July 17, 2005
The Last Entry
This is the end of the blog. I'm back in the States--in Fargo, North Dakota. This is a picture of my weekend house in Devils Lake. It's actually my friends' farmhouse, but they let me use it when I visit. I should probably blog about life on the prairie because that may be as exotic to some of you as my travels. I'll let you know if I start a new blog. Bye for now!
Faith
If you ever need to renew your faith in humankind, TRAVEL. This picture shows a few of the things I received from friends and strangers along the way. People will always surprise you with their kindness, generosity and willingness to help. My revival began in Vancouver when Arti gave me Gnesh to remove obstacles from my path, and Karime gave me a Colombian bracelet. On the train to Chicago I met Les who gave me the blue carabiner that proved quite useful in attaching things to my pack and keeping the pack secure. In Ukraine, I got the frog from Slava and the t-shirt from Oleg. The t-shirt has me as Snow White surrounded by animals and dwarves with the faces of many of my Ukrainian friends. Eli and I combined our winnings from carnival games at Coney Island and got matching bracelets. I wore mine throughout the Americas. I'm still wearing the bracelet Lisa gave me in Bangkok and will wear it until Arti also comes home from Thailand. Perhaps even more surprising, though, are the small acts of kindness from strangers: the American couple in Prague who bought me a Coke on a hot day, the Ukrainians who kept me company on the walk from Prague castle, the Starbucks worker in Dubai who gave me a couple coins to remember the UAE, the Thai restaurant that gave us a cup of tea on a rainy night, the taxi driver in Peru who made sure we made it on the bus, and so many others. I feel like there's a world out there looking out for me. I once heard faith described as hope mixed with trust, and that's the kind of faith I have in people. I just needed a little reminder.
Nasca
Mom and I in the small plane in which we flew over the Nasca Lines. This is the before photo because after we would look considerably 'greener' from air sickness.
Lake Titicaca
A view of Lake Titicaca from Isla Taquile. The snow-covered peaks in the background are in Bolivia, which shares the lake with Peru.
Salinas
These are salt pools near Urubamba, Peru. The community mines the salt by flooding the area then letting the water evaporate. The process takes about a month.
Scootering
Lisa gives me the "okay, I'm on the left side" wave as we travel around Ko Chang on our scooters. It took a little while to adjust to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.
Shaslik in Ukraine
Andrey, Me, Slava, Alla, Irina and Andrei (hiding behind Irina) having a picnic in the forest near Kiev. The picture is a little blurry because we were all laughing so hard, including Lyuda who was taking the picture. The mosquitos were out in force, and Irina was trying to use a jacket as pants to cover her legs.
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