mon bon
monika roy Joined: September 12th 2008
Logged in: February 15th 2012
Logged in: February 15th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
The Esplanade?
It's dusty. It's hot. There are tents and quansets and "theme camps" set up by NGO's everywhere. Law/military presence is real. There are a lot of people and not many resources....sounds like the start of a description of Burning Man, no? Yeah, except that there are TOO many people, there is trash EVERYWHERE, a lot of projects have gone wrong or weren't thought through all the way, malnourishment is evident. Doesn't sounds like radical self-reliance to me. In fact, Haitians have had little-to-no choice in the way they sustain their economy. Already with a history of being colonized, exploited, and having to pay reparations to the country (France) that enslaved them in order to be free (ironic, huh?), the earthquake 2 years ago did nothing to help the situation; and the following response did/is not addressing ... read more
Twalet Sech
After getting hasseled at LAX to buy a return ticket, not making it thought security twice because I forgot to check the kitchen knives in my bag, freezing still 5 minutes for an airport red alert, barely making my flight, cursing myself for choosing the middle seat in the only row that doesn't recline (bc it's in front of the exit row) for the overnighter, almost not making it through customs in Haiti because I forgot to write the SOIL address down (but fortunately had made friends with my neighbor on the plane who argued in Creole for me).... I'm here!! It's day 4 now and I'm settling into this new space, language, culture, organization. I've already visited the 2 main composting sites and have seen some of the dry toilets set up in communities. We're ... read more
The area right outside the farm
I've just spent almost the last month in a town called Puerto Morelos right south of Cancun, north of Playa del Carmen (which happen to be the 2 fastest growing cities in the world). Puerto Morelos is the oldest town on the shore and still retains its small-town vibe. I WWOOFed on a farm in the Zona Urbana which is actually the opposite of what it sounds, in the rural jungle/bush-mosquito-ridden area of town. The community is great with lots of kids and more hippies. I spent my time working in the gardens, helping to build a wood-fired brick oven, taking care of the animals, and going to the beach a few times a week - also to get fish tacos and a paleta while in town :) The highlights: We had a chocolate factory going, ... read more
Reunited in Chiapas!
Well well, the tickets were bought and the plans were made - I met my 2 good friends Rosa and Tin on their coordinated time off from work and school to hang out in Mexico! It was nice to see some familiar faces and we spent lots of time catching up over, what else, FOOD. Because if you know me, you search for the good sustenance. And so, our journey began in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas after more than 12 hour bus journeys on all of our parts (them from Cancun and me from Oaxaca). We spent 2 days exploring that fabulous town, and really San Cris. has some of the best food in Mexico that I've had. It was the first time really on this trip that I ate out in restaurants, but ... read more
Rocky the Mapache
Well here I am in Oaxaca, actually about to leave in a few hours. I've been working on another WWOOF farm for the last 2 weeks north of the city in Santiaguito, Etla. This farm is way different than the last one I was on - this one is on ranch land (meaning few trees), and there are LOTS of animals. Primarily because it is an educational farm for kids to come learn and be exposed to different animals. Really it's more like a zoo, except that the animals that live here were brought in injured or rescued from the black market, etc. They are animals that can't be returned to the wild (much as we'd like them to survive out there) and they range from crocs to spider monkeys, an ostrich, emu, a pregnant horse, ... read more
Purhepecha dancers in the square
Update on what happened in Morelia: Went to see Avatar 3D in spanish (for half the price as in the states)...AMAZING!!!! Apparently this movie took 14 years to make and you can totally tell with the colors, the imagination with the characters, and in 3D it was superb. I mean, it had all the same ingredients as a typical hollywood film (action, romance, sequence of events), but it was a slightly new storyline which made it original. And I could understand 95% of the spanish = thumbs up. More dancing.... Made some more good food...including learning how to make enchiladas! I jotted down some notes while learning and tried to formalize the recipe, but there it is below. I was sad to leave Morelia, but am okay to leave my friend's complicated love life - at ... read more
The day I waited...
Hi all! Well I´m hear in rural Michoacán...off the main road and hitchhiking into town (with friends) just like I´d said I wouldn´t do. Just goes to show that you can never really make promises. Anyways, I got here okay from Morelia (which is actually not that far away) and everyone here is nice and friendly - I´m living in the forest WWOOFing at this place called The Bosque, visit http://www.bosquevillage.com for more details. While I´ve been here for the last 2 weeks there have been 8-12 other volunteers from Germany, Canada, Montana, Colorado, France, Holland, Sweden, and England along with the owner Brian (originally from Washington state) and his partner Marie. This place isn´t really a farm, but an eco-village and we work everyday to build houses out of cob (earth materials, clay, sawdust, etc.), ... read more
El Mercado "Independencia"
Well, I´ve been settled here with my friend Dario (whom I know through salsa dancing last time I was here and we´ve kept in touch) in Morelia. He lives on the other side of the park where I used to live, closer to downtown - it´s in great walking distance to lots of places, namely La Michoacana Heladería y Paletería (where I get my daily fix of popsicles freshly covered with chocolate and nuts. Dario makes women´s jeans for a living with his son and they sell them to various stores here in Morelia and in nearby cities. He talks up a whirlwind, mainly about his extremely complicated love life: he´s 44, has 2 grown kids (one of them has a son = he´s a grandpa), is divorced, pursues many women through salsa dancing (and many ... read more
All the stuff I decided not to take
Ahhhh my trip begins with a visit to my very close friend Clara in L.A. There I went to yoga, walked the beach, and ate SO much delicious food...french food I might add. Well, Clara's family is french which means we ate the ever-so-delicious french food of crepes. Yes, that's right - put those 12 eggs in with lemon zest, a few cups of flour and milk, a pinch of salt into that bowl and voilá: a suave pancake to be filled with oh such delicious things like brie, grilled onions and spinach, tapenade...or for a dessert style you´ve got nutella, raspberry jam, butter, salt, lebneh (strained yogurt)...delicioso! Lucian (Clara´s bro), expert in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) also taught me some self-defense moves for my travels to accompany my pepper spray...all set! Well, somehow on the ... read more
St. Thomas touring with the hoop
Well I guess it's been about a month now since I've written (time goes by fast!) and there have definitely been some highs and lows - to summarize: It's been mostly working here in the field and taking care of the animals for me, cooking of course, going to the beach when possible, etc. We knew that the rabbits were pregnant from when we put them altogether in the battery room for the hurricane, so we were preparing for some births last week. Unfortunately, a few of what we thought were males were actually females and vice versa (we got different stories from different people instead of actually just sexing the rabbits). So it turns out that the female was in the larger cage when she gave birth (we wanted her to be in the smaller ... read more
