Travel Blog

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

sarahberkeley — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:16:57 +0000

Ann Arbor

sarahberkeley — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:12:08 +0000

Home

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:31:09 +0000

I wake up at 2:35 in the morning in a panic not knowing where I am. What hotel room is this? Where is my grandma? I’m alone? Where’s the bathroom? What time to I have to catch the train, boat, plan, bus? Oh! It’s this place. I live here. My bed. My space. Someone else has lived here. My clothes are in boxes, my bike in the basement, backpack still packed. Crickets. Sleep…

Next day to – do lists cover the backs of three unopened envelopes. Groceries, email, bills, banking, mail to open, unpack, laundry, shopping, phone calls, papers to file… I look at my laptop and the clock say 4:31 p.m. What! Already? Oh my god, I have to get to the post office! My heart races. Wait! Can it be that late? It was just 11:30 a few minutes ago. Is my body clock so far off? No. That’s Dublin time on the computer. Whew! Three more hours to get to the post office…

I’m so hungry by the time I get to the grocery store only having eaten the bread and cheese my grandparents kindly left in my apartment that I don’t dilly-dally or get waylaid by the culture shock of the American super store. I shop the perimeter like my friend’s mom taught me. Don’t go in the aisles! I just by produce, eggs, and milk. Then the toothpaste aisle. Whitening? Baking soda? Big tube or huge tube? Mint or spearmint? Double acting? Cavity fighting? Gum protection? Fresh mint? I look at the price per ounce on all the labels and end up with Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening Fresh Mint 8.2 oz. I keep repeating the mantra “Get out of here! Get out of here!” Thankfully, my empty belly is saying the same thing so I pay cash for my groceries and pack them into my backpack, walk through the parking lot, across a busy street, two blocks north, half a block east, through a blue door, up stairs covered in cobweb encrusted, green astro-turfy indoor/outdoor carpet, unlock a wood door and I am home.

then Ireland

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:09:47 +0000

Visiting family in Kenmare, County Kerry. This is Southwest Ireland, the rainiest and arguable the most beautiful part.

more camp

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:05:11 +0000

Photo by Soliman Lawrence

Camp

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:48:52 +0000

2 weeks on the Baltic Sea! The island is called Ummanz and is off the coast of Rügen. It’s only 9 km in circumference. The water is shallow and basically a salt water marsh – perfect for wind and kite surfing.

photo by Soliman Lawrence

The schedule:

9-12:00 English Class

1-4:30 Windsurfing Lessons and Art Workshops

Dinner

Evening Fun and Games

The Team:

Fingal from New Zealand

Moon from England

Soliman from the Florida Keys

Julia from Iowa

Sarah from Mars

Berlin

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:31:37 +0000

During the last week in Thailand I had been looking forward to spending time in Germany, where things were familiar and I could understand what was happening around me, prices would be fixed and I could speak and be understood. Ironically, I had no voice for the first week in Germany. So I was still communicating with international sign language. Thankfully, Candice met me at the airport and let me crash on her floor for a few days. Then I moved over to her friends’ (and now my friends’), Toby and Arne’s, apartment in West Berlin. I’m so blessed to have such lovely people looking out for me!

Highlights of the time in Berlin were seeing Metropolis with a live piano performance at an outdoor cinema and going to a Devotcha concert. Of course, spending time with old and new friends ranks above all else.

Cairo

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:23:59 +0000

By the time I got to Cairo, I had no voice. I was impressed with how cosmopolitan and chic the airport was as I’d heard it was a terrible airport for a layover. I slept…

From there, and before…

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:14:21 +0000

From Ko Yao Noi I took a speed boat to a van to the Pukhet Airport and flew to Bangkok. By that point I the sore throat I’d been developing seemed worse, so I got my ticket to Berlin changed to leave that evening, rather than staying on in BKK.

I had a nice dinner at a Korean Barbeque restaurant in a hotel near Chulalongkorn University with Pornrat Damrhung (Oui) who had been an amazingly gracious host during the whole trip. I don’t think I mentioned her on the blog until now. She arranged for me to meet with the Makhampom group and have a sneak peek of their study tour in Pang Daeng. There I also met Thom, who does theater productions with children and sometimes uses shadows as does the Wandering Moon group of Chaing Mai who Oui also put me in touch with. Thom showed me some of the lighting set ups and tools she uses in her work. It was exciting to connect with an artist who likes to work with my favorite materials – duct tape and cardboard! I met with Khun Yip of Wandering Moon just before leaving Chiang Mai and was sorry I hadn’t contacted her sooner. This theater group works with shadow figures, sets and their own bodies behind and in front of the screen. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around for any of their productions, but Yip did show me some fabulous video documentation. My understanding of their work that I saw is that it expresses ideas about women, how they are viewed and how they present themselves. One piece involves a woman dancing behind the screen so her shadow is visible to the audience and then she comes out in front of the screen and continues to dance. Yip said “Our rule is that there are no rules.” The constantly move the sets and lights creating a fly-through effect and a lot of depth. Super inspiring for me!

Ko Yao Noi Mountain Bike Team

sarahberkeley — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:45:57 +0000

We went out to explore the island on bikes and met up with the Ko Yao Noi mountain bike team! It was such a surprise that they even had a biking group on such a small island. They were the same guys who helped get our bike in rideable condition in the morning. They invited us to go off road with them, which we did for awhile, but when my bike started falling apart we decided to head back.