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Thank you NU pure! So my very lovely and very generous pals Mowie and Holmsey and fellow OXFAM pain participant Matty Holmes are my official Mt Olympus sponsors!!
And what is NU pure you ask? Refreshing spring water sourced from the pristine Numinbah Valley Springs in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Annnnnnnd … as the label suggests, Nu-Pure Spring Water is soft and smooth with a full body and crisp aftertaste, but unlike a good wine it doesn’t need to be rested for years to be enjoyed! So if you’re not flying over to Greece to provide some sideline support … do the next best thing and buy a bottle of Nu-Pure today! And or order a box. Annnnnnd … if you don’t live in Australia, order a whole heap of boxes and start distributing some Aussie pure natural spring water today!
Check out … http://www.nu-pure.com.au/ or try the link on the RH side.
A few new pics for you below …
A few quick stories now …
The tall guy is back at work … Yep … the only guy in town that’s taller than me, and thinks this means we can get married. You see not a day goes by where someone doesn’t try and set me up with a cousin, son, nephew, neighbour, brother of a son’s cousin’s uncle’s neighbour etc etc … you get the picture. Me? Absolutely not interested. My standard, and I would say previously successful response was that I couldn’t marry a man shorter than me, and Laos men are all short. Foolproof. A few months back I was repeating this to someone over lunch however and a random guy from a different office, but in the same building wandered over and stood next to me. Yep … he was precisely 1 milimetre taller than me. Anyway he disappeared to work in Muang Long but this week, has returned. Hmmmm … this means he seems to keep turning up everywhere and sussing out the marriage possibilities at every other moment. I’ve tried to explain to him that he wouldn’t be happy married to me as I wouldn’t be cooking for him, cleaning for him, serving beer to him, letting him have little flings on the side or generally running around after him. He’d be happier with a Laos wife. He seems to think I’ll change. He’s wrong. Yeah … it’s not funny anymore. It stopped being funny a long while ago … Aaaaaaaaaaaah … !
We are piloting a Non Formal Education program at the moment called REFLECT …. I say a little more down below … but essentially it is focused on people learning literacy through thinking and problem solving on topics/issues relevant in their villages … as opposed to textbooks. Anyway … went out to a village in Muang Sing to see how it was operating and was the first first first time I have heard teachers and students ask “Why?” … and not just once … several times! A ground breaking development I would say … and now the trick is finding out how to take some of these techniques and spread them through all activities … My brain is ticking …
I am eating so much pineapple at the moment that my mouth constantly feels like it is buzzing from all the acid it is having to process … But it tastes soooooo good!
My lovely friend Nitzy sent some amazing homebaked choc chip cookies in the post this week. And just when my supply of chicos had run out. So so great!!!!! Thanks Nitzyyyyyyyy! I’ve been trying hard to be generous with them but I have to admit to hiding some in the corner of my fridge.
There’s some photos below of the fried dog feast we had in Muang Sing … and that is another story … but after eating, the Naibaan (Village Head) rounded up his collection of daughters (and being Akha, he is allowed to have several wives, so there were a lot) … and he instructed two of them to give me this amazing massage in the corner while the men got stuck into the rice whiskey … One of those twilight zone moments
Some of the men from the above village wanted to know how many wives you could have in Australia … !
It is less than 5 weeks til I will be in Greece … ! The old OXFAM ankle injury has decided to revisit which is highly annoying, but I’ve switched to a bit of cycling in the meantime which is actually super nice. Was nearly washed away in the rain last weekend, but a good cool down. My motivation levels are still pretty high and the special hydration and protein powder my lovely Mum sent over is helping that process along as well. Thanks Muuuuuuuuuum!
OK … well some pics below …
and so this delightful set of 178 stairs is my training ground for mt olympus! if i’m not at work, lazing on my fishpond deck, or drinking pineapple shakes at a shop you can normally find me sweating my way up here these days …
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was nathalie’s birthday a couple of months back and the lovely Teeung put together this little surprise “cake” for her … cute huh? waffles in the shape of hearts with some intriguing fake cream concoction. can’t order that at the cheesecake shop …
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and so this is how i get from laos to thailand … my gateway to italian restaurants, icecream, lattes … the list goes on …
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The wedding of my friend Chan … The hair is nice hey but I always think they must have a ridiculous head ache by the end of the day?
Coming around with shots of imitation Johnnie Walker … also a good headache stimulant
at the naibaan’s (Head of Village) house after spending some time at their night class … they’ve put on a big feast of dog meat cooked in 3 different ways … Mmmmm … Me? I stuck to the rice and chilli paste
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at a night class for students who haven’t studied primary school … but you can see half the village peeking through the slats there … also wanting to soak up some learning
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This display of student work is thanks to a UNICEF project (funded by AusAid actually) working on Child Friendly Schooling.
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A NFE (non formal education) classroom in a village in Muang Sing … about 60 kms from LNT. We are piloting a program called REFLECT with a German Project … which essentially focuses on teaching literacy through village issues/problems/interests … and getting the students to think/problem solve, rather than relying on a textbook. The students are all people who never attended school and/or completed primary school. I have to admit, I nearly fell off my chair in excitement because it is the first time I have ever heard a teacher or student ask the question “Why…?” How can that not be a good thing …
This village is also part of a UNICEF classroom that focus on Child Friendly Schooling so you can see some of the posters/decorations around the room. Not standard, believe me …
so … yep … i’m going to do it … the marathon up mt olympus … i just checked out the site again and see they have uploaded my registration. i thought i better really quickly book my flight before i chickened out, so now it has to be done …
also just followed the link from my registration and found out the following facts …
1 they all look really fit
2 93% of participants are male
3 they all look really really fit
4 i am the only australian female
5 most of them have fancy sounding sports sponsors
6 they all look incredibly fit
7 i thought it was only 42km but it is 44km
8 i thought it only went up to 2400m, but it goes up to just under 2800m
ok … i think i am in over my head … i really do … but then, the possibility of outrunning a mob of greek men down the side of mt olympus could be fun … and this, my friends, along with feeling really scared and out of my depth, is like a spring under my bed when i wake every morning. unfortunately not so many hills to be accessed particularly easily around here so the 172 stairs of the stupa in town have become my best friend.
the funny thing … when i sent in my registration, you had to attach a photo of yourself. i did my rego on a bit of a spontaneous whim when i was holidaying in the islands and could only access a few online photos, which are for the most part out and about frivolity photos … so i grabbed one and cut off the beer and other people … HAD i known this would be put online, i would have thought twice!! after a quick glance through some other participants i see that everyone else has chosen their most athletic, sporty, fit looking photo … and i look like a joke really.
this brings me to my plea and request … i need a sponsor!!! i need a shirt with a fancy sounding business so i can be a force of sporting intimidation to those around me!! and this request isn’t about money … heck I’ll pay for the shirt, i just want someone out there with a business to stick a big huge emblem on a running shirt for me, so these greek people know this aussie girl is a force to be reckoned with …
other news …..
have decided to start selling the bats that continue to terrorise my sleep patterns, at the market … hey everyone else is doing it
the world is a picture of beautiful green rice fields at the moment
a multitude of varieties of amazing tropical fruits to be divulged being the wet season here
the ant, spider, moth, bat etc world seems to feel my house is a good place to take refuge from the wet season rains at the moment … which i have to admit to not being particularly welcoming about
it’s corn season and not a day goes past without a cob or two finding its way into my mouth
the rivers are getting higher so i can submerge again … and soon a bit of tyre floating action i hope
my grandma has started dropping by on her way from the market in the mornings. a few days ago she brought me oranges and eels … mmmm
found a few pics below of some of the amazing views i will see and be in on the way up mt olympus …
alrighty then … more stupa stairs it is for me
