kimchi and bulgogi, and into the hearts of the chefs, we took her on a short hike up the mountain to the best coffee shop in all of Seoul (possibly the world)! Here the steaming mocha, drizzled with chocolate, sends your taste buds into delicious spasms and makes you think dark, exotic, luscious thoughts...about coffee. No lies, it's that good. Upstairs is a "cupping room" right next door to the ladies room...this day just keeps getting better n' better! (Apologies for corrupting all you innocent minds out there! It really is just used for cupping...coffee...not...uh never mind ;). Days like these spent with friends and happiness are what a whole life should be made of!

And yes, this is usually the reaction I get when I walk into a room. ;) (or when I've got people pinned against a cutesy wall and I'm in the middle of a busy street playing chicken with a huge bus barreling at me just to get the perfect picture! Looks pretty perfect to me, doesn't it?)

Crossed Cultural Wires: Conversations in taxi with boys

2011-02-23T17:48:00.000-08:00

There's always unique aspects to living in a foreign country; different customs and traditions to deal with, and tons of new ways to trip up that you never even knew existed. You end up blaming a lot of things on cultural and language barriers, probably more than they deserve, but there are just some things that make no sense no matter how hard you try...For nearly two years I've tried and tried to chock it up to cultural differences and social gobligook and crossed cultural wires...but seriously? Some Korean men can be down right spooky!

(5sec after meeting & 1 sec after he mustered up enough courage to talk to me (I'm scary what can I say;))
Korean: Where are you from? How old are you? You have boyfriend? no? nice! *Me starting to get twitchy* Where you live? *Me trying to be vague* That building there, right there? Right there? What's your apartment number? *Me starting to looking for escape routes and things to throw* You sleep alone? No, namja (boy)? Just you, sleep? (he mimes sleeping with his hands against his cheek) *Me trying to remember Korean number for 911* (Korean brain: hmm…so she lives in building 4, apt 3, alone, no boyfriend, and gets home at…*checks watch*)

Me: Wait, uh, I forgot, I'm married, no boyfriend, just married. How many? Oh maany maany husbands, (Korean shakes head in disbelief, tsk tsk you foreign women..) boyfriends are a pain in the butt, you gotta be nice to them n' feed them, but husbands? no problem! Children? Um, yes, like 6, (Korean gasps, gives me the beady eye) *I shrug* much much love, it happens. Yup, these are some well used organs, all stretched out. (Korean now very confused) I mean once you've had one baby the rest just start falling out! Gotta get a cork and cork that sucker up! (Korean looking very worried now, changes subject) Yes, I live there. No, no boy, but dogs! Maany maany dogs! Big ugly beasties who eat Koreans for breakfast. Yep, I tried to stop them, but once they got a taste of Korean blood they were hooked! Addicted. No doggie biscuits for them, nope, but when a little Korean man comes knocking on the door, it's like, "snack time boys!"

I swear I'm not a compulsive liar, it's just when I get asked a certain number of personal questions in a certain sequence all alone in a strange country, the alarm bell go off and self preservation techniques I didn't even KNOW I had start rearing their heads. Maybe Koreans are culturally wired to ask ubber personal questions on the first meeting that look super suspicious, but in my defense I am wired to make up all sorts of crazy, unbelievable lies when strange men start asking me unnecessarily personal questions especially when I'm riding in a taxi all by myself in the middle of the night in the middle of rice paddy country. I wonder if this is how all those strange misconceptions about Western women got started! ;)

2011-02-13T16:40:00.000-08:00

2011-02-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

I once read this great article (but for the life of me can't remember where) about a guy who felt like time was flying by him and he wanted to slow it down. He proposed two techniques to do just that; the first was to do as little as possible, because when you do nothing at all, you become bored out of your gourd and time feels gruelingly slow. Tick tock tick tock. However, what he found was that instead of making it feel slower, time actually sped up because there were no significant memories or experiences to help anchor it down in his mind. It was just one big blank. So he tried his second technique. This time, he decided to step outside his comfort zone, continually putting himself in strange, uncharacteristic situations that would test both his concept of safety and challenge his fears. By doing this, he found himself in so many memorable moments and incredible experiences that he actually felt like he had experienced every moment, which made his concept of time slow and made his life more fulfilling. (Hope I didn't massacre the story too horribly bad!;)

And so this is my new challenge for you and for me! (Those of you who know me best know how much I adore challenges, but it's not about who wins or loses, but the journey along the way). My goal is to cram-pack life so full of crazy, brilliantly exhilarating, moments, and experiences that time feels like a puddle of cold molasses!
It's time to break out those list people! Tally up those fears, pay attention to those moments where that nasty little voice in your head whispers: "can't, can't, can't!" Those moments you find yourself ducking behind inanimate objects or coming up with all sorts of lame excuses, and instead of letting fear walk all over you with its big, nasty, fungi filled feet (because fear grows like fungi ;), it's time to grab these moments, jump on that dance floor, wear that silly hat, climb that huge mountain, and say: "I can, can, can!" (or "up yours fungus feet!";)
And so here is my list of fears to conquer in 2011 (in no particular order):
Public bathing,
Traveling solo
Real dancing
Serious swimming
(I'm not even adding explanations or excuses for why, because….there are no excuses anymore)
And so 2011, I would like to kick you off with…duh duh dumb…an Ajuma Scub!!
In addition, I am initiating wiggling Salsa dancing Wednesdays in Seoul AND Hopkido Tuesday/Thursdays (just in case someone tries to put all kinds of hurt on me ;).

(For all those wondering about this home grown Korea tradition: an ajuma scrub is the process in which you get stark naked (in a Jimjilbang or sauna aka public bath), lie on a plastic table with two older Korean ladies (ajumas) dressed in black bras and panties, who scrub you within an inch of your life…and I do mean everywhere. Their motto should be "no place left untouched", while mine should read, "scared out of my skin"…literally).

Also, I will be moving to Thailand in March! Can we say hello beautiful beaches, sand between my toes, daily Thai massages and meditation, and the best food in SE Asia?! What more can a girl ask for?! I have one month left with all my beautiful peeps here in Korea, so let's live it up ya'll!

P.s.
Visitors welcome in my tropical Thai paradise! ;)

2011-02-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

You walk into the shop through a quaint wooden door and inhale the scents of roasting beans and brewing coffee, all the way to your very toes. At that moment, everything in the world seems right, radiating outwards from the epicenter of that cozy, sweet smelling coffee shop. It's like a balm to your soul, and you unravel all your cares one sip at a time.
Our first weekend back in frozen Asialand, Inge kidnapped me on a post birthday excursion, and led me up a snow covered trail to a little coffee shop where magic happens. There we sat for hours, cuddling our mugs of deliciousness, and yarning about life, family, travels, personal growth, and the evolution of Minge. It's been an incredible experience to grow side by side my best friend, and to see the world from where we stand now; the future full of fathomless potential. And both of us ready to meet our individual futures with arms wide open!
Onwards and upwards, I say! Onwards and upwards! ;)

Hot Springs and Pumpkin Pie

2011-01-17T04:15:00.000-08:00

v
The moon has come out. The mountains slowly cool. The New Mexican hot spring breathes with me, our breath steamy in the chilly January air. My fingertips turn white and my skin rolls into a million tiny wrinkles. And still I stay. I stay for the stars and the goose bump and the snowflakes. I stay for the dreams to find me again.
And here I am saying goodbye again.
Once more the journey begins!
Cya when I cya USA!

2011-01-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.mandolynm.com/

Good morning!

2011-01-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

This is the face that wakes me every morning this vacation week with an irresistible smile and,"tickle fest?"

After almost two years...

2010-12-31T15:38:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's hard to imagine that angelic little ol' me is related to these wild animal hat wearing beasties! But yes, after lugging my over sized red suitcase onto three different buses (getting the evil eye from three different Korean drivers), jumping onto two planes, surviving the Beijing water Nazis and the 24hr flight (gasp)....and after almost two years MIA, I flew into the LAX airport to be greeted by....(duh duh dum) two glove/mask wearing siblings happily waiting with their hazmat body bag ready to secure the Korean diseased sister. Love I tell ya, truly loved.
We spent a glorious xmas with our aunties riding ponies, eating green chili stew, and hiking one of them until she hurled chunks (yep, grandma Jeanne will never talk smack again!;). We took off to explore more of the Cali coast, stumbling upon blubber bellied sea lions in Morro Bay where we decided to camp the night. We braved the monsoon weather and the plopping vultures who sat in the tree above our tent having a plop-on-the-camper-contest. As we headed inland the rain turned to snow that stalked us all the way to my parent's house in New Mexico where we got snowed in blizzard style. I travel half way around the world to get stuck in the worst snow storm NM has seen in years, go figure! ;) Now the car is packed, the coffee pot set to brew at 5am and the butterflies are spinning expectantly for the next leg of my east-erly trip. If you see two crazy, animal hat wearing people driving like mad in their pimped out ol' Camry cutting a wide swath across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois on a few hours of sleep and a couple gallons of coffee don't be worried...it's just me bringing the party to IN+KY! :) Happy New Years you all! Let's live it up 2011 style!

2010-12-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

My last travel adventure in Nepal and trekking the EBC was an incredible experience and one I found profoundly spiritual. These are some orphan images that never found a home in past blog posts, but that I wanted to share.

"May your paths be crooked, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." -Edward Abbey

Dear Friends

2010-12-15T03:22:00.002-08:00

Tonight I was going through some old photos of my dear friends, Cora and Susie, a pair of sisters I met one Spring day in 2007 trawling the back roads of Appalachia Kentucky looking for an ACP workshop story. I saw these two beautiful wrinkled old women working their garden and stopped to sit and shoot the breeze and that day marked the beginning of our beautiful friendship and my two year documentary of their extraordinary lives. As I looked through the photos I felt a profound sense of loss as if their beautiful faces were no longer around to shine kindness in my direction and would never have another photographed taken of them. They were inching closer to 90 years old when I left and a part of me knew I would never see them again, but I never wanted to think it. I wonder if I remembered to tell them how special they were to me and how much taking me in like an odd stray bird and treating me like a daughter meant to me. I am so honored that our lives touched for such a brief moment and so happy that I could share their world for such a short time. But I will miss these two incredible women. Women whose hand's felt like the work roughened ones that took mine in Indonesia and whose rusty voice that told me stories sounded like that of my Korean grandmother. Whose wrinkles creased with tears and sun were just the story lines of a life well lived like those I saw on the faces of the Nepali Sherpas. Feeling their loss made me think about death and how it's something that we never seem comfortable with as humans. I know it's because it's so final, it's The End, but you would think that like a good ending to a great book it would leave us with a feeling of peace and acceptance of this cycle that is life. But it never feels like peace does it? A part of me recognizes that it is the impermanence of life that makes it so special, that reminds us to revel in every moment and yet I fight against the very thing that makes this world so painfully beautiful. A good friend of mine said something that I thought was profound,
"If everything lasted forever, experiencing it would be meaningless."-AH
I hope to someday be comfortable enough with death and my own decay to cheer a beautiful well lived life and to accept death as a natural process, as natural as being born...

Dear Friends

2010-12-15T03:22:00.001-08:00

Tonight I was going through some old photos of my dear friends, Cora and Susie, a pair of sisters I met one fall day in 2007 trawling the back roads of Appalachia Kentucky looking for an ACP workshop story. I saw these two beautiful wrinkled old women working their garden and stopped to sit and shoot the breeze and that day marked the beginning of our beautiful friendship and my two year documentary of their extraordinary lives. As I looked through the photos I felt a profound sense of loss as if their beautiful faces were no longer around to shine kindness in my direction and would never have another photographed taken of them. They were inching closer to 90 years old when I left and a part of me knew I would never see them again, but I never wanted to think it. I wonder if I remembered to tell them how special they were to me and how much taking me in like an odd stray bird and treating me like a daughter meant to me. I am so honored that our lives touched for such a brief moment and so happy that I could share their world for such a short time. But I will miss these two incredible angels. Angel's whose hands feel like the work roughened ones that took mine in Indonesia and the rusty voice that told me stories like that of my Korean grandmother, whose wrinkles creased with tears and sun are just the story lines of a life well lived, like those of the Nepali Sherpa. Feeling their loss made me think about death and how it's something that we never seem comfortable with as humans. I know it's because it's so final, it's The End, but you would think that like a good ending to a great book it would leave us with a feeling of peace and acceptance of the inevitable cycle of life. But it never feels like peace does it? A part of me recognized that it is the impermanence of life that makes it so special, that reminds us to revel in every moment and yet I fight against the very thing that makes this world so painfully beautiful. A good friend of mine said something that I thought was profound,
"If everything lasted forever, experiencing it would be meaningless."-AH
I hope to someday be comfortable enough with death and my own decay to cheer a beautiful, well lived life and to accept death as a natural process, as natural as being born...

2010-11-27T00:00:00.001-08:00

2010-11-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

Time flies....

2010-11-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

The world has turned one full circle and once again I am back at the beginning where it all began a year ago watching the leaves change and feeling the fall chill in my bones. How strange it seems that Korea is now more familiar to me than my own country. This morning as I strolled to school my favorite little 3rd grader, Sam, ran and grabbed my hand with his sweaty little palm, and led my down the misty road."Mandolin come," he said proudly in English. The country road is lined with red flowering plants that my little Korean grandmother planted in the spring and with the glee of a happy little boy Sam plucked off the red blooming heads and excitedly showed me how to catch the last drops of sweet nectar in my mouth. We made our way to class sucking on sweet flower petals and holding sticky hands. Sam is my pal, an incredibly heart stealing combination of rowdy, dirty little boy paired with a sticky hand holding sweetheart. Some days I just wanted to steal him away from his orphanage home and keep him for myself.
It's been one incredible year with teaching in Korea and finding great friends, traveling to Indonesia+the Philippines, Nepal and trekking to EBC, learning Scottish dancing, running a half marathon, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food! There are completely perfect moments when I think,
"Gosh darn I love my life!"
Can the next 50yrs be just this ridiculous happy?!

2010-09-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

It was one of those nights you knew would live like a ghost in your memory to be called up by the tinkle of Nepali music or smell of cheap cigarettes or a sorely out of place Irish pub plopped in the middle of Asia. And one of us will say, remember that time when...we showered for the first time in weeks, and shared that delicious Greek salad and peanut sauce satay and Nepali milk tea and chocolate cake with ice cream and chicken milk at that little Italian restaurant that we went to so often they greeted us by name and made special farewell coffee drinks for us? Or maybe it will be the brush of warm feet, or golden streaks in shaggy hair, or the telling of long stories and hard questions that will remind me.
We flew from Lukla to Kathmandu at 10am and it was like a stereo had been switched on to blaring. A part of me felt an odd sense of welcome, a strange happiness to see this dirty jumble of humanity. As if I had come home and yet not. And then the noise, the honking, the bargaining and shouting and dodging peddlers and puddles and bikes towing large carriages and manic taxi drivers became overwhelming and I was longing for the cool quiet mountains again.
We took a taxi to a sacred river where bodies are burned and then swallowed in its depth and final farewells are said. Hurt and wounded and crippled people lined the block around the welfare house begging for money and food and I could not take a picture. I could not take away their dignity. The very act of taking a photo for myself, of displaying their pain seemed selfish. It is one of the only times I have felt this way, felt that without a purpose, without a message, without giving back in some way my photographs would be exploitative. Their misery washed through me, one small cry that expressed the misery of the whole world.
As the evening light fell I made my way to the river side milling around and feeling a wee bit useless. One beautifully winkled old lady in colorful Nepali dress took my hand and led me with her and laid out a grain bag for me to sit on as if she had been expecting me. Other women plopped down around us in front of what I gathered from hand gestures and random English words is a building where the old go to die. Behind the cool wall lining my back lay wrinkled and age wizened bodies waiting for the final breathes of their spirit to slip away peacefully and join with the slow moving swirls of the river. The group of women chatter aimlessly at me in Nepali, touching my arms, my hair, and happily smearing a red, slightly sour smelling goop on my forehead and hair in a blessing. I gather that something is going to happen and that we are waiting and that when it does happen i am to take pictures, but not now. So I sit with them as they hum softly, swaying with their movement, receiving curious stares from other foreigners, thinking how I must look, one strange girl tightly encircled by brightly dressed old Nepali women. Blessed. As the last glint of light skims the horizon they each get up slowly and begin to dance in a pool of golden light, me in tow. Their beautiful dark wrinkled skin turned golden by the street light, swirling silhouettes against an incredibly blue blue sky.
They were my angels. I don't care why they took my hand and led me with them to the river, but their kindness touched my heart and in that poignant moment we were literally perched there, on the stone steps, in between life and death. What is life but a flamboyant balancing act that will eventually tip over into death? And so to thank them for welcoming me like a daughter I did what they asked me to and what I do best, took pictures, praying that one of them would express the channel of love flowing from my heart to theirs and back again.

2010-09-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

The clouds creep up the mountain valley enveloping our little teahouse in its grip and rubbing its fluffy belly along the tin roof causing it to creak and groan. These noises wake me in the mornings as we prepare to set off for Gorak Shep. Our path follows that of the river, retracing its footsteps upward and following the corridor it etched between the mountains. When it descends we rise and when it rises we descend. We leave its side to hike higher to Namche and Periche but always we follow it higher until its gurgles are transformed into ice and finally at Base Camp, into blue solid glacier.
This trip was one of the most incredible experiences of my life! We were literally hiking MACHINES! Well ok, I have a confession to make, I am a wee bit of a hiking Nazi,...and I sorta hauled poor Inge along behind. But in my defense the trekking itinerary had us only hiking 2-3hrs a day! OK sure sure its all up one huge mountain, but come on that's totally sissy! So i did a lil makeover of the hiking itinerary plans and added on just a measly 5 or 6 or 7hrs of hiking each day...made sure we took our acclimatising days when we needed to and stayed within the 1000ft altitude...and wallah! We made it up in 5.5 days (*cough* usually it takes 10 days) and we hiked out in 2 days (it usually takes 5 days!). Again in my defense that 12hr hike from Gorak Shep to Namche was ALL Inge's idea!! You know you're doing good when Sherpas and guides are impressed with your speed.
I'm pretty sure we ate Nepal out of house and home, but dang do you get hungry when you're going up a mountain! After 8hrs of plodding along we were ravenous by the time we hit Gorak Shep and everything and anything looked delicious! (Inge even started eyeballing the poor yaks along side the road and made "friends" with the Sherpa boy totting 15 laying hens in his basket. I'm not sure she could have eaten them all but it would have been fun to see her try!). I have never tasted a more delicious snack of peanut butter and honey pancake dunked in Garlic soup, lemme tell ya! What you don't believe me?! It's definitely one winning combination you've just gotta try!
The next day we hot the trail for Base Camp and lost it a few hours in under a huge rock avalanche and I couldn't pick it back up for the life of me! I tried everything, brought out my measly tracking skills following the footsteps of the hikers from yesterday, I skidded to and fro on the rock covered glacier exploring every nook and cranny until I nearly took a nose dive into a big sink hole, I even followed the trail of yak poo with my nose up the ridge that outlined the path the pack animals had taken. Nothing. So after surveying the mountain enclosed valley and finding a ridge strung with a million prayer flags, we plopped ourselves down and declared this ground "Base Camp." We munched on the Snickers bars that we had totted all the way up for just this jubilant moment, did victory dances, and photo shoots and swore to never breathe a word of our base camp confusion. We were relieved to discover later that we HAD found Base Camp (of sorts) and that due to the monsoon and rock avalanches the terrain had change significantly.
And so completes the story of how two goofy, camera totting twerps marched 70+ miles up a mountain with few showers and even fewer changes of clothes (haha) and how on one snowy July morning they found themselves hooting and hollering in triumph from a perch at the Top of the World!

2010-08-30T20:30:00.001-07:00

2010-08-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

2010-08-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

Blessed. That's the word that keeps popping into my mind again and again as I sit here in my small teahouse bedroom listening to the sounds of the mountain stream outside my window. Oh, how I am blessed. If I were to keel over this very minute it would be with a silly smile plastered all over my face!
We landed in Lukla like giddy children hopping to get underway. On our way up, we met a local man who kindly slowed his pace to guide us along the starlit trail, one he knew by heart from his younger sherpa days. We stumble into Phakding a little soggy around the edges, our newborn hiking legs feeling deliciously sore. After filling our bellies with hot milk tea and Dal Bhat we curled up under our quilts and fell asleep to the gentle sounds of the woods and river and not one single honking horn!!
I can safely say I underestimate the climb to Namche Bazaar. In my head, 200m looked tame, but when you stack all that altitude into one tiny spot in the form of a big, never-ending mountain, it takes on a whole new perspective. We hit the mountain with a spring in our step, but after an hour of climbing we were being passed by plodding sherpas carrying their weight in huge packs strapped across their foreheads. Another hour and I was studiously emulating their plodding step and the S shaped path they cut across the trail. Finally, bend after heartbreaking bend that only revealed yet another section of the mountain we had yet to climb, we came around the corner and there perched on the side of the mountain was the U shaped village of Namche Bazaar! Assah! We were greeted by two super adorable village child carry miniature sticks (pic#5)who came running at us excitedly and started whacking at our legs with their small weapons and giggling uncontrollably! Yes...I know they look like miniature ANGELS but really under those cute cherub faces are foreigner beaters in the making!;)

Nameste from Nepal

2010-08-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

We swapped Tibetan mountains for a jumble of buildings, honking cars, and masses of unwashed humans that is the city of Kathmandu. Inge and I hit the ground running, picking up necessary trekking gear during our whirlwind trip through Tamel and plopping ourselves down in the airport at 6am the next morning, excitedly waiting for our flight number to be called. And we waited...and waited...We went from sitting attentively to sprawled across uncomfortable benches, slobbering all over our new fancy gear. One by one hopeful hikers dropped like flies, some having waited up to 7 days for the skies to clear. But not us, nope, the bad weather couldn't possibly stick around with our clean, shiny faces in the vicinity, right?! In between catnaps, I cracked open my new book, The Alchemist, and latched onto my new favorite trip quote:
"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it!"
And so we sat there day after day, wanting Everest Base Camp with every corner of our squishy hearts and drinking overpriced Nepali milk tea.
On Day 3 a dusty young Irishman (aka Podge) approached us with an ingenious helicopter escape plan that entailed us finding our wallets and 2 other passengers for the ride. After a few seconds and mulling over the torturous last few days, we agreed! And so we scurried around the airport, from one set of weary looking travelers to the next, Podge working his magic with the ladies and Inge and I taking on the guys. Soon we had a whole group of converts and were ready to hit the skies, but the weather turned even too evil for our beautiful bird...
Day4: Our last chance at Everest. We all filed into the airport with shoulders dropping and spirits low. We had agreed to change our MO today and to act as if there was no place in the world we'd rather be then chilling our heels in the wonderful Kathmandu airport in hopes that this would trick the grouchy Everest gods into letting down their clouds. We wore different clothes, bandannas, hair up instead of down, choose seats closer to the front...4pm finds us broke, we start planning the incredible dinner we're going to have to make up for another dismal day...then the call comes..."Better weather"...psh...If I had a penny for every time I heard that! So NOT impressed. Then we are carted to the waiting room, still looking so apathetic you'd think our grandmother just died. It worked! We are zooming across the tarmac towards the prettiest darn lil helicopter I ever clapped eyes on! And in one of the most happy and exciting moments of my life we take off and that, my friends, is how we escaped the jumble of Kathmandu for the cool green mountains of the Himalayan!
Meet the Everest Base Camp crew, together we tag teamed it all the way to the top!

Colin, 5th Grade New York teacher/philosopher

Podge, the Irish nomad

Us, two purple booted, camera totting dweebs

And Sebastiaan, (Sorry man, never got the chance to grab your portrait basically)

More photos coming soon!

Nepal Bound...

2010-08-10T02:28:00.000-07:00

Half the adventure of our vacation time and seasonal Winter/Summer escape from Korea is purely in getting there. It wouldn't have the same flare if our flights didn't have at least 5 connections along the way and maybe a few layovers sprinkled in there for good measure. We like to one up ourselves every time vacation rolls around just to make sure we're doing things bigger and better and making it even more memorable then the last. So, as you can imagine our flight itineraries are starting to get a little complex, our mountains a little higher, and our sense of humor A LOT dorkier. On this occasion, we decided to live on the edge and fly domestic through China at midnight...oh joy. You no longer need an entry visa to touch Chinese soil, however apparently half the country (+ the Beijing airport) missed that memo. I found myself desperately explaining to immigration how I had utterly no desire (zilch, zip, zero) of escaping into their incredibly friendly, always welcoming country with its amazingly lyrical, music-to-my-ears language. I'm not sure if it was my charm or incredibly compelling argument, but they let us in.
After flying through the night and spending some serious bonding time catnapping on marble airport floors, we made a surprise stop off in Tibet. While groggily hauling our luggage through the terminal we asked the attendant the time and he shook his head emphatically and said, "No time." Then he pointed to the ceiling and said "Information." In our sleepy states we stared at the ceiling for a few seconds waiting for clarity to hit and then in usual Mandy&Inge fashion, laughed and gave each other hi-fives for successfully finding the "Land of No Time" where all secrets are revealed by staring at the ceiling! Assah!
And off we flew to the Land where God and Mountains meet.

2010-07-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation is nipping close at our heels, so Inge and I made a special trip into Seoul to find the right pair of fancy purple boots just for the occasion! This time instead of lying on white sandy beaches, sipping exotic fruit juices, and getting ridiculously awesome tans that sent our Korean teachers into a tithy of horror (assah!), we’ve decided to take our vacation to the next level…literally. On July 17th we will begin our 13 day trek from Lukla, Nepal to Everest Base Camp, climbing to a mind altering (literally) 18,000ft. Our fancy new purple boots will stomp no less than two hundred thousand steps upwards, traveling 100 miles round trip and hiking up to 9hrs a day depending on terrain and altitude.
In preparation we've been on a mission for the past week to get our boots into tiptop shape for this once-in-a-lifetime, are-you-off-your-rocker(?!) kind of experience! We’ve been taking our boots out for long walks up Korean hills (everything is a hill in comparison to Everest, sniff) and through towns, receiving envious glances from fellow hikers at our oh so trendy, cutting edge hiking attire!
You may not know this but the air at 18,000ft is thin enough to bottle up and send home to your grandmother and your body sometimes doesn’t even realize that it’s still breathing (which is bad news bears either way you look at it)! So in addition to getting our boots in shape I've decided our lungs need a good workout too, "hee, whoo, hee!" Just picture it, two purple booted, camera totting dweebs, marching up Korean hills, practicing our Lamaze birthing breathing techniques while counting off "March 123, breath in ("hee") 123, march 456 breath out ("whoo") 456!" And that my friend is what we will be doing all the way to the Top of the World!

2010-06-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

Spring!

2010-05-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally graced cold Asialand with its presents and everyone from squishy duckies to half frozen English teachers are jumping for joy! However, I am sad to announce that this blog post marks the final few known clicks of my precious camera who has been with me through the thick and the thin, in sickness and in health! She has stuck by me through the torturous pj college years with professors hell bent on making me cry, countless hours of sleep deprivation, and survived 3 internships with innumerable bumps, bashes and bangs not to mention all the near death experiences. In short, we were tight. So after 6 beautiful years together, yards of gaffers tape, and oodles of elbow grease it is time to bid my baby farewell! May you rest in peace...and may the bum, who ever and where ever you may be, who swiped my precious baby have minus Karma points and maybe a run in with a fast moving bus in their future....snif

2010-05-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we donned our aprons, whipped out our special ingredients and Juliette (aka the electric mixer) and in no time flour was flying, smack talk ensued and the best melktart challenge was issued! I blinged my crust out with fancy edges scoring points in the aesthetic category, while Jono went more for the taste choosing a deep dish pie pan...Together we conquered the incinerating box that doubles for an oven and out popped two of our greatest baking achievements yet!