Amoreaus Times

El Ano Nuevo!

2011-01-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

This last year brought about so much change that it's almost hard to know where to start. So I suppose that I'll start off with our blessings. Finally, after the new year passing, Efrain's paperwork was approved at the Embassy in Juarez. He left not one minute after the approval and he returned to the USA by catching a ride with some strangers at the border who took him to the airport in El Paso. Then he flew to PHX in an ecstatic state of relief- This was between the escalation of violence in Juarez and the mass exodus of its citizens. I thank all who helped to support us in that time as it was so challenging spiritually and monetarily. We couldn't help but to have a somewhat emotional holiday season this year knowing that just last year over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, we didn't even know if Efrain was going to come home again. Talk about counting your blessings!
Two short months after Efrain returned home, the Winter Olympics began. They were not far from my old stomping grounds (Vancouver B.C. is about 30 minutes from where I was born), so it seemed more intimate for us as some of our friends went to events and posted the films. It also was ironic because, as I was watching the triathlon and seeing the athletes sprinting uphill on cross country skis, I was bouncing on our therapeutic ball and going through my own kind of race where the finish line included a new baby boy named Aramis. I went into notable labor at 2 p.m. and called the midwives at about 4 p.m., they arrived at about 5 and I gave birth at 6. There wasn't too much time to prepare and I must say that I was glad to have had so many steady hands around because I just couldn't push anymore in the end. Efrain and Deborah held me up on shaky legs while Paula coaxed Aramis out into the birthing pool. Aramis is quite a big boy (9lb, 3oz at birth) which explained why I felt so tired. By the end of the Olympics I was almost fully recovered from birthing and we all enjoyed the calm presence of our new little man.
Now, Issa is enjoying playing with a baby brother who crawls after her and is close to walking. Issa is stringing together sentences, jumping, running, and doing head-stands. She loves things like drinking hot chocolate out of a spoon, wrapping herself in our robes in the morning, painting on shirts, sledding, and watching Astro Boy (strange, I know). There are occasional bouts of jealousy between her and her brother but they are few and far between in comparison to how much they love to play together. Issa's newest thing is to pretend Aramis is a dog and to walk him around the house (even though he's just crawling where he wants really). We typically have a dance hour at home and the kids love to dance to new Scottish rock involving bagpipes. Aramis head bangs while Issa leaps around the house and I teach her new dance moves.
A few months after Efrain came home from Mexico, he finally found a job at Arizona Highway Safety Specialists where he had to leave for four days of the week and then return for three days (which was really just one whole day) and then leave again. One wonderful thing that came from this job was that they provided the rig and training for Efrain to get his Commercial Drivers License and he passed the test with flying colors. The hours and strenuous labor proved too hard on him and our family though, so he went out job searching again in November. "Yavapai Metal and Steel" in Dewey was happy to hire him and now he is working about 15 minutes Northeast of our home. He is enjoying having a chance to use a variety of his skills and to also return home at the end of the day. We are all enjoying working out at the local gym these days. We are both going to Zumba together, which leaves us happy and tired at the end of the day. Efrain is also always trying to find that new entrepreneurial idea that will help us to settle into a steady and successful career path. We have a lot of connections in Mexico and are hoping that those will turn into good business relationships, so we will be able to visit his family while working across borders in the future.
As for me, I've been here at the house, caring for the children, cooking, cleaning, building fires and cutting wood (I realize what increadibly bad aim I have especially when I'm weilding an axe). There are things in life that I realize I knew nothing about, like cutting wood and building fires, and am now taking it upon myself to pick up the axe any time the men are out of the home (which is essentially Monday through Friday).
As you can imagine, combining households with my parents has thrown into sharp relief how much junk we both have collected over the years. So I have been doing my best to fix and revamp what I can to sell these things either on-line or through a friends booth in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). As I said, I have been going to the gym too, which keeps me happily in pain most days. I love Zumba because it is such a happy way to work out. When I'm feeling more solitary, I like the rowing machine because I can just zone out or daydream that I'm sculling somewhere exotic.
In the spare time that I have otherwise, which is not much, I have been writing a book (sounds a lot more audacious than it really is) and speaking Spanish with Efrain; still in the hopes to become more fluent. My mother bought the Rosetta Stone in Italian, so I studied Italian 1 and 2 already and am moving on to either Swahili or German. My hopes for the future still lay with working in an American Embassy so what I should be studying is Turkish or Chinese (once I can afford a program, I will surely buy one), but what I have at hand is Swahili or German. I love the sound of Swahili and have a friend who can help push my learning along nicely here in town so I may be leaning that way.
My feelings have stayed the same from the last year to this. We may not have all the money in the world but we have a home, good food, friends, and a core family that has proven to be unshakable. I strive in this new year to stay inspired by life, to be inquisitive, and to remain above all things, a positive force in this world.
Much love and light to all of you out there~~~~

It's October Already?

2010-10-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Things have been flying bye so quickly that I feel like I just blinked and Aramis is already crawling and Issa is stringing together words and making full sentences. October is here and it's getting to that time where I pack my summer clothing away and pull my winters out.
So what has the family been up to? Well, Efrain has been working with a company that installs guardrails at the side of the freeway. He is working at the Hoover Dam right now and is gone from Sunday till Friday at the moment. Typically his workweek is Sunday through Thursday but the latest job has been more taxing than before. He loves to be employed (as we all love that he is) but it is extremely difficult work and he is regularly away from family. So, I would say that we are all reluctantly grateful that we are among the employed;-) He is also lucky enough to be with a company who will put him through the Commercial Drivers License process which costs a bundle and requires that you bring your own work truck.
The children are making their own little breakthroughs in life. Aramis is rolling around on the floor with an apple right now and Issa is taking a nap (hence, I am able to write for a few moments). Daddy decided that his son needed a Mohawk so my 7-month-old looks...like a boy. Issa's curls keep on getting tighter and she is running around the house with no problem. We decided that she needed a way to blow off steam so she is taking gymnastics in PV. She calls it "jumping class." She is learning how to tumble, do jumping jacks, jump on the trampoline and more. It makes me crack up every time we go and I see her bouncing around with that ecstatic look on her face, so I think the money spent is well worth it.
I am wonderful as of now. I just got over a bug that someone brought home, so I am feeling weak but happy. Efrain asked that I advertise to sell some more of the flagstone furniture this weekend that he's made, so I'm cleaning up and pricing it all again. I'm also studying for the Foreign Service Officer Exam and am going through the process of trying to pick out a laptop after hosing mine down with the garden hose (by accident). I feel like I'm doing research on just about everything on this great big Earth covering the spectrum of mom, technology expert, and possible Embassy worker, so my brain is being filled with not-so-useless facts as well as being hesitantly interconnected via Twitter, Facebook, and email. I love having an online presence, but I also feel like I should have some kind of anonymity (impossible, I know). Every weekend brings something new, soon we will be going camping and to visit a close friend of mine in Tucson, then we will be doing Halloween things with the kids and November will be fast approaching. Love to all the fam and friends there reading this;-)
~Amoreaus

Jethro Tull: Skating Away On The Thin Ice ... (02/10/1977)

2010-05-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

2010-05-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

At times I have these startling moments where the past comes up and slaps me in the face in the most loving way possible. A peice of music sweeps me to my past as a hippie-kid...you could never get me out of my bell-bottoms, and I was always game to go on a road trip to Sedona in my tie-dyed shirt, guitar in hand, jumping in the river naked and taking every moment as it came. Jethrow Tull delivered me there this morning. My days rambling in England and not being able to get enough black tea, the smell of a British field wet with rain, "meanwhile back in the year one, when you belonged to no-one, you wouldn't stand a chance son... a million generations removed from expectations, of being who you really want to be." That's good stuff. No wonder I was obsessed with the hippie movement. Songs had some insight to those who were soul-searching but handed over advise in the most heart-brakingly joyous of ways. The music from the 60's and 70's makes me feel good. Sometimes it comes down simply to how you feel when something happens or when music plays. In a time before life got so damn heavy, before you couldn't be friends with someone because they're from a different political party or on the extreme side of Chrisitianity. Or maybe I'm deluding myself. Maybe it was just as heavy back then, but it is now that I read it in a history book that it doesn't seem as blood-thirsty as it is now. "Skating away on the thin ice of a new day." Maybe that is what Ian Anderson was thinking when he wrote that song. Was he sitting there at his breakfast table in the 70's with his morning cup of tea thinking the same thing as I am thinking here today in 2010? Sigh...we must agree Ian from the past and Autumn from the now, the story's still too damn real and in the present tense. Here's to skating away.

May Days

2010-05-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

So it has been awhile in writing and I'm feelin' inspired so here I am out on the patio in the morning sun. Issa is playing in a little pool that her grandpa set up for her and I have a chance to hang outside and ponder life in only the way one can while listening to the calls of nature in the morning. This month has brought many changes in life. Efrain is working for the Census as a Numerator and is going from house to house, counting people. You can imagine the stories that he comes back with about hostilities and also those people who are very excited to just meet a new person. He's truly learning about America one house at a time.

Baby Aramis is super-strong and is already 14lbs. He's standing with the aid of some hands and looks like he really wants to crawl already (God help me) lol. It is only suitable that since Issa's skin and eye color is exactly like dads that Aramis' should be like mom's. It's funny because he is as white as can be with Hazel eyes and light-brown hair. Issa is tan tan tan, with coffee-colored eyes, and dark-brown hair. Both don't hold a prayer for having straight hair though...Issa is already frowing and Aramis (once he grows some new hair) will no doubt be curly. Issa is a very active two-year-old and holds promise with being a dancer or athlete. It makes me laugh because others talk about having to walk their dogs so they don't go crazy in the house and I feel the same way about my two-year-old. She's as happy as a clam when she's outside and I love watching her play in the water or running down a forest trail.

As for all of us adults; we are doing just fine all living together. We all have our schedules and usually share our mornings and evenings, leaving the rest of the day to our own time constraints. Pop and I, or pop and Efrain go out paddling every other morning, which is a great start to the day. I'm pondering getting part-time work just to stay in the loop but also feel the pull of motherhood as I like to be at home with my kids. I'm planning on taking the Foreign Service Exam next month (if I can still sign up) and try my hand a working at a consulate eventually. This whole process could take two or more years but I'm willing to wait because it would be good for me to be able to breast-feed Aramis for another year anyway. And that is assuming that I pass the Foreign Service Test. As all of my close friends know, test-taking is not even on the list of my many talents...but courage and determination are so we shall see where those take me. Mom is looking into a variety of job options since she left Travel Quest and pop is still doing massage and enjoys a fairly large clientele. Well, that's all for now. I'm going to try and keep on my blog because heck, it's nice to just write down a thought every now-and-again.

Update on my preggo belly

2010-01-19T04:30:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to also post an update on the little man- yes! It is going to be a boy for those who don't know;-) His name will be Aramis Leslie Tax. We are all very excited to be seeing him soon. He is due February 6th but I already feel like I'm bursting at the seams so I'm wondering if he will be coming sooner rather than later and the family is watching me like my water might break right in front of their eyes. We have a home water-birthing set up and I think that we finally have all the components we need to have a smooth home birth (with the ever-present chance that something may not go as planned- but we plan for that too). The general things needed were a huge bag of salt (50lbs), a birthing pool, a birthing kit made for my midwife and sheets, towels, tarps etc. We found that water birthing was so peaceful though that it all was worth it with Issa so we hope to do the same for Aramis. I will certainly be updating people on facebook when I go into labor!

A Very Happy New Year

2010-01-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hello to all our friends and family,
As many of you know, this year has brought about a whole lot of change for the Tax family. I'm sure there is no need to re-iterate the whole long story but in short, we finally got the summons to the consulate in Juarez Mexico to finish the immigration process for Efrain. We've been working at this for about three years now and finally got up enough Federal/State tax history to tie together all the loose ends! After dropping off the last of our papers proving that Efrain is a good guy and that our family really does need him here at the end of December; he received his Visa and crossed into the States legally on the 4th of this month. It was a long journey getting here!

2009
Over 2009, Efrain and I started to see our company, Arizona Flagstone Creations, start to take off in our local area. We were determined to stick with this company for at least a year but I suppose the saying "if you want to make God laugh tell 'em your plans" comes to mind because there was no way we were going to get around going out of the country during Efrain's immigration approval. Legally, he had to be in Mexico. We did not know this process was going to take three months but after about a month of trying to speed up the process we finally gave in that we were going to need to make some major changes. Efrain's first appointment was at the beginning of October and he left Juarez to stay with his family in Mexico at the end of October. Mom, pop and I moved Efrain and my stuff into a storage unit and Issa and I moved into my parents home in order stay afloat financially while Efrain was away at the end of October as well.

What We've Learned Along the Way
Through being separated for so long, Efrain and I have learned to appreciate how much we love each other really. It may seem trivial or stereotypical but some families can handle being separated over long periods of time and we are not one of them. We really found that we are more positive, strong, and essentially more ourselves when we are all together. Phone calls and e-mail did help us bridge the gap though.

Efrain called home regularly with stories of how he realized how much he had changed over the years- actually due to our family culture more than just American culture. For example, over the years, Efrain and I have had heated discussions at times but we never yell or hit because it doesn't help to do so. I guess in the past Efrain had quite the temper but as you all know, I'm not really the screaming/abusive type so that wouldn't work with me. I'm also not a big fan of vulgarity because there are so many ways of expressing one's self- and we can also take up things like yelling out "Hoover Dam!" instead of swearing (we usually start cracking up after that and we forget what we were swearing about anyway). But in Mexico, heated tempers and swearing are more the norm (it reminds me of how Italians are known for being so passionate and for having a quick temper. Those from Mexico city have a slang all their own.) anyway, folks were surprised to see the new Efrain. He also told me a story about how one of the police men down there tried to take his wedding ring and Efrain chewed him out for contributing to the corruption and ignorance of their people. He told the guy to go ahead and take him to jail but he wasn't going to hand his ring over and he would make a full testimony on how this police man tried to steal his wedding ring from him- I couldn't help but cheer for Efrain for being one to stand up for himself and say the things I can only dream of saying.

It seemed that the grains of bad were scattered in a sea of good though. Efrain got some quality time with loads of family he hasn't seen for a decade. He also experienced Mexico as a tourist and actually had the time to enjoy the exotic foods and sights of Mexico City and Oaxaca. His visit to his grandmother in Oaxaca was the highlight of his trip. We have some wonderful photos of the Christmas ceremonies over there and the forest out in the country where his grandma lives. I will be posting more of the pictures and stories about his Mexico trip when I have more time!
Much love to all and we hope this year brings good health, prosperity, and happiness to all.

November Chill

2009-11-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

After a bit of planning we had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family. We actually succeeded in not having too much food (as we usually do) and got 'to go' containers for everyone to bring a large portion of all the food home. Just about everyone got stuck in traffic on the way over so we just went along with the ebb-and-flow of the day. I found it nice because I used to hold out on eating too much and then eat way too much of dinner but recently decided that leftovers are just as good as the day of so I just have a normal eating day save for the over-all decadence of the food.

Cousin Craig came over for a few days over the holiday, which is always fun because we all laugh so much. We cooked some good food, went out for some killer fish n' chips and went out hiking and looking for potential camping spots out down a rural road that Robin's dad recommended to us. The weather was crisp and cool- just pirfect for some wondering.

Since we don't have a dog, Craig's dog Pie Pan has been just thrilling for Issa to be around and the poor thing gets mobbed each time she comes to our home. She's been really good to Issa though and puts her in her place gently if Issa is too in her face.

Efrain chat just about every day over the phone and I hear about his adventures over there in Mexico. Recently he went to an all-night swapmeet with a friend of his to help set up his friends vending tent and items to purchase. He said the market was so big that he could try to walk from one end of the market to the other and never find the end. They were selling everything from animals to clothing to food and now that he's been out of the country for so long, the experience was exotic rather than an every-day thing. Although he enjoys being with his family, he seems really ready to come home. Sometimes one more month seems like it will be really quick for both of us, but at other times it seems like forever. I'm sure it will feel like I've blinked and he'll be home;-)

Halloween

2009-11-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't really want to get Issabella all hyper on candy this season so we decided to go out to a pumpkin festival instead and had a blast. After the festival we got a caramel apple at the store for Issa and I made Mulled Cider for the adults (mine being a virgen of course).

It was a great time but I also lost my phone somewhere in between the house and the farm so I just got a new one for free on our plan. I don't have anyone's number written down so if you are waiting on a call, call me again;-)

A New Returning

2009-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

On my way home last weekend from mom and pop's house, I had an epiphany. It was that my husband may be home in a week or a few months and that it would be hard to stay in our lovely home for months alone, chasing after my daughter and being pregnant (what can I say, I like to relax every now-and-again). Also, I noticed Issa didn't want to be parted from my father for a good half-hour when we arrived because she really needs her daddy or grandpa. So, I made an executive decision to move in with the parents (they have been offering for awhile now) while we are waiting for Efrain's papers to go through. This way, when he comes back, we can also save up enough money to actually buy a home! (we are open to any suggestions on great places to move) Most likely we will be buying here somewhere though because grandma and grandpa are close by and Efrain has made it clear that snow is out of the question;-) I don't blame him...he's kinda' looks like a cat walking through snow in the winter. He also bundles up so much that all you can see of him are his eyes:-)
So that's that! Mom, pop, and a friend of mine have been moving us out this weekend and I'm going to sell everything I can next weekend.
Update on Efrain in Juarez: His appointment is technically for December 29th but we may be able to schedule one earlier due to our family circumstances and that we really need him here financially and otherwise. We've prepared papers and sent them to Juarez prooving all of this. Now it is up to a bureaucrat to see it. Hopefully, they will make an acception and slip him in somewhere!

In the Works

2009-10-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

So, upon getting back I've just been hangin' at the home and calling Efrain every day. We text, E-mail, and call a lot;-) Right now we are just waiting on Efrain's papers to be processed in order for us to make our next appointment with an embassy official. This next step could be him simply applying for the Visa, or it could be us getting more papers processed proving that he is worthy of living in the U.S. (that he is not going to be a public charge, that he will obay the laws and take care of his family, contribute to the community etc.) Either way, we've all resigned ourselves to the fact that we just have to keep on chugging along without getting upset because after all of this, we will be free to live quite normally if such a thing exists.
Efrain and I are lucky to have such good friends both here and in Juarez because we both hardly feel alone despite the loss of being apart. Efrain has moved into the home of a nice family there in Juarez and pays them $75/week for food, board, and washing his clothing. I have good friends who have come out of the woodwork (mostly one of the Thai families in town) to drop off food and to play with Issa while I can work in the kitchen without ignoring her.
This weekend, Liz has come to visit from Santa Fe and we are all crashing mom and pop's house. It's been wonderful to have the extra hands and hearts to give attention to Issa. We all went down town yesterday and wondered in and out of the shopes. Issa had a great time running in the rose gardens at Charlotte Hall Museum and G-pa bought her some new moccasins because she has grown out of all her shoes (and she looks more native than ever in them!) Liz and I stopped by Grandma's Bakery under St. Michael's cafe and munched on pastries and I shared with Issa of course;-)
In the meantime I've been becoming more of a foodie and am getting excited to make some cool stuff for the holidays! We are also planning on going to a pumpkin patch this year to let Issa pick out her own pumpkin and go into her first corn maze (it would also be my first corn maze);-)

Saturday in Juarez

2009-10-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

After a morning of relaxation, eating, and preparing the last of Efrain's papers, we ventured out to the historical part of Juarez. We went to see the museum and old cathedral and well, the older part of the city. What was interesing was that it looked like we were ending up in the "wrong" side of town again. In fact, it was just three or so city blocks down. But we parked our car in a secure lot for 13 pesos/hour ($1) and then went to look at the sites. Firstly we went to the old cathedral of Juarez which was about as big as the one in York (England). The Spires weren't as tall but it was a gorgeous cathedral (I do have some kind of weird obsession with cathedrals; never get tired of em). It was surrounded by a 10-foot-high steel fence but the stairs were open. This seemed like the haven for anyone who just wanted to be safe. The older homeless folks were sleeping in there and we could tell it was because they knew that no-one was going to try doing anything to them. The cathedral had a beautiful-large stained-glass window that took over the enitre left side and the right was lined with statues of saints. The alter was pretty simple in comparison to the grand ones in Europe. They had a stone bason for baptisms, and a pedistal for the preacher. There was a smaller church off to the left side of the cathedral that was a bit older (cathedral was 18th century. The church was 17th century).
After that we took the advise from some locals and went into an indoor market a few blocks down. I was starving so I was on a hunt for food. We explored the downstairs and once I saw a glimpse of upstairs I knew the food was there- so I sprinted up the stairs (in a very pregnant kind of way...ok some would call it a mozy) and once we got to the top there were 6 people yelling at us and pop got ready to go back down the stairs. What I could see and pop couldn't was that there were 3 vendors competing for our business and trying to get us to go to their shop by yelling at us (of course it was things like "come to our shop, it's better," etc.). So I tried to stay logical and looked at each price list and plate before making a decision. We settled on one and we all ate a whole lot of food. Efrain had a seafood coctail (avacadoes and a mixture of seafood in a cold sauce that tastes like Bloody Mary mix without the Vodka). Poppa got chicken soup expecting it to be a bit tame but it ended up having a whole chicken thigh, one cut up zucchini, onion and cabbage with tortillas on the side. I got juevos rancheros and a big thing of lemonada. There were Mariachis so we paid them a few pesos to sing "Cookerokekukeku," a Pedro Infantain song. It was all pretty fun!
After that we went into the markets and bought Issa and Aramis some little uniforms of Chivas, Efrain's favorate futboll team. I really have no need for more trinkets or clothing so I just soaked in the sights and stared at everyone staring at us.
After that we went to El Museo de Juarez. There were exhibits for the founding of Juarez, the Revolucion, and one exhibit of fotos and masks from Africa. It was interesting to see their different way of displaying historical artifacts. An old 17th century alter from a church was nailed to the wall. Old guns, letters, saddles and hats were displayed without year or explaination. Lables of locations for the photos from Africa were taped on the wall. Nothing was printed in English or any other language but Spanish. The museum building was lovely and old. It had the origional cealing and a beautiful marble floor but the plumbing was not working so well and the rain was obviousally going into the walls because I could see and smell the rotting. I've never seen such a beautiful government building that was so uncared for. This is both good and bad in a way though because they haven't covered up the old rock wall with inscriptions in it. They hadn't ripped out the old cealing and replaced it with something clean and modern. They still have the old wooden beams and railings. This was something that I liked.
So after being tempted by a lot more street food that was loaded with sugar (not allowed to have that), we left the historical district and went to a Starmart (kinda like a local Walmart but with cooler food) and Efrain and pop got more beer than you can shake a stick at and I got a lot of clean water and we headed to the hotel where we relaxed the night away. Later while we were relaxing and drinking Efrain started to crack up and said "I had fun today...I can't believe you guys went over there." I asked why. "Well, you didn't see any other white people there did you?" I wasn't really thinking about it but then I realized that no, I hadn't. I must admit, I had my doubts when we saw all the people and busy streets (I mean tons of old city buses shoving their way through padestrians and ominous men hanging out in the square kind of busy). But I figured, hey, the guys aren't saying anything so I won't. And it all went wonderfully. We might be going back today to find poppa some cowboy boots and I'm sure I'll look for more food. I like to eat my way through new cities more than buying things. I am looking for a Juarez charm for my bracelet though but I really doubt that I'm going to find one. I doubt many tourists make it to this area.
Well, that's all for now! Love to all.

What's up in Juarez

2009-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

So our first day in Juarez was an adventure! Efrain started the day at 8:30 to wait in line for his medical exam. They don't do reservations so it's "first come first served." Efrain showed up first, which would have been great if he had remembered (or I had reminded him) that he needed his passport. So when he showed up the second time, he was 83rd in line (sigh). They kinda' line them up like cattle and weigh and test them in groups of 5 (untill they have to get naked). So he had his basic exam and x-rays done in one room, his vaccinations done in another, and then another in a separate isolated room. They were asking odd questions much of the time as well, like if he had been arrested, and if he resisted arrest. And when he said no to that, a bit later they asked, "so why did you resist arrest." These were the kind of questions they asked pop and I at the border too when we didn't even have Efrain with us...a backward way of seeing if you are not telling the truth really. So that lasted the poor man from 6 am to 1:30. He was not alowed to eat breakfast either because of the x-rays. So we went to pick him up but had to wait till 2 pm for the results of the tests to come up. While he was waiting in line, again, for picking up the results (that took another hour) he found out that we need another form that the government doesn't ask you for (until the interview and then you have to wait 2 days to 3mo. for them to process it). So we went to one of the companies that has sprung up near by to fill out our documents. So after that, we finally got back at about 3:30 ish. Whereupon Efrain had a much needed cervesa and some food.
On another note, driving in Juarez is like driving in Italy. I swear, I almost have peed my pants a number of times. Red light, green light, who cares?! Speed limit? What's that? So I've had to grow a pair of balls because I do have to drive when Efrain isn't available to. Also, the map has been pretty much useless as it isn't always correct. City planning isn't really a priority here it seems; or they don't know how to do it. Good buildings are mixed with burnt down ones, the modern with the vacant, and the historical aren't exactly clumped together in one district. We will see more today in our adventures looking for the museum!
The first night we were here, we were looking in totally the wrong spot because google maps placed our hotel precisely on the other side of town...the bad part of town. Literally, we got directions to where the hookers were at. Just as we were fleeing the area, the federalies were heading in. We were all just not rolling down the windows. Then, we stopped to find out where the address was at and a mysterious man showed up with a Bluetooth in his ear and was bilengual, and he helped us head to the good part of town. The hotel's nice (Hampton Inn), lots of food and free drinks for the boys in the evenings (they're giving the beer away but you have to pay for water). There's a pool but not heated so at the hotest part of the day it's nice to go in.
About Juarez...what a mix of good and bad. We've heard many stories about group killings and kidnapings but also the people are so nice and well dressed that you know you just have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. These kidnappings and killings aren't related to drug cartels as we were led to believe, but by groups of punk kids (16-17 years-old). So we are just trying to be as safe as possible and are very happy that Issa is safe with mom.
So as for what we expect to happen on Monday...we hope that they just give Efrain his Resident Visa (aka "Green Card"), which is entirely possible, and that we can come back. Folks are not able to give advise because everyone has had such vastly different experiences. Some have gotten their cards the same day, some have had to wait three months, some have not been allowed back into the States. From what we have seen, those who have a history of spousal abuse, or a felony, or that the official can TELL that the interviewee is not giving the truth than they have been rejected. So, we are telling the truth and none of that applies to us. We have good references, notorized letters and we've brought All of our paperwork that we've done up to this point. It's a whole lot of paper work.
So that's that! I'll keep you all posted on what else happens. Much love.
~The Tax fam and poppa.

Weekend With Lizziebean!

2009-06-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

So Liz came to visit a few weekends ago and we had a great time catching up and being creative in the kitchen together! I, yes, I with the help of my good friend, a donated watermelon (my neighbor gets rid of his ripe produce by handing it over to me), Lemon Cello and Club Soda, came up with the perfect summer drink! (Please leave name suggestions in the comment box).
Step One: Blend chunks of watermelon in a blender to make 5 cups or more of melon juice.
Step Two: Sieve out the clumps and seeds to create a very richly colored juice.
Step Three: Mash cubed ice.
Step Four: Mince or mash up mint leafs to taste and add it to the ice if you haven't mashed it in the ice.
Step Five: Pour in a 4-count of Lemon Cello (hopefully made by your father with fresh lemons like mine is.), pour melon juice in slowly (for layering) over the Lemon Cello, add a splash of club soda for alcoholic and more for non.

And there you have it! The perfect summer drink.

Optional ingredients that may affect the richness of taste: You may make a simple syrup for your non-alcoholic drinks and/or if you like especially sweet alcoholic drinks (but I think the Lemon Cello is enough).
Also include: One dancing Liz, must be playing Prince's Greatest Hits.

More News

2009-06-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I came home a few weeks ago and truly felt that it was time for Issa to have a sibling. It was strange because I had thought about it before and just didn't have the vibe- but this particular day it just came into my reality. So, after a few weeks, I felt tired and a little emotional and then I skipped my period so...now I have stop all my nasty little habits again! No more wine, less to no coffee and worst of all; dong nothing really jolting or obscure for the next three months (bike riding on unkept roads, horse-back-riding, doubbling over while I'm gardening, no more tight pants just because I can't stand the feeling of them). I'm also prepping to help re-create a photo from 1909 on the 4th of July here in Williams and I'm going to have to account for weight gained when I sew the outfit! Is it a boy or a girl? How far along am I? No idea. I guessing that I'm about a month along and I'm going to wait until 3 months to go to a doctor because they will charge me to tell me I'm pregnant and that I should take care of myslef. Two things that I already know. Efrain and I are extatic! We are looking forward to Issa not being alone and we are also thrilled to be having a nother little one in our lives.

Everything else is going wonderfully! The business is doing well. We made some more large sales this month and with luck, we will keep on getting more and more. Efrain is wating tables at night which has helped his English get better and has helped him to hear people other than myself speaking English. Issa is starting to use more words in both Spanish and English. She is also starting to help dress herself and brush her hair and teeth. And I am staying at home to help run the business more!

Luv to all!

Techno Savvy

2009-05-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

So the more I do on the computer the more I feel like it wouldn't hurt to start being more techno savvy. Many of my friends know how to make a Web Site and it is safe to say that I started out completely ignorant of how computers work and have just recently started to feel more confident in the technological world.
Let me expound a minute. I felt before that computers kinda sucked creativity out of life kindof like TV. Doing a blog was totally beyond me and even entertaining the idea of learning code was beyond me too but after working on a Web Site more (www.ArizonaFlagstoneCreations) and paying for some software that is ungodly expensive, I have a goal to learn how to make a site myself! I'm not saying in the matter of two weeks, I'm sayin' in a year or so. I've also made a blog for poppa at "LJM" standing for "Leslie James Moodie." His pottery is selling pretty well over here at our home storefront and fancy folk are wanting more info on Ze Artist so I felt inclined to get him a blog going. I'm going to change the photos soon to get a more artsy photo of him with one of his pots or something.

Back in the Loop!

2009-05-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

So through last month's craziness; I'm finally back in the loop. Back to doing some of the same stuff but also doing a lot of my newer hobbies as well.
What I have been up to in the last months was working at the day care (Little Ropers), dancing in a theater production of "The Comedy of Errors" by Shakespeare, and working on our business opening meanwhile trying to have a life.

Little Ropers has been fun and challenging as I break people in every room (three rooms, one with infants, one with one to two-year-olds, one with three to four-year-olds, and one with four and five-year-olds). So that means that I will have to know how to deal with any issue that can arise involving any child in the school as well as any high-school student that I may work with. Which pretty much covers the gammit of age ranges that I should know something about. I have learned so much in my experience with the school and actually feel more confident about knowing what my daughter is going through which is wonderful.

Dancing in the play was great (the production ended at the end of last month) but it took up a whole lot of time and I drove to Flagstaff, roughly 30 minutes away, to get there or stayed in town after work. This made my day last from 6:30 am to about 11 pm so I don't think I will be doing that again even though I met some brilliant and lovely people not to mention having a blast every night! I got to do a bit of Middle Eastern Dance, drum and try my hand at some acting (no lines though). My part in the play was a courtizan and basically being color and music.

We did finally have a Grand Opening for our new baby, Arizona Flagstone Creations here at our home. What we did was to get a permit to put our merchandise outside as it is all flagstone stuff, plants and sculpture. The only thing that we take from inside to out is poppa's pottery (it's selling really fast even still). And then I have a home office that people can come into and make their purchases. We are still working on a credit card processor but just can't get our minds wrapped around giving such a percentage to the credit card company! It's a bummer but I'm going to have to find a good one weather I like it or not. Any suggestions? Call me!

On the Issa front! She is doing just wonderful. She's as active as ever, walking around everywhere and getting into everything (even the toylet if we doin't close the door). What a character she is! She's saying "dady" and "momomomom" but yells for dad more often because Efrain is her main care-taker right now. She steals beer bottles off the table, and if she has something in her hand that she doesn't need to have in her hand, she runs away from you when you try to take it away. She likes to drag things around and relocate them, like trash bins and shoes for instance. So I find my office trash bin in the middle of the hallway pretty often and my shoes on the coffee table (or in the toylet if I'm not careful and remember to close the door). She's also giving and blowing kisses. They are pretty sloppy because she's growing new teeth (two on the bottom and two on the top). Efrain and I love her immensly and so far, it has been nothin' but fun to have her in our lives! We are hoping that a sister or brother will be in the cards for the near future...I'll keep you all posted!

That's all for now and much love to you all. Some letters will be going out soon to those who I haven't spoken to in a while (Robin!) so don't think that I've forgotten you!
~Autumn

The Merry Month of March

2009-03-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

So as of late, my life has been full of...creativity and merriment. I could think of worse things to be going through!
My family just ended a weekend vacation in Tucson to see one of my very close friend's wedding. She had a wonderful wedding- Poppa did a great ceremony, and Robin and Brian had a great violinist, photographer and band (that her father plays in). We had a great time dancing, drinking, and conversing with new and old friends. Last but not least, we were able to get a hotel with an outside pool and hot tub, so we got to lay in the sun and be on vacation for a bit (Issa loved the water too and I was wishing I had gotten her a diaper for the pool). We also got to visit with Lizziebean, which is always a joy.
Besides the wedding, this month we are working on our business even more than before and doing anything we can to make it more official (such as having receipts, checks and our own web site). Efrain's work with the tables just keeps on getting better and better. We now have a huge table that the boys are calling "the King Arthur table" because it's so big and round. I'll take a picture with me next to it just to give folks a feel for what they're doing.
Efrain has also gotten on this spray painting kick that he's seen done on youtube, with outer space scenes and stuff. It's quite nice, what he's been doing actually. I'm not really sure how he's doing some of the stuff. Well, I'll write more once I've eaten!

All the New!

2009-01-25T19:15:00.001-08:00

Ze New Renovations,
Efrain and I are finally re-vamping the home to accommodate our new business that we are planning on opening this spring (officially). So we switched our bedroom into the baby's room and made that space our new office! We will put a plaque outside the door and everything;-) the baby's room is where our old office was. Her room is by far the smallest but she really doesn't stay in there very often because she is usually causing havoc around the home (especially where she doesn't belong). So our home is currently in a state of movement but it really does look a lot better. We have had the good fortune to have been given some beautiful tile that Efrain just put into the bathroom and have also been given a nice lamp for the kitchen. I'm still kickin' myself for not taking a "before" picture but I do have an "after" one. Yey!
Ze New Works
Since we are working on our business and Efrain needed to do that full time, we decided that I should go back to work! So this was a quandary because I am a family lady and want my Issa with me. I don't want to pay someone else to be with her so I sent a signal to Creator to give me a situation where I could bring her with me. In short, I applied with the school district as a teacher's aide for classes for the disabled and for the heck of it, I also applied for "little Ropers," as a teacher for kindergarten. The only one that called me back was Little Ropers and I am able to bring Issa with me part time. Thanks Creator! She is with Efrain the other half of the time and we are seeing about getting her with me full time because it is hard for Efrain to make tables and take care of her at the same time!
Ze New Hair
Who would have thought that changing your hair could make people freak out or get so opinionated? Well, I changed my hair to blond (thanks to mom and pop for their hard work) and got a variety of reactions such as people not knowing who I was when they walked in the door (my husband) to those who flat out told me they don't like it (my neighbors). There are also a few that really like it (Lizziebean, Tash, Mina, me, my husband. But hey- I've found that change is hard for some to accept and I've felt very special that people give such a damn about me and my hair;-) I personally love change (especially for the good) and anyway, change is change. A bad change today could mean a good change for the future and vise-versa. Ok, I'm getting metaphysical so I'll stop my blathering.

Pieces of the Past

2008-10-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

Looking back…was I tragic, was I confused, or was I simply me being me and I will be me again tomorrow.

May 27, 2005

He sits at the edge of her dreams

The man unresolved

Some kind of demon that haunts that small place where wakefulness meets sleep

His forked tongue tastes the air around her

His catlike eyes haunt her soul to claim her heart…

He sits at the edge of her dreams

The man unresolved

But lightness is there too.

Lightness saves her by holding her head to her breast

She saves her through some kind of love that has survived ages

She sits at the edge of her dreams

The woman complete

Some kind of lightness that protects that small place where wakefulness meets sleep.

If I could win at the die, I’m sure I’d play more often. If I really cared, I’m sure I would show you how much I feel. But for now the rain is warm in my heart, and I’ve never feared starting as much as I fear you at times. Please father forgive me for I have sinned…it has been two years since my last confession.

He asks me “God…what haven’t you done?” like so many people here, and my instant reaction is to frown. What haven’t I done? Goodness! All the things that I haven’t done! I haven’t drunk hot tea and watched the sun rise from my boat that is harbored off the coast of England. I have never ridden a horse in the open plains as a storm is brewing. I haven’t made a stained-glass window. I haven’t lived and worked in a foreign country. I don’t know how to play the violin. Visions of the coast of Grease fill me and intoxicate my senses. At times I thought that I was simply running away when I left where I was, but I would beg to say that I running to something. A ‘free spirit’ they call me, a Bohemian they say, but I call myself an adventurer, a lover, a writer, and scientist. People fascinate me, why they do what they do when they do it. Are they simply a brilliant machine? Some would say yes and I would say that some of them are machines and some of them are in full realization that they are a machine with the potential and possibility of so much more.

When it comes down to it, all I know is that instant coffee tasted good in Thailand, getting burnt by the sun never fazed me in Hawaii, and sitting still for hours never bothered me when I was sitting by the ocean.

June 20, 2005

Freddie Mercury always knows what I’m feelin.’ I feel like at times I’m in “Find me somebody to love” and at other times I’m in a bizarre mix of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Take Me Home tonight.” The distant call of the train slowly draws me back to this dream that seems to be the present moment and wonder. I wonder why I’m here anyway sometimes because I suppose I’m a bit strange and maybe even like that water pitcher among a sea of pitchers that just doesn’t look quite the same. I suppose that I compliment this world but I still wonder if I’m here to help it or to simply hold water.

I don't even remember writing these things. Thank goodness I saved them. Great to remember.

Split Personality

2008-10-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

I feel so split sometimes. Split into two or more different people who function at different times, winning over each other as to who I pick to come out and rule my brain for awhile. First question would be, who is the “I” in this instance and who are the others, but I suppose that question should be left to meditation (or a skilled psychiatrist). Lately I’ve been reading a book called “The Greek Momma’s Kitchen,” which makes me want to run out and gather greens (horta) in the mountains and feed them to my family every day, get some goats to make fresh cheese, and have a vineyard, olive orchard and fruit orchard all at once to make good food with. To keep the cheese and wine that I make in some cave nearby and make vinegar with wine that’s leftover after a wonderful dinner out on the patio. This side is the traditional momma, so to speak. Making food, living on a glorified farm and wondering the mountains. The other side, as many know, is the belly dancing tattooed momma, involved in business and a million other things. Artsy stuff like painting, music, learning languages and politics are the name of the game. She wins over much of the time too. Tinkling Champaign at night and sipping on espresso in the morning. (This side has adapted to being a mother and breastfeeding so these things are not done in excess). But times I’m ready to go tour vineyards and jump into lakes naked, surf the coast and camp on the weekends. Somehow all of these personalities fit together along with whatever else comes along and grabs me by the neck for a month or so. Maybe I’m less scattered than I feel but I’m still me. People said that once I had a baby that I would loose my wanderlust and just want to stay home and clean house. In a way they were right because my wanderlust doesn’t pin me down and tear my heart out anymore (this is a good thing), but it does remind me that there is a whole world out there to meet, cultures to explore and friends who are waiting to share a new experience. I know that one day, as a family, we will be able to visit those places and people. All I realize to do now is explore what is in my immediate area and enjoy it, because it is all fleeting. Life has become like a steady swim, where I don’t kill myself in order to go fast, but I make it challenging enough to leave me pleasantly tired at the end of the day feeling that I did get something accomplished. So to those dancing, cooking, creating, surfing, swimming, language studying, mixed up folks out there- you are not alone. Maybe this is the way God made us, and maybe we are making up for others lack of passion for one thing, and are in turn feeling it for everything.

A BUNCH OF FIRSTS -

2008-09-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Efrain and I have realized that after some time of dreaming and having various goals, that there is some kind of gold streak that hits about once every month, that validates that the cosmos is listening in some way. Our weekends home have brought new acquaintances, that all have inspired us in one way or another. They have helped us along the lines of the themes in our lives right now like photography, love of Italy, putting money aside for the future (our goal is to pay the same amount of money that we are now to rent, but to put the cash toward a future investment, IE-land with a trailer on it instead). Just from going out for a cup of coffee we made friends with some folks from Rome and Mexico, met a fella’ who lives in a camper run off of solar technology and owns a bunch of properties that he makes money off of, and we also met two photographers who are anxious to go out and swap ideas with Efrain about professional photography as well as buy some of Efrain’s tables. It’s been a great weekend to be in our little town of Williams!

Issabella has also gotten and given some lessons in life this week. She’s jabbering away in her baby lango and doing some modified crawling techniques to build up those muscles for walking! She’s also taught us all that she really has no fear of horses, that’s for sure! We went to watch our friend do some team-roping in Flagstaff so Issa could see and meet some horses and we watched as she patted this horse and then got a tight hold of his nostrils with her little hands didn’t want to let go! Thank god the horse didn’t bite or anything (he must have sensed that she’s a baby). We were all laughing afterward at her fearlessness at taking charge of that huge animal that some adults are even afraid to pat on the head.

LESSONS IN BOTANY-

At home, Issa is getting pretty mobile so she’s had the chance to start getting into things and after she’s gotten into them, she puts them in her mouth! So, as you can imagine, I have had to watch her very closely and I’m usually very close bye to be sure she’s safe in her ventures but Efrain and I were putting a book shelf in the office this weekend and I wasn’t watching for about five minutes when she got a hold of some tendrils of one of my house plants’ (Wondering Jew) and was putting it in her mouth and enthusiastically sucking on it (eek). But we looked it up and it’s not poisonous thank goodness but now I know she’s mobile enough that I need to start hanging up plants and putting those stopper thingies on the cupboards. Trash bins with lids are also in the near future;-)

Another lesson I’ve learned this weekend is that I should probably learn all the names of the plants that I do have in my home, not just for safety precautions but also to know what the heck they do. Like one of my stranger looking plants my father gave me that recently started to blossom. The plant has something odd about it in that it almost looks carnivorous, or like you should be cautious about putting your fingers too close to the blossom. So I anxiously awaited this blossom to open. Well, a day later I was wondering when the thing would open because it looked so darn huge! So I took pictures of it and was showing a friend of mine and then just thought: well I should just show her the flower since she’s in my home and over for dinner. So we walk in the room and the flower was opening…and then it all came back to me. Pictures of another friend of mine in front of the odd looking plant in blossom…at night. To make a long story short, I called my mother who informed me that the plant is called a Night Blooming Sirius. Hehe. Just another new thing I’ve learned this week!

A bit o' this, a bit o' that

2008-06-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

So if I were to write down all the strange things about bureaucracy that just don’t make sense to me, it would be a long list – so I’m just going to write down a few doozies that I’ve come to get in the last few weeks over planning our anniversary vacation in Los Vegas, studying immigration law and the like (strange mix, I know, but that’s my life for ya’).

Go to hotels.com and you can get a cheaper rate for a hotel than going to the hotel itself…why? I’m sure economically it works, but I was floored (no pun intended).
Large hotels don’t always have parking lots- go figure.
Those who can file for a petition I-130 include a spouse who is filing for their “alien” relative. Those who cannot file are those whose relatives came into the country illegally. Which one trumps the other? Or do they both just cancel the other out? Are we really supposed to be able to do this without a lawyer? Kinda’ like the bogus theory that you can do your taxes without a tax specialist?
The fine for not having a license in Arizona and driving is $80. The fine for driving on a canceled license in Arizona is upwards of $600. What Arizona did coincidentally is gave a bunch of illegals licenses a few years ago and has now canceled them. (This one makes sense but is just so damn ironic). What came first? The issuing of licenses and then canceling them.

Well, that’s all for now but I’m sure I’ll have more next week.

Update on da chicita- Issabella is doing wonderful! She’s as cute as ever and scooting around on her belly, rolling over, smiling and laughing, and is in a constant discovery of her hands and the fact that she can put them in her mouthJ She’s been doing that for awhile now though. Her hair is growing in and is very full now. Her newborn hair is much longer than the rest and sticks straight out of her head giving her the look of a surprised cat…it’s so cute we haven’t had the heart to cut it. A lot of the clothing that people had given us actually is too small now and I would venture to say that she’s close to 13 lbs. already! Efrain and I have gotten back into some of our hobbies (like dancing and sword fighting on Wednesdays) and take her with us everywhere we go! She loves to get out of the home and rarely cries because she’s too distracted to. Salsa dancing is easy for us because everyone wants to hold her so Efrain and I are constantly free to dance when we please. Sword fighting is a bit harder because it is more like a class and everyone’s holding a sword but I conned some interesting men into holding her the last class (some friends of the teachers so they were safe). It was pretty funny because they were the type that showed up late wearing leather jackets in a little sports car and I actually got one to hold her while I practiced swordplay. I’m sure that’s not what they had in mind when they came to watch practice that day;-) but she drooled on them just like everyone else! I was very glad they took me up on holding her when she got fussy so I could continue with practice…

Efrain and I have a number of pots in the oven in terms of hobbies, things we are selling and stuff we plan on doing soon.

Efrain is still making tables and cutting flagstone to sell. We both paint on them for decoration and fun and to sell from time to time. We still buy cars and flip them for some extra cash and I’m still setting up an online store for belly dance but need to do some paperwork before all that which has taken up some of my time (along with raising our baby and being a housewife; which is my joy). I also work at the Williams pool helping to teach swimming and teaching water aerobics when the time calls for it.

In light that we never got a honeymoon, Efrain and I decided to got to Los Vegas for our anniversary, as I’ve said, and plan on going for just a night so Issa doesn’t have to live off of my frozen milk and formula for too long. For me, my plan this time is to remember Los Vegas. As many times as I’ve been, I get so much sensory overload that I just remember lots of lights and casinos everywhere - but any particular snazzy event or thing I like the most? Couldn’t tell ya’. Last time I remember going, I witnessed a corner store robbery and was generally freaked out by Circus Circus and that’s all I’ve got in my memory banks. So this time we will be seeing "Ka" by Cirque du Soleil and going salsa dancing along with perusing the strip. I would also like to see the Venitian and I’m sure Efrain will want to gamble a bit. So here’s to remember LV! Pics. will be on the way;-)

Here’s some dance clubs I’ve looked up:

INKA Torero Restaurant
4375 South Buffalo Drive
(between Flamingo & Tropicana).
Latin party every Friday and Saturday with DJ Carlos. For more information call 702-731-0826 or 702-806-1737.
No Cover, must be over 18. Visit
www.sisenor.org/isshome.htm for a free drink coupon.

Just to let ya’ know, that site doesn’t work so you don’t get a free drink coupon.

Gold Coast Hotel & Casino
4000 West Flamingo Road
www.goldcoastcasino.com
702-367-7111
The ballroom of this small locals’ casino has a wonderful and very large dance floor and lots of salseros especially on Friday nights. The crowd is very diverse, all ages and all styles.
Fridays 10:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.
Cover: Ladies Free, Men $10
Saturdays 10:30 p.m. – 3 a.m.
Cover: $10 + one free drink for ladies
60% salsa.

The Mayan
2797 S. Maryland Parkway (between Sahara & Desert Inn)
702-892-9222
Every Friday and Saturday Noches Calientes, dancing at 10 p.m. - ?? with DJ Leo. This is a small bar with a small dance floor and great drink prices. Cover: Ladies free before midnight and Men $5. After midnight $5 for both men and women. Free dance classes at the Mayan by Zanathan Salseros and Los Rumberos Dance Company. Every Thursday 7 to 9 p.m. and every Saturday 1 to 3 p.m.

We will be staying at the Luxor (I hope it will be nice!) and then our one night of fun will be over:-( Thanks to mom and pop though, we’ll have someone we trust taking care of the baby!!!

A Sense of Adventure

2008-06-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Why is it that we always subscribe to our cultural up bringing before we even have time to think? That wily hard wiring slips in and before we know it, we’re subscribing to the cultural norm and not even considering the alternative. I don’t mean that we mull it over and listen to that little voice that says “no, if you do that you’ll be deemed a bad parent, lover, friend” etc. What I mean is that the primary source-thought doesn’t even cross our minds because we’ve been trained not to go there in the first place!

What has brought up this question is that my husband and I have been thinking about moving for a while now and just haven’t gotten up the gall to actually move on it. In as much as we speak of those who refuse to leave our little po-dunk towns here in the middle-of-nowhere Arizona, we haven’t managed to leave a year after I’ve graduated. There are certain things that would make it difficult to move around (as those who know us can understand) but in the end, those excuses are just more excuses and everyone has an excuse. We are not unique in that base fact. I realized this the other day when my husband came home and told me that it didn’t even cross his young friends mind to move to Spain now that he graduated because he cannot work or go to college in the U.S. for legal reasons. When I heard this fact, and the fact that the young man didn’t want to go back to Mexico, I immediately thought of other ways for Efrain’s friend to achieve his dreams without all the hardship and corruption of Mexico. I thought of Spain, of South America, of places he could go being bilingual and a good young man. In mentioning Spain, the fella’s eyes lit up but I could see his thoughts that, “this is just a silly dream.” As I always say, “what the hell’s wrong with dreaming?” and as I always say, “be careful because your dreams usually come true and then some.” I traveled Spain when I was about 18 and I had no plans to go to Germany or Austria but ended up going there and enjoying the heck out of it. When I decided to live in Hawaii, I never imagined meeting a soul like Charlotte and traveling Thailand with her. The point being- if you can handle it, God might just have more in store for you than you could have imagined in the first place but it is important to act on your dreams because it is a true show that you can handle it.

So I have decided that it is high time that Efrain and I walk our talk. We’ve been looking into living in Puerto Rico, inspired by my friend Liz who frequents there quite often. Lo and behold, both of us can get visas there - no problem. Amazing. How I didn’t know this in the first place is because the thought DIDN’T EVEN CROSS MY MIND. And those are the most frustrating functions of the mind -The ones that don’t even consider a prospect because opportunity and possibility for the good have been beaten out of it. Now we are contemplating the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico to buy a home and maybe start a business there. You’d think that after three visits over seas with more travel than I bargained for I would have thought of a prospect like this, but day in and day out, travel and wonder are not really a large part of my consciousness. All literature on buying in places like Puerto Rico, Cancoon, are either for expats or rich folk – not for young couples. So now my question is, why wait??? Why wait to buy a home in an “exotic location” until your retired? Who knows? It may be just as easy to buy that home down the street, as it is to buy in a place you really want to live – in our case, maybe easier!

If anyone out there has suggestions on jobs and places to live in Puerto Rico, let me know!

New Life Emerging

2008-05-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Having a baby is quite an experience. All of the hormones, the sensations, the effort it takes in the last month to get up, much less go out and exercise (yes, I was told that I had to walk at least 30 minutes every day) finally ends with an all-nighter where I feel like I partied and exercised the week before but really just went on an 8-hour endorphin pumped trip. What can I say about childbirth? I can say that it is indeed different for each woman. I was told that I would change my mind about having a natural birth but I didn’t, I heard stories about good births, bad ones, and ones that ended in postpartum depression. But my pregnancy and birthing was entirely my own. In fact, during labor, the last thing I was thinking about was how to avoid the pain. I was just thinking about how to best deal with it. For those who don’t know, my water broke some time during the night of the 29^th of April (2 weeks before my due date). I awoke to water pouring out of me periodically, which means that I had to make myself go into labor. After finally deciding that my water had indeed broken, Efrain and I got all our stuff into the car and drove to Prescott where I was to have my birthing. The midwife told us to go on a hike to trigger labor so we hiked a local mountain; Thumb Bute. I still didn’t go into labor so I went on a strict schedule of labor inducing tinctures and techniques. Finally by 6 p.m., I went into noticeable labor. By midnight I was in strong labor and by 1am I was in transition and by 1:45, I had Issa by water birth. My only complication during the process was that the umbilical chord was wrapped around Issa’s neck twice. Paula Matthew, the midwife, just undid the chord and all was well! Issabella’s face was a bit blue and swollen but that went down within an hour or so. It was pretty amazing to see this little whole human who had been moving around in my belly for so long, finally in my arms. My mother was the first to hold Issa after Efrain cut the baby’s umbilical chord while pop emptied out the pool that I gave birth in (bless his heart). The first weeks with the baby were wonderful but also just a big recovery phase for us both. Efrain and I were also in a pleasant kind of shock because we were not expecting her until the 15^th of April. I must admit though, I didn’t have much room to spare because I’m so small in general and I can’t imagine how it would have been to have an eight-pound baby.

Now, a month later, I’m finally sinking back into reality and myself. Issa has a schedule all her own and I’m blessed to be able to just swing right along with it because I don’t have to work. In the meantime however, I’m just making plans for the future and learning how to keep up with my daily activities while caring for our new daughter and her demands. Slowly, I’m learning how to stay the person that I am plus being a wife and mother. Oh how quickly adulthood has come into my life! I also realize that I’ve been fortunate to go on with my rambling so long. In some cases, I feel like it is just about time for me to “settle down” as it were. That being said, I don’t plan on settling down in the traditional way (mainly because I don’t know how) and I will still go surfing, biking and traveling – the only thing being different than before is the fact that I’ll have two very lovely companions to come with me!

So hears to the future! May it be filled with prosperity, good books, food, adventure, music, friends and family.

Bringing in the New Year

2008-01-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

So for those of you who have been privy to all the happenings in my life last year or so, you will note that it was a time of many chapters ending – I graduated college with my Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Political Science, I’ve actually stayed in one home and country for more than a year, and I got married and pregnant all within last year! To end 2007 with a bang, my car blew a couple of gaskets and now we are settled in nicely with a new/old 2003 Infiniti SUV! It is really cute and I still have to find a suitable name for it;-) It is going to be wonderful to finally have a dependable vehicle that I can fit skis, swords etc. into!

Efrain and I are still terribly in love and we both enjoy the fact that we are still so excited to see each other at the end of the day. We’ve been together almost four years now and it still seems as though we still have so much to learn about one another. I suppose that is what it’s all about! We manage to get out every weekend to go do things together whether it be skiing or taking pictures in Sedona or the Grand Canyon. A couple of weeks ago we went on Efrain’s very first ski trip ever. To kick off the event, I brought some hot chocolate in a thermos and some trail mix to enjoy at the lodge. I’m happy to say that he did a very good job once he got over that stiff phase that everyone goes through. By the second time around, he was speeding way ahead of me and I had to remind him that I’m pregnant and to wait for me!! It was great to see the wonder in his face when he finally got the hang of bending his knees and sliding over the snow. I think he’s going to be a pro, no problem. I on the other hand have been skiing since I was very young, but had to concentrate on taking it easy. I certainly don’t want to fall right now.

Our daughter is very active! I swear sometimes she’s trying to stretch my belly out by pressing her head against my bladder and rapidly kicking her feet somewhere between my the top of my ribcage and my stomach. I don’t blame her though because I’ve kept up with swimming and exercising and it must be a bit cramped in there. As for plans on doctors and birthing - we have found a wonderful midwife who has been able to answer all my questions regarding doing the home birth that we’ve planned out. My last appointment included blood sugar level testing and iron testing. The baby’s heartbeat was great and I weighed 132 lbs! So those of you who say I don’t look big enough for six months, I can assure you that I feel big enough. At the beginning of the pregnancy I weighed 112 lbs (this was after the three months of morning sickness though). So what we need to do now is get all the home birthing supplies and get ready for the big day!

As for plans for the future? Who knows what it will bring besides a beautiful baby. We’ve been looking into starting a small online business (still in the works), and we also plan on moving out of country within the next 2-3 years if not live in both Mexico (Oaxaca) and America. We believe it would just be nice for us and our child to be able to have the best of both Efrain and my culture. Who knows, maybe we’ll have another one thrown in there too, Italy? Spain? So for all the mothers who say that children will take that wanderlust right out of ya’ I’ve just got to say that I don’t think it will ever be beaten out of me. Maybe some of us are just born traveling folk. As for now, Efrain and I will definitely plan our travels out better when we do take them (no more one-way tickets to random places). But we’re still going to plan on seeing the world all we can before this grand thing called life has had enough of us.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in my household always brings some new discovery where I actually realize that I can get a refreshing taste of culture besides American anywhere in the state of Arizona. The fact of the matter is that if you need to practice Spanish- you can just Waltz (or Salsa) into a local hole-in-the-wall Mexican store and jabber away in your hopefully only slightly horrible Spanish. If you want to practice Sign Language, there is most likely an ASL club at your local community college and if you want to learn Swahili, find one African person in town and they will know the rest of the African population there. I promise. This is where my always-interesting Thanksgiving comes in. We usually have our holiday at Priscilla and Deans house with a conglomeration of families and friends. Priscilla and Dean are interesting because they met in Africa and fell in love there. They then moved here and create an interesting couple because Priscilla is very African and Dean is very American but they somehow fit like milk in African Tea (very milky and sugary black tea).

This Thanksgiving Bunny and Tony (my other parents), bring their two teenage kids. One being Julie (the very sweet silent one) and Jimmy (the one who’s blossoming in to a Joe Dimaggio). Julie, very sweetly, decided to wear an African shirt that Priscilla gifted Bunny a while ago (and looked just great in it). As Priscilla and I marvel over Julie’s beauty in the shirt Priscilla exclaims, “Yeees! I thought you could go boogy or something with it on.” (It should be noted that boogy implies dance clubs, flashing lights and hip-happy African music). I love that at this point Priscilla can imagine Julie being caught dead “boogying” in anything or in front of any one being that she’s a little bit shy and an American teenager but hell…who needs to be presumptuous at this point? I try to explain boogy to Julie but Priscilla had the better idea to show Julie a dance called Ndombolo on YouTube. “Come here! I will show you boogy!” We all run excitedly to the computer room (I had to drag Julie with me a bit but she still came) and Pris finds some Ndombolo. I watch, slightly scandalized. I imagine if Julie had the courage to do this at school she might just get kicked out for indecent behavior here in America…just watch the first video at the side of this blog. You’ll see. Anyways, I realize that Ndombolo is no specific move but does include an impossible move I’ve only seen my friend Liz imitate of skillfully undulating your knees meanwhile swiveling your pelvis in one direction or another (AKA “grinding). I, of course, try it even though I’m 5-months pregnant (pictures will come soon, I swear…not of me dancing though) and Julie watches me like she always has (with a mixed look of slight envy and pity at the same time). I look at Julie and say “yeh, you can bring this dance to your school and impress your friends in the hallway!” Julie’s eyes get big and she nods a big exaggerated “yes.” Which is to say, “I would rather do headstands in the cafeteria than be caught doing that.”

Later I demonstrate my dance to our new African friends at the party – at this point Pris is turning purple with laughter. Mom looks at one of the African boys and says, “I doubt you ever expected to see that while you were here – just like Africa right?” He replies, get this, “No. I can proudly say that I’ve never seen it done quite as skillfully as she’s doing it in Africa.” The sweetheart.

The dinner was WONDERFUL, the mix of African, American and Mexican (my husband made a dish too) somehow reminded me of the first Thanksgiving where it was a true sharing of cultures and food and family…Even here in a small town in the middle of Arizona.

Dancin’ My Way Through

2007-08-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

In one of the towns that I grew up, there was this café called Hyjostix. I was sixteen at the time and my brother and I would frequent Hyjostix every time we wanted a evening out. Yes, I actually got along with my brother and very rarely were we seen without one another. I was known quite simply as, “Joel’s sister” because Joel was, and still is, so fetching and charismatic. My brother’s philosophical demeanor and Jesus looks stole a kind of attention like that of a prophet in our little town of Prescott. To sum it up, I suppose I could just say that it was easy to imagine my brother standing with arms outstretched, a heavenly light streaming in from behind him at any moment. I, on the other hand, was not recognizable without him. I would have to say to new acquaintances, “I am Joel’s sister” in order to be explained properly; but somehow that did not bother me so much.

With nothing left to do one day in the summer, Joel and I decided to hop on over to Hyjostix for a cup of coffee and conversation. Every now-and-then one of our friends, Leroy, would be there. Despite such an ordinary name, Leroy was a kind of prophet himself. He lived out of a van and harvested seasonal herbs like sage bundles for a living. This man was so intuitive that he could look at your tongue and know what you had for lunch that day, what might be ailing you, as well as know its antidote. Little did Joel and I know that it was that summers’ day that he would give us glimpses of our own separate futures. Leroy sat down with my brother on the outside porch of Hyjostix and said in his “hey man” sort of way that Joel would be a kind of wise man who people would seek out from far and wide for advise. He would be an important man and would impact the world with his reflective and insightful thoughts. All would be inspired by him. I stood captured by what old man had said to my brother. Would it come true? I had no doubt that it would and couldn’t wait to hear what Leroy might tell me about my mysterious future. Would I be just as wise and significant as my brother? Would people drive for hours to hear my poignant advise? My imagination tried not to attach to anything in particular so that I would not be let down if I was not as exciting as my brother. So I nervously waited for Leroy to finish and tell me my fortune. After a few minutes of Leroy’s insights for my brother, he looked up at my expectant eyes and smiled. After a few minutes he got up and grabbed both my shoulders saying, “well as for you babe; you’ll just dance through life.”

Well, Leroy’s prediction for my future was not as earth shaking or brain teasing as my brothers, but I was just as satisfied with those few words as with a half-hour conversation. I will remember the experience to this day because between the kitchen and the dance-floor my life has been spread out before my feet, and I prefer life that way. I met my husband salsa dancing and many of my happiest memories are from the days I have had dancing or cooking with my family and friends. All of the important conversations in my family happen in the kitchen and wine, food, and dance have punctuated my life since then the first day I could remember. It would only be natural for it all to keep on going, just like that.

Horses dance and beer

2007-06-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Weeks fly bye as every week is packed with horses dance and beer. Not to mention work, which must take up more time than my free time (plus the time I spend sleeping). I worked at the pool until 7pm yesterday (After the restaurant from 6:15 - 12) and go to do the same today. Fortunately, I had the chance to keep up with my Tuesdays and Thursdays with my new friend Sugar. She is a horse (literally), and keeps my week eventful with her love and ability to suck up all the stress I gather during the week. Sugar is 23 and has not been ridden so much, so I have worked her for three weeks now on a longe line. Just today, I hopped on her back (very gently) and walked her in circles and figure-eights. She loved this as much as I did and we both walked away feeling more whole somehow. She really did not want to go back to the pin so soon but I wouldn't want to break her.
Efrain and I will continue our Wednesday dance ritual at the square in Flag Town and venture to even learn Swing this week! What athletic fun! Not to mention needing a cold-one after every day here in hot hot Arizona. I love our weekly rituals but I am ready for more culture besides the charming western culture of Williams. I have the boots and layers of dust to prove that I live here and what now? To Spain? To Italy? Only time (or a vivid dream) will give us a glimpse of the future.
Until next time.

Another Day Bites the Dust

2007-06-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

Through a constant striving to stay in the positive, sometimes I find myself simply saying, "I will be glad when this day is over." Today did not start so good, the middle was about the same and the end started to pick up a bit simply because I watched the Travel Channel and saw Anthony Bourdain forced to dance yet again by his camera crew. He is in Indonesia and surrounded by little tan people provoking him to dance some more!
Well, with luck I will get my $259 back from Mens USA who refused to let me return a suit we never wore. Now I have to get my bank to do an "investigation" into getting me my money back when it should not have been a problem anyway. Efrain will have to deal with the fact that all the tools that were stolen last night from him and his crew will never come back - and neither will the palates of stone that the thieves crushed just to be mean.
But there again is Bourdain being his pessimistic self, yet being totally free to frolic around in a water fall, making me smile yet again. Just a reminder that the world is so small and maybe even complicated because we make it so. Do we need suits? Do we need credit? Or is it all just a distraction...

June 5, 2007

2007-06-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

So now that I am a graduate once again (after the Associate of Arts degree), I now am left to question myself: what do I do next? What else would I do but start my own blog?!

Of course this is what all college graduates should do immediately after graduation, along with pondering the normal questions of life such as, "what am I here for?" "What makes me happy?" and "was Nietzsche right?"

If this comes as incredibly vague to the reader as to what really is going on in my life - do not be upset, there will be more to come.
~Amoreaus

The Wonders of Antarctica

2006-11-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

Upon reading more about Antarctica on my fellow student’s blog at http://travelingamber.blogspot.com, I found their lists of environmental background checks on travel companies to be very interesting and they have obviously done their research. What was constantly going through my head while organizing tours to that area was, what kind of impacts do all of the airplane tours cause besides air pollution and what kind of regulations are in place for the growing number of flight tours over the environmentally fragile area?

Controlling an Aspect of Tourism

2006-11-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

Measuring and managing tourism impacts is, I believe, the only way to go about dealing with the sad realities of being explorative human beings. One cannot stop tourism and I think it would be a bad idea to do so, but to measure tourism impacts by carrying capacity, zoning or what ever other complex model one chooses, and to manage tourism is the surest way to protect environment, sacred and historical monuments and cultures. Sustainable tourism seems entirely possible to me, as discussed in our most current readings. I believe, however that a change in thought process will have to take place in order for sustainability to become a cultural norm (at least in America). Also, in regards to cultural norms and the lack of tourist attention to them, education seems to be the best way to solve the problem if one could promote education. Encouraging travelers to read and take literature on foreign cultures seriously, it might be a good way to lessen embarrassing incidences or a feeling of genuine surprise by the unaware visitor.

The Double-Edged Sword

2006-11-29T21:43:00.000-08:00

South America is a vast and beautiful land that sports the heat of the tropical Brazilian rainforests surrounding the Amazon, and the cool of the Glaciers National Park in Argentina. Both are natural attractions that, by themselves, are the tourist attraction. One article I found was in reference to the Amazon river dolphins that are having health problems and illegal capture problems related to tourism and development. The article written by Laurie Stepanek explains the impact on the species Inia geoffrensis -

“The biggest threat to all species of river dolphins now is land development by humans. Hydroelectric dams limit dolphins’ movements, and pollution causes developmental and other health problems. Some dolphins are captured in fishing nets, or are captured to be put in aquarium displays.”

More can be read about the “pink dolphins” at: http://www.tmmsn.org/mmgulf/inia_geoffrensis.html

Although the glaciers of Argentina are a fragile area environmentally, there are still cruise ships that will scan the waters surrounding the area to show the magnificence of the glaciers to travelers which leaves one to question the double-edged sword of tourism promoting conservation.

One can see pictures and read more about the Glacier National Park at:

http://www.trekker.co.il/english/argentina-patagonia-glaciers.htm.

Tourism Swept Away by a Tsunami (3a)

2006-11-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

Through thinking about social and economic impacts of tourism, I could not help but think of Thailand and it’s economic position after the Tsunami hit some of it’s most popular tourist destinations.

Tourism took the common track on the small island vacation spots, the most popular being the Island of Phi Phi and Phuket where lovers take their honeymoons and adventurers stop to peruse its blue waters. These areas before the tsunami saw the growing of its economy due to tourism, the increase of a local tax base and attracting businesses and services to support tourism and the recreation industry. Lavish resorts would line the small coast of the islands. In this same instance, these popular tourist destinations were dealing with everything from higher demands on public services and rising property values to the complexity of tourist-host encounters.

The brutal realization of how important the tourist industry was for the economy of this area was especially seen, as most things are, when it was swept away. Many articles reported on the devastation that the tsunami caused in terms of the loss of the tourist dollar as well as loss of life. The BBC wrote about shopkeepers in the areas that were hit the worse,

“Frances Hill, who owns a clothes shop in the resort of Railay, near Krabi, warned that many small businesses in Thailand might not survive the huge drop in revenue after the tsunami. Some people are definitely going to go bankrupt. I already know a few shops that have closed," she said.

More can be read about the economic impacts of the tourist dollar and the lack of after the tsunami in Thailand at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4375815.stm

MSNBC also has an article on the tourism impacts at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6758302/

Nepal and it’s Struggling Democracy Expresses No Hate

2006-11-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

I just recently read an article in Conde Nast Traveler Magazine about Nepal and it’s struggling new democracy, along with the problems of Communism (the Maoist tax). The author, Alok Tumbahangphey, traveled through Nepal and marveled how travelers were handling the social instability sighting the recent shut down of the capital in April for a 19-day period. Ironically, Tumbahangphey stated, “most Americans we met there said that they considered the event a chance to witness history in the making: a popular people’s movement of democracy as King Gyanendra’s position became increasingly untenable (92).” The author also said that Maoist troops up in the hills at times charge travelers a “Maoist Tax” that can range anywhere from $5 to $100 depending on the group and the gall of the traveler. Tumbahangphey found a couple who actually bargained a rebel group down from $20 each to $5 for the both of them and then ended up chatting with the “rebels.” This article brought up the thrill-seeker traveler who might be overjoyed to bargain with rebels and witness a shut down of the capital for 19 days. This would definitely not be the place for travelers who do not like feeling risky or unsafe though.

On a different note, as a reader I can only speculate how genuine this article is. As a journalism student, I noticed that the author is a staff writer for the Nepali Times and may have some kind of bias for his/her homeland. All the same, the State Department claims that Nepal is right in the middle of “safe” and “unsafe,” so anyone traveling in the region should use caution when looking at the splendid sights Nepal has to offer.

Although I found this article in the September issue of Conde Nast Traveler, I am sure that one may find it at the Conde Nast Traveler Web Site - http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles

For the Love of the Music

2006-11-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

One web discovery that I found while doing one of my regional assignments was a Web Site for Indian music (to listen to and buy). I was originally looking for music bars in Calcutta (located in North Eastern India) that featured some of the new pop/Indian music I have recently seen on travel shows but I could not find what I was looking for. I did, however, find this site that features more old-fashioned music (I assume) unless it was just a different variety like our varieties of pop, western, jazz etc. The Site address is: http://www.calcuttaweb.com/gaan/rabindra/index.shtml . There is a large list of songs (not written in English but in Bengali), which the listener can select to see what kind of music they prefer to buy although these listenings are for free.

We have not read much about music in our readings on different countries, but I still feel that this is a valid way to understand a culture better, as well as to target a certain market looking for more cultural ties to their experience. I have found from personal experience that music or movies I have bought from specific regions becomes a very special keepsake because, to me, a song can bring me right back to the place I have visited more than any picture I may have taken. Along with the senses of sight, sound, touch and smell; sound seems to be most adaptable to travel along with fabrics (that only carry the smell of an area for so long). I am not sure how obsessed others are with bringing back the sensual (not in reference to sexual) experiences of an area but I have found that simply smelling Phad Thai can transfer me back to the streets of Bangkok, hearing the bag-pipes can transport me back to the pubs of Scotland, and drinking a cup of well made tea can transfer me to the fields of the Costwolds in Britain.

2B or not 2B

2006-11-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

In the section of our readings for tourism geography involving experiencing attractions and perceptions of attractions (a major approach to studying tourist attractions), I found the ‘outsideness’ and ‘insideness’ a little bit troubling because, as our readings stated, the label of authenticity is different for each traveler. It was also said in our readings that to some, the ultimate goal is to have the most ‘inside’ and authentic experience as one can, but this begs us to question whether or not a person really wants to have an authentic experience. I know from personal experience that there are those who do not want to have an ‘inside experience’ because they would rather not sleep in a hammock and eat ‘strange foods.’ In fact, some would rather have their days charted for them and eat not the local cuisine, but a resort’s remake of the dish being toned down for the tastes of the western tongue. This analysis should bring up the topic of the Cognitive Approaches to Tourist Attractions (I will refer to this as “the CATA chart”) in the students head and the dichotomy of security versus risk. Which is more risky, having and inside experience or an outside experience? Looking at the CATA chart, one can see that all down the “Risk” side of the chart are inside experiences but I would argue that in the grand scheme of things, the “Secure” side of the chart has more potential for problems because the perceived experience is not supposed to be flawed – when a little thing goes wrong this is a risk within the expected “safe experience” giving the tourist a jolt every time she/he realizes that the makeshift world can come tumbling down quite quickly.

Are Barriers Subject to Cultural Beliefs?

2006-11-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

Among “Barriers to Travel” in our readings, there are listed: Lack of personal time, institutional barriers such as legal restrictions on travel (visas, trading embargoes etc.), personal health and disability-related issues and crime concerns. Crime concerns are what I have found some interesting writings on especially regarding the difference between Great Britain’s warnings and the warnings issued by the U.S. My fascination is that, regarding the issue of what is “dangerous,” that the definition will vary from culture to culture. For example, the issued warnings from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office are much different from the U.S. State Department. The FCO advise travelers to “avoid ALL TRAVEL to” the Ivory Coast and Somalia. The U.S. State Department, on the other hand, has issued warnings for 32 countries, which they advise people not to go to. There seems to be no “Avoid ALL TRAVEL” label like the FCO.

In looking at a map recently published by Conde Nast Traveler magazine, the data from the FCO and the U.S. State Department have been placed visually on to shaded maps. The areas suggested to be totally avoided by U.S. citizens are all of the 32 countries mentioned above. An interesting fact is that the FCO, unlike the U.S. State Department, has suggested that the traveler avoid certain parts of Russia and India but the map of the U.S. does not even mention these countries on their list of cautions. Why is this so? Maybe very few Americans travel to India and Russia, but all the same, I believe Britain has shown more flexibility within their data in terms of specific regional warnings rather than the avoidance of one region all together.

British Foreign & Commonwealth Office http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1095423800990

U.S. State Department

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html

How Capturing Words Can Be

2006-11-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

In this entry, I would like to talk about a recent news article I read in the New York Times about Morocco. The journalist who wrote this article recently went to Morocco and went up Mount Imlil in the Atlas Mountains. Throughout our readings and whirlwind tours in tourism geography class about the geography of a region or planning a trip, very rarely do we get brought to the region in imagination through story. At times it is nice (if you even have leisure time for recreational reading) to sit down with a cup of tea and be allowed to see a place through an authors eyes. In the recent article Under Morocco’s Spell one can actually get a feeling for Morocco. The author, Rachel Donadio writes about her experience hiking in the mountains with her guide who nick named her “Fatima,” who I believe is the goddess of fate:

Soon we were joined by Ali, a small, sprightly man with a tonsure haircut, who rode with our luggage on his mule. In my honor, Lahcen and Ali sang a song about a Fatima who wanted to pack her suitcase and go to Agadir, a town on the coast (page 2 of the Web Site).

Whether or not travel geography theorists would deem this experience authentic; I could not be the judge. The four-page story also included a little box where one could click and see a kind of slide show of the pictures taken in the region traveled as well as hear the author narrating about her experience there. As I do not get to watch TV very often, I realized that this may be something I could do quite often to brush up on my current travel news.

Direct address to NYT article Under Morocco’s Spell - http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/travel/22Morocco.html?pagewanted=2&ref=travel?8dpc

Western Amenity Seekers Be Ware

2006-11-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

Along the lines of personality types of travelers, our readings state that in travel geography theory, there are seven types of personality. These personality trates are in reference to how well a person (traveler) adapts to local ways of life such as food, accommodations, and behavior. According to documents from Figure 2 (2a) from our reading, the “explorer tourist” is extremely rare to see among travelers because they, supposedly, fully accept local norms of a given area in which they are traveling. My question about this theory is how can a person measure “full acceptance,” as stated in our reading? Was there some psychological scale in which one can interview a traveler and see if they indeed, feel the feeling of total acceptance toward a culture’s local norms?

Another interesting fact that I have seen simply in personal experience is that the three tourist types at the bottom of the chart (incipient mass tourist, mass tourist, and charter tour tourist) seem to have the hard end of the experience when they go to partly rural areas expecting truly western amenities. For example, I traveled through Thailand for a month (coincidently the hottest month of the year). I went to Thailand armed with a Fodder’s Guide and some documentation I got from the Internet about nice places to sleep. The Fodder’s Guide gave me some pointers on cultural norms like not eating with your right hand or pointing your feet in another’s direction. Other than that, I had no idea what to do or where to go and I was also low on cash. I had no choice but to do as the locals did and eat off street venders, drink communal water and smoke cigarettes with the shopkeepers as my travel companion went shopping. The ironic thing is that my friend, like most, sought out western amenities (bottled water and food from restaurants) and promptly got sick. I saw this in Mexico too. For some reason, to adapt for me is the smartest thing because it is healthy. To seek out “normal” yet foreign food in an exotic destination is asking for something to go wrong.