*Hello to everyone from the southwest coast of France! Life has certainly changed (not only in my inner world but the outer world as well) since I left the US for London on August 14th. Before I fill you in on my personal itinerary I’d like to make a few comments on the US situation as seen from France where I am now living.

Someone once said that wars are not fought over economics or over politics, wars are fought over how the world is perceived. I believe that this change in perception is the cause of most of the shock and fear Americans seem to be experiencing in the aftermath of the explosion at the World Trade Center in NYC. The former view that the US is a safety-zone was shattered forever on September 11 when the US came of age. Unfortunately and tragically for so many, the age it has attained is the Age of Terrorism.

Being so far away in these times of trouble and uncertainty has made me realize more than ever before how much I love my children and my family and how important they are to me. You can imagine my phone and Internet bills; well no you can’t because they are astronomical in France, also impossibly complicated. But as the song says, what’s really important is to "shower the ones you love with love".

As of this writing on September 25, I am uncertain, due to the international situation, whether I will stay here in Europe for the entire year as planned. But for now the plans are to proceed as normal.
Here’s what I’ve been up to since I left California:

August 14-21 London buying a 1983 Toyota CamperVan; visited Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Watkins Bookstore, rode the “tube”, double-decker buses.

August 21-September 2 took the ferry from Dover to Calais, drove down the west coast of France through Normandy in camper.

September 3-10 landed at a campground south of Biarritz, discovered a little seaside fishing village called Guethary .

September 11-October 31 renting an apartment in a seven story 1930 art deco hotel overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Traveling is heaven and a little bit of hell. For those of you who wished me well, I am really grateful because I’ve needed it! Divesting myself of my home and possessions, my identity connected with my job, my family and friends, my language and country is a traumatic undertaking at best. The compensations are big (seeing the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain, eating fresh brie on a baguette) but what is hardest are the little things that you take for granted at home. For instance books written in English! My first solo adventure was to join the first local library I could find with books in English. The grocery store is traumatic too, besides being in francs everything is listed in kilos which makes price comparison virtually impossible! I am really looking forward to the Euro in January which is very close to the dollar and will make life, at least mine, much easier.

Guethary is a beautiful little seaside village in Pays Basque, very quaint, all the houses have shutters painted red or green which are the colors of the Basque flag. Everyone is very friendly and familiar with surfers of which there are many so we are right in the swing of things. There is a wonderful funky little local bar down the cliff from us with great music. It seems to be open only when the owner feels like it and is called HeteroClito, which I am NOT going to translate, go figure!

Every night we watch the beautiful sunsets over the ocean and during the day I am free to meditate, to take walks, to read and to write. It is an idyllic existence and so of course I feel terribly guilty, being the good Catholic girl that I am. No, really it’s wonderful and I wish everyone who is reading this could be here to share it.

I send lots of love and blessings to all and will update this page in a few weeks, Pam .

Live from Tenerife

Here’s a thumbnail sketch to fill in the blanks since I left off the journal in France including the last leg of the trip. Since it’s difficult to write ‘on the road’, I’ve gone into the trip in some detail:

December 1 – Left France to camp all over Spain (wonderful Moorish architecture) and Portugal (rained buckets).
December 24 Home to US for holidays
January – May Tenerife in The Canary Islands (see below)
May – July Italy via Barcelona
July – London to Encinitas

Notes from Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife in the Canary Islands:
Hola amigos!

After calm seas and a restful 2-day ferry trip from Cadiz last January we landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the West Coast of Africa in the Canary Islands. This archipelago of seven islands has been a major stopping point for hundreds of years on the trade and slave routes from Europe to the Indies. Imagine palm trees swaying in the breeze filled with strange varieties of singing birds, black sand (volcanic) beaches, terraced banana plantations, a 12,000 ft mountain, beautiful flowers and me!

Did you know Spain owns the Canary Islands? Since Spanish is the official language we enrolled in an intensive two-month language course from the University of La Laguna. The course included 6 hours of instruction a week and various cultural events like salsa lessons, a Canary cooking class (rabbit and wrinkled potatoes) a Picasso exhibit and a movie in Spanish. We made many good friends among the other students who were mainly British and German. We were the only Americans, which is about the same ratio as on the island.

We are living on Tenerife, which is the largest island but it’s possible to drive around the entire circumference in about 4 hours. As small as it is, it has two completely different weather zones divided into the north and the south by Teide, an extinct volcano with a snow-covered peak. The island takes its name from this White (ife) Mountain (tener) which we ascended by cable car and then climbed, by special permit, to the peak where the view was magnificent. Puerto Cruz is in the north and gets a lot of rainfall, too much for me, but it’s green and beautiful. The south which is dry and barren boasts of a hot, desert climate.

We arrived in Puerto Cruz in time for Carnaval, the Spanish version of the pagan ritual of Saturnalia. For three weeks every year all rules are suspended except the rule to disobey the rules. The costumes alone were worth the price of admission. Usually modestly dressed, the young girls competing for Queen of Carnaval turned into sex goddesses of your wildest dreams wearing fantastic 5’ headdresses made entirely of peacock feathers, and little else. But the costumes in the Drag Queen contest and the Masculine Marathon took the cake. On the stage the ‘men’ strutted and danced and then actually ran on the cobblestone roads in regulation 12” high heel shoes. Between those acts we were entertained by ‘murgas’. Endless groups of grown men and women in clown costumes who kept popping up and shouting political satires in rhyme (in Spanish of course), which they accompanied with ear-splitting kazoos.

But Best of Carnaval was the Burial of the Sardine, which took place on Ash Wednesday. The Burial of the Sardine began with a funeral march, which consisted of a float, or hearse, that held a 25-foot Sardine made out of papier-mache. Walking behind the Sardine were thousands of ‘mourners’ all dressed in black. The women wore gloves and elaborate hats with veils. The men were in drag or dressed as ‘nuns’ in habits with a crucifixes around their necks featuring Barbie dolls.

The Sardine was propelled through the streets to the fishing port accompanied by loud wails and boo-hoo-hoos from the crowd, who repeatedly cried out ‘the poor Sardine!’ At the port the Sardine was placed on the sand near the gently lapping waves and was ceremonially cremated, courtesy of the local bomberos (firemen)! This was followed by a spectacular firework display, which in turn signaled the start of an all night dance party for the ‘mourners’. What a fabulous and fun way to release your ‘sins’ once a year!

My favorite place on the island is a bit quieter - The British Library. The library has been housed in the same building in Puerto for the last100 years. It contains thousands of books and videos and is run completely by volunteers, of which I am one. Other attractions on the island are the orchard gardens, the 200-year-old Botanical Garden and the Parrot Park.

For the last three months we’ve been lucky to have rented an apartment on the bottom floor in a very large, modern house with an enormous garden. Since the house is situated high on top of the hill we have a view overlooking the town of Puerto and the ocean. In this beautiful setting I’ve been able to work on the New Moon Meditation Book and also take Yoga classes.

Unfortunately I hate the food! Being an island almost all the fish and meat is imported except goat, which seems to thrive on the rocky soil and acid-loving plants. To my taste any food product made from this Capricorn native has a slightly sweaty unpleasant aftertaste. I have never liked goats and nothing has happened here to change my mind including the Guanche shepherd who regularly comes by with hundreds of the rough and ready grazers wearing brass bells on their elaborate leather collars. Most restaurants are extremely mediocre and the milk is truly scary. It is called ‘long-lived’ and is packaged in cartons that stay alive in the pantry for weeks. On the positive side fresh bread (not as good as France) arrives at the door daily and Thomas the Guanche delivers fruits, vegetables and really good eggs once a week.

In spite of the frequent rain and the food, the trip so far has been wonderful and my first experience of Europe has been extremely positive. There is a much broader outlook over here than in the US on life, love and the world at large. It is more energy efficient too, dryers seem to be unheard of, refrigerators are tiny and most rentals (and the camper) don’t come with an oven. I am inspired that most everyone speaks several different languages and can now get along passably in pidgin Spanish. And lastly since I’ve had to learn four different currencies, pounds, francs, escudos and pesetas, I absolutely love the Euro!

So far the trip has been more than I ever dreamed of and Italy can only be better! As we once again pull up stakes and head out for the next part of the journey I’m ready to say Muchas Gracias to this strange and wonderful island of goats, bananas and volcanic rocks and bonjorno to Venice, the most romantic city in the world!

Love and blessings to all and best wishes until we meet again.
In the Light,
Pam

***

(for some photos that I took of the volcano go to http://homepage.mac.com/dharris004/)

From Italy

Trip Journal continued from Venice, Italy..... When I am traveling during Mercury retrograde I always prepare myself to expect the unexpected. This Mercury retrograde brought an unexpected surprise at the color and beauty of the Mediterranean Sea and the Riviera which were not even on the itinerary and at landing in the middle of the night at a surf spot which we didn’t know existed. We also have figured out how to send pictures by email! On the down side -not finding an Italian chip for the cell phone has put us out of immediate communication with family but happily there are phone cards and Internet. If you aren’t living on a fixed schedule Mercury retrograde seems to be less problematical. Of course there could always be car trouble but shhh, the gods may be listening....

May 11 - Two-day ferry ride with campervan from Santa Cruz, Tenerife to Cadiz, Spain

May 13 - Barcelona, SPAIN where the street scene in La Rambla was filled with sword swallowers, hula hoop dancers, musicians, puppeteers, poseurs and portable pet stores!

May 15 - lounged on the French Riveria from campsite and visited the beautiful ones at Cannes during the film festival

May 18 - Llevanto, ITALY where we walked the road to ‘Cinque Terre, five medieval villages on the Mediterranean connected by stone paths.

      

May 21 - Venice, city of dreams. Venice is the most beautiful, amazing, romantic city! We are staying in a campground on a causeway east of the city and ride our bikes to the ferry port thus avoiding the hassle of parking and theft etc. It is a great way to do major European cities. I am so happy to be in Italy, the food, the light, the people- all so warm and friendly, it feels like home to me.

Venice - Bridge of Sighs