Running from Trouble

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Back in the US, watching the CNN news about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, we clearly remembered spending many an evening eating in the trendy Leopold's restaurant when we were there a few years ago. It was always packed to the hilt with travellers and young urbanite Indians alike, and I cannot even imagine what it must have been like in there when the terrorists came in, AK-47s (or whatever they had) in hand. This time we were only in the north of India, but there were still several bombs that went off in the north-east, killing about 50 people, plus the usual riots in Kashmir. Westerners were not involved so it didn't make the headlines outside of India.

The next story on CNN surprised us, too. Apparently, Bangkok international airport had been barricaded off by political protesters on Tuesday. That was the day we flew out of there at 1pm, but we were blissfully unaware of anything. I guess we got lucky, missing them by what must have been mere hours, and saving ourselves a week-long stay in the departures lounge!

Looking back, the world is a crazy place. The first time we went to India, all embassies were advising their citizens to leave as India and Pakistan were at loggerheads (what's new?) and were threatening nuclear war. As we arrived in Delhi international airport, determined to continue with our travels as planned, everyone else was leaving. Another example is the tsunami that hit Thailand and much of south-east Asia. We were actually on Phi Phi for the Christmas before and the Christmas after the tsunami, but luckily not the Christmas the tsunami hit. Again, we were very lucky. However, we did have wedding invites ready to send out for our planned beach wedding on Phi Phi. When we woke up and saw the headlines, all plans quickly changed. Instead, we ended up in Bali for the wedding, and just two weeks after the last guests left, and literally hours after Scott and I left, bombs went off in several Balinese resort towns. Crazy! My parents aren't much better, having narrowly missed bombings in Egypt, Turkey and Bali. It must run in the family!

So, is travel safe these days? Many people think it is just not worth leaving home, but in my opinion it is far more dangerous every time you cross the road or get in your car to drive. Indeed, we are in the US for three weeks before continuing down to Central America for the final leg of our trip. With no jobs, we have no health insurance, so that is far scarier to me than possible terrorist attacks abroad.

We spent the first week or our time in the US in Sonoma visiting Scott's Aunty Sharon. We arrived at the airport in "normal" clothes in order to facilitate a smooth transition through customs, and then immediately went to the bathrooms to change into our hippy outfits - baggy pants, jangling anklets, "bindi" dot on the forehead and, at one point, barefoot. We wanted to freak out Scott's aunt, making her think we had turned into hippies after travelling in India. We thought we looked way out there but no-one seemed to stare and laugh at us. People are just too polite in this country! Even Scott's aunt thought we were for real at first until we greeted her with a bow, palms together and a "Shanti Sharon" instead of "Aunty Sharon" - I guess everyone expected us to be hippified after over a year on the road.

During that week in Sonoma, we ran some errands, ate lots of home-cooked meals, and visited a winery or two. As it was over Thanksgiving, we all went to Scott's other aunt's house, Aunty Vicky, for a Thanksgiving meal (which is basically like Christmas dinner in England, but with pumpkin pie instead of Christmas cake and trifle for dessert!). Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so no pictures.

Next, we took the Greyhound bus to Santa Barbara to see Scott's parents (Tom and Wanda) for a couple of weeks. Corey, Scott's step-brother, and his girlfriend Abby were also staying there as his house had been damaged by the recent forest fires, so it was a full-house. We again ended up doing lots of running of errands, and went out lots with Tom and Wanda. I even managed to get together some applications for substitute teaching for when we go home in February. At the weekend, I met up with four teachers from my old school for lunch. There was lots of gossip to catch up on after being away more than a year!

By the time it was time to leave to start the final leg of the trip, we felt like we had never been away, and the thought of travelling was exciting and new again. Arriving in Nicaragua last night was a shock to the system - language barriers, hot stuffy rooms, cold showers, strange food...we are loving it!

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[Patricia Somewhere]

Invite...
Are you sure you guys don't want to spend New Year in Brazil? We leave this Friday to Maceio, my home town in NE Brazil.Miss you guys.Patricia