Where are Sarah and Rich around the world?

Bella Bambina!!!!

Beautiful Baby Lucia was born on December 25, 2005!  I started a new blog - My Mama Self - to document this journey into motherhood.  I'm just getting started with it.  Mamahood thus far has been too busy for me to get a chance to get to the computer. 

What I can say is that while parenthood is not as exotic as the trip around the world, it's definitely as intense. 

More to come -- My Mama Self.

http://roundtheworld.typepad.com/my_mama_self/

The Wedding!!

We got married!  Check out the album. 

Round the World Reading List

Well, we've finally finished the last chapters of some of the 20+ books we started the trip with (not to mention the piles of boosk we bought along the way).  Some of our favorites are below:

Pacific/SE Asia/AustralAsia

1.  "Guns, Germs, and Steel" (Jared Diamond).  This book is great if you're into history, botany, culture, or anything fun and smart at the same time.  It's a dense book - kind of like taking a mini college class.  It's especially informative if you're traveling in the Pacific/SE Asia/AustralAsia areas.  (We've heard his new book "Collapse" is really good too).

The Himalaya Region

2.  The Snow Leopard (Peter Matthiessen).  Great if you're on a pilgrimage into the Himalaya and spending lots of time reflecting and alone.

3.  Into Thin Air (John Krakauer).  An exciting and introspective look at the 1996 Mt Everest climbing disaster.  It's interesting, entertaining, and guilt-free (in case you feel guilty about escapism while you're in the midst of hard traveling).

India

1.  "A Fine Balance" (Rohinton Mistry). 

2.  "The Namesake" (Jhumpa Lahiri).  This is an excellent, bittersweet book set among Indian-Americans and the dual-identities (and struggles) of first-generation immigrants stradling two cultures and traditions.

General

"A Short History of Nearly Everything"  (Bill Bryson).  This is a fun and irreverent look at the development of western european science and the unusual personalities behind the breakthroughs.

The History Sections of your Lonely Planet travel guides always make for dispassionate reading when you're feeling overwhelmed by the local scene.  If you need to dissociate for a while, but don't want to feel guilty about it, then bone up on the local history and idiosyncrasies from the point of view of those who understand your confusion.

Settling In

We got an internet connection at home yesterday, and we feel so liberated!  We're in the process of moving into our new apartment in Fairfax (it's in Marin county, north of San Francisco).  It's a lovely 100-year old house on a wooded street with lots of windows and privacy.  We've begun Ashtanga yoga practice with John Berlinsky and Lea in Mill Valley, which has been great (and very sweaty).  Very good energy in Marin, and we really feel like we belong here at the moment. 

Our personal web pages are:
Sarah's Home Page
Rich's work profile
Rich's business
A yoga article Rich wrote
BF

We Made it!

Our circumnavigation of the globe is finally complete!  We have been back in the Bay Area for two weeks.  Actually, being here feels like a continuation of the trip because we still don't have an apartment, and aren't yet settled in a HOME yet. We've been having a blast staying with our friend Kathleen in San Ramon, and it's like an on-going "I Love Lucy" episode.  It's an non-stop party of home-made dinners, jokes about toilets of the world, and a minor obsession with watching DVDs of "Cedric the Entertainer".    As we begin the apartment hunt, it seems like the adventure and unpredictability of the trip is still going on, with the minor detail that we're working.  Well, Rich is working, and I am taking a Chemistry class (at the start of a long road towards a doctorate in naturopathic medicine) and have some good leads on teaching yoga and practicing massage around here.

We do feel like we have found home in the sense of finding a yoga studio, which is a huge blessing.  We just started practicing with Vance at 7th Heaven Yoga in Berkeley, and to be back in a shala, after weeks of practicing in homes and in hotel rooms, is like, well, a little piece of heaven.  It feels great to be in a dedicated space, with wood floors, to be with the focus and energy of the other practitioners, and to be in a warm room!!! The first day we finished practice we felt so good we practically levitated out of the studio.

And really it is good to be back and to be appreciating the wonderful perspective that travel gives you.  As someone who often reminds herself to be RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, rather than down the road or up the state or across the country, travel reminds me that there are always pros and cons about everywhere in the world.  You leave home to learn about home, and you come home to appreciate where you've been. 

It Ain't Over Til the Fat Lady Sings...

If one thing is for sure, the fat lady has not sung yet. According to plan we should be zooming across highway 80 into California about now.  Instead, we are spending the day here in Battle Mountain, Nevada.  According to a billboard we passed this morning, Battle Mountain was just named "Armpit of America" by the Washington Post.  We have the privilege of spending the day here because my car needs a new front axel.  The part won't come in until tomorrow morning (on a truck from Sacramento) and then we'll be on the road again. 

Battle Mountain is not actually an armpit-town in our opinion.  With all the crazy weather of this winter, Nevada has been dumped on with snow and the surrounding mountains are beautifully white. We ate a decent Mexican lunch, and now we're hanging out at the public library checking the internet to kill some time.  While it may not be an armpit, there isn't a WHOLE lot to do in Battle Mtn.  So far we've found two streets with signs of life in the entire town.  Sitting in the motel jacuzzi and watching a movie on HBO will probably be this afternoon's highlights.  If we were gamblers, we could play some slots. 

One thing we learned today of interest:  Battle Mountain and the surrounding goldmines produce more gold per capita than anywhere else in the world.  Also, the Battle Mtn area produces more gold than anywhere else in North America, and there were once large turquoise mines here.

NYC and westward bound

From Sarah:

Well, we've been on the road again across the country for the past week and a half. We spent a few days in New York City hanging out with some friends of Rich's.  We stayed with Marty and his wife Jenny in their beautiful apartment in Tribeca.  They are expecting a baby in a few months and we're very excited for them.  Marty, Jenny, Grace, Ilko, and Dan made us an amazing sushi dinner the first night we got there.  The first time I've experienced sushi made at home and it was delicious.  We did the hand-roll-variety which is a little easier because then each person is responsible for rolling their own and can't blame anyone else if their roll looks like an exploding burrito. 
After a few days in NYC I left to fly to Madison, Wisconsin to visit my friend Hannah and her husband Sam.  They have a very cute 2 year old, Anabelle, and are expecting another in a couple months.  Madison greeted me in full winter wonderland conditions: I arrived at midnight in the middle of a blizzard.  The next morning the whole town was blanketed in snow, and it's such a cute town anyway, that with the picturesque snowfall it looked like something out of a movie.  We did some sledding, soup-making, and just hanging out.  Between spending time with Hannah and her toddler and her friends' toddlers, I am convinced that every parent who has raised children deserves a million Olympic gold medals.  It is so much work!!!  Wow.  Of course the kids are amazing, but I think it's the toughest job out there. What could be of more value to society than raising well-adjusted young people.  I could get on a soap box about this but I'll stop myself here. 
Rich was in Philadelphia for the last few days at an economics conference where he presented a paper based on the emotions around financial decision-making.  He enjoyed the conference and re-connected with some work colleagues.
Currently, we are excited to be here in Salt Lake City visiting with Rich's family.  His parents are here and we are really excited to meet his sister's new baby, Aidan.  And we were thrilled to share with the news that WE ARE ENGAGED!!! We told my family on Christmas but we couldn't make it public until we shared with his folks as well.  We are very excited and plan to get married in the Bay Area in the late spring. 
On that very happy note, we are wrapping up our trip as we are about to get into our cars - they've been stored here in SLC while we've been gone - and drive to California!!!! Homeward bound!

Happy New Year - 2005!

Happy New Year!  Hope everyone has rung in the new year with health and good cheer.  We celebrated in Maine in the classic laid-back New Year's style of take-out Chinese food, board games, and movies.  We also got great New Year's news that Rich's sister Kathy gave birth to a New Year's day baby!  Kathy and her husband Rex are very thrilled to welcome their baby boy, Aidan, into the world, and we are thrilled for them. 

Tomorrow we hit the road again heading down to New York City.  First we stop in Chinatown in Boston for dim sum brunch. 

May 2005 bring you much health, prosperity in every way, learning, and lots of laughing and fun!

p.s. Maine photo album just added

Back in the USA

From Sarah:

We've been back in the States for almost a week now.  We flew into JFK on the 14th of December and my dad was sweet enough to pick us up. I have to say that the first thing I appreciated about getting back to the States was the huge, well-paved roads. (The roads in the developing world are awful!)

We've been visitng my parents in Maine.  They live in Yarmouth which is about 5 miles north of Portland.  There is a fresh dusting of snow this morning and the pine-tree filled yard looks like it's out of a postcard.  We walked down to the ocean yesterday and looked down into the iced-over tide pools that are nestled in the rocky shoreline. The Maine coast is always beautiful to me, even in winter. And it is so quiet!  There is no rickshaw motor, no scooter, no honking, nothing! 

Since we're not officially all the way around the world yet, we're blogging until we get back to California in about a month.  Of course, that is everyone's questin for us "So you had a great trip - now what?!"  Well, first we're just eating a lot of good food and enjoying the holidays. 

Dubai: Gold City

From: Sarah

We're in the middle of the Middle East.  I love it. 

Dubai is completely fascinating. We are in an enormous mall at the moment. And it is just like any mall in a wealthy suburb of the States, except there are there are tons of Arab men in their white robes and headdress and the black head ropes - the whole deal.  There are also quite a few Arab women, wearing full length black burkas. All the gals cover their heads and body and some leave their faces open, while others only show their eyes.  And they carry some VERY fancy purses, which I would if it was the only darn piece of fashion I could show the world.  I think under their burkas they are wearing some very chic outfits.  Rich joked that I am staring with fascination at these men and women just as much as everyone was staring at me in India, but I'm so intriqued.

There are loads of non-Arabs here as well, making the megabucks and spending some of the bucks all around town.  Where we had lunch today was a big table of German businessmen who were sitting back and enjoying a good cup of Arabic coffee.  Outside of the mall grocery store, I saw many Western women and kids carting out the week's cartload of groceries.  Most of the people that work here in the service industry are non-Arabs.  There are many Indians and many Russians.  An Indian guy complimented me on my Indian-style skirt this morning.

The city itself is so clean you could almost eat off the streets.  My eyes really appreciate cleanliness right now, coming from India, but I think anyone would be impressed by the sparkling shininess of everything.  It is a city of hotels - every major 5 star hotel lines the main boulevard into town.  And the hotels seem to be the centers of the restaurants.  Beyond the coffeeshops and a couple Indian restaurants the only places we've found with restaurants are the hotels. 

The food has been fantastic here - extremely fresh and delicious.  We went a Lebanese cafe last night by the ocean and got fantastic falafel, pickles, grape leaves and chicken shawarma for Rich.  Today we went to a place called Goodies that had unbelievable Middle Eastern desserts and coffees.  We got gelato - lemon, blackberry, pistachio, and almond scoops.  Although alcohol isn't served in most places here, everywhere has the tobacco hookah pipes.  They look like something out of Aladdin and you can choose from various fruit flavors of the tobacco to put inside the pipe.  We have abstained but lots of people kick back to enjoy some puffing. 

But by far the most memorable part of Dubai was the trip to the gold souk.  A souk is the term for quarter or neighborhood.  The stores were DRIPPING in gold.  Store after store was full of gold, platinum, and precious gems.  There are lots of people shopping and buying.  We walked away empty handed, maybe next time.