tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87869626625029901652024-03-05T17:17:09.889-05:00WanderlustingThe World Travels of Carrie DeckerAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-67117655461718264532015-07-31T13:26:00.000-04:002015-07-31T13:32:20.492-04:00Wudangshan <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Wudanggongfu Kung Fu Academy</td></tr>
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My dear friends,</div>
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I am very nearly home again. The last portion of my Watson journey led me to Wudangshan, a town in Hubei province with two considerable claims to fame: it is the birthplace of Tai Chi and home to the "No. 1 Sacred Daoist Mountain" in China. I came to explore Daoist ideas of nature and poetry here at the mountain, and to attempt a better understanding of the role of movement, energy, and the body in our relationships to nature and writing.<br />
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Although my stay here was relatively short (serious students come from the world over to study with Master Yuan Xiu Gang for weeks, months, and sometimes years), I was able to learn the basics of Tai He, a form of Tai Chi unique to Wudang style Kungfu. It took hours and hours of following along with my coach and practicing on my own, but I'm proud of what I've learned. I even took a video to show you! </div>
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What I fail to capture, being such a novice, is the true grace and passion that masterful practitioners command. The master in the video below displays the fluidity and control I so deeply admire and hope to emulate more in the future. I firmly hold that there is indeed poetry in these movements, but I haven't quite translated it well in my own words yet. I'll keep ya posted on my progress.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;">morning Tai Chi class at Wudang Kung Fu Academy<br />
within Yuxu Palace temple grounds</td></tr>
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Students of all ages and skill levels study at the <a href="http://www.wudanggongfu.com/kungfu/school.htm" target="_blank">Wudang Daoist Traditional Internal Kung Fu Academy</a>. Classes are held in the halls of the academy or on the grounds of the Yuxu Palace temple. It's gorgeous, and full of living history. The internal forms taught here emphasize softness and flexibility, but don't let you fool you into thinking these practitioners are no great shakes in terms of toughness and power. I got to watch many students and coaches perform in their preferred styles, and I can tell you I was impressed!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">students showcasing their moves </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">at the </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Wudang Kung Fu Academy </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">within Yuxu Palace temple grounds</span></td></tr>
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I had the great privilege of hearing Shifu (the master) explain the difference between external (Shaolin style) and internal (Wudang style) forms of Kung Fu. He also gave us a lesson on the effects of qi in martial arts training. I doubt I can paraphrase him properly, but this is what I understood: excelling in Wudang style martial arts means cultivating a keen sense of relaxed firmness in both body and spirit. </div>
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Like other arts, it takes discipline and time, as well as passion and openness. Eventually, one can even learn to tap into the "huge energies" of qi, allowing one to exercise a soft kind of influence over the flow of energy in oneself, in the people around us, and in the spaces around us. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a coach showcasing moves at the <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Wudang Kung Fu Academy </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">within Yuxu Palace temple grounds</span></td></tr>
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There are no classes on Thursdays, so I took the chance of a lifetime to climb the sacred mountain of Wudangshan.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">beginning the climb up Wudangshan from South Cliff</td></tr>
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Although it's unfortunately very commercialized, this hike was one of my favorite accomplishments of the year. The bus takes you to South Cliff (you can explore other lovely picturesque stops along the way). From the bus stop, it's an exhausting but highly rewarding four kilometer climb to the summit. And it's steep stone stairs nearly every step of the way.<br />
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The views are spectacular, and the cliffsides along the trail are adorned with carved stele inscribed with poems and prayers. Piled cairns marked mysterious sites within the forest and arching stone bridges enabled passage over the many harrowing crags and peaks along the way to the top.<br />
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About halfway, I came to the Pilgrimage Palace. I stopped to make a small offering and refill my water bottle from the magic spring. Here the path forks: to the right is the older Ming Dynasty "Back Way," to the left is the Qing Dynasty "Hundred Stairs." Believe me that both paths contain hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of steps, though they do vary in length and steepness. I chose to take the Back Way, and ascend via the legendary Three Gates to Heaven. Little did I know what a knee-shaking and thrilling trip it would be.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">rubbish bin found poems? mantra inspiration?</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DsvP6cRUS40MoVeeaYzLOOZLt8DeNVOxMqbhyphenhyphenWttkbFvTUkK1IYUvU1jLJUbf4yOYWhA__Qoriv8vYf7crOE92HGGt_ST8of4hsamM-_k49uXgElX3Arxn6_r-X8YYyiVEd2ZnZuR57v/s1600/DSC06780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DsvP6cRUS40MoVeeaYzLOOZLt8DeNVOxMqbhyphenhyphenWttkbFvTUkK1IYUvU1jLJUbf4yOYWhA__Qoriv8vYf7crOE92HGGt_ST8of4hsamM-_k49uXgElX3Arxn6_r-X8YYyiVEd2ZnZuR57v/s320/DSC06780.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">aw shucks Environment, you make me blush</td></tr>
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I quickly learned that it is easier to take the stairs at a slow, steady pace. I remembered my guide Tsewang in Bhutan chiding me that "stopping is out of the question!" and repeated aloud to myself and the chuckling/panting Chinese tourists and locals "om a ra pa tsa na di"--a Bhutanese mantra asking for wealth and wisdom. I eventually began just singing whatever I could muster, along with any other prayers, cusses, and grunts that managed to keep me moving. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">just some of the stairs up the sacred mountain<br />
(lady ahead of me: how are you doing this in heels??)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">ascending the Ming Dynasty "Back Way" path</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">elation at passing through the Second Gate to Heaven</td></tr>
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It worked marvelously.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIu-o8II8kIsJrS6TvyY-goe5wu7364Lt9Fii0MFfiOv0WSgXVePXh2nnG4NtqtfOVlCg07OgeDo32xiem7K7uGhK339AuVW2T1efPBYQ7m09P5tcd-KwuimfKOGdqG5Ql3uvhw7fJlaI4/s1600/DSC06740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIu-o8II8kIsJrS6TvyY-goe5wu7364Lt9Fii0MFfiOv0WSgXVePXh2nnG4NtqtfOVlCg07OgeDo32xiem7K7uGhK339AuVW2T1efPBYQ7m09P5tcd-KwuimfKOGdqG5Ql3uvhw7fJlaI4/s320/DSC06740.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">GOOD LORD almighty there are more</td></tr>
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But it did take a long time.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">LHA GHEYLOL!</td></tr>
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Luckily I had plenty, for I like my conversations with mountains to be long.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Ok. Yes, mountains. You're always worth it. I hear ya. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtgdzceaRb3F1CuFMbmalsDCFYv5leBwpU00two56qiW0OJhmnxcq8pqg5nFQ4zDDsKlFEXWnoIFdnBHAWYIMEUFgkA_5znmnDAERl4pHTvN1g2zX-dBnyC8BGonuN-UhTqaq8kMtg0L3/s1600/DSC06760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtgdzceaRb3F1CuFMbmalsDCFYv5leBwpU00two56qiW0OJhmnxcq8pqg5nFQ4zDDsKlFEXWnoIFdnBHAWYIMEUFgkA_5znmnDAERl4pHTvN1g2zX-dBnyC8BGonuN-UhTqaq8kMtg0L3/s320/DSC06760.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The Third Gate to Heaven (leading toward the Golden Peak)</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: start;">
The weather stayed marvelously friendly right up until the moment I summited. As soon as I laid eyes on the Golden Peak at the very top of this celestial wonder of a mountain, heavy rain pelted itself out of the nearby sky. The storm put the cable car down the mountain out of commission, meaning I had to have a firm but gentle conversation with my tired legs that they'd have to take us the long way down too.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AQvzMfdBv-RhRQUqg50JfecJjCbDzknD8MOywa2BNXNj4FXneD4ERq7ohrg6rGRDHJs_NOxHo1MLDBqkl13d1NOPT4aLlVSBTWoaykd8rjVeXSSy-peaHFHWxiZPLIeQ_4DP64-M4X8i/s1600/DSC06774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AQvzMfdBv-RhRQUqg50JfecJjCbDzknD8MOywa2BNXNj4FXneD4ERq7ohrg6rGRDHJs_NOxHo1MLDBqkl13d1NOPT4aLlVSBTWoaykd8rjVeXSSy-peaHFHWxiZPLIeQ_4DP64-M4X8i/s320/DSC06774.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Wudangshan's Golden Peak,<br />
a rumored celestial and spiritual wonder</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: start;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdIP7SiPGSB-4NF74tlrBIAOX62bcVcTRDDk1HXHlV7qQAVbBjcz_wgSXomCeqAZDCmbvraDCm5vauzpTmT2F-HEzLannINrzU04Ei0aWxCiJKgrLsq0LmEGYT93A9oAJVkQJwFToxzJK/s1600/DSC06768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdIP7SiPGSB-4NF74tlrBIAOX62bcVcTRDDk1HXHlV7qQAVbBjcz_wgSXomCeqAZDCmbvraDCm5vauzpTmT2F-HEzLannINrzU04Ei0aWxCiJKgrLsq0LmEGYT93A9oAJVkQJwFToxzJK/s320/DSC06768.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Aha--I'd been waiting for you, rain. Let's just float here awhile.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: start;">
Perhaps it was the altitude. Fatigue? The intoxicating effect of sublime beauty? I don't know, but I went kinda crazy hiking back down. I couldn't stop singing. I practically ran the whole way, though my knees were wobblier than they'd ever been in my life! I did take the bus from South Cliff down to the Mountain Gate (it's obligatory) but then my reeling brain and body kept waving away taxis and buses on the route back into town. I walked the additional few kms toward the city, savoring the delicious madness of being utterly and comfortably bewildered in a world so strange and full of wonder.</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORLwvkxpOZWZRi986lIYTM_0niJnd4Nr90pfn9YHZ_RDdOIyghU4_GUgdDGWZHo_iCsJIt4oMYHbI4XqjgX7FkqkkdOtB8x32ZJHRpr12JmdFGUllbM0H8WlCdZcYf-uLLR4ze2f2T7nd/s1600/DSC06784.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORLwvkxpOZWZRi986lIYTM_0niJnd4Nr90pfn9YHZ_RDdOIyghU4_GUgdDGWZHo_iCsJIt4oMYHbI4XqjgX7FkqkkdOtB8x32ZJHRpr12JmdFGUllbM0H8WlCdZcYf-uLLR4ze2f2T7nd/s320/DSC06784.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">hiking back down<br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: start;">
I wish you so very much joy and exhilaration. Thank you for sharing in mine.</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
With deepest love,</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
Carrie</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
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<div style="text-align: start;">
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<div style="text-align: start;">
P.S. Below here are a few more samples of Suzhou adventures. As always, I promise more stories when you and I can get together in person. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxTOEXD_9yuCeZ7EDFxcrypMgAEMFZFLR8CArWv4hW3XN9ips8HXuABgQd1xOhQH2XrRksuaX3NkeKKotPwEg5blNOrRfLTRpVHUhRHLvW1qH6CBh9_vcxZyRzOV2qUIH0j40gwiWE1vs/s1600/DSC06374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxTOEXD_9yuCeZ7EDFxcrypMgAEMFZFLR8CArWv4hW3XN9ips8HXuABgQd1xOhQH2XrRksuaX3NkeKKotPwEg5blNOrRfLTRpVHUhRHLvW1qH6CBh9_vcxZyRzOV2qUIH0j40gwiWE1vs/s320/DSC06374.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Gully of Raising Cranes, Tiger Hill, Suzhou</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1AMymIchvMSa7hgQeEbCQind7rpAwFOB5kCPdcNsPUW6pUJSzkP8zoJAuRNtxo8vJJ7Tsf1KI04i86blwoMr0nbRGze4NwBAd0Ja454NIXeDmhFIbg6Ww87IDJfpthe5x0G2TFg5bOXv/s1600/DSC06500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ1AMymIchvMSa7hgQeEbCQind7rpAwFOB5kCPdcNsPUW6pUJSzkP8zoJAuRNtxo8vJJ7Tsf1KI04i86blwoMr0nbRGze4NwBAd0Ja454NIXeDmhFIbg6Ww87IDJfpthe5x0G2TFg5bOXv/s320/DSC06500.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">boat ride near Shantang St, Suzhou</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBQ7PdSOCkXyCuuqK5THXNBcwQeT8cwUquBxYWU3RCPVdsw4BoTbc-SsQvuRdPT3ttegBhnqgVHQSIajbSUFuQF7ygFxpuHu2d7ZcmpoAViD2JnHarQUyg2YZMmw3rjrSrHVm0kceIOFl/s1600/DSC06491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBQ7PdSOCkXyCuuqK5THXNBcwQeT8cwUquBxYWU3RCPVdsw4BoTbc-SsQvuRdPT3ttegBhnqgVHQSIajbSUFuQF7ygFxpuHu2d7ZcmpoAViD2JnHarQUyg2YZMmw3rjrSrHVm0kceIOFl/s320/DSC06491.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">exploring Shantang St, Suzhou<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8lYpFoGV01EcMOqMknfVbGDhQZEcmGyaWjMX1KhTevYDnqHy6YoIEp_QXwDCmfqse_yCkn9bjtd3S-fDdIGgwrsyqpgTnL7ACwjZLAjcp4PFXwJYo6LRh2qCQ4nTF-fRTg_FhMWHVGG-K/s1600/DSC06383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8lYpFoGV01EcMOqMknfVbGDhQZEcmGyaWjMX1KhTevYDnqHy6YoIEp_QXwDCmfqse_yCkn9bjtd3S-fDdIGgwrsyqpgTnL7ACwjZLAjcp4PFXwJYo6LRh2qCQ4nTF-fRTg_FhMWHVGG-K/s320/DSC06383.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tianping Shan lotus pond, Mudu</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Y4m8oV1YeI-0NM3Stoj394IX3SgOQ_tTiP2TRYmKXmZSI6GbxmN4rvyZ6844nBS-d2oefYLfloAUqPKYPuSbEYRC_QSHGfNcbrpiE8n_Eb1jyjQCD956O5C-XJT8i59ph21YRSH3PMbL/s1600/DSC06418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Y4m8oV1YeI-0NM3Stoj394IX3SgOQ_tTiP2TRYmKXmZSI6GbxmN4rvyZ6844nBS-d2oefYLfloAUqPKYPuSbEYRC_QSHGfNcbrpiE8n_Eb1jyjQCD956O5C-XJT8i59ph21YRSH3PMbL/s320/DSC06418.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cave temple on Tianping Shan, Mudu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSu005s4fQMwiA7RFs5LBPQriiwb7NbxVABQ8qdzGpikOLFWKH3xjfZoFSTZEhQY-YrzF_xM1tyHkOzGC1TF5xK09QhOjl4J3_rRqU9hCQFE0CTQgNzSOnB_IFjI1f5Jgmbr729o4YQw8/s1600/DSC06466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSu005s4fQMwiA7RFs5LBPQriiwb7NbxVABQ8qdzGpikOLFWKH3xjfZoFSTZEhQY-YrzF_xM1tyHkOzGC1TF5xK09QhOjl4J3_rRqU9hCQFE0CTQgNzSOnB_IFjI1f5Jgmbr729o4YQw8/s320/DSC06466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">performing original improv poetry with Emily Snow,<br />
The Bookworm, Suzhou<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-42554106450763757952015-07-03T06:48:00.002-04:002015-07-03T06:51:42.797-04:00Gardens of Suzhou<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uYWwJmSjbZulAgZ1uwoRZQBUgm8cWGImx8Uj7cFKdtTR0cVVNo_mECMoGOXCg-Six08TCiv34xVkTtjDxZASZ-QUy_p4PADnapIGAoRdLMOzXxrmMQNWXJOpv_LKBUu2drWPHnlMOXsL/s1600/DSC06156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uYWwJmSjbZulAgZ1uwoRZQBUgm8cWGImx8Uj7cFKdtTR0cVVNo_mECMoGOXCg-Six08TCiv34xVkTtjDxZASZ-QUy_p4PADnapIGAoRdLMOzXxrmMQNWXJOpv_LKBUu2drWPHnlMOXsL/s400/DSC06156.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">in the Lingering Garden<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamm57uzFBm6LSNTozKJPeJaqfLIUH5I9vZcNH8JWxo5j2e5J9G63BNuV6uxuj7thbjZ_0UFpW05cPorx74BXBYUf7aFWlm6GPckdQ-cC-NR8D0lk8Z3fLwqwej4E8hO4n4m0jPVKtIXw5/s1600/DSC05902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamm57uzFBm6LSNTozKJPeJaqfLIUH5I9vZcNH8JWxo5j2e5J9G63BNuV6uxuj7thbjZ_0UFpW05cPorx74BXBYUf7aFWlm6GPckdQ-cC-NR8D0lk8Z3fLwqwej4E8hO4n4m0jPVKtIXw5/s320/DSC05902.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">inside one of the residential pavilions<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These days I live in Suzhou, China. Some call this ancient canal city the "Venice of the East." However, the road signs around town read: "Suzhou The Human Paradise Oriental Water City," and this feels more accurate. Human? Yep--there are a lot of humans here. Oriental water city? Check. Paradise? That's a little trickier, but I feel pretty dang blessed that I get to spend two months here visiting Suzhou's classical gardens, refining my writing and sharing my art at weekly open mics.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMeK9DsSyXTw3lf7uy_J05aaKfwF4R9ndNuq3DZYzJybYwNc6TpQThyphenhyphenxDmuPzWIe4588RKEqd9X27CglHXtArSNhrlpelEYPjseCztLM2WqqnWmX3oPje5HBq-NNOp_aSo9_XR2nVrbMu/s1600/DSC05759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMeK9DsSyXTw3lf7uy_J05aaKfwF4R9ndNuq3DZYzJybYwNc6TpQThyphenhyphenxDmuPzWIe4588RKEqd9X27CglHXtArSNhrlpelEYPjseCztLM2WqqnWmX3oPje5HBq-NNOp_aSo9_XR2nVrbMu/s320/DSC05759.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">cloud sculpture in Humble Administrator's Garden<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I spend my days visiting the gardens around Suzhou Downtown where the World Heritage listed gardens and dozens of important historical buildings are protected from the pattern of demolish-and-rebuild in other parts of the city. Poised as it is south of the Yangtze river and along important trade routes, Suzhou has been an industrious center of silk production and high society for centuries. The construction and maintenance of the gardens spans several dynasties, the earliest being the North Song Dynasty of the 11th century to the Qing Dynasty of the 19th century. Most began as private residencies of government officials, their families, and their literati friends. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The recreated environments within Suzhou’s gardens usually center around ponds full of lotus plants and brightly colored</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> fish. Open air pavilions containing calligraphic works, paintings, and antique wooden furniture overlook the gardens through elaborately latticed windows. Zigzag or arching stone bridges link the pavilions with the courtyards where deliberately placed trees, shrubs, and grasses give an illusory impression of wildness. Above the ponds but below the trees wind the lake-stone rockeries. The twisting steps ascending and descending throughout these man-made mountains simulate a wandering journey through the ravines, caves, and summits of China’s sacred ranges.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpOJqHeg86L0IbzFoh6GYvJxsnFcfKquhMAXSB1olvUiC07GpmKYuXpZ_op4Z0ol-YupDLKdcTN7CdPvRv1fQwRoRB91YU9A5UDVot_M-7esWV_tFV8YQxrG4xINeB6TGAHH2wHA6ZFZ0J/s1600/DSC05783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpOJqHeg86L0IbzFoh6GYvJxsnFcfKquhMAXSB1olvUiC07GpmKYuXpZ_op4Z0ol-YupDLKdcTN7CdPvRv1fQwRoRB91YU9A5UDVot_M-7esWV_tFV8YQxrG4xINeB6TGAHH2wHA6ZFZ0J/s320/DSC05783.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">a miniature landscape<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been deeply impressed at the evocative quality of the gardens, but that’s partly because I’m a sucker for it, and it’s designed to impress me. The aesthetics here capture a deeply poetic synthesis of natural shapes and materials with human symbols of beauty. The circular doorway pairs with the square frame of the pavilion; within their lines flicker the leaves of ginkgo trees and a serenely still pool of emerald water. I emerge from the stone-chilled chamber inside the rockery to find a gazebo with a sweeping dragon-like buttressed roof. A plaque nearby tells me the inscription inside the gazebo means drifting lotus fragrance. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYjPviO69WwalDeUbVAeN1BSrxyifolwfrlt9InSL8K_6rlHeBKMhEfqehfq-q83HqINcHQ6YwqbXi1a7AgD1CUCFzYmp1T5Yjh8g3Dkk1UIfUSThzx3qRqDxODnwcnkHInP2L86TbCVs/s1600/DSC05971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicYjPviO69WwalDeUbVAeN1BSrxyifolwfrlt9InSL8K_6rlHeBKMhEfqehfq-q83HqINcHQ6YwqbXi1a7AgD1CUCFzYmp1T5Yjh8g3Dkk1UIfUSThzx3qRqDxODnwcnkHInP2L86TbCVs/s320/DSC05971.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">rockery in Lion's Grove Garden<br /></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, I’m going to these places to try to siphon up some of their art into my writing. Of course, writing doesn’t have to originate in a point of beauty like these places, but so far it’s helped me develop more ideas about what nature </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and what purpose writing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">… It’s a little late in the game to be defining the two fundamental elements of my Watson project, but, being functionally illiterate and mute (my Mandarin skills are woefully poor) makes a lady introspective. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although I still struggle to do normal things like order food correctly, I have been performing poetry every week! The local and expat crowd at The Bookworm have kindly let me join in their weekly open mic and writer’s group, and it’s been lots of fun. I even got to join in at a community theater production at Locke’s Pub where I performed three poems off-book. Sharing my work publicly has become increasingly important to me this year, and I’m psyched about it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://twospadespoetry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">(You can read my poetry here.)</a></span></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilrrK70jZ3klrsYBa56pPK00WCCKyBx4jc8lk42LSGUEGDPqP2Pc_dYo74QMaKLgDzsaqJwgKkepk0xkBK_0BgfOA6UFbSukHOwJbU-WG5xwpb4s0GiSsK_l7OqiyLsyZWOUhKvz_wQAB/s1600/DSC06280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilrrK70jZ3klrsYBa56pPK00WCCKyBx4jc8lk42LSGUEGDPqP2Pc_dYo74QMaKLgDzsaqJwgKkepk0xkBK_0BgfOA6UFbSukHOwJbU-WG5xwpb4s0GiSsK_l7OqiyLsyZWOUhKvz_wQAB/s320/DSC06280.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">open mic at The Bookworm<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve taken a few Chinese painting and calligraphy classes too, and my instructor kindly gave me the name Yu Xi to sign my work. It means the sound of the rain, and it is delightfully apt, considering how prominent rain has been in my journey these last eleven months. I’m proud of how my art and adventures and character are growing as a result, and am grateful to you for sharing in that with me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May we be heard as we hear the rain.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carrie</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRINq5oEicYbcZuUjAu_3XiefS8LzBUhTjNNXvh44fKl9QtORBe7D54YVA-ilK70WJyw5s1RinddGaE_PbaP9EsvKsxLNDFC7cmKIYJ6Gq0uugrZnZoM3oHpPvQyc2alqAtQjgAe98ds2O/s1600/DSC05758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRINq5oEicYbcZuUjAu_3XiefS8LzBUhTjNNXvh44fKl9QtORBe7D54YVA-ilK70WJyw5s1RinddGaE_PbaP9EsvKsxLNDFC7cmKIYJ6Gq0uugrZnZoM3oHpPvQyc2alqAtQjgAe98ds2O/s320/DSC05758.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">pavilion in Humble Administrator's Garden</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyR-6kfq4zPQQhOAG0qZNy7VudhXDY60WsPouvHnszUtNpnAqxs9kZYRCT46GPdlQc3mp0BCYYlzEfuEqzIlSIyyLZCpQAfoQ7duMbNaEo58abjw1uNpKTk1hImmgGkQABHzDnrGl_FoG/s1600/DSC05982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyR-6kfq4zPQQhOAG0qZNy7VudhXDY60WsPouvHnszUtNpnAqxs9kZYRCT46GPdlQc3mp0BCYYlzEfuEqzIlSIyyLZCpQAfoQ7duMbNaEo58abjw1uNpKTk1hImmgGkQABHzDnrGl_FoG/s320/DSC05982.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">fishes!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRzDdchie8rAuSqRhtKLeropjbeVk3z5N5a4FqlGCM5YoZyDfIexGowBb_ILIk_saBSIn_c6Rd2hyphenhyphenwrg5DQA7JLJ7oztWN1sz5csYbVoTFsiJceMqlEeRGiFqAqshe054ARPJcgmfZKkx/s1600/DSC06073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRzDdchie8rAuSqRhtKLeropjbeVk3z5N5a4FqlGCM5YoZyDfIexGowBb_ILIk_saBSIn_c6Rd2hyphenhyphenwrg5DQA7JLJ7oztWN1sz5csYbVoTFsiJceMqlEeRGiFqAqshe054ARPJcgmfZKkx/s320/DSC06073.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">I also went to the zoo.<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiUn2ucEGDFZwpMIDu4BUTMxTIJWEBvHUUzUiPN9RKxAxGhxe-jt4XfQQraIqzWDIHI2p3aKhhDRtucKGKC1vB1bsbC0wJ9HtUqgqiCGbgePcB4TNUn3GkUe36uElvOf-mJslJY3uJgfo/s1600/DSC06034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiUn2ucEGDFZwpMIDu4BUTMxTIJWEBvHUUzUiPN9RKxAxGhxe-jt4XfQQraIqzWDIHI2p3aKhhDRtucKGKC1vB1bsbC0wJ9HtUqgqiCGbgePcB4TNUn3GkUe36uElvOf-mJslJY3uJgfo/s320/DSC06034.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">in the Garden of Harmony (also called Garden of Pleasance)</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-14414616469204740092015-05-30T10:22:00.001-04:002015-05-30T20:41:00.140-04:00Brisbane<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDR0XDbnWKe6-eH_gDizSNurgNzZMBubypvaxF78VwrbS6Am_J4vM_1PTgRcatVVZnoUjOyy7VCZjloSW7cUaVKoQeUWcTx3tTnKmnA05pkz7GMig7JHTMNRM_JKsVZMonrrMSCb4lO49/s1600/DSC05568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDR0XDbnWKe6-eH_gDizSNurgNzZMBubypvaxF78VwrbS6Am_J4vM_1PTgRcatVVZnoUjOyy7VCZjloSW7cUaVKoQeUWcTx3tTnKmnA05pkz7GMig7JHTMNRM_JKsVZMonrrMSCb4lO49/s640/DSC05568.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Brisbane skyline</td></tr>
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I've spent the last two weeks in Brisbane, mainly preparing for my last leg of the Watson year: China. While most of my time has been focused on getting prepared with books and visa and all my travel arrangements, I've enjoyed exploring this Gold Coast city. It's a great city for walking or biking, and I really enjoyed wandering through the street markets in the West End and in Fortitude Valley, riding the free City Hopper ferry on the iconic Brisbane River, and meandering the city's many gardens.<br />
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I got to attend a couple poetry events as well: one reading in which I got to perform, and one excellent performance celebrating the centenary of Judith Wright's birthday. She was one of Australia's best poets, and an avid advocate for environmental protection and Aboriginal rights. Certainly a woman to emulate.<br />
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I plan to do more exploring of poetry and gardens (and much more) in Suzhou and other parts of China. Because google products are sometimes difficult to access while in China, I may not be able to post on the ol' blog until I return to the States in August. Still, I look forward to telling you all about the coming weeks in the near future!<br />
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Sending love,<br />
Carrie<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJQebvF6OEbYh6sriV-RgxcBnC1cfDWxXh84Ecpj3uheLV7wtt8Dcl9lJ4BKYavxAehxs-xWEq-_iLrkichl1xAI8MNT5SL6S6TXon4vLYBm6_iXgw5XOj9wMxCknllmQJGlEwbaQ7I3m/s1600/DSC04975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJQebvF6OEbYh6sriV-RgxcBnC1cfDWxXh84Ecpj3uheLV7wtt8Dcl9lJ4BKYavxAehxs-xWEq-_iLrkichl1xAI8MNT5SL6S6TXon4vLYBm6_iXgw5XOj9wMxCknllmQJGlEwbaQ7I3m/s320/DSC04975.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bearded dragon under the Story Bridge</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgY-oRA9VO3JOkcAgnJGOujzo4qwv2Hy2tOL8Z99BkwBe667gQa8Po_sYLvGrA-qpuuuG20KNvxMGhSt9oYA3xt6lphJXOOF4ki-MWbuPzC0eRbMzjnc6BJvMpCyXKcPZA6gVyCYIF3Cd_/s1600/DSC05511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgY-oRA9VO3JOkcAgnJGOujzo4qwv2Hy2tOL8Z99BkwBe667gQa8Po_sYLvGrA-qpuuuG20KNvxMGhSt9oYA3xt6lphJXOOF4ki-MWbuPzC0eRbMzjnc6BJvMpCyXKcPZA6gVyCYIF3Cd_/s320/DSC05511.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sculpture on Ann St</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDmINe5JM5u_HKs8gGOeL6Lfa9HWyVXl09nxgxkZwGvMa19ImxR6n8bYaPxvCUASnRiMuXsb4BMY-ssuHzt6dpOZYCK6-C-r_XC9iXZWHZXdiG2zLAx8iS0vf9NLzjhqT-NgnU6NDofkn/s1600/DSC05553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDmINe5JM5u_HKs8gGOeL6Lfa9HWyVXl09nxgxkZwGvMa19ImxR6n8bYaPxvCUASnRiMuXsb4BMY-ssuHzt6dpOZYCK6-C-r_XC9iXZWHZXdiG2zLAx8iS0vf9NLzjhqT-NgnU6NDofkn/s320/DSC05553.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">white ibis in abstract sculpture</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHdv_v_4mcjqZQ4bsFCJ_xQoMQQi-kSAZtdTFbMOWPlkwB9YSGP6eBHWpxfpxLWuYFDzxrolfX_iIm0h1zHGrF24iQsuUuCogi5T8AG6-nyT8NtIT-AAGrrpXc7A_OLEL4NKw9PH86EME/s1600/DSC05528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHdv_v_4mcjqZQ4bsFCJ_xQoMQQi-kSAZtdTFbMOWPlkwB9YSGP6eBHWpxfpxLWuYFDzxrolfX_iIm0h1zHGrF24iQsuUuCogi5T8AG6-nyT8NtIT-AAGrrpXc7A_OLEL4NKw9PH86EME/s320/DSC05528.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Botanical Gardens lily ponds</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-77739406405199275932015-05-10T23:01:00.003-04:002015-05-23T09:04:24.191-04:00Talofa Tuvalu!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeLF-PqA0B4Fm5vKLmc-nUP2cK-qmMAFhnJ2ZNOS4gPfZvV68Z8mPQVwHbQy1hBTuqZYiU8VjTzCktxZshislxcujDlMtPIBQV9EnVLdr6e1wz0FWmIXgm5QhywosxY_uyc7cVs2hHYLm/s1600/DSC04993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLeLF-PqA0B4Fm5vKLmc-nUP2cK-qmMAFhnJ2ZNOS4gPfZvV68Z8mPQVwHbQy1hBTuqZYiU8VjTzCktxZshislxcujDlMtPIBQV9EnVLdr6e1wz0FWmIXgm5QhywosxY_uyc7cVs2hHYLm/s400/DSC04993.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">approaching Funafuti by air, one skinny green strip in a vast blue</td></tr>
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<br />
Talofa! Hello!<br />
<br />
Welcome to Tuvalu (Tu-VAH-loo)! Although I didn't initially plan to come to this country when I designed my Watson proposal last year, the evolution of my project made it possible and worthwhile to give Tuvalu a try.<br />
<br />
But why Tuvalu? What am I doing here? Where the heck is it?<br />
<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqHwLui6ukgBOBDPPZbo-atPucex8fjmbyUficUf-FU01k2mvTpyk7mGLTtOk_4HSgVHSW_OPPqWXtBd7s7-VUu46JW8CURT3TRV9sC2JQwFTYHUPgGjQTQo7WB7tbGZr8z5fo6VvVOxl/s1600/DSC05408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqHwLui6ukgBOBDPPZbo-atPucex8fjmbyUficUf-FU01k2mvTpyk7mGLTtOk_4HSgVHSW_OPPqWXtBd7s7-VUu46JW8CURT3TRV9sC2JQwFTYHUPgGjQTQo7WB7tbGZr8z5fo6VvVOxl/s320/DSC05408.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the government building, with new solar power installation</td></tr>
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Tuvalu is a series of atolls and islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The nine clusters of land total about 26 square kilometers sprinkled amid nearly one million square kilometers of open ocean. Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country by population (about 12,000 people), and the second lowest by elevation. The highest point is about four meters above sea level. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIf1rFjQkCCjjiX6iqfYu2qUK8UFpJf98kAGbGzfwQTPtwb-T5b3rrQxWSctmQ_JUNHlxVygqAa9NZuXHG7dL0xFrjs3NqTu5PgOupDPQOlusb3Ef9byNoH1ZKkqbBDUsdru-pluzsa6J/s1600/DSC05410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIf1rFjQkCCjjiX6iqfYu2qUK8UFpJf98kAGbGzfwQTPtwb-T5b3rrQxWSctmQ_JUNHlxVygqAa9NZuXHG7dL0xFrjs3NqTu5PgOupDPQOlusb3Ef9byNoH1ZKkqbBDUsdru-pluzsa6J/s320/DSC05410.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">downtown Funafuti</td></tr>
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Land is precious, and Tuvalu's very existence faces dire threats. Sea level rise, salt water intrusion in the groundwater, coastal erosion, overcrowding, rubbish, cyclones, pressure on fish stocks, lack of nutritious food, lack of economic opportunity...The list goes on. <br />
<br />
There are a lot of reasons why life isn’t easy here. But man is it laid back. There’s a beautiful energy. People are kind. They look out for each other, even for the odd visiting pelangi (pah-LUNG-ee=white person) who needs help finding her rented bicycle that some little kid ‘borrowed.’ <br />
<br />
So, I’m here doing what I’ve been doing all year: trying to learn about how nature conservation and creative writing relate to each other and fit into daily life. The imminent threats to this country make this a particularly fascinating place to study these relationships.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaHQWCPZvrWzfnqN7se2euIRadQyUPrrs30xO2XcsDr1er97bYVoi5kqFgOBeoY-qoqTWk7WXDKQXROrbGvz38BbCsfdPBNx8uP49Rr2iPAvvKs5n3qboGnKb6QMnt7A_wqIiED7G0Y6-0/s1600/DSC05220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaHQWCPZvrWzfnqN7se2euIRadQyUPrrs30xO2XcsDr1er97bYVoi5kqFgOBeoY-qoqTWk7WXDKQXROrbGvz38BbCsfdPBNx8uP49Rr2iPAvvKs5n3qboGnKb6QMnt7A_wqIiED7G0Y6-0/s320/DSC05220.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">arriving at Funafala islet during storm damage <br />
assessment with PM and MPs</td></tr>
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Every atoll/island has a town council, called the Kaupule, that delineates a conservation area where hunting, fishing, collecting, and visitation are restricted. Only Funafuti, the capital, has a conservation area with legally protected status. Other activities play important roles in the workings of conservation here. Some of these include tree plantations of coconut, banana, breadfruit (all important foods), climate change adaptation initiatives, and studies of the surrounding reefs and fish.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmScJpe2978K7KpZU5Pd8fuKyun0HcitzULTeCsBjJlJ13Xr5D9DG_p71BKXsdHB0uAdswF_RL_s4tpHYLzr3HuO3F8icK3Md9O70FDJLLsSOVO3N-y7bh3ZTvdQfWkikJERSx-C68vnAC/s1600/DSC05426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmScJpe2978K7KpZU5Pd8fuKyun0HcitzULTeCsBjJlJ13Xr5D9DG_p71BKXsdHB0uAdswF_RL_s4tpHYLzr3HuO3F8icK3Md9O70FDJLLsSOVO3N-y7bh3ZTvdQfWkikJERSx-C68vnAC/s320/DSC05426.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">traditional dancers at Funafuti's Nukulaelae community <br />
maneapa (meeting hall) performing to <br />
celebrate 150 years of Christianity on Tuvalu</td></tr>
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There isn’t a big history of writing here. I only met one poet. I'm pleased to say I helped Tongi enter an international writing competition themed around the role of tuna in the South Pacific. While creative writing by Tuvaluans seems scarce, there is an abundance of literature on Tuvaluan history and past scientific studies in the jam-packed National Library and Archives and in the University of the South Pacific library. One of the most interesting was a fragile copy of Funafuti or Three Months on a Coral Atoll: An Unscientific Account of a Scientific Expedition from 1899, in which Mrs. Edgeworth David chronicles her life on the island while her husband and team drilled hundreds of feet down into the coral bedrock to prove Darwin's theory of how atolls form. I paid a visit to the remnants of the rusting drill on Fongafale's northern end.<br />
<br />
Singing fills the writing niche. I’ve met a couple songwriters and listened to several choirs. People have told me about the symbolism in the songs, and how the lines imply entire backstories beyond the repetitive lyrics. For example, one song about “the paddles of the men, the paddles of the gods” tells a whole tale of fishermen battling powerful spirits at sea mainly just by singing about their paddles. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8zkBNmaobScrnoBH2EzoIv5LDPvAAxWKchYayUxpWzVWgQxnV6o7oBmcKEsjHQ7mqGLs5sVh69tD0nFtmT8adptw8unKEB_rpL3tk27XV0Umg88Fz8zDgtqtNobpS50zNxT6ScR3Xs0E_/s1600/DSC05366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8zkBNmaobScrnoBH2EzoIv5LDPvAAxWKchYayUxpWzVWgQxnV6o7oBmcKEsjHQ7mqGLs5sVh69tD0nFtmT8adptw8unKEB_rpL3tk27XV0Umg88Fz8zDgtqtNobpS50zNxT6ScR3Xs0E_/s320/DSC05366.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">me performing my poetry at Tefota, in Funafuti</td></tr>
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I’ve been trying to branch out in my own writing as well, and try some multimedia things, and I think I'm growing as an artist. That feels good. I even got to perform a 30 minute poetry reading at the local live music bar: Tefota. I'm not sure how well I was received by the increasingly drunken and inattentive crowd, but I had a helluva time, and am growing to love being behind the microphone. My artistic impulses have kept me relatively sane while I've navigated the challenges of island life. <br />
<br />
Challenges, eh? Since so few tourists come to Tuvalu (we're talking double digits most years), and most pelungi are here representing foreign aid, I was met with a lot of confused looks when I tried to explain myself and my goals as a Watson Fellow. I seemed like an especially odd duck--too unofficial to team up with the Department of Environment or Fisheries, yet too unusual to be completely dismissed. Whether at the libraries or the conservation workers I talked to in the government or the Kaupule, nobody seemed to really know what to do with me. So--I decided to embrace being unofficially affiliated. <br />
<br />
Most of my successes connecting with people here in Tuvalu happened over dinner. Luckily, it isn't hard to meet anyone as there are only four restaurants in town. I learned that just turning up at somebody's office, dinner table, or even by flagging them down when they zip by on their motorbike, opens a lot of subsequent opportunities. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKLp20WGORjbfanYxXSPj2mkPtyX0qUVbVOvehNN9S-w0lwGXeAmvgjirhrGMPFrINMp4h1lD-VW88b-ZCnbQTm1gd_nm2PkHNNW_KskQ5yFrPkzbmNI8QQrfnshC-ZSK38ql4MmxfXBcz/s1600/DSC05030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKLp20WGORjbfanYxXSPj2mkPtyX0qUVbVOvehNN9S-w0lwGXeAmvgjirhrGMPFrINMp4h1lD-VW88b-ZCnbQTm1gd_nm2PkHNNW_KskQ5yFrPkzbmNI8QQrfnshC-ZSK38ql4MmxfXBcz/s320/DSC05030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the Nivaga II that brought me to Vaitupu, <br />
my first voyage on the high seas</td></tr>
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Just a smattering of these happy chance-adventures: <br />
<br />
I got to join the former prime minister and climate change activist/researcher Bikenibeu Paeniu and UN researcher Andrea Milan on a climate change and migration survey on the outer island of Vaitupu.<br />
I joined the current prime minister and several MPs for an assessment of the storm damage of Cyclone Pam on the outer islets of Funafuti, including an afternoon banquet on Funafala islet. <br />
<br />
Through the Kaupule, I visited the Funafuti Conservation Area, and explored the islet forests and reefs on the western end of the lagoon. We motored back across the lagoon in driving rain, which blocked out all visuals of the low-lying lands and brought on the only real sense of cold during my time in Tuvalu. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ZXmpswqAHMOsZxoe6hNKr0gKiiDu_hHgcB4PFMIG8p1zuV6HrOntKDNC2suoyz4ocSksNM6GifMqXd3GFCnTeXkXK2IylFzkCYGzc0RvVJQ0WwXCWRG-oQcA_fon5Kk0kPJiCm9r1eYD/s1600/DSC05428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ZXmpswqAHMOsZxoe6hNKr0gKiiDu_hHgcB4PFMIG8p1zuV6HrOntKDNC2suoyz4ocSksNM6GifMqXd3GFCnTeXkXK2IylFzkCYGzc0RvVJQ0WwXCWRG-oQcA_fon5Kk0kPJiCm9r1eYD/s320/DSC05428.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Bikeni, me, Minister of Cultural Affairs</td></tr>
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I met a marine biologist, fisheries experts, school teachers, singers, dancers, fishermen, a theologian, pastors, chiefs and island elders. </div>
<div>
<br />
And, since it seems fair to mention these encounters too, I've watched many a gecko gobble up ants while upside down, swum in the midst of schooling baitfish, drunk the slightly fizzy water of freshly harvested coconut, and eaten more raw fish than I ever before dared. I know most of those examples are food related, but food is a big part of any given day here. <br />
<br />
I'm certain I will miss this place, and I wonder if I will ever return. Soon, no one may live here if the coming decades bring the predicted effects of climate change on the rising sea level, increased erosion, and further lack of freshwater to the islands. <br />
<br />
The world is changing. So am I. So are you. <br />
<br />
<br />
With love,<br />
Carrie</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8tZs2aM4i2oGNakI9zDmUJBA_YqzQvCS7JwfY09jTYEuoovfdi4jKH3dhn7HAMEB3K3j6NKj2f0vtwuEETtCSTCtxUf9ok8O0V8AkVdDo7iccN1NvRBbKP8l28TzHUCD87Bl90BSU4xJ8/s1600/DSC05241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8tZs2aM4i2oGNakI9zDmUJBA_YqzQvCS7JwfY09jTYEuoovfdi4jKH3dhn7HAMEB3K3j6NKj2f0vtwuEETtCSTCtxUf9ok8O0V8AkVdDo7iccN1NvRBbKP8l28TzHUCD87Bl90BSU4xJ8/s320/DSC05241.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">traditional foods at banquet in Funafala:<br />
clams, raw fish, laulu, breadfruit, coconut apple</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFR5njYfcDfnUxt9cMz2c83eED0m9jE1tYATc2uT842hgt65ysY759WCz5Qz6rKq5fwg2a_nXeSqNVvXnf2CjXgk3WYTRnKnl3oothyIUj4ku9PHjb3IJ-RYe5npQpdjg0i2UMc5CWC7_f/s1600/DSC05296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFR5njYfcDfnUxt9cMz2c83eED0m9jE1tYATc2uT842hgt65ysY759WCz5Qz6rKq5fwg2a_nXeSqNVvXnf2CjXgk3WYTRnKnl3oothyIUj4ku9PHjb3IJ-RYe5npQpdjg0i2UMc5CWC7_f/s320/DSC05296.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the forest of Fualopa islet</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oW5K_4aFlysf_1MrUbEkxOBmt9ILkRDqBEhvL_lgqQ4k-3NlDbADD6MmnG9fIeeS3vvvw8qxlDnXAqEFIiuRfSVjYmzC_zOCmB_rNvK-fcrfT2z9kwVsxbUXV8oJjIefup-1fgF6B8IU/s1600/DSC05055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oW5K_4aFlysf_1MrUbEkxOBmt9ILkRDqBEhvL_lgqQ4k-3NlDbADD6MmnG9fIeeS3vvvw8qxlDnXAqEFIiuRfSVjYmzC_zOCmB_rNvK-fcrfT2z9kwVsxbUXV8oJjIefup-1fgF6B8IU/s320/DSC05055.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">broken corals, shells, and bits of sand on the beaches of Vaitupu</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_3cZL_baNLFdO3hlWdKoxZ1MWFcpc654PIrikD3HdcuuPC-CCyvUGp5g5Lu-mZmJFoPoZ_jusMazC4hYc8lcbmwC7_GDWwtT4KrhTqBs88Z82qTxsVvwG5grrQNxrEKSpZY4RBkmMwdZ/s1600/DSC05231+-+Edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_3cZL_baNLFdO3hlWdKoxZ1MWFcpc654PIrikD3HdcuuPC-CCyvUGp5g5Lu-mZmJFoPoZ_jusMazC4hYc8lcbmwC7_GDWwtT4KrhTqBs88Z82qTxsVvwG5grrQNxrEKSpZY4RBkmMwdZ/s320/DSC05231+-+Edited.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">me with traditional garlands (fous) on Funafala</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6fWgHyk6S9Msi-e4eMz83VtWSWtjW09BBkmIWlHOCVY3Nl5KYHLGbC0Ni_AxHF11n6Q5Ws6ebSWHxPy-dz-FV8_ALP21vKt8RDd4E2fvduFn-ARa8lOflA4XarN341n2_Zqi9_I67Eno/s1600/DSC05151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6fWgHyk6S9Msi-e4eMz83VtWSWtjW09BBkmIWlHOCVY3Nl5KYHLGbC0Ni_AxHF11n6Q5Ws6ebSWHxPy-dz-FV8_ALP21vKt8RDd4E2fvduFn-ARa8lOflA4XarN341n2_Zqi9_I67Eno/s320/DSC05151.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">catamaran at sunset off the jetty of Fongafale</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-16343802249844398422015-03-23T13:14:00.000-04:002015-03-23T13:14:51.353-04:00The Red Centre<br />
Tomorrow I leave Australia (for now)! I spent the last few weeks in the continent's red center in Alice Springs and some of the surrounding national parks. Because I'm a procrastinator and still need to finish packing for the next leg of the journey (Tuvalu!), this post may be less thorough than it oughta be. Hopefully, we can recount these stories another time in person under some equally von blue days and starry nights.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxY_Uz_L-TeMlOwtocA4ksz-XZHSN6q0-TN-sDhQ14gasvUYBZqhPH3x2UXJaG-4-peth9xlNyJ2xfJ3qZI9ytIBvUaEgo0vv8xJXwb_OhrLUvw3pDd4xGC0E18CNGQ9fodDYyTzKXT0JJ/s1600/DSC04846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxY_Uz_L-TeMlOwtocA4ksz-XZHSN6q0-TN-sDhQ14gasvUYBZqhPH3x2UXJaG-4-peth9xlNyJ2xfJ3qZI9ytIBvUaEgo0vv8xJXwb_OhrLUvw3pDd4xGC0E18CNGQ9fodDYyTzKXT0JJ/s1600/DSC04846.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">sunset from Anzac Hill in Alice Springs<br /></td></tr>
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Alice was a pleasant town. It shuts down early in the evening, but that suited me just fine. My hostel, the Alice Lodge Backpacker's, was a friendly, comfortable place. I spent a day at the Reptile Centre, where the excellent staff taught me all about geckos, bearded dragons, and pythons, among others. I even got to hold a two-meter olive python called Jack! It feels weird to be indoors when in Alice, because the desert scenery around it is so encompassing. The sunset view from Anzac Hill is a must, especially if you are feeling sad about being so far from home and the faithful communal voices of the open-air Catholic mass make you seem more of a loner.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXmiaU_NsDadrPNEejkGp4NXwxSDv_7V727-TLFCdPOOra8gos66d7qaHYtyxFUAv2tFLRVRK0jB_70KO-ofRl_vWHoKvpqGNen4tDT58vlw7PKKzsd_8sCsG63Wi-Sqw43-aLEhhQvfM/s1600/DSC04862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAXmiaU_NsDadrPNEejkGp4NXwxSDv_7V727-TLFCdPOOra8gos66d7qaHYtyxFUAv2tFLRVRK0jB_70KO-ofRl_vWHoKvpqGNen4tDT58vlw7PKKzsd_8sCsG63Wi-Sqw43-aLEhhQvfM/s1600/DSC04862.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Ellery Creek Big Hole, after a lovely swim<br /></td></tr>
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How to cure the worst homesickness I've ever felt? Confide in the desert. (Also have a few good cries.) Melbourne-friend-cartoonist-poet Brent flew up to meet me for a road-trip to Uluru. We first headed west, out along the MacDonnell Ranges, camping at Ellery Creek Big Hole. We didn't investigate the Big Hole until the morning, assuming it was maybe a crater or sinkhole or other small depression in the dry but surprisingly biodiverse landscape. Fools, we are! It was an oasis of the highest caliber. I didn't expect for a second that this trip would indulge my Piscean character, and the long morning swim in that frigid canyon pool was the first of many sacred encounters in the land of primary colors.<br />
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It's a looong drive to Uluru. We camped for free at Curtin Springs--a million acre cattle station also famous for making homemade paper. Neat. I made the mistake of tethering Sugar Mama (my tent) to some trees because the ground was too hard to hammer my stakes. The ants who lived in these trees didn't like this! I worry I will have to live ten million ant lives in order to pay my karmic debts for all those I smooshed packing up that morning.<br />
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Long drives in the Outback are good for deep conversation, sing-along music, and admiring the landscape. I still can't get over how actually really Red it is. The color comes from iron in the soil, rocks, dust oxidizing over the last many million years. But it isn't really rust colored. It's RED. Not--cherry red, or fire-engine red, or whatever other types of red there are. This is <i>original red.</i> Bah--the poet in me can't get a grip.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcBVknjW5U4tBhzpgBNfk-vNbcqjldmsqWaXC2c6SGFyxWSWICJQOOgIuaRc0EdsbT7KHF1ykpFfUAy1EVyrAKZGaMtRCXXxRwssVZx9lCXyo_J7VJ83flkPJlIXs__VyLZ1anXC77eBe/s1600/DSC04937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcBVknjW5U4tBhzpgBNfk-vNbcqjldmsqWaXC2c6SGFyxWSWICJQOOgIuaRc0EdsbT7KHF1ykpFfUAy1EVyrAKZGaMtRCXXxRwssVZx9lCXyo_J7VJ83flkPJlIXs__VyLZ1anXC77eBe/s1600/DSC04937.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">sunrise at Uluru<br /></td></tr>
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How to describe Uluru when you see it? The pictures don't do it justice. It is sacred. It holds stories I'm not privy to. I saw it and just looking made me feel like I was learning a secret. We did some hikes around the base, learning from rangers and guides about some of the elements of the Dreamtime and the ancestral Mala beings who made the country, lived on country, are the country, tell the stories of country. Do come here. Don't climb the rock.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmosAjHwDYU2C-Nhjc7HQAOKkRHyLtdEv_Zjeoyilf7b28k80DNMiDe_vrMsXHhnKUlcs5UVUscflyAgiRNQ_Ga1fk_0acMMwFX8d9g_k9GVGhsO11op3_dENG60rONhDoiHbzVCtWw4Rz/s1600/DSC04929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmosAjHwDYU2C-Nhjc7HQAOKkRHyLtdEv_Zjeoyilf7b28k80DNMiDe_vrMsXHhnKUlcs5UVUscflyAgiRNQ_Ga1fk_0acMMwFX8d9g_k9GVGhsO11op3_dENG60rONhDoiHbzVCtWw4Rz/s1600/DSC04929.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Kata Tjuta Valley of the Winds trail<br /></td></tr>
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I enjoyed hiking at Kata Tjuta more than at Uluru. Kata Tjuta (the Olga Mountains) are 36 domes, made of conglomerate sandstone rather than the arkose sandstone of Uluru. To those of you back in Deerfield-- Mt. Sugarloaf is also made of arkose! Whaaat! Our little lump a sugar has some crazy cousins over here. The traditional owners of Kata Tjuta do not share any stories of this sacred men's place as a means to protect the land and the stories. I was slow to understand this, but I think it is an effective means of conservation.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyCoqvyURast3Ci6Ruqmu6mDAoKjcvSD-_oT8rVEliuVcZNAGtFwXbAC-iB-MblRrzO64jH8sv1KsU-_ZCGsr-fsZsse6llWuTmXB88rgy-E-PQ_IFmaMqww1kYuviT9vZuxMPYe93xt-/s1600/DSC04969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyCoqvyURast3Ci6Ruqmu6mDAoKjcvSD-_oT8rVEliuVcZNAGtFwXbAC-iB-MblRrzO64jH8sv1KsU-_ZCGsr-fsZsse6llWuTmXB88rgy-E-PQ_IFmaMqww1kYuviT9vZuxMPYe93xt-/s1600/DSC04969.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">King's Canyon from afar<br /></td></tr>
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On the return to Alice Springs, Brent and I visited King's Canyon in Watarrka National Park. The weather was heating back up to 43 degrees Celsius (about 109 F), but we explored the shady sanctuary of King's Creek. It was a good place for writing.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhby_uuSljNYmcO5rc0crLH9IKv51lKvWLkbj5sO_Jt_VC7dRKFksbslnPOHn2wC37BVbadqJi6QD5bh1IJmiGKrQqxRPqEupIf0PbnRgrfbw_4PSN5xInhAgAkGAsvYj5xwJlJ8TUGAdSA/s1600/DSC04806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhby_uuSljNYmcO5rc0crLH9IKv51lKvWLkbj5sO_Jt_VC7dRKFksbslnPOHn2wC37BVbadqJi6QD5bh1IJmiGKrQqxRPqEupIf0PbnRgrfbw_4PSN5xInhAgAkGAsvYj5xwJlJ8TUGAdSA/s1600/DSC04806.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The 'mighty' Todd River, Alice Springs (usually dry)<br /></td></tr>
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As we made the long haul back to the town (about a 5-6 hour drive from King's Canyon), the first clouds I'd seen since arriving in Alice rolled up from the south. The sunset that night was no longer the simple gradient of navy to tangerine; splashes of gold and purple and silver joined in around the clouds. They say if you see the Mighty Todd River flow three times, you'll never leave Alice Springs. I liked this place, but I wasn't ready to stay, and I flew out before the clouds could gather thick enough to bring rain to that parched riverbed.<br />
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The storms caught up to me here in Brisbane. Hopefully they'll take it easy when I get to Tuvalu. That place has seen enough storm for a while.<br />
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I will have extremely limited internet access in the next two months. Send your good vibes out to sea. I'll collect them twice daily on the tide.<br />
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Love always,<br />
Carrie<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgWWFzcn2y_xQQ4ylLoCVRecs-V3xFvBlJhgi23hvDJVeXKb_mXt82pJuDNY0hGG6iXJeAkE0MN08g6IWrjj_LJMA-uYt9Q3yibIvXfUgAb-knDPcGRIROBkbek8GLUx6ZJEwPFXyPaPY/s1600/DSC04889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgWWFzcn2y_xQQ4ylLoCVRecs-V3xFvBlJhgi23hvDJVeXKb_mXt82pJuDNY0hGG6iXJeAkE0MN08g6IWrjj_LJMA-uYt9Q3yibIvXfUgAb-knDPcGRIROBkbek8GLUx6ZJEwPFXyPaPY/s1600/DSC04889.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OH MAN THE FLIES (this is an unintentional Australian salute picture)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_VFlkJxsFZJXM1jepYX0TRPUvY5XLtWDtIpUpEfioX6mbcpwWxJ_xr2Jp1yPFRt3qu2Kz2HgYOu8RUUYqgdyYgUV7O5TwXXeWp3CurQ7dSHmF_0T-me1rojyjVC77wFTRROjjfJQM4gy/s1600/DSC04908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_VFlkJxsFZJXM1jepYX0TRPUvY5XLtWDtIpUpEfioX6mbcpwWxJ_xr2Jp1yPFRt3qu2Kz2HgYOu8RUUYqgdyYgUV7O5TwXXeWp3CurQ7dSHmF_0T-me1rojyjVC77wFTRROjjfJQM4gy/s1600/DSC04908.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kata Tjuta Valley of the Winds trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiR2ZbmgcpXPAK2vDn5kkUBAf8CXLg6nNtvOhQrh3W-hnzAUbIlXspxgdt_-MasrD3dtQDeGzD_yagybQIQHUUM1wenfw18wqZhbn7GvQ9DsV5tpTO1y0Il73yJHbTWglDlTvaR7fMjX7/s1600/DSC04928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiR2ZbmgcpXPAK2vDn5kkUBAf8CXLg6nNtvOhQrh3W-hnzAUbIlXspxgdt_-MasrD3dtQDeGzD_yagybQIQHUUM1wenfw18wqZhbn7GvQ9DsV5tpTO1y0Il73yJHbTWglDlTvaR7fMjX7/s1600/DSC04928.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">feathery flowers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHYaWek5_jhOhhMJs__dpWHdHYdMrugp6IxWanQP09GgocZ39NLMOEixGOFFvzFTYiXILogUHkkYSksB7utXXYaWf5E4MeMEVaSGytpP7jq53PDt1qkaAhbimTc_l0frBn3aZyjHEvVMh/s1600/DSC04957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHYaWek5_jhOhhMJs__dpWHdHYdMrugp6IxWanQP09GgocZ39NLMOEixGOFFvzFTYiXILogUHkkYSksB7utXXYaWf5E4MeMEVaSGytpP7jq53PDt1qkaAhbimTc_l0frBn3aZyjHEvVMh/s1600/DSC04957.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">waterhole at the base of Uluru, along Mala trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELkK2pl0hk-ZtUYFBSkzpsbA-BHNgU0KaFD5snaNQakyCmWMAzFpRtWbtbC9pDcUrmwiBE7iM1xajVApvU4YeZdVH0Y2ShIF3pikG-mL1gIQurk0if_kc97_YBnf68E-RXaAIXj-7YmVi/s1600/DSC04820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELkK2pl0hk-ZtUYFBSkzpsbA-BHNgU0KaFD5snaNQakyCmWMAzFpRtWbtbC9pDcUrmwiBE7iM1xajVApvU4YeZdVH0Y2ShIF3pikG-mL1gIQurk0if_kc97_YBnf68E-RXaAIXj-7YmVi/s1600/DSC04820.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">me and Jack, the olive python at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre<br /></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-56203337431689169882015-03-10T04:39:00.002-04:002015-03-10T04:41:30.938-04:00Australia's Top End<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZUIVK0R6zz4vLcg3LP7UReKE1XgxhV6TND2rnDIirDEkOgMCgAmzT_VrJ-OY4XKRQiHsH-57E1J5Lg6yGFWSMx23xZDkOPabVSLyFdzTcieTcrt9QZkCwYqo1zflHoqNm1VwwpxKnZqq/s1600/DSC04510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZUIVK0R6zz4vLcg3LP7UReKE1XgxhV6TND2rnDIirDEkOgMCgAmzT_VrJ-OY4XKRQiHsH-57E1J5Lg6yGFWSMx23xZDkOPabVSLyFdzTcieTcrt9QZkCwYqo1zflHoqNm1VwwpxKnZqq/s1600/DSC04510.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Darwin harbor and city</td></tr>
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Sometimes, the generosity of strangers blows me away. Rarely has this been truer for me than here in Australia's Top End. I lived just outside Darwin with nature writer Kaye Aldenhoven, meeting many artists and landscapes with her help. It’s hot here! And rainy! Darwin is the lightning capital of the world. So far I’ve survived a cyclone (it passed mostly to the east of us) and near-daily thunderstorms. They are welcome in my mind since they break the humidity and tropical heat, keeping the world green and lush for the Wet. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7i7LKbXbP2HqX3kQynCK1gh6ghR3J2AgjZ59Ot8usq46GORurRlB81TSH0LKCjc3vCgSgqjNnk_YGt-1KDPE2JbUCgrXcLGOzOBEZ1BLwldCLGAF8v285NJDMzIUXhoVi33me8wwwsgh/s1600/DSC04601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil7i7LKbXbP2HqX3kQynCK1gh6ghR3J2AgjZ59Ot8usq46GORurRlB81TSH0LKCjc3vCgSgqjNnk_YGt-1KDPE2JbUCgrXcLGOzOBEZ1BLwldCLGAF8v285NJDMzIUXhoVi33me8wwwsgh/s1600/DSC04601.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Crocodile Dreaming painting at Territory Wildlife Park</td></tr>
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Together, Kaye and I attended the Emerald Springs Writers’ Retreat. I held a workshop for the class of 14 writers (most of whom are well-established professional writers) on nature writing. We talked about methods for focusing the work on the natural world, and not the direct human experience of it, but never could quite agree on how to do this.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz62LFwj6_kBshlskg9PvYO895tditrQolMW1FYP_gnqUk0dQ7dzXMxo2mlluVtB0cDE-r3kUZQlWd7Mk4qJCm-1YkFkxyjVOeYeur-QM_gfFxHATix84MeqHx6CBMCHkm7NVH6jSq3AvR/s1600/DSC04708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz62LFwj6_kBshlskg9PvYO895tditrQolMW1FYP_gnqUk0dQ7dzXMxo2mlluVtB0cDE-r3kUZQlWd7Mk4qJCm-1YkFkxyjVOeYeur-QM_gfFxHATix84MeqHx6CBMCHkm7NVH6jSq3AvR/s1600/DSC04708.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">cheeky Sulfur Crested Cockatoo</td></tr>
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But, the more pressing question is, is it worthwhile? I hold that it is. For practice, we did a few exercises using objects from indoors and outdoors as prompts, graphed concepts of different spectrums in the environment (i.e. temperature, color, light, size), and plunked ourselves in the buggy, sticky, sweaty outside to Write in Place. Overall, the workshop was a great experience!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8rZxWT8R0v84tgbpRaKq0cRYuyUyQbwlBL95oSXlMVkjrw6eCiBQNVW3ytlvQw1hIt8lbZdInJx3R0tMXPypm5S0QqfR1VQ9NMriq2DEAZXFuEUvtVt-oWKNicNzAlJj1PgOOYG29BpQ/s1600/DSC04554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8rZxWT8R0v84tgbpRaKq0cRYuyUyQbwlBL95oSXlMVkjrw6eCiBQNVW3ytlvQw1hIt8lbZdInJx3R0tMXPypm5S0QqfR1VQ9NMriq2DEAZXFuEUvtVt-oWKNicNzAlJj1PgOOYG29BpQ/s1600/DSC04554.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Katherine River Gorge</td></tr>
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Some of the writers at the workshop were from Katherine. Sharon, a writer/ex-park-ranger drove me the few-hundred-kms south to spend a few days in her town. Katherine was my first real taste of The Outback. Sharon filled the drive with tales all about the sandstone escarpment of Arnhem Land and Katherine Gorge, the black soils around the low-oxygen freshwater sulfur springs, and the last remaining stand of cycads in the region (unusual plants that shared the world with dinosaurs, back when Australia was part of Gondwanaland). <br />
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I stayed with Toni Tapp-Coutts, a friendly and vibrant writer whose upcoming memoir shares her story growing up on one of Australia’s most famous cattle stations. Much birding, bicycling, swimming, and hiking was accomplished! And a bit of writing too. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WkTL6PhjZ5QYNoOdt5FDgrT9DPUALcxPj0Vm1k7k5wm0SZZyY46pI39lchfhi7FaZU-Bn8IqEy45cY5A_3nGs2ZhfbbGwl3wgFlw0bWBN1sGP5cvBz0Q3BJJajLP9O_GmXx-9VVPJBxr/s1600/DSC04615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WkTL6PhjZ5QYNoOdt5FDgrT9DPUALcxPj0Vm1k7k5wm0SZZyY46pI39lchfhi7FaZU-Bn8IqEy45cY5A_3nGs2ZhfbbGwl3wgFlw0bWBN1sGP5cvBz0Q3BJJajLP9O_GmXx-9VVPJBxr/s1600/DSC04615.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">on the Arnhem Highway to Kakadu!</td></tr>
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Back up north in Palmerston and Darwin, I joined Kaye on “writing dates” with other writers around town. We took turns suggesting prompts, and wrote whatever came to mind for 10-15 minutes, then share. It’s a strategy I’ll definitely continue. Having the company and dedication and intimacy are great motivators. I also performed at a show called Wild Words, sharing a few of my recent poems.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6xURohV0tDfKU93_X7R3mymM2tNgchyN9eTQ4Mo9V86I3-qpCbw8SlKM0ELIYwPcNNuYQnzJl_J3Erfs1phSwMZoyenRixwnTGn0tEdhltCNICbqHltJBfx02cEkQB-_qEu3A3HBwiJl/s1600/DSC04755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6xURohV0tDfKU93_X7R3mymM2tNgchyN9eTQ4Mo9V86I3-qpCbw8SlKM0ELIYwPcNNuYQnzJl_J3Erfs1phSwMZoyenRixwnTGn0tEdhltCNICbqHltJBfx02cEkQB-_qEu3A3HBwiJl/s1600/DSC04755.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">view from Ubirr</td></tr>
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Most recently, I took myself camping in Kakadu National Park. I’ve been dreaming of seeing this UNESCO World Heritage site for a long time. I was one of the few visitors to come in the Wet. Much of the park is inaccessable at this time. The roads literally go meters underwater, linking the many billabongs throughout the wetlands. Some sites remain open. I stayed at <a href="http://www.kakadu.net.au/">Anbinik</a>, a fantastic camp/caravan park in Jabiru. Jabiru is a small town inside the park, very near to the Ranger Uranium Mine. It’s the hub of the many outstations where many Aboriginal people live, consisting of a few small neighborhoods, a gas station, library, school, grocery store, bakery, Kakadu Lodge, crocodile-shaped Crocodile Hotel and that’s it. The next town is about 200km away. I was delighted to be so remote. <br />
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I loosed Sugar Mama from her overlong storage in the tent stuff-sack and lived fairly dryly throughout the daily storms. Kaye lent me her car, making transport very easy. And luckily, the one CD left in the car was the perfect soundtrack! (No radio stations.) <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLXVLxopHpHmVjMCqE0bHtMirysAXFnxF13AWGLt8hAvZXFz1vUINhN8nIYuj5xTfPlm7pOUZa_Dxs7AwiChsZDoiqGIaXpJm53hohZ5L6QV34Cnm4TPXTcVlGm2V9J2zJVU4ghRI1eu-/s1600/DSC04729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLXVLxopHpHmVjMCqE0bHtMirysAXFnxF13AWGLt8hAvZXFz1vUINhN8nIYuj5xTfPlm7pOUZa_Dxs7AwiChsZDoiqGIaXpJm53hohZ5L6QV34Cnm4TPXTcVlGm2V9J2zJVU4ghRI1eu-/s1600/DSC04729.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Mimi Spirits rock art at Nangawulurr</td></tr>
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I spent most of my time in Kakadu around Nourlangie and Ubirr. I took a tour with Guluyambi Tours to see Ubirr. Self-drive access to Ubirr is completely flooded out this time of year. Roman steered our group through the Marenga creek wetland and billabong. He taught us the many uses of paperbark trees, the crunchy-sweet taste of water lily stalks, the dangers of crocodiles, and the incredible hunting capabilities of sea-eagles. Doug guided us through the rock art galleries at Ubirr, though he did so with annoying condescension: “the paintings depict lessons--they didn’t really happen.” I didn't like the condescension. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHsdfB_E4wvRuljpX6rca-OMzXjSiNr6YjQiw3HtFjo9_pO-uE5atUcQ73fg4uL041Qq8cUy9TjP8V5NMiadPPwuIXiGCKkkD9RoUIGozgxWTixLoZ5wdyy4AzGoa6tFnz_zZMp3KZVq2/s1600/DSC04627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHsdfB_E4wvRuljpX6rca-OMzXjSiNr6YjQiw3HtFjo9_pO-uE5atUcQ73fg4uL041Qq8cUy9TjP8V5NMiadPPwuIXiGCKkkD9RoUIGozgxWTixLoZ5wdyy4AzGoa6tFnz_zZMp3KZVq2/s1600/DSC04627.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Barramundi fish rock art at Nangawulurr</td></tr>
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The rock art was incredible, and a wealth of stories. It was magical to imagine the painters of 20,000+ years ago reaching the vaulted overhanging ceilings of the rock galleries. It might've been sorcery? Some paintings are said to be living Mimi spirits, who upon teaching the first painters, leapt onto the rock surface themselves to become art. <br />
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Despite my disappointment in our very blokey guide, the sites were a feast for the artist and scientist and story-lover in me. Especially at Nourlangie, I struggled to spend enough time gazing at the rock art or the three hundred sixty degree views of the Dreaming. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj8hTk3H4W5V_P727K1OxJg1eRx-7wmcw9nJyl_jOKo6RLItn3JgUxIrKg4XzfTGWA3SMXCrFfB545sBOWxMVDcpx_FwV1B-p9WBctd-U4GjiGaRbwct1oZGlCVQsYKKap9GEsbl5zaSTT/s1600/DSC04693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj8hTk3H4W5V_P727K1OxJg1eRx-7wmcw9nJyl_jOKo6RLItn3JgUxIrKg4XzfTGWA3SMXCrFfB545sBOWxMVDcpx_FwV1B-p9WBctd-U4GjiGaRbwct1oZGlCVQsYKKap9GEsbl5zaSTT/s1600/DSC04693.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Lightning Dreaming view in Kakadu National Park</td></tr>
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The Stone Country filled the horizon. It is home of Dreaming figures like Namarrgon, the Lightning Man. This land is full of dangerous places and figures whose disturbance could bring calamity. In the middle distance, encompassing the view are the monsoon forests and billabongs, blending water and land. In the foreground: probably flies. You get used to them crawling all over you and learn the futility of swatting them away. All things combined to make you appreciate your smallness. <br />
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Wishing you many small moments of wonder,<br />
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Carrie<br />
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P.S. More soon from Alice Springs!<br />
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P.P.S. More photos below:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2ISZtZZAJwtAl5EDOa_-k_m4B242et-1uhjW6GXPadAOWKhI7n5DltndqHzNzalhytbKWbDW23eihilQFPcesbcd3tnwtq1kHTFJ9_iWpSRRVJZOGpYgxvmR_ff_w3gtva6HYQMxjTVe/s1600/DSC04557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit2ISZtZZAJwtAl5EDOa_-k_m4B242et-1uhjW6GXPadAOWKhI7n5DltndqHzNzalhytbKWbDW23eihilQFPcesbcd3tnwtq1kHTFJ9_iWpSRRVJZOGpYgxvmR_ff_w3gtva6HYQMxjTVe/s1600/DSC04557.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">swimming hole at Matarenka Springs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcGXv7eAnIjMSZvExQOubYKVbBdpeM4YxgVPpBjyKdjRspPrWv8PgQBGOz95Re9aVm90kE0MwGYOnfXmNGhejYGuFtp_acRApNSc8R4uvG2yryqCZTOJLcBXQNu7lw6WX0CPUAU41WreB/s1600/DSC04570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcGXv7eAnIjMSZvExQOubYKVbBdpeM4YxgVPpBjyKdjRspPrWv8PgQBGOz95Re9aVm90kE0MwGYOnfXmNGhejYGuFtp_acRApNSc8R4uvG2yryqCZTOJLcBXQNu7lw6WX0CPUAU41WreB/s1600/DSC04570.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Tree Frog sexy time</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwft-9I2AWji7s8h75v5DGYKkaHA6DMF5ctVeucd28hcIENlIlNwsc3OfcHMNvYi4NhmN7U8UQau47ToBMsdLQGGAryvo5-UmxYpambdMOfTJ4G-STfW0SRShDONW3Dik-f91AcsxtDNRp/s1600/DSC04580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwft-9I2AWji7s8h75v5DGYKkaHA6DMF5ctVeucd28hcIENlIlNwsc3OfcHMNvYi4NhmN7U8UQau47ToBMsdLQGGAryvo5-UmxYpambdMOfTJ4G-STfW0SRShDONW3Dik-f91AcsxtDNRp/s1600/DSC04580.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mudracing outside Darwin, a great friday night activity</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Wti5NVaiMzSqEt4bP8b9EpupC1UyF8xWp6UttMsnf_nLM71beEA4eDJBuunV8o7dMAzhz11vUu1B7WrUK1mOzoila9iOoo6TE6qqbXBKi-cPPUq3VZvLrVMPvDgsoTrr_pOW65ONoEnB/s1600/DSC04579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Wti5NVaiMzSqEt4bP8b9EpupC1UyF8xWp6UttMsnf_nLM71beEA4eDJBuunV8o7dMAzhz11vUu1B7WrUK1mOzoila9iOoo6TE6qqbXBKi-cPPUq3VZvLrVMPvDgsoTrr_pOW65ONoEnB/s1600/DSC04579.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Gong xi fa cai! Chinese New Year in Darwin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_BL7ZcDAodbhHLnr9B5l2ol-4Vd_2ITLKIT_2MIU1bH1gF6DSYvyPEhAuJe3jRAJPZPlkySGp3iFi4wpHhnCKpAa_T_TrHw5IEQXYgZQAhyphenhyphent3aL1lrkI1QuFh7XyWS8FBYd4_zyZE1aE/s1600/DSC04585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_BL7ZcDAodbhHLnr9B5l2ol-4Vd_2ITLKIT_2MIU1bH1gF6DSYvyPEhAuJe3jRAJPZPlkySGp3iFi4wpHhnCKpAa_T_TrHw5IEQXYgZQAhyphenhyphent3aL1lrkI1QuFh7XyWS8FBYd4_zyZE1aE/s1600/DSC04585.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">freshwater Whipray feeding at Territory Wildlife Park </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizS8JsjqUTXJ1K9-ohVf3krZXEA3on_Wwl1ajELFbaCyg2BU7yNn8y66pI6xyluDI-FxXLjpzx4IEkVyjCCc26HBUk3-wwe-tK7DCRGsh_fygr3FRJL9a8VI7_adpKu-Vqn9bC1wggGrsR/s1600/DSC04673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizS8JsjqUTXJ1K9-ohVf3krZXEA3on_Wwl1ajELFbaCyg2BU7yNn8y66pI6xyluDI-FxXLjpzx4IEkVyjCCc26HBUk3-wwe-tK7DCRGsh_fygr3FRJL9a8VI7_adpKu-Vqn9bC1wggGrsR/s1600/DSC04673.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rock art at Burrunggui, Anbangbang gallery</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHfdHRpOYiRyEDb0BzzPaITrdxgn5Fu3vCqptN17c68EijZKo2pZu4yxDwnCVd_nmRwBzQqvWybzs2xhfaDaf-lT3qATTvj2SYWX6Tnddv4M8OaQgo8rUBqrOYYyP0iBifZphnWn-ioHO/s1600/DSC04679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHfdHRpOYiRyEDb0BzzPaITrdxgn5Fu3vCqptN17c68EijZKo2pZu4yxDwnCVd_nmRwBzQqvWybzs2xhfaDaf-lT3qATTvj2SYWX6Tnddv4M8OaQgo8rUBqrOYYyP0iBifZphnWn-ioHO/s1600/DSC04679.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rock art at Burrunggui, Anbangbang gallery</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi015SF65oRER8bPxjvtLO1FJSnfzL-vElxKuAGS8Tv_fpB0Z5G_MaYdJL8XZORpTJoqAd6DkPr9UOQx6e7iXhwCYW12vkAfabHbC_b-v9OKDNWUkZzY6iTGVSITRvhmqCWQOpKRH-zd6hV/s1600/DSC04698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi015SF65oRER8bPxjvtLO1FJSnfzL-vElxKuAGS8Tv_fpB0Z5G_MaYdJL8XZORpTJoqAd6DkPr9UOQx6e7iXhwCYW12vkAfabHbC_b-v9OKDNWUkZzY6iTGVSITRvhmqCWQOpKRH-zd6hV/s1600/DSC04698.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">zoom in on Lightning Dreaming site in Kakadu National Park </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQieRR3uOL6HCpb_JGpK_YKZlL99bEHjak7vMJ5AgnE5ztoOBVkAbwLn7bac4BvyOm9swSW2eeKHZ6BgHd5pb8OUUhrcawCeMg5ok8tQoVc9NlPq8clQALjFLzctKlrRew97ZVhfFKhOS/s1600/DSC04776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQieRR3uOL6HCpb_JGpK_YKZlL99bEHjak7vMJ5AgnE5ztoOBVkAbwLn7bac4BvyOm9swSW2eeKHZ6BgHd5pb8OUUhrcawCeMg5ok8tQoVc9NlPq8clQALjFLzctKlrRew97ZVhfFKhOS/s1600/DSC04776.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">weathered Rainbow Serpent rock art at Ubirr</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYut4PIklx-LNrU3wuaY-I_pws1sfmyfunLmLmHhnAaSeim2XA7Di5xUxM5zmdcYwSjOJl46-O93_R3QPMdvpZHN4ZdEmpVyZvGz7Z4KbD1ylNHk4qdMM9s1N-qVzlqVsp7FSUhWWPHVbQ/s1600/DSC04783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYut4PIklx-LNrU3wuaY-I_pws1sfmyfunLmLmHhnAaSeim2XA7Di5xUxM5zmdcYwSjOJl46-O93_R3QPMdvpZHN4ZdEmpVyZvGz7Z4KbD1ylNHk4qdMM9s1N-qVzlqVsp7FSUhWWPHVbQ/s1600/DSC04783.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea Eagle in Kakadu National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yo1mydpHmK9uwhdMfy4F1kN2vWDtQhhDnRUpY1MrXVwdnHDfUusJfewVjX_uR41oFTJSyFwt4LJ1yzyIv5r0ZuQDcMOC8aV3W3O2-Q2b_rld35ekIXv2XwkRK5auScE8XZA2zmGzSDis/s1600/DSC04793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yo1mydpHmK9uwhdMfy4F1kN2vWDtQhhDnRUpY1MrXVwdnHDfUusJfewVjX_uR41oFTJSyFwt4LJ1yzyIv5r0ZuQDcMOC8aV3W3O2-Q2b_rld35ekIXv2XwkRK5auScE8XZA2zmGzSDis/s1600/DSC04793.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Darwin wharf by night</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-12123942281860124152015-02-21T01:19:00.002-05:002015-02-21T01:19:29.594-05:00Melbourne<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfgLgJ_YA4CmVJf2OUfnAruvYWNhK4iMR2gyekKMQ8_C1X8jYCdVauMNiwT-5Pw8OJrg1Ik5wN1kp4WC-QV2hp7gE6blmikx6kytrMiJc48lL_RhqYhg46oAIzlrWA3Pb6CvYFS5cHRBQ/s1600/DSC04444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfgLgJ_YA4CmVJf2OUfnAruvYWNhK4iMR2gyekKMQ8_C1X8jYCdVauMNiwT-5Pw8OJrg1Ik5wN1kp4WC-QV2hp7gE6blmikx6kytrMiJc48lL_RhqYhg46oAIzlrWA3Pb6CvYFS5cHRBQ/s1600/DSC04444.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Melbourne CBD</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first days back on my own in Melbourne were hard. I stayed in a mediocre hostel, and realized that the giant, impersonal, come-and-go atmosphere of the place were bogging me down. I wandered the city for hours, ate many helpings of dumplings in Chinatown, and spent a lot of time browsing the shelves of the State Library of Victoria’s beautiful La Trobe Reading Room. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDEZ_BE2f6B-CsdjLEGgktTmBDZkAYyFOIOQQtNt0myE0K5Y5Yu_M5ug2C6diQ76olMs4us-4mhFo82OwQnR2e-lUsHbLfw8Y2mvsWQzgHgDz7SMcPY-Rk8eBCJfPGRvEn-gbqIecwnAm/s1600/DSC04482+-+Edited.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDDEZ_BE2f6B-CsdjLEGgktTmBDZkAYyFOIOQQtNt0myE0K5Y5Yu_M5ug2C6diQ76olMs4us-4mhFo82OwQnR2e-lUsHbLfw8Y2mvsWQzgHgDz7SMcPY-Rk8eBCJfPGRvEn-gbqIecwnAm/s1600/DSC04482+-+Edited.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">reading poetry at The Dan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the highlights of those first few days reestablishing my bearings in an urban setting was the Saturday afternoon open mic poetry readings </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with the <a href="http://melbournespokenword.com/" target="_blank">M</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://melbournespokenword.com/" target="_blank">elbourne Spoken Word</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">group at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.thedan.com.au/" target="_blank">The Dan </a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O’Connell Hotel. The eclectic but talented group of regular readers welcomed me to perform, and I’m so glad I did. I definitely need more practice behind the microphone, but </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was encouraged to return the next week, and I did!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By that time, I had wised up and changed hostels, moving out of the CBD (central business district) into the neighborhood of Fitzroy to stay at the charming </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.nunnery.com.au/" target="_blank">Nunnery Hostel and Guesthouse</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I totally recommend this place. It is right across from the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/" target="_blank">Melbourne Museum</a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the Carlton Gardens, and only a few minutes from the entirely free tram network around CBD. I spent a whole day in the Melbourne Museum--it’s got great exhibits on evolution, an outdoor forest gallery, a whole room on bugs (many alive and on the move!), and Bunjilyaka, an impressive storytelling/art display on Aboriginal life in the area historically and presently.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was able to connect with the director of the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.australianpoetry.org/" target="_blank">Australian Poetry Journal</a>, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">who invited me to attend the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards ceremony. I got to drink and schmooz with the literary elite of Melbourne at this hilarious presentation of awards to five of the twenty-one shortlisted authors on the back gardens of Parliament. Upon arrival and halfway through, I found myself needing to wander away from the crowd to have a laugh at how awesome these surprising opportunities feel. (I had the same reaction to discovering my room at a guesthouse in Botswana had a bathtub---a particularly special luxury after camping at the rhino sanctuary for weeks.)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiKdW-7FtEE3lRS5yhAYv6QzqSetXvHWFmCPfmilgLhLD_wq7ZEK1FiOKwtUeb1UdJovhq52hOT9Ii062abBPwfxY4n5vWtrgs7f_POl5PKWtT2wVHG2ZRIgj3tI381X5jjwY36yXfed9/s1600/Brent--5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiKdW-7FtEE3lRS5yhAYv6QzqSetXvHWFmCPfmilgLhLD_wq7ZEK1FiOKwtUeb1UdJovhq52hOT9Ii062abBPwfxY4n5vWtrgs7f_POl5PKWtT2wVHG2ZRIgj3tI381X5jjwY36yXfed9/s1600/Brent--5.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Poets and friends: John McKelvie, me, Brent Harpur<br />photo by Jenny Hodge<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neat-o events like the Premier’s Awards aside, I really owe the folks at The Dan for making me love Melbourne. After my second time performing, I got to talking with some of the other poets, particularly <a href="http://www.brentharpurart.com/" target="_blank">Brent Harpur </a>and John McKelvie. I became instant friends wit</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">h</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Brent,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a skilled poet more known for his cartoons and his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://scatterjoythefilm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">recent documentary</a>.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I spent nearly every day with Brent in my final week in this UNESCO City of Literature. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He introduced me to several of his artist friends, showed me some great hole-in-the-wall restaurants, pointed out much of Melbourne’s amazing street art (Brent’s knack for noticing great art--on the walls of buildings, in sculpture gardens, in random sidewalk sunflowers--is extra impressive given the fact that he is legally blind.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of our best ventures was to the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/william-ricketts-sanctuary-gardens-of-the-dandenongs" target="_blank">William Rickett’s Sanctuary</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the Dandenongs, outside Melbourne. Hundreds of miniature-to-lifesize clay sculptures of the artist, Australian wildlife, and Aboriginal people fill several acres of the eucalypt forest. Some have criticized the artwork because Ricketts depicted the desert people he lived with for many years in this forest setting, but I was deeply moved by the fusion of human, natural, and artistic forces in the sanctuary. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">sculpture in William Ricketts Sanctuary</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCL6hggGkNl_TQ4vZJ3ia8s6yZNk2V7EVs_CA3nW2pcWvzD_JHolDip7AeGjqazMqeXil__JmUbuZgwxalk1ywXf_NZih5S346AP2s6nCva6ch_Ji-V33sbsCRZGSuO54TgZcOsv8Vb5M-/s1600/DSC04453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCL6hggGkNl_TQ4vZJ3ia8s6yZNk2V7EVs_CA3nW2pcWvzD_JHolDip7AeGjqazMqeXil__JmUbuZgwxalk1ywXf_NZih5S346AP2s6nCva6ch_Ji-V33sbsCRZGSuO54TgZcOsv8Vb5M-/s1600/DSC04453.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">sculpture in William Ricketts Sanctuary</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I left Melbourne February 10th and flew to Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory. More on my adventures here in the Top End and the Territory in future posts!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carrie</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-48444450150627129132015-01-20T00:34:00.002-05:002015-01-20T00:53:00.598-05:00Great Ocean Road<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">views along the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia</td></tr>
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When I got to Australia, I met up with my dear friend David. Our times in Australia overlapped, so we decided to rent a car and spend a few weeks on the road touring Victoria. We began in Melbourne, picked up our car (with roof tent) from <a href="http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/campervan-hire/victoria/melbourne.html" target="_blank">Wicked Rentals</a> and set forth toward the coast. The first thing we learned was "stay sexy--stay left." We were not the quickest learners but we never hit anything! The second thing was to teach me how to drive standard transmission. Let's just say we were better at staying left than I was at mastering manual driving, but hey--I'll get better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jC4QQhPnJFQ2Us6BvuqxIFTP-HTCVaMDJzaSvviTDZbfKqtRqbn40M0pKHe10IEDggFVy8yVijo0Ed4fp76PjvgAc6oxw8W_pfOR4c_gHOhCXBVfHbJPb19ke7C_3UzlK2m7RocF7hnI/s1600/DSC04323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jC4QQhPnJFQ2Us6BvuqxIFTP-HTCVaMDJzaSvviTDZbfKqtRqbn40M0pKHe10IEDggFVy8yVijo0Ed4fp76PjvgAc6oxw8W_pfOR4c_gHOhCXBVfHbJPb19ke7C_3UzlK2m7RocF7hnI/s1600/DSC04323.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">some of the Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road</td></tr>
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We detoured from the true start of the Great Ocean Road by first driving along the Bellarine Peninsula. From Torquay we picked up the classic route and traveled on past Anglesea. The coastline along the Southern Ocean features spectacular sheer limestone and basalt cliffs, the occasional sandy beach, and a smattering of coastal towns and villages. It makes for beautiful driving. It's summertime (albeit a chillier one than usual) here in Australia and the Great Ocean Road was the place to BE.<br />
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Nonetheless, it was never very crowded and we figured--ehh we'll just stop into some caravan park or campground, no planning ahead necessary. This was wrong. It was New Year's Eve. Everywhere was booked. We didn't worry though (every Aussie we'd met told us "no worries"), and we always found a safe place to sleep.<br />
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Some of these places were National Parks. Some places were State Parks. Some places were Recreation Parks. Some places were Cemeteries. Ok--many of the places were cemeteries. This turned out to be a pretty good idea of ours. Lots of privacy. Nice (or spooky) epitaphs to read. Good story-making with various discoveries of very large spiders, sheep employed as groundskeepers/lawnmowers, beautiful (and not too macabre) sunsets.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwl93wvf6ihJGVm4KhJExjx9EaR0LtcMCzk9YDKVQbBBR7Btly3qXU_0Wk-NueI-0bgq7V4xb20a_mouBuY2B6Kv7SF3b2ePcTs3UQVsUVt_d6R_xkHqkVc0cFJhhWZREC-1h7nGUAjjq/s1600/DSC04414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwl93wvf6ihJGVm4KhJExjx9EaR0LtcMCzk9YDKVQbBBR7Btly3qXU_0Wk-NueI-0bgq7V4xb20a_mouBuY2B6Kv7SF3b2ePcTs3UQVsUVt_d6R_xkHqkVc0cFJhhWZREC-1h7nGUAjjq/s1600/DSC04414.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rock art of Bunjil, a creator spirit, in Gariwerd</td></tr>
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No matter where we stayed during our nights, our days were delightful. Being on a careful budget, we were very pleased with the range of things to do free or cheaply. Much time was had exploring the beaches and tide pools, visiting museums, perusing bookstores and op-shops, driving/walking in the bush. In Bendigo (once the world's greatest gold town) I had my introduction to Bush Poetry, the tradition of balladeers singing or reciting rhymes about life on the frontier, wrangling horses, hunting outlaws... I've also started reading everything I can about Aboriginal folklore, thanks to my start learning about this and visiting the rock art in Grampians Nat'l Park (Gariwerd).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGCPanqiE2mjooP1cFB_20z8vSYIau8TKPlVYoiFK-V2pqtNt3zqc4pSZap1zmnBZ7nlDS16L_KCH7gq7fNaz9qY4-TkWygY-wFfo0YtLO5i5FUjjxiyWfIvUDdjiYrI12_d4PeWH9DFf/s1600/DSC04399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnGCPanqiE2mjooP1cFB_20z8vSYIau8TKPlVYoiFK-V2pqtNt3zqc4pSZap1zmnBZ7nlDS16L_KCH7gq7fNaz9qY4-TkWygY-wFfo0YtLO5i5FUjjxiyWfIvUDdjiYrI12_d4PeWH9DFf/s1600/DSC04399.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Enchanted Forest</td></tr>
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Our favorite stop along the road was the town of Portland, even though the guidebook describes it as "falling short of its potential." We visited a Petrified Forest (actually sandstone, not petrified wood), an Enchanted Forest (actually magic, not easy to find), and got to watch an impromptu dance/photography session of some members of the Fighting Gunditjmara at our campsite on Mt Richmond. The men were kind enough to let us watch, and I traded a poetry recitation in exchange.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtvOny_HR3IBKBvdXLkY5WARRdyACP_tx2dgSVPLNRdwI1V13Pq-VjgoiTdJQmj_LRVZMYtXdASsnGH-Ug15-a31yR_ZtaB8wZDfowKnmQqRVy4K8IcH35-FbVfPdRwy_tIFJwSUY4cIu/s1600/DSC04410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtvOny_HR3IBKBvdXLkY5WARRdyACP_tx2dgSVPLNRdwI1V13Pq-VjgoiTdJQmj_LRVZMYtXdASsnGH-Ug15-a31yR_ZtaB8wZDfowKnmQqRVy4K8IcH35-FbVfPdRwy_tIFJwSUY4cIu/s1600/DSC04410.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me, David, and two members of the Fighting Gunditjmara</td></tr>
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When we reached the end of the Great Ocean Road in Nelson, we traveled inland to see the Princess Margaret Caves, the Grampians National Park, the Murray River, the Yarra Ranges, and the Hanging Rock. While each had their gems, our visit to the Hanging Rock surpassed the others in my emotional reaction.<br />
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The Hanging Rock was made internationally famous by Joan Lindsay's 1967 novel, detailing the fictitious (or not??) mystery of three 19th century schoolgirls who go missing during one picnic lunch at the Rock. "Rock" is always capitalized. I'd picked up this novel at the beginning of our road trip, and David and I had been taking turns reading it aloud to each other. It's a beautiful mystery. The best scenes are those when Lindsay zooms out and shows the reader parts of the scene that the characters fail to notice:<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“Insulated from natural contacts with earth, air and sunlight, by corsets pressing on the solar plexus, by voluminous petticoats, cotton stockings and kid boots, the drowsy, well-fed girls lounging in the shade were no more a part of their environment than figures in a photograph album, arbitrarily posed against a backcloth of cork rocks and cardboard trees.” </span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNJXWciNHQ0JyrVw63_q3C2XPJ0J6ktmrIZw7dBAk_XpWXicXSGEJ8ioEpKzn5ZgMrFKJj5PMKO0CApdxx7HlEKohsFTQf3Us-GnUTWDcZd3dvWfq3j6N0j9yEyqc7_b0IejEZ0ZMYt1x/s1600/DSC04438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNJXWciNHQ0JyrVw63_q3C2XPJ0J6ktmrIZw7dBAk_XpWXicXSGEJ8ioEpKzn5ZgMrFKJj5PMKO0CApdxx7HlEKohsFTQf3Us-GnUTWDcZd3dvWfq3j6N0j9yEyqc7_b0IejEZ0ZMYt1x/s1600/DSC04438.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">exploring Hanging Rock</td></tr>
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The Rock is a sacred site to the local Wurrenjerrie, and information at the entrance wrote that many people, especially the Wurrenjerrie feel a deep sense of foreboding at the site. I was anxious to check it out for myself. David and I explored the peculiar, soaring, teetering faces of the Rock, and I found myself getting nervous, even though there was no apparent danger (unless one slipped down in one of the narrow, steep crevices). I felt watched. Paranoid even. I asked David how he felt and he said 'good, like he felt he could become part of the Rock.' I was shocked, and irritated by all the other tourists who were having such a gleeful time. What was going on with me? I sat down, trying to puzzle out my reaction, when I at last articulated that I knew the Rock didn't trust me.<br />
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I know that sounds kinda crazy.<br />
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You should probably be beginning to expect this particular brand of crazy from me. I'm trying hard these days to relate to the landscape personally. I want to do the opposite of personification. I can't find a satisfying term for this. Suggestions?<br />
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I decided at the time that some meditation was in order. I took off my shoes and socks and sat near one of the extrusion boulder formations. David joined me. We sat there for several minutes and soon the other tourists quieted or disappeared. When I opened my eyes, we were alone and the color of the rocks was a bit brighter. I felt calmer. I closed my eyes again and fell asleep, realizing later the odd symmetry of this scene with the one in the novel, immediately before the girls go missing. Still, I felt comforted.<br />
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When we awoke, we gathered our things and proceeded up the trail to the summit. The entire place seemed friendlier, less watchful. Perhaps it's all imaginary, but perhaps these connotations are real. I cannot see that it makes much difference either way.<br />
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--------<br />
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The next day, David and I returned to Melbourne and returned the car no worse for wear beside the 3000 extra km we achieved. I checked into my hostel and we walked to the train station. When he boarded, I walked away, and tried to feel brave. I think I succeeded, but I also felt pretty dang sad.<br />
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It's hard to say goodbye to someone you love very much and be unsure when you'll see them again. But, that is what we had to do, and now I'm back on my own. I'm in Melbourne another couple weeks, living in a city for the first real time. It's neat. I'm digging the anonymity. There are restaurants with food I've never tried before. I'm finding interesting stuff to do and the State Library is gorrggeous. Soon, I head north through the interior to Darwin.<br />
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I anticipate I'll feel a more acute loneliness in the coming days, having had the joyful gift of such good companionship the last couple weeks. I will not see another familiar face in person until I get home, just over six months from now. But that is the nature of the year. It's something I intend to relish.<br />
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All that aside, if anyone has tips on how to get a Chinese visa, please HELP meee. I'm so confused.<br />
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Wishing you many exciting journeys, and hoping to hear from you soon,<br />
Carrie<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0YlT9q5HsrZxrMY2gg_sA4X8hoZUIW7IsyzJJqlzMjSEgT3Q0GO7ut7q30qHsTBH0_6hs_Q2A8nUG9NSPLSWh9V92_oW3-HgdVQkmKzesXq3fv_jjO8OYWD-V0WanFFd6wT826f1jmtgd/s1600/DSC04308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0YlT9q5HsrZxrMY2gg_sA4X8hoZUIW7IsyzJJqlzMjSEgT3Q0GO7ut7q30qHsTBH0_6hs_Q2A8nUG9NSPLSWh9V92_oW3-HgdVQkmKzesXq3fv_jjO8OYWD-V0WanFFd6wT826f1jmtgd/s1600/DSC04308.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me and David on the Great Ocean Road</td></tr>
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P.S. Aaugh. Too many stories for one measly post. Ask me sometime about all the wildlife we saw! Stories include kangaroos, wallabies, owls, eagles, koalas, echidnas, platypus, parrots, cockatoos, tawny frogmouth, wombats, and something that made mysterious wild pig sounds for three nights in a row! </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-52881552838583237652014-12-23T15:17:00.000-05:002014-12-23T15:17:00.102-05:00Victoria Falls / Mosi oa Tunya<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidH7yIV46hGX1httt6t5cKUPcXNr5t2KAfk9FXlsy1WGnt1N7WlpgEHIE1rERKIEA8S3ghZuyPCGaSG7NJlPCMW2df5ohXGq5fJn_BrOu-6aA6JY89JTobxAA-cwLLVrT5554V3k6XbiW/s1600/DSC03856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidH7yIV46hGX1httt6t5cKUPcXNr5t2KAfk9FXlsy1WGnt1N7WlpgEHIE1rERKIEA8S3ghZuyPCGaSG7NJlPCMW2df5ohXGq5fJn_BrOu-6aA6JY89JTobxAA-cwLLVrT5554V3k6XbiW/s1600/DSC03856.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Devil's Cataract with a raaaainbow!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYngUjc7bhdOEYlIZRJFhI4t4ztKZRLA2iFs1qhqqMrGAbz9Xl7cyb5KbFbBTq-kRXEsMXxoZ8cvNkmMKwwbcDKmYHt7lPCj8lRKecqx7HIllLe2guboEBr6Vg3IhzoOcXztP8LatghXZe/s1600/DSC03922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYngUjc7bhdOEYlIZRJFhI4t4ztKZRLA2iFs1qhqqMrGAbz9Xl7cyb5KbFbBTq-kRXEsMXxoZ8cvNkmMKwwbcDKmYHt7lPCj8lRKecqx7HIllLe2guboEBr6Vg3IhzoOcXztP8LatghXZe/s1600/DSC03922.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">the first viewpoint<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Victoria Falls brought me to tears. It is so crazy beautiful that I could not help lingering at the many viewpoints, and (when there weren’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">too</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> many other tourists around) literally yelling about how amazing it is. I had to hold my head on because it was about to float away from me and drop down the cliff with those waters. I settled to imagine I was any one of the dragonflies or sparrows darting over the edge and into the gorge. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-115df6d4-2479-0a8a-025b-02a1aea6a9c1" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b id="docs-internal-guid-115df6d4-2479-0a8a-025b-02a1aea6a9c1" style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I visited the Zimbabwe side. This has the best views of the falls. If you visit the Zambia side, you can actually go in the water right at the edge where a natural “armchair” formation called Devil’s Pool allows you to sit right at the crest of the waterfall. I watched some crazy people do this. Someday when I come back, I’ll try it myself. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l_qpnodnXULaYsdJNR9QKaW6GUuY5bc2vin2J3HF8FOkf6cBA69FKnE9ZGsNBvFRiNVFg_SIY7zKxuw120tuZQjObKfR-lxGFwX0v1B6BZNKK0MUv2_Iuv7koif8FYuQeCUzlIdMIqTy/s1600/DSC03870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0l_qpnodnXULaYsdJNR9QKaW6GUuY5bc2vin2J3HF8FOkf6cBA69FKnE9ZGsNBvFRiNVFg_SIY7zKxuw120tuZQjObKfR-lxGFwX0v1B6BZNKK0MUv2_Iuv7koif8FYuQeCUzlIdMIqTy/s1600/DSC03870.JPG" height="140" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Main Falls at low water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7iEhWiUoAyG8NjDsHM-NRaSwtZ1OzFeNLgMmav67nggpE3MRs2gYm8AQVc98OYxZnPsbNWr89XUq10GRhe23no7Y4-JDs0ounKHu8F0wQ2bf8QJ43bu04Bg8r84lu7UwjB4t_PubTt4G/s1600/DSC03876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7iEhWiUoAyG8NjDsHM-NRaSwtZ1OzFeNLgMmav67nggpE3MRs2gYm8AQVc98OYxZnPsbNWr89XUq10GRhe23no7Y4-JDs0ounKHu8F0wQ2bf8QJ43bu04Bg8r84lu7UwjB4t_PubTt4G/s1600/DSC03876.JPG" height="140" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Devil's Pool at the edge of the Main Falls</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are 16 viewpoints along the walk, stretching from the statue of Livingstone overlooking the Zambezi near Devil’s Cataract to the Main Falls, then further along the gorge to Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls and the Eastern Cataract. It’s a few kilometer walk with areas near the main spray that are thick like rainforest down to bare basalt rock in the driest portions near Rainbow Falls.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1g1b00MJ4GVIx11-i-qWl6w4RRG6AD4GdkHMeXkrFLqy-lBLlSMeZrnNNXbYnS1cOlan1_VmAtKEMywmuRhfC4kVZYAD2ISH-X-KtTorZ0NPOO42PiQoIm2aSSyHki9Y_6_vvaJ8-uxlj/s1600/DSC03899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1g1b00MJ4GVIx11-i-qWl6w4RRG6AD4GdkHMeXkrFLqy-lBLlSMeZrnNNXbYnS1cOlan1_VmAtKEMywmuRhfC4kVZYAD2ISH-X-KtTorZ0NPOO42PiQoIm2aSSyHki9Y_6_vvaJ8-uxlj/s1600/DSC03899.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Main Falls</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Victoria Falls is also called Mosi-oa-Tunya, “the smoke that thunders.” It overwhelms the senses. I’m told that during high water in April and May, you can’t even see the water for all the clouds of vapor rushing off the rocks as the falls plummet and crash. But, now in December, it’s low water. The falls are not continuous, but separated into distinct portions around the island rivers. In some portions you can see the basalt cliffs behind the water. I was amazed to see lichen growing on them. What an incredible survivor. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is no surprise that this place is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It’s exquisite and ferocious. It steals my words and flings them hundreds of feet down into white and green froth, soaking them for a moment in perpetual rainbows. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What drives me the most absolute out of my mind with thrill for waterfalls is that they are never the same. (Ok--sure, that’s true of everything if you want to get esoteric. But bear with me.) Each surge of water, if you can separate the continual outpour, is a different compilation of droplets, molecules, etc. Even though it looks like a solid sheet of water, you can watch each distinct portion as it moves from the edge down back to become river again. For a moment, it is purely suspended in freefall. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbpcSnICtJfGZYwnDPgG4s3fgdqRtzw4QQ56JdymsE_mUpCzI0E5WG-U0b0LMp7DvjcwyudfShcDUHf7R93mUayIc7wosFCOwcIQDILxmphZzKBHororghma98AQeJJw-aGqVXOhWSE88/s1600/DSC03882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbpcSnICtJfGZYwnDPgG4s3fgdqRtzw4QQ56JdymsE_mUpCzI0E5WG-U0b0LMp7DvjcwyudfShcDUHf7R93mUayIc7wosFCOwcIQDILxmphZzKBHororghma98AQeJJw-aGqVXOhWSE88/s1600/DSC03882.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horseshoe and Rainbow Falls</td></tr>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wonder what it feels like as it falls. I do not aim to find out in this lifetime. Of course, a rare hippo, crocodile or clumsy tourist does go over the edge and is smashed to bits at the bottom, sometime recovered in the Boiling Pot downstream. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps the pictures do a better job of describing the experience than I have in writing. The water itself tells the best story though, and I urge you to come listen to it for yourself. We could even come back together. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With love,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carrie</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMkbjztvoBSY8HnH6U3JBkQ6kD_IJ2fN3FdLXYNb15uYfv8y1QlMpKQjk9l9L8fEdM7EGdxL-mtsUeODU4j1am4X43mxJMXbEuasyxLiIX1qonlp6pLv_5It7H1dSuAbaTFJn4torGt0-/s1600/DSC03867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMkbjztvoBSY8HnH6U3JBkQ6kD_IJ2fN3FdLXYNb15uYfv8y1QlMpKQjk9l9L8fEdM7EGdxL-mtsUeODU4j1am4X43mxJMXbEuasyxLiIX1qonlp6pLv_5It7H1dSuAbaTFJn4torGt0-/s1600/DSC03867.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me at the Main Falls</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-90517070104368558832014-12-23T15:07:00.002-05:002014-12-23T15:07:14.439-05:00Kasane<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfccF7sXn5G2YStPoVzVojYIcGQZWkqfuf8-DlE7grZlEWMcmvdaWj0kjey4XsUZxyeiCMbVJUvvt8CGLJhWxqWxEN_XaeQYbqImMXmlM_YAUhaWIPW90ROxpVikWtI6_HcSBRU7xuzKa/s1600/DSC03974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfccF7sXn5G2YStPoVzVojYIcGQZWkqfuf8-DlE7grZlEWMcmvdaWj0kjey4XsUZxyeiCMbVJUvvt8CGLJhWxqWxEN_XaeQYbqImMXmlM_YAUhaWIPW90ROxpVikWtI6_HcSBRU7xuzKa/s1600/DSC03974.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">elephants in Chobe National Park</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went to Kasane without any real plans. Said I’d figure it out when I got here. But it's all worked out wicked well. I got lucky that, out of all the phone numbers I called, the most affordable one was the only one with a room available. My home this week is run by some of the most helpful people I’ve yet met. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-f82c460c-2457-19ca-c55e-c5be39d60524" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My accommodations here in Kasane have been Bophirimo Guesthouse run by Kebonye and Simon. They have helped to connect me with the folks who run the Chobe Snake Park, a local geologist and literature aficionado, and best of all, two local writers: Peter Comely, a safari guide and novelist, and very accomplished poet Onalethuso Petruss Ntema. Meeting these two has been very inspiring. And they both signed copies of their books for me. (Score!)</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17.25px; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are the connections I look for. Serendipity is a real blessing.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TPzmtM_iRgh9wYIkEqXCbbNzcLd7QU1Rp2pp7BGwcWf3jt8RRAHOom6vlemzCk6QMZej_SMxBo_0kK9hKJ4OtQSlWK9QldsI7mL8a251cWOtT95Gl2sMg-i3t4qOeqUWuI8DYPbSjuHh/s1600/DSC03775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TPzmtM_iRgh9wYIkEqXCbbNzcLd7QU1Rp2pp7BGwcWf3jt8RRAHOom6vlemzCk6QMZej_SMxBo_0kK9hKJ4OtQSlWK9QldsI7mL8a251cWOtT95Gl2sMg-i3t4qOeqUWuI8DYPbSjuHh/s1600/DSC03775.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">crocodile on Sedudu Island between Botswana and Namibia<br /></span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve visited the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, crossing the convergence of the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers to play a homemade marimba and watch pied kingfishers, crocodiles, and hippos along the riverbank. The reeds on the island in the middle of the river had been mown flat by the local herds of elephants. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I visited the Chobe Snake Park and Biodiversity Centre where they keep a variety of snakes and other rehabbed wildlife. Some were local captures, others were recovered from smugglers, or found injured by poison or car-strikes. I got to hold pythons, brown house snakes, and beaked snakes. I kept my distance behind the glass from the puff adders and black mamba, admiring these deadly creatures. </span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUjhYSqbHm_G7BaMxGjhOaJZXAKC4W2-Ja7u03wMaGwqGOxNBGOwwo6R01ycSrH6VAkocyrnUlCQ-A87OndbkkUWbOQRLMCmd9BGMdX2dsF7PiRxg9MScQyumyRuxRvZXtoiiOvEziz0U/s1600/DSC04025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUjhYSqbHm_G7BaMxGjhOaJZXAKC4W2-Ja7u03wMaGwqGOxNBGOwwo6R01ycSrH6VAkocyrnUlCQ-A87OndbkkUWbOQRLMCmd9BGMdX2dsF7PiRxg9MScQyumyRuxRvZXtoiiOvEziz0U/s1600/DSC04025.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chobe is elephant territory<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Best of all, the staff at the Snake Park let me tag along to help with some of their research projects. That turned out to be an extraordinary day. Someone had called in a report of an injured white-backed vulture. This individual seemed to be poisoned, potentially by Rat-X. With the proper permit clearance from the wildlife department, the vulture, dubbed Jiles, was brought back to the centre for food and water and some charcoal tablets to help absorb the poison. Latest I've heard is that he's doing well and soon to be released.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I helped with a community study of diseases carried by flies and got to talk the similarities between scientific and literary journals, the effects of poaching and anti-poaching efforts, local culture, and as they say here: all the what-what. Shop shop [Ok]. It was a great opportunity, plus he blogs about his experiences working in conservation, which is very affirming to me in my search for the connections between conservation and writing.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2geasrUzbpYyyu-o0n5pqlOxGEIR1LY0qwBcF55noCSjWsLt94523CCIqtnrbAQFXDJkbz5kuh84hXAQGN_5nuhG1D6Z-LNek0rWvahyphenhyphenp9nveYCt8eI3NjEJ3dMtO50OEcwFrjJhGa9A/s1600/DSC04052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2geasrUzbpYyyu-o0n5pqlOxGEIR1LY0qwBcF55noCSjWsLt94523CCIqtnrbAQFXDJkbz5kuh84hXAQGN_5nuhG1D6Z-LNek0rWvahyphenhyphenp9nveYCt8eI3NjEJ3dMtO50OEcwFrjJhGa9A/s1600/DSC04052.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lilac Breasted Roller</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also got to visit Victoria Falls, but that’s going to be a blog entry of its own. I hope to return to Kasane someday. I’ve loved it here, and highly recommend Bophirimo Guesthouse to you when you come. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next time I see you, ask me about the night on the wildlife corridor when I stood in a herd of elephant. Ahemdullah.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carrie </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTu3LlI6yE_dQTgWQVGJ7TeLEpeKtF80FrxqLp74mPVYeCQJrmdaj9xtcLRSUsbtDHrmWuWHnbpF6KJLbb6mqJ215Z6OPX_GzApL4HKM-HeLjsgnAX2YVxP_miITNhoRJ_A9tJtr3fK7GD/s1600/DSC03977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTu3LlI6yE_dQTgWQVGJ7TeLEpeKtF80FrxqLp74mPVYeCQJrmdaj9xtcLRSUsbtDHrmWuWHnbpF6KJLbb6mqJ215Z6OPX_GzApL4HKM-HeLjsgnAX2YVxP_miITNhoRJ_A9tJtr3fK7GD/s1600/DSC03977.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">big ol bull elephant (guess how you can tell)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-24675306589001683642014-12-23T14:33:00.003-05:002014-12-23T14:33:35.471-05:00Khama Rhino Sanctuary<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0lULqQw7kgU5KBKcOK8vCGe0IJmCeDAnXYWYKK4fOdVKCTEfBF6vji8ytAEiPmJof52nMxrqA49qG5geRH-lzOOAgvZkF8NVC2c-5n1GYI2nIrW_3dQlF8O-rmZqDMq9q_MLZSF1u4YX/s1600/DSC03721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0lULqQw7kgU5KBKcOK8vCGe0IJmCeDAnXYWYKK4fOdVKCTEfBF6vji8ytAEiPmJof52nMxrqA49qG5geRH-lzOOAgvZkF8NVC2c-5n1GYI2nIrW_3dQlF8O-rmZqDMq9q_MLZSF1u4YX/s1600/DSC03721.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">zebra and wildebeest at the pans</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My major nature conservation work here in Botswana has been at Khama Rhino Sanctuary. I came in through the Botswana Workcamp Association, which was the most feasible way for me to volunteer in the sanctuary. I was there for two weeks at the end of November and returned in December for another two week stint. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWx-c9RiCVIeLEVZxckFbUbGoCqjPK_gw4VcgBpkGzkOeYbBq1HjVxtcthzNWbe9-WZ7ZyS_RNpLKXffjXOEL2m6PiYkvC8ZvhL30bRy5ogeZqi5-fL1v9drrEtxpHdNzMZIzUrRdw4rt/s1600/DSC03628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWx-c9RiCVIeLEVZxckFbUbGoCqjPK_gw4VcgBpkGzkOeYbBq1HjVxtcthzNWbe9-WZ7ZyS_RNpLKXffjXOEL2m6PiYkvC8ZvhL30bRy5ogeZqi5-fL1v9drrEtxpHdNzMZIzUrRdw4rt/s1600/DSC03628.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Khama Rhino Sanctuary entrance<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khama Rhino Sanctuary is a non-profit community based conservation organization operated by the three neighboring villages of Serowe, Paje, and Mabeleapudi. It’s about 8500 hectares of protected land intended primarily to conserve the white rhino and black rhino populations, though there’s tons of other wildlife as well. There’s a perimeter fence which keeps animals in (most of the time) and poachers out (ideally). Both are capable of breaking through, like the pair of sparring kudu who crashed through several fenceposts one day during my time there. But the fence certainly makes one question the real definition of “wild.” Which is just what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s one of the major questions of my fellowship year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, this is supposed to be a travel blog, and I’m reluctant to post my yet-unarticulate philosophic mumbo-jumbo here. I want to tell you more about the rad things I’ve been doing. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been seeing so many animals that I never expected to see in real life, as well as (to be perfectly honest) some that I’d never even heard of before. In a lot of ways, this year is revealing so much of my ignorance and exposing me to listen to new stories, new ideas, new lifestyles, and new life histories. Nearly every day at Khama Rhino, on the drives between our campsite in the bush and our worksites at other places in the bush, I saw wildlife. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMp7ysHArwyQFxdVfWUoTgaYeHusOxUYsP4AOOOTdCqbD-5h_t29vGITiWBqdglZz7sNhbhhPkV0hENrETbMpq8CI6uXcX1zNvVHk-FhVIZpipv_nTWhCibt2LNMBG0RHw-cod6fhzinrP/s1600/DSC03749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMp7ysHArwyQFxdVfWUoTgaYeHusOxUYsP4AOOOTdCqbD-5h_t29vGITiWBqdglZz7sNhbhhPkV0hENrETbMpq8CI6uXcX1zNvVHk-FhVIZpipv_nTWhCibt2LNMBG0RHw-cod6fhzinrP/s1600/DSC03749.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">White Rhinos</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog and white rhino were a nearly daily sight. I saw giraffe, kudu, eland, spring hares and springbok less commonly. The rarest sightings were a tortoise, chameleon, spotted hyena, jackal, and the crown jewel, a young leopard. Alas I didn’t always have my camera handy, but I felt incredibly blessed to witness these animals in the flesh in their real lives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I haven’t even mentioned the birds! Perhaps I’m listing too many things in this blog, but my life is flooded with all these amazing creatures. My heart is the ark and we’re set sail for far longer than forty days. Some of my favorite birds to see so far were the Maribu Storks (considered one of the Ugly Five that juxtapose Africa’s Big Five animals), Yellow-billed Kite, Go-away Bird (Grey Lorrie), and Crimson-breasted Shrike. Even the common Cape Turtledove that sings </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bot-tswaaa-na Bot-tswaaa-na</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRHduhiQTs1d8haqryDFSgopsfPwsH3p-8FHXCT6XvpSaZZpYrGbvTzOH1rjjnsaCg6hYbIO1u5JqtlafFf5Ax2p_c6T7rTX7B0jIeXaYjHDPAu73KGrYEgNiqXok_asqOmI1ozlzm3I1/s1600/DSC03759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRHduhiQTs1d8haqryDFSgopsfPwsH3p-8FHXCT6XvpSaZZpYrGbvTzOH1rjjnsaCg6hYbIO1u5JqtlafFf5Ax2p_c6T7rTX7B0jIeXaYjHDPAu73KGrYEgNiqXok_asqOmI1ozlzm3I1/s1600/DSC03759.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Giraffe</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve also seen so many neat bugs! Praying mantises have become my dear friends here. They are just too cool with all their different varieties. They all seem to love landing on me and climbing all over my arms and under my collar. It’s a bit tickly, but it feels like a blessing. The dung beetles zip across the pans at a zillion miles an hour and look like little hulks when they walk on land, deflty pushing balls of scat backwards in front of them.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The actual work at Khama Rhino often felt tangential to the wildlife, but I’m learning about how these tasks relate to the work of conservation overall. The people I met were an interesting mix of true nature lovers passionate about wildlife and others who liked wildlife but saw their involvement at the sanctuary as merely a job. Perhaps they’d rather be a nurse of a teacher or a taxi driver, but there’s work available here. Conservation is a business, and there are a lot of stakeholders.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After working, we cooked everything by open fire and I became good friends with the other volunteers as we chatted late into the night by the fireside. Fires and rivers and animals. I could watch them all forever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carrie</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">firewood collection in the pick up truck selfie</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-84915287518917200572014-11-17T03:39:00.002-05:002014-11-17T03:39:37.984-05:00Maru-a-Pula<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; float: right; font-family: Tinos; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 6px; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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Today I leave the <a href="http://www.maruapula.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Maru-a-Pula school</a>, where I have stayed my first few weeks in Botswana. Maru-a-Pula is a "co-ed, independent day & boarding secondary school with a reputation as one of Africa’s premier academic institutions" founded in 1972 as one of the first non-racial schools in the region. It's here in the capital city of Gaborone. I've been living on campus with some of the other teachers.</div>
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I was based in the school library, but I've been involved doing a few creative writing activities with some of the English classes and joined in the activities of the Permaculture and Wildlife student clubs. Working in the library has been really fun, and I secretly love reshelving the books. Of course I do. I get to handle so many troves of creativity and knowledge and make them more accessible to their readers. The library has a fair collection of books about Botswana or by Batswana writers, and I've been reading as many as I can. Some of my favorites have been <i>Windsongs of the Kgalagadi </i>by Barolong Seboni and <i>Okavango Gods</i> by Anthony Fleischer. </div>
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<tr><td style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>Hoodia gorgonii</i>, edible and medicinal succulent</td></tr>
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Here at MaP, I helped to compile a guide to the campus flora. I spent a few days walking around campus with MaP's horticulturalist and wonderful plant enthusiast, Diphetogo. He taught me all about the many uses and lives of these plants. One tree, the Buffalo Thorn, for instance is purportedly lightning-resistant; another: <i>Erythrina</i> has knobby seed pods containing red lucky beans. If you carry them in your pocket, good luck may come to you. These are the things I love to learn about--it gives the plants so much character!</div>
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I think it was a good choice to start my stay in Bots here. I got to meet many poets at the several poetry events around Gaborone this month. There's a huge wealth of written and spoken word here, and I feel fortunate to have shown up in the right place at the right time. Last Friday, I got to go to the opening of a brand new poetry collection at the Gaborone Public Library. Poets TJ Dema, Gomolemo, and Moroka Moreri all spoke at the event, and it drew a big crowd to the library. </div>
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I had met Moroka Moreri a few days prior for an interview. He is one of Botswana's traditional praise poets. He is capable of composing vocal poems, in couplets, on the spot. He warned me that I would "run away when I saw him in his traditional regalia" which he wears for special occasions like these readings. He changed from his business suit (he works in Parliament) into a hide tunic, fur cap, and (I think) hyena fur cape, and spoke many words of praise to the poets in the room, all completely improvised. He even included me, and although I didn't understand (he was speaking in Setswana), I was blushing HARD. But, I tried to be graceful about it. I think I smiled at the right moments (when the crowd was laughing), and everyone was kind to me in the reception afterwards. EEeeeee.</div>
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So, now I move up to Khama Rhino Sanctuary for the next few weeks. I hope to travel to points north afterwards, like the Makgadikgadi Pans, Kasane and Chobe National Park, and then Maun and the Okavango Delta, before I leave Bots at the end of December. Wish me luck! I may be away from the internet for all of that.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Carrie</div>
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<tr><td style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0DL4NRAFv1j5hFjNU2-C-FzUlmn7vzP05jbEPHPImp28hZb8KfSwgtC669gKgNNHg95wKjDhL31MM51iyXk74ZtFJpPLhzezO2HXaJwJoWglpqBi7USALGE0Xa4YXGB6yWQedw98ytO-/s1600/DSC03613.JPG" style="color: #1155cc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" class="CToWUd" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiqhCIzJWv7SbzgEhj_6Yh7jDisnCABYWlWw-0wZM9hsFdbsEWEUcYhlo-BwpU7GJU-Gx59WPqu81J9e8G5IZTF4VPQmkSajD10cQ3e8rG7MA6d1snt7h7oBjH9uZd0STELIMAF6w8fl-1PsWlSmyx3CXVl3EiVo5E-vqcC80cvIFul3dWNi4GkodwK3SEkbf4_HM25onphd7sQ5SenlT4MfiCSJSUeCm-V39hHBTvF1nMfk2GOyG4B8UjxZ0TwX31fZGL3FXxAxlrVDRpNbq-BTLGbM4Tq9jAUs71RfFInjAOoxAJO5mVioV0z9U6Vq8WyPSyDLfUyuYKDR1XB281Roatss4Zn6BXvw17QfPzL90fdaEcxczWUS0Cp1iE1knFDMGRQdVun2PNiQQ=s0-d-e1-ft" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding-top: 4px;"><i>Quelea quelea </i>male surveying his nest </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rewind! (this post is out of chronological order)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sjXoJoTY7aFT788xdPovocVvrlx9bPS355_bjDvwjvSD0OSUhsD0gQi-isaUEg6V2vend7IOJed13pWvfYFUzR2glOf1ahmgM7rqXjLByxbz9GlmVPND-rAMKdy0rv7KzuSZiJ7obch2/s1600/DSC03389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sjXoJoTY7aFT788xdPovocVvrlx9bPS355_bjDvwjvSD0OSUhsD0gQi-isaUEg6V2vend7IOJed13pWvfYFUzR2glOf1ahmgM7rqXjLByxbz9GlmVPND-rAMKdy0rv7KzuSZiJ7obch2/s1600/DSC03389.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">view of the Atlantic near the Kalinago Barana Aute</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJl7QBrkkdtOkRK5NiFGilYxeO4ZIlxgCDDMoayNKC1Eiku1m23ueu16aZXDGVpFVASrcBjxCcFjkbM7XuzZyFyo9PVUPC-_L8KJAWrL_D-E7dIYwhbdLDyUZbuAfblAy-Cyw5jyF0q70/s1600/DSC03410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJl7QBrkkdtOkRK5NiFGilYxeO4ZIlxgCDDMoayNKC1Eiku1m23ueu16aZXDGVpFVASrcBjxCcFjkbM7XuzZyFyo9PVUPC-_L8KJAWrL_D-E7dIYwhbdLDyUZbuAfblAy-Cyw5jyF0q70/s1600/DSC03410.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">some members of my host family in the Kalinago Territory</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Toward the end of my stay in Dominica, I spent two nights with a Kalinago family. I stayed with Robinson and his family at their home in the Kalinago Territory on Dominica’s east coast. Robinson said he was one of the few Kalinago to still remember how to build the traditional </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mwina</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> huts. He and his wife had lived in this style of housing (built from bamboo and zermoosh leaves) for many years, but recently built a more modern home from concrete. He kept the traditional houses for visitors and for other Kalinago who may want to learn the building techniques. I slept comfortably, completely safe and dry inside my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mwina. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robinson also taught me about the medicinal uses of many plants in his garden. He was a true wealth of knowledge.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5iXr3W15XWuENBsYZv7DJcV2_5tzasWJtDlPtGXlp1hhEND9omc8AgeakLIOJ5fNo6D6VLJEZ8PdLS9onns3xjYEairucbujDhSUodfM1Pazd5BULATaoGPljozYv8QxZvSFl5TxQP2f/s1600/DSC03355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5iXr3W15XWuENBsYZv7DJcV2_5tzasWJtDlPtGXlp1hhEND9omc8AgeakLIOJ5fNo6D6VLJEZ8PdLS9onns3xjYEairucbujDhSUodfM1Pazd5BULATaoGPljozYv8QxZvSFl5TxQP2f/s1600/DSC03355.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">me and my guide Justin</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I spent the day touring with Robinson’s neighbor and son-in-law, Justin, leader of a Kalinago cultural group specialised in dance. Justin led me to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L’escalier Tete Chien </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(stair of the snake), where legend tells that the snake god emerged from the sea when the land was young and left a track where he climbed into the mountain. Walking around and on this lava plume rock formation (with Justin’s leadership and permission) gave me the very real sense that this was a sacred place. The waves surged up from the drop-off, crashing and spraying dozens of feet into the air, threatening to carry us out to sea. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I heard a few different tellings of the legend of the snake god, but in each one he is alive to this day and capable of granting wishes. None of the snakes I saw in Dominica rivalled the legendary king, but I did see some big boa constrictors while out doing field work with the mountain chicken team! I even got to hold one!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGI4l_HnFPm6I068BizHO_5hOOihh5pjw06L1BkRszuej-zdJQmljmZcAtNzMxVJ5o_ZnzVSPwMEoX_XzAAuAqbF5FCcmNhPDv5TxuPu0KoLFxvz9Y6CuvNkrIupQaMLmrO93zPPV2CDED/s1600/DSC03375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGI4l_HnFPm6I068BizHO_5hOOihh5pjw06L1BkRszuej-zdJQmljmZcAtNzMxVJ5o_ZnzVSPwMEoX_XzAAuAqbF5FCcmNhPDv5TxuPu0KoLFxvz9Y6CuvNkrIupQaMLmrO93zPPV2CDED/s1600/DSC03375.JPG" height="70" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">panoramic view of L'escalier Tete Chien where it rises from the sea</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62b4S_MLAJNLxT0MHZ67JbzaoPGgE20V4dOBV6pPJVB6phzPf1QOeBGXlFmiCvQsh5Yk7gVU1HmKh3KtK4fLu4LEHUsW7HgH6WVcmwuBJA8hIwimPVtSBb6c6ue-5l6MuvmqtmwV2ySYD/s1600/DSC03368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62b4S_MLAJNLxT0MHZ67JbzaoPGgE20V4dOBV6pPJVB6phzPf1QOeBGXlFmiCvQsh5Yk7gVU1HmKh3KtK4fLu4LEHUsW7HgH6WVcmwuBJA8hIwimPVtSBb6c6ue-5l6MuvmqtmwV2ySYD/s1600/DSC03368.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Léscalier Tete Chien</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSN95cDyglm-L2ejllzy7yIBJ69i1YEyajoG0HxsWzqH6kVo9z6EMtbso5H87k5VbUgKs8g7aZf-wjbv_9E3UXbgbSQrOPoD-eiEHZ9OTIvTMI0ywog0Farv7JbFmWzHyfhqDKecvKDJnr/s1600/DSC03380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSN95cDyglm-L2ejllzy7yIBJ69i1YEyajoG0HxsWzqH6kVo9z6EMtbso5H87k5VbUgKs8g7aZf-wjbv_9E3UXbgbSQrOPoD-eiEHZ9OTIvTMI0ywog0Farv7JbFmWzHyfhqDKecvKDJnr/s1600/DSC03380.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Léscalier Tete Chien: check out those waves!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also went on a tour of the Kalinago Barana Aute, a model village demonstrating features of life before Columbus and all the subsequent invasions of the island by Europeans. I am sorry to say that I did not much enjoy my tour of the KBA. It was indeed interesting to learn about canoe-building and casava-bread baking and to see some of the traditional structures, but the tour felt very rehearsed and rushed. The experience was further soured when I learned that the admissions fees (it was the most expensive site I’d visited on the island) do not stay in the community. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although the vision for the KBA was by two Kalinago men, the government took control of the project, and now nearly all the funds that it produces leave the territory. Even a portion of the price to do my homestay goes to the KBA and then to the government. I was unable to learn more details about this, but what I heard from the Kalinago individuals who explained the situation to me indicated a serious usurpation of their cultural identity for very little gain on the part of Kalinago people. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBK1xCbrNY8-KlNKhXWDkXuxONVfkdpL2cHY1ii-glNnen2E304HOfnjvD-IF-Eq-x0t0Ox3DIoFmvq-H8WQaFTlmqkFHBK4Z4pPhyphenhyphenLFHLIIkujnqHLPt6LpGLwBeEXJ5la9xN93JpgVxH/s1600/DSC03406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBK1xCbrNY8-KlNKhXWDkXuxONVfkdpL2cHY1ii-glNnen2E304HOfnjvD-IF-Eq-x0t0Ox3DIoFmvq-H8WQaFTlmqkFHBK4Z4pPhyphenhyphenLFHLIIkujnqHLPt6LpGLwBeEXJ5la9xN93JpgVxH/s1600/DSC03406.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">me in a traditional <i>mwina</i></span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do recommend a visit, and an investment in the crafts and stories and future of the Kalinago people and territory, but I recommend doing so through individuals, rather than the official booking agencies. Please email me for contacts. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-70870934592930370672014-11-05T03:03:00.001-05:002014-11-05T04:24:09.310-05:00Rewind: SCUBA Training<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rewind! (this post is out of chronological order)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PBSPlWRAtI1XFBKOSvXsISdNkpvCXPZf_WMgnuP5ekcQdKoCt-aghxcLpXW_VXTgO-ZqVuSOaPSZHb9EmgGyeUN7odOGvIRxeSBqYNRcO5idWWYUH560jUGqOHWuM6D-X1j91krUiNfI/s1600/DSC03309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PBSPlWRAtI1XFBKOSvXsISdNkpvCXPZf_WMgnuP5ekcQdKoCt-aghxcLpXW_VXTgO-ZqVuSOaPSZHb9EmgGyeUN7odOGvIRxeSBqYNRcO5idWWYUH560jUGqOHWuM6D-X1j91krUiNfI/s1600/DSC03309.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">training area at Aldive </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back in mid-October I learned to SCUBA dive! I trained with <a href="http://www.aldive.com/scuba_diving.htm" target="_blank">Aldive</a> in Loubiere, Dominica, and had an excellent experience. Thanks to my instructor Billy, I am now Open Water Diver certified, and aching to get back underwater. Alas, I’ll have to wait for Australia. (Botswana is landlocked and the only surface water is the drinking water reservoir behind the Gaborone Dam, and the multitude of shallow rivers in the Okavango delta (the world’s largest inland delta). </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIwRHKxDLRXbRJWqIOM7_xYiBUlmnog9rfVMqn54W4l8-UqhV2RD4zvbZApp4tDfbGS443T-Jh6ucw-W_07OPxagaTfTlKyiDjRERynLJJ3TUJqPvrIUJ4exDgKqzjL0zGQbHLRzkJoZm/s1600/DSC03297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIwRHKxDLRXbRJWqIOM7_xYiBUlmnog9rfVMqn54W4l8-UqhV2RD4zvbZApp4tDfbGS443T-Jh6ucw-W_07OPxagaTfTlKyiDjRERynLJJ3TUJqPvrIUJ4exDgKqzjL0zGQbHLRzkJoZm/s1600/DSC03297.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">me and my dive buddy (the other diver taking the course)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ready for our first dive</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Billy said I was a natural, and I definitely felt at home in the water once I understood how to use the gear. I highly recommend the experience to all. I’ll never forget the first breath I took through the regulator. It takes a great deal of trust in oneself and one’s gear to reject the idea: nope, no air underwater. But I inhaled the compressed air, and had to figure out how to hold the regulator in my mouth while grinning like such a buffoon. The most important rule of SCUBA is to breathe normally--never hold your breath! </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our deepest of the training dives was 60 feet, where the coral reef transitioned to seagrass beds. It was such a joy to see the relatively healthy reefs off Dominica’s coast. And I was pleased to have recognized many corals, gorgonians, sponges and fishes from my tropical biology courses at Wheaton. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diadema </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">urchins galore! (Lionfish too, though, which are invasive to the region.)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAx0P0ULwQBqGC7Oikz0WJuYDy9nJY36qCufJWfgQLUXnQOwHyh-uVKCEAVKF7O_-LllWHgvRZ792zwMLcecFjfZqT6GR3z_20sNLl3YvR5JpNt7fN0_fgcYhwzgEruvYo4K67slb7JdN/s1600/DSC03317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAx0P0ULwQBqGC7Oikz0WJuYDy9nJY36qCufJWfgQLUXnQOwHyh-uVKCEAVKF7O_-LllWHgvRZ792zwMLcecFjfZqT6GR3z_20sNLl3YvR5JpNt7fN0_fgcYhwzgEruvYo4K67slb7JdN/s1600/DSC03317.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Solomon Reef (from above)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">mm those clear waters!</span></td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, there were plenty of algae growing on the reef, but I was very impressed by the diversity of species and all the beautiful colors. While hovering above the sandy bottom, I got to chill in the middle of a school of blue chromises. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found diving extremely meditative, and hope to do it frequently in the future. Let’s go together!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carrie</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P.S. Billy is sending me some underwater footage. I'll try to share that in the future. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">me post-dive. those tanks are heavy!</span></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-50480139542749888962014-11-04T15:25:00.004-05:002014-11-04T15:25:45.860-05:00First Days in Botswana<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from Kgale Hill toward Gaborone Dam</td></tr>
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I arrived in Botswana a few days ago. I was supremely jetlagged, but am at last feeling re-energized. I flew from Dominica to Paris, and spent a delightful but brief stay at Arty Paris hostel with my friend and hausmate Emma. Sometime when you and I are together in person, I'll tell you a story about the time Emma and I sang for a crowd of at least 100 outside Sacre Coeur cathedral. Mm, what. a. Time.<br />
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Departing Paris, I flew via Doha, Qatar and Johannesburg, South Africa to arrive in Gaborone, Botswana. Thursday evening, I went right to the Maru-a-Pula school where I'll be based the next few weeks. "Maru-a-Pula" means "clouds of rain" or "promises of blessings." At MaP, I'll be helping out in the library and learning from the campus horticulturalist about local ecology. I want to get involved with some of the extracurricular groups, particularly those about permaculture, wildlife, and poetry. I hope my stay here will also be a good jumping point for me to learn about writing and nature conservation in and around Gabs.<br />
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I was lucky my first night here to find out about a poetry slam happening right on campus by the Gaborone based group Poet's Passport. The theme of the night was Heat, which was appropriate in many ways. That day it had gotten up to 38 degrees Celcius! The country is dry dry dry, with months of no rain and years of drought conditions. But the poetry performed Friday night was saturated with passionate rhymes and rhythms. The second half was an open-mic, and I thought this would be a good way to put my foot in the door. Although I'd come unprepared, I copied down one of my poems from memory and asked the MC if I could read it.<br />
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Midway through the open mic session, he goes on stage, and kindly explains that there's a first timer coming up. As if I'm suddenly transported to a Rocky Horror show, the crowd starts clapping and shouting Virgin!, but they were supremely kind to me during my reading. I got many of their contacts afterwards, and one even asked if we could trade commentary on each other's future pieces. It was a blessed night, and a great start to being in Botswana.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">granite hills surrounding Gaborone</td></tr>
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The folks here at MaP have been very welcoming as well, and some of the teachers I'm living with on campus invited me to join them for rock climbing today. We went up to Kgale Hill, which means in Setswana: "the place that dried up." We could look across to the Gaborone Dam, where the water levels are only at 10% capacity. The red rocks of the hills are ancient, some of the oldest rock on the continent, according to local and lead-climber, Guy.<br />
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As I understand it (and I want to learn more on this) these are the remains of the super-continent that preceded Pangaea, a land mass called Gondwanaland. These rocks have been eroding and shifting for billions of years. It is hard to imagine a landscape more different than the fresh volcanic rocks and rich rainforests of Dominica. Long ago, it would have been more similar, when Botswana was the base of an inland superlake. Eventually, over millions of years, the lake dried as the land tilted and shifted the drainage systems of the land. Since, the land has been arid and water scarce.<br />
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It seems that change comes at its own pace, when we are ready and when we are not. And this afternoon, on my third day in the desert, it rained.<br />
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Many blessings,<br />
Carrie<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me while exploring the rocks of Kgale Hill</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-86176077389181293962014-10-27T19:52:00.001-04:002014-11-05T04:31:27.171-05:00On to BotswanaHi!<br />
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This is just a brief blurb to catch up on the last few weeks. I intend to flesh out these stories and tell them to you soon!<br />
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A few major events:<br />
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I learned to scuba dive! I am now PADI Open Water Diver certified, thanks to an amazing course at Aldive in Loubiere, Dominica. My instructor said I was a natural, and I absolutely loved being under the water. Once I was able to practice the skills and feel comfortable breathing underwater through the regulator and manage my depth, diving became very meditative. I hope to do it more in the near future!<br />
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I volunteered for a few Tuesdays with the Trafalgar Primary School. I taught a creative writing lesson to the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. After one mix-up, in which several students copied out stories from their textbooks when I asked them to write a story for homework we spent a lot of time in the lessons talking about intellectual integrity and the power of using your own words. It was such a good experience getting to know these kids from my adopted home village and engage in their creativity. Some of these young writers liked to write about their families, imagined new fairy tales and ghost stories, wrote about trips to the beach, and especially liked writing about birthday parties. We learned together about "story questions: who, what, where, when, why, how," plot, character, and audience. Above all, I tried to stress the importance of writing in their own words, and show them how important their own stories are.<br />
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I visited the Kalinago Territory and stayed a few nights with a Kalinago family. My guide, Justin, led me to a sacred site called L'escalier Tete Chien, named for the creole word for boa constrictor. Here, a snake god rose from the sea when the land was new and made imprints in the rock on his way up to the mountain. I heard a few versions of this story during my stay, but one telling of the legend says: if you bring an offering of tobacco to the snake god in his mountain cave (where he lives to this day), he may breathe the smoke and vomit lava. If you make a wish and jump in this magic lava, you instantly transport to the Orinoco river (where the Kalinago ancestors are from) and find yourself young again. I learned much from my host, Robinson, about traditional uses for garden herbs as well as some of his most pressing concerns about the future of the Kalinago people. Happily, his granddaughter, who is 12, aspires to be a Kalinago historian, and is one of the most driven and bright young women I've met lately. I will write more about this stay soon, since it made a tremendous impression on me and Kalinago affairs are such an important topic to me.<br />
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I finished up work at the Mountain Chicken Project and Roseau Library. I am so deeply grateful to the amphibian team, the library staff, and all the participants in my writer's workshops. These workshops are my proudest accomplishment of my time on the island. We compiled a booklet of some of the writers' works, and I am so so happy we got to collaborate and form our writing community. A few participants even told me they will continue the meetings without me, which makes me really excited. It's so rewarding to have met and worked with these emerging writers, and to have shared so much inspiration in one another. Thank you thank you thank you.<br />
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Lastly, I left Dominica yesterday. After a circuitous route, I arrived in Paris, where I am writing this post now. I've met up with my friend Emma, and will spend the day here tomorrow before continuing on to my next real Watson destination: Botswana. My heart is heavy leaving Dominica, for many reasons. I found much real love and beauty in that island. I want very much to go back. But, the journey leads me on, and this is right.<br />
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Pictures and more stories to come.<br />
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Many blessings and thanks,<br />
Carrie<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-65911969218373971452014-10-02T12:26:00.001-04:002014-10-02T14:50:29.950-04:00Crapaud Fun Facts<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hi friends!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="317" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/970678_139559232906048_881945586_n.png?oh=7d4e452f2be014d14ac4949e34123bf5&oe=54B349C9&__gda__=1421762085_ccb411d9920a851a1aea8bd5611d87bb" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Mountain Chicken Frog Project logo</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’ve been volunteering with the Mountain Chicken Project through the Forestry, Wildlife, and Parks Department of the Government of Dominica. The project is a collaboration between the Government of Dominica, the Zoological Society of London, and the Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the past month, I have helped care for the frogs in the Captive Breeding and Research Facility housed in the Botanic Gardens. I’ve also gone with the team twice a week in the field to monitor the remaining wild frogs. The team has been really welcoming to me, and I’ve had so much fun contributing to this important work in protecting this species. In honor of these amazing critters, and in the vein of trading interesting animal info, I’ve put together the following: </span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Fun Facts about the Mountain Chicken!</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First off: what are mountain chickens?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Names can be deceiving. Similarly to how Dominica is NOT the Dominican Republic,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the mountain chicken is NOT a bird. It is a frog!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This frog goes by many names: </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/v/t1.0-9/947161_139581536237151_812101696_n.jpg?oh=598fb844e777d3fc1b2c8adf9d2d27e5&oe=54B68745" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/v/t1.0-9/947161_139581536237151_812101696_n.jpg?oh=598fb844e777d3fc1b2c8adf9d2d27e5&oe=54B68745" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; white-space: normal;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crapaud (photo via Dominica Mountain Chicken Project)</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mountain Chicken</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crapaud (Kwapo in Creole language)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Giant Ditch Frog</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">White-lipped Frog</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and most reliably: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Leptodactylus fallax</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens are so called because they were </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">once a prominent food source</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The meat of their long, well-muscled legs purportedly tastes like chicken! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Where do mountain chickens live?</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens have been extirpated (made locally extinct) from most of their former range. Previously found throughout most of the West Indies on the islands of Dominica, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and Antigua, mountain chickens are</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> now only found on Montserrat and Dominica.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens don’t exactly live in the mountains. Although their range is much reduced now to pockets along the west coast of Dominica and central Montserrat, they </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">typically live in forests, gardens, and plantations between sea level and 400 meters above sea level.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These frogs are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">terrestrial (live on land)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and are territorial. They are mostly nocturnal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do they look like?</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvr0ew4j5QPCNrYnYoWXpH1ull9lUUQPpzDDJffuiJQdewbdWVOIhHXAXolSdN4vgVh0-aKODQh8AJeB5_ADMmdkFe8-r11vq-1mxeENWKoI8T6yQds3M7SrKBW_1zVY6BPVBfWPQ5TX5/s1600/DSC03149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: -48px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvr0ew4j5QPCNrYnYoWXpH1ull9lUUQPpzDDJffuiJQdewbdWVOIhHXAXolSdN4vgVh0-aKODQh8AJeB5_ADMmdkFe8-r11vq-1mxeENWKoI8T6yQds3M7SrKBW_1zVY6BPVBfWPQ5TX5/s1600/DSC03149.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wild mountain chicken<br />
caught for a few minutes during field work<br />
to test for chytrid and measure size</td></tr>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mountain chicken is the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">second largest frog species in the world! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some adults reach 20 centimeters from snout to extended toe and weigh up to 900 grams. (That’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nearly 8 inches and almost 2 pounds!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></span></div>
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</ol>
<ol start="8" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens are typically </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">chestnut brown with dark brown or black spots and lines </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">near their eyes, back and legs. When they are healthy, their </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bellies are milky white.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> You can tell males and femals apart at maturity because </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">males have a black spur on their hind feet</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which helps them hang on during mating! </span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do they sound like?</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<ol start="9" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The frogs call to each other through a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">whooping call</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bark-like trill call.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The calls can be heard up to 1 km away! (0.6 miles.)</span></span></div>
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</ol>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How do they reproduce?
</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvBpVdL1DHbPAwWt0a2eEs5Klnd9vXVEE7gwxaR-eXMLmqLyp-_foGLtfBkx5op522UT6e73wYgVoLbJmFGadssi4rTP31RhLSSlP-C1jFOKF1vRYGf8uwqEXyFr3DtIBGGIAIcxEEk6T/s1600/DSC03153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: -48px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvBpVdL1DHbPAwWt0a2eEs5Klnd9vXVEE7gwxaR-eXMLmqLyp-_foGLtfBkx5op522UT6e73wYgVoLbJmFGadssi4rTP31RhLSSlP-C1jFOKF1vRYGf8uwqEXyFr3DtIBGGIAIcxEEk6T/s1600/DSC03153.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">showing a healthy frog's belly and long legs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<ol start="11" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Males compete for females by defending territory. Males call from burrows in the ground to attract females. </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4w_c768ac_GXH5rLDAHBXiqSMqhTzoTHNSwr_apAJOxHD3PqIGbibOoPtz8dyGIFvHIJ8fdYB-p6sCxYRaweWzHCWx4oCr6oVlVa0tFrCW00qbQo7zL0fntyEAL0DjamEgnYdnYjyCzLd/s1600/DSC02822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4w_c768ac_GXH5rLDAHBXiqSMqhTzoTHNSwr_apAJOxHD3PqIGbibOoPtz8dyGIFvHIJ8fdYB-p6sCxYRaweWzHCWx4oCr6oVlVa0tFrCW00qbQo7zL0fntyEAL0DjamEgnYdnYjyCzLd/s1600/DSC02822.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I check for a nest in the Captive Breeding Facility.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once a female selects a mate, they perform amplexus, in which the male holds onto the female’s back and stimulates her to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">release eggs into a foam nest the female creates during mating. The male fertilizes these eggs, which develop in the foam nest over the next 6-8 weeks</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one of the only frog species in the world to actually parent their offspring</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! The male defends the foam nest containing tadpoles from would-be predators. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Females return to the nest every 1-11 days and feed the growing tadpoles on unfertilized eggs</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> she releases from her vent (a sort-of universal orifice on the frog’s backside). These eggs are the tadpoles’ only source of energy until they metamorphose into froglets and leave the nest!</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">typically make one nest per year. They do so during the wet season, when eggs are less likely to dessicate (dry up)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!</span></span></div>
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</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do they eat?
</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXOO3BONAelaWOjyTl7wp9ayvjWC19l8l51FleKTKqAFsmQu-GGkycXlnivjNbwQtBqkU0-JcrVtGY_-S8ha3dhbGM3pJbBqSY16Ms9_wl8ID0-Jm800hOfmnRMwTZuJPLfUC5kfBrrRf/s1600/DSC03147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: -48px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXOO3BONAelaWOjyTl7wp9ayvjWC19l8l51FleKTKqAFsmQu-GGkycXlnivjNbwQtBqkU0-JcrVtGY_-S8ha3dhbGM3pJbBqSY16Ms9_wl8ID0-Jm800hOfmnRMwTZuJPLfUC5kfBrrRf/s1600/DSC03147.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cave crickets are tasty frog food</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ol start="15" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens are generally insectivores. They seem to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mainly eat crickets and cockroaches, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but may eat millipedes and slugs as well. Studies have found that each mountain chicken might </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">consume over 100 insects per week! </span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hypothetically, if 10,000 mountain chickens used to live on Dominica (which is likely), then they were consuming over 1,000,000 insects every week! With only a tiny fraction of the mountain chicken population still alive, the ecology of the forests of Dominica is very likely dramatically different, since there are so many more insects alive! This has environmental and economical implications for the forests, farmers, and all inhabitants of the island!</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain chickens </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can jump up to 2 meters</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in a single bound. They </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">catch their prey by leaping on them and swallowing them whole!</span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.lennoxhonychurch.com/symbols/image021.jpg" height="276" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo via www.lennoxhonychurch.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are mountain chickens culturally important?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<ol start="18" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mountain chicken is featured on the Dominican coat of arms</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, alongside the Sisserou parrot, banana tree, and coconut tree. </span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mountain chicken was formerly the national dish of Dominica. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Since hunting is illegal, people are no longer allowed to eat mountain chickens.) Poaching may still occur.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mountain chicken is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">featured on logos </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of the National Bank of Dominica (nicknamed the Crapaud Bank) and other businesses.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> figures of speech mention the Crapaud:</span></span></div>
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</ol>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crapaud smoke my pipe. (I'm not doing so well.)</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She has a waist like Crapaud. (to describe a slim woman)</span></span></div>
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</ul>
<ol start="22" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">familiar and beloved species </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the hearts of many Dominicans.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</ol>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are mountain chickens endangered?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiG8EQhswrtsyeYeMBYVnGWOgVtuUk9ZNl5kXG99NR0XerG13t7OzOgWEZEyznY8T1TtYRmpoXgUwxITRB1_ncWiUBxWHPYzIL7_p10m6OTHVISdFUBukGE9ZlHW1VhdQnym5jz0hYPVt/s1600/DSC02827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiG8EQhswrtsyeYeMBYVnGWOgVtuUk9ZNl5kXG99NR0XerG13t7OzOgWEZEyznY8T1TtYRmpoXgUwxITRB1_ncWiUBxWHPYzIL7_p10m6OTHVISdFUBukGE9ZlHW1VhdQnym5jz0hYPVt/s1600/DSC02827.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dominica's Captive Breeding Facility</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ol start="23" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mountain chickens are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">critically endangered</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is the most dangerous classification, and is superceded only by extinction. </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Populations of mountain chickens suffer from overhunting and habitat loss, but the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most harmful cause endangering these frogs is the fungal disease </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytridiomycosis</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Commonly called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this fungus infects the sensitive skin of amphibians. Since amphibians breathe through their skin, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">once infected, mountain chickens typically die within 48 hours of exposure</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is on the rise throughout Central America and the Caribbean, threatening many amphibian species. </span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Researchers believe </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">arrived on Dominica in the late 1990s,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> possibly through imported produce or other goods. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spores may also be spread attached to soiled shoes or clothing, which is why we as researchers have to take extra precaution to not spread the disease between study sites. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By 2002, upwards of 80-95% of the population died. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People reported thousands of dead frogs to the Forestry Dept, and studies found </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to be the major cause of death.</span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What can I do to protect the mountain chicken?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoz4OqEvM61Os-LVM_exRqOiFDPtOQxr0FLdIrWS56LztUGbzh9lSLMClqXJuMA1RhpSfvJJ7GLHfesWwpjiBwnDpV96kb9Hq_JyHmMzSvscSCrMGt3pM7k4i1DGy-6udOorJThwdn962C/s1600/DSC02807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoz4OqEvM61Os-LVM_exRqOiFDPtOQxr0FLdIrWS56LztUGbzh9lSLMClqXJuMA1RhpSfvJJ7GLHfesWwpjiBwnDpV96kb9Hq_JyHmMzSvscSCrMGt3pM7k4i1DGy-6udOorJThwdn962C/s1600/DSC02807.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the team at the Captive Breeding Facility <br />
works to protect mountain chickens</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ol start="27" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spread the word! Educate others </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">about the importance of the mountain chicken ecologically, economically, culturally, and intrinsically! Teach your kids about mountain chickens. Inspire a love and sense of duty for nature and all her species! Spend time playing outside!</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do NOT hunt, harvest, eat, collect, or move any mountain chickens</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you encounter!</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Report findings of mountain chickens to the Forestry Department</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by phone or email! Make note of the date, time, location, and any other pertinent information.</span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Phone: </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">(767) 266 3817</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Email: forestry@cwdom.dm</span></span></div>
<ol start="30" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep pets indoors, especially at night!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Cats and dogs continue to kill the few mountain chickens left in the wild.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t spread </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! Wash clothes and shoes often,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> especially if you have been to another island with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (most of them), or if you work in imports/exports. Efforts are also in motion to minimize the risk of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">arriving on imported goods, especially produce which may carry stowaway tree frogs or other critters who can carry </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but are unaffected by it.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As scientists working directly with the frogs we take extra precautions. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the precautions we take:</span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We wear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> latex gloves</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and change gloves after handling any frogs, and when visiting a different room in the captive breeding facility or any field site. </span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We also </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">change clothes and shoes</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> between working in the captive breeding facility or doing any field work, and must wash clothes and shoes before revisiting a site.</span></span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We use a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">disinfectant called Virkon</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to wash shoes and materials like water bowls to prevent any spread of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chytrid.</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<ol start="33" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Support conservation efforts! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Volunteer in a citizen science program. Contact your government and tell them conservation is important to you! Donate money to conservation projects! Educate yourself and others! </span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are some links if you wish to learn more:</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.mountainchicken.org/" style="line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mountain Chicken Project</span></a></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.15;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptodactylus_fallax" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wikipedia for Mountain Chicken</span></a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.arkive.org/mountain-chicken/leptodactylus-fallax/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Arkive Mountain Chicken Info</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Leptodactylus_fallax" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BBC Mountain Chicken Footage</span></a></li>
</ul>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me know if you have questions or comments!</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for hopping by! Haha, frog puns. Ahahaha. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carrie</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P.S. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Citations:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Facts are from what I’ve learned as an intern at the Mountain Chicken Project under Alex Blackman and Machel Sulton, as well as from the Mountain Chicken Species Action Plan for Montserrat:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Martin, L., Morton, M.N., Hilton, G.M., Young, R.P., Garcia, G., Cunningham, A.A., James, A., Gray, G. and Mendes, S. (eds) (2007). A Species Action Plan for the Montserrat mountain chicken Leptodactylus fallax. Department of Environment, Montserrat.</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-73485321037181770662014-09-30T16:31:00.000-04:002014-09-30T16:32:40.390-04:00Dominica's MinibusesHere in Dominica, public transportation consists primarily of 15 passenger vans that zip along the island roads. I sometimes see a bigger bus carrying tourists up to Trafalgar Falls. I've found the minibuses to be a very reliable and inexpensive way of getting around Dominica. Sometimes there are long waits, as the buses only depart when they are full.<br />
<br />
When walking by the bus stops of Roseau, drivers holler out to ask you "Hey, going Portsmouth?" "You want to go Soufriere?" The bus stops are spread out across Town depending on the destination. (Buses headed to Trafalgar meet by Astaphan's market; buses headed north meet by the vegetable market; those headed south gather near the craft market.) If catching the bus along its route, all I have to do is flag the bus down with a wave and ask if it's going my way, and whether I can hop on.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCx5mOGyYA8KCx9SzxyKkAiq-Hu95o_GH80D5yqd3757MTQgc4Lcwf0TdMn58m4K9WlG3d9QWqSvv8ZIhDqMqQRN5nOnbD7JmKg4L3IFGVdB93zx5u4X3hUrc2wgac1gobgBB297NgpqTd/s1600/DSC03162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCx5mOGyYA8KCx9SzxyKkAiq-Hu95o_GH80D5yqd3757MTQgc4Lcwf0TdMn58m4K9WlG3d9QWqSvv8ZIhDqMqQRN5nOnbD7JmKg4L3IFGVdB93zx5u4X3hUrc2wgac1gobgBB297NgpqTd/s1600/DSC03162.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">roads of Roseau</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once crammed full of people and all our belongings, the buses jump to life. The drivers maneuver the crowded, sometimes pothole-ridden streets, and only slow down for an upcoming "speed hump" in the highway. Given the unpredictable traffic, many hairpin turns, and weather-worn condition of most roads, I'm really enjoying using the buses, and not having to worry about driving. I still get confused that traffic is on the left side.<br />
<br />
Many of the mini-buses and taxis have names stickered to their dashboards. Some display the driver's name : "Uncle Toney," "Eddie." Many invoke religious blessings: "Praise God," "The Lord is My Salvation" (the latter written in tiny print to fit across the window.) Others are beyond me to explain. I've started keeping a list of favorites:<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Carrie's Favorite Amusing Minibus Names:</span></b><br />
<ol>
<li><b>Awesome</b></li>
<li><b>Sizzler</b></li>
<li><b>Heaven Sent</b></li>
<li><b>Patience</b></li>
<li><b>More Lonely</b></li>
<li><b>Creeper</b></li>
<li><b>Solid as a ROCK</b></li>
<li><b>Get Use To It</b></li>
<li><b>Lizard Lick</b></li>
<li><b>Batman.</b></li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
(Disclaimer: those mentioned are named because I find their names amusing, and have no bearing on the quality of service of said transportation. Never fear, dear readers. Interesting names aside, almost all the of public-transport experiences I have had in Dominica have been excellent!)<br />
<br />
If you wish, you can try your luck at "riding" too, a.k.a. hitchhiking. Rather than putting out your thumb, extend your arm and wiggle your hand. Drivers may give you a honk or a wave to tell you they aren't going your way, but wish you well. Your best bet is likely to try flagging down a pick-up and hopping in the bed. Rastas seem the most willing to pick up riders as far as I have seen.<br />
<br />
I have only tried riding while in the company of locals. I have heard that it is hard to flag down a ride if not a local. This may be because you are a stranger (small island means most locals recognize each other or know a friend of a friend or distant family member), but I suspect there are other feelings at play. To my other solo female travelers, I've been cautioned by locals that I should take extra care if riding alone, and often expect not to get picked up. Better to take the buses, many locals have told me. Personally, I haven't given riding much of a try, but I know I'd feel safer getting in a car or truck bed that was also carrying other women. I've found that ladies look out for each other almost universally. Of course, many men also look out for ladies, but I'm speaking out of my own experiences of how to look for safe(r) situations.<br />
<br />
Using the minibus system has been one of the most obvious examples of the importance of my Grandpa's wise advice. When I left to go abroad he reminded me that two of the most important things to remember were patience and a sense of humor.<br />
<br />
Sending you a smile and a deep breath,<br />
(hopefully full of Caribbean breeze, and not bus exhaust),<br />
CarrieAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-65545346879607167472014-09-22T17:29:00.000-04:002014-09-22T17:29:45.092-04:00Roseau Library Writing Workshops<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello!</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-dd9cbed6-8b12-b346-6d16-8d879c2f915a" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been holding writing workshops at the Roseau Public Library for the last few Wednesdays. This past Wednesday was the fourth of the series, and I plan to continue holding them weekly until I leave Dominica at the end of October. So far they have been a big success!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I teamed up with the library to hold these workshops. Some of the librarians warned me that few people were likely to turn up, especially adults. They explained that when they held events geared toward adult patrons, they had few attendees. I wanted to try anyway. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My format for the workshops is very simple, and inspired by the Writer’s Circle I attended at <a href="http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/" target="_blank">Wheaton College</a>, held by the talented poet, Ellen Parent. Here at the library, we set up a long table and chairs so that everyone can see each other and have space to work. The library provides the table, chairs, paper, and pencils, as well as an easel and oversized notepad on which I write the prompts. I also provide snacks of juice and cookies. But most importantly: what goes on during the workshop?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introductions:</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNqkwNlqohr_BKhTLNmxUD6F6G0B0b_PdjwN-tfqa9TR9F4aC_hVU1x3RAoa-y5_N-5aJKXoovS3kykSMycdUho1Rf6aO1AAd9p-kpbBF-SYmQMiGowZUZ7LPtsXAALoJi17UURPc3GEa/s1600/DSC02910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNqkwNlqohr_BKhTLNmxUD6F6G0B0b_PdjwN-tfqa9TR9F4aC_hVU1x3RAoa-y5_N-5aJKXoovS3kykSMycdUho1Rf6aO1AAd9p-kpbBF-SYmQMiGowZUZ7LPtsXAALoJi17UURPc3GEa/s1600/DSC02910.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">writing board with agenda and prompts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We begin with introductions: name, perhaps where you are from, your interests, your writing style. For the first few sessions we also spent time talking about our goals as individuals and as a group. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
<br />
<ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Writing Exercise:</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next we jump into a 15-20 minute free-writing exercise. I provide three to five prompts to spark people’s creativity, but encourage them to write about whatever they want; the workshop is intended as a space for creativity to flourish, not as an exercise in following instructions. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<ol start="3" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sharing and Feedback:</span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s always hard to end the free-write, but the final portion of the workshop (the last 20-25 minutes) is dedicated to sharing work and receiving feedback from the group. Sharing is voluntary, but I’ve found most people are eager to read their work. The writer reads the piece aloud and individuals from the group offer their comments. We established a rule that feedback must be positive or constructive.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Happily, 14 people came to my first workshop back at the end of August! It was a mix of children and adults, ranging from eight year old girls to young men to middle aged women. After that first group, I decided to split the workshop into two sections. So, now we’ve been meeting from 3-4pm for children and teens, and from 4-5pm for adults. Not only has this made it so more people can attend, but it allows me to work better within the specificities of each group’s writing, and allows adults to bring pieces that aren’t completely child-appropriate. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEQL6bwKZ5_B6KqczW5s0UYu4nO_hs_ns2nmr6qBP8mPpxJjsYr1HRUpzjmV1qfZ1IODWn0lcno-ouq9PoPEkRbImBPZ2T8sN_44pBy38Yx9A0bwHGvffL_ZZ8xpPyCUwMJWNkGUa8cV5/s1600/DSC02911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbEQL6bwKZ5_B6KqczW5s0UYu4nO_hs_ns2nmr6qBP8mPpxJjsYr1HRUpzjmV1qfZ1IODWn0lcno-ouq9PoPEkRbImBPZ2T8sN_44pBy38Yx9A0bwHGvffL_ZZ8xpPyCUwMJWNkGUa8cV5/s1600/DSC02911.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">participants in one children's/teen's writing workshop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far, the average number of people in each section is about ten. Many are repeat attendees! That’s really exciting for me because it feels like we’re actually creating a writing community. We have spent some time talking about how we can function as a community and support one another’s work. I think this is one of the most useful things I’ve done so far in this fellowship. My dream is that the groups (especially the adults, who are more established in their identities as writers) will continue to meet once I leave. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve learned some lessons after holding a few workshops:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many people will think the workshop is a writing class. (If you are holding a writing class--great! But that’s a horse of another color.) I’m not a teacher, and my workshops are meant to be a collaborative space for fellow writers to meet and recieve feedback in a low-pressure environment. I explain this to those thinking it’s a class on ‘how to be a writer’ and emphasize the fact that writers of all ages and experience are welcome. Most people stick around to try it out. </span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Someone may ask for general writing tips. Since I don’t pretend to have all the answers, especially about things like publishing, I open the question up to the group, and turn to a group discussion. This seems to work, and has gotten us talking about interesting concepts like audience, dedication, taking ownership of your work, focus within the writing, momentum, openness to criticism…These have been really valuable discussions for our group! (And for me.)</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It can be hard to keep a group on task, especially working with kids and teens. I’m still working on this element. I have to act a little more like a leader in the workshop for younger people, but I think it’s been effective to be gentle yet firm about the importance of listening to one another, focusing on one’s own work, and keeping feedback positive and specific. Luckily, most everyone I’ve met through these workshops have been very respectful of one another.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kool-aid and fruit juice look alike. Literally--no metaphor here. If you are confused why no one is drinking the juice you bought, it may be because they don’t know what it is. No disrepect to kool-aid, but it’s funny how much the tension in a room can be cut by just giving a bit more background information to what’s on the table. </span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you have any suggestions or tips for holding writing workshops? I’m definitely still learning, but I’m pleased with how things are going. I’ve meet a few dozen talented writers. My next goal with the workshop is to ask attendees if I can interview them personally to talk about what inspires them as writers. So far, when I’ve asked in the group setting, people mention things like nature, family, general impulse. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are the prompts we’ve used so far. I encourage you to try them for yourself. At the very least, holding these workshops has motivated me to keep writing. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sampling of Writing Prompts:</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Firsts.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lost and Found.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Voices and Silence.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nerve.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are here.</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“And then it hit me…”</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Extended metaphor.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Injustice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beauty</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“She walked back in holding a…”</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Family.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Guarantee.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dilemma.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Five (or more) Senses.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chain Reaction.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope to hear from you soon. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carrie</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-51630188901122902922014-09-19T15:43:00.000-04:002014-09-19T15:43:49.983-04:00Boiling Lake<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCRPfpY2NHEpnJ1vZMv8PkcnFxUJUF4RqNh-puwwMS1VQPqoMx0C6ogMUtML7nwmVsMcFXMJ7eliCNs-fFxIgLlE0tByZejgOlA1RwBnlkvZqWR16NV0gHSl-qRVvLRTd_a35qOM1gJJV/s1600/DSC03014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCRPfpY2NHEpnJ1vZMv8PkcnFxUJUF4RqNh-puwwMS1VQPqoMx0C6ogMUtML7nwmVsMcFXMJ7eliCNs-fFxIgLlE0tByZejgOlA1RwBnlkvZqWR16NV0gHSl-qRVvLRTd_a35qOM1gJJV/s1600/DSC03014.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">left side: Boiling Lake steam, right side: Valley of Desolation</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbVRkWl2BS1NXrsJFdjR9SjgNvNBbQAIBb0pDjkRGfeGQypfw0yIpBA_DhhyphenhyphenywVMJjeSGXyoGNZTzazHTU_9TNcs3_HcN-OYBCagfC4v9Cuu37JtMtJgj3HgOIw1lNBNU0iYoUJyODTXM/s1600/DSC02999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbVRkWl2BS1NXrsJFdjR9SjgNvNBbQAIBb0pDjkRGfeGQypfw0yIpBA_DhhyphenhyphenywVMJjeSGXyoGNZTzazHTU_9TNcs3_HcN-OYBCagfC4v9Cuu37JtMtJgj3HgOIw1lNBNU0iYoUJyODTXM/s1600/DSC02999.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">happy rainy hobbitses, entering Morne Trois Piton Nat'l Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The journey began in pouring rain. Nahgie, our guide, handed flimsy pink ponchos to me, my flatmate Emese, and his friend Baronnie. We tore them promptly as we wrapped them over our damp bodies and packs, and laughed. A good start to our trip to Boiling Lake, one of Dominica’s most arduous and famous hikes. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-66ff4f75-8b12-24c3-1a88-c005322c4a3c" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first hour was a gradual ascent uphill. We slipped uptrail along the earthen steps and logs slick with the torrential rainpour. Many steps are made from the timber of fern trees, which are slow to rot, and have excellent traction compared to the other trees with smooth bark. We crossed the Breakfast River and took a stop to drink the clean mountain water. This river runs down to form the Mama falls of the two waterfalls at Trafalgar. One of Dominica’s 365 rivers.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From there, we entered into the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, and the ascent truly began. Nahgie explained that the trail used to be more of a thrill, with fewer steps cut into the steep trail. Nonetheless, many of the steps that were built a few years ago were hip height, and it was still quite the scramble. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl32oxXZWw-YMMiLWmhbGmgT9OH-55lxVvgSMiqSYVlEHirHW1FyTkseAW-z9Qnu5tjiCZMEdlo3mKcQFUOgfRuJl67jTbA6B_pPhJQQlBuMcK4qXx9spGBNPaI9EIb5R2Tv73OK_V643/s1600/DSC03083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl32oxXZWw-YMMiLWmhbGmgT9OH-55lxVvgSMiqSYVlEHirHW1FyTkseAW-z9Qnu5tjiCZMEdlo3mKcQFUOgfRuJl67jTbA6B_pPhJQQlBuMcK4qXx9spGBNPaI9EIb5R2Tv73OK_V643/s1600/DSC03083.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view of Morne Watt, from Morne Nichols</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We climbed to the summit of Morne Nichols, at about 3,200 feet. Lha Ghelol! The rain cleared up at last and we opened up to a 360 degree view of the island. To the west was Roseau, glittering by the Caribbean Sea. To the east, the Atlantic. Four Jaco parrots flew across the valley, calling raucously. That seemed like a good sign. To the northwest, steam rose from the Boiling Lake, still hidden from view. From this highpoint in our hike, we could see Morne Micotrin and Morne Watt, both soaring up to over 4,000 feet. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boiling Lake is certainly an important element of the island. Many local books I’ve read so far make mention of it. In his novel, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pharcel</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Runaway Slave</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, author Alick Lazare depicts a scene where Pharcel, a young chief of a Maroon camp, escapes the militia by running through the Valley of Desolation, though he is badly wounded in the attempt. In </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unburnable</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Marie-Elena John comments sardonically on the disparity between tourists who ‘give up’ every day comforts to come and hike a challenging path to a dangerous place, compared to the locals, who ‘wait for the volcano to come down to them.’ (I already returned the book to the library--please forgive my paraphrasing.) </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HqVZughgiL-VmXXW0z4QdYQoj5qwTLEMEPZMsq2kYlkVSwVGLEl-FWLIxkSN0c2TiMPDyP2tAXYdbwzfc4st_EUslTeGMT-13G7vCN8DXh29iYsfzOXHWIr9vc-GB3H73V9itJ4-U3u9/s1600/DSC03023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HqVZughgiL-VmXXW0z4QdYQoj5qwTLEMEPZMsq2kYlkVSwVGLEl-FWLIxkSN0c2TiMPDyP2tAXYdbwzfc4st_EUslTeGMT-13G7vCN8DXh29iYsfzOXHWIr9vc-GB3H73V9itJ4-U3u9/s1600/DSC03023.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">descending the landslide into the Valley of Desolation</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Danger and wonder in mind, we began our own descent into the Valley of Desolation. We snaked down the east side of Morne Nichols, down from the elfin woodland with its short trees into a scene that can only be described as otherworldly. We climbed down a recent landslide, smudging our soaked hiking boots along the loose rock. I was very glad for my hiking stick. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We entered the Valley of Desolation, careful to follow in the exact steps of Nahgie and Baronnie, who knew the safe route. One misstep could mean a drop through the thin crust into boiling water. Pools of black, grey, and green water bubbled to the surface and formed pluming vents of steaming water. The pungent scent of sulfur filled the air and seeped into our clothes in the clouds of warm vapor. Chunks of burnt logs poked out of the yellow, blue, orange, and white filmy crust. No flames ever touched these logs, they simply baked in the intense heat under the ground. Amazingly, some rocks and logs had moss growing on them.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuz446UH8FyFtSgiKUdcKL1Ii7dCZ9G-kITZePt7yWYEMHC7oEnrOqh8aKui8aYX2_NVuwkTNLINE6x6d_DTJMZeLL_OJd0DY15ylEnUIT4q_ke287T5yoQRTIo0y6VIdQe0OGx4ImuW9/s1600/DSC03027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuz446UH8FyFtSgiKUdcKL1Ii7dCZ9G-kITZePt7yWYEMHC7oEnrOqh8aKui8aYX2_NVuwkTNLINE6x6d_DTJMZeLL_OJd0DY15ylEnUIT4q_ke287T5yoQRTIo0y6VIdQe0OGx4ImuW9/s1600/DSC03027.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">steam rising from fumaroles in the Valley of Desolation</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nahgie explained that the valley exists because the magma tube is so close to the surface that the groundwater bubbles up, reaching temperatures up to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of the fumaroles of the nine active volcanoes on the island are found within this valley. Although safe to cross if one knows where to step, even these thicker spots are warm to the touch. If you visit Dominica, you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">must</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> take a guide with you on this trip.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We sat on the edge of one non-boiling stream, where Nahgie gathered up a handful of mud the color of wet cement. We made face-masks with the moistened mud, and allowed it to dry on our skin. Nahgie told us that during cruise-ship season, some savvy people will gather mud from the valley or other volcanic sites on the island and sell the mud as an exfoliate for up to $10US per ounce. Good stuff. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2UK_93CMDsfCS3Uq1Y4ZlWe4IwLa9kqlnbOFgsDlTOSTdoklarCF5OMxFWBbZ6yeEd941SrkyR07X0-nKh777RPwstNiNDU3MrGp3Md-_1iFv89EHtsRKd61trB8SVe__WzpKvFGyu91/s1600/DSC03033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2UK_93CMDsfCS3Uq1Y4ZlWe4IwLa9kqlnbOFgsDlTOSTdoklarCF5OMxFWBbZ6yeEd941SrkyR07X0-nKh777RPwstNiNDU3MrGp3Md-_1iFv89EHtsRKd61trB8SVe__WzpKvFGyu91/s1600/DSC03033.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">boiling stream in the Valley of Desolation</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the Valley of Desolation to the Boiling Lake was about another hour’s hike. We passed a series of four hot pools where we’d return to bathe on the way back. Then it was down and back up and across another landslide before we rounded the last bend before the lake. There is something so magical about coming to a summit or rounding a corner in a trail and having the beauty of nature so suddenly appear before you. Takes my breath away every time. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lake was way bigger than I had expected. From pictures, I had imagined it to be about the size of a large swimming pool. Nope. About two hundred feet long, about two hundred fifty feet wide, and nearly two hundred feet deep. Under the surface of the greyish blue water, the lake is formed like an upside-down cone. The boiling water surges up, fed from the bottom at the center of the lake. Two cold water streams run into the lake from the sides, but these cannot cool it. The Boiling Lake is the second largest of its kind in the world. (The largest is Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand.) </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOGr3F9VgDZbwcX9QHDToXRfYHFt5yu3QoUiZ-VGGEQzl1G4le35549kdJcS7WLvB_FXMBUEhuA5dyi2qnp3pHpLbouiTy4WTzeMwYQhLr2yHWxSnBPhJbQXUbNuXS-G0X8_g_zTvMjLf/s1600/DSC03062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOGr3F9VgDZbwcX9QHDToXRfYHFt5yu3QoUiZ-VGGEQzl1G4le35549kdJcS7WLvB_FXMBUEhuA5dyi2qnp3pHpLbouiTy4WTzeMwYQhLr2yHWxSnBPhJbQXUbNuXS-G0X8_g_zTvMjLf/s1600/DSC03062.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dominica's Boiling Lake</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nahgie told us that the lake has dried up three times in recorded history, including in 2004, when he saw it. A small amount of cold water pooled at the bottom, and he swam in it. But, when the lake did refill, it did so overnight, and returned to boiling immediately. He told us a story of one guide who slipped into the lake attempting to retrieve a fallen camera. Although he only touched the water for a few moments, he had to be air-evacuated to Martinique and lay in hospital for six months. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We stayed a safe distance away, and admired the lake from above while eating our packed lunches. I brought avocado, bananas, and a “coconut tablet” made by my neighbor Joan, which was much like a power bar. Yumm. I felt lucky that we were the only people there (and had only passed one other group on the trail), and simmered in the feeling of open wilderness.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuSCSfEaV_O0CtYHrP6-oHfLxTamyKT2B8krrbn9xd8SVc69lHb7ljzzwYCyVmQp0JN1tX3t-1d7CXthypotWnwsjAHWkIroGggidOfrqGG6xFzzd_3K0rg_zarCM40_6aWSEj6b4yC8A/s1600/DSC03070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuSCSfEaV_O0CtYHrP6-oHfLxTamyKT2B8krrbn9xd8SVc69lHb7ljzzwYCyVmQp0JN1tX3t-1d7CXthypotWnwsjAHWkIroGggidOfrqGG6xFzzd_3K0rg_zarCM40_6aWSEj6b4yC8A/s1600/DSC03070.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hot pools in the Valley of Desolation</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We didn’t linger too long, knowing that we had a three hour hike back to the start site. We paused at the hot springs to take a soak, and dear god it was hard to put my wet shoes and socks on after that brief relief. We washed off our face masks in one of the few cold water trickles. This was extremely rejuvenating. My face felt soft and clean, despite how sweaty the rest of me was. We returned up the slick slopes of Morne Micotrin during the “golden hour,” facing lovely views on all sides. Though I could already feel the soreness building up in my calves and glutes, the hike down went fairly quickly. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our last stop of the day was Titou Gorge. I totally forgot to take pictures of this part of the trip, but I guess that means I should just try and go back another day. If you want a reference, several scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 were filmed at this narrow gorge. We started our swim by jumping from a ledge into the skinny but deep passage in the rocks. My legs were shaking from both fatigue and fear, but with some encouragement and the knowledge that the longer I stood there, the worse it would get, I plunged into the water! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I popped back up from the depths after that first moment of wondering which way is up, and followed Emese and Nahgie up the gorge. The black rocks swirl in rounded twists. Imagine a lava lamp if it were suddenly frozen. Sun beams shown down through the gap in the forest above, making the place very ethereal and spooky. We climbed a waterfall into an upper pool and stood under a second falls. I got a pounding massage that would have drowned me, had Baronnie not held my waist and pulled me back out. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having had enough adventure for one day, we toweled off and drove back to Trafalgar for a late but well deserved dinner. Emese and I walked down the hill to a final warm soak in the pool ten minutes from our apartment, then ambled slowly back up, and went to sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you do come to Dominica, which I hope you do, you absolutely should try the Boiling Lake hike with an experienced guide. It does require some level of fitness, but the trail is well maintained and the landscapes are unlike anything else in the world. That level of rarity is not to be underemphasized. I’m so glad I went, as exhausting as it was.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another view of Boiling Lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me and Emese at the Boiling Lake, wearing sulfur mud face masks</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another view of the Valley of Desolation</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sending love on the winds of volcanic vents,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carrie</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-6403958097172575882014-09-18T19:20:00.000-04:002014-09-19T13:09:17.588-04:00Mountain Chicken Day<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBur4Rpyn2aPCN0DsQaW91dP5NrOEHffUuqxfgFwEFm97z_VhJfjb5bC7VzYWj8Ws2s3SNblF53n2UKIrYEDQ0yADECr6m7KUCc5Pgf83EH1lV-j8P-pCpA7KktF-Io6Rz0G1rk83jmj0t/s1600/DSC02938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBur4Rpyn2aPCN0DsQaW91dP5NrOEHffUuqxfgFwEFm97z_VhJfjb5bC7VzYWj8Ws2s3SNblF53n2UKIrYEDQ0yADECr6m7KUCc5Pgf83EH1lV-j8P-pCpA7KktF-Io6Rz0G1rk83jmj0t/s1600/DSC02938.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carnival "costume" King Crapaud overlooks Mountain Chicken Day 2014 </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mountain Chicken Day was last weekend, stretching into a two-day event on Sept 12th and 13th. The events took place at the Information Centre in the Botanic Gardens. Our goal was mainly to achieve as much public outreach as possible, and provide a day for people to come and have fun while learning about the <a href="http://www.mountainchicken.org/" target="_blank">Mountain Chicken Frog (Crapaud)</a>. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhrqw1Dn7QVzhRRK3vVH2wpIp576-kksv6dMUQe2_k7cDxf5b_kz6ynzH066R8arzJwV-z6N-e6ajv81AnTZfVZTfZ7gW2ggwT4VawfVVuSJQwUstCfW4Gcu97T8PltZTsI3nwL-d-j3m/s1600/DSC02934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhrqw1Dn7QVzhRRK3vVH2wpIp576-kksv6dMUQe2_k7cDxf5b_kz6ynzH066R8arzJwV-z6N-e6ajv81AnTZfVZTfZ7gW2ggwT4VawfVVuSJQwUstCfW4Gcu97T8PltZTsI3nwL-d-j3m/s1600/DSC02934.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nearly 200 people came through, mostly student groups, but also my friends from <a href="http://www.gaiadidgardensdominica.com/" target="_blank">Gaiadid Gardens</a>, and writer/blogger Gwen Whitford. Gwen is an admirable writer who I have been lucky enough to meet and chat with; she writes about living on the island <a href="http://gwenithwhitford.com/" target="_blank">here.</a> Her writing was one of the first ways I started learning about life in Dominica!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwGU2V1V-yo9Cnh-0L_A_spjv3kVK2j8A0RTM1gfvW79LCnYDjqmBKV-JVSLeZioFzneFMrwS0mVyDRsLntZGU6QwfD5oAgkdZZ03-q3t40HmHwsG5YgUj_8rBbYbUiiHTYTaOAFl7lfb/s1600/DSC02926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwGU2V1V-yo9Cnh-0L_A_spjv3kVK2j8A0RTM1gfvW79LCnYDjqmBKV-JVSLeZioFzneFMrwS0mVyDRsLntZGU6QwfD5oAgkdZZ03-q3t40HmHwsG5YgUj_8rBbYbUiiHTYTaOAFl7lfb/s1600/DSC02926.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We had coloring pages, word searches, informative videos, a station to practice “how to be a frog scientist” and a treasure hunt. The frog scientist station was my favorite. We had plush frogs as our test subjects, and taught the kids how to swab, measure, and weigh the frogs. The kids took to it readily. The hardest part was getting on the latex gloves! (We wore gloves to demonstrate how we have to protect the frogs from exposure to the fungal disease Chytrid that decimated the population.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite the heat, the events were really fun! Most people who came were too young to have seen the frog population in its prime, but many adults came in with questions about what had happened to this once-so-familiar frog. Several visitors were disappointed that we couldn’t show them the live frogs up at the Captive Breeding Facility, but seemed pacified when we explained that it’s currently breeding season and it would simply be too stressful to have people coming in and out of the pens during the event, as well as the potential risks of Chytrid exposure.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another cool aspect of the Mountain Chicken Day events was the showcasing of local poet Delroy Nesta Williams’ poem “The Crapaud Story.” Watch it below! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can check out Delroy’s other writing at his blog: <a href="http://delroynesta.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">And Then There Was Nesta</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These are the kinds of intersections I’m really looking for with my fellowship, and it’s been so fun to see the ways that conservation, writing, and learning come together. Yay!</span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learn more about the partner efforts to protect the Mountain Chicken Frog in Montserrat here:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All the froggy love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carrie</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-21690010535842144312014-09-09T15:28:00.001-04:002014-09-09T15:30:31.166-04:00Save the Mountain Chicken!<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcdVtPvnitbJe20nuhfpB5IJT0aWVzj6MdAmOiIgQP1qJpKc9wh-lkWSLDS-Z6mxo2TDakGtUSiCAleVVlOR6sH78fwTS8If-gYMJLytI3RMSTDG9CHcuw_nfGo3eyAJ69Y_6GsDt-LWUS/s1600/DSC02847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcdVtPvnitbJe20nuhfpB5IJT0aWVzj6MdAmOiIgQP1qJpKc9wh-lkWSLDS-Z6mxo2TDakGtUSiCAleVVlOR6sH78fwTS8If-gYMJLytI3RMSTDG9CHcuw_nfGo3eyAJ69Y_6GsDt-LWUS/s1600/DSC02847.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Chicken Captive Breeding Facility</td></tr>
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Mondays and Wednesdays I volunteer with the <a href="http://www.mountainchicken.org/" target="_blank">Mountain Chicken Frog Project</a>. I help out in the mornings at the captive breeding facility in the Botanic Gardens and in the evenings with the field work. The project is intended to conserve the critically endangered mountain chicken frog (<i>Leptodactylus fallax), </i>also known as the crapaud (kwapo in Patois Creole), giant ditch frog, white-lipped frog<i>. </i>The frogs are only found on Dominica and Montserrat, and are in serious danger of extinction due to overhunting and the invasive fungal disease Chytridiomycosis (usually shortened to chytrid). The first reports of the fungus stem from 2002, when people began reporting massive numbers of sick and dying mountain chicken frogs. Estimates range that 70%-95% of the population died around this time. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Mountain Chicken!</td></tr>
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one of the cricket rooms</div>
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Since then, it has become illegal to hunt, capture, or move wild frogs. The breeding facility aims to raise frogs to ultimately release into the wild into the remaining pockets of populations. When out in the field, we monitor how many frogs seem to remain, and whether they have chytrid. The project runs under the Forestry, Wildlife, and Parks Department, in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London and Darwin. I mainly work with Machel Sulton, the Amphibian Technician in charge of the project, and Alex Blackman, a volunteer conservation biologist from ZSL. </div>
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In the captive breeding facility, my tasks have mostly consisted of feeding the food. The frogs in the facility are fed a rich diet or crickets and cockroaches that are also bred onsite. I cut up cabbage, pumpkin, watercress, for the crickets. Bananas and oranges for the roaches. After delivering the food to the insects in their homey plastic bins, we tend to the frogs. We check where in the pens they are hanging out (under leaves, near drains, out in the open, inside nest boxes). We change their water and make sure the peat substrate is moist. </div>
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tending the frog pen</div>
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The facility is biosecure as an effort to keep chytrid away. We rinse our boots in a sweet-smelling disinfectant called Virkon, upon entering the facility and between entering different pens. We wear and change gloves whenever doing different tasks or going into different rooms. I'm not allowed to wear the same clothes out for field work as for work in the facility, which can be a challenge. It encourages me to do laundry though, which is good for everybody's sake. </div>
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I really love this work. I get to play with bugs and frogs and go hiking in secret locations at night listening for the whoops and croaks of a critter so beloved in the country that it features on bank logos, the national coat of arms, figures of speech, and in the past--featured on dinner plates as the national dish. On one night of field work we also found a five foot boa constrictor along the transect. I got to hold it! Wah!</div>
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Sadly, when I tell people I'm involved in the conservation work, some smile and say things like, 'well, isn't that nice.' It doesn't seem like most people are convinced that the frog will recover. I think the efforts we are making to try are worthwhile. The best sign would be if there were evidence of natural immunity among the wild populations, which has been hinted at in some of the data. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Alex and Machel demonstrate how to swab frogs<br />
to visiting press from the National Youth Council</td></tr>
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Alex and Machel put a tremendous amount of work into public outreach and awareness. The hike along segment 5 that I discussed <a href="http://carriedecker.blogspot.com/2014/08/hiking-waitukubuli-national-trail.html" target="_blank">in my last post</a> was part of their awareness campaign. And, coming up this Saturday is Mountain Chicken Day! The public is invited to the interpretation center in the Botanic Gardens and there will be lessons on how to swab frogs for skin samples to detect chytrid, a scavenger hunt to discover frog facts, colouring books, crosswords, prizes, and all sorts of herpetological fun! I've been doing super exciting intern duties of sharpening pencils and folding origami frogs, but they are using the flyer I made to promote the event!</div>
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More to come soon about writing workshops and other frog-related news. <3</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQezNAZiwuc2SyefMjWbrPp8qMmYGlnoi8gnDB5uFkLKvwZGioUpdprnWObgG6E8UsiAtS-ZjsHNzvnvlO03lLv6ZBcJcgoyx-uX-nv5WfdR78SInH2YfLoh6W4N9cwqV62mYC_iSL2ah/s1600/DSC02830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQezNAZiwuc2SyefMjWbrPp8qMmYGlnoi8gnDB5uFkLKvwZGioUpdprnWObgG6E8UsiAtS-ZjsHNzvnvlO03lLv6ZBcJcgoyx-uX-nv5WfdR78SInH2YfLoh6W4N9cwqV62mYC_iSL2ah/s1600/DSC02830.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">another Dominican endemic species: <i>Anolis oculatus</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">treefrogs carry chytrid but aren't affected<br />
we study these cuties too!<br />
(<i>Eleutherodactyls martinicensis</i>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXNhZ82-ajKRLX8ytyNWU4J3BXHLBHTGCaUEIPkZ3IYSMJlSx2UVWsu4VCq3WsVQ3r-R6TLl7VQc8XDbKNGbkBBO4HNP2YWBfAUovg-M0yZw4cnydGPQJoKbmHIJ3hY7BgzQdfrZUvU3lm/s1600/Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXNhZ82-ajKRLX8ytyNWU4J3BXHLBHTGCaUEIPkZ3IYSMJlSx2UVWsu4VCq3WsVQ3r-R6TLl7VQc8XDbKNGbkBBO4HNP2YWBfAUovg-M0yZw4cnydGPQJoKbmHIJ3hY7BgzQdfrZUvU3lm/s1600/Logo.jpg" height="317" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountain Chicken Frog Project logo</td></tr>
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<br /><br />With love,<div>
Carrie<br /><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-12714963002066732482014-08-31T23:55:00.000-04:002014-09-01T22:08:06.218-04:00Hiking Wai'tukubuli National Trail: Segment 5Hi there!<br />
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In 2011, Dominica completed development of its 115 mile long <a href="http://www.waitukubulitrail.com/" target="_blank">Wai'tukubuli National Trail</a> (WNT). "Wai'tukubuli" is the Kalinago word for the island, meaning "tall is her body," which is an apt description for this most mountainous of the Caribbean islands. The Kalinago, also called Caribs, are the indigenous people of the island; their ancestors arrived on the island thousands of years ago from mainland South America. About 3,700 Kalinago currently live in the Kalinago Territory in the east of the island. I plan to learn more about their culture and heritage. If you are interested in Kalinago history I recommend starting with these links:<br />
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<li>http://kalinagoterritory.com/about-us/</li>
<li>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Caribs</li>
<li>http://www.kalinagobaranaaute.com/carib_territory/history/</li>
<li>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinago_Genocide_of_1626</li>
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(http://www.avirtualdominica.com/images<br />
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The Wai'tukubuli trail stretches from Scott's Head in the south, running north through the center of the island, bending toward the east coast at Castle Bruce before heading toward the center again and continuing north and hooking to finish in Cabrits on the northwest coast. The trail is divided into 14 segments and goes through all three of Dominica's national parks: the <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/814" target="_blank">Morne Trois Pitons National Park</a> (a UNESCO world heritage site), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morne_Diablotin_National_Park" target="_blank">Morne Diablotin National Park</a> (including the highest point in Dominica at 4,747 feet), and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabrits_National_Park" target="_blank">Cabrits National Park</a> (an important historical site and wetland).<br />
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Last Saturday, I got to hike Segment 5 of the WNT. This is a 12km section from Pont Casse in the center of the island to the east coast village of Castle Bruce, and purportedly one of the easier segments. It's listed at about 6 hours in the guide book, and that seems about accurate.<br />
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This hike was the Second Annual Mountain Chicken Hike; it was part of the public outreach efforts by the <a href="http://www.mountainchicken.org/" target="_blank">Mountain Chicken Project</a> as a way to raise awareness about this incredible frog and encourage people to get outside and onto the trail. The event was a big success, with about 40 participants. It was my first involvement in all-things-mountain-chicken, and a great introduction into conservation efforts here in Dominica. I met a few more folks from the Forestry Dept, and got talking with the people in charge of the mountain chicken project. I still need to check with them whether I have their permission to post their names and any photos of them here, so expect an updated version of this page soon! If you are a Facebook user: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dominican-Mountain-Chicken-Project/136933839835254" target="_blank">check out their page here.</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">information about the Mountain Chicken at the trail-head</td></tr>
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We all met early in the morning at the Botanic Gardens and took a drive up to Pont Casse in two buses. It was so encouraging that there were so many people there who were interested in the mountain chicken and in hiking, who wanted to spend their Saturday out on the trail. After a group picture and the handing out of free t-shirts (!) we all set out along the path.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIjpN3ZuwQIaHfJe3UFcIx09EJhdArKs00cjc3fIZqSjGtP7SrKM-Ur06GPhhpKLaLlh1_R0PD-0tCwHFovk_1LGL8Nr1ud1hH5_qolHLzOOJUyxZuAeva4CE2gGEugm5Et-xqXQvpiLB/s1600/DSC02767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIjpN3ZuwQIaHfJe3UFcIx09EJhdArKs00cjc3fIZqSjGtP7SrKM-Ur06GPhhpKLaLlh1_R0PD-0tCwHFovk_1LGL8Nr1ud1hH5_qolHLzOOJUyxZuAeva4CE2gGEugm5Et-xqXQvpiLB/s1600/DSC02767.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beginning WNT Segment 5 </td></tr>
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It was slow going at first, just because the group was so large, and the trail very slick from the recent rainy days. Although Segment 5 is one of the flatter portions of the WNT, the trail is still a good challenge! Even once the group had all settled out into each person's respective pace, I found myself having to slow down and be very cautious about my footing over the densely packed roots, leaves, and rocks that make up the surface of the path.<br />
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One thing that continues to impress me is just how well marked the trail is. The way is very easy to follow, with blue and yellow paired blazes painted on rocks, trees, and pavement (when the trail intersects with roads). Signs also point hikers in the right direction whenever there is choice of paths. Kudos to those who maintain these trails!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Oi0FAN31EcBSD5M9XjtbKKYTjSexGESZd8CFHApE5kCKX8AKFTDOfEVHhlbhyFkYSDSGzLCUoolo86NtoLufmiAiqWnJFlinfH_MH_lYg6b7XpojeP9Ycs0JMGZe5rtlrVtoFVBjOs0g/s1600/DSC02771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Oi0FAN31EcBSD5M9XjtbKKYTjSexGESZd8CFHApE5kCKX8AKFTDOfEVHhlbhyFkYSDSGzLCUoolo86NtoLufmiAiqWnJFlinfH_MH_lYg6b7XpojeP9Ycs0JMGZe5rtlrVtoFVBjOs0g/s1600/DSC02771.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of Dominica's 365 rivers</td></tr>
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I managed to keep my hiking boots dry for about the first third of the hike, despite the slippery and muddy descents and climbs. But, I eventually gave in to having squishy wet feet at one of the many stream-crossings we made. It is said that Dominica has 365 rivers, which is such a satisfying number--one for each day of the year. It's a very poetic notion. I need to pursue that...Anyway, I met at least a dozen of these engorged rivers during this hike, sinking my feet and legs deep into them, but luckily keeping my pack dry the whole time!<br />
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One of the bigger streams we crossed pours into the Emerald Pool. I'd visited this site once before while siteseeing with two companions I'd met at the St. James Guesthouse, but was thrilled to see it again. The water freefalls about 30 feet down into the pool via a deep notch in the volcanic rock, forming a beautiful oval pool that reflects the greenery of the surrounding forest. It really is a gem. One my last visit (there's an access path from a nearby road to the pool) we swam and stood under the falls to get a pounding but free and natural massage! One neat observation I made about the pool: the rocks in the pool are extremely well sorted by size, with bigger cobbles on the downstream side all the way down to sand on the upstream side where the river has carved out a cave of miniature canyons.<br />
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Further on down the trail, I and my similarly paced hiking partners came to a large, wide river. The trail led to a bridge, but one of the firemen who had accompanied the group in case of any safety concerns called us down to the riverbank where he was waiting. He explained that a recent landslide must have wiped out the trail, because it was impassable beyond the bridge. We would need to ford downriver a while before finding a way back up the bank to pick up the trail on the other side.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLSZR6TY4Ec8XIRL6ihTIwhO7Wihsbz9_mAQKOC5Zb1ygBJgTWbysaggUJOsmks54lj_w6_Zns07wHgXeXPlHlNAc5Tlm-sugtrn7tHPZMtbCHRKdD0Kbf6XLOHTd3tFFqyipD7SLtvKD/s1600/DSC02777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>The rest of the group eventually caught up and we journeyed down river. I had little idea how long we were going for, or how we'd scramble up the steep bank, but this was the point when the hike turned into a real adventure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLSZR6TY4Ec8XIRL6ihTIwhO7Wihsbz9_mAQKOC5Zb1ygBJgTWbysaggUJOsmks54lj_w6_Zns07wHgXeXPlHlNAc5Tlm-sugtrn7tHPZMtbCHRKdD0Kbf6XLOHTd3tFFqyipD7SLtvKD/s1600/DSC02777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLSZR6TY4Ec8XIRL6ihTIwhO7Wihsbz9_mAQKOC5Zb1ygBJgTWbysaggUJOsmks54lj_w6_Zns07wHgXeXPlHlNAc5Tlm-sugtrn7tHPZMtbCHRKdD0Kbf6XLOHTd3tFFqyipD7SLtvKD/s1600/DSC02777.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the landslide that took out the trail</td></tr>
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As we continued splashing and wading though the rushing water, it became clearer and clearer that returning to the trail would be a real challenge. The water deepened, and I removed my pack so that I could carry it balanced on my head--worried that one wrong slip would mean no more phone and no more camera. Luckily I kept my footing!<br />
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By group consensus, we forded back to the side of the river where we'd begun, except now much further downstream. We gazed across to the landslide and contemplated attempting a scramble up the loose earth, rocks, and logs, but decided we'd hoof it on the road instead. We found a way back toward the paved road through some farm fields, and passed an unimpressed bovine. I smiled, remembering <a href="http://carriedecker.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-good-day.html" target="_blank">the cows I met in the orchard</a> below RTC in Bhutan.<br />
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The mood of the group changed drastically once we got on the road, and people began to talk about why in the world were we walking like this--we might as well just get a ride. Maybe it was fatigue or hunger motivating these comments, but it's interesting how what's under our feet makes a big difference in our perspective. After only a few minutes a pick up with two Rasta men in the cab drove by, and several group members flagged the truck down. I'm not sure how we managed to fit, but at least twenty of us jammed into the bed, and held on for the windy, bumpy ride. The rest of the group elected to continue to walk--we were quite close to the end of the trip anyway, and arrived soon at a pavilion in Castle Bruce where lunch awaited us!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQUf82LiizfanB3SqCveMuZREiwwqv2Xva47Ng0BRVdaV5hNUQdxStlmiIOhZaax2ugu5Q6nG5_0EAmUaNmLPt4FdlyJQRc0BX-6EgfHKxsSh91UN3mcqOdoOOANa_R1xdLrcAT61ae6m/s1600/DSC02780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQUf82LiizfanB3SqCveMuZREiwwqv2Xva47Ng0BRVdaV5hNUQdxStlmiIOhZaax2ugu5Q6nG5_0EAmUaNmLPt4FdlyJQRc0BX-6EgfHKxsSh91UN3mcqOdoOOANa_R1xdLrcAT61ae6m/s1600/DSC02780.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">end of the hike by the shore in Castle Bruce</td></tr>
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Alas, there was no time to visit the beach and play in the Atlantic breakers, but it was a good time, and an easy ride back on the bus to my lovely place here in Trafalgar. I'm hoping to do at least a few more segments of the WNT during my time here in Dominica. Ideally, I may be going to the Boiling Lake soon. It's definitely on my must-see list. I'm also considering trying to get SCUBA certified while I'm here? Weeeooo many possibilities lie ahead!<br />
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Much love (and wishes to hear your hiking stories),<br />
Carrie<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-86118495511598176192014-08-30T23:09:00.002-04:002014-08-30T23:10:43.849-04:00I Moved to TrafalgarHowdy my friends! I'm going to aim to do more frequent, more brief posts here on my interweb blag.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiciQ_mZ9sLw5ynZ67w4AZ86o2WnJnjHg2My-ul41ZCenHZgDuQFK0d60qS4c3bNNyiR0M4_wmlA8PIcsareD8VHrKZ00kZC8NB-pNetUc5X26zqVXWaONrsqQ3jYqZNWX_xQWD4ZAOxhIe/s1600/DSC02788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiciQ_mZ9sLw5ynZ67w4AZ86o2WnJnjHg2My-ul41ZCenHZgDuQFK0d60qS4c3bNNyiR0M4_wmlA8PIcsareD8VHrKZ00kZC8NB-pNetUc5X26zqVXWaONrsqQ3jYqZNWX_xQWD4ZAOxhIe/s1600/DSC02788.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: right;">the front view toward Wotten Waven, </span><br style="text-align: right;" /><span style="text-align: right;">Trafalgar's neighboring village</span></td></tr>
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For tonight, I'd like to give you a little tour around my new abode. About a week ago, I moved to the village of Trafalgar, up the valley from Roseau. I have a lovely apartment, with great views of the rainforest hills around me. Here, I've got tons of space, including a private room, private bath, and private porch, as well as a shared kitchen and living room. My neighbors and the man renting the place to me have all been very welcoming, and right now, there aren't any other guests in the other rooms of this apartment. So, it feels like a pretty sweet deal: more space, more privacy, and immediate access to nature. The Trafalgar falls are right up the road. Down the hill there's a cool river where I can swim, and hot pools where I can take a soak. Only a 15 minute walk across the valley is the village of Wotten Waven, renowned for its hot sulfur pools. These come in a wide variety of temperatures and colors: bright blue, green, brown, grey, and even black. I'm very lucky, and really happy here. Moving in, I was actually giddy, and had to have an impromptu solo dance party.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrEI0ervc1ZaKIIzUKTdA6W0TIogCu-lNry_jJy7TTiHpp08j08yMwUaLDrIhFGYqd1y_SbcN8CnjQXtVyBAM60zHL7dB30IXmXT_wzvOGzCTp3QcazLLkY4koQZ5KkJxO5JMZ8zfGBqz/s1600/DSC02787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrEI0ervc1ZaKIIzUKTdA6W0TIogCu-lNry_jJy7TTiHpp08j08yMwUaLDrIhFGYqd1y_SbcN8CnjQXtVyBAM60zHL7dB30IXmXT_wzvOGzCTp3QcazLLkY4koQZ5KkJxO5JMZ8zfGBqz/s1600/DSC02787.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">living/dining/kitchen</td></tr>
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The temperatures are much cooler here in Trafalgar than in Town, and I've been instructed that whenever a breeze comes through, that means rain is on the way within the hour. I can tell you, rains and wind are welcome to break the tropical heat in my opinion. It feels like a real reward to come back to this place after spending the day in Town, where it is much hotter and louder, though I can say I've had a much better time there this week, and the harassment level is down a bit--who knows why. I'm meeting more and more people now, though, so sometimes when someone catches my attention, it is actually a familiar face saying hello!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5X5pMgpFN97XDXF6Hb58oH2DgmBY2G3dVoqQWn7LZwnk5gC2axTzdZQoQGkIJ77dSXXLMQbErrBZcxtsfvsIdcsWXthTdF_ORe_ECZoOTkN3Xwc99rc9rtIC-aSqSZAIzFXmtrW7iOYL/s1600/DSC02781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5X5pMgpFN97XDXF6Hb58oH2DgmBY2G3dVoqQWn7LZwnk5gC2axTzdZQoQGkIJ77dSXXLMQbErrBZcxtsfvsIdcsWXthTdF_ORe_ECZoOTkN3Xwc99rc9rtIC-aSqSZAIzFXmtrW7iOYL/s1600/DSC02781.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bedroom</td></tr>
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The only small disadvantage to living outside Town (it's about 10km/20 minutes by car) is getting transportation. Luckily, there is a strong system of mini-buses--15 passenger vans--that come through the village on a relatively frequent basis. They drive by, honking to announce their arrival, perhaps every fifteen minutes between 7:00am and 9:00am, when people are on their way to work, and maybe every hour in the middle of the day. When catching a bus back to the village from Town, one just has to walk to the bus-stop and hopefully find a vehicle that is already mostly full. Buses only depart once all the seats are taken, because the drivers don't want to go until they can get a full fare.<br />
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To flag a bus, it seems one just has to stand there on the roadside and look like you need a ride, but the standard signal is to extend an arm and let your hand dangle there. No hitchhiker's thumb needed.<br />
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Once on the bus it's a steep descent down the valley, with some hills at a 25% grade. Driving in Dominica is on the left side of the road. Most drivers whip right around the twisting, narrow roads at high speed, but I've felt very safe in cars and buses here. I've only taken to "riding" on two occasions, once on a ride back to Belles with my friends from Gaiadid Gardens when we were returning too late in the afternoon to catch a bus, and another time when about 20 fellow hikers hopped in the back of a pick-up during last Saturday's Second Annual Mountain Chicken Hike along Segment 5 of the Waitukubuli National Trail from Pont Casse to Castle Bruce. We found part of the trail completely impassable due to a recent landslide by one of the river crossings, and had to walk on the paved road. That's a story deserving of it's own post however!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxRN2a7axLqIBHe5hRH4HRzO9w0dJW3FO6GbRkv0mcmBxWJD9uOhAxnaLaHApRUNmVtkPHjPw9svV_x4_6azkNUtS59Ud7whrMaTB2V2cxYyszkIyIChEBtIz7xN237iCYPdUTNRquYhf/s1600/DSC02783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxRN2a7axLqIBHe5hRH4HRzO9w0dJW3FO6GbRkv0mcmBxWJD9uOhAxnaLaHApRUNmVtkPHjPw9svV_x4_6azkNUtS59Ud7whrMaTB2V2cxYyszkIyIChEBtIz7xN237iCYPdUTNRquYhf/s1600/DSC02783.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">my porch + prayer flags</td></tr>
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I will write more soon on all the other things that are going on. To put it very briefly, I'm proud of the progress I'm making. I've started volunteering with the <a href="http://www.mountainchicken.org/" target="_blank">Mountain Chicken Project</a> through the Forestry, Wildlife, and Parks Department. I'm helping out at the captive breeding facility in the Botanic Gardens in some mornings and conducting field work with the team some evenings. I'm learning a lot, and loving it. The conservation team on the project is doing a tremendous job of public outreach to inform people about the status of this critically endangered frog, such as the recent Mountain Chicken Hike and the upcoming Mountain Chicken Day on September 13th!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K0kU1h25S7SRbKLqIatJRd3tHNjvUINRNNL_Qf_eFss2tRhiOnikfaWpiNkPJkAVnNRo3HislAUBpfEpfU0CjA3XbYQeilHQZDffo3pd1tFOY0B2FfwL05M3iziPwWD6W5YPb6Rr_OcL/s1600/DSC02785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K0kU1h25S7SRbKLqIatJRd3tHNjvUINRNNL_Qf_eFss2tRhiOnikfaWpiNkPJkAVnNRo3HislAUBpfEpfU0CjA3XbYQeilHQZDffo3pd1tFOY0B2FfwL05M3iziPwWD6W5YPb6Rr_OcL/s1600/DSC02785.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">whee! I can see the "papa" of the two Trafalgar Falls from my porch<br />
(it's there between the branches)</td></tr>
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I'm also volunteering at the Roseau Library and had my first writing workshop last Wednesday. I'll write about this in its own post soon, but I'm so pleased with the turnout of the first session! 14 people attended of all ages and they want to continue next week and every Wednesday for the next two months. I'm so excited about this!<br />
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I promise to keep posting updates, and can't wait to hear from you, my loves.<br />
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Love,<br />
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Carrie</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiMNQzkBP8128SN7SuXUoEMhgmVOLAUBKSg8N_d4yZZrEC2xf_1N1P1TUlVHSkXD9DtzPoebygei261xfUf3hMmUMWStHpEUFAhVKHwAuQUoR9M3CRR9zooqN5TNHIy3HbKR0znyM6EWH/s1600/DSC02753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguiMNQzkBP8128SN7SuXUoEMhgmVOLAUBKSg8N_d4yZZrEC2xf_1N1P1TUlVHSkXD9DtzPoebygei261xfUf3hMmUMWStHpEUFAhVKHwAuQUoR9M3CRR9zooqN5TNHIy3HbKR0znyM6EWH/s1600/DSC02753.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yours truly, on a hike near Pont Casse</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09681472735066858126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8786962662502990165.post-8977770208815519762014-08-21T17:53:00.004-04:002014-08-22T11:52:26.695-04:00Living in Roseau<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nKdyX1rn-du2E2jrsq0Jxe2nhDvH5OHurv4SYx8Tu9xtWpnDmkWpUWt-LGUmdOiDwIGJfIT7BOmsnm4KPzcHCapzCKL3PHQyN6xlE_IMsMHY739IgFE60lHirYGHyFy2f1QvGTsv935a/s1600/DSC02744.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4nKdyX1rn-du2E2jrsq0Jxe2nhDvH5OHurv4SYx8Tu9xtWpnDmkWpUWt-LGUmdOiDwIGJfIT7BOmsnm4KPzcHCapzCKL3PHQyN6xlE_IMsMHY739IgFE60lHirYGHyFy2f1QvGTsv935a/s1600/DSC02744.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">View of Roseau from Morne Bruce</span></td></tr>
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Hello! It is a doozy of a rainstorm outside right now!</div>
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Today's post will be a mixture of updates and a few moments from the last week, which I want to share with you. It's a bit of a long one, and low on pictures, but here's the breakdown if you care to scroll on through.</div>
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1. Describing Roseau</div>
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2. Thoughts on Street Harassment</div>
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3. Making Progress with my Watson Project</div>
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4. Good Moments with Ground Lizards </div>
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<b>(1)</b> I've been living just outside the capital city of Roseau (rose-o) in a neighborhood called Goodwill, placing me within walking distance of practically everything in this small city. The city is laid out on a grid, and over the last several days of more-or-less aimlessly walking around, I think I know where nearly everything is located. Street signs are infrequently posted, but I've made landmarks of the different supermarkets, banks, restaurants, and shops. Most buildings are one or two stories--the tallest is four; they are predominantly concrete, but some are stone, some are corrugated tin. Many are vibrantly colored, and a few even have murals depicting nature or political scenes. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">map of Roseau, Dominica<br />
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Lunch is the most important meal of the day, and can be obtained deliciously and inexpensively at many of the local restaurants, cafes and "snackettes." There are a few larger stores such as Save-a-Lot, and Astaphan's (supermarkets), Whitchurch (an all-purpose sort-of department store), Jay's (bookstore), but most shops are very small and have a fairly limited selection. Anything packaged or imported is far more expensive than the fresh produce, but I did splurge on some peanut butter. The majority of shops are clothing and shoe boutiques, electronic shops, barbers and salons, and a smattering of other professional and government offices. </div>
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The new market on the northwestern corner of the city, by the mouth of the Roseau River is the place to buy all kinds of fresh produce. In the old market (where slaves were once sold), which is just a few blocks up along the bay-front, vendors sell clothing, art, and local crafts. One wonderful feature of this area is The Juice Man, who makes delicious and cold by-the-order smoothies at his small stand. When I continue along the bay-front by the ferry dock and the locked cruise-ship pier (cruise ships don't come during hurricane season, and will return around November, bringing 2000 tourists per day), I pass the ritzy Fort Young Hotel and come to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DominicaPublicLibrary" target="_blank">Roseau Public Library</a>, a beautiful building with a wrap around veranda and well-stocked shelves. </div>
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On the inland, eastern side of town is the immigration office where I got my visa extension (hallelujah), and the <a href="http://da-academy.org/dagardens.html" target="_blank">Botanic Gardens</a>. These gardens hug the majority of the outskirts of this side of Town, and are the biggest open space in the area. The Gardens are simultaneously a park for picnics, cricket matches, and weddings, and house the Jaco and Sisserou Parrot sanctuary and the Mountain Chicken restoration project. There are both economic and decorative sections of the gardens, where different crops and non-edible plants are cultivated. Heading away from the Botanic Gardens is the road up to Trafalgar, where I'll be living for a good portion of my stay in Dominica. </div>
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As I was preparing for my departure, I was emailing with Prof. Matthew Allen, who was to spend a few days in Dominica in July. He sent me his impressions of the island, including a wise warning about navigating the narrow roads: "you can walk it too, but there ain't nothing like a sidewalk and the minivans tear down the street with little warning." </div>
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<b>(2) </b>The lack of sidewalks (there are a few in Roseau, but they tend to disappear, or are used as parking spaces) is not such a bother, but the level of street harassment is truly irritating. It sucks that this has been a major part of my week, and I feel that it's worth writing about. So far, nothing completely <i>rude</i> has been said, but the attention is uncomfortable, and feels like a constant reminder that--hey, this public space you're traversing-it's not somewhere you should feel empowered and wholly human. What I hear when a man (I've only heard it from men) says, "hey, why don't you come home with me?" or "ohh, pretty white girl" or a seemingly innocuous but leering "helllooo," it makes me feel anxious, stripped of my full personhood, and sometimes even pissed off. I don't get mad very easily, but this hits right hard at the angry nerves. </div>
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These comments might seem excusable to me if these types of greetings were between all people. It would be different if the atmosphere were actually one where everybody greeted each other, even strangers. That simply isn't the case here. As you might expect, people who know one another will share a knock (a fist bump) or a hug or a wave and a brief conversation when passing on the street. Other strangers don't greet each other, save perhaps by eye-contact. Women hardly acknowledge one another at all. I am curious as to whether this is because we are so burnt out by the annoying attention of cat-callers that we prefer the polite indifference of not minding each other's business. I've taken to sending silent thank you's to men I pass who don't cat-call at me, in hopes that this little telepathic signal will add to a minuscule amount of karmic progress. </div>
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Let me be clear: it's not that I want to be ignored. Far from it. As someone who has to push herself to engage in conversation, and who doesn't find it terribly easy to make friendships, I am grateful to those who will offer a polite greeting, or help direct me to the 'ital' cafe I was trying to find. When something like that can transcend into the finding of common ground, it's a truly beautiful thing, and makes me feel good about myself and people in general. But--if the only motivation someone has for calling at me in the moment I walk by them is the fact that I am female or white, I'd rather they kept it to themselves. </div>
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When I discussed this with one of my friends at Gaiadid, she pointed out, "I don't get why they do it. Does it ever actually work? Do any women actually respond to this crap?" I can't imagine that any of these men find women to willingly spend time with them by harassing them. It can't be about attraction. I'm certain it's about control, and I am perfectly fine and capable being in control of my own self thank-you-very-much. That's sort of the whole idea behind the Watson (and human rights). In a way, this harassment has brought the issues of race and gender and other forms of privilege to the forefront of my attention, and it's good for me to be conscious of how my womanhood and whiteness play roles in my day to day life, and how these elements of my being influence those around me. I firmly believe, however, that no matter the factors of a person's life, be it their race, gender, sexuality, age, ability, income, religion, etc., we all deserve respect and freedom from the danger and marginalization that results from street harassment.</div>
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I appreciate your having read through my thoughts on this, and I would like your feedback, especially on this last point on the matter: what can I do about it? For now I'm just ignoring it, walking by, disengaging. I worry that this is tacit approval, however. I realize I probably can't stop it from happening, but I have considered ways I could respond: "oh--I didn't know you were talking to me. Did you want to engage in a meaningful conversation? No? Oh. Well then." I don't know that I would actually say that--it does make me feel better to imagine it--but I also don't want any of these situations to escalate. If it's these guys' egos that are at stake--what would they do in defense of their precious sexism, when confronted? What do you all suggest?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45dEuFSehOeKEcgrzi8SdlDgclyNis8gq0bVy-Lw-aDbihRqUnvRGQFbu2u1uAyxO7iHvz6JMRpJxA5oVu9nqtwhpdVBJ5oqmkRGSnG8FDV9fvnq7NCb88q6H8ooDO0z5PNFrjBr06QX6/s1600/Roseau+Writing+Workshop+Flyer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45dEuFSehOeKEcgrzi8SdlDgclyNis8gq0bVy-Lw-aDbihRqUnvRGQFbu2u1uAyxO7iHvz6JMRpJxA5oVu9nqtwhpdVBJ5oqmkRGSnG8FDV9fvnq7NCb88q6H8ooDO0z5PNFrjBr06QX6/s1600/Roseau+Writing+Workshop+Flyer.png" height="320" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free Writing Workshop Flyer, hosted by me!</td></tr>
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<b>(3) </b>On another note, I have been making a fair amount of progress with project related activities. I'm going to be hosting a writing workshop next Wednesday, August 27th at the Roseau Library from 3-5:00 pm. I'm trying to spread the word about the event, and hope that some writers will attend! I was lucky enough to meet poet/novelist <a href="http://da-academy.org/profile1.html" target="_blank">Alick Lazare</a>, author of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pharcel-Runaway-Slave-Alick-Lazare/dp/0595395783" target="_blank">Pharcel: Runaway Slave,</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/KALINAGO-BLOOD-Alick-Lazare-ebook/dp/B00HHNO78O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408654158&sr=1-1&keywords=kalinago+blood" target="_blank">Kalinago Blood</a></i>, and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Island-Verses-Alick-Lazare/dp/0595194141" target="_blank">Nature Island Verses</a></i>, yesterday, and he said he would be there!</div>
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I plan to volunteer at the Roseau Library a few days a week, and when the school term starts in September, get involved in their events with the local kids. I may also be able to get involved at the primary school at Ross Medical School in Portsmouth, but we will see!</div>
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I'm also volunteering at the Botanic Gardens through the Forestry and Parks Department. Hopefully through this, I'll also be active in their <a href="http://www.mountainchicken.org/" target="_blank">Mountain Chicken Project</a>, which is an effort to study and restore the populations of the Mountain Chicken/Crapaud (<i>Leptodactylus fallax</i>), a large frog endemic to Dominica and Montserrat. </div>
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This frog has been threatened over the last decade due to the introduction of the <i>Chytridiomycosis </i>fungal disease on the island in the early 2000s. Once a common food and then a delicacy here, the frogs are seriously threatened, and I'm excited to be able to get involved in efforts to boost their populations. I'll be going on the <a href="http://dominicavibes.dm/2nd-mountain-chicken-hike-on-this-saturday/" target="_blank">Second Annual Mountain Chicken Hike</a> this Saturday as one of my first activities with the conservation team!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Close-up of a mountain chicken frog" src="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/naturelibrary/images/ic/credit/640x395/l/le/leptodactylus_fallax/leptodactylus_fallax_1.jpg" height="246" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Mountain Chicken, looking stately<br />
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Leptodactylus_fallax)</td></tr>
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<b>(4)</b> On a related note, I'd like to share a story with you about an afternoon I spent in the Botanic Gardens while I was exploring the city. In a book lent to me by the family at Gaiadid Gardens, <i>Ensouling Language</i> by Stephen Harrod Buhner, the author describes the importance of moments of <i>duende</i> in one's writing, and how these add depth not only to written work, but to the way we experience meaningful instances in everyday life.<br />
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Buhner writes that:<br />
"<i>There are moments in life when we experience something out of the ordinary. Moments when we feel the trembling and then a long silence. Something shakes us out of our daily world into something new and we feel an ecstasy. We get caught up in something outside of and greater than the self. We feel a moment of what Garcia Lorca calls duende."</i><br />
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I had one of these moments. I can't wait to have more.<br />
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I was wandering through the Botanic Gardens, trying to get my bearings and find a way to spend my afternoon. I felt much less like a stranger walking around the greenery of the park than I had in the streets of Roseau. I passed by the Bamboo House, where the rapid-growing, thick cords of bamboo had been planted and shaped into a chapel-like enclosure. I spent a few minutes at the parrot sanctuary where three Jaco Parrots (Red-necked Amazon Parrots) flew between branches in their trees inside their large-but-caged house, preening their long green and yellow feathers.<br />
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Across the lawn on the far side of the gardens, I saw a series of stairs leading up to a sign that read "Jack's Walk." It pointed into the wooded slope on the far end of the gardens, and I thought that this would be a wonderful retreat. Buildings can never provide the same kind of shade as trees. I took long strides up these steep steps, and followed the arrow-shaped sign up a wide path that made a series of hairpin curves up the side of Morne Bruce, the hill that overlooks the city. As I went, taking my time up the winding trail, but nonetheless beading with sweat in the tropical humidity, I heard the raspy calls of small brownish-black birds flitting in the overhead branches. I also became quickly aware of many small, quick rustlings in the underbrush on either side of the path.<br />
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I smiled, unabashedly curious, and glad to have such a discovery to find on my own. I surprised myself, and I'm sure, the little creature, when a slim brown lizard skittered across the track a few feet in front of me and I shouted, delighted, "Hello!"<br />
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Soon enough, as a I went along, dozens of lizards darted and dashed across and down the path, paying no attention to the differences in topography between the flat path and the near-vertical slope it cut. I made another of the hairpin turns and came upon another of the reptiles. At first, I misidentified it as a skink, but later learned it was a Dominican Ground Lizard, about a foot long, with a graceful sloping head, a grey scaly hide, and rows of lateral turquoise splotches marking either side toward its tail. It was sitting in a bundle of a plant that my mother has in a pot at home--a plant she called mother-in-law's tongue, also known as snake plant, or <i>Sansevieria. </i>It's mottled green leaves stood upright like a crown or a bower for the lizard I had intruded upon.<br />
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Unlike the dozens of others I had seen that day, this lizard didn't hurry away when it saw me. I knelt down slowly, excited at the chance to take a picture, and took a quick snapshot with my simple point-and-click camera. The lizard made eye contact with me. I decided I shouldn't move, and stayed crouched, holding the gaze of the animal. I think we remained that way for several minutes. I remember thinking, "I won't move until you do." I don't remember much else from those minutes, except the way the lizard gazed back at me across its slender body with its yellow eye.<br />
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When the lizard did move, it went up the trail. I said softly, aloud, "I'd like to come with you." After a moment's pause, the lizard began walking upwards in the center of the trail. Feeling a great sense of awe, the origin of which I wasn't particularly sure, I began following the lizard, remaining a few feet behind, as I would with any other hiking companion.<br />
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The lizard continued up the trail, rounding each of the hairpin turns. Once in a while, it would pause, and glance over itself toward me, waiting close behind. Seeming satisfied, it would face forward again, and resume our journey up the center of the path. I'm not making this up. This lizard really guided me up the path. Near the top, where the path soon opened up into a field edged by flowering Flamboyant trees at the summit of Morne Bruce, the lizard paused again. After a moment's eye contact again, in which I once more crouched down as a gesture of respect and thanks, the lizard disappeared off the path with a flick of its tail in the leaves and grass of the underbrush. I stayed another moment, feeling the strange sobering-up that follows a moment of sincere magic, then made the last few steps to the summit where I sat and overlooked the city, framed by an old cannon and a statue of Christ. These large monuments didn't seem to reflect the encounter I had just had nearly as well as did the bright red flowers of the trees and the wide clearness of the open sky and seas.<br />
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It wasn't until a few minutes had passed that I noticed an elderly man sitting against one of the Flamboyant trees, who greeted me with a friendly wave. I wondered if he could see the effect of the magic that was still making me feel vaguely luminous. I smiled and waved in reply.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our hero, a Dominican Ground Lizard</td></tr>
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I hope you are doing well. As always, I'd love to hear from you.<br />
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Love,<br />
Carrie<br />
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