Hope everyone had a nice holiday hanging out with family and friends. I finished off New Zealand in Auckland with Neill, staying with my hasher friend Rod (Goldfinger) and his wonderful wife Ronnie. They were wonderful hosts and I particularly enjoyed the parties with them and soaking in their jacuzzi tub at 1am! We did a hash run in Auckland as well and I met up with Danish Bacon, a hasher I remembered from Copenhagen! Small world, eh?
After saying good-bye to Neill and hello to Alison at the airport, Alison and I were off to Tahiti for a week where my mom joined us and took us to Bora Bora! What a great Christmas present for me! Bora Bora was beautiful. White sand beaches, warm sun and water, lots of snorkelling and sailing, and great food!
I sailed a couple of times, on a Hobie Cat. I took a lesson at first, then Seb told me I was fine to go off on my own. Amazing how the skills come back to me after 10 years!
I also did a heap of snorkelling. The coral reefs aren't quite a beautiful as the Great Barrier Reef, but the fish are just as nice. I fed a moray eel raw tuna! I also got smothered with the sting rays who thought my fingers would be fish (they don't have teeth, so it didn't hurt), but I did give one a big kiss and have a photo to prove it! I got to see the magnificent Manta rays and a token Spotted Eagle ray. The depth we were swimming at was pretty deep. The local Tahitians would dive down so far I wouldn't see them anymore! No gear, only a mask and snorkel. They are quite the fish themselves.
The place we were staying at had shows every night so I got to see the Tahitian dances and the local Hakka war dances. It was almost identical to the Maori war dance (the islanders of New Zealand), and not to far off from the Hawaiians either. I think they were all from the same genetic pool at one point in history.
Alison and I were going to get ourselves a tattoo while we were in Tahiti, but it was too expensive for us to go into town so we bagged the idea. I'm sure our mothers are grateful.
After Tahiti we flew into LA (that's in the USA!) and met up with Alison's sister, Caroline. We rented a car and drove up north to San Francisco on route 1. We took three days to do an 8 hour drive! It was so much fun. We went bowling in Lampoc, "czeched" out the Hearst Castle, and took many photos of the beautiful coastline. We're spending Christmas with my mom here in San Francisco and it's so nice to be back in our own country for a while. Thanks everyone for all the Holiday greetings! It was wonderful to hear from you all.
All my love, Carla
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
Saturday, December 7, 2002
Wise Lesson From a Fellow Traveler
Neill and I meet a 50 y.o. Floridian woman has been travelling around the world for over 10 years, so Neill asks her, "What is one thing travelling has taught you?" She replies, "Letting go." I never got her name, but I will remember what she said for the rest of my life.
After our Thanksgiving in Nelson, we drove down to Christchurch for the weekend and visited the zoo (take note Jon and Tim!) so I could see the infamous Kiwi, and went to a rather cheesy Christmas music festival where nearly half the population of the south island attended. Any of you who have seen Monty Python's Meaning of Life and remember the scene when they sing, "It's Christmas in Heavan Every Day" will have an idea of what this festival was like. Neill and I also went clubbing with our new friend, Timo, a German who lives in Christchurch that we happen to meet in Queenstown. He speaks phenomenal English, and with a kiwi accent! He took us to a club called The Holy Grail. I go into the bathroom and see a woman there inspecting the deep scratches on her chest. "What happened?" I ask. She replies, "Oh, I got into a fight with some girl on the dance floor. You should see her, though." I exit the bathroom to witness the police escorting a bunch of people out. Rough place, but I had fun dancing with Timo and all his friends, especially lovely Rochelle. It was her 28th birthday that night.
We took the ferry from Picton to Wellington where Neill and I met the wise Floridian traveler, czeched out the Te Papa museum, and became honorary pilots of Fly By Wire. For those of you who don't believe me, I have a video to prove how I learned how to fly a jet propelled rocket!
We had to hash, as well, seeing as Wellington had a bid for the 2004 Interhash. Neill and I ran with the men's hash on Monday, and the Port Nicholson Hash on Tuesday. I made friends with a very friendly 13 year old hasher, Tax Man's Daughter, who had never talked with an American before. How cool is that? Thanks for the t-shirt TMD!
After Wellington, we drove up to Napier for a night, stayed at a hostel run by an American from San Diego, partied with the numerous German backpackers at an Irish pub that night (Neill talked German with them for over 3 hours!), then drove up to Te Aroroa to see the sunrise at East Cape, the most easterly point in the southern hemisphere. Neill and I cracked ourselves up by pointing out the most easterly cow pie in the southern hemisphere, damaged the muffler on the Moon Unit driving on the most easterly dirt road in the southern hemisphere, and got zapped crossing over the most easterly electric fence in the southern hemisphere. The sunrise was pretty spectacular though. We were the first to see the sun rise in the world on Dec. 6th, 2002!
After East Cape, we drove on to Rotorua, and stayed with my hasher friends, Norma and Roger. I met and chatted with them for, maybe, 20 minutes on the yellow dress run 3 months ago in Goa, India. Norma emails me and invites me to stay with her when I'm in town. So here we are! She's an ER nurse, so I'm filling up my brain with the knowledge from her nursing journals. Who knew I'd be starving for that stuff?
In Rotorua I just had to czech out the Waitomo Caves, famous for their glowworm displays. We rapelled down 30 meters to the cave entrance, blackwater rafted down the river inside the cave, and then got to rock climb out. The glowworms look like tiny blue stars on the cave ceiling. I spent some time pointing out all the constellations to Neill. It took awhile, as they kept moving around. Of course, no one was amused but me. Norma also took us to many of the hot springs here, and we got to swim and soak in a hot river, warmed by a nearby thermal pool. Rotorua is built on the edge of an old volcano, so there are tons of hot springs and mud pools. She said some people build their house, then have to move it because of thermal jets that suddenly appear under the house! The mud pools smell of sulphur and bubble just like the Bog of Eternal Stench from the movie Labrynth, with David Bowie.
We're off to Auckland next, to stay with our friend Rod (Goldfinger), a hasher we traveled around Rajistahan with. Hope all my family and friends on the East coast of the US are surviving the snow storms.
Love you all and miss you!
Carla
After our Thanksgiving in Nelson, we drove down to Christchurch for the weekend and visited the zoo (take note Jon and Tim!) so I could see the infamous Kiwi, and went to a rather cheesy Christmas music festival where nearly half the population of the south island attended. Any of you who have seen Monty Python's Meaning of Life and remember the scene when they sing, "It's Christmas in Heavan Every Day" will have an idea of what this festival was like. Neill and I also went clubbing with our new friend, Timo, a German who lives in Christchurch that we happen to meet in Queenstown. He speaks phenomenal English, and with a kiwi accent! He took us to a club called The Holy Grail. I go into the bathroom and see a woman there inspecting the deep scratches on her chest. "What happened?" I ask. She replies, "Oh, I got into a fight with some girl on the dance floor. You should see her, though." I exit the bathroom to witness the police escorting a bunch of people out. Rough place, but I had fun dancing with Timo and all his friends, especially lovely Rochelle. It was her 28th birthday that night.
We took the ferry from Picton to Wellington where Neill and I met the wise Floridian traveler, czeched out the Te Papa museum, and became honorary pilots of Fly By Wire. For those of you who don't believe me, I have a video to prove how I learned how to fly a jet propelled rocket!
We had to hash, as well, seeing as Wellington had a bid for the 2004 Interhash. Neill and I ran with the men's hash on Monday, and the Port Nicholson Hash on Tuesday. I made friends with a very friendly 13 year old hasher, Tax Man's Daughter, who had never talked with an American before. How cool is that? Thanks for the t-shirt TMD!
After Wellington, we drove up to Napier for a night, stayed at a hostel run by an American from San Diego, partied with the numerous German backpackers at an Irish pub that night (Neill talked German with them for over 3 hours!), then drove up to Te Aroroa to see the sunrise at East Cape, the most easterly point in the southern hemisphere. Neill and I cracked ourselves up by pointing out the most easterly cow pie in the southern hemisphere, damaged the muffler on the Moon Unit driving on the most easterly dirt road in the southern hemisphere, and got zapped crossing over the most easterly electric fence in the southern hemisphere. The sunrise was pretty spectacular though. We were the first to see the sun rise in the world on Dec. 6th, 2002!
After East Cape, we drove on to Rotorua, and stayed with my hasher friends, Norma and Roger. I met and chatted with them for, maybe, 20 minutes on the yellow dress run 3 months ago in Goa, India. Norma emails me and invites me to stay with her when I'm in town. So here we are! She's an ER nurse, so I'm filling up my brain with the knowledge from her nursing journals. Who knew I'd be starving for that stuff?
In Rotorua I just had to czech out the Waitomo Caves, famous for their glowworm displays. We rapelled down 30 meters to the cave entrance, blackwater rafted down the river inside the cave, and then got to rock climb out. The glowworms look like tiny blue stars on the cave ceiling. I spent some time pointing out all the constellations to Neill. It took awhile, as they kept moving around. Of course, no one was amused but me. Norma also took us to many of the hot springs here, and we got to swim and soak in a hot river, warmed by a nearby thermal pool. Rotorua is built on the edge of an old volcano, so there are tons of hot springs and mud pools. She said some people build their house, then have to move it because of thermal jets that suddenly appear under the house! The mud pools smell of sulphur and bubble just like the Bog of Eternal Stench from the movie Labrynth, with David Bowie.
We're off to Auckland next, to stay with our friend Rod (Goldfinger), a hasher we traveled around Rajistahan with. Hope all my family and friends on the East coast of the US are surviving the snow storms.
Love you all and miss you!
Carla
Thursday, November 28, 2002
A Thankful Thanksgiving in New Zealand
"I'm Australian, and don't know what Thanksgiving is, but I'm very thankful," says an Australian backpacker. We made our own Thanksgiving dinner here in Nelson, NZ. Couldn't get a turkey, apparently we would've had to special order it ahead of time. So we had kingfisher fish from the fish shop a hasher friend works at, and got plenty of beer from the brewery another hasher friend works at, and made do with what else we could find. There were so many American backpackers here, we had dinner for 10! Bob made FOUR apple pies and we ate them all. I made those sweet potatoes with the marshmellows on top. Alison made the mash potatoes, and Gary made the fish. Neill cleaned up, as he states he's best at that.
Everyone loved my sweet potatoe dish and wanted to know what it was called. I said, "sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top." The day got even better when we went to see Harry Potter (opening night here) after dinner. Brenda, I hope you have seen it too, it really rocks! Other stuff we've done here, glaciar hiking (I haven't worn cramp-ons in years!), mountain biking up to the center of New Zealand, and sea kayaking in Cable Bay.
We're off to learn how to carve bone today, they have classes for everything out here! I hopefully will be making some lovely trinkets for you all at Christmas time...
Car is still holding up, even with me driving it. Hopfully I can keep it in one piece by the time we make it up to Auckland to sell it. ha ha
Met up with the Nelson hash, as I referenced earlier with the beer and fish connctions. They were a really friendly, welcoming bunch, and there was a total of 8 visitors at the run. One of them, Crystal Tits, was visiting from Montreal, and Alison knew her already! They met at a hash in Ottowa one weekend last April. Talk about random meetings! Another couple I had met already at the interhash in India. They were touring around still just like us.
Well, I am thinking of you all, my friends and family, especially during the holiday season. I hope you are all well and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Love, Carla
Everyone loved my sweet potatoe dish and wanted to know what it was called. I said, "sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top." The day got even better when we went to see Harry Potter (opening night here) after dinner. Brenda, I hope you have seen it too, it really rocks! Other stuff we've done here, glaciar hiking (I haven't worn cramp-ons in years!), mountain biking up to the center of New Zealand, and sea kayaking in Cable Bay.
We're off to learn how to carve bone today, they have classes for everything out here! I hopefully will be making some lovely trinkets for you all at Christmas time...
Car is still holding up, even with me driving it. Hopfully I can keep it in one piece by the time we make it up to Auckland to sell it. ha ha
Met up with the Nelson hash, as I referenced earlier with the beer and fish connctions. They were a really friendly, welcoming bunch, and there was a total of 8 visitors at the run. One of them, Crystal Tits, was visiting from Montreal, and Alison knew her already! They met at a hash in Ottowa one weekend last April. Talk about random meetings! Another couple I had met already at the interhash in India. They were touring around still just like us.
Well, I am thinking of you all, my friends and family, especially during the holiday season. I hope you are all well and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Love, Carla
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
Driving the Moon Unit around Kiwiland
We had to leave wonderful Tasmania sometime to get our butts to New Zealand! I've always wanted to go ever since my friend Kaliko showed me her photos from her trip there 2 years ago.
We flew into Dunedin and met up with our British hasher friend Neill (Wet Nurse) who was in great need of a holiday and wanted to tour with the ever-popular crazyhappenings duo for a month. After enduring a very critical search by customs (they went through our bags, inspected our anti-maliaria medications, and asked us questions like, "Do you smoke cannabis?" Alison responds, "No, why? Do our bags smell like it?") We got a cab into the city by a very chatty southern NZ cabbie who kept interupting our conversations to tell us random facts about his country.
WE BOUGHT A CAR!!!! Alison and I now have something in our possession other than our backpacks. It's a 1987 Ford Lazer, in decent condition, and a manual. Andy K., are you scared for me to be driving a stick again??? Alison christened it The Moon Unit, and covered the stained shag pile (floor carpets) with piles of stones from the riverbed. It also has a Kiwi Crossing sticker on the backend. A Kiwi at the backpackers, Gary, helped us buy the car. It was heaps cheaper than renting something and we should have no problem selling it in Auckland before we fly out. Neill knows a thing or two about cars, like changing spark plugs and brake pads, so it's been great having him along.
We're in Queenstown now, home to the extreme sports. I'm not planning on bungee jumping or anything though, so no worries, Mom. The town itself is a trip and a half. Very tall, snow covered mountains right next to beautiful lakes and rivers. Have you all seen Lord of the Rings? I'm in the heart of Middle Earth. We're off to "czech" out the glaciars tomorrow and then on to Christchurch. Just letting you all know I'm fine and dandy out here! Off to meet friends at the bar, Winnie Baegos, now!
Love, Carla
We flew into Dunedin and met up with our British hasher friend Neill (Wet Nurse) who was in great need of a holiday and wanted to tour with the ever-popular crazyhappenings duo for a month. After enduring a very critical search by customs (they went through our bags, inspected our anti-maliaria medications, and asked us questions like, "Do you smoke cannabis?" Alison responds, "No, why? Do our bags smell like it?") We got a cab into the city by a very chatty southern NZ cabbie who kept interupting our conversations to tell us random facts about his country.
WE BOUGHT A CAR!!!! Alison and I now have something in our possession other than our backpacks. It's a 1987 Ford Lazer, in decent condition, and a manual. Andy K., are you scared for me to be driving a stick again??? Alison christened it The Moon Unit, and covered the stained shag pile (floor carpets) with piles of stones from the riverbed. It also has a Kiwi Crossing sticker on the backend. A Kiwi at the backpackers, Gary, helped us buy the car. It was heaps cheaper than renting something and we should have no problem selling it in Auckland before we fly out. Neill knows a thing or two about cars, like changing spark plugs and brake pads, so it's been great having him along.
We're in Queenstown now, home to the extreme sports. I'm not planning on bungee jumping or anything though, so no worries, Mom. The town itself is a trip and a half. Very tall, snow covered mountains right next to beautiful lakes and rivers. Have you all seen Lord of the Rings? I'm in the heart of Middle Earth. We're off to "czech" out the glaciars tomorrow and then on to Christchurch. Just letting you all know I'm fine and dandy out here! Off to meet friends at the bar, Winnie Baegos, now!
Love, Carla
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Ten Days in Tassie!
Ten days in Tazmania tearing around on the left side of the road in a copper colored Toyota was quite the experience! Thankfully, Alison did most of the driving, as I was more comfortable ordering her around as my title "Navigator" allowed. We traveled 2500 kms total, and saw the whole state of Tazmania. We hashed with 4 different clubs and were thrilled that every local we encountered knew of the hash ever since the interhash in Hobart in 2000 happened.
Highlights:
Getting crash space with hasher, Paul(Jerk Off), and him loaning us a key to his house and a spare mobile phone! Hiking in Frencynet National Park and seeing whales in Wineglass Bay. Alison puttig a rude Norwegian in his place in the kitchen of the youth hostel. Me locking the keys in the car. Having to drink my Chardonnay down-down tea bagged with my tacky Tazmanian tiger souvenir socks at the Chardonnay Hash in Hobart. Paul telling us to make sure we czech out Queenstown and call in on Phil, no, wait, Tim...the guy who runs the power plant there. He would show us around. Going to the movies TWICE in Hobart. We yearn for non-travel activities more lately. Hanging out with Juan and Sean, our army hash buddies that made the trip to Bernie with us and made me sound like my mother as they fought in the backseat of the car. "Don't make me come back there!" Grizzly taking the morning off from work to cook us breakfast the morning after the Bernie hash run. He knew all our new friends from Ragistahan! Going to the historic town of Ross, and getting heaps of Ross souvenirs for our friend Ross in Melbourne. "My friends went to Ross and all they got me was this lousy t-shirt..." Hashing with the Hobart Hash Harem, the first female only hash we attended. Their hash shirts are PURPLE! Alison says we should start one in Boston, but our shirts will be pink. Going to the Mayfield, (a uni bar) with Brigid's brother, Mark. We went dressed in our hash clothing and the bouncer commented, "Girls, try not to dress up so much next time, ok?" Sticky floors, 10 girls dressed in half shirts waiting in line for the toilet, shooters, and crowds of students packed shoulder to shoulder made us feel 10 years younger. ha. Talking about the meaning of life, love, and happiness with Alison and Juan in a bar until 4 am. A sign blows off a building and scratches the car 10 minutes before we return it to the Hertz rental office.
Highlights:
Getting crash space with hasher, Paul(Jerk Off), and him loaning us a key to his house and a spare mobile phone! Hiking in Frencynet National Park and seeing whales in Wineglass Bay. Alison puttig a rude Norwegian in his place in the kitchen of the youth hostel. Me locking the keys in the car. Having to drink my Chardonnay down-down tea bagged with my tacky Tazmanian tiger souvenir socks at the Chardonnay Hash in Hobart. Paul telling us to make sure we czech out Queenstown and call in on Phil, no, wait, Tim...the guy who runs the power plant there. He would show us around. Going to the movies TWICE in Hobart. We yearn for non-travel activities more lately. Hanging out with Juan and Sean, our army hash buddies that made the trip to Bernie with us and made me sound like my mother as they fought in the backseat of the car. "Don't make me come back there!" Grizzly taking the morning off from work to cook us breakfast the morning after the Bernie hash run. He knew all our new friends from Ragistahan! Going to the historic town of Ross, and getting heaps of Ross souvenirs for our friend Ross in Melbourne. "My friends went to Ross and all they got me was this lousy t-shirt..." Hashing with the Hobart Hash Harem, the first female only hash we attended. Their hash shirts are PURPLE! Alison says we should start one in Boston, but our shirts will be pink. Going to the Mayfield, (a uni bar) with Brigid's brother, Mark. We went dressed in our hash clothing and the bouncer commented, "Girls, try not to dress up so much next time, ok?" Sticky floors, 10 girls dressed in half shirts waiting in line for the toilet, shooters, and crowds of students packed shoulder to shoulder made us feel 10 years younger. ha. Talking about the meaning of life, love, and happiness with Alison and Juan in a bar until 4 am. A sign blows off a building and scratches the car 10 minutes before we return it to the Hertz rental office.
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
A birthday celebration overseas
I celebrated my birthday in Orange, a small country town, where Debby, Mike, and their friend Wayne live and work as teachers. They take me out for dinner for my birthday, we drink wine, eat pavolva birthday cake, and then we go out to a dodgy club in Orange to further celebrate.
Alison brings some shots, we all chink glasses to toast and I break my glass with my enthusiasm. I bring the broken glass to the bar, and report, "this is so unsafe. I want another." They oblige. I don't drink it though, think I poured it in someone's glass of water. Alison, Sarah, and I dance like Elaine from Seinfield to random music on the dance floor. Alison and Sarah have a "hair off" much like Zoolander, play the air guitar and dirty the knees of their jeans. I realize I may have drunk too much and escape the noise by going to the bar. Wayne finds me later, and said the sight of me sitting at the bar, appearing folorn, nursing a water, and surrounded by old men, looked like a scene from the movie Heartbreak Hotel. We left early thankfully, as a result of the "lockdown" procedure in Orange, where the bars all refuse to let anyone else in after 12:30 am. Not a bad thing as there were many student sightings by Wayne, "Why aren't you all home studying tonight?"
Well, we're in Brisbane now, and Sarah's mom took us to Steve Irwin's zoo, to see the famous croc shows. No sightings of Steve, but we did meet Harriett, a turtle from the days of Darwin that is 172 years old. Also got a phenomenal photos of the two of us with a python wrapped around our shoulders.
Fun fact: Steve and Terry's daughter, Bindi Sue, was named after a crocadile, Bindi, and their dog Sui.
We're off to the Gold Coast tomorrow, to see Surfer's Paradise and meet up with friends we made in Rajistahan on the tour. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Sending you heaps of love.
Carla
Alison brings some shots, we all chink glasses to toast and I break my glass with my enthusiasm. I bring the broken glass to the bar, and report, "this is so unsafe. I want another." They oblige. I don't drink it though, think I poured it in someone's glass of water. Alison, Sarah, and I dance like Elaine from Seinfield to random music on the dance floor. Alison and Sarah have a "hair off" much like Zoolander, play the air guitar and dirty the knees of their jeans. I realize I may have drunk too much and escape the noise by going to the bar. Wayne finds me later, and said the sight of me sitting at the bar, appearing folorn, nursing a water, and surrounded by old men, looked like a scene from the movie Heartbreak Hotel. We left early thankfully, as a result of the "lockdown" procedure in Orange, where the bars all refuse to let anyone else in after 12:30 am. Not a bad thing as there were many student sightings by Wayne, "Why aren't you all home studying tonight?"
Well, we're in Brisbane now, and Sarah's mom took us to Steve Irwin's zoo, to see the famous croc shows. No sightings of Steve, but we did meet Harriett, a turtle from the days of Darwin that is 172 years old. Also got a phenomenal photos of the two of us with a python wrapped around our shoulders.
Fun fact: Steve and Terry's daughter, Bindi Sue, was named after a crocadile, Bindi, and their dog Sui.
We're off to the Gold Coast tomorrow, to see Surfer's Paradise and meet up with friends we made in Rajistahan on the tour. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Sending you heaps of love.
Carla
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Down (under) time in Australia
Hello again! Having some down time in Australia is allowing me to log on to email heaps. So lucky for all of you, more newsletters! In Sydney, Alison and I did the bridge climb up the harbor bridge. It's only been open to the public since 1998, and they are so systematic about the whole process! We got full gear: climbing harness, jumpsuit, fleece jacket, hat, and they even had shoes if you needed them! If you show up to this place in only your underwear, it's STILL possible to climb the bridge! I thought it would be much more scary than it actually was. More of a stroll than a climb, as Alison said. We got some great photos of us, completely posed by the guide, of course. I suspect he's done it before...they are almost as ketch as the Taj Mahal shots we had done. Alison said they make us look like we should be announcing our engagement to be married or something.
The next day, we "czeched" out the Tarrango Zoo in Sydney. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for the koala's to be fed. I'd never seen them so active! Alison must've taken over a dozen photos of them. It was hilarious. We wanted to get our photo taken with the koala, but the booth was already closed. Ah well. Sarah's parents promised to take us to the zoo in Brisbane, where that can be done there as well.
So in case you felt my last newsletter was a bit dull, well, here is a classic story: We're on the bus, having a rather mundane conversation, for once, and the Australian guy sitting across from us remarks out of no where, "Oh my God, you have the strongest American accents I've ever heard! Are you doing that on purpose, because you're traveling?"
Alison: "No, this is how we really talk."
Rude Aussie: "But I have American friends in Japan, and they don't sound like you. You seem like you've turned up the volume on it, deliberately. Has anyone ever said that to you before?"
Alison: "No, not to our face, anyway."
Rude Aussie: "Well, I prefer the American southern accent. It just has a sound to it that is so pleasing, and the wide brim hats the men wear, I just love that! (he smiles and reflects fondly on this)
Carla: "Interesting, I think some Americans wouldn't agree with you on that one."
Alison: "So, do all Australians talk like you?"
Rude Aussie: "We just say it like it is, ya know? Put it all out on the table. Nothing beats honesty, I say."
He got off the bus at this point, which was good because Alison looked ready to smack him silly and I was biting my lip, trying not to laugh.
We're in Canberra now, with my penpal of 15 years, Sarah Kearns. This city is like a country version of Washington DC, minus the Smithsonians. Alison discovered there's an Erotica Museum here, though, so we're going to "czech" that out tomorrow. Sarah's brother, Scean, is taking the day off from work to show us around. When we told Scean where we wanted to go, he couldn't stop laughing.
Oh, in regards to my newsletter about the Indian burning man festival I went to in Delhi, but couldn't remember the name, my Mom sent me the following information via her friend Amy:
I believe she is speaking of Diwali (pronounce dee-vall-ee). It is the Festival of Lights representing (light over darkness or good or evil). It is the major Hindu holiday.
Hope that was as enlightening for all of you as it was for me! Thanks Mom and Amy!
Love, Carla
The next day, we "czeched" out the Tarrango Zoo in Sydney. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for the koala's to be fed. I'd never seen them so active! Alison must've taken over a dozen photos of them. It was hilarious. We wanted to get our photo taken with the koala, but the booth was already closed. Ah well. Sarah's parents promised to take us to the zoo in Brisbane, where that can be done there as well.
So in case you felt my last newsletter was a bit dull, well, here is a classic story: We're on the bus, having a rather mundane conversation, for once, and the Australian guy sitting across from us remarks out of no where, "Oh my God, you have the strongest American accents I've ever heard! Are you doing that on purpose, because you're traveling?"
Alison: "No, this is how we really talk."
Rude Aussie: "But I have American friends in Japan, and they don't sound like you. You seem like you've turned up the volume on it, deliberately. Has anyone ever said that to you before?"
Alison: "No, not to our face, anyway."
Rude Aussie: "Well, I prefer the American southern accent. It just has a sound to it that is so pleasing, and the wide brim hats the men wear, I just love that! (he smiles and reflects fondly on this)
Carla: "Interesting, I think some Americans wouldn't agree with you on that one."
Alison: "So, do all Australians talk like you?"
Rude Aussie: "We just say it like it is, ya know? Put it all out on the table. Nothing beats honesty, I say."
He got off the bus at this point, which was good because Alison looked ready to smack him silly and I was biting my lip, trying not to laugh.
We're in Canberra now, with my penpal of 15 years, Sarah Kearns. This city is like a country version of Washington DC, minus the Smithsonians. Alison discovered there's an Erotica Museum here, though, so we're going to "czech" that out tomorrow. Sarah's brother, Scean, is taking the day off from work to show us around. When we told Scean where we wanted to go, he couldn't stop laughing.
Oh, in regards to my newsletter about the Indian burning man festival I went to in Delhi, but couldn't remember the name, my Mom sent me the following information via her friend Amy:
I believe she is speaking of Diwali (pronounce dee-vall-ee). It is the Festival of Lights representing (light over darkness or good or evil). It is the major Hindu holiday.
Hope that was as enlightening for all of you as it was for me! Thanks Mom and Amy!
Love, Carla
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