ancient, dusky rivers

The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
     flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
     went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
     bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
By: Langston Hughes
									

beware the loneliness

When I was offered my current job 1.5 years ago the biggest perk was the travel. Since then some of the places I have been to include Chicago, Atlanta, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Victoria, Vancouver and have an upcoming trip to Baltimore.  I attend conferences to recruit prospective students and network with church leaders, other recruiters, theological education administration professionals and alumni/ae. My favourite conferences were:  Ecojustice and Theology and RiverRunning: Intercultural Ministry. United Church folks are dynamic, passionate, political, community-focused, social-justice oriented and really know how to have a good time. But despite all these amazing opportunities I have discovered that business travel is not all it is cracked up to be.

• One can spend an entire workday or more just in transit (subway-bus-airport-check-in-customs-waiting at the gate-flight-baggage pickup- customs- public transit/taxi to hotel-check-in) to just shower quickly to make it to the event. Only to turn around and do it all again on the return.
• Networking and schmoozing for 3-5 days straight is very exhausting especially since I am an introvert and shy. Everytime I approach a stranger to charm them with conversation I feel a physical loss of energy.
• Most conferences I’ve attended are hosted at airport hotels that are quite a distance from the city centre and rarely is there efficient public transportation to make it into the city. Any attempt to find food that is not miserable hotel sludge, sightseeing or go hear some live music is another long-haul trek.
• As fun as some of the conferences can be I am always “on”. I am always representing the college and can never truly relax.
• It can be difficult to fit any sightseeing into a work trip. Most explorations occur late at night or in time-off that I should be relaxing so to regain the energy to schmooze again. Instead I try to fit everything into each day and end up terribly exhausted.

Mostly business travel is lonely. In January 2011 I travelled to British Columbia for a week attended a conference and hosting an event and in that week I didn’t speak to anyone unless it was about work or idle chit-chat. I was desperately homesick for some deep meaningful conversation and good comfortable company.

Despite my tempered enthusiasm I have seen some incredible things and met some amazing people.

 

lovely love

Those of you who know me well likely know two things about me. The first is that I LOVE Christmas. My roommate and I eagerly put up our decorations up the first weekend in December and grudgingly take them down the last weekend of January. We cherish the extra joy and warmth festive decorations bring to our cozy little apartment despite being mocked by visiting family and friends. We are not lazy, well we kind of are, but not exceedingly so. It is simply that we enjoy the extra cheer and colour they bring during the cold dreary months of winter in Toronto.

The second thing you likely know about me is that I despise Valentines Day. My objections are hardly original. When I have a boyfriend I am uncomfortable with the cultural pressures to demonstrate with tacky cards, generic chocolate and overpriced roses (an industry that oppresses vulnerable workers in developing countries) how much we care about each other. When I’m single  Valentines Day can  be a harsh lonely reminder during the coldest and darkest times of the year. The worst though is when I am just starting to see someone and we are certainly not in love. “Hey you are cool and I like hanging out with you” cards are not in great abundance at Hallmark.

As a confident Valentines Day grinch I was unprepared for friend who challenged my understanding of Valentines Day as purely romantic. The more I started to think about it I realized how much love I have in my life. I rarely tell all those people I love how much they mean to me. Sure I tell friends and family at special occasions or when I’ve had a few too many. But rarely is it an intentional effort on my behalf.

Let’s just say that after some discerning I decided to embrace and reclaim Valentines Day, as a day to remember and share with folks how much I love them. My roommate and I spent a Friday night decorating felt hearts, drinking wine, eating British chocolate and reminiscing about friendships, love and fun times. The next day we took the Christmas decorations from the tree and replaced them with the felt hearts inscribed with the names and things we hold dear.

So now in our living room is a tree of love. My friend was right, it takes more effort to be bitter and annoyed with a holiday than it does to celebrate all the love and joy in our lives. Plus… now we have a valid excuse to keep our tree and lights up until the end of February!

sweet tea and southern hospitality

Southern Sweet Tea

A short business trip to Atlanta Georgia was my first introduction to the American south in January 2010. A whirlwind agenda kept me busy at Emory University left very little time for dedicated sightseeing. 

 The Atlanta of my imagination was sprinkled with images of Scarlet O’Hara, grand homes, white picket fences, racial/class tensions, peaches and sunshine. It was not quite what I experienced. Modern day Atlanta impressed me as growing, sprawling, dynamic and urban/suburban balanced with some old-fashioned humility.   

Genuine hospitality and friendliness is what struck me most of all. Everywhere I went people went out of their way to strike up conversation, offer me company in a restaurant where I was eating alone, offer me medication when I was coughing (this may be more odd than nice) and telling me stories and history about Georgia and Atlanta upon discovering I was not from the area. I was talking to some graduate students and one couple invited me to dinner at their home. 

This short and sweet experience I had in Atlanta has spiked a new interest in exploring more of the southern United States. However I would prefer if my next visit coincided with sunshine and peaches. 

Sweet Tea is a staple drink in the South. It is a form of iced tea in which sweetener is added to the hot water before, during or after the tea is brewing but before it is cooled. Once it is sweetened it is chilled and served. Picture a nice cold glass of Sweet Tea while sitting on the end of a dock. The inexpensive cost of brewing large batches and its refreshing taste could make it a new Ontario cottage favourite. 

Atlanta Tips 

1.  If you will not have a car while in Atlanta be careful where you book your hotel as they are spread throughout Atlanta’s downtown and suburban sprawl.
2. Do not try to order Pepsi in Atlanta, it is the home of Coca Cola

  

Lonely Planet Atlanta Travel Information  

Atlanta Tourism

Soul of a Nomad

The title of my blog is bold, vague and politically incorrect. It is a statement, and ethos and an admission. I have the soul of a nomad – a curse and a blessing. I love adventure, seek new experiences, am eternally restless  and crave deeper meaning.

Guilty Pleasures:

• Reading Lonely Planet guides like they are literature
• Staring at maps for hours memorizing names of places, the topography and patterns of settlement
• A profound love of languages - I especially enjoy learning the cultural indocenricies of regional dialects and slang
• Planning a my next trip; researching the area and learning the history can be as much fun as the journey

I have  travelled significantly and have lived in many places, among my favourites were Reutlingen and Wuppertal in Germany, Montreal and Toronto. This blog will be a place where I can indulge my inner travel-lust, connect with other travellers and share my stories.

Thanks for joining me on the journey!