Joys of travelling

After a totally groovy and beautifully relaxing - as relaxing as it can be while you're writing your MA thesis - month travelling around London's backwaters on a boat, I started missing nomadic life again. Travelling from place to place, discovering and observing the curious behavior of resident natives, meeting people, drawing and listening to new music. Boat life brought on a wave of mixed feelings toward my already uncertain future, but these were cast aside to enjoy the present. I found myself singing again like I haven't since I was a child, and felt like writing again. All because I was on the move once more. I decided the life for me must be the life of a traveler.

Sure the toilet and shower situation was not ideal, but I quickly discovered ways around this. A flicker of doubt stirred when I was confronted by an enormous mound of possessions I had left at a friend's house, but these were resolved by purchasing a cheap transportable suitcase. It was annoying having to transport my life on foot the weekend that London decided it had had enough of summer and opened up the heavens to welcome torrential rains. It also wasn't terribly comfortable sleeping on friend's floors and couches, but wasn't until a the mother of all dilemmas that I finally remembered: I hate travelling. I had missed my flight.

The two hours prior to a flight are the most intensely stressful regardless of whether you make the flight or not. This is particularly the case if you have fallen out of touch with stress of flying. Neverthelless, everything happens for a reason and I have emerged if just a tiny bit wiser.

Things I learned in the process:

• It is VERY important to check your flight details a day in advance.
• You can pay for as many bags as you like on an easyjet flight, but the sum weight of all bags must not go over 20kg (21kg if you're extra simpática).
• If you have excess baggage it is cheaper  to get it shipped rather than paying the airline for the administrative manpower to process said baggage. These admin positions must be the best paid jobs ever. Furthermore, all airports have such shipping areas, you just have to ask for them. 
• Old ladies at check-in desks will say and agree to virtually anything to get over-inquisitive young whippersnappers away from their counters. "Can I get a refund for my unused baggage allowance?" "Of course!" "Can I get it after the flight?" "Most definitely!" Do I have to do this online?" "Yup!" "Is your website the most deceiving, uninformative, useless website ever?" "Uhu!" thanks. Harassed men at ticket sales desks are much more honest.
• The security metal detectors select people at random regardless of the amount of metal or sharp objects they have on them. You might as well wear whatever you want.
• Lady Gaga's first scent smells exactly like Britney's.

Things I already knew:

• Airport food is ridiculously overpriced and bland
• WHSmith books are ridiculously overpriced
• Perfumes are ridiculously overpriced
• Airport travel is the most annoying and stressful activity ever, yet this is the preferred medium of travel?!
• Departure screens are shameless liars.

So the decision I came to after all of these important life lessons? I am going to buy a boat.

Endangered Languages Week 2012 podcasts

Today is the 2nd May and my blog in 2012 has remained decidedly bare. Much of my time has instead been spent studying, exploring back alleys of markets, and discovering new foods, but for the most part, it has really been all about linguistics so far. This is not to say it hasn't been fun. Here are the most recent fruits of my labour, the production of podcasts to promote Endangered Languages Week at SOAS.

Enjoy!

Facts for Newbies
Language Landscape Web launch
Sand Drawings of Vanuatu - Mike Franjieh
Palatography - Jenny McCarthy
Scissor Dance of Peru - Jose "Pishtaco" Navarro

For more podcasts, visit soasradio.org

Columbia Street

Post-travel blues are a real thing, something which I've been trying to recover quite unsuccessfully from with a succession of various activities such as copious amounts of socializing, eating, drinking, sports, studying, sleeping, and tv watching. Some of those things don't necessarily go together, but there you have it. Finally today, I threw myself at the mercy of my flatmates and went out into the world to discover, gasp, London.

What a refreshing breath of vibrancy. The ultimate goal was to get to Columbia street, the flower market "at the end of Brick Lane". Lies. If it hadn't been for the mass migration of hipster hoo haas and young professionals making their way to and from Columbia Street, we would never have found our way through people's back yards.

I ended up buying myself a plant, a lovely cheerful little thing, with tiny little red buds making up cone shaped pom poms. 

Home for the Holidays

Home. Family time. Abuelos. Tios. Primos. Speeding. Curves. Jungles. Volcanoes. Black velvet sand. Atitlan. Maya. Photo shoots. Languages. Snorkeling. Sting rays. Squid. Baby turtles. Roaring currents. Sun. Fresh air. Shit music.

If my appreciation of Christmas were based on food alone, this would not be my favorite holiday. Formal family gatherings and extended holiday celebrations have become considerably more complicated since becoming a vegetarian. Nevertheless a bit of home time surrounded by my crazy family is always refreshing. Needless to say there is never a dull moment. The parties and gatherings which are supposed to be a blast - literally with all the fireworks set off - never are, and the impromptu visits evolve into full fledged adventures becoming ingrained into your memory forever.

It's a bit of family tradition I suppose to cram as many activities in as many different places, in this case as many different places in Central America, when we're together. The traveling gene is very much ingrained whether it's by plane, boat, bicycle, car, or bus - sadly there are no trains here. One day you're stepping off the airplane just to pack a different bag which will accompany you for the next 2 weeks. The adventure begins with the sun rising over a misty Guatemala City as it falls away from you and you dive into the clouds. Next thing you know, you're zooming across turquoise waters, diving with squid and stingrays, surfing with dolphins and observing missionaries and narcos interacting. San Pedro is a small island in Belize which I'm told used to be a little haven away from home. Its two block commercial area has turned into a full fledged centro comercial, but at the end of the day it's still an island small enough to traverse various beaches in the hunt to find your father who's on the hunt for windsurf equipment but big enough to cycle an entire day and not get all the way around. Time slows down and the sun is warm. From here, it's back for a day and on to the next destination.

El Salvador is an amazing country even when compared to the cultural giant which is Guatemala. Of course, I'm biased. There's no questioning that streak of patriotism which invokes hyperactivity on arrival and "blows dust in my eyes" on departure, but where else can you physically feel the power of the earth and its roaring oceans, see rocks come to life, and hear the twitter of diversity? You can scale the face of a volcano to find yourself in a field of hummingbirds, flowers and butterflies. You jump in the ocean to get tossed around like a rag doll as you throw yourself against 1.5 meter high frothy waves and emerge laughing covered in black sand. You burn your feet on the sand and cool them off in the ocean. At sunset, you can hear the clicking of canegues (hermit crabs) clambering over black silky rocks as they scavenge for food. The people are friendly and genuine, laughing, smiling and open. The food is heavy and filling. Cheese lovers, you'll never find a cheesier and more satisfying dish than pupusas. I don't care if the name is funny, once you try them you love them. The politics are exciting and despite the high rates of internal corruption, there are many good people within the system.

Another early morning start, three hours later we're back in Guatemala City for a couple hours before getting back on the road this time to the Mexican border. There's an archaeological site called Tikalik Abaj which for all the hassle, the bad roads, potholes, and pitch black darkness, I didn't even get to see much of, but from what I did see, I would go back again. The Tikalik Maya Lodge was one of the coolest hotels I've ever been to, especially for being an eco-hotel. The rooms are large and spacious, completely environmentally friendly (no electricity yes) but plenty of hot water and amazing views from your roof top balcony.You wake up with birds singing and the rainforest at your doorstep. I'm not particularly fascinated by birds but you can't help but be amazed at the sheer variety of bird calls, and bird sightings of all different colours and shapes. Another three hour race for your life past sugar cane trucks, across the agricultural basin of Guatemala and down death provoking curves and you're in Lago Atitlan appreciating the deep turquoise waters and the view of seven volcanoes. Temperatures are mild at this time of year but it's the only time you can really swim in the lake. Panajachel is one of the few places in Guatemala where both men and women walk in the streets wearing their traditional outfits.

That basically sums up two weeks of being home, a flurry of activities, nearly four countries and it all culminates here on the brink of the New Year surrounded by notebooks, journal articles, yellow notepad paper and a very clingy cat preparing to pounce on the last slice of semita. 

wine, beer and tangerine

Something has to be said about SOAS, it's incredible atmosphere, it's complete and utter openness to all pathways of life, and its non-judgmental attitude and acceptance of different cultures. I almost wish I had come here for my undergraduate degree, but maybe I wouldn't have appreciated it as much back then.

I guess I'm just talking like this because the slow travel talk I went to today mentioned Mongolia. <3 Mongolia. One of these days, or maybe a few years from now, I will take a good three months of my life and board the trans-siberian express and travel from Moscow to Beijing, taking the time to get off at Irkutsk and Ulaanbaatar.

So slow travel is the next big thing it seems. Traveling while minimizing your carbon footprint by avoiding the gas guzzling aluminum sausage, and opting for more eco-friendly options like trains, buses and cargo ships. Funny, you wouldn't have thought of a cargo ship as an eco friendly option eh? Well it is, and apparently their captains are happy enough to take you on-board with their crew for a minimal price. Whole websites are dedicated to finding the right cargo ship for you on your slow travel journey. I'm definitely intrigued. The idea of traveling at the luxury of your own pace without the rush and stress of airports and security checks is very appealing. Sure, I'm aware that boat travel has its literal ups and downs, but come on, adventure. Ever thought about island hopping with canoes? I have. Off the coast of Thailand, dodging the anglophone masses of gap yah youths. One day. If only holidays were longer than two weeks.

To get the travel bug jitters visit:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/globetrotters-with-a-conscience-around-the-world-in-381-days-799016.html