Hello again!

Hello again virtual journal! As you may have asked yourself the first time reading my blog title, is a gypsy ever truly organized?? I would have to answer that question with: probably not. Judging from the fact my travels in Brazil seem unfinished, I must admit that since arriving home now almost two years ago, I didn't get around to sharing them with you all through my blog. Instead I got to share them with you in person.

I won't bore you all with any future recaps of my days living on the coast of Brazil. Although, it's incredibly tempting to relive them myself.

I arrived back in the States with little direction of where I was to go next. I decided to return to ski instructing for another season (a decision I am incredibly grateful for). My love for Colorado has only intensified since then, as I have found a new winter sport (skinning) and passion for the outdoors. Six months later, it was time again to make a change. (Note: I seem to struggle with changing this 6-mo habit).

I was determined to find a passion, potentially a career...and accomplish living in one place for longer than six months. I was pretty successful I'd say, as I came out of that next year having found all three. Nothing came easy of course, and yet, looking back I have no negative feelings about the struggles that came along with my conquest.

So what were they? Well, I officially have lived in one place longer than a year (Colorado Springs). There, I made incredible friends and reconnected with old friends who I am thankful to have met everyday. I am in love with a boy who I've now been with over a year. And, I have a new passion for coffee. Crazy. Maybe. But it's an incredible fit. You'll see why soon.

I will be up-keeping my blog posts more frequently in the next few months, as I'll be sharing with you my next travel adventure and quest to learn coffee from its very beginnings. On October 12th, I will be flying to Hilo, HI to live on the Makana Gardens coffee farm for two months. There I will work daily harvesting ripe cherries from the trees, learn the process of extracting the green bean from the fruit, help (and thus learn) roast large batches of coffee beans and then analyze the quality of a freshly brewed cup.

Follow me on here or through our new coffee company's website: http://onthegroundcoffee.com

Mahalo!!!

Lindsey

the yin and yang of luck

With everything I owned on my back, I set off for my solo adventure of the Nordeste. I had no expecations really. My only goal was to take it all in. I can go on for hours about the adventures, hardships (yes there were various) and people I met along the way. But, one story sticks out in my mind…

It was six a.m. on a Friday. I had just traveled six hours to the next big city……..and then immediately back. I realized there that two very important little cards had gone missing from my wallet: the Visa and the MasterCard. I was left, luckily, with my American Express. (That didn’t prove to be so helpful, but that’s another story entirely.)

I arrived hours before any place would open that I had been to in the last twenty-four hours. Sleep-deprived, slightly worried, yet strangely calm about it all, I sat on the curb watching the locals and a few tourists in their morning routine. I wandered the town a bit and ran into a travel agency that showed listings of the next buses out of town on the front door. I had accustomed to prepping for my departure directly upon my arrival in places so I could plan accordingly.

Seconds later, the door swung open and a nice man appeared in the doorway asking if I had any questions. We began chatting about the places I had already been, where I was going and then all the crazy adventures we both had done in our lives. He bragged endlessly about his daughter the world adventurer and gave me months of ideas for future travel plans. I actually found myself smiling for the first time in the last few hours. That was nice. He was a very interesting man with a great outlook on life: always refreshing. I left his office a few hours later with an invite to join him on his morning ocean swim to dolphin beach the next morning. I was apparently stuck in this town until I figured out my plan B anyways, and I was in need of a good workout.

That night I was early to bed, and early to rise. I showed up in a bathing suit and flip flops ready for the adventure. My new friend was bringing a boogie board just in case of any complications. He prepped me for the swim, telling me that the ocean has a mind of its own and that realizing this will allow us to enjoy ourselves this next hour. Mother Nature always has the upper hand. (I had learned this already raging the Rockies of Colorado.)

I wasn’t too worried. Given my background in sports and my addiction to running, I felt I was in pretty good shape. So, after a little stretching, ‘to tell our bodies we were going to use it’ we were on our way. The water was perfect temperature, and the waves were rhythmic. We spent the whole hour sharing our similar perspectives on life, family, the environment and how life is what you want it to be. He was in crazy shape, and I wondered how I was struggling just to keep up. I forgot to mention, this guy only has one arm. He was in an accident at twenty three years old, which completely changed his life. But, what I admired about him was that he found a way to keep doing the things he loved. He taught himself how to draw with his other hand for work, apparently stayed active and did it all with a positive attitude.

Just as we were getting close to shore two long beaches away, he stopped us. He had warned me that he had made some friends out here, but to be honest, I didn’t want to get my hopes up on meeting them that morning. Then, about three feet away from us, a pack of dolphins crossed our paths. My face lit up and I think my voice hit a new decibel level when I exclaimed how exciting that was. These are wild dolphins. They don’t approach humans. They circled around us for the next few minutes and then we made it to shore. I think I didn’t wipe that smile off my face for days. And to think, this was this guy’s morning commute to work! So it’s true I guess, your life is what you make it.

My luck seemed to be bittersweet throughout my five months in Brazil. Some days I would have mornings of wanting to break down and cry from frustration and then have crazy once-in a lifetime moments that afternoon. The flip side of luck in my life, huh? Stranded,cashless and alone on the coast of Brasil's Nordeste, and yet my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. To think....I wasn’t even supposed to be in town that day.

gypsy back in business

if I can just get rid of some of this crap I'm carrying around.....

24-9-09
Ok…so it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. But looking back on the previous entries in my notebook doesn’t excite me as much as the now. So the run down is…..that the last month has improved at the house: both with the girls and with my life outside the house. I made some friends, I’ve been going out more….and I really am going to miss some things and people.

It’s day two of my second half of my Brasil experience and I’m already all smiles. After an 11 hour bus ride into Rio (which saved all but US$50 versus flying), I made it into Rio and to the airport just in time to meet Allison getting out of customs. And off we went! It was (and still is) raining, which has been a bummer…but has added an element of eeriness to it all, which is cool. Especially at the first hostel we stayed at.

Let me explain, as we were looking at out options for the next couple of days, we decided to try out Cabo Frio for a night instead of going all the way to Buzios. It’s within an hour of Buzios, just south actually, and was supposed to have beautiful white sand dunes and a quaint little town. I have heard nothing short of amazing about Buzios, so I thought we’d take a stab at something different first, figuring we weren’t going to want to leave our next destination. Side note: I have to get rid of some shit. I am hating life carrying around two backpacks. I wish I could explain our hostel, but I may have to tell a story instead to give you an idea. It had all the amenities: shower, bathroom, sheets, beds…kitchen…free breakfast….and of course a friendly owner giving us tons of advice. But, on our way back from a nice sandwhich for dinner and acai for dessert in ‘town’ (super dead out and really really small place)…me and Allison were walking by this darker part of the sidewalk and I decided to stay away from it and go into the street. Yea…that dark area that I was thinking looked kind of scary ended up being our place: our deserted, artsy little hostel compound…and our resting place for the night. Haha….gave us a good laugh. I wasn’t laughing when I had to make a tent of my sheet to ward off the bugs at night, or when the rooster outside let us know it was time to get up in 20 minute intervals starting at 6am. The next morning we roamed through the dunes, explored a few beaches down the way and got to climb around the coastline a little bit. Very cool. We didn’t bring our cameras for safety reasons, but to be honest it looked a lot like my trip in Tobermory, Canada just before I got here. The weather added to that effect as well. . . one day down……..and off to Buzios.

We’ve been here only a few hours and we’ve fallen in love with this place. I’m already sad we’re leaving and we still have two more days! It’s quite ‘chique’ in the town….in which we’re staying at a hostel right on the beach, right in town amongst all the shops and other pousadas (cheap hotels for travelers). We have free internet, much nicer amenities than our last stop and tons of other world travelers to entertain us. Our window is actually opposite a room full of guys that are from France…….ah hem….one of which is a ski instructor (named Antwon…cute blonde). The whole group of them just got back from skiing in Chile and Argentina. The skier dude mentioned that he’s skied all around Lake Tahoe….and Bariloche…….and loved both places. Two points for this blondie. We’ll see how the next couple days go here. This weekend is supposed to bring us sun (finally!!) Allison and are are thinking of getting ourselves a brasilian bathing suit tonight. ; ) And we’ll see if we make it to Rio. Especially if we end up getting those lessons from the surfer guy we met at the tourist info booth earlier today. ; )

Today has been a good day.

I got to sleep in.…the sun is out…..there’s a cool breeze….and the girls are at their other grandmothers house. I spent the morning doing a few things around the house, but it seems that ever since I’ve gotten it in my head that my time here is limited, nothing really seems to bother me. After one more month here, I’ll be traveling. And in three/four months, I’ll be back with my family!..........Home, probably traveling around to visit some friends….and of course, looking for a job. That part isn’t too enticing, and makes me wish I could stay longer actually. But, maybe I’ll be onto that next 6 month adventure interval. Who knows where that will be. But for now, I have a lot of planning to do for the weeks starting Sept. 21st…when I’m off to Rio de Janeiro with Allison!

So, an update on the situation with Helena…..She is apparently done hating me and has decided to be infatuated with me. I think the first nice thing she said to me was if I wanted to share her McDonald’s McFlurry with her. Wide eyed, but in hopes of this being her finally reaching out to me…. I hesitantly took a bite. I gave into my NO McDonalds rule for a yummy bite of delicious chocolate-ly cookie crumble. I know……I’m so easy. Yeah………I’m not sure if kids can be bipolar, but she’s got me thinking.


Today, I taught Laura how to ride a bike! She was pretty good at it too! I held the seat from behind and occasionally grabbed her arm a time or two to balance her out a little bit, but otherwise she was moving! It reminded me a little of how ski lessons went actually. : ) I love seeing a kids’ proud little smile when they do something new for the first time. And I felt lucky enough to be the person to teach her too. It was an experience for us both: Laura riding a bike for the first time without training wheels (sem rodinhas) and then me teaching a four year old how to ride a bike in Portuguese. : ) Haha.

I bargained a few hours off today to go ‘passear’ in this small international hip and happening market not too far away. They have little stores of nearly everything: clothes, zuco (juices), chopp (beer), Japanese condiments, Mexican condiments!!!, sushi….and all sorts of nuts and dried fruits too. They play live traditional brasilian music daily from 2-7. So, I wandered around tonight, picked up various liquor filled chocolate balls and a California roll (made with mango…I might add) and enjoyed the show for a bit. I was torn between a coffee and a kiwi caiparinha for my beverage. To sleep or not to sleep. I chose sleep. : ) Let me add, cachaça soaked kiwis are oh so tasty. 




So….a good day it was….but it seems it may be the first of many in the weeks to come. I think the girls are going to miss me, as I will miss them too.

the organized part...

14-8-09

Alright, so I intended on making this blog more of a recount of my adventures, but I thought I’d let you in on my thoughts for this one. . .

We’ve reached new levels of ridiculousness here at the Martin’s house. I’m at the point where I literally just ignore Helena when she treats me like she has been. She catches on quick though…and tries even harder to get under my skin. Ha. At first, it was working. Now, I’ve got the upper hand in that she doesn’t win any attention from me for it…….or help, or candy, or fun.

I struggle sometimes with whether or not I should stick it out here or to go home. Part of me wants to take advantage of the fact that I’m able to travel and see the world right now because I’m young, single, jobless. The other part of me is ready to settle into a place, get a dog….be closer to home again. I wonder if that part is there because I’m missing everyone…or just missing my independence. I know it’s both but, no offense to anyone…however I’m pretty sure it’s more of the latter that is really getting to me.

I used to think that I would be giving up on something if I moved on from it earlier than I expected. But, I’m starting to see that learning to move on from something is an important lesson in life. There will be times when I’ll need to move on from places, jobs (ah…hem), institutions (St. Francis), and even people. I have a hard time with all of them. I hate feeling like a quitter. And when it comes to moving on from people, that element of loss runs a lot deeper. But I think there comes a point when it’s more about following your gut feelings about something, and of course taking care of your whole self: body, heart and mind.

My days here have been so up and down. Should I do just three months? Or more? This decision consequently affects how my travels will play out after too. And although I still don’t know the way all this will play out, I’ve decided on something finally. I think what will suit me best is to work here for the initially agreed upon 3 months, then travel up north after. I will need to extend my visa now…which pains me to say that I’ll have to give up going to Carnival this upcoming year. I guess I am ok with having that be the thing I come back for.

I’m feeling good about this decision and now I have steps to take to get it all in order. I’m going to first plan a trip to Rio, then get an appointment made for my visa renewal (I will need to coincide these two) and then pack it up and go north at the beginning of October. Next, I’ll have to set a date for my trip home from Buenos Aires, and of course set out the route for getting down there.

Here are the variables of my plan: Depending on how things go up north, I may try to stay and find side jobs to make friends….and somewhere really cheap to live. I’m going to take in as much as I can…learn as much of the language, the people and the culture. I’ll even try researching a potential career path in tourism, economic development or micro-financing. Or, I’ll make my goals a little simpler, like learning to dance the samba or practice capoeira. For now, I’m going to make my last month and half here with this family productive and enjoyable. I actually just made some friends tonight at a running shop who invited me to a samba show tomorrow night! Maybe I'll end up even missing this place.....?

As rough as it is with Helena these past few days, things have been going great with the other two. Laura is super sweet and helps out all the time. Her infectious and very loud laugh is definitely something I’m going to miss. That and her crazy little ideas she has. She’s very thorough with the things she does. At first, it seemed like she took forever to do everthing. But, life’s simple as a four year old. What does how fast she does something matter really? Nothing, except that she’s going to be in bed five minutes earlier, or have more time playing in the sand. Ha. I like to call her my little monkey (macaco) girl. She climbs on everything! . A typical scenario on our way home from the park is with Laura on my shoulders and Olivia in my arms. : ) She actually has pretty good body control for a four year old…….but it’s insane how clumsy she is too. I’m always dodging a flying elbow or knee. My shins will show that I don’t always get out of the way. I think she just likes falling to be honest, because every time she hits the floor, she breaks out with this cackle. Haha. She could entertain herself for hours. Olivia is even running up to me and burying her head in my legs now too. She’s not crying when I take her from her mom or grandma as much and even Laura said that she thinks she likes me now too. It just took some getting used to me I think. It’s unfortunate Helena is so volatile.

Michelle was right, I am learning a lot here (aka parenting techniques, portuguese) and a lot about myself. For one, I know that I’ve become a person who always tries to see the positive in things. Granted, I’m not excessively positive I don’t think…or unrealistic……just optimistic about things not being all that bad. Plus, for everything there’s a reason right? Because where we are or who we’re with or what we’re doing will end up teaching us something. So, we shouldn’t regret, resent or think negatively about any decision we’ve made or some rough time we’ve been through in the past. Positive or negative. Everything we go through makes us who we are. And how can we be negative about who we are today? That’s no way to be.

As great of a quality this may sound like it could be, it can be one of my greatest faults too. As I was saying before, I’ve got to learn when to walk away: when to acknowledge those negative feelings I can’t seem to suppress in my day to day. And then…..figure out their source. Yeah, sometimes, it’s a mental thing…and I need to look at myself first before I blame the outside factors. Looking back, life has been hinting at this lesson for a while now…but I think I may be getting better at deciphering between the two.

I knew this time in Brasil was going to be a ‘quiet’ time for me. The last year has been a whirlwind of socially packed, great new experiences. This time to get back to me...and look at where I’m at and where I’m going....has been just what I needed.

Here’s a little funny for ya….. ; )…..which I read the morning after writing this entry.

Capricorn Horiscope for 8-15-09

You aren't one to let your feelings get in the way of what you are doing, but blind optimism can lead you down a dead-end street now if you're not careful. Fortunately, you can negate unrealistic expectations by digging in and applying yourself diligently to your chores. Not only will you be able to accomplish a good deal, but you'll also be left with a more positive outlook on your life.

day to go explore the city!

So, about a week ago I was given the day off to go do whatever I wanted to. Super exciting. : ) I hadn’t really done much exploring in Ribeirão Preto yet, so I really had no idea what I was getting into. So, it was going to be interesting. I got around to going on a run around 11 (bad idea by the way- way too hot) and just headed towards the tall buildings. The Martins live just outside the city so I was in it for a long run…you know the type of run that you generally run one way, make a few turns and head back in the general direction you came from. A blonde’s nightmare. But, I made my way back, familiarized myself a little with the general surrounding area and made it home for lunch.

Next stop, o centro. Now, I had no idea how to get there, what bus to take…what was there or anything. I knew my little circle between then mall, the gym and the house. : ) It was a good chance to make my way around by asking people around me, practice some Portuguese and have no real time frame for any of it. : )

I checked out a few stores on the streets near the ‘shopping’ and met these really nice store owners who gave me some good advice on what to see downtown. They had a little artisan store filled with wooden sculptures, calabaça painted dolls, and other artsy stuff typical to Brasil. I hadn’t really gotten any positive responses from people so far about going downtown, so it was nice to meet some people that thought it ‘vale a pena’ to go check it out.

I caught a bus to the city center and stopped in front of the cathedral. We passed a few major streets that had some cute stores and lots of interesting looking people. Surrounding the cathedral was an artisan fair that circled it, so I made my way around…..and a little sign caught my eye, reading ‘piercing’. It’s about time I got my nose pierced, I thought. I’m in another country, I’m out on my own roaming the city….hell why not. : )

So, I bought a tiny little post and found my way to a legit piercing place around the corner. Honestly, I think I would have done it right there at the both if they offered the service though. I first went up this ally looking for this place the lady told me about, but all I found was a row of little hole-in-the-wall shops for butcher shops, hair braiding and tattoos apparently aimed at the African descendants in the city. I was out of place, and not in the right place. The shop I was looking for was actually up these stairs above all the rest of the shops with an address of 722 and half or something weird. The place was legit though and they had all new and sterilized gear and what not…so no worries mom. ; ) The guy was some Rastafarian dude who pierced my left side for me….quite nice actually. It hurt while he was doing it, but not after…or since.

All together, it cost US$10…Perfect, I thought: cheap, foreign and a much wanted experience…just like the one I got on my upper part of my ear in Spain by that Chinese man…..who owned a watch shop, not a piercing parlor. He simulated the ‘shot gun’ technique in my face first just to show me its safe…but nearly made me jump out of the damn chair in the meantime.

Smiling and satisfied, I left the shop to go check out some more of downtown. I checked out myself in anything and everything that reflected for the rest of the afternoon…..haha. So, I had a vain couple of hours after piercing my nose, so what? I roamed the streets, rubbed shoulders with some street vendors, ate some corn on the cob for 2 rais (US$1) and sat in this park with a decent fountain I kind of enjoyed. It wasn’t quite the pensive and solitary moment I was thinking it was going to be however, as I was approached by this homeless crazy man who found me interesting. He invited me to go have a drink with him and told me I was good-lookin’.: / Yeah he’s a little off his rocker, but not that much apparently huh? ; ) But I quickly moved on…….and made my way to Pinguim, the internationally known bar that started here in Ribeirão Preto. I ordered a choppe claro (light choppe) and the Pinguim sanduíche. Great beer, awful food.

I made it home after an hour or so figuring out my way home….but made it safetly…for the second time that day without any real complications. : ) I swear my sense of direction turns on when I’m not home….and especially when I’m somewhere that speaks another language. Here's a pic of how it looks...and I'm tan, not burnt Mom.....seriously.

...sorry dad. oh and happy Brasilian father's day : ) <9.8.09>

weekend in São Paulo

8-9-10

I left this past Saturday to go have my first experience in the famous São Paulo….no expectations, and ready to take in as much as I could in just a little over 24 hours. I visited my friend Mônica, who I met in Breckenridge this winter. She’s super sweet, and as I found out, so is her family. : ) They spoiled me this weekend and took me around to see many landmarks around the city.

Mônica, me and her sister Pati

My first stop was actually with Roberto’s family at a very famous ‘club’ (club-ay) right in the center of the city as I awaited Mônica’s pick up. So, these club’s are essentially huge sport-leisure-rec centers that only those than can afford it spend most of their time. Schools in Brasil don’t have sports teams, so this is where a kid would join a team, be sponsored for a specific sport or just take classes for fun. I guess during the week, it’s empty and a haven for kids to run around with their friends after school. On the weekend’s it’s like an amusement park filled with people in bikinis and speedos, waterpolo games, kids playing in the parks, and people eating at the many restaurants. A few weeks ago, Phelps’ world record was out swam by a Brasilian swimmer that actually trained here. By the way, this guy is a national hero for having done that. Success is highly revered in this culture. I think I’ve seen this guy on every newspaper headline and magazine cover since it happened.

'o clube'

To tell you a little about the city: São Paulo’s population is well over 30 million people, and one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the world. I believe it’s more of a city of commerce than tourism, like Rio de Janeiro. The poor and the rich neighborhoods are intermixed throughout the city with no real dividing lines.

And the 'favelas', or slums, of the city actually sit up on the hills, while the government regulated homes are in the valleys. These favelas are created by people finding a spot and building a squarelot 'home' made of wood if they're poor and brick if they have a little extra to spare. Sewage, trash and water systems don't exist in these little unregulated neighborhoods and are actually home to gangs that are constantly creating problems in the city. As they sit up high on the hills, they actually shoot across from one side to the other during gang wars, which has unfortunately caused a number of innocent deaths of people in the middle. They call these deaths balas perdidas I think, which means lost bullets.

The city has a lot to offer, of course, outside of its flaws. : ) As I learned, it is very diverse and and is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. They say that it is less Americanized, thus has preserved more the Japanese culture than Tokyo itself. Over 1.5 million Japanese people live there. Mônica’s family is Japanese, and although they are a couple generations away from their relatives that still live in Japan, I think I’d say I had more of a Japanese experience than a Brasilian one! We frequented Japan town, had sushi both days and wandered the street fairs around the major locales in the city. I can say that I was the only non-Japanese person that I spoke to this weekend. Haha.

I met a bunch of Mônica’s friends from high school Saturday night and had a chance to go meet her parents at a barzinho (little bar) for some choppe (beer) and some apérativos (appetizers). One of them was made with raw cow meat, which I found out after. : / Sunday we went to the Sushi Company for all you can eat sushi, which was awesome. I had a batido (pronounced batchido) of caiparinha made with kiwi…which was super strong.

For such a short trip, it’s incredible how much I saw and did. Oh and I spoke Portuguese most of the trip too. What patience they have huh? I’m really glad I met her family and really liked all of them. I hope that I’ll get a chance to see them again before I leave…or perhaps switch roles and show them a good Mexican-American experience. ; )

my lovely hosts : ) - missing the dad! -