#NoMakeUpSelfie, No Harm

Why do people who contribute nothing to awareness on a day to day basis (or ever) get in a tiff about how little difference a Facebook trend like the ‘no make-up selfie’ makes? {I bet you did a neknomination, so, um…}

I don’t even waste my time reading articles that bash it because I know where I stand on the matter and its somewhere between ‘it doesn’t hurt’ and ‘every bit helps’. Whether it raises money or makes any significant changes is certainly a question worth asking. But how could getting it on the lips and minds of people be considered anything but positive?

Maybe it’ll remind someone somewhere to go get checked. That checkup could save their life.

Don’t get me started on the “I don’t usually do this” part of it though. And we’re talking ‘taking selfies’ here. We all take selfies girls- no shame in it. I’m in full support of removing the stigma attached. Having traveled solo I’m an advocate for the #noshameselfie.

What does get to me is the make-up I’ve detected in some of these so called ‘no make-up selfies’. This gets to me instead of the whole thing possibly achieving nothing. {Which we’ve all agreed isn’t true, right?}

Most importantly it’s got me thinking about someone who is no longer with us because of cancer. She managed to pull through breast cancer after being the youngest woman in South Africa to be diagnosed with it, only to lose the battle to a very aggressive stomach cancer later on. Watch this space for the full story of Someone I Once Met: Christin Page. She loved a good selfie.

Where you Goan?

……A Goan Beach Scene……..

What makes a Goan beach?

Is it the golden brown sand meeting the blue Arabian sea?

Or the cows roaming freely up and down the beach just after sunrise and before sunset, cleverly avoiding the lava-like sand?

Maybe it’s the palm trees every now and then losing a coconut or dead branch to the scorching earth.

How about the hut accommodations with sea facing restaurants that line the beach? Or the menus at each one, all suspiciously similar and equally extensive. Indian, Chinese, Western, Israeli.

And the Mango Lassies? Chai tea?

It must be the Sunset yoga. Maybe even the faded and torn flyers for it.

Or the hot bodies frolicking in the warm water- hot from the sun and the yoga.

Is it the temporary-ness of it all? The fact that come rainy season, every structure that lines the beach is folded away, ready to be built again next season.

It has to be the Russian menus.

Is it ‘not the real India’? Is it too pleasant?

What about the crows that that make up all the birdlife, unpleasant to see and hear. Scavenging no differently than they did in the slums.

The tattoos on travellers old and young, telling stories of lives preferably lived out in Goa.

What is a Goan beach?

It’s 600 km’s south of Mumbai and anything you want it to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone I Once Met: So what, I Manage a Brothel

Close your eyes and Sera-Jane sounds like just another Aussie chick. Open your eyes and you have what looks to me like the lead singer of 90’s band the 4 Non-Blondes with a ring through the middle of her nose and tattoos scattered around her body.

When I laid eyes on her she had just acquired a new one in what must have been a shady beach tattoo hut in Palolem- one of Goa’s most visited beaches. It was on her shoulder and definitely didn’t stay wrapped up and out of the sun for whatever the recommended time was.

It wasn’t until the end of my stay in Palolem that I spoke to Sera and her friends and I might never have, had it not been for the scooter accident she’d recently suffered. Nothing like a few scrapes and bandages and talk of strong pain medication to get a conversation started.

 

Sera and her friend had come short somehow and went from on top to underneath the scooter to paying an exorbitant price in damages. The fee might have been exaggerated, but so is any hostage asking price- the scooter company were in possession of their passports. When one’s passport is at stake one generally puts away their bartering skills and does what they’re told.

But I digress, the fascinating thing about Sera is that she manages a brothel in Melbourne, Australia.  I recently read an autobiography of a sex-worker who went from working the streets to being an employee at various brothels around Melbourne. All to feed her heroin addiction. I was instantly curious, right in front of me sat a girl who was fully immersed in the fascinating world of prostitution which I had read about. A world which she insists there is no shame in.

Coming from a country where prostitution is illegal is probably a big contributing factor to why I find it so fascinating. Sex for money, across a majority of the board, is illegal and frowned upon. Never mind the idea that sexual intimacy is ‘supposed to be reserved for marriage or close relationships’.

It was during my conversation with Sera that the penny dropped and I realised that the thriving sex-industry in Australia could be a big reason why Australians are so sexually uninhibited. In all my travels I’ve met a great deal of Australians, guys and girls alike, who don’t put a lot of emphasis on the idea of sex- other than they like having a lot of it.

I compared what I’d read to Sera’s real life where she forms close bonds with the girls, half of which are locals and the other half just travelling through making a quick buck. I was familiar with the concept of regulars and falling in love, getting paid to connect verbally and charging prices you won’t believe for fetish sessions. Apparently golden showers are rather popular.

If there’s one thing in this life that I cherish its (the idea of) happiness in the workplace. Sera absolutely loves her job and is really happy to be considered part of the industry. She says the biggest and most continuous learning curve is how to remove judgment from your day to day life.

Impressions of India

I saw two people take a shit today. One of them was no older than 9 months and the yellow soupy poo pouring out his baby grow and onto the step was out of his control- so no judgement there. No judgement in general- I’m in India and arriving without an open mind (ready to be opened further) is literally, pointless.

The second ‘defecator’  was spotted en route to Asia’s biggest slum, Dharavi. You might recognize it from the small film Slumdog Millionaire.

 

There are certain ideas people have about India and its for those reasons many won’t visit it. In general these ideas are a reality. Almost every Indian stereotype you can think of is real. I guess they exist for a reason. India is full. The country is massive and so is the population. Over 1 billion people – and believe me it feels like every one of those is in Mumbai.

India is hot and its not even summer. Perhaps the rainy season brings relief but I’m not sure I’d want to be around when the floodgates open and the the once grimy, dusty ground becomes filthy mud. India is dirty and it can make you very sick, but it doesn’t have to. Just like America can make you fat- these things are avoidable.

It’s been less than a week and already the Someone I Once Met list is growing, because India is as interesting as it is dirty. The foreign concept of arranged marriages is as much of a reality as the head wobble and features in the human stories I will write.

There’s not much more I can say on the subject of India- my time here has been short. But it is far from over and I will do my best to bring to your attention what has come to mine. For now just know that a great deal of what you thought about India is very true. There’s curry, covered up ladies, taxi drivers taking you for more than one ride, and a constant battle to avoid paying ‘white tax’. But then there’s other things which you thought you knew but actually didn’t- like not every Indian meal will burn your mouth off.

And despite the constant honking, hooting, hustle and bustle there’s peace. Muslims, Hindus and Christians living peacefully side by side is an indication of the lessons one can aim to learn here.

To be continued….

Wanderlust Giveaway Winner!

For those of you who have been living under a rock or just haven’t noticed whats trending on all social media platforms, I recently held a mini competition/giveaway thing. For the rock dwellers; the idea was to get people to answer a simple question which put them in the running to receive a souvenir from my current location.

While my current location recently changed from Spain to India, the souvenir, competition and winner that was randomly selected (on excel) remain the same. Sarah Britton of Cape Town, South Africa- congratulations!!!!

Sarah, its as if excel knew you were using a pencil case for a wallet!

Vaho, I couldn’t thank you enough for parting with one of your lovely wallets all for the sake of my little giveaway.

‘Till next time Barcelona! Now its time to keep my eyes open for the next souvenir… from Incredible India.

 

A Few Words Before Departure

Barcelona has been kind to me for the most part. I arrived two months ago to pursue a new relationship and accumulate a few teaching hours to keep my head above water financially. I managed to wrangle 9 hours of English lessons a week  and pursued the relationship successfully. Actually, Barcelona has given me everything I wanted.

Although everyone says it all the time it remains unbelievable that times moves so quickly. Monday becomes Friday, then its Sunday and soon its December and we’re left wondering where yet another year has gone. I can only hope that the majority of you are using your time wisely since its so obvious that we have so little of it.

There are a few aspects to my current life that I reckon are important enough to mention here on my lust book.

1) In a few days time I’ll be landing on my first bit of Asian soil. I’ve ‘avoided’ Asia in my travels for reasons I can’t explain. At first it was to avoid the ‘obvious’ destinations like South East Asia, I wasn’t feeling particularly sheep-like. But I look forward to my Asian debut and I’m sure once I arrive I will wonder what took me so long to get there. I’m prepared to be blown away. {Don’t worry South America, you will always be dear to me}

2) Then another biggie is that a few days after my arrival in India, I’ll be meeting up with my brother whom I haven’t laid eyes on in two and a half years. A lot of the people that I’ve taught have openly wondered how one can travel the world like I do ‘guilt-free’ basically. They want to know how it affects my family life and I know some of them feel sorry for me. And they aren’t completely wrong- the lifestyle does detract from your family life.

But a life abroad is also allowing my brother and I to reunite in a foreign land that is known for it healing powers. Where we will spend two months exploring, learning, soul searching, catching up and making memories. Its not the same as meeting up for a weekend at the coast- this is real adventure.

3) I subtly hinted to my partner that the opportunity to travel Incredible India with me was presenting itself and it would be silly not to take it. A few weeks ago he listed the pros and cons of coming/leaving Barcelona for good/starting a new life with me somewhere new and luckily he convinced himself easily. So, in a nutshell, I will be with two very special men in India and not to mention my mother who will be joining us for two weeks. Sounds like a recipe for bonds-ville.

Travelling brings people closer together

4) I have been investing a lot of time (and money) in improving my blog. I’ve moved to self hosting and as a result have been inundated with the problems that come with it. There is always an obstacle to overcome, and thus, something new to learn. I might not have a desk job and work nine to five, but I am working hard at achieving small, reachable goals which I do believe is more than some can say.

I hope I haven’t completely bored you with all my personal updates, but there you have it.

So long Barcelona, its been (mostly) a pleasure living in your busiest district. See you in India!

Your random squares with interesting features have been epic

 

Someone I Once Met: Chef on the Road

Thomas Zacharias is not a name you’d associate with someone born and bred in India. His lack of strong accent and head wobble are also deceptive.

I met Thomas in the small seaside town of San Sebastian, Spain, late last year. Our hostel stays overlapped by one night and its in the one hour I got to spend chatting to him that realized I was sitting with a very strong candidate for SIOM!

Thomas is head chef in one of India’s top restaurant’s The Olive Bar & Kitchen- once again- not very Indian. His specialty is European cuisine and it was on his 3 month culinary expedition that our paths crossed. Thomas blogged his way through Italy, France and Spain; eyeing out, helping out, getting ideas and basically just eating as much as he could. The hope was that his acquired knowledge would be priceless when it came time to open his very own restaurant.

Our hostel in San Sebastian was very homely, and it was not unlikely that the long term stayers (sometimes also known as employees) would aggressively encourage you to stay on. I witnessed this happen to a few people, myself included, but it was the effort put into the request for Thomas to stay that really astounded me. People who had known Thomas for more than 24 hours knew it was in their best interests that he stay.

There was not much left of Thomas’s culinary trip- just a week or two dashing around Spain before finishing up in Barcelona and then heading home. And who was in Barcelona? You guessed it- me! Mine and Thomas’s paths crossed again, this time left a little less to chance. He settled on a well known Tapas bar and off we went- two travel and writing enthusiasts joined up in Barcelona ready to spoil our taste buds.

And as if I wasn’t already aware, I was reminded that when an establishment doesn’t offer visible prices, you the customer are going to pay pay pay. And 80 euros later, that’s what we did.

 

 

Wanderlust Souvenir Giveaway!

{To participate, go to my Facebook page here}

Here I am on the Balcony of my apartment in Barcelona. With me is a wallet begging for a home.

Lets rewind a little bit. Recently I’ve been thinking about holding a competition, a giveaway more like it. A chance for me to send a randomly selected follower a little souvenir from my current location. This is the first time I’ll be doing it, but hopefully not the last!

When I stumbled across a local store called Vaho, with its walls covered in colorful wallets, I had to step inside. Because, well, I needed one.

I could see from a distance that each wallet, or item for that matter, was unique. Made from advertising canvases across Barcelona, everything they produce is sustainable. In the sense that its both recycled and strong. I needed a new wallet and thought you guys might too!

So I approached them and asked how they would feel about sponsoring me a second one that I would offer to you guys.  Their online store means you can buy their stuff no matter where in the world you are- and you can design a custom made one too! Take a look at their shop here.

To enter is as easy as this:

1. Answer this question by commenting on the giveaway post on the Wanderlust Facebook page: “If you were born in Barcelona, what is your first language most likely to be?”

2. Share the post on Facebook.

3. For extra brownie points, invite 5 friends to like Wanderlust.

And that’s it! Each person who comments on the post will be in the running to receive my Barcelona souvenir 🙂