Author: Laughingnomad

Why I Host Strangers

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I’m all for volunteering but I spent half my life doing it so I’m kind of od’d on it. Hosting through Couchsurfing and other hospitality sites is a kind of volunteering with my time and money but I get more back from it. And I don’t have to negotiate anything with anyone except my guests! 😉

Being travelers and interested in new experiences and cross cultural understanding, we are usually on the same page even as different as they are from me. In fact the more different the better. And the older ones have a perspective the young ones don’t have.

I recently hosted Annarita, 60, an Italian who has been living in France for years and who shared her perspective on the Euro situation just before the election there. And being an observer here for 10 years they are usually interested to hear about an outside view of the political situation here. The rest is up to them.

I usually share my videos of the 2006 uprising. It gives them a bit of a different perspective as they walk around the city among the locals. And of course being an expat I try to introduce them to as many locals as I can even if it’s just someone they can go clubbing with. And I get to follow half of them on FB afterward. I’m still messaging with guests I hosted years ago.

 

 

Emergency Trip To Salem

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Lost my iPhone! And locked out of iCloud and email! But most of all family and businesses lost access to my phone number! But I lucked out this time. Weather is mighty fine! Sleeping in Doug’s trailer at the farm with Oso (his dog) plastered against me under the covers! It will be a relief to return to Oaxaca on May 10th.

San Cristobal Chiapas

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Couple days after arriving in Oaxaca from Oregon on February 4, 2017 an old friend who we lived next door to in the 60’s in Los Angeles flew down to visit me. We barely were settled and off to San Cristobal on the plane…first to Tuxtla and then SC by bus and then returned on the 15th.

San Cristobal has completely changed since I was here last in 2006. I was shocked. Walking Streets weren’t there. Now the city is filled with Europeans, coffee shops and boutique cafes. And I thought we were going to freeze to death with no heat in the restaurants nor the guesthouse. I was so happy to get back to warm and lovely Oaxaca!

My Russian friend, Ksenia, suggested we go to Chamula, a small town about 30 minutes outside San Cristobal, where the Mayans only enter the church to sit with a Curandera while she performs a healing ritual. One Curandera used a chicken to gently swipe a prone child back and forth and then gently squeezed the neck of the chicken until it was dead. The bad spirits had entered the chicken and the family took it home with them. No cameras were allowed in the church.

Suzanne Siegel

Chamula Church

The U.S. Is A Mess!

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Got back to Oregon in the middle of an ice and snow storm on Jan 5. The Lexus was sliding all over so had to rent an SUV. Had no idea it was so expensive to rent a car in the U.S.!

Bob flew up to Salem after spending 6 weeks in Las Vegas recuperating from his hip replacement. We spent 2 weeks in an AirB&B…which I wouldn’t do again. Weird being in someone’s house when you are not the guest.

Then spent 5 days with my dear friend Patty after which I moved to the cozy little “Nomad,” one of Doug’s trailers out on the farm.

So a month in Salem spent with a doc appointment, taxes and meeting with the Estate Attorney to redo my will. And a thousand other things among which was getting estimates from geologists to reinforce the house and keep it from slipping down the hill.

I was in Thailand during the election so I could just ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen. But back in the U.S….

Christmas In Chiang Mai

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November and December 2016

After a month in Bangkok and a 5 day visa run to Hanoi, I’ve been in Chiang Mai with Doug since November 21. We are staying at the Smith Residence and I have a great view of the sunrises over the city from my 6th floor balcony.

“I take care mama,” says Doug in a Thai speak accent. I open the door each morning to see a smiling face as he holds out something for me to eat…pastry, fruit or a Thai dish he has made himself in his balcony kitchen which is basically a sink. But he bought an electric wok and a little charcoal grill to grill meat and fish. We both have a water kettle for morning coffee. It’s remarkable what he is able to cook up.

My Christmas present to Doug was a fancy buffet dinner at the Le Meridien Hotel.

Meanwhile, Bob has been with Greg in Las Vegas while he recuperates after his hip replacement there last month.

A “Conversation?”

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Amazing things you see. A SE Asian man and an older Thai woman at the next table in the breakfast room of my hotel. For 30 minutes now they both have been talking over each other with no let up. I’m fascinated to see how long they keep it up. Not for one second has either of them stopped talking!

How do they know what to say next?!