More than Words Can Say

I have completely lost track of the passage of time these days. The sun rises around 6am if not sooner and sets after 11pm.  Not only that, but there is a flexibility in our studies which comes from working so closely with the locals. For that reason we were never given a day-to-day schedule.

This worked out incredibility well when one morning we were visiting a some nomadic herdsmen in their Ger and were then invited to a festival which turned out to be a precursor to the annual event Naadaam. What we got to see was a children's horserace (where they walked into the Steppe one km then raced back), and the wrestling competition for adults. The outfits were colorful and traditional yet very goofy looking to the outside eye. And the winners of each round would grab a handful of cheese from the judges and throw into the audience. Such a cultural experience!

That threw off the schedule that I was never tracking with anyway, and we found ourselves going at the speed of light… lessons, presentations, adventures, all blended into an amazing experience which concluded with making and flying kites with the kids from our Ecospot Radio Workshop and then a huge traditional barbecue. There was dancing and singing from everyone though the Mongolian typically sounded much better.

In losing track of time, I have been told this is our last day out in the middle of nowhere. So I chanced turning on the phone to type out this blog (no electricity for charging). Tonight we should be back in the capital, Ulanbaatar. After a short time there, myself and two others will begin our Gobi Desert Adventure! Note sure what to expect, but when have I ever known what to expect on this trip. I am just here for the ride!

Aren't we tired of the B-word......?

I know I am tired of it.  It controls my life sometimes... you know the one; B-U-S-Y.

Yep, that one.  I am so tired of losing the only resource we cannot gain back in our lives.  Especially when I am losing it in a season where I am spending the majority of time doing things I don't even want to do.

BUT, (my favorite B-word), but I am coming up on a time that I will enjoy, very soon.  I have my field study for graduate school coming up.  This field study just happens to be in Mongolia, and I just so happen to get a few days before hand in Korea (yes the Asian nation that stole my heart).

So I will enjoy great food, lounge in jjimjilbangs, meet up with friends, and get to enjoy two services with my church. I haven't planned a lot about it, but I am going to be in Seoul and Busan.  And I am going to be so happy.

Other updates:

• The woodpeckers have fledged and after much chasing with lenses we were able to spot one of our banded ones in the wild.
• Burn season will close in the next few weeks, bringing our increasingly smaller team down to 2 people which means more fun scienc-y land management will be in my workdays.
• I am hoping to meet my dad, stepmom, and dog down in Savannah just before heading off to my field study.  I am beyond joyful about that too!

O'ahu Living

Being in Hawaii with a local is awesome. I think I am seeing and doing things I wouldn't as a tourist. After stepping off the plane, my friend Kai met me with a Lei...which was something I always saw on TV and of course was overjoyed to get.

We have been to a couple different beaches, and some local eateries, as well as hikes. I got the most helpful spontaneous body-boarding lesson with her dad and caught some awesome waves that I could have never done in the Atlantic.

Also, the Honolulu marathon passes by the house at mile 22 so I have decided to take on the most run road in America and finish the last 4 miles on diamondhead volcano with team "Yoloha", (all of us former missionaries and Kai's sister).

It's really good to be here.

Amazonian Advenures

So we took a little trip to the Amazon for our days off!

Eating something Random our Guide pulled off a tree.

We started out in Banos and did a day trip excursion into the Rainforest.  We first visited an animal refuge for injured animals to be rehabbed and returned to the forest.  Then after visiting a community of Kichwan people we ate a traditional Ecuadorian lunch and headed off on a hike through the Amazon Rainforest.

We ate, rubbed, chewed, and snorted many medicinal plants (I didn't snort though...not about that...haha but some people have better sinuses now).  And our goal was to make it to a waterfall!  However many dangers stood in the way.  At one point I wandered a couple feet away from our guide and ended up knee deep in quicksand.  Two teammates had to pull me out from behind.

Our paint after visiting the Kichwa. (we blew dart guns!!!!)

Then as we neared the waterfall the already thin path narrowed more on a ledge.  I was trying my best to keep up with the guide and I stepped a little to close to the edge.  Dirt crumbled beneath my feet as the ground gave way beneath me.  My right leg hung useless over the ledge as my left leg anchored to what was left of the path.  My arms held me up having the path at chest level now.  I let out a little scream and our guide doubled back to rescue me.  Once he pulled me back up we both stared at the gaping hole in the path and the subsequent fall.  Breathless I said, that's a long way to fall.  And he responded with, "It's only 3 meters." Um..that's 10 feet father than I would like to fall.

Fish Pedicures!

Once at the waterfall we swam under it, through it and around it until we could swim anymore...and we hiked back out to meet our net adventure.  The last thing we did, in the pouring rain of the Amazon was to hop into wooden canoes and head down a tributary of the Amazon river.  After every set of rapids we hit, our guide would have to scoop water out of the bottom of the boat with an old plastic bottle.

The following day I knew I needed to rest since we had work the next day.  So a friend and I had a girls' day!  We soaked in Banos' famous hot springs and then got a full body massage, facial, and fish pedicure (where the little fishies eat the dead skin off your feet).  We shopped for local made jewelry from the Tagua seed and then had lunch.  We ended our week-long quest for yarn at the best yarn store we have found in all of South America and then headed home on an early bus.  Such a restful day after such an adventure!