Wiggles World Tour

Thailand and Malaysia

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 11:32:34 -0400

After spending two nights in Bangkok gorging on pad thai and wandering the street markets, we made our way south to Krabi where we spent a week on the beach snorkling, island-hopping, and taking too many photos of sunsets.

(That’s Rachel in the far, far background)

After our relaxing time on the beach, we went back north to Chiang Mai to visit two farms, Pun Pun and the Panya Project. We volunteered first at Pun Pun, an eco-village/learning center/seed-saving farm. Here we learned about rainwater catchment and natural water filtration methods, the importance of seed-saving, and the fun of soap-making and trellis-making from natural materials such as bamboo. We also enjoyed learning how to cook some traditional Thai dishes and playing with the local kids.

View from building at Pun Pun

Is that not the most adorable little girl in the world?

After Pun Pun, we walked over to the Panya Project, where we spent a week taking a Food Forest and Introduction to Permaculture workshop.

The community room at Panya. This structure was built with mud!

We learned so much about gardening, composting, food production, food forestry, community, and more. We helped to transform an existing mango orchard into a food forest. (For those who don’t know, a food forest is a man-made forest which mimics the inter-relationships and structures of natural forests, but is centered around trees and plants that provide food, shelter and other human necessities.) We learned a lot about planting guilds to support our fruit and nut trees.

While we were there, four baby ducklings were born. The mama duckling who had been sitting on the eggs had abandoned her babies, but the team had placed the eggs on top of a warm compost pile, and sure enough, many of them hatched. One of the eggs must have been misplaced because one morning Rachel found one tiny little ducking in the food forest and brought it to its newly born brothers and sisters.

After Thailand, we flew to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with Justin Lim, painter extraordinaire. Rachel and Justin met at Vermont Studio Center last May where they both spent the month as artists-in-residence. Justin gave us the most excellent tour of K.L. and we indulged in art, good food, and new friends.

Stingray on the grill

We enjoyed visiting Eats, Shoots and Roots—an urban permaculture project, as well as visiting Rimbun Dahan, a gorgeous artists’ residency just outside the city. Both gave us great ideas for own upcoming project!

Now at the end of our journey, we are hanging surfside on Tioman Island, trying to digest the new adventure that awaits us back home!

India

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 02:00:00 -0400

We just finished a wonderful and inspiring 3-week stay in South India where we spent the bulk of our time as Artists-in-Residence at The Gowry Art Institute in the heart of the Ponmudi Valley. The pebble house in which we lived (built with stones from the Kallar river by Gowry’s Director, Sajitha Shankar) sat tucked in the rain forest among the more traditional mud huts of the Indian tribal villages. From our porch, we could see the locals washing their clothes in the river, and just over the bridge, you could often find the kids searching for rubber seeds which they collected from the rubber trees their fathers tapped for money.

Rubber Seeds

Rubber Trees

Taps

Rubber Press

The river, in which we bathed and washed our clothes as well, is one of the last un-damned and clean rivers in India, and is known throughout Kerala to have many healing properties since it travels down a mountain of herbs. Natural remedies in Kallar are abound (when Adam got a cut on his finger, they recommended turmeric and honey to heal the wound) and during our first few days we were taken to the local Shaman for an herbal steam and oil massage. The steam shower is a coffin-sized box that gets locked from the outside. Inside, it’s pitch dark and hot, hot, hot. Although it was a bit of an awkward (and naked!) experience, it was one of the more interesting experiences we had…definitely off tourist track.

For all our moaning and groaning about being in the middle of no where (with little access to food and loads of snakes, spiders, and bugs) we really enjoyed the quiet pace of the small town. We always had a supply of fresh fruit from the forest that the neighbors kindly foraged for us. In fact, we later found out that they were bringing us food because they were concerned we weren’t eating enough. We really enjoyed all the forest fruits, especially the bananas, avocados, coconuts, lychee, goa, jack fruit, and papayas.

Adam with our neighbor who runs a small shop at the top of the hill. We also received fresh milk from her cow every morning.

Everyone kept telling us that India has a certain magic. For a while, we didn’t believe them. We were overwhelmed and over-heated in Delhi, and we spent the first few days down south feeling tired and trying to readjust to our new surroundings. And then Adam lost his wedding ring and we felt totally bummed out and wondered if we should have come at all. We surmised that he might have lost it bathing in the river, but we weren’t sure. It could have been stolen, or lost in a hundred other places. We looked and looked, but we couldn’t locate it. For three days, Rachel searched the river’s shore, but after monsoon rains and many people bathing, the chances of recovery (if that’s where it was even lost!) were slim. So we certainly felt the magic of India when we were soaking our feet in the river and Rachel suddenly felt drawn to a sparkle in the water. The glint turned out to be a rock, but right next to that rock was Adam’s ring almost entirely buried in the sand! Rachel proposed immediately. Our story quickly became a story among the locals, who could not believe our good fortune.

Side note: At one point, Rachel wanted to throw her ring into the river so that the rings could live out their days together, but Adam advised against this—good thing!

Another highlight was spending time with Sajitha Shankhar, the director of Gowry Art Institute. Sajitha, who is a well known painter, cooked us many delicious meals, took us around the city of Thivandrum, and organized an event at Gowry where we got to meet local artists. 25-30 Indian artists attended, including poets, photographers, filmakers, writers, and critics. Rachel read a section of the novel she began at Gowry (of which she completed nearly 200 pages!) and Adam performed 3 songs, two of which he wrote at Gowry. Other poets read, both in Malaylam (the local language) and in English.

This event developed a bit of publicity, and we were written up in the newspaper. Although we were mis-quoted (we sound like English is our second language) and they got a lot of the facts wrong, you can check out the article here. We really enjoyed seeing ourselves in print, and when we walked down the street, people would stop to ask us about the article!

Now we’re in Bangkok, Thailand for a few days and then we’re heading south to Krabi where we’ll celebrate our one-year anniversary (a few weeks early, but this location seemed the most ideal and proper honeymoon spot). It’s been the best year of our lives and it’s still getting better. 6 more weeks until we return to the States, but we still have a lot to do…

Czech Republic & France

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:43:00 -0400

At long last, an update. Yesterday morning we got a pretty heart-breaking email from one of of the few who follow our world adventures. To summarize, it read: the blog is simply beyond repair! Abandon it altogether! Or let me take it over. Please. I promise I will do things like shout outs to your grandmothers, parents, ect…”

So before we hands things over to inquiring minds, we thought we’d give it one more shot. In an effort to resuscitate what little life this blog has left, here we go…

For the month of May we were residents at Milkwood International, an artists’ retreat in the UNESCO village of Cesky Krumlov.

Every Friday night we found ourselves at the Gypsy Bar where we listened to amazing gypsy music.

Some of the highlights of our stay were meeting Milkwood owners, Zdenka and Michal, and touring the baroque castle theater. Another inspired experience was the Egon Schiele museum, which not only housed a multitude of Schiele’s work, but was exhibiting Gerald Scarfe’s work as well, including the artwork for the making of The Wall. In fact, the house where we stayed was painted by Schiele before he was exiled for his risque nude portraits.

When in the Czech Republic, one must enjoy the beer and the enormous portions of meat. That is Adam enjoying a pork knee - serving for one.

After Cesky Krumlov, we meet the Kushners in Paris and spent 10 days making our way down to the Cote d’azur. We toured Paris and saw all the sites.

Of course we indulged in lots of unbelievable French Cuisine.

Here we are at a pastry shop, where we ran into a “dessert blogger” who only eats desserts and recommended a few delicious pastries for us to try.

One of Rachel’s favorite experiences was visiting the Rodin sculpture garden.

After Paris we took a train to Avignon and spent three days in Provence. We toured the small towns of Provence, visited a wine vineyard and tasted wine with one of the grape growers, and continued to enjoy the great French wine and food.

The beautiful village of Gordes, where we shopped at the local market and wandered the streets.

Springtime in full-bloom!

After Provence we went down to the Cote d’azur region for 3 days and stayed at a beautiful hotel on the Mediterranean. Highlights there include visiting the Principality of Monaco, relaxing at the hotel, and laughing while recapping all the great times we had on the trip.

Matt and Emily at a restaurant in the Cote d’azur with an unbelievable view.

As always, it was so great to reconnect with those we love. We had wonderful times and so much fun. Thank you, Kushners!

Now we’re at La Muse, an artists and writers’ retreat in the south of France. Rachel teaches every afternoon, and Adam keeps busy in the kitchen where he prepares delicious meals for a few other guests here. Occasionally, we’ve been known to host sing-a-longs, which may or may not include such hits as “Born to be Wild.”

Labastide Esparbairenque, the small village in the mountains where La Muse is located.

Homer, the dog at La Muse that escorts everyone on their hikes. The area is filled with walking trails and hikes through the woods and on the ridges of the mountains.

The local lake close by La Muse, which we go to whenever we can. A great place to cool off.

Only one week until we’re in India, where we’re staying at yet another artists’ retreat for the month. Until then!

Croatia

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:19:00 -0400

Our time in Croatia was too short! Unfortunately, we hit a spell of rain that prevented us from walking some of the most scenic beaches we’ve ever seen, but we managed to snap some good photos when the sun came out for a day or two.

A candid photo of Rachel and Niki snapped by Adam.

Now we are in Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic for our residency at Milkwood International. It is gorgeous here! We promise not to take too long before we post our new photos of the UNESCO village…

Morocco, Spain, Holland, and Italy

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 04:42:31 -0400

And now we play catch-up with a photo-montage sequence. Forgive us, but we’ve been a) sick b) tired c) sick and tired (of blogging) and d) taking time off to recover, sleep, and experience our travels to their fullest. But we are back with verve! Here’s a quick flash of our last month.

We made our way up the coast of Morocco (beginning in Agadir, then moving onto Marrakesh, Fes, Chefchaouen, and Tangier). In the medinas, our senses were attacked from every angle. The sounds of motorbikes, the smell of spices, and the incredible colors in every shop overwhelmed. Through the winding maze of the old market, we felt that we were experiencing life as it was lived hundreds of years ago. Snake charmers, scam-artists, tanners and weavers filled the marketplace. When we passed through the food vendors, we saw a woman choose a chicken to purchase, and the butcher slit its throat on the spot. Now that’s fresh meat…

Marrakesh, Morocco—a view from Djemaa El Fna

Marrakesh, Morocco. A possible suspect for Rachel’s week of dysentery.

Fes, Morocco—the main mode of transporting goods through the Medina

Chefchaouen, Morocco. The tradition of painting the buildings blue started in the 15th century by the Sephardic Jews who fled the Spanish Reconquista. They painted their doors blue to signify to other Jews where the community had settled.

We purchased a few handmade carpets from this artisan in Chefchaouen. He was happy to show us how he makes them.

The streets of Chefchaouen

We flew out of Malaga, Spain into Amsterdam to visit some family and friends. Unfortunately, Rachel was too sick to see much of the city.

However, we did get to meet the new addition to the family, who is beyond beautiful! Now presenting: our new baby cousin Rebekah! You can’t see it here, but she’s got the fullest head of blonde hair we’ve ever seen on a newborn. Gorgeous!

Rebekah’s older brother Yonatan. A special thanks to Marisa and Rogier for nursing us back to health.

While in Amsterdam, we made plans to finally meet our Dutch pen pal, Edith Greuter. Rachel and Edith have been writing to one another since the summer of 2011 after Edith received an RSVP to the wedding by accident. She googled our names, found our wedding website, and contacted us about the mis-sent letter. One thing led to another, and Rachel and Edith found they had much in common. Edith repairs old books, and her husband, Adrien, transports art from museum to museum. The interest in literature and art proved a sure-fire way to keep the emails going.

For Rachel, it was so great to have an ear on the other side of the Atlantic. The emails led to a quick and easy friendship, and soon, plans were being made to meet when we arrived in Holland. It was like we were seeing old friends, only we’d never met!

The Greuters invited us to dinner—a really warm and kind gesture for strangers they’d only known over the internet. Rachel was just getting over her sickness, and was nearly finished with her antibiotics, when the dinner date arrived. She warned Edith that she’d been ill and might not be able to eat a big dinner. Understated.

Adrien had prepared a BEAUTIFUL dinner—fresh hor’s devours, pasta with lobster, salmon, ect., in addition to a homemade tiramisu for dessert. It looked marvelous. We’d been gabbing, getting along wonderfully, but when Rachel sat down to dinner and had her first bite, she realized (that despite being delicious), it wasn’t going to stay down long. A quick sprint to the bathroom saying, “I’m the worst dinner guest ever!” was not how she’d envisioned making her first impression.

Despite that, we managed to have a great time. It will always remain to Rachel the best dinner she never ate.

After Amsterdam we flew to Rome to meet up with the Ephraims for an amazing 10-day trip around Italy. We stopped in Rome, Florence, and Venice.

Rachel and Josh inside the Colosseum in Rome.

Florence at night

The Fish Market in Venice.

One of the greatest experiences we had was taking a cooking class from a local Venetian. Rachel’s dad, Marty, ended up showing the chef a thing or two, and we all enjoyed a delicious lunch of artichokes, shrimp, linguine and clams, soft-shelled crabs, and tiramisu.

A boat ride to the island of Murano to see the glass-blowing factory.

Josh, the philosopher.

Thank you Ephraims for the incredible experience. We especially loved our daily gellatos, all of the art, the delicious dinners, and of course, the wonderful company.

After saying arrivederci to the Ephraims, we headed to a farm in Dozza, Italy to work for a week. The farm is located in a wine-producing region, and they mainly grow grapes for wine and keep goats. Every day we were drinking wine made from their grapes and eating ricotta cheese made from their goat milk!

The view from the farm.

Much time on farm was spent playing with Charlotte (5 yrs old) and Isabel (7 yrs old). Charlotte famously said to Rachel, while helping to collect stray sticks from the vineyard, “Hard work is important, but it is also important to have fun while you work.” So true, Charlotte.

Every 2 years in Dozza, Italy famous national and international artists come to the town to paint the walls of the buildings.

Rachel’s favorite mural

Now we anxiously await the arrival of our friend Nicole. Tomorrow we will travel to Croatia and could not be more excited for the next leg of our travels.

Frankfurt and Berlin

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:20:53 -0400

Before taking on Berlin, we had a short 2-day stop in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is a quiet city, not very touristy, and is small enough to be navigated by foot. As fate would have it, the night before departing for Germany we had dinner with a native Frankfurter in our hostel in Johannesburg. He wrote out an excellent walking tour of the city for us including some of his favorite spots—the University Campus, his favorite neighborhood, and the oldest bridge in the city. It was freezing when we arrived in Germany, and we ended up eating Asian noodle soups for most meals, although we did get in a few German specialties including Wurst with sauerkraut and Apfelwein (apple wine, a Frankfurt specialty).

Super-Mall in Frankfurt

After our quick stop in Frankfurt we spent about 2 weeks in Berlin, a city that feels similar to New York. Berlin has a big international crowd, funky cafes and restaurants, great art galleries and museums, and many different neighborhoods to explore. Our friend Brick (who some of you might remember as that guy who married us) met us in Berlin, and we had a raucous couple of days. Our hotel didn’t know what hit them! We went out drinking in Prenzlauer Berg and around Alexanderplatz…

Beginning of night:

End of night:

We embarked on self-guided street art / graffiti tour that took us through grimy and hip neighborhoods, which reminded us of Brooklyn. Watch Rachel and Brick act out the scenes…

We saw the amazing Gerhard Richter exhibit, Panorama, at the New National Gallery

We also saw the main historical sites: sections of the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, Unter den Linden, Potsdamer Platz, etc…although these weren’t nearly as fun as the self-guided street-art tour.

There was also some loitering in cafes…

We’re currently making our way up Morocco. More on this in a few days!

A few hours left in South Africa

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:38:00 -0500

We have had some wonderful experiences over the last three weeks. For the first two weeks, we stayed near Pretoria, a mainly Afrikaans part of South Africa. Here we worked on a dairy farm in exchange for room and board. The family was very welcoming, but strangely reminded us of middle-American families (read: very Christian). Also volunteering at the farm was a couple from Lithuania and Poland who were making their way up the east coast of Africa.

On the farm, we disagreed with a lot of the farming practices in place. Despite the generosity of the farmer and his family, we got a glimpse into farming as soley a business, not a passion. Every decision was based on profit, not on long-term planning, soil treatment, or using natural methods. One of the most disturbing practices we witnessed was the burning of all their plastic waste.

However, we did manage to have fun in the midst of our concerns. We wrangled pigs, milked cows, prepared garden beds, swam in dams, and rode horses. (Let’s also note here that Rachel received a grand lecture from a 16-year-old neighbor that the horse instructed the girl to speak to her about the word of God. Result: Rachel has yet to be ‘saved.’)

(We must admit, this photo does make it seem as though the horse had great intentions for Rachel…)

After the farm, we headed to the Drakensburg mountains where we camped out for 5 days and went on a few day hikes and bike rides. We trekked to the 2nd highest waterfall (Tugela Falls) in the world, and then we visited Lesotho, the third poorest country after Ethiopia and Somalia. In Lesotho, we visited a village school, admired bushman paintings on cave walls, and learned about the tribal wars and the HIV epidemic infecting almost 1 in 4 people.

(Our humble home)

(The scariest part of the hike—no ropes!)

We also met with a medicine woman who told us her journey to becoming a healer. Her story is as such: when she was a young girl, she was very ill. She spent years in the hospital before she started to have visions and dreams of her grandmother, who, in her lifetime, was also a healer. She was being instructed that she had a gift, and that she could heal herself and others if she chose to do so; however, if she denied this gift, she would die.

She went through a series of tests to prove to her community that she was truly a medicine woman. First her neighbors hid strings of beads that she had to uncover, and she did this successfully. Secondly, she had to dance with a white rooster on her head. If the rooster fell off, it would be a sign that she wasn’t a true healer. Luckily for her, she danced with the rooster in place and the community accepted her powers. She has since been cured of her ailments and hasn’t been sick since. Now, she spends her time lighting traditional herbs and communicating with her ancestors for their advice on healing those that come through her doors.

We found her inspiring and alive with the magic that our culture has lost. Her gods are her family members, her true creators, and it was truly touching to see that she carried on a relationship with them even after death. Although she was sixty years old and has given birth to seven children, she looked so youthful and most importantly, happy.

Now we are preparing for our trip to Germany. Rachel leaves Africa with a sprained ankle, and Adam just finished recovering from Tick Bite Fever. Despite our aches and pains, we have fallen in love with Africa and wish we could explore more on this continent.

South Africa

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:54:00 -0500

We’ve just said goodbye to the Kushners after an action-packed two weeks. It is hard to express all that we’ve seen and the love and gratitude we feel, but here is our attempt to capture the wonder, fun, and heartfelt moments:

We met in Johannesburg and flew directly to Cape Town where we stayed on the waterfront for 5 days. Cape Town, an affluent and picturesque city, reminded us all of San Francisco—a small, cultural haven near the sea. Here we spent our days touring the various neighborhoods; visiting the vineyards; boating to seal island; traveling to the Cape of Good Hope (the most southwestern point of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic ocean collide); tasting the local cuisine such as Ostrich, Kudu, Oxtail, Warthog, Venison, and Springbok; observing penguins; and learning about Nelson Mandela’s struggle during Apartheid at Robin’s Island.

Perhaps the most memorable thing about Cape Town was our tour guide Thomas—a 70-something expat from the UK who (despite his occupation) knew very little about the country. We laughed ourselves silly reflecting on our experience with Thomas at dinner one night, recounting his most famous lines:

“Don’t know, really.” (In response to anything ranging from the wild-life of South Africa to the class struggle.)

“Doesn’t know whether he’s an Arthur or a Martha.” (A repeated phrase in regard to the openly gay community in Cape Town.)

“Over there, you’ll find your Pick-N-Pay.” (While he wasn’t able to provide much detail on the ANC’s rise to power, he knew where every supermarket was located and didn’t hesitate to point it out.)

After Cape Town, we took a puddle-jumper (a small airplane) to the Sabi-Sand Reserve where we began our safari. We weren’t expecting the overwhelming diversity and how close we could get to the wildlife. Because the animals view the jeep as one solid, nonthreatening object, we were able to watch Cheetah’s feast on a fresh kill from only a few feet away. We also got uncomfortably and incredibly close to leopards, lions, rhinos, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, and more.

One afternoon we spent the better part of the day tracking a lioness. Our tracker explained each step as we searched for footprints in the sand (lost and then regained), and then we waited in the jeep as the guides followed the tracks into the bush, gun in hand, and observed which way the grasses bent. Once spotted, they brought us over to observe the lioness waiting for a male suitor. On other days, we tracked animals by scent (a male elephant “in must” (looking to mate) is a strong scent not too dissimilar to a musky body odor; surprisingly a cheetah marking his territory gives off the aroma of popcorn.)

After we left the first camp (Dulini) we headed to the second and final camp (Jabulani), a lodge built around the idea of animal preservation. Here we took an elephant-back safari—a unique experience as wild elephants can be deadly. The elephants at Jabulani were previously owned in Zimbabwe and after the sale of the farm, they were tagged for their meat. When news spread, Jabulani adopted them, and aside from the hour-long safari offered to guests, they are able to live natural elephant lives grazing in the bush and swimming in the local watering hole.

While talking to one of the elephant handlers, we learned that elephants are among the smartest of the species (third only to monkeys and dolphins), and that when a member of their herd passes, they perform ceremonies for the deceased. During this time, they cry and visit and revisit the body, putting their trunks to the ground in unison (“in prayer,” as the handler said).

Another unique experience offered by Jabulani was going to a cheetah rehabilitation center where we were able to play with some adorable cubs. Here we felt an enormous amount of trust as we stroked the carnivorous cats, purring loudly, only nipping at our hands and legs lightly in play.

We should mention, before we arrived to Jabulani, there had been enormous flooding the week prior, and in fact, while in Cape Town, we weren’t sure if the lodge would be open in time for our arrival. Some lodges in the area had been washed away, and the land was muddy and the roads left in disrepair; however, our particular facilities were in-tact. It seemed that we had just escaped the chaos until our jeep got stuck in the mud while trying to track a lion. We weren’t too far from the scene: vultures flew in circles in the sky and the faint smell of a rotting carcass carried on the wind. In order to try to get our car unstuck, we had to leave the vehicle as the jeep was jacked. This meant exposing ourselves to the dangers of the bush, and yet, we couldn’t stop laughing! While our tracker tried all he could to dig us out, we were all like little kids in joke survival mode. After five minutes we were counting our water bottles and musing on who we’d eat first. Despite our guides best attempts, the car remained stuck. Eventually, we had someone from the lodge come and get us and on our way to the airport, the jeep remained where we’d last left it, keys still in the ignition.

After a thrilling two weeks, we are in Jo’berg for one more night until we make our way to an animal farm an hour outside the city where we will learn about livestock care. We are sad to see one adventure end, but are excited at the prospect of new experiences. Thank you, Kushners! We’ve never eaten so well, laughed so hard, and had so many special and exotic experiences in so short a time. We miss you already!

*To see more of our photos, check out: www.flickr.com/photos/akushner/

Paraty: it's "a party!"

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:45:00 -0500

First and foremost, we dedicate this post to our loyal and encouraging fan, Cousin Carol. C.C.—thanks for being our number one!

We’ve found ourselves in Paraty, a well preserved 17^th century colonial beach town in Brazil (and home to the Paraty International Literary Festival).

While our accommodations have been severely down-graded (country-side mansion to tent jam-packed with all our belongings), we are happy to explore another part of this beautiful country.

There is a booming artist community here, and yesterday we spent our time checking out Casa da Cultura, a museum where we came upon the work of Aecio Sarti. Rachel fell in love. (For more of his work, visit his website: http://www.aeciosarti.com/

Aside from walking the cobblestone streets and getting caught in sun showers, it’s all cafe com leite and caipirinhas.

Serra da Estrela

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:19:00 -0500

We have been spending the last three weeks at a writer’s retreat in Cunha, Brazil—a small town between Sao Paulo and Rio. We are so happy: Rachel is working on her novel furiously, and Adam is playing music and composing songs, which he later hopes to record. When we’re not arting, we’re cooking—fresh veggies from the garden—on our wood-burning stove, or we’re taking photos for a book we’re compiling for Serra da Estrela’s owner, former journalist, Charles Barclay.

Rachel’s also got a new job writing articles for an online magazine on Getaway homes, a great gig to have while travelling the globe!

Hard at work!

There are cows, chickens, horses, and two dogs, one of which has adopted us as his new parents. Every evening he follows us back to our cottage to stand guard. Adam spends his mornings practicing Portuguese lessons, and while we’ve found some great books in English lying around, (The World According to Garp and Blindness), Adam has been devouring crime novel and suspense thrillers. He keeps asking Rachel, “What’s this guy’s angle? Does he have a broken past and a thirst for blood?” every time they meet some unsuspecting and innocent local.

We spent New Year’s Eve with a family of 28 from Sao Paulo. They were the nicest, most welcoming bunch of people we have met on our travels thus far. They served us hand-made pizza and grilled bananas in condensed milk (sprinkled with cinnamon), among other delicious things, and we stayed up until the wee hours singing Beatles songs.

In a week and a half, we’re meeting the Kushners in Cape Town for an African safari. The promise of family will be the only way to tear ourselves away from this paradise!

Our Short Vacation from our Vacation

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:11:13 -0500

We’ve spent our post-Mama Roja time sight-seeing and hanging on the beach. Tomorrow we are residency-bound, but before we get tied up with art, here’s a few photos of the last two weeks. More photos are on our flickr site, which can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/akushner/

Also, there are some great photos on the Mama Roja blog that show the house being built. Check them out here: http://www.mamaroja.blogspot.com/

Goodbye Tent…

…hello Iguazu Falls!

Floating downstream on a river raft

Close encounters of the bird kind

The beach…minutes away from our apartment

Haircuts, Homemade Bagels, and Roosters

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:14:04 -0500

Our time at Mama Roja is coming to an end. Tommorrow we are having a big “Giving Thanks” celebration, which will include traditional empanadas, deviled eggs, as well as thanksgiving favorites like mashed potatoes and stuffing. We are also going to be making mulled wine and mimosas, and there has been an overwhelming request from the group for another round of Adam’s famous sourdough bread.

We’ve been very productive in the last week. We learned how to make BAGELS, a welcomed taste of NYC. They were so delicious, and we can’t wait to bring the recipe back with us—although we have to perfect our “everything bagel” seasoning.

Rachel learned how to crochett from Tim, one of the other volunteers here who has crochetted himself a big floppy wizard hat. Adam has also been trying his hand at crochetting, but is having a little trouble getting off the ground with his ‘quilt,’ which is currently just a bunch of haphazard knots.

Adam’s out-of-control beard, mustache, and hair were getting to be too much, so Rachel took up hair dressing.

Adam’s new haircut and beard trim. Not bad for Rachel’s first time cutting hair!

Homemade bagels! Trust us, they are really good.

Adam “harvested” one of the roosters for a big pot of rooster soup. It was a solomn moment that put us face to face with life and death, the food we eat, and the choices behind the food. Because we do not have the technique to break the neck of the chicken swiftly and painlessly (this takes years of practice, we’ve been told), we were instructed to cut the neck with a sharp knife to sever the head from the body. Adam, focused on the task at hand, did a swift job, but the 20 seconds or so before the rooster bled out—where the eyes and tounge on its detached head were still functioning, and its throat still clucking, its wings still flapping—was a significant, life-changing moment. Killing the rooster and then yanking the feathers off its warm body was an intense experience, one that we aren’t so sure was justified by the delicious soup for which it sacrificed its life.

On the earthen building project, we have moved onto plastering from a mixture comprised of sifted dirt, sand, water, and cow poop. The plastering is fun, and with the plaster and other types of mud techniques (“meatballs”), we are building little nitches into the walls of the house which will serve as small shelves, for example, places to hold soap / shampoo in the bathroom. Kim, the founder and director at Mama Roja (and future tenent of the house we are building) has transformed a column in the house into an artful tree, the branches designed to hold small, decorative objects.

The experience of living a self-sufficient life, connecting with nature, as well as the building project have inspired us. We’ve begun discussing how we want our residency / farm to function as well as sketching building designs for writers’ cabins. Adam has been reading books on composting and humanure (composting with human manure!), wild fermentation, and self-sufficent homes. Rachel has been researching small projects for the farm such as root cellers and livestock care. We have decided on keeping chickens (great for eggs), pigs (great for fertilizing soil and plowing land before planting—and sadly, delicious), and of course, our cats will learn how to catch mice. Also, we’re hoping to have a dog to help with wranggling the fowl. We hear that ducks and geese mostly eat food that would otherwise be unfruitful for us to harvest (aqautic life of little nutritional value to humans) and they are also good for stuffing comforters, ect. But one thing at a time. It is hard not to get carried away with all of the possibilites of a sustainable life. Part of us justs wants to come back to the USA and get started! But there is still so much to learn and see.

Jungle Pants! (pre-haircut and shave)

Rachel and Justin in the Kitchen

Lulu, one of the dogs at Mama Roja.

A giant caterpillar (they will give you a nasty sting)

A rooster on the farm. Don’t worry - it is not the one we ate.

Our time in the tent is thankfully also coming to an end; we leave for Iguazu falls at the end of the month and then we’re off to Brazil, where we have rented a home on the beach for two weeks. We are really looking forward to a little R&R and that beachy honeymoon we’ve been prolonging.

We finally got around to uploading this video of live Tango...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:32:19 -0500

We finally got around to uploading this video of live Tango music from a bar in Buenos Aires.

Mama Roja, Part II

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:01:00 -0500

We are more than half-way through our internship at Mama Roja, and already we have learned so much. Just this past week, we finished laying the bricks on the house we have been building, and we are gearing up to plaster the facade and learn natural painting techniques. Yesterday, we spent the morning in a cow pasture collecting dung (apparently a good, fibrous material for plaster) and then lounged in the river, took a pickling workshop, and then made some hot toddies to drink around a bonfire.

The house we are building out of mud:

Everyone in the group making Hot Toddies. We also drank some home-made alcohol and lemoncello:

We are preparing ourselves to slaughter a rooster for Thanksgiving, an event which we are half dreading, half anticipating with curiuosity. We feel that if we are going to have a farm, we must learn about these less-than-appealing techniques and practices. The rooster-in-waiting happens to be a pretty plucky fowl, caged now because of his aggression, a small fact that slightly ameliorates our feelings on his impending sentence. There is also a baby pig on the farm—so cute and smelly—who is ‘due’ for Christmas. While we are not caring directly for the animals on the farm, sharing a living space and seeing these beings each and every day is arising complicated feelings on being an omnivore.

Some of the recent workshops we’ve had are candle-making, balm-making, head-massage therapy, and reiki. Also, Adam made a delicious sourdough bread for the group, and he even made his own starter by catching the yeast in the air! Our heads are filled with so many ideas for our farm/residency, and while we are so excited for the future, we are trying to remember to enjoy our present—moments filled with learning and loving.

An elephant garlic plant:

Update from Obera, Misiones, Argentina

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:34:07 -0500

We´ve made it to a sketchy internet cafe (in Obera, Argentina) populated by teenage boys obsessed with video games to tell you all:

We spent a little over a week in Buenos Aires where we hung out with our friend Facundo, a scultptor who makes amazing metal art. Facundo and his wife Feli took us out on the town to a great Parilla (a popular Argentinian grill), to a tango show in some out-of-the-way bar where we indulged in wine and cheese, and then to Feli´s beach house 5 hours outside of the city for the weekend. We couldn´t have asked for a better host! Buenos Aires felt to us like a little taste of home—a cultural haven with tons of art and music and good food.

Some of Facundo´s sculptures:

Live tango music at the bar:

Our favorite Cafe in Buenos Aires, which was right by our hostel in the Palermo neighborhood. It reminded us of Brooklyn:

After B.A. we took a 14 hour overnight bus ride north to Obera, a farming community in the sub-tropics. When we first got on the bus, we were served candy and whiskey, and shortly thereafter, champagne…not your typical bus. The seats were as big as beds, and after two violent, subtitled action movies, we fell asleep, and before we knew it, we had arrived at Mama Roja: a learning center for earthen building and sustainable living. It is gorgeous here. There are butterflies abound, and so far we have learned the basics of building mud-brick houses, soap-making, effective microorgansims, composting, and more.

We bathe in the river (one of Rachel´s favorite activies on hot days), and there is hardly any garbage or waste that comes through the farm. It is a simple way of life here, and it is so peaceful to be surrounded by chickens, dogs, a cat, and a pig, as well as other like-minded young people interested in alternative lifestyles. We are feeling very possible, and very inspired!

We must admit, the bug situation is not ideal. We are bitten from head to toe, and the other day we watched a girl pull a botfly out of her leg. (For those who haven´t had the pleasure of seeing a botfly, it is a flesh-eating worm that lays eggs in your skin!) Rachel is terrified of becoming a victim, constantly convinced that her mosquito bites don´t feel quite right…Adam reassures her that she is fine, and momentarily, he can calm her down. We´ve also seen spiders as big as our fists, and there are catapillars here with spikes on them that burn and blister your skin if you happen to touch them, which Rachel has. There are lots of things to be afraid of here, but Adam says that we (humans) are probably the scariest thing in the jungle.

Our tent-home is cozy and comfy, and we´ve even decorated it by hanging our hand-made dream-catcher right in the middle. We are looking forward to spending the month here and learning as much as we can about the garden and building.

The bathing river by Mama Roja:

The buildings at Mama Roja are all made out of mud:

Peru In Review

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:29:09 -0400

Hey! We know…we have been gone for almost a month, and you were expecting more than a picture of blister and Rachel doing her laundry. We promise that we were trying to update the blog in Peru but the internet was crappy and we were having some issues. So here is Peru in review…

Our first stop was in Lima, in the Miraflores district. Miraflores is supposedly the nicest part of Lima, but in reality, it isn´t very nice. The city is a little depressing, and there isn´t much to see or do there. We wandered around Lima for 2 days wondering what we should be doing. Rachel drew a picture of a church with lots of stray cats. Adam studied some maps and wondered if this trip was such a good idea…

Next we flew to Cusco, Peru which was a beautiful trip over the Andes mountains. Many travellers we met took the 24hr bus ride, but we opted for the 1hr flight, which we learned was a really smart indulgence—we heard horror stories of the bus stopping periodically to empty the bathroom and let people off to vomit. Based on the 4 hour car ride we took from Cusco to Santa Maria (picture long, winding roads on deadly cliffsides) we were happy with our decision.

Upon arrival in Cusco we went straight to the Eco-Yoga retreat which was an hour long bus ride outside of Cusco. This bus ride is an amazing experience (we joked we’d have paid to take it as a tourist trip!) and it takes you through the start of the Sacred Valley. All the other people on the bus are locals who live in mud- brick huts on the mountain side. When we got on, the drivers knew exactly where we were going—the only place where white people ever go on that route! We even started to run into local friends on the bus near the end of our stay—we saw Miguel, a 14-year-old boy, on his way home from school one day and felt like typical Peruvians!

There was no electricity or running water at Eco-Yoga. To get water, we had to grab water with a bucket from a well by the river and boil it for 5 minutes. Also, our first night there was a little strange. After flying into Cusco and taking this bus ride to the middle of no where, when we showed up, the house was empty. We decided to cook some lentils and set up camp and figure out what we would do in the morning. We made ourselves right at home and put our sleeping bags in the lofted area of the main house. It got dark around 6:30 and we were reading aloud to each other from a surprisingly scary Murakami story about a man’s fear of dying inside a refridgerator. We were at the scariest part of the story, Adam reading alound, “Cold, dead hands reaching out!” when we heard a knocking at the door followed by some “Hola”s. It was Rama, the man who runs the retreat. This was not the biggest surprise we had in store…turns out the place is a Hare Krishna Temple! We skipped out on the chanting, but did yoga with the group, and cooked vegetarian meals for the whole house as part of our volunteer ‘service.’ It was a great place to begin our trip; relaxing, inspiring, and a great way to feel a part of the traditional peruvian culture.

Here’s a few photos of our stay at Eco-Yoga:

We also went on an amazing hike with Rama and the group where we scaled the mountain side, clutching onto wheat and hoisting ourselves up to some ancient Inka ruins. Caroline, a new friend, even got stuck in a cactus patch!

And during the full moon, Caroline fire-danced while the others (some Hare Krishnas who showed up that evening) played drums and chanted…Adam and I stood by, taking photos and feeling like we’d landed in a surreal world.

After 9 days, we were sad to leave Eco-Yoga, but we were glad to get back into a city that promised the finer things in life, like a shower and a flushable toilet! In Cusco, we connected with this Peruvian hippie/tour-guide named Pepe, and through him, we met a whole slew of people—all really fun and interesting travelers. With a group of 8, we hiked for 5 days and got into lots of trouble!

While we learned about the Inkas and the jungle, we tested our fears walking narrow trails carved high up in the mountains. We scaled some rocks, and met some local farmers who served us hot chocolate made straight from the coca bean—very bitter, but with some honey, very delicious. We came across bananna trees, avocado and mango trees, and a fiesty monkey!

After walking for hours on the first day of the trek, it got dark and we were informed we still had a lot more walking to do. And not only that—we had a bridge with missing planks to cross and we needed to zipline in an open boxcar from mountain to mountain to make our way over the rushing, wild river. It did not comfort us that our tour guide said that he ‘never did this at night’ and that he prayed to god for 10 minutes before we crossed. Pepe!!! Luckily, we made it to our final destination safely that night, even though the last leg of our walk that night was walking through the river in all our clothes, our shoes soping wet when we arrived at the hot springs. And you thought our wedding was crazy!

The hot springs were beautiful, and very relaxing, although we quickly learned that the tent that Pepe gave us was a tent meant for a 6 year old child. We had asked, again and again, if we should bring our own tent, and he had assured us that he would provide one. It was a hysterical ending to an absurd day, and we ended up sleeping in Pepe’s tent—a really old, filthy, smelly tent that wasn’t waterproof—and guess what? It rained hard that night. We’ll never forget to bring our tent again, and we’ll never sign up for a trip without asking what’s in store! The next few days were spent dining in local Peruvian restaurants, walking along the railroad toward the base of Machu Piccu, and then hiking an incredible amount of stairs to the top of Machu Piccu, where our camera died! Can you believe it? We got a few photos though…

An ancient Inka sacrifice

Chris and the monkey

Our crazy tour-guide Pepe is to the right, sticking his head out of a cave

On top of Huayna Picchu looking over Machu Picchu

Adam enjoying a hot chocolate

Now we’re in Buenos Aires for a few days, recuperating and getting ready for our month-long stay on a farm in the north of Argentina. To see more of our photos, check out our flickr page at: www.flickr.com/photos/akushner/

A video we took from the Inka Trail hike. This was part of our...

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:54:15 -0400

A video we took from the Inka Trail hike. This was part of our 4 day trek to Machu Picchu. Rachel was so scared on the trail, she wouldn´t take her hands off the side of the mountain.

Photo

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:46:00 -0400

Blisters in Lima

Laundry in the Sacred Valley

AND NOW WE ARE READY!

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:07:00 -0400

On October 1st, we take off on a year-long adventure to backpack the world. Our dream is to marry art and agriculture by developing an artists’ residency on a working farm, so we’re spending the next 365 days on a mission to visit artists’ colonies and sustainable farms in order to learn from their models and practices…and hey, if we drink a few beers along the way, so be it.

…and family…

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:56:20 -0400

…and family…