Welcome to Burundi

rwanda was extremely clean, orderly and polite.  across the border in burundi things are different.  it was easy to get a transit visa, but i was instantly approached by men, women, children looking for handouts.  i changed a bit of money and then we were all quickly back on the bus and heading to bujumbura.  in buj i dumped my stuff at a hotel and set off for a walk to get my bearings, as i had left my city map behind in rwanda.  muzungu, muzungo hello hello.  one guy was grabbing me aggressively wanting to shake my hand.  i backed off, turned around, waited, then continued.  a little further along a young guy missing lower limbs jumped at me.  again i pulled away, then continued on.  but a few moments later looked down, and ah no, i was missing my little change purse.  i keep a change purse in my front zip with just enuf money for the day, and altho this day i happened to be carrying a bit more cuz i was wanting to change $10USD, it only amounted to $25 total plus 3 pair of earrings.  my fault, uganda and rwanda were quite relaxed and friendly and so i had relaxed.  i hope it was the last guy who got my donation ... i went back and he was gone, so maybe he ran off with his jackpot.

next day i took a motobike taxi to 'Bora Bora - beach lounge food experience'.  very nice, but too early for lunch so took a stroll down the beach.  found a place to sit and soon enuf had a companion.  typical chatter... what am i doing here, he can't find work, he would like to be able to leave his country if he could find a sponsor like me, life is very difficult here, if he could go to a rich country like mine then he could get money and then get a girlfriend... whoa!

after lunch i took a moto back to town. i paid 1000fr this morning, but this guy wanted 1500fr to get back.  but madam fuel is very expensive.  we settled on 1200fr and he said he knew my hotel.  as we got going he asked where my hotel was, if canada was next to california, or was it the capital?*  enroute he pulled over and gave me his helmet cuz it was very windy.  once we arrived he asked if i would take him with me to america.

around dusk as i was heading back to the hotel a bat shat on my shoulder. 

at the visa counter in nairobi the guy was telling me i had to fill in a white form.  i had already filled in a yellow form and a blue form. why do i also need a white form??  please.  i held out my $25 for the visa.  he flipped thru my passport, saw my previous visas for kenya, waved away my money, and stamped me in.  nice to be back.

*do you know where Burundi is?

Paradise

I wanted a decent shower, some peace, and a good sleep.  And while searching for some decent food I came across Paradise Malahide and decided it was time to treat myself.  I went back the next day to this beautiful little resort, located on a peninsula on Lake Kivu in a small fishing village.  I had an extremely relaxing stay.

At dusk as I was walking out to take photos of the sunset I walked thru the parking lot and saw a very showy white Audi convertible.  Quite a sight in these parts.  This must be a popular place for sunset drinks.  I settled onto the rocks and watched the fishing boats going out for the night... then heard footsteps behind me.  He asked if he could join me.  Of course (darn).  He sat, flicked his butt into the lake, and drank his whiskey.  Then along came his friend.  Now we were three.  Intros and conversation began.  #1 was from Oman visiting #2, his brother.  #1 loves Africa, has 2 houses in Kigali, a yellow Hummer, and is staying at the Serena Hotel in nearby Gisenye.  Africa is sleeping, he says, while he is making money.

Then he said don't think I came here to see the lake.  He pulled a small bag of uncut diamonds out of his pocket.  I put out my hand, he gave me one, I looked at it and gave it back.  Diamonds from the Congo (10km away across the lake).

He told me to take a drink, any drink, he wanted to order me a drink.  I took a lemon soda.  He took another whiskey.

They both remarked that I must be rich when I said that I travel.  I chuckled and said that I don't normally stay at places like the Paradise... I don't normally meet diamond-dealing Omani's in the places I stay.

I did for a moment think of asking for a place to stay in Kigali.

He asked why I was staying alone, why don't I come dancing in Gisenye? 

I was much more interested in enjoying my only night at Paradise Malahide.  I laid on the mattress, oh my, I hadn't slept on anything that comfy in a long time.

I regretted that I would be leaving in the morning.

achieving.. with or without goals?

Some say that you won't achieve anything without goals, some say you don't need goals to achieve.  I have been trying the latter, unintentionally, for the last couple of years.  I think I will now try moving with some goals.

I thought I had found the perfect lifestyle.. working in an industry I felt good about, that also allowed me plenty of time to pursue my love of travel. Then in 2008 I took a knocking. In 2009 I took another go at it, and that went very badly too. I had to call it quits. I was very unhappy, very cynical. So I did what I always do when I need to feel better. I traveled.

I knew it was time for a change, but wasn't sure what that change should be. I imagined that whatever was meant to happen would happen along the way.  I drifted.  That doesn't mean that I haven't enjoyed this last period.  But I wasn't focusing on anything in particular. I just bumped along from one thing to the next.  

I have had plenty of time over the last few months for reading, thinking, eating well, yoga and other good things. Today begins a plan that has come out of that.

This year I will travel in a different direction, following interests that I know make me healthy and happy.  And sure, things often don't go as planned, but my decisions will be guided by the goals I've set for myself.

I am looking forward to the coming year.

"It's all included in the price"

Was feeling lucky.  By 7.30 I was already being pushed on a small bus and shown a lovely seat at the front.  As I was getting comfy the bus was already on the move.  But, I looked behind me and saw that the bus was empty.  We were only re-positioning ourselves in the craziness of the bus park.  The wait began.  There was only one other person on the bus.  Across the aisle was a cute young thing in high heels, a tiny shoulder-less pink and black dress, and lots of cheap gold-coloured bling.  While we waited, she flirted with every vendor who came onto the bus.  She bought a giant stuffed tweety bird,a gold coloured watch, a black plastic patent wallet, a soccer ball and a newspaper.

The bus re-positioned itself a few more times, perhaps to make us more attractive to potential customers.  At 10.30 every seat and every fold-down aisle seat was finally taken and we began to inch our way out of the lot into the congested streets of the city centre.  I was sharing my space with an Indian gentleman working in textiles.

Five hours later we arrived in Fort Portal where I jumped out to find transport to a resort on a crater lake near Kibale National Park.  I had been given instructions to catch a shared taxi.   Again, I was the first so was given the front passenger seat in the beat-up Corolla.  Along came a lady who sat in the back, then a large man and another woman in the back .. and a young man got in the passenger seat.  I looked at the driver.. we were to share.  The final passenger we were waiting for arrived, a very big woman with luggage.  After the trunk was tied shut, she was shoved in the back, the door was slammed shut on me, and we could be off.  But.. just before the driver got in, a tall man in a brown velour suit jacket slipped into the driver seat.  4 in back, 4 in front, and now we could leave.  I hung onto the death grip handle on the roof as we rattled along on a very bumpy dirt road for 23 km where I could finally pop out at my resort.

I had only eaten 2 bananas all day - I hadn't seen anything else that looked safe or appetizing at any of the pit-stops along the way - so I ordered dinner for 6.30.  After settling into my room, I went back out to the dining area to chat and wait for my food.  At 7.00 I started pacing and poking my head around.  I was starving.  At 7.30, the vegetable soup arrived - stewed cabbage with a carrot or two thrown in for colour, and oil floating on top.  Next came a huge plate of wet rice, vegetables (more oily cabbage and carrots) and scrambled eggs.  It all had an unpleasant smell.   I no longer felt hungry.  I picked at it, ate a bit, then said goodnight.  I had an early start for the chimp tracking in the morning.


Ready by 6.45 and waiting for Everest and his boda (motorbike taxi).  He arrived late and offered me his helmet.  Altho it was way too big and wobbled around on my head I wore it anyway.  It was 10 km on the same very bumpy road towards the forest.  A couple of the bumps gave me a real jolt.  Are you ok?  Yes, I am fine.  By the way, the weather is fine today.  Yes it is.   Then deeper into the forest, baboons playing on the road, we arrived in plenty of time.  I was second after J, a guy from Montreal who has been traveling for the last 7 years.  We chatted until we had a group of 6 and then we set off.  About 1/2 hour into the forest we could hear the chimps hooting and hollering.  They were on the move looking for food, and we followed them.  Soon we found a mother and child, lagging behind the group, then we came upon others, in the trees and on the ground.  I was watching one swinging in a tree above.. then he began to slide down the tree right in front of me.  Uh oh, what do I do?  Be still.  He reached the ground, gave me a sideways glance and then ran off throwing branches as he went to show how powerful he was. We hung out with the chimps for about an hour and then started the long walk back to the start.  A fantastic experience.

Back at the visitor's centre there was a boda waiting for anybody.  I let J take it, thinking I could easily find something going my way.  Nope.  Truly everything was going the other way.  I kept walking.  I started to think about food... water.. and the baboons.  Then a vehicle coming up behind me.  A 4x4.  I waved.  It stopped.  A group of Quebecois women and their driver.  Thank you!

Southern Sudan - a desciption

With one million square miles of territory, Sudan always was more like a vast continent than an individual country, and of all its remote regions – western Darfur included – none seemed as remote as the jungles and savannas of the equatorial south. Even by African standards, the south was in the middle of nowhere, cut off from the rest of Sudan by the Sudd, the world’s most formidable swamp, and bordering such dangerous, disease-ridden, and underdeveloped places as the Central African Republic, Zaire, war-racked northern Uganda, and Kenya’s Turkana desert. A netherworld of violence and chaos, roamed by armed bandits and disaffected Ugandan soldiers, the south was a heartland of unreported atrocities as well as a breeding ground of leprosy, elephantiasis, and Green Monkey disease. Just the lost and vacant ring of the towns in the region (Yei, Tarakaka, Pibor Post) evoked distant planets and gave one the feeling that the south really was in deep space. It had no roads to speak of, and because of the civil war, planes flying into the region always were shot at and occasionally were shot down. On every trip to the south, Western relief workers literally took their lives in their hands. When I asked a U.S. diplomat how to get to a certain area of the south near the Ethiopian border, he gave me a mad look and said, “Parachute, I guess.” Admitted an official of Sudan’s Ministry of Information, “Nobody ever really knows what’s happening down there.” Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea – R.D. Kaplan (1988)

The situation has vastly improved since then. There are now a few roads, planes aren’t falling out of the sky and the civil war is over. Altho given the rising tensions re the coming referendum on January 9th when the south will decide to secede from the north, all that could change. I will be watching with interest, from afar.

Happy Thanksgiving

I lost interest in eating today.

Every weekend I set out with enthusiasm to find a new place to eat and pass time with a book. Today I decided I would go to the “Juba Bridge Hotel, as its name implies, is located in Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan. It is placed adjacent to Juba Bridge, which is the only Nile Crossing in all Southern Sudan.” 

Luckily it is also adjacent to Davinci's, also on the Nile. I couldn't really find a table at the JBH that was to my liking so I strolled over to Davinci's where I have been countless times cuz it has a more inviting seating area from where you can also see the Juba Bridge crossing the Nile. The JB is not an engineering wonder but it is a bridge. You could be arrested if caught taking a picture of it so I can't post a photo. But I did take pics of a couple of the laughable menu pages at Davinci's. Altho the menu items all have sumptuous, creamy, etc. etc. descriptions, you know damn well that nothing of the sort will land at the table. I took a chance on the calamari salad with herb vinaigrette and a plate of fries. The lower salad was diced tomato and cucumber soaking in a watery bed of lettuce all topped by rubbery calamari rings drowning in a thick thousand-island like dressing. The dark oily fries must have been soaking in the frying vat for days and then just recently heated up for my benefit. I ate about half from each plate... and I still feel ok. 

I then realized that I am actually quite sick and tired of tomatoes. I have probably eaten more green peppers and tomatoes here in Juba than most people eat in a lifetime. While I was feeling pretty good about eating tons of veggies and fruits, the only veggies that I am now eating are tomatoes and small shriveled green peppers... everyday in a giant salad, maybe with a tin of corn thrown in for fun (although yesterday I found 2 very robust yellow peppers at an expensive fancy store). The carrots from the market are always limp, the cukes are 80% seeds and lettuce is just too .. well.. dodgy. I am not inspired enuf here to jazz up my meals and it won’t be long before I am onto to the next adventure anyway.

Enjoy your turkey and pumpkin pie!

Grocery shopping in Juba

Just got back from a trip to VAMP, a grocery store near the US Consulate.  Obviously this is not a store where everyone shops.  I spent $20 for these items:

2 small english cucumbers             $7.50
2 yellow peppers                           $9.00
1 tin of strawberries                     $3.50

This purchase entitled me to a small glass of fresh carrot juice.

wrong place wrong time

i peed and flushed the toilet.  just as i started to walk away i noticed something dark whirling around in the flushing toilet.  it was a little gecko flailing around and around the white toilet bowl.  then everything slowly settled ... and i waited.  he looked finished.  i didn't want him wasting away in the toilet overnight, so i grabbed a bucket of water to follow another flush, a double dose to clean things out.  but just as i flushed he started to swim ... too late.  why he would've been hanging out in a toilet bowl when he would still be alive and happy if he had stuck to the walls and ceiling.

some electricity would be a nice start

Animal-shaped cities? South Sudan unveils big plan


Government officials plan to transform two state capitals into the shapes of a giraffe and a pineapple, which appear on their flags.

URBAN PLANNING: The plan also aims to redesign the southern capital, Juba, which is made up of slums.

The government of Southern Sudan this week announced a bold $10.1 billion plan to transform the capital cities of this largely rural territory, reshaping some into the shapes of animals and fruit.

The plan unveiled Tuesday in the war-torn region comes ahead of a scheduled January referendum on independence, which most people here believe will lead to the creation of the world's newest country.

The south is rich in oil, but poverty and hunger is high throughout the region, which is struggling to recover after a civil war more than two decades long.

Government officials did not say how they would find the money to finance the project, which includes a plan to transform two state capitals into the shapes of a giraffe and a pineapple, which appear on their flags.

The plan also aims to redesign the southern capital, Juba, and the 10 state capitals, said Jemma Kumba, the minister of housing and physical planning.

"Juba is made up of slums," said Kumba.

Her undersecretary, Daniel Wani, said that planning in the sprawling capital of Juba was "haphazardly done."

As part of the plan, residents of the capital would be relocated to about 10 miles (15 kilometers) outside of Juba in an area called "Rhino City," named after the symbol on the flag of Central Equatoria state.

Wani conceded that the government still needs "a lot of money." He said the government is in discussions with investors.

The southern government's own 2010 budget was only $1.9 billion, and the U.N. says more than 90 percent of Southern Sudan's population lives on less than $1 a day.

Southern Sudan, which is still recovering from decades of war, lacks basic infrastructure such as roads that connect its state capitals. Outside the southern capital Juba, structures aside from mud huts are rare, and in Juba, services such as electricity and sewage are a luxury.

The Minister of Roads and Transport, Anthony Makana, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he needed up to $6 billion to pave 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of roads in the south.

Makana said the project would connect all of the southern state capitals, but he noted that funding is a concern, given that the government has not finished paying the contractors who built 4,350 miles (7,000 kilometers) of red clay and gravel roads since 2005, when the landmark peace accord between the north and south was signed.

This probably isn't news

I am sittting here lounging on my lounger with an upset gut... don't know if it was my new sit-up routine too soon after downing too many chewy chocolate brownies (a present from Rosie, the cook in Nairobi.. the most decadent treat I have had in a very long while), or if it was the fattoush salad I ate at Central Pub, the Lebanese restaurant I tried this afternoon.

But I have just had a good chuckle.  More time on the internet, checking the news, and yes, also looking at a lot of travel-related sites.  I came across the top signs you are a travel addict.  Not that I needed an article to tell me that I am, but I did indeed find myself answering yes to too many of the signs.

However, I call myself a nomad, and I prefer Rough Guide or Bradt to LP, and Matador is my homepage.  I am waiting for a map to arrive in the mail, I have been spending a lot of time planning my get-away from Juba (and what trip I could link to after that), and this morning I pulled out bits of toilet paper from the back pocket of freshly laundered pants ..... .  The other day someone asked if I get homesick.  My answer was immediate... yes I do, for travel.

i got what i asked for

i frequently do, but never quite the way i was wanting it.

rarely stationary for long, i have been dreaming of a small place, to be still, where i would have the space to focus on being well.

i am doing yoga almost every day, eating loads of fruit and veggies, meditating, resting and yesterday started a few more challenges... two hundred situps, two hundred squats and the real challenge, one hundred pushups.

i am being well.

the other day i realized that i kind of have what i was looking for.  i just wasn't thinking of it being in a cell at the end of a hall in a dirty, beat-up town in a failed state.

just another reminder that i need to work harder on my dreams.

Special Qualities

We are trying to fill a local position for Logistician/Administrator.  And some of the special qualities I have found on various CVs are:

Other Competencies
- Driving like someone's business
- Can endure horrible conditions
- Interpersonal skills such as communication

Hobbies
- browsing the internet for knowledge
- making friends and sustaining them
- visiting friends
- praying
- socializing to strengthen interpersonal skills, team building
- watching television

Marital Status
- single, but caring for orphans

It is hard to narrow it down to that one special person.

life is an adventure

my life in the hallways

i usually wake as the generator starts up and my bathroom light goes on. just enough time to get into clothes, brush my teeth, and out the bedroom door by 8.  down the hall to the admin office as the other staff are signing in.

the kitchen is down the other hall,

for food and drink throughout the day

                                          

                                                     and at the end of the day,

                                                              back down the hall

our sr. log worries about me when i occasionally step outside.

he shouts at me to protect my eyes.

Today's Top 10

I am spending way too much time on the internet (at first I thought it was a good thing that I would have wi-fi).  And tonite I came across way too many Top 10 Lists, but it made me think of my own list.

Top 10 positive things about my current situation:

1. Yoga.  I am back to yoga, a minimum 5x/week.
2. Healthy eating.  Turkey was very healthy, and it continues here, although it has nothing to do with the local cuisine.  I place a market order 2x/week, mostly tomatoes, green peppers, onions, giant papayas, pineapple .... I am almost a raw foodie.  (I ordered eggs a few weeks ago.  I have never seen such sad yolks, the most pitiful pale yellow I have ever seen.  Made me wonder if there could even be any nutrients there.)
3. Same bed.  I love travel, but it is also nice to have the same bed night after night (with a much needed mosquito net), for awhile.
4. No expenses.  I have zero expenses, and haven't had to dip into my bank account since I arrived.  There is a perdiem on the weekends, and I am not even spending much of that.  The only real entertainment here is making the tour of the very expensive restaurants catering to the outsiders who are here working, but once, maybe twice a week is enough.
5. Lots of reading.  Juba does not offer too many (any?) extracurricular activities.  I brought books that I have been wanting to read, and it'll happen.
6. Private space.  I have chosen the one bedroom at the end of the hall in the office, rather than one of the bedrooms at the guesthouse.  This means I have complete privacy after hours.  And it is a very big room.
7. No laundry.  It gets a little tiring washing up your clothes at the end of every travel day.  So I very much appreciate that Amal is now doing this for me.
8. Making money.  It never hurts to be able to add a bit to the bank account.
9. Gentle on the skin. I am not showering every day... or even every other day.  The water at the office is solar heated, and we are now in the rainy season.  There really isn't any warmth in the water at the end of the day and so it is hard to have enthusiasm for a shower (I am stretching here to find another positive.)
10. Good to get away from that other organization.

oh, the anguish!

... til next time

I am often asked what is my favorite place, and my usual answer is that every place has its special charms. But I have fallen hard. I will now be saying that Turkey is my favorite. I know that 4 months is a very short time to have any depth of awareness, but I am in love with everything.

Yes, I am different here, but they aren't scared of me. They don't point and laugh, run and scream, or stare drop-jawed. They look and watch, but then almost always offer a warm smile and a welcome. I don't recall any encounters with grouchy individuals. They want to talk, help, share... language is not a barrier. I stopped thinking that with each offer there would follow a demand for compensation; it just doesn't happen. It is common for people to go out of their way to get me on my way. It is hard to wallow in a sadness.

Other nice things... after losing an interest in eating thru the Balkans, I was very excited to get to Turkey. Eating is something I look forward to. I lose my appetite just thinking about my next destination.

And another.. as I sit on a bus writing this I am thinking that now when you can't get even get a free glass of water on a plane, Turkish buses have attendants who serve cake, candies, water, coke, juice, hand-wipes... and sometimes there is even wi-fi and individual screens with tv/movie selections.

I have been saying that someday a place will speak to me and I will want to stay. Turkey could be that place. But next week I am flying to Sudan; time to bank some cash. And maybe its a good idea to step away ... see if I am thinking clearly ... as one should do when falling in love.

When saying goodbye, the person departing says hoshchakal... stay happy.

and what am i supposed to with this??

Side

This is not Turkey

For the longest while I have been pottering along, off season travel, some travellers, few tourists and recently moving thru remote, vast, lonely eastern Turkey. Today I flew... too much distance to cover in a short time... from Trabzon on the Black Sea coast, south to Antalya, major tourist hub on the Mediterranean coast.

The buses from the airport go into busy Antalya. I wanted to go in the other direction to the town of Side (Seeday). Negotiated with the bus driver to get dropped on the highway.. great, but big disappointment when he charged me full fare as tho I was going into Antalya... I was no longer in the east where buses and people would take me short distances and refuse any kind of payment.

Finally arrived in Side and the second bus driver in an hour handed me my pack upside down! After sorting out my pack and re-adjusting the straps I started walking in the direction of the beach to my hotel. Overwhelming. This was no small town. Traffic. Tourists. Shops, shops and more shops and hotels everywhere.. all set amidst the lovely ancient ruins, but no homes, little markets, shoe shine boys, tea salons or cheap eateries. Side seemed to be one big resort town. Everyone in their holiday clothes. Girls in their little summer dresses and skimpy heels. I felt like I had just stepped outta the bush. Pepsi seemed to think so too.

I was wandering , desparately looking for a reasonable dinner. Everything was 4x+ what I was used to paying. In my wandering, I stopped at an esthetics shop, interested in the price to have my brows threaded, but I said not today, for tomorrow, that I was really looking for something to eat. Pepsi insisted I relax, take a seat, why not now? 10 lira, moustache free. Wasn't aware of my moustache, but ok. His twin sister started her work. Then Pepsie started to pull at the hairs on my cheeks and insisted it had to go. So away she went, threaded my entire face, smooth as a baby's bum said Pepsi.

Typical chatter, why am I single (Canadian men must be blind, he says... or maybe it was all my facial hair, i think), why no children. Well Pepsi is single too, we could have children.. or just do the 'training'. I looked at him and said that we didn't know each other...

20 lira (10 euro) less, I continued my search for dinner. Have accepted that tonite won't be cheap, and maybe another glass of wine will help. I am not comfortable.. I wasn't looking for a holiday.. not like this.

But the Turkish warmth I have fallen for is not completely lost here. I was offered a drink on the house, and notice that there is belly dancing tomorrow night and I am welcome... ah, but my bill shows surcharges and taxes, something I haven't seen before today. Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Beyonce.. I miss the Kurdish music I have been listening to.

I have a tiny room overlooking the beach, can hear the waves crashing in. 4 nights here.. off to the bank in the morning.

a good one

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

a walk in cappadocia

this morning i asked the guide at the hostel for advice on a new walking route. he asked if i had seen the rocks shaped like pennies. no, i hadn't.





i really thought he had said pennies.

There comes a time...