jumped shipped on Tuesday and hopped on an eclectic mix of busses—some with a/c, some without, some big, some small—and ventured forth to Puerta Vallarta.
What fun!
First, we walked along the boardwalk looking for a restaurant that Marisela remembered being good, i.e. “authentic” and not too, too touristy and expensive. We didn’t find the one she was thinking of, but we did get a good walking workout! Just what these two amigas needed.
When our mouths were beginning to get so parched that the spittle didn’t spit but stayed, we stopped at a farmacia for some agua. “Know of any good authentic Mexican restaurants that are a good price?” Marisela asked in her flawless Spanish. No was the sales clerks reply. “Nada. Todos son turistico.”
Okay den. On we went. Higher and higher away from the ocean and deeper and deeper into residential land. Just about when we hit a road dead-end (but not for pedestrians, we could have meandered further along the coastline), we saw a good looking local couple with a bambino of about 3-years. Ditto. Same question from Marisela. But this time we got a, “Si!” The nice looking young Mexican man recommended one back by the Cathedral.
Se acepta comúnmente que Puerto Vallarta fue fundado en 1851 por don Guadalupe Sánchez quien llegó a este lugar con su familia el 12 de diciembre, procedente de Cihuatlán, Jalisco. Got it?
We said Gracias and headed on our way back down hill and back into turisto land. Perfecto, we both thought. We needed some more exercise.
Again, our mouths dried up. But this time we stopped for paletas. Strawberry fruit bar for me (REAL juice and fruit, delicioso!!!) and lime for Marisela. Yum! We had to quickly lick them, bite them, ingest them in whatever way was possible before the dripped onto the sidewalk or our hand. Again, yum! Just enough liquid and fructose to carry us on our way to Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Cathedral.
Hmm, we didn’t see a restaurant fitting this guy’s description. Onward. But before Marisela left me in the dust with her professional sailor walk which magically appears once she hits shore, I eyed some quaint buildings up the hill. Hola, amiga! Let’s try going UP! Good idea, girlfriend, she replied. So up we went . . . until we found Gaby’s. : ))))) That was da spot!
“SI!” Tony and I replied when Kevin and Marisela invited us to join them on their return trip to Kauai aboard their one-of-a-kind, original (can you say MAGNIFIQUE?!!) boat KALEWA — designed and built by Kevin.
Invitations like these don’t come every day!
From where to where? you ask.
Puerta Vallarta, Mexico to Nawiliwili, Kauai.
When?
Now.
But how can you make a post when you’re underway?
We’re not yet. There are a few details to take care of. Parts needed for this and that. And, most importantly, cousins to visit with!!!
I’ve been speaking a sloppy mix of French, Spanish, and German. BUT I made a promise to Flavio, Marisela’s cousin who’s a Biology teacher and gynecologist, that I’ll know Spanish by the next time we meet up. Yup, that’s my goal!!! Hablar con mia en espanol next time you see me. I most likely will make a mess of my reply, but I’ll give it my ALL, that’s for darn tooting!
Kay den, without further ado, below are pictures that fablisio Tony Baloney has taken so far . . .
In 1684, Paul Kuster, an ancestor on my maternal grandfather’s side, left that area of Germany (near the Rhine river) for the “free world.” One of thirteen families, the Kusters were part of the original emigrants to Pennsylviana, best known as Pennsylvania Dutch. Why Pennsylvania Dutch and not Pennsylvania German? Not sure. I googled it and found a site with a l o n g explanation of all the why and what-fores. All I DO know is that my grandfather fought for the United States in World War I and did not want to be associated with Germans at all!
How would he feel about his youngest granddaughter becoming enamored with the German language? No idea. He died when I was 6-months old.
My hostess during this final phase of my solo-trip found me through homeexchange.com. She wanted to visit Kauai and accessed the site through her girlfriend in Freiburg who was a member (and who btw has this lovely family you’ll see in the pix below : ).
“Krefeld?” my new friend thought, “Who wants to visit Krefeld????”
Incredulous that someone wanted to visit this tiny town near the border of the Netherlands, she contacted me anyway. One thing led to another, and in December 2011, my mother, husband, and I found ourselves in her COOL apartment in the Median district of Düsseldorf.
If you want to experience the Mother Chronicles, visit: the next couple of posts. : )))
So . . . at the end of my solo-trip, I found myself staying with and getting to know this incredible woman who I met through exchanging homes!!! A woman who shared her apartment in Düsseldorf, just minutes away from our ancestors‘ old stomping grounds, making it possible for my Mom to have an 80th birthday celebration full of dreams fulfilled. Lucky us!
Thanks Christiane for your generosity and hospitality!!!
After devoting MOST of my time to increasing my German vocabulary, I found I needed a girlfriend fix. Women, you know what I mean. Nothing like girl-girl time to laugh, eat, and just plain enjoy each other’s company.
Thanks so much Glenn for sharing your home and hearth!!!Without further ado, fav photos from this part of my trip:
Years ago, a young Jewish man left Yugoslavia just in time.
It was 1943, and in the words of Henry, the then almost 16-year old boy, “I just made it.”
A Quaker group was helping children (up to 15-years old) escape Eastern Europe. Once they arrived in the United States; it was up to other organizations to take over. Luckily for Henry, he was introduced to Joachim Prinz, an infamous rabbi who had stood up to the Nazis in Berlin. Now living in New Jersey, Rabbi Prinz introduced young Henry to the Michael Stavitsky family. Soon Henry was living with the Stavitskys and continuing his education.
Fast forward to February 2012. Henry, now in his 80s and a Professor of Physics at NYC, invited this lucky traveler for a visit to his home outside Geneva. One of the scientists working on the ISOLDE project, Henry periodically spends time at CERN.
How in the heck did this Southern-born and Southern-Baptist-raised woman receive this invitation?
Marriage. Purely a connection by marriage. I just happened to marry one of Michael & Evie Stavitsky’s two grandsons.In 1986, Henry generously flew to Tennessee for our wedding. Towing a heavy flaming-orange Le Creuset cooking pot, he and his wife Norma gave us one of our all-time favorite wedding gifts. (We’ve used it almost EVERY day of our over 20-year marriage!)
Though I saw Henry only once after our wedding, we maintained contact. Being a good Southern gal, as well as a proper Kappa Kappa Gamma, I made sure to include our distant aunt and uncle in our annual holiday missives. Good thing! Because this trip to CERN and my visit with Henry will remain one of my absolute solo-travel HIGHLIGHTS!
Thanks Henry for your generosity, good company, and yummy-yummy meals!
It’s me talking candidly on a topic I’ve chosen. Unscripted. Off-the-cuff, and from the heart.
Deep inside of me (and not always so DEEP inside : ) is a natural cheerleader. A natural encourager. A voice which loves to yell, “Go for it!”
Go for it! Go for your dream, whatever it is!
And I mean it; I really, really do.
Go for your dream. It’s time. NOW. : )
And so, after talking to two new friends–one in Hawaii and one in Cambodia–I realized it was time. It was time to launch this particular ship in my personal voyage.
My hubby kindly assisted me in getting started in a way that I can easily continue on my own, with a good work flow, a good system. Thanks Tones!
Without further ado, I bid you welcome to Sj’s first Pep Talk: Nice to Meet You!.
Pickles are funny to me. Well, at least the word is. It’s goofy. It’s fun to say.
“Hey Pickle! How are you doing?”
“What’s the deal, Pickle?”
“Pickle you later!”
What does that even mean?
I have no idea. It’s just fun to say.
Pickle.
Pickle, pickle, pickle.
I’m in NYC. In Brooklyn. In the most amazing home, (I LOVE home exchange! Mahalo Ria!!!) and I’ve signed up to take a 5-day intensive course in stand-up comedy at the American Comedy Institute. And I’m terrified. Yes, terrified.
Then why am I doing it?
‘Cause. The most rewarding things I’ve done in life were also the most scary.Going on my first plane ride at 14 with no one I knew to a country where I couldn’t speak the language. Scary.
Taking a job as a maid in a country where all I could really say was, “Ein Bier, bitte.” Scary.
Taking a job on a cruise ship where my main role was leading aerobics, and I’d only done that once in the class that I’d just taken because I’d actually gotten the job. Scary.
It’s a long list. I’ll stop. You get the picture.
Throughout my life I’ve made many, many leaps and next week I’m jumping off yet another cliff. Will I land on my feet or with egg on my face?
My husband says all good stand-up comedians talk about their flops. I reckon it’s a rite of passage, a part of the process. Irrrreegardless, I’m jumping. Maybe I’ll be holding my nose and it won’t be pretty, but I promise you I will jump.
And if I do flop? Land on my belly instead of my feet?
Well, there are always pickles.
And from the look of the Heinz pickle bookmarks, it’s time for an update.
There was an hour layover between trains, so I ventured outside Basel’s Bahnhof to inspect the many wires.
Dear Friends,
Hope you’re all well and happy.
Yesterday evening I arrived in Geneva where I’m staying with the most darling 84-year man who I know through Tony’s family. He’s on sabbatical at CERN for a year and got a special pass for me to go there during my stay. It’s sunny and cold here, very beautiful in fact.
Best wishes for a lovely February. Happy Valentine’s day in advance. : )
With warm aloha,
-S j
p.s. I managed to upload some pictures from my recent 3-week stay in Berlin . . . then I lost them, and THEN, a few years later, I was able to repost them here. Enjoy.
That’s my main goal during this phase of solo travel.
A few of you had asked. Hence the concise answer.
When it first came to me that I wanted to come spend some time in Germany to improve my language skills, I thought that I would pursue an Arbeitserlaubnis, or work permit. I’d been told that it’s difficult for a foreigner to find a job here, so earning a certificate for teaching English as a second language seemed like a good idea, a good way to get my foot in the door. It also fit a side goal of mine—to improve my English language skills. But there remained this nagging thought that if I were to do that, I’d be speaking English all the time (while teaching, obviously) and that I wouldn’t get to do what I really wanted to do, which is improve my German.
Okay Susan*, I thought, maybe you’ll just have to do that for the short term until you find something else. Okay, I replied, I can do that.
But after I returned home to Kaua‘i (after 5-months in Asia), I realized that I also want to spend some time on island just being and not working a zillion hours a day (on projects for other peoplelike Tony and I did for many, many years). What would it be like to have time to enjoy the island? (Yes, I imagine many of you have the very same question in the back of your heads.) So I decided that I’d stay in Europe for the 90-days allowed (without requesting a special visa).
“But what about work, sj? What about earning a living? Won’t you eventually have to go back to work?” you ask.
Well, I have faith that it will reveal itself in time. I’m on what I’m calling a sabbatical.
According to my computer’s dictionary, a sabbatical** is “a period of paid leave granted to a college teacher for study or travel, traditionally every seventh year : she’s away on sabbatical.” I think it fits. At one point in my life I was actually on track to be a college professor. As far as the “paid” part goes, well, let’s just say that a surprise inheritance arrived at exactly the right time to fund this dream of mine. Yes, I am a very lucky girl; I’m also very, very appreciative.
“Okay, so you’re spending the 90-days allowed in Europe. You’re main focus now is to improve your German. How are you going about that? Are you taking classes?”
Yes and no. I’m not attending formal classes at a school, but I am doing lessons on a cool web site I found called babbel.com. My goal is to spend at least three hours a day (like I did in Lyon 3-years ago) doing some type of “focused” study. I’ve been fairly loose with this and am allowing it to reveal itself. For those of you know me well, you know that I’m the type of person who generally starts a project, sets her nose to the grindstone and doesn’t raise her head until the task is done. I’m doing that in an albeit freer way. For example, an hour of conversation with a German native can count as an hour, and no, I’m not literally timing it. I’m just noticing that it’s somehow getting done each day. Watching movies in German also “counts.” Yes, I’m enjoying myself!!! And why wouldn’t I? Every single day I awake with a smile on my face. I’m so happy to be here; I’m so happy to be alive and on this journey of life!
“Okay, so you’re having fun. Where all are you going?”
That too has slowly been revealing itself. I originally thought that I’d be staying in one place for most of the time. I initially booked a room for a month in Berlin. I envisioned that I would become part of a community; perhaps do some volunteer work with a theatre company. But I’ve slowly been realizing that part of this journey’s theme is variety. While in Asia this past summer, it dawned on me that I was learning to be completely “at home” wherever I was. We all know the expression, “home is where the heart is.” Well, it’s true, and as I live more and more firmly rooted in my heart space, I find that I’m always at home.***
As far as the specific places I’ll visit (or have visited), here’s an outline for the moment:
– Düsseldorf – Tony and I exchanged our home with two different German families. After Tony returned to Hawaii, I was able to stay a few nights longer in both beautiful apartments. : ) Yes, nice!
– Hamburg – So many people had told me that this is a beautiful city, and as you saw from my photos (http://tvjuice.com/hamburg2/), it is. I really enjoyed my visit and would go back in a heartbeat. A very nice lady I met when I went swimming even invited me to stay at her place should I return! Yes, the magic keeps happening.
– Berlin – When Tony and I were here in December, we stayed up late one night playing charades in a bar. We laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt. That night I met a wonderful group of smart and funny people; they’ve welcomed me into their lives. I’m currently staying at one of the gal’s apartment! She’s so much fun, smart (yes, I know that I used those very same adjectives already, get the point?), industrious, and she has sooo many books! And even a bike that she’s letting me use. Yes, I am one very, very lucky girl. : ) I’ll be here for 2-weeks for sure, maybe a little longer. Some more new friends may come to Berlin from Prague for a weekend visit; I’ll keep you posted.
– Geneva – During World War II, Tony’s grandparents took in a young man from what was then Czechoslovakia; they considered him family and helped ensure that he got an education. He’s been a professor at NYU in the Physics Department for years and is now on a year’s sabbatial at CERN. He’s invited me to visit him. Yes, I look forward to seeing him again (he came to our wedding in Tennessee years ago and gave us an awesome flaming orange le creuset pot that we still use almost every day!).
– Karlruhe – One of our home exchange partners lives and works in this town. She’s invited me to visit her and has said that I can join her as she drives to various places for her work. How cool is that !?!
– Strasbourg – I don’t know anyone there but have just heard from so many people that it’s a wonderful city. I’d like to experience it firsthand. I imagine that I’ll find a wonderful place to stay through air b n b or another type of connection.
– Paris – I depart for the continental United States from Paris; I plan on spending 3-nights or so there.
Years ago when I studied at the Uni Bonn****, I encountered very few people who spoke English. Granted, occasionally I met a fellow student who wanted to practice their English but that was exactly what they did, practice. Now, so many people speak English. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve recently realized that the skill of bouncing back and forth between languages is almost as important as being able to speak different languages. Once while Tony and I were at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Düsseldorf, we met a French family. I had so much fun speaking to them in French; we even ended up having dinner with them. So, as you can see, the above itinerary allows me ample opportunity to practice all of this: German, French, and the back-and-forth-language-bounce®, henceforth called baflb.
Returning to the topic of what I will do once I return to Kauai, I have BIG dreams. I want to do a variety of things. I want to continue to learn languages. I want to continue to improve the languages I do know (and/or am learning). I’d like to have a few Skype customers who I assist with their English learning. I’d like to write a one-woman play and perform it. I’d like to do more acting. I’d like to get paid for acting. : ) I’d like to do some translating from German to English (and get paid for it : ). I’d like to go sailing. I’d like to hangout with Tony and Rocket Girl. I’d like to biking, hiking, stand up paddleboarding, etc. I’d like to do an occasional sound job on interesting projects. Yes, I’d like to do lots of things.
But for the moment, my focus is on improving my German.
And with that, I bid you all auf wienersehen,*****
–s j
* There’s been this gradual progression of my name shift. I’ve been called Susan since I was born. I always liked my name. Remember how at different times in life you’ve probably heard someone say, “I hate my name!”? I was never that person; I always liked the name Susan. Then, for various reasons, I wanted to start using my middle name too. I have a very good friend whose name is Mary Hunter. No, Hunter isn’t her last name, it’s her “middle” name. Friends call her “Mary Hunter” in one breath. Okay, I thought, people can say “Susan Jane” in one breath too. However, when signing emails, I found that I preferred to simply write “sj.” As I’ve gradually made new friends over the past year, they’ve come to know me solely as “sj.” I like the sound of it. What should you call me? Whatever feels the most comfortable to you. And as the saying goes, call me anything, but just don’t call me late for dinner! : )
** (noun) |səˈbatikəl|
*** When I returned “home” this past Fall, I had a most unusual experience (for me). As good as it felt to be on Kaua‘i, I also realized that I’d been “home” for a long while. When I think back on different places where I stayed while in Asia, I remember how comfortable I felt there, in my room, the space that had become my “home.” Whether it was for several weeks or just a couple of nights, something had changed within me; I had truly found peace wherever I was.
**** Rheinische Friedrich Wilhems Universität
***** a nod to my husband : )
I went to school here back in the early 1980s. Took an exercise class in the room over the road with my friend Michèle. : )
