Provence.....Waterwheel hunting anyone?!

I left Bayeux on the morning of the 18th for Paris to drop off Matilda before taking the TGV down to Avignon. The three hour drive through rain and Paris traffic went something like this...freeway sign says straight...Matilda says exit Dxx. No Matilda!! Finally figured out, she does not like toll roads hence all the back country roads she opted for. Anyway, dropped her off back to Hertz scotch free and on to the TGV.

Arrived in Avignon and for the next 6 days...this will be my base! Uneventful train ride but leave it to me to always attract the crazies that like to talk to themselves! I covered more than I thought I would and many of the places I had on my blueprint ended up getting swapped out. Of the towns in Provence... I started with...

Arles. Took the morning train the next day to Arles known for their Roman Arena and while that was great and I spent a good amount of time sitting on the steps of this historic place reading and journaling, I was more excited about the market! I walked the maket twice but spent most of my time at this sausage table. The sausage guy was very charming... he made the noise of every animal that he had the variety off on his table! He'd point and make a noise. I walked away buying a thing of sausage from him which I had him slice for me... a baguette from another station and that was lunch and dinner for the day! Got back to Avignon and was able to hop on a 5 person tour that I thought about doing to the Luberon of Provence which included Les Beux, Gordes and Roussillon which turned out to be my favorite. A quick stop at a bridge built 2,000 years ago and we were back in Avignon and by then I was ready for bed! A visit to Provence would not be complete without hitting up these small villages with a color palette that you would imagine Provence to have. Funny note...at the beginning of our tour..this group of 3 folks from England where complaining about these lour Americans that were on their tour yesterday and how they kept following them everytime they wanted to get away. They asked where I was from after and I said with a smile "California". The ead guy then said in his British accent...oh no and we've started off already by offending you!!! I laughed and said no offense taken...I feel the same sometimes ;)

Next day, took the train to Isles sur la Sorgue which may turn out to be my absolute favorite place in France. It is a town full of waterwheels, colors and just a good feel to it. I ended up being there all day walking the markets and waterwheel hunting...all 14 or 15 of them I believe. A town that would bring out the hopeless romantic in anyone.

Day 3...took the bus to Aix en Provence. I walked to the town center to get a map from the tourist office and what do I see? An Ironman 70.3 expo for Aix en Provence 70.3. What the heck?? I am on vaca trying to avoid this stuff!!! For anyone considering it, don't!!! Bad venue in my opinion. A town known for their water fountains and main coffee boulevard except it reminded me of a slightly better Market Street in San Francisco near Civic Center. Took off early from Aix and ended on the bus back to Avignon then back on the train to a town called Orange. I had 90 seconds between buying my ticket and getting on the train! Once on the train, I realized ticket guy didn't give me the right tickets....two one way tickets...not one two way and what i thought would be an easy fix at the train station in Orange was not. Once I arrived in Orange, I explained the ticket lady what happened but she kept referring to the no exchanges and wanted me to buy another ticket. Ugh... WTF? Chances are if I was fluent in French, this may have gone down differely and while 5.60 euros is nothing, I wasn't going to give it to her. I left the station to explore the town without buying my return ticket..no way!!! Orange known for one of the oldest Roman Theatres and just a delightful little town...much better than Aix. After a few hours, I decided to head back to Avignon by finding the bus station. For 1 euro, I was on my way...would take 60 minutes vs the 15 but I'm on vaca and have all the time in the world and was intent on not buying a train ticket from dumb ticket agent women!!

Here I am now...my last day in Provence. I am at the point in my vacation now where I start to lose track of the days. The coolest thing about being in this area is I often see the bare rock mountain top that is Mount Ventoux ... will have to come back for that someday!! Spending today to explore the back streets of Avignon before taking the morning train for the Cote d 'Azur!

France 2012...Went to Normandy But Fell In Love With Brittany!

Bonjour!

After a smooth flight from SFO to Frankfurt and a tight connection ... I made it to CDG! After too long of an encounter with Mr. Hertz guy who kept trying to upsell me to a French made convertible...I was on my way. Driving on the highways of France...things were going smoothly until the Garmin GPS ran out of battery and my poor man's Mercedes charger would not charge...onto my google map printouts. About half an hour later...I come upon toll roads except I have no euros..I was going to wait until I got to my destination for all that! Anyway...French guy was nice enough to accept my dollars but severely under changed me but I was just happy to get through and have enough euros to get me through the next four tolls! Also, as I started to look around the car, I noticed a "navi" button...pressed it...ah ha! Navigation! In English! So glad I did not go with a French car!!

About two hours later, I arrived at my first destination, Honfleur. Nice picturesque harbor town that will serve as my launch pad to the rest of the Normandy region. Spent the rest of the evening getting settled, familiarized myself with the town and streets and had my first serving of moules & frites for dinner.

Next morning on little sleep, I started my drive to Mont St. Michel, a place I,ve always been fascinated with! This is also when I discovered my car has a bit of personality of it's own...unlike google maps and freeway signs..my car likes to guide me on back country roads..hence I decided car needs a name. The driving adventures of "Yi and Matilda" begin! Arrived in Mont St Michel through long roads leading to spectacular views of this place before actually arriving. I booked a room in a small B&B ran by a couple. Danielle, B1B owner welcomed me with the most friendly pleasantries. She asked, "Yi..you are alone and you drive?" I said yes to all. She said ah brave girl. While I appreciated it, I don't really like it when people say that during my travels...almost makes me feel a little less relaxed...like that time in Budapest..."You're taking the overnight train to Krakow? Alone?" Once settled, Danielle recommended I spend the rest of my day exploring the Brittany region. I thought Brittany?? That sounds far! Not sure I want to drive out there! 10 minutes or so later, Matilda and I are on our way to Cancale, our first stop in Brittany.

After a nice drive on narrow country roads, we arrived in Cancale, known for their oysters! After lunch on the waterfront, we headed to St Malo which would turn out to be my favorite in Brittany. Beautiful fun resort town...water front...off ocean swimming pool...great for people watching fun! Lastly, stopped at Dinan, an old medieval Brittany town before heading back to Mont St Michel. The next morning, visited the Mont early enough to avoid the crowds, I,ve concluded that Le Mont is much better marveled from afar on the outside than it was on the inside. Beautifully build! Stunning.

After Le Mont, Matilda and I headed for Bayeux, my launch pad for the D Day beaches. It happens to be a national weekend holiday in France and many roads in Bayeux were either blocked or one way...after much circling around trying to navigate to my hotel which happen to sit btwn a blocked road and a one way, I decided I had to do it, ignore the one way do not enter sign and go for it. I could see my hotel and it was only 1.5 blocks...!!! After careful waiting, Matilda and I went for it, we only got one dirty look from a local! Sorry! Well, not really. Spent the rest of the day exploring this lovely town of Bayeux.

Now today...I just got back from my day exploring the D Day Beaches, Utah Beach, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetary. It is a little tough to fathom all that took place here...so rich in history!

Tomorrow...I bring Matilda back to Paris before hopping on the TGV to Avignon to start the Provence portion of my adventure! Matilda and I have not always got along as she constantly tries to get me to get back on the country roads as I'd ignore her for the highway signs...so far it's been all fun as I've taken in all the beauty of these little French towns full of narrow roads and roundabouts. All those roundabouts on TV as shown during the Tour de France...they all exist in close proximity!

My Week with Kasisi-- Priceless!

Sitting at London Heathrow airport paying for expensive internet use .. but what is a girl to do with this 5 hour layover right?! My second 5 hour layover.. the first one was back at JNB.

Happy New Year! My year started with Sunday mass at Kasisi, a kiss on the cheek from Sister Mariola and then a song from the kids at Kasisi. I spent a full week there yet not feeling like it was at all enough. I was just starting to really connect with the kids, especially my girls- Memory, Kate, Anna, Alice, Veronica, Agness, Mariamm and Mary.

Memory is 11 years old. She was the most eager of the kids for classroom time with me. We started with additions/subtractions but by the end of the week.. I had her memorizing a times table I mocked up for her (identical to the one my mom use to make me study) and unscrambling words. We also made it a nightly thing that we read together after dinner.
Kate is a friend of Memory's who wanted to join in the fun during the middle of the week. The most fun was seeing their competitive spirits come out when I gave them timed mass competitions and spelling contests!

Anna... 9 years old and the sweetest little girl you will ever meet! Everyday when she saw me, she'd run up and bear hugged my legs!

Alice.. special 11 year old who asked if I had a baby at home and after telling her I didn't... she asked me to take her. Broken my heart ..so lucky to have spent time with her. By the end of the week, I had her writing sentences about herself with the notebook and colored pencils I bought her in town.

Veronica... goofy goofy goofy!! I often had to tap my pen on her head and point at her paper to re-focus her attention. Giggles all the time.. goofy!! The way she counts with her fingers AND her toes in front of me will always make me laugh!

Maryamm..probably the most quiet of the girls and I never quite figured out her interest level.

Agness- the most mature of the girls and very bright when she wanted to be. She is probably the most advanced in terms of the classroom. I will miss how she'd unexpectedly would come lay her head on my shoulder..warm hearted. I almost felt bad for answering "yes" when she asked if I got to see my mom whenever I wanted.

Mary... 10 years old and always a big smile on her face. The look on her face when she realizes that she messed up a problem is something I wished I caught on camera!! Goofy too!
I will miss my daily routine of 7am mass, 7:30 breakfast, 8am hanging out in the nursery stopping Salome and Christine from biting each other, 9:30am start of classes, noon lunch, afternoon continuation of classes, 6pm dinner and then reading time.

I wished I had more time at Kasisi yet I feel like no amount of time would be enough.. so much to share there! I left feeling extremely fortunate that Sister Mariola took me in for the holidays and told me that I will have always have a home there. 7km from the airport, in the outskirts of a busy Zambian town called Lusaka, is a special place in the middle of nowhere named Kasisi. What a special group of people they are!

Christmas With Kasisi Children's Home

Back in May, I emailed Sister Mariola of Kasisi Children's Home in Lusaka, Zambia about the possibility of spending some time at the orphanage during Christmas. I discovered them while reading an article online. After a lengthy application process which included two recommendations from colleagues (thank you Monica and Alex), I was welcomed to come. I left Victoria Falls in Christmas Eve and flew to Lusaka from Livingstone on an airplane that was half the size of the bus I had been on for the last two weeks. I did my best to manage that flight but never again!
Sister Mariola and Sister Maria picked me up from the airport after a phone call a nice agent let me make. Truth be told, I had no idea what I was doing at Kasisi my first day there. It's been three days now and I am happy to say that I have a better idea now. It's really up to me as to how I want to spent my time there. I've sort of figured out a routine. In the morning, we have 7am mass. I am not religious, spiritual but not religious, out of respect, I attend the services. Besides, having 11 year old Alice say to me every morning, "Chapel?" is tough to turn down. I connected with Alice during my first day here. She is living at the orphanage with tuberculosis. She follows me around now whenever I make an appearance out of my room. The Sisters were nice enough to let me stay here at the orphanage ... feeding me as well!
There are 219 kids here from the age of 4 months (she is the newest member as her mother passed) and of those 219 kids, 60 of them are living with HIV. To be admitted to the orphanage, the child's mother must have passed. I spend a little bit of my mornings with the toddlers but I've connected well with the 10-12 year old girls so I spend my days reading, doing math and drawing with them. I take them one by one during the day..not very structured at all and they all have different levels of motivation. Alice likes to draw so I watch her draw.. I am finding that even when the girls are not very social.. they like it that you're around. The highlight so far of my stay here is teaching Alice the names of each finger. It's been three days and she's remembered them all now. The way she giggles and lights up when I tell her she is right is amazing!

Hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas and see ya'll in the New Year!

Chasing Rainbows in Zimbabwe!

We arrived in Zimbabwe early yesterday crossing the bridge and border into Victoria Falls. After settling down and getting things situated, I ventured out for some alone time walking the trails of the Vitoria Falls Park. What an amazing site! It is amazing to me that it's a natural.. all natural and so powerful! I enjoyed it so much that I did the walk twice. Once by myself and the second time with Aditya. Definitely more rainbows the second time around.. must have been the timing. Many times, I stood there in awe, getting as close to the edge of the falls as I felt safe and just marveled at the power of it! Amazing!! This morning, I got up early and walked over to the Victoria Falls Hotel to watch the sunrise over the Vic Falls Bridge. It was magical.

Sadly, today marks the last day of the tour I am on. In fact, it ended earlier this morning. Many of the people on my tour group will be continuing on their own travel adventures well through the new year and one couple for the entire year of 2012! I look forward to hearing about the rest of their journey. I am already thinking up of my itinerary for the next time I come back to Africa! The first part of my African adventure ended and now awaiting to start the second half. I will be boarding a flight from Livingstone, Zambia to Lusaka and will be spending the remainder of my year at the Kasisi Orphanage Childrens Home.


It has been two weeks since I have landed in Africa and I can safely say that I am no longer phased by the fact that when I walk into a room, geckos, beetles, and insects and flies of all types can be accompanying you. I do find comfort in the protection of the mosquito net!! Mexico City Frank will be proud that I no longer need him to come clear out the bugs!

If I am not able to get online in the next day or so.. Merry Christmas everybody. We all have so much to be thankful and grateful for!

Driving Across Zambia!

I boarded a plane back at SFO on 12/7. According to my watch, it's 12/22 now and here in Zambia I am 10 hours ahead. Last I wrote, we were a day shy of crossing the boarder into Zambia. Malawi was amazing and I will remember it as the warm country of thunder, lightening and rain. The most impressive was while I was in Chitimba when we were caught in between two storms.. it felt as though worlds were colliding. I imagine if that was the case, that was what it would have sounded like. What was more impressive was while that storms were colliding, my new friend Francisco fro Mexico City was sleeping in the chalet next door, snoring away. Amazing!! I told him about it during an evening chat under the African skies on the steps of our beach front chalets (bug infested ..don't be too jealous), he looked at me in all seriousness and says, "I still snore?" I fell to the floor laughing. It was almost as funny as him telling me about hipsters in Mexico City riding fixie bikes.. "You're in Mexico ..riding a fixie.. what's up with that?"

We've spent the last 3 days driving across the country of Zambia. Chitpata was the first town we stayed in since crossing the border. We stayed one night there and continued onto Lusaka. Lusaka is the first main city I have been to since out first days in Africa back at Dar Es Salaam. It's definitely a different scene.. instead of kids coming out to wave at you... we had kids lining the street curbs asking you for cigs. We shared our Lusaka Campsite with zebras, giraffes and these big elk buffalo looking things. A group of us went on a walk through the campgrounds to see what we can find.. the campground terrier dogs led the way. I was nervous that they would become lunch for some of the wildlife!! Towards the end of our walk, the funniest thing happened.. we came upon the buffalo elk looking animals stopped in our tracks afraid to proceed. I mean , they were huge!! The three terrier dogs on the other hand ran fearless towards them as if they were our protectors barking away.. one of them.. with three legs lost balance and slid across the road.. we all bent down in laughter. This morning, as we were leaving, they were terrorizing the zebras.


We arrived in Livingstone, Zambia this afternoon after what seemed to be the never ending bus ride. A few of us hung out in town for a bit and I do have to say.. it was refreshing to not be asked for money or to buy stuff. I might even start to miss the words. "I'll give you a good price." I do find myself thinking about a conversation we had back in Malawi with Hudson and the school master.. he mentioned that school was free for kids but that they had to buy their own uniforms and because of that.. not all kids go to school. They can't afford the uniforms.

Back to current.. Our campsite is next to the Zambezi River which should make for a beautiful sunset! Tomorrow, we cross the border to Zimbabwe and go to Victoria Falls! In a few days, this tour ends and the next chapter of my African Adventure awaits back in Lusaka, Zambia!

Malawi ...Warms the Heart

We left Iringa, Tanzania early morning a few days ago and arrived in Chitimba, Malawi after another 12 hour bus ride. It appears that somewhere between that time, I had lost my voice to a cough of some sort but with Dom (our cook) making me a potent lime juice/honey drink throughout one of the worst days, I was able to speak again! I seem to have lucked out with this tour group.. you never know when you travel with a tour group.. it's a crap shoot as to what staff or other travelers you'd get. Lucky me, we have a great guide in JT, a very skilled driver in Syrus who was able to maneuver us by a skin of the road during a malfunction of another trunk, Dom a cook who can cook his way to any woman's heart (or man) and then the group itself is of great people and similar ages- score!

 My first impression of Malawi are of the never ending roads that seem to carry on forever, like Lake Malawi that is 365 miles long. The people appear warmer and the land itself feels warmer. I prefer it much more than Tanzania already! Since I arrived in Tanzania some days ago, there has not been a day that there has been no power outage. Well, yesterday being the first one. In Chitimba, we woke up to two powerful storms coming from opposing directions at the same time-- it was pretty frightening. I was in my hut with the covers over my eyes not wanting to go outside because the dogs were going nuts. New friend, Aditija confirmed so as he said they tried to attack him! LOL.

Chitimba is a laid back village in the northern part of Malawi. San Franciscan and new friend, Brittany and I ventured off to a little village walk. We were escorted by kids named Hudson, Fantastic Steve, Patrick and a few of their friends. We visited a school and a witch doctor. The witch doctor charged $10 for a dance and $5 for a reading but to clear his head, he has to dance so we had to buy both services from him- funny right?! After escorting us, the kids brought us back to their shopping booths where we were urged to share our business .. meaning if we bought a bracelet from one of the kids... we'd have to buy from another.. sharing business. They were nice kids so I didn't mind.

Having said that, one thing I can go without is the constant haggling we get from people wanting you to buy things from them. This was especially in Tanzania. One cannot step outside the camp without collecting an entourage of local folks joining you on your path and while the kids are adorable.. you never know if they are curious about you or if they're awaiting for something to be given to them. Probably both.

Hanging out in Kande Beach for another day today and then we stop off in Lilongwe before crossing over to Zambia!