Being back in Bali is familiar and new all at the same time!
Familiar as I was here once before back in 2007 and I have lots of lovely memories and 2 very challenging ones which had me think I’d never come back here again. The biggest is the place is filled with black magic and being the sensitive being I am I can feel it, literally when they’d shout “Taxi, Taxi, Yes, YES, YES!” It was as it if it was going right into me. Later I found they had corded me to Ubud so I wouldn’t leave, as not many tourists were coming at that time with so many things like bombings, a boat sinking and things that kept the tourist away. So they were trying to keep the ones that were here…well I broke the bond the day I chose to go to Lombok…on the boat ride over I got far enough away that it was disconnected…I felt like I could breathe again and I wasn’t arguing with this 2nd voice in my head to stay and wanting to go.
The second thing is there are lots of wild dogs here, rabies is still a big thing here, which I didn’t know at that time. My first day out I was walking through the rice fields and these wild dogs surrounded me barking violently at me and if it wasn’t for a little old lady coming out and saving me, I don’t know what would have happened and it left a definite edge of fear in me with the animals here. Plus they don’t take care of the animals here…they are all scrawny, mangled and they fight each other all the time.
This time I feel a bit of 2 worlds…I feel all of that with the taxi drivers and a few homeless wanting money…and I feel their need for needing to make and income or to feed themselves…so it feels a bit different. And they aren’t in huge groups like they were before…even though walking down the street I am asked “taxi”? every 1 to 2 minutes and they sometimes think we don’t hear them so they repeat “taxi, yes, yes YES?” It has me want to sit down with each one of them and share our experience that we have already been asked 20 times in the last 30 minutes. I love the ones that have signs now saying “Taxi”, it feels better to just see it!
And the dogs, they are still a bit violent and I have already crossed the street walking home last night to avoid one that was barking in a violent bark!
And then there is something else…after wandering the street, passing temples, humans, dogs, shop after shop…realizing this place is a shopping persons paradise! If you know me you’d know I’m not huge on shopping in the US…but here, Thailand and India, I like it…maybe it is because I have spent life times in places like India, and I’m used to it here. Today I saw a shop, removed my shoes, walked in and was looking at a dress…truth is I knew I wanted it, but looked at other things. Coming back to the dress and asking her price. She came back with “special morning price for you”! Oh, I love that…a sweet voice giving me a special price! I came back with a low price I know she’d never take!
“Oh that is too low, I can’t do that” another offer
I send another offer.
“Oh that is too little, more please madam”.
I repeat my same offer.
She comes up.
I look around a bit and she sells a few things to a passer by.
I gaze right at her and tell her my final price with is right in the middle of hers and mine, she knows I am not budging and I know I have hit the price she wants…she agrees!
I give her the price we are both happy with and I walk out with a bounce in my step! I haven’t haggled in years….I forgot how much I love it!
I walked on looking for the studio that has Contact Improv and Ecstatic Dance…the GPS takes me to the wrong address but this woman tells me where it is! I went back to her restaurant to eat lunch later. The place where all these events happen looks like a huge theater from the outside…I wonder what it will look like on the inside since the dance space isn’t visible from the front. As I walk out, I start dreaming wonderful thoughts of wondering if I’d like to teach there! Of course after I see the space! I am starting to crave to teach again and this seems like a good place to just that…along with finding the place I’m staying as a space I could teach on and 2 massage tables! Feels good to think of working while being here!
I walked back to the the restaurant that told me how to get to the studio and ordered an Avocado juice..which usually comes with chocolate dripped on the side of the glass and on the top with 3 avocados milk and some ice blended and poured into the glass! Hers had no chocolate…and it was still lovely! I got some of their Balinese veggie curry with their incredible tempe, which I remember loving before and still love now! I sat and started to read a book and with peace just pouring in through me and feeling my whole system relax as I read about breathwork and feeling my shoulders drop…there is no where to go, no where to be, but just right here!
Nyoman brought me my juice and asked if I wanted sugar in it. I asked for salt…I mean after all it is avocado, she wrinkled her nose to me doing that. I asked if she’d ever put salt on an avocado, she said no. So indeed this must had been strange for her. My food came within minutes after the juice…it was so quick, the cook said “It is for one”. I sat with that for a bit “only for one”. Yes I have desired to be a 2, and I have been proposed to, first time when I was 13 years old, last time somewhere in my 30’s, but none of them felt right, none of them were a “hell yes” and I want the hell yes if I am going to marry someone. I take commitment very seriously and if I am going to put a ring on it and commit…it better be a Hell Yes for life!
After my food was done..which was incredible! I went back to book, drinking it in. It was so beautiful to have no where to go and now where to be. This is exactly what I am looking for in a part of this journey..to relearn to relax and read a book and follow my desires all day…I do this when I am stable from time to time, and I want to go deeper into it, as well as deeper into many other areas as well so they all feed me! I read until I felt done and walked on…I found a hammock shop…I didn’t know they sold travel hammocks here, it was great to lay in one and cool off! The heat is a bit much after the cooler Colombia as it was in rainy season when I left and LA being cooler as it is October. I just seem to be humid all the time here as I walk down the street and wonder how I am going to have enough clothes without washing them every other day! But then it is shopping heaven here…and believe me my brain is going crazy! I could build a whole new wardrobe here…and then the part of me that was designing my own clothes here when I was here came bubbling up to the surface asking me “do I want to do that again?” And part of me is a hell yes to that! And without having samples it can be very challenging…as that is how it was last time!
I remembered doing some Batiking when I was here last and I am looking for another teacher…as I’d love to do more of that while I’m here..it is such a beautiful art as well as I love dying things…plus a beautiful meditation!
So my first day so far is off to a good start! A mix of all kinds of things!
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
My Time In Colombia - A Big Catch Up With You
It has been a while…yes, sorry. I have tried many times to write on my blog and always half way through I just didn’t finish for some reason.
I have now been in Colombia for nearly 2.5 months…I have been from the big city of Medellin to the colorful and very touristic town of Guatape and San Rafael..one of my faves on this trip. As it is so small it would really be called a pueblo. There are no tourist there so I had t practice my Spanish…interestingly enough I could feel my brain actually changing as I only used Spanish! This little town was filled with waterfalls, and the water was perfect in temperature…I could stay there for a long time!
I left and went to Jardin….this magical place I fell in love with…this is where I found my space to do my Breathwork, meditations, dance, workout and write! It was a very nice slice of heaven for me…all the while I could hang in hammocks anytime I wanted and surrounded by nature…my kind of place! It was so hard to leave that place…not so much for the town, though it was adorable, but the sacred space for being able to do my practice each day! I value that so much!
Next was Salento…people flock here, ok…to be more specific tourist flock here, I got off the windy, slightly stomach sickening drive into white people! Thankfully I was warned, as this would have been a shock. I was told “there are more tourist thing locals there”. They were right. I really get I don’t like HUGE tourist places…I like a balance…I like seeing how the locals move, eat, live ….and when there are so many tourist they change. I don’t get to “get” them then. I walked around the town, it was lovely. I found a trail and that led to a small street to a bigger street where locals took tourist on horse rides…they’d go off the trail to a waterfall or where ever they were heading.
The next day I met up with a guy I met on the bus and he and a group he’d met went to Cocora Valley for a 4 or 5 hour hike! This is where there are large Palms…the fly way up in the sky soaring over us like a flag pole 2 or 3 their height. We wandered through the windy trails and terrain…one woman picked up some macadamians nuts, I don’t know if you have ever seen these in their shell, but they look like little wooden rocks and they were nearly as hard to crack open. But when we got to a view point we all squatted down to start cracking them one by one with one rock on bottom and one on top!
We looked to the sky and wondered if we were going to get drenched..but it just stayed dark grey for awhile! We walked to the top of the mountain to find a humming bird sanctuary…really it is a place where they put out lots of sweet water they love and they just hover around all day, there are no cages, they just drink all day long! It was incredible to see them up close..to see them sit still for so long on a branch or hover over a bowl to drink. They truly are magical beings! At this point we got served up a cuppa cacao with cheese…ok…yes, many put the cheese in the cacao…I did too, but it didn’t melt so it just got popped into my mouth!
I felt like I got to connect deeply with each person that was in our group…and we all had such wonderful things to share and talk about. I started sharing about how I was keeping my intention on self pleasuring everyday and one of the women said “I have been waiting 5 weeks, this whole trip to meet someone like you…having real conversations”…this really made me happy as I love these conversations. Another must have been uncomfortable as he changed the subject. Later she and I talked about amazing topics around sexuality without the others.
I mentioned I taught Breathwork…and all of them said they wanted to experience it. So that night, once we were back I took them through a session. It was powerful…they didn’t want to get up, they went in so deeply. One started to share but couldn’t finish as she was so touched by it, and so another shared and another, they were all moved so deeply and were shown such depths of themselves. The first woman then was ready to share and she spoke on all the connections, the ah ha’s of here life and with the people in her life. And then she looked at me and said “and I’m not supposed to leave, I’m to stay here with you. If you don’t mind that is”. I didn’t mind at all….she is the one that we got to talk about numerous conversations that fed me. We all finally left to go to dinner, not realizing almost everything was close..but we found a place and ate.
The next day we found a new place that was out of the town and had nature, we went horse back riding and that was like a little slice of heaven! I hadn’t been on a horse in a very long time! It felt good to be back in the saddle again!
That night she asked me to give her a session and it was a powerful healing session indeed! I love working with someone who is really ready to move the old out and the new in and face the stuff that needs to be faced and she did just that!
The next day it was time to say good bye…it had been the deepest connection I had on this trip and like everything, it was time to say good bye for now! She felt like a soul sister to me!
I went off to Filandia…this little village where everything was so close, very few tourist and it was just chill there! I spent over a week there…resting, hanging in the hammock, going on bike rides and meeting new people! I met a guy on my 2nd night there and he and I hung out and explored some of the town together!
What I find amazing about this country is that everyone here, except just a few, are so friendly, so helpful, willing to go out of their way to make sure you get what you need if they can. They will make sure you really understand the directions of a place…make sure you understand them…even if they have to used translator. They want to make sure tourist are safe too, by telling us what barrios/areas to avoid and they have the most patience then I ever remember experiencing in years or ever. They take the time until you get what you need. They are not in a rush to go anywhere…AMAZING!
After my wonderful time in Filandia we took the bus down to Armenia where I was going to meet my Spanish teacher…where he’d moved. He’d asked me to come down so he could give me a tour of the cacao farm he is working on and to meet his parents! While my friend went off to Cali, where I’d meet him later that day. I got a cab out to this little village where I was just dropped off and waited for Julian. Truth is, if it was anyone else I might have been concerned but it was him…so I knew he’d come for me. I knew he might be late, which isn’t normal for him, and I knew he’d come for me. And sure enough he did.
He showed up, long hair pulled back, as he took off his helmet and his glowing smile, a hug and kiss, as this country always kisses on the cheek! He got a store owner to keep my backpack for me and he told me we had some errands to do for his mother and off we went. Arms around his waist and away we went. I loved smelling him in the air coming toward me. It is incredible to be drawn to someone so deeply because of the mind and heart…sure he is lovely, but there is something so deep and rich in our connection, the eye contact, the realness of our conversations…and I knew he was my friend. And I am happy to know him and have him in my life without anything else.
We went off to the city to do errands…this place probably has never seen a tourist in it…so I got some looks, though it wasn’t uncomfortable, it was just as if something new was there and they kept moving, sometimes saying hello, as they always do!
After the journey of him getting one thing, then he’d call his mother and she’d want something else until she was complete. She would never pick up the phone, but always call him back to say what she needed. When we were complete we headed back toward the farm and as we drove he saw a sign for a vista point and stopped to ask me if I’d like to go as he’d never been there before. I said yes. I love that we were exploring a little part of this place together as he’d only been there 15 days. The vista felt more like the ride out, surrounded by trees, fresh air, it was gorgeous! He stopped to ask about the vista…the man said there was none as the road was closed…I looked at him and said “so we are getting our view right here on the road”! He agreed. We drove farther on to the end, took in what we could see around us, the mountains and fields!
We went off to his family’s place, I didn’t know they lived on the cacao farm. I showed up, they came out and greet me and there were kisses and hugs, some small talk and me wishing I knew more Spanish to talk more. We all went into the house and she and Julian served up some lunch which was divine! They made sure I was well fed and with plenty of water, juice and whatever else they had to give me to drink! I shared with his family that their son was my favorite person I’d met in all of Colombia…I think he was a little taken back or something. I wanted them to know how incredible his son was as human and as a teacher. They were very proud of him. I saw and felt how much they all loved and respected each other. I knew now why he loved living with them. It was palpable the connection they had!
I helped out with the farm work his father asked us to do…which felt lovely to be able to be part of his day and supporting the farm. I got to take a tour of the cacao farm and Julian got to practice on me as he hadn’t done a tour with anyone and I got to give him feedback, though he was already pretty good with it!
Well, as usual we spent hours more time together then expected, he dropped me off to get a taxi and off I went to Cali. It felt amazing to spend the day with him.
Ok…so now comes Cali…this is the Salsa Capital of the world! They are known for their Salsa! It is also known for being one of the most dangerous cities in Colombia. I found out the rules of the city to not getting robbed…no parks when there is no one in them, no taking your phone out unless there are many people around and not near a road where a motorcyclist could just grab it, don’t leave your stuff around where people can just get it, like on a café table, which are many of the rules of Medellin too, just here if you get robbed it might be at gun point! Well, I’ve had enough guns pointed at me in this life time and I don’t need any more. So I abided by everything!
I soon found an apartment...which had me feel grounded, peaceful, it was like a sanctuary to do my practices in and be in my womb! My introvert loved it. My space was part of a 3 bedroom apartment with a back porch that was covered, a place to hang laundry there too. And my room was next to the kitchen and dining and living room. In the apartments here there is a corridor from the top to the bottom floor that is all connected and you can hear your neighbors, smell what they are cooking and sometimes wonder if someone is home, when it is really your neighbor that made a sound upstairs! And I got used to it all really quickly! I’ve been in these kinds of apartments before.
I found my dance teacher… Diego, what a talented light! He knew Salsa! And he did with such precision…as if you were going to perform it! As he, when he was 16, only being 26 at the moment, was in the International Salsa Festival! That blew me away! I saw him nearly every day for our lesson…and after a few sessions I could feel my brain really taking it in and shifting. They say dance changes your brain, well I could feel just that. Sometimes I just “got” things, other days it was like I couldn’t retain it. It was so strange. It was like the Spanish lessons! Which I’ve always felt amazing at doing anything physical but memorizing dance steps was something very new for me…so it stretched me. It wasn’t as emotionally challenging as Spanish but it stretched me and I loved it! My few weeks of lessons were heaven! Except that my heel was in pain from an injury from before. We had to be careful with it.
My last week there I met woman at the Salsa Festival Finals and she introduced me to a new school, new people, new events and I was going out dancing with teachers and learning a little bit of bachata and having a blast. I felt I was becoming part of the community there that past 9 or 10 days there.
At one point I moved out of my apartment as we got a new roommate and well, he was very loud, had company over that awakened me at all hours of the wee early morning and since he had a 2 year lease the landlord wouldn’t do anything about it, so I moved to a new place with lots of dancers there… that was fun! It was great to be surrounded by people studying Salsa!
After a few days there I realized it was time for a change…I wanted to go to the beach, but it was having huge rain storms. I could feel it was time to possibly leave Cali or Colombia and then at one point I got it was time to leave Cali. I got up one morning and new only then where I was going. I said good bye to my new friends and off I went to rocky ride to Periera where there was some hotsprings 1.5 hours from there. I found a sweet little hostel, the owner was just amazing…making sure I was comfy there. They spray the pillows and sheets with a kind of “perfume” as the woman called it that made the beds, that for me smell like a very strong soapy cleanser that hurt my nose and stomach. The owner came right in and exchanged the pillow out and told me how the pillow was soaked through with the scent. All of a sudden the smell lifted hugely! He offered to let me go to another place if I wasn’t happy, but I was happen then, I could breathe!
The hot springs the next day were just what I needed. I had gotten a cough in Cali and needed to soak it out of me. They had a Turkish bath..which was this very hot steam room where I’d breathe in deeply and then go into nearly an ice cold shower, this would clear my sinuses and throat…it was amazing! After doing this back and forth 5 times, steam, cold, steam cold for 1.5 hours it was time to soak in the mineral rich hot springs! Wow…they felt amazing!
We were surrounded by mountains and trees, fresh air and locals everywhere! I love watching them…they really love life. They’d just plunge in, go under and swim to the other side, talk to everyone in and out of their group of people and at times with me!
I helped a little boy do the cold shower by asking him to put on foot in, then another, his mother tried pushing him in and he resisted. I looked at him and asked if he’d put his hands in, that is as far as he got, but it was farther then he got before…it felt wonderful to support him.
My day there was heaven…the food, the waters, the soaking, the steam and relaxing, the scenery…all so good! We got back into town after a long day there. The next day I just knew I needed to rest. The bus ride up and down really took it out of me. I don’t do well with bus rides. So I chose to buy a bus ticket to Medellin, instead of taking the 8 hour bus ride there.
I realized at the hot springs that my time in Colombia was done, I came and did what I wanted to do and I didn’t have a purpose to remain here any longer. I came to learn more Spanish, see this country and learn Salsa…I felt complete.
So yesterday I bought my ticket to Medellin and my ticket back to LA. I am not sure why I feel called to go there, but I am trusting my gut. I know I’m to go there. I feel mixed feelings of knowing where I am to be in December…feeling it really strongly in my being, and what to do between now and then. I know I have been being called another place too…and part of me would like to get to the US and teach, work a little and just be there. Truth is, I miss working. I love my work and it gives me purpose too! I know the places I’m being called to I have a purpose to go to, which is so important to me…purpose for me it not a goal, it is a feeling inside! So I am not jumping to buy a ticket to the next place after LA, I am feeling into everything. I will see how I feel in a few days or a week or once I get to LA.
I am excited to be back to LA, get my dance on, possibly do a class or two or if I stay longer, even more! I talked to a friend today about doing a Breathwork and sound bath session with all of our instruments when I am in town. If I stay longer I may do other classes as well! It feels good to be excited to be back, even if it is for a week to a few months!
This morning I said good bye my roommates from Periera and flew the 24 minutes to Medellin…so much better then the 8 hour bus trip! I am back in my sweet little hostel which I love! I am considering getting a room somewhere with a bathtub..they are rare here in Colombia, and I miss my tub soaks!
I will be back in LA October 18th for at least a week. If you know of a good place for me to teach in…either in a studio or a home please let me know. Also if you know of a place on the Westside I can stay, I’d love any leads, and if not, it is all good!
Thanks for reading! I am sitting here in Medellin feeling ever so peaceful. This place feels like a different kind of home for me. Probably because it was my first place I spent time on this trip!
See you soon! Bliss, Heather
I have now been in Colombia for nearly 2.5 months…I have been from the big city of Medellin to the colorful and very touristic town of Guatape and San Rafael..one of my faves on this trip. As it is so small it would really be called a pueblo. There are no tourist there so I had t practice my Spanish…interestingly enough I could feel my brain actually changing as I only used Spanish! This little town was filled with waterfalls, and the water was perfect in temperature…I could stay there for a long time!
I left and went to Jardin….this magical place I fell in love with…this is where I found my space to do my Breathwork, meditations, dance, workout and write! It was a very nice slice of heaven for me…all the while I could hang in hammocks anytime I wanted and surrounded by nature…my kind of place! It was so hard to leave that place…not so much for the town, though it was adorable, but the sacred space for being able to do my practice each day! I value that so much!
Next was Salento…people flock here, ok…to be more specific tourist flock here, I got off the windy, slightly stomach sickening drive into white people! Thankfully I was warned, as this would have been a shock. I was told “there are more tourist thing locals there”. They were right. I really get I don’t like HUGE tourist places…I like a balance…I like seeing how the locals move, eat, live ….and when there are so many tourist they change. I don’t get to “get” them then. I walked around the town, it was lovely. I found a trail and that led to a small street to a bigger street where locals took tourist on horse rides…they’d go off the trail to a waterfall or where ever they were heading.
The next day I met up with a guy I met on the bus and he and a group he’d met went to Cocora Valley for a 4 or 5 hour hike! This is where there are large Palms…the fly way up in the sky soaring over us like a flag pole 2 or 3 their height. We wandered through the windy trails and terrain…one woman picked up some macadamians nuts, I don’t know if you have ever seen these in their shell, but they look like little wooden rocks and they were nearly as hard to crack open. But when we got to a view point we all squatted down to start cracking them one by one with one rock on bottom and one on top!
We looked to the sky and wondered if we were going to get drenched..but it just stayed dark grey for awhile! We walked to the top of the mountain to find a humming bird sanctuary…really it is a place where they put out lots of sweet water they love and they just hover around all day, there are no cages, they just drink all day long! It was incredible to see them up close..to see them sit still for so long on a branch or hover over a bowl to drink. They truly are magical beings! At this point we got served up a cuppa cacao with cheese…ok…yes, many put the cheese in the cacao…I did too, but it didn’t melt so it just got popped into my mouth!
I felt like I got to connect deeply with each person that was in our group…and we all had such wonderful things to share and talk about. I started sharing about how I was keeping my intention on self pleasuring everyday and one of the women said “I have been waiting 5 weeks, this whole trip to meet someone like you…having real conversations”…this really made me happy as I love these conversations. Another must have been uncomfortable as he changed the subject. Later she and I talked about amazing topics around sexuality without the others.
I mentioned I taught Breathwork…and all of them said they wanted to experience it. So that night, once we were back I took them through a session. It was powerful…they didn’t want to get up, they went in so deeply. One started to share but couldn’t finish as she was so touched by it, and so another shared and another, they were all moved so deeply and were shown such depths of themselves. The first woman then was ready to share and she spoke on all the connections, the ah ha’s of here life and with the people in her life. And then she looked at me and said “and I’m not supposed to leave, I’m to stay here with you. If you don’t mind that is”. I didn’t mind at all….she is the one that we got to talk about numerous conversations that fed me. We all finally left to go to dinner, not realizing almost everything was close..but we found a place and ate.
The next day we found a new place that was out of the town and had nature, we went horse back riding and that was like a little slice of heaven! I hadn’t been on a horse in a very long time! It felt good to be back in the saddle again!
That night she asked me to give her a session and it was a powerful healing session indeed! I love working with someone who is really ready to move the old out and the new in and face the stuff that needs to be faced and she did just that!
The next day it was time to say good bye…it had been the deepest connection I had on this trip and like everything, it was time to say good bye for now! She felt like a soul sister to me!
I went off to Filandia…this little village where everything was so close, very few tourist and it was just chill there! I spent over a week there…resting, hanging in the hammock, going on bike rides and meeting new people! I met a guy on my 2nd night there and he and I hung out and explored some of the town together!
What I find amazing about this country is that everyone here, except just a few, are so friendly, so helpful, willing to go out of their way to make sure you get what you need if they can. They will make sure you really understand the directions of a place…make sure you understand them…even if they have to used translator. They want to make sure tourist are safe too, by telling us what barrios/areas to avoid and they have the most patience then I ever remember experiencing in years or ever. They take the time until you get what you need. They are not in a rush to go anywhere…AMAZING!
After my wonderful time in Filandia we took the bus down to Armenia where I was going to meet my Spanish teacher…where he’d moved. He’d asked me to come down so he could give me a tour of the cacao farm he is working on and to meet his parents! While my friend went off to Cali, where I’d meet him later that day. I got a cab out to this little village where I was just dropped off and waited for Julian. Truth is, if it was anyone else I might have been concerned but it was him…so I knew he’d come for me. I knew he might be late, which isn’t normal for him, and I knew he’d come for me. And sure enough he did.
He showed up, long hair pulled back, as he took off his helmet and his glowing smile, a hug and kiss, as this country always kisses on the cheek! He got a store owner to keep my backpack for me and he told me we had some errands to do for his mother and off we went. Arms around his waist and away we went. I loved smelling him in the air coming toward me. It is incredible to be drawn to someone so deeply because of the mind and heart…sure he is lovely, but there is something so deep and rich in our connection, the eye contact, the realness of our conversations…and I knew he was my friend. And I am happy to know him and have him in my life without anything else.
We went off to the city to do errands…this place probably has never seen a tourist in it…so I got some looks, though it wasn’t uncomfortable, it was just as if something new was there and they kept moving, sometimes saying hello, as they always do!
After the journey of him getting one thing, then he’d call his mother and she’d want something else until she was complete. She would never pick up the phone, but always call him back to say what she needed. When we were complete we headed back toward the farm and as we drove he saw a sign for a vista point and stopped to ask me if I’d like to go as he’d never been there before. I said yes. I love that we were exploring a little part of this place together as he’d only been there 15 days. The vista felt more like the ride out, surrounded by trees, fresh air, it was gorgeous! He stopped to ask about the vista…the man said there was none as the road was closed…I looked at him and said “so we are getting our view right here on the road”! He agreed. We drove farther on to the end, took in what we could see around us, the mountains and fields!
We went off to his family’s place, I didn’t know they lived on the cacao farm. I showed up, they came out and greet me and there were kisses and hugs, some small talk and me wishing I knew more Spanish to talk more. We all went into the house and she and Julian served up some lunch which was divine! They made sure I was well fed and with plenty of water, juice and whatever else they had to give me to drink! I shared with his family that their son was my favorite person I’d met in all of Colombia…I think he was a little taken back or something. I wanted them to know how incredible his son was as human and as a teacher. They were very proud of him. I saw and felt how much they all loved and respected each other. I knew now why he loved living with them. It was palpable the connection they had!
I helped out with the farm work his father asked us to do…which felt lovely to be able to be part of his day and supporting the farm. I got to take a tour of the cacao farm and Julian got to practice on me as he hadn’t done a tour with anyone and I got to give him feedback, though he was already pretty good with it!
Well, as usual we spent hours more time together then expected, he dropped me off to get a taxi and off I went to Cali. It felt amazing to spend the day with him.
Ok…so now comes Cali…this is the Salsa Capital of the world! They are known for their Salsa! It is also known for being one of the most dangerous cities in Colombia. I found out the rules of the city to not getting robbed…no parks when there is no one in them, no taking your phone out unless there are many people around and not near a road where a motorcyclist could just grab it, don’t leave your stuff around where people can just get it, like on a café table, which are many of the rules of Medellin too, just here if you get robbed it might be at gun point! Well, I’ve had enough guns pointed at me in this life time and I don’t need any more. So I abided by everything!
I soon found an apartment...which had me feel grounded, peaceful, it was like a sanctuary to do my practices in and be in my womb! My introvert loved it. My space was part of a 3 bedroom apartment with a back porch that was covered, a place to hang laundry there too. And my room was next to the kitchen and dining and living room. In the apartments here there is a corridor from the top to the bottom floor that is all connected and you can hear your neighbors, smell what they are cooking and sometimes wonder if someone is home, when it is really your neighbor that made a sound upstairs! And I got used to it all really quickly! I’ve been in these kinds of apartments before.
I found my dance teacher… Diego, what a talented light! He knew Salsa! And he did with such precision…as if you were going to perform it! As he, when he was 16, only being 26 at the moment, was in the International Salsa Festival! That blew me away! I saw him nearly every day for our lesson…and after a few sessions I could feel my brain really taking it in and shifting. They say dance changes your brain, well I could feel just that. Sometimes I just “got” things, other days it was like I couldn’t retain it. It was so strange. It was like the Spanish lessons! Which I’ve always felt amazing at doing anything physical but memorizing dance steps was something very new for me…so it stretched me. It wasn’t as emotionally challenging as Spanish but it stretched me and I loved it! My few weeks of lessons were heaven! Except that my heel was in pain from an injury from before. We had to be careful with it.
My last week there I met woman at the Salsa Festival Finals and she introduced me to a new school, new people, new events and I was going out dancing with teachers and learning a little bit of bachata and having a blast. I felt I was becoming part of the community there that past 9 or 10 days there.
At one point I moved out of my apartment as we got a new roommate and well, he was very loud, had company over that awakened me at all hours of the wee early morning and since he had a 2 year lease the landlord wouldn’t do anything about it, so I moved to a new place with lots of dancers there… that was fun! It was great to be surrounded by people studying Salsa!
After a few days there I realized it was time for a change…I wanted to go to the beach, but it was having huge rain storms. I could feel it was time to possibly leave Cali or Colombia and then at one point I got it was time to leave Cali. I got up one morning and new only then where I was going. I said good bye to my new friends and off I went to rocky ride to Periera where there was some hotsprings 1.5 hours from there. I found a sweet little hostel, the owner was just amazing…making sure I was comfy there. They spray the pillows and sheets with a kind of “perfume” as the woman called it that made the beds, that for me smell like a very strong soapy cleanser that hurt my nose and stomach. The owner came right in and exchanged the pillow out and told me how the pillow was soaked through with the scent. All of a sudden the smell lifted hugely! He offered to let me go to another place if I wasn’t happy, but I was happen then, I could breathe!
The hot springs the next day were just what I needed. I had gotten a cough in Cali and needed to soak it out of me. They had a Turkish bath..which was this very hot steam room where I’d breathe in deeply and then go into nearly an ice cold shower, this would clear my sinuses and throat…it was amazing! After doing this back and forth 5 times, steam, cold, steam cold for 1.5 hours it was time to soak in the mineral rich hot springs! Wow…they felt amazing!
We were surrounded by mountains and trees, fresh air and locals everywhere! I love watching them…they really love life. They’d just plunge in, go under and swim to the other side, talk to everyone in and out of their group of people and at times with me!
I helped a little boy do the cold shower by asking him to put on foot in, then another, his mother tried pushing him in and he resisted. I looked at him and asked if he’d put his hands in, that is as far as he got, but it was farther then he got before…it felt wonderful to support him.
My day there was heaven…the food, the waters, the soaking, the steam and relaxing, the scenery…all so good! We got back into town after a long day there. The next day I just knew I needed to rest. The bus ride up and down really took it out of me. I don’t do well with bus rides. So I chose to buy a bus ticket to Medellin, instead of taking the 8 hour bus ride there.
I realized at the hot springs that my time in Colombia was done, I came and did what I wanted to do and I didn’t have a purpose to remain here any longer. I came to learn more Spanish, see this country and learn Salsa…I felt complete.
So yesterday I bought my ticket to Medellin and my ticket back to LA. I am not sure why I feel called to go there, but I am trusting my gut. I know I’m to go there. I feel mixed feelings of knowing where I am to be in December…feeling it really strongly in my being, and what to do between now and then. I know I have been being called another place too…and part of me would like to get to the US and teach, work a little and just be there. Truth is, I miss working. I love my work and it gives me purpose too! I know the places I’m being called to I have a purpose to go to, which is so important to me…purpose for me it not a goal, it is a feeling inside! So I am not jumping to buy a ticket to the next place after LA, I am feeling into everything. I will see how I feel in a few days or a week or once I get to LA.
I am excited to be back to LA, get my dance on, possibly do a class or two or if I stay longer, even more! I talked to a friend today about doing a Breathwork and sound bath session with all of our instruments when I am in town. If I stay longer I may do other classes as well! It feels good to be excited to be back, even if it is for a week to a few months!
This morning I said good bye my roommates from Periera and flew the 24 minutes to Medellin…so much better then the 8 hour bus trip! I am back in my sweet little hostel which I love! I am considering getting a room somewhere with a bathtub..they are rare here in Colombia, and I miss my tub soaks!
I will be back in LA October 18th for at least a week. If you know of a good place for me to teach in…either in a studio or a home please let me know. Also if you know of a place on the Westside I can stay, I’d love any leads, and if not, it is all good!
Thanks for reading! I am sitting here in Medellin feeling ever so peaceful. This place feels like a different kind of home for me. Probably because it was my first place I spent time on this trip!
See you soon! Bliss, Heather
Monday, August 5, 2019
San Rafael...Waterfalls, tranquilo, connections!
My last day in San Rafael… It seems like it has saved the best for last! This was the best day here!
Everyday here has been filled with hiking, river swims and waterfalls, except one where we hiked to the Sivanada Ashram…no waterfalls that day! Such a wonderful time here, to feel myself unwind, my mind to just rest and to sleep deeply…well, until a neighbor would get in late and make a ton of noise laughing, talking, cars...but that is what happens here in South America! It is part of the package!
Starting my day today with Breathwork…letting go and manifesting, it felt so good! The hostel owner, Lily, took me on here motorbike, through the curvy and twisted roads, to a dirt road where everything shook. We laughed at the sounds the vibrations made in us! She took me to the best cascada/waterfalls yet! Hiking up to get to them…coming out of the brush and there it was, we were actually above one and under another…we threw down our bags and went up to the higher one! It was just stunning!
Playing in the water falls, swimming, taking time to just rest the sun, slip and slide down the rocks into the clear light green pools! I have never been in a place that the temperature was just as wonderful in the water as out of the water. There is no feeling of being cold or to hot! A steady 75 degrees!
I loved seeing her home! She has a guava tree in her back yard…well, yard, hummmm…she is on the 2nd floor, it is like the tree grows up and she gets the fruit from it! Her home has no doors once you get inside, her sons live in one room, there is a wall and a doorway, but no doors, not even on the bathroom, just a cloth…her whole home was this cozy yummy place! She got some guavas and was so excited to share them with me!
We went off to lunch together and then we went back to the hostel where I packed, swam in the river behind the hostel and I had the whole entire river to myself…it was so peaceful, my heart and mind just rested there…taking in the beauty of this place wondering “will I be back here? It is so gorgeous! I leave so many places never to come back again. I will miss this place”.
Once back at the hostel I had the most amazing cold shower, I got to wash my hair and I felt a tranquil feeling all throughout me…then having an amazing self pleasuring session! Which lead to me being hungry and sitting outside eating dinner as the warmth of the day just hung in the air and the sun started to go down. Drinking in the day I had. And what a lovely one it was! And excited for what is next too! Always the unknown when going to another town!
I grabbed my bag and headed to town…a man very quickly offered me a ride on his bike…I have been on more motor bikes in the last month then I have in years! It was so sweet…he picks me up, I say “thank you” and he says “no, thank you”! In other places that may have been a red flag, but he was something about him that I knew he was just being nice or maybe he didn’t know “you are welcome”.
The ride was glorious with the sun setting, my hair blowing in the night air and then we came to a halt for there was construction, which I knew about…so after waiting I chose to say good bye, thank him and take off by foot. It was lovely to hold him on the back of the bike…something comforting, like cuddling sitting on the bike! My touch being very happy about that and getting filled up!
As I walked into down I ran into Lily and she agreed to meet me at the café…which is where I am…the only wifi place in town!
It has been a lovely visit here...and as much as I’d love to stay, some part of me wants to be in little bigger place! Thank goodness it will still be filled with nature! Off to Jardin tomorrow!
I know I have skipped a whole entire city that I was in...Guatape..but maybe I'll share about it another time...there is very little wifi up here!
Everyday here has been filled with hiking, river swims and waterfalls, except one where we hiked to the Sivanada Ashram…no waterfalls that day! Such a wonderful time here, to feel myself unwind, my mind to just rest and to sleep deeply…well, until a neighbor would get in late and make a ton of noise laughing, talking, cars...but that is what happens here in South America! It is part of the package!
Starting my day today with Breathwork…letting go and manifesting, it felt so good! The hostel owner, Lily, took me on here motorbike, through the curvy and twisted roads, to a dirt road where everything shook. We laughed at the sounds the vibrations made in us! She took me to the best cascada/waterfalls yet! Hiking up to get to them…coming out of the brush and there it was, we were actually above one and under another…we threw down our bags and went up to the higher one! It was just stunning!
Playing in the water falls, swimming, taking time to just rest the sun, slip and slide down the rocks into the clear light green pools! I have never been in a place that the temperature was just as wonderful in the water as out of the water. There is no feeling of being cold or to hot! A steady 75 degrees!
I loved seeing her home! She has a guava tree in her back yard…well, yard, hummmm…she is on the 2nd floor, it is like the tree grows up and she gets the fruit from it! Her home has no doors once you get inside, her sons live in one room, there is a wall and a doorway, but no doors, not even on the bathroom, just a cloth…her whole home was this cozy yummy place! She got some guavas and was so excited to share them with me!
We went off to lunch together and then we went back to the hostel where I packed, swam in the river behind the hostel and I had the whole entire river to myself…it was so peaceful, my heart and mind just rested there…taking in the beauty of this place wondering “will I be back here? It is so gorgeous! I leave so many places never to come back again. I will miss this place”.
Once back at the hostel I had the most amazing cold shower, I got to wash my hair and I felt a tranquil feeling all throughout me…then having an amazing self pleasuring session! Which lead to me being hungry and sitting outside eating dinner as the warmth of the day just hung in the air and the sun started to go down. Drinking in the day I had. And what a lovely one it was! And excited for what is next too! Always the unknown when going to another town!
I grabbed my bag and headed to town…a man very quickly offered me a ride on his bike…I have been on more motor bikes in the last month then I have in years! It was so sweet…he picks me up, I say “thank you” and he says “no, thank you”! In other places that may have been a red flag, but he was something about him that I knew he was just being nice or maybe he didn’t know “you are welcome”.
The ride was glorious with the sun setting, my hair blowing in the night air and then we came to a halt for there was construction, which I knew about…so after waiting I chose to say good bye, thank him and take off by foot. It was lovely to hold him on the back of the bike…something comforting, like cuddling sitting on the bike! My touch being very happy about that and getting filled up!
As I walked into down I ran into Lily and she agreed to meet me at the café…which is where I am…the only wifi place in town!
It has been a lovely visit here...and as much as I’d love to stay, some part of me wants to be in little bigger place! Thank goodness it will still be filled with nature! Off to Jardin tomorrow!
I know I have skipped a whole entire city that I was in...Guatape..but maybe I'll share about it another time...there is very little wifi up here!
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Heart to Heart
The truth is my time here is Medellin has been a mix of loving it, amazed by the people, loving the dance and music everywhere and how there can be so much green lushness in a city, with the blend of traffic, cars having the right away so they, most of the time, will not stop or pause for you, so I find myself scampering over the roads quickly and then the hard parts….adjusting to being on the road again, the slight twinge of missing people at home, being around people that “get me”…this twinge came yesterday! So I reached out to friends and all is well in my heart again.
But the hardest part so far has been learning Spanish...it is something I so want to do, and my brain some days is good with it, other days it is like it has deleted everything I have learned. I realize the best thing for my brain it to just relax and it retains better…..and the challenge is I have a slight crush on my Spanish teacher…the side of me that wants to impress and be “the good student” well, Spanish is not the place to do that. So I am at a loss to show him my true self. And I get to look at that inside myself…why do I want to impress? And I am used to being a good student and how it challenges me when I don’t feel I am. And I know I am doing great, it just is different. And it is a good thing to look at and feel, as I am so out of my comfort zone with it all…Spanish and being slightly attracted to someone who is my teacher. In my world, you just don’t date your teacher or ask your teacher out! Even though, being a teacher myself I have been asked out many times by students…and my answer is always no… especially in my work, mixing the two, when I hear from friends who do go out on dates, it is a lot of pain and challenge, as they are always in the teacher roll. Which I wouldn’t appreciate.
Yesterday my teacher and I spent the day going to the market, he pushed me to talk to strangers on the Metro, ask for directions, strike up conversations on the street…and he is amazing, he just walks up and talks to everyone, shakes their hands, and he knows so many people here too…it is really amazing to watch him interact here. I watch myself not do that so much as Spanish isn’t my language, well, it isn’t yet anyway. So I see myself held in, as I don’t know how to express myself fully…and then with him there, he is watching me, it was very uncomfortable…what a journey…I felt like being back in grade school, being watched in how I did things…though I don’t remember ever having that experience, though I know I liked doing a good job in school and wanting to get the answers right. So there was pressure.
So my time in Medellin is coming to an end…I am a little sad about this, I have made a few friends here who I will miss. I will miss my teacher the most as I see him at least every other day, and we have so much fun together…I haven’t laughed so much with someone in a very long time. And then my dancing friends… I have made a deep connection with one man here that we are in connection everyday, and though most of our connection is over the phone or texting on Whatsapp, it is nice to know I will see him 1 or 2 times a week to dance…or like tonight I am introducing him to Breathwork and Cuddling! He is from Venezuela…I find the people from there are so kind and most all of them speak excellent English and are so friendly! It is too bad their country is going through so much turmoil right now and isn’t safe to be in. Many have escaped it, some have left alone at a very early age to improve their life!
I have loved getting to know this place…hiking, learning to speak on the street to people to get places…and them being willing to help.
I moved hostels…I love hostel living, I truly do…I love all the people I meet and connections. And the first 20 days I was here the hostel I was in was pristine, clean, brand new, great beds, privacy with curtains and your own fan and light, they made my bed every day and so much...but I didn’t get the warmth of the people staying there…so after my 20 day commit to stay there I moved to a new hostel where all of a sudden I had people in my life, hanging out with them everyday…I asked one man the first night to go to Salsa…he had never been out dancing or to Salsa, but he is 63 and had a new outlook on life and said yes…we had a blast together! The next day I got to explore more of the city with woman…it was lovely to connect, have great conversations and walk for hours and hours! So I am loving my new hostel!
I dance Salsa or Bachate 4 nights a week…and last night I was so tired from talking Spanish all day, but I knew it was my last night to dance here. So I went out…the locals started noticing I am here and our dance started getting more fluid…I really “get” I need to let the man lead, even if he isn’t….great feed back from the teacher! It was so much fun to start really getting the steps and feeling them! And feeling myself surrendering into being lead and feeling what that really felt like with each partner I danced with! As I was leaving the teacher told me he wanted to dance with me tomorrow night…I loved that. It warmed my whole being to have him want to dance with me! I truly felt honored…and it was only my 3rd Salsa class!
I am loving dancing so much, it is feeding me. As well as learning how to feed myself here…as they eat so many friend foods, and full on meals can be all meat and cheese or fried cheese. There are very little vegetarian meals…but I have found them. I found Govinda’s the Hare Krishna restaurant that I eat at in LA…well, I will say, it is nicer then the one in LA…live music playing, lots of menu options…it was just lovely to eat there…all open air and fresh and the pumkin soup was incredible….oh… as side note, my Spanish teacher gives everyone a nickname, he has called me Pumpkin in Spanish, which is Calabaza, what is interesting about this is I was called this as a child, being born so close to Thanksgiving. When I told him that he said “well, we are so similar, I picked up that”. We’d just been talking about how much we have in common when he asked if he could name me and I asked “what would you call me?” and when he came out with Calabaza and told me what it was…I just laughed! So he introduced me as that yesterday in the market!
My heart is happy about being in nature, being in small towns, but I will say Medellin got under my skin…there is something about this place, it is so big and yet so small. I have already ran into locals in different areas of town and felt so welcomed and how small it can feel here and yet it is huge. I really feel I am not a city person, but for a city, this is a wonderful place…with so much to do!
I have loved really getting in touch with “why I am here” in Medellin, I went in and out of seeing the others going out exploring every day when I had homework…and then I got that I am not specifically in Medellin to explore, though I have, I am here to learn Spanish and get some work done on an online course I’m doing. My system just relaxed then take in what I can!
Once I leave here it will be interesting how I will manage the online course, and I am sure it will work out!
Sunday was a full day, I put on a Cuddle and Contact Improv event in the park…the people were all new to all of it, so I was mostly teaching, it was an adventure! They didn’t know about the cuddling thing at all, and I honored they no when it came to cuddling. It was nice to dance though and show them some new things and they loved it! I went off to the Acroyoga class…the teacher found out I taught Contact Improv and wants me to teach him….so wonderful! After the class which was pretty advanced and a lot of fun, I followed them over to the jam! As I walked up my Spanish teacher came right up to me and greeted me! It was amazing to see what all these people could do and how they did it with fluidity or even with mistakes they just had so much fun! I love that!
I could tell this wasn’t my Spanish teachers comfort zone, in fact when I felt him I could feel he was feeling how I feel in Spanish so I asked him if he wanted to fly…he was a bit thrown off as he was had only flown people…so up he went and he was amazing. He flew me and we did a few new things… it was fun to see him outside the classroom and to feel a bit more in my element! I started having a few people ask me to practice with them and then a friend from the US showed up…he and I are meeting up tomorrow…and here he was in the park. Small world… I love this! I flew his friend who was with him and it was just a wonderful connected and tiring day! I danced from 11am-6pm with a 1 hour break! My kind of day…my kind of life really!
I really get that I love living this way, even though I could be doing these things at home… it feels so different here, especially with the language barrier. I have watched my resistance a little with the language thing and going to events, but it hasn’t been too hard amazingly enough. I have watched my shy side come out and it feels so strange, especially in those environments…and I am honoring them…as they are there!
Tomorrow I have to say good bye to my Spanish teacher, I will miss him a lot. He is the person I am closest with here…and that is part of traveling. I will be off to nature after staying the weekend with my friend and his wife over the weekend…so happy I got to learn he lives down here and reconnect!
There is so much more I can share…and I will leave you with this for now!
But the hardest part so far has been learning Spanish...it is something I so want to do, and my brain some days is good with it, other days it is like it has deleted everything I have learned. I realize the best thing for my brain it to just relax and it retains better…..and the challenge is I have a slight crush on my Spanish teacher…the side of me that wants to impress and be “the good student” well, Spanish is not the place to do that. So I am at a loss to show him my true self. And I get to look at that inside myself…why do I want to impress? And I am used to being a good student and how it challenges me when I don’t feel I am. And I know I am doing great, it just is different. And it is a good thing to look at and feel, as I am so out of my comfort zone with it all…Spanish and being slightly attracted to someone who is my teacher. In my world, you just don’t date your teacher or ask your teacher out! Even though, being a teacher myself I have been asked out many times by students…and my answer is always no… especially in my work, mixing the two, when I hear from friends who do go out on dates, it is a lot of pain and challenge, as they are always in the teacher roll. Which I wouldn’t appreciate.
Yesterday my teacher and I spent the day going to the market, he pushed me to talk to strangers on the Metro, ask for directions, strike up conversations on the street…and he is amazing, he just walks up and talks to everyone, shakes their hands, and he knows so many people here too…it is really amazing to watch him interact here. I watch myself not do that so much as Spanish isn’t my language, well, it isn’t yet anyway. So I see myself held in, as I don’t know how to express myself fully…and then with him there, he is watching me, it was very uncomfortable…what a journey…I felt like being back in grade school, being watched in how I did things…though I don’t remember ever having that experience, though I know I liked doing a good job in school and wanting to get the answers right. So there was pressure.
So my time in Medellin is coming to an end…I am a little sad about this, I have made a few friends here who I will miss. I will miss my teacher the most as I see him at least every other day, and we have so much fun together…I haven’t laughed so much with someone in a very long time. And then my dancing friends… I have made a deep connection with one man here that we are in connection everyday, and though most of our connection is over the phone or texting on Whatsapp, it is nice to know I will see him 1 or 2 times a week to dance…or like tonight I am introducing him to Breathwork and Cuddling! He is from Venezuela…I find the people from there are so kind and most all of them speak excellent English and are so friendly! It is too bad their country is going through so much turmoil right now and isn’t safe to be in. Many have escaped it, some have left alone at a very early age to improve their life!
I have loved getting to know this place…hiking, learning to speak on the street to people to get places…and them being willing to help.
I moved hostels…I love hostel living, I truly do…I love all the people I meet and connections. And the first 20 days I was here the hostel I was in was pristine, clean, brand new, great beds, privacy with curtains and your own fan and light, they made my bed every day and so much...but I didn’t get the warmth of the people staying there…so after my 20 day commit to stay there I moved to a new hostel where all of a sudden I had people in my life, hanging out with them everyday…I asked one man the first night to go to Salsa…he had never been out dancing or to Salsa, but he is 63 and had a new outlook on life and said yes…we had a blast together! The next day I got to explore more of the city with woman…it was lovely to connect, have great conversations and walk for hours and hours! So I am loving my new hostel!
I dance Salsa or Bachate 4 nights a week…and last night I was so tired from talking Spanish all day, but I knew it was my last night to dance here. So I went out…the locals started noticing I am here and our dance started getting more fluid…I really “get” I need to let the man lead, even if he isn’t….great feed back from the teacher! It was so much fun to start really getting the steps and feeling them! And feeling myself surrendering into being lead and feeling what that really felt like with each partner I danced with! As I was leaving the teacher told me he wanted to dance with me tomorrow night…I loved that. It warmed my whole being to have him want to dance with me! I truly felt honored…and it was only my 3rd Salsa class!
I am loving dancing so much, it is feeding me. As well as learning how to feed myself here…as they eat so many friend foods, and full on meals can be all meat and cheese or fried cheese. There are very little vegetarian meals…but I have found them. I found Govinda’s the Hare Krishna restaurant that I eat at in LA…well, I will say, it is nicer then the one in LA…live music playing, lots of menu options…it was just lovely to eat there…all open air and fresh and the pumkin soup was incredible….oh… as side note, my Spanish teacher gives everyone a nickname, he has called me Pumpkin in Spanish, which is Calabaza, what is interesting about this is I was called this as a child, being born so close to Thanksgiving. When I told him that he said “well, we are so similar, I picked up that”. We’d just been talking about how much we have in common when he asked if he could name me and I asked “what would you call me?” and when he came out with Calabaza and told me what it was…I just laughed! So he introduced me as that yesterday in the market!
My heart is happy about being in nature, being in small towns, but I will say Medellin got under my skin…there is something about this place, it is so big and yet so small. I have already ran into locals in different areas of town and felt so welcomed and how small it can feel here and yet it is huge. I really feel I am not a city person, but for a city, this is a wonderful place…with so much to do!
I have loved really getting in touch with “why I am here” in Medellin, I went in and out of seeing the others going out exploring every day when I had homework…and then I got that I am not specifically in Medellin to explore, though I have, I am here to learn Spanish and get some work done on an online course I’m doing. My system just relaxed then take in what I can!
Once I leave here it will be interesting how I will manage the online course, and I am sure it will work out!
Sunday was a full day, I put on a Cuddle and Contact Improv event in the park…the people were all new to all of it, so I was mostly teaching, it was an adventure! They didn’t know about the cuddling thing at all, and I honored they no when it came to cuddling. It was nice to dance though and show them some new things and they loved it! I went off to the Acroyoga class…the teacher found out I taught Contact Improv and wants me to teach him….so wonderful! After the class which was pretty advanced and a lot of fun, I followed them over to the jam! As I walked up my Spanish teacher came right up to me and greeted me! It was amazing to see what all these people could do and how they did it with fluidity or even with mistakes they just had so much fun! I love that!
I could tell this wasn’t my Spanish teachers comfort zone, in fact when I felt him I could feel he was feeling how I feel in Spanish so I asked him if he wanted to fly…he was a bit thrown off as he was had only flown people…so up he went and he was amazing. He flew me and we did a few new things… it was fun to see him outside the classroom and to feel a bit more in my element! I started having a few people ask me to practice with them and then a friend from the US showed up…he and I are meeting up tomorrow…and here he was in the park. Small world… I love this! I flew his friend who was with him and it was just a wonderful connected and tiring day! I danced from 11am-6pm with a 1 hour break! My kind of day…my kind of life really!
I really get that I love living this way, even though I could be doing these things at home… it feels so different here, especially with the language barrier. I have watched my resistance a little with the language thing and going to events, but it hasn’t been too hard amazingly enough. I have watched my shy side come out and it feels so strange, especially in those environments…and I am honoring them…as they are there!
Tomorrow I have to say good bye to my Spanish teacher, I will miss him a lot. He is the person I am closest with here…and that is part of traveling. I will be off to nature after staying the weekend with my friend and his wife over the weekend…so happy I got to learn he lives down here and reconnect!
There is so much more I can share…and I will leave you with this for now!
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Men Being Amazing, Spanish Learning Styles & Dyslexia
Being dyslexic causes some issues in learning a new language…ok sure I took 2 weeks of Spanish back in Guatemala in 1997, but that was a long time ago and now after my Spanish teacher came to me yesterday asking if I was getting what I needed, as he didn’t think he was teaching me what I needed. Funny, I was having the sense of being a bad student as my brain doesn’t absorb as others do and he was feeling like he wasn’t being a good teacher. It was so nice to talk about it.
I then shared with him I have a learning disability, why I didn’t think to tell him before, I don’t know. But it was good that I shared it when I did, after the 3rd lesson. As he asked me “What is the best way for you to learn Spanish?” I had no answer for that. Languages have always boggled my mind. And I so desire to get to an intermediate level on this trip, or more. And it just doesn’t go in at times. So I have to call in a lot of patience, A LOT of sleep and time every day to study and only have classes every other day! Otherwise I get overwhelmed and nothing sticks.
So today I did some research on how a dyslexic can learn Spanish better…who knows which one will be the way my brain works the best…but I sent him the link…and then I sent him some searches I found on how to learn Spanish being dyslexic on Youtube.
I had no idea what the response would be from him. But he responded in a way that only a man could and it shocks me every time when a man is so generous! He said “I am canceling your lesson today and tomorrow I am canceling our hike so I can put together a lesson that is right for you. And it means I’ll invest time in learning something new ”. WOW!
I had no idea he’d do that…but that is what men do…they want to be of service, they want to make us happy and they want to be good at their job! So no, I don’t get to go hiking…he had invited me to go hiking with some friends of his…but I get to see what he comes up with on Monday for me. A few years ago I would not let him do that…as I’d feel like he was giving up to much for me…but as have learned and keep learning, men love to do things for us! So I am not feeling guilty, as I would have years ago...I am surrendering into the gift he is giving and he is receiving from letting him do this for me…and for him!
He recommended I listen to Spanish music…this is the band he recommended…it is beautiful! I don’t know all the words…but it so amazing to understand the words I do know! He suggested we learn a song together to sing at a performance he is doing…I am not sure if we have time…but it is a great idea for learning Spanish!
I am loving that this time around I do have Google Translator….it has been a life saver and a great teacher. Before I just had to ask my teacher or find the right book to look in! So good!
I met a Colombian recently with amazing English and he taught himself through English music and movies and some reading! So here I go…setting forth on my journey to find how I can learn Spanish better!
If you know of any great Youtube videos or videos at all to teach Spanish, I’d love to have any recommendations! Muchas Gracias! Ciao!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSumSzi6xIM
I then shared with him I have a learning disability, why I didn’t think to tell him before, I don’t know. But it was good that I shared it when I did, after the 3rd lesson. As he asked me “What is the best way for you to learn Spanish?” I had no answer for that. Languages have always boggled my mind. And I so desire to get to an intermediate level on this trip, or more. And it just doesn’t go in at times. So I have to call in a lot of patience, A LOT of sleep and time every day to study and only have classes every other day! Otherwise I get overwhelmed and nothing sticks.
So today I did some research on how a dyslexic can learn Spanish better…who knows which one will be the way my brain works the best…but I sent him the link…and then I sent him some searches I found on how to learn Spanish being dyslexic on Youtube.
I had no idea what the response would be from him. But he responded in a way that only a man could and it shocks me every time when a man is so generous! He said “I am canceling your lesson today and tomorrow I am canceling our hike so I can put together a lesson that is right for you. And it means I’ll invest time in learning something new ”. WOW!
I had no idea he’d do that…but that is what men do…they want to be of service, they want to make us happy and they want to be good at their job! So no, I don’t get to go hiking…he had invited me to go hiking with some friends of his…but I get to see what he comes up with on Monday for me. A few years ago I would not let him do that…as I’d feel like he was giving up to much for me…but as have learned and keep learning, men love to do things for us! So I am not feeling guilty, as I would have years ago...I am surrendering into the gift he is giving and he is receiving from letting him do this for me…and for him!
He recommended I listen to Spanish music…this is the band he recommended…it is beautiful! I don’t know all the words…but it so amazing to understand the words I do know! He suggested we learn a song together to sing at a performance he is doing…I am not sure if we have time…but it is a great idea for learning Spanish!
I am loving that this time around I do have Google Translator….it has been a life saver and a great teacher. Before I just had to ask my teacher or find the right book to look in! So good!
I met a Colombian recently with amazing English and he taught himself through English music and movies and some reading! So here I go…setting forth on my journey to find how I can learn Spanish better!
If you know of any great Youtube videos or videos at all to teach Spanish, I’d love to have any recommendations! Muchas Gracias! Ciao!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSumSzi6xIM
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Spanish Lessons, Dance and Comuna 13
Yesterday I felt my system start to relax into being here. I could feel my “list of things to do” calm. The pressure just started to rise off of me. As I really got clear on “why am I here”? I am in Medellin to learn Spanish. And Sunday I took my first lesson, and it wiped me out. I haven’t had that kind of focused attention on something in ages from a mental point of view. And…I LOVE my teacher! We had a ton of fun, I made him laugh, and he is light hearted…and cute…that always helps! But he is good to going with the flow….or should I say my flow. As he knew without testing me fully in the first 20 minutes exactly where I was and what I needed to learn. He did have me read in Spanish, and he told me my pronunciation was great! Shew! I love that! Though I didn’t really know what I was reading. Today we started on past tense…Wow! What a crazy wild thing for my brain. It is like taking my brain, twisting it and squeezing it into a different sized box. Especially with the irregular verbs…WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!
Now..I don’t remember taking English and I don’t remember all the words and what things are…though I do know what verbs are. But what is amazing is how things are making sense to me…when he explains that they don’t end things with (I think they are called- with, it, etc) prepositions…something just shifted in me and I got it. I woke up thinking of Spanish, seeing how I can put sentences together and by the end of today’s lesson I really got that I really want to learn this. I feel motivated. Though my dyslexic brain is having brain strain…and yes, at times I feel my embarrassment of not getting it faster and I am really liking it.
Last week I spend 5 hours on Friday doing Contact Improv…truth…it felt amazing! I got to help teach, I showed some how to lift and I felt high on life. I got to know the teacher, his husband and their boyfriend! Yes gay marriage if legal here and they are all so happy! It was beautiful to connect with them…learn who they are, how they live and feel their joy in their lives!
I got to take my first Salsa lesson here the other night too…WOW! I truly love this dance! I haven’t danced it in ages and my last lessons (on a regular basis) was in 2001 in India…yes that is right! And man I loved it then and I love it now! So much fun!
What I am learning by being here and by doing this online course with Alison Armstrong is why I wasn’t fully fulfilled the last year or so I was in LA. It didn’t have to do with what I fully thought it was. It had to do with not doing the things I love…I didn’t make as much time as I needed to fill up my cup…to really take the time to be creative, to be physical…part of that was my knee, but part of it was I got to into my work…my work became my life and I love my work…and I realize now I have got to find balance in work and fun…otherwise I won’t be happy when I come back either. Part of me wishes I would have done this course this past year, while I was in LA, when I was meant to be doing it…and I also know that this is the time I’m meant to be doing it. I am creating lists and things to do that I need in my daily life to keep me filled, fulfilled and in my joy…. And that goes for being here too! I have the “why’s and the what to do” in order to be how I want to be in this world…and this feels good! I really get that I need to move, I need to be active, this is what makes me happy…with the balance of reading, writing, creating art through dying clothes and sewing…Kundalini Yoga and so much more!
I get up every morning…do my homework from the PAX program and then after that I start going over my Spanish lessons, then have Spanish and then I’m off to my day!
Yesterday I took off to Comuna 13…I had not heard of this place before being here...but this was one of the most dangerous places in the world from 1980-1993. It was filled with drug trafficking, killing people, manipulating, killing families, the military and guerrilla army and how every thing was a trap for the people. But the art there…the art was breath taking…it was like walking around an art gallery in the streets. And these artists are amazing! It is hard to believe these people do what they do and every few years the come back and paint over their paintings or someone asks to paint over the last artists painting to create more art. I saw one wall completely transformed on my street in 2 days! It went from black to colorful and full of surprise!
I have finally adjusted to the time change…I wake up now at 6:30am feeling peaceful, feeling into my body, into my day to come...I think of and sometimes in Spanish and then get up and go.
The people here are just amazing…they are friendly, helpful, and willing to practice with me my Spanish lessons! Yes, I have to talk to strangers every day now for my homework. And it is good. Most people don’t see my shy side, but that is because I’m mostly shy when I’m doing things I don’t do well…and when I don’t do something well my shy side shines forth. It is stretching me big time and it is so good.
I’m loving being here…relaxing in. I’m excited to see what is to come and I love learning more about this country, how to travel in it and what there is to see and do. I just found out that I can stay a year here if I wanted to…all legally and on a tourist visa. Who knows if I will, but it is exciting to think about. I have always wanted to immerse myself in a Latin country and learn Spanish. And though the Spanish here is different from Guetemala…and Argentina, I’m adjusting to it. The double ll’s sound differently in each of these countries and that is a bit challenging for my brain to remember which way to say it here. For not having studied Spanish in 22 years I think I’m doing well!
Now..I don’t remember taking English and I don’t remember all the words and what things are…though I do know what verbs are. But what is amazing is how things are making sense to me…when he explains that they don’t end things with (I think they are called- with, it, etc) prepositions…something just shifted in me and I got it. I woke up thinking of Spanish, seeing how I can put sentences together and by the end of today’s lesson I really got that I really want to learn this. I feel motivated. Though my dyslexic brain is having brain strain…and yes, at times I feel my embarrassment of not getting it faster and I am really liking it.
Last week I spend 5 hours on Friday doing Contact Improv…truth…it felt amazing! I got to help teach, I showed some how to lift and I felt high on life. I got to know the teacher, his husband and their boyfriend! Yes gay marriage if legal here and they are all so happy! It was beautiful to connect with them…learn who they are, how they live and feel their joy in their lives!
I got to take my first Salsa lesson here the other night too…WOW! I truly love this dance! I haven’t danced it in ages and my last lessons (on a regular basis) was in 2001 in India…yes that is right! And man I loved it then and I love it now! So much fun!
What I am learning by being here and by doing this online course with Alison Armstrong is why I wasn’t fully fulfilled the last year or so I was in LA. It didn’t have to do with what I fully thought it was. It had to do with not doing the things I love…I didn’t make as much time as I needed to fill up my cup…to really take the time to be creative, to be physical…part of that was my knee, but part of it was I got to into my work…my work became my life and I love my work…and I realize now I have got to find balance in work and fun…otherwise I won’t be happy when I come back either. Part of me wishes I would have done this course this past year, while I was in LA, when I was meant to be doing it…and I also know that this is the time I’m meant to be doing it. I am creating lists and things to do that I need in my daily life to keep me filled, fulfilled and in my joy…. And that goes for being here too! I have the “why’s and the what to do” in order to be how I want to be in this world…and this feels good! I really get that I need to move, I need to be active, this is what makes me happy…with the balance of reading, writing, creating art through dying clothes and sewing…Kundalini Yoga and so much more!
I get up every morning…do my homework from the PAX program and then after that I start going over my Spanish lessons, then have Spanish and then I’m off to my day!
Yesterday I took off to Comuna 13…I had not heard of this place before being here...but this was one of the most dangerous places in the world from 1980-1993. It was filled with drug trafficking, killing people, manipulating, killing families, the military and guerrilla army and how every thing was a trap for the people. But the art there…the art was breath taking…it was like walking around an art gallery in the streets. And these artists are amazing! It is hard to believe these people do what they do and every few years the come back and paint over their paintings or someone asks to paint over the last artists painting to create more art. I saw one wall completely transformed on my street in 2 days! It went from black to colorful and full of surprise!
I have finally adjusted to the time change…I wake up now at 6:30am feeling peaceful, feeling into my body, into my day to come...I think of and sometimes in Spanish and then get up and go.
The people here are just amazing…they are friendly, helpful, and willing to practice with me my Spanish lessons! Yes, I have to talk to strangers every day now for my homework. And it is good. Most people don’t see my shy side, but that is because I’m mostly shy when I’m doing things I don’t do well…and when I don’t do something well my shy side shines forth. It is stretching me big time and it is so good.
I’m loving being here…relaxing in. I’m excited to see what is to come and I love learning more about this country, how to travel in it and what there is to see and do. I just found out that I can stay a year here if I wanted to…all legally and on a tourist visa. Who knows if I will, but it is exciting to think about. I have always wanted to immerse myself in a Latin country and learn Spanish. And though the Spanish here is different from Guetemala…and Argentina, I’m adjusting to it. The double ll’s sound differently in each of these countries and that is a bit challenging for my brain to remember which way to say it here. For not having studied Spanish in 22 years I think I’m doing well!
Thursday, July 4, 2019
First Day In Medellin, Colombia
Day 2 of being here in Medellin! My journey here has been powerful and telling on who I am, who I have been and who I either returning to or becoming!
I showed up on 20 minutes of sleep in 2 days…I took a 4 hour nap that only barely quenched my thirst for rest. I went out on search for dinner, wandering the streets until I found just the right nook for me to have a tasty meal. Oddly enough I am in a part of that doesn’t have Colombian, typical food, it is almost all international…Vietnamese, Mexican, Pizza, etc. So the tacos won and I ate Mexican food at this sweet little place! It was delicious! At dinner I talked to a man that has been living here 4 months…he is learning Spanish and it had my heart thrill to know that I could do that too…possibly not here in Medellin, as it is still a city…not what I’m looking for. But to learn Spanish, that is exciting for me! He also told me in all the big cities the water is so chlorinated that it is drinkable…now I’m not sure if that is good news or not, but he, along with many others seem to think that is a plus over drinking out of plastic. I don’t like either myself.
I am staying in a lovely hostel in a dorm room with 5 other women and a private bathroom…and the best thing about this space is that every bed has it’s own curtain…which makes it so much easier for my self love and self pleasuring practice daily…though I just have to keep my sound down…which I am not used to..haha! It is worth it though. As some of my roommates are just lovely! I love how each one is so independent, from different countries, doing their own thing and on their own exploration!
I forced myself to stay up until 10:30pm that night…and I know it is the best way to get over jetlag.
I woke up the first morning after 9 hours of sleep. I think it is has been 2 or 3 months since I have even gotten 8 hours of sleep. Preparing for this trip was a full time job on top of working, etc. And now it is time to relax. I didn’t jump out of bed…I didn’t run to my phone or my computer. I just laid there feeling my body…how tired it was, how wonderful it was to do nothing. Self employment….as much as I LOVE it…it has done a number to my relaxing schedule. I really “got” the week I was leaving one big reason for coming on a long trip is to learn more about how to balance things…I have been working for 6 years solid, no long vacations…so my system finally just needed a big traveling journey…which is why I am here. If I’d gone to Mexico, like planned in January I probably wouldn’t be here now…and I know everything is perfect.
I got out of bed at 11am, man…I don’t remember the last time I did that. I got dressed and headed out to find the breakfast I’ve been longing for…beans, rice, eggs and PLATANOS (which are cooked bananas)! I love Plantains! I fell in love with them in Guatemala and have never stopped loving or thinking of them. I remember flying into Medellin, seeing all the greenery, so gorgeous..and just like Guatemala city the city came in and it was a bit of a shock…but this city is different…it is clean, there are no holes in the middle of the sidewalks you can fall into and it has green everywhere.
As I wandered out to find my breakfast, the receptionist wasn’t used to people asking for traditional breakfast…so it took her a while to find a place a 12 minute walk away, which was fine by me. I took the walk, the first thing I noticed are the people are so aware…they were aware of me walking up behind them…they looked at me, they really looked at my armpit hair if I raised my arms..oh well…it is all good! They were very sweet and no one spoke English! For a city this big, 2nd largest city here in Colombia, it is amazing they don’t speak English..which is so good, as I get to practice.
As I sat down for breakfast in this sweet little place, surrounded by a water fountain, an open courtyard, orange tile floors, I looked at the menu…I didn’t find what I wanted all in one…this woman came over and pieced my meal together…her attitude was one of being of service. As I waited for my meal I sat and read…no phone, just read about this area…FINALLY! If I’d read about it sooner…if I’d had the time to get to know this area before coming from the US, I probably would have packed differently…and it is all good. My blood started to pump, my heart excited, my traveling being started to perk up and the thrill of this country poured into me!
And then breakfast came, it was perfect…I’d never seen plantains so large with so many on my plate all for me! I was in heaven and they tasted even better! Half way through my meal I realized I was hurrying so I could read…and realized there was no hurry, I could read while eating..which is better for my digestion. This was the first time I read and ate in years…to take the time to take in both…be conscious with each bite and to take in my book…YUM! And 1.5 hours later my hot cocoa was done and most of my breakfast, and I was full…I was exhilarated by just one chapter of guide book!
I walked out onto the streets and I noticed my eyes took in everything…I was curious…my tiredness had worn off some and excitement was in it’s place. I was off to find a sim card for my phone…now, I’d been told this was quite a feat, and it was…store to store to store…many had the sim card, but didn’t have the service. After 2 malls I was drawn to a Samsun store and as I walked up the man inside said “Hello, how are you?” I was taken back a bit as that was the first English I’d heard most all day and it was clear and the best I’ve heard!
I love how people in shops will just leave their shop to show you where you need to go. No telling the other people in the shop, they just leave. He found me the right store and I was set up within 30-40 minutes with a new sim card, number and service for all of $13.00 a month!
This was pretty exhausting so I headed back to my hostel to find a way of calling 800 numbers in the US from my phone (international calls are not included) but 800 numbers maybe an exception. As one of my bank accounts wouldn’t let me sign in without my US phone number…they knew my phone was off within 24 HOURS of me being out of the country…that is crazy! Well, after much trying, I turned to Skype and it worked! And after much explaining she finally found a way to get me on my computer with my bank account..which to my bank “isn’t allowed” without a US phone number. It took some hoop jumping but I got in!
I laid down for a bit, realizing I had nothing to do…and didn’t need, nor want to do anything but relax as I was tired.
I went to find dinner and found a new friend from the hostel at a restaurant, and had my very first pizza with chicken and broccoli on it, I added mushrooms..it was so good!
I really got so see how much I have to unwind, slow down and take every moment as it comes. I really got I needed to get a few things done but do it in a way that feels good to my system. The truth is I am not always working at home…but my mind doesn’t turn off. As so now, I get to work on being in the moment. I also notice when I have something “scheduled” there is a certain tension in my system..mostly as I want to be on time and don’t know how to get anywhere just yet by Metro.
There is lots of unwind…and my first day here was heaven…I really loved how it just flowed and I got things done and the magic of travel came back into my blood!
I showed up on 20 minutes of sleep in 2 days…I took a 4 hour nap that only barely quenched my thirst for rest. I went out on search for dinner, wandering the streets until I found just the right nook for me to have a tasty meal. Oddly enough I am in a part of that doesn’t have Colombian, typical food, it is almost all international…Vietnamese, Mexican, Pizza, etc. So the tacos won and I ate Mexican food at this sweet little place! It was delicious! At dinner I talked to a man that has been living here 4 months…he is learning Spanish and it had my heart thrill to know that I could do that too…possibly not here in Medellin, as it is still a city…not what I’m looking for. But to learn Spanish, that is exciting for me! He also told me in all the big cities the water is so chlorinated that it is drinkable…now I’m not sure if that is good news or not, but he, along with many others seem to think that is a plus over drinking out of plastic. I don’t like either myself.
I am staying in a lovely hostel in a dorm room with 5 other women and a private bathroom…and the best thing about this space is that every bed has it’s own curtain…which makes it so much easier for my self love and self pleasuring practice daily…though I just have to keep my sound down…which I am not used to..haha! It is worth it though. As some of my roommates are just lovely! I love how each one is so independent, from different countries, doing their own thing and on their own exploration!
I forced myself to stay up until 10:30pm that night…and I know it is the best way to get over jetlag.
I woke up the first morning after 9 hours of sleep. I think it is has been 2 or 3 months since I have even gotten 8 hours of sleep. Preparing for this trip was a full time job on top of working, etc. And now it is time to relax. I didn’t jump out of bed…I didn’t run to my phone or my computer. I just laid there feeling my body…how tired it was, how wonderful it was to do nothing. Self employment….as much as I LOVE it…it has done a number to my relaxing schedule. I really “got” the week I was leaving one big reason for coming on a long trip is to learn more about how to balance things…I have been working for 6 years solid, no long vacations…so my system finally just needed a big traveling journey…which is why I am here. If I’d gone to Mexico, like planned in January I probably wouldn’t be here now…and I know everything is perfect.
I got out of bed at 11am, man…I don’t remember the last time I did that. I got dressed and headed out to find the breakfast I’ve been longing for…beans, rice, eggs and PLATANOS (which are cooked bananas)! I love Plantains! I fell in love with them in Guatemala and have never stopped loving or thinking of them. I remember flying into Medellin, seeing all the greenery, so gorgeous..and just like Guatemala city the city came in and it was a bit of a shock…but this city is different…it is clean, there are no holes in the middle of the sidewalks you can fall into and it has green everywhere.
As I wandered out to find my breakfast, the receptionist wasn’t used to people asking for traditional breakfast…so it took her a while to find a place a 12 minute walk away, which was fine by me. I took the walk, the first thing I noticed are the people are so aware…they were aware of me walking up behind them…they looked at me, they really looked at my armpit hair if I raised my arms..oh well…it is all good! They were very sweet and no one spoke English! For a city this big, 2nd largest city here in Colombia, it is amazing they don’t speak English..which is so good, as I get to practice.
As I sat down for breakfast in this sweet little place, surrounded by a water fountain, an open courtyard, orange tile floors, I looked at the menu…I didn’t find what I wanted all in one…this woman came over and pieced my meal together…her attitude was one of being of service. As I waited for my meal I sat and read…no phone, just read about this area…FINALLY! If I’d read about it sooner…if I’d had the time to get to know this area before coming from the US, I probably would have packed differently…and it is all good. My blood started to pump, my heart excited, my traveling being started to perk up and the thrill of this country poured into me!
And then breakfast came, it was perfect…I’d never seen plantains so large with so many on my plate all for me! I was in heaven and they tasted even better! Half way through my meal I realized I was hurrying so I could read…and realized there was no hurry, I could read while eating..which is better for my digestion. This was the first time I read and ate in years…to take the time to take in both…be conscious with each bite and to take in my book…YUM! And 1.5 hours later my hot cocoa was done and most of my breakfast, and I was full…I was exhilarated by just one chapter of guide book!
I walked out onto the streets and I noticed my eyes took in everything…I was curious…my tiredness had worn off some and excitement was in it’s place. I was off to find a sim card for my phone…now, I’d been told this was quite a feat, and it was…store to store to store…many had the sim card, but didn’t have the service. After 2 malls I was drawn to a Samsun store and as I walked up the man inside said “Hello, how are you?” I was taken back a bit as that was the first English I’d heard most all day and it was clear and the best I’ve heard!
I love how people in shops will just leave their shop to show you where you need to go. No telling the other people in the shop, they just leave. He found me the right store and I was set up within 30-40 minutes with a new sim card, number and service for all of $13.00 a month!
This was pretty exhausting so I headed back to my hostel to find a way of calling 800 numbers in the US from my phone (international calls are not included) but 800 numbers maybe an exception. As one of my bank accounts wouldn’t let me sign in without my US phone number…they knew my phone was off within 24 HOURS of me being out of the country…that is crazy! Well, after much trying, I turned to Skype and it worked! And after much explaining she finally found a way to get me on my computer with my bank account..which to my bank “isn’t allowed” without a US phone number. It took some hoop jumping but I got in!
I laid down for a bit, realizing I had nothing to do…and didn’t need, nor want to do anything but relax as I was tired.
I went to find dinner and found a new friend from the hostel at a restaurant, and had my very first pizza with chicken and broccoli on it, I added mushrooms..it was so good!
I really got so see how much I have to unwind, slow down and take every moment as it comes. I really got I needed to get a few things done but do it in a way that feels good to my system. The truth is I am not always working at home…but my mind doesn’t turn off. As so now, I get to work on being in the moment. I also notice when I have something “scheduled” there is a certain tension in my system..mostly as I want to be on time and don’t know how to get anywhere just yet by Metro.
There is lots of unwind…and my first day here was heaven…I really loved how it just flowed and I got things done and the magic of travel came back into my blood!
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