The ambient sounds of the city have shifted from church bells ringing in the distance to the call to prayer.
I have made it to Istanbul and I believe I made the right decision. The city is 'out of control' in a good way. Imagine LA with twice the population and cultural whiplash. A month and a half will do me good.
Follow my daily adventures here and maybe you will understand why:
Where did I land? Italia of course…
My return came not by surprise or chance, but necessity. Sammy, my youngest brother, was visiting Italy with school and I could not miss the chance to see him. It was a brief but worthy trip that brought me back to one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Venice. I enjoyed every moment with my sweet bub, but felt a little like the crazy vagabond sister and hope I did not embarrass him too much crashing in his hotel room, and looking like a real ragamuffin, as gram would say. I must note here that I am soooooooo very proud of my brothers and am thrilled to see what fine young men they’ve beco
me. This visit made me realize more than ever how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family, the youngest being the most brilliant of all (I can say this because we all agree)!
Rewind.
After Istanbul in June I really did not stop. Essaouira, Morocco for the Gnaoua festival of music. Germany and Holland to visit my dear friend Daniela from SF. Then back Italy by land via Belgium for the Dour festival, hitching to Paris, covoituraging to Southern France, trucking to Casale, train-ing to Venice and now living in Pisa, where I work in the best hostel in the world Walking Street Pisa with my dear friends Marco and Anna. http://www.walkingstreethostel.com/
This part of the trip was filled will such randomness I do not know where to start. I have posted albums and will take any questions if the photos do not speak for themselves.
Sammy and friends http://www
.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156
89&id=693271938&l=5a350ea020
Roadtrippin' http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156
75&id=693271938&l=94da9c6c8d
Danyaya!!!
http://www.facebook.co
m/album.php?aid=21278
0&id=693271938&l=322bedef2d
Moroccan Trance http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1992
32&id=
693271
938&l=b006702904
Stay hydrated.
My pauses never come without a stint of grief, for good reason. When you beat your body up for extended periods of
time, it has a way of retaliating…this time in the form of renal colitis (particle matter passing similar to kidney stones). My body managed to stage three ailments over a period of a week, strategically amplifying the pain from one to the next without actually killing me. It was a dreadful spell that left me missing home more than ever. My trip to the emergency room for diagnosis was the highlight of this ‘low point’ due to the fact that I conducted the entire process in Italian, including understanding the diagnosis, truly an accomplishment in my eyes. Walking past the leaning tower sick as a dog, I still enjoyed watching countless tourists prevent the tower from falling down, and realized I would not want to be sick anywhere else in the world (except home that is). I could not express my internal laughter because of the pain, but I really love this aspect of the city.
After this episode I often would ride the bike that I purchased for 15 euro back to the surreal Piazza dei Miracoli to read my book and admire the giant landmarks that seem as though they spontaneously arose from the bright green carpet of grass.
I can describe the scene in one word, miraculous!!
Hostel World
I cannot end this post without
briefly describing how fun it has been working at Walking Street. Marco and Anna run the hostel as if it were a home for the weary travelers that are usually just passing through to visit other parts of Toscana or Cinque Terre. They’ve created and amazing atmosphere in a beautiful historic building with no outside help. The couple work their asses off and made me r
ealize how difficult working in ‘hospitality’ actually is. With that said I really enjoy meeting all of the guests from around the world and have even developed a new tangent of my project because of it based on nothing other than ‘identity’ (considering the diversity of my sampling, I could not resist…more info to come!).
We have created a strange little family at Walking Street Pisa, communicating by way of a weird mix of Italian, English, and Thai (since Anna is from Thailand), with the occasional Japanese and Spanish bits. There have also been some guests in residence that have added to the goodness. The presence of sweet Morvarid from Iran, Norbert from Hungary, and a Chilean family (Lorreto and her aunt and nonna!) have really strengthened the sense of community within the hostel and make the experience and dinners that much better.
Another notable experience to add to my nonstop adventure.
I will be returning to Istanbul soon, to build a garden and prepare myself for India. Am I ready? I will have to be.
Tales from the east are coming soon.
