February 5, 2012 South America

Jim and I arrived safely in Quito, Equador on February 2nd. Immediately I remembered why I LOVE South America; the people, the smells, the Euopean buildings with balconies and flowers and crumbling details. The first morning, we found the local market, and I had corn tortillas which here are fat pancakes topped with eggs and served with sweet coffee for 75 cents. I immediately started taking photos of rows of colourful sausages and the ever present dead chickens. Later in the day we had a two hour spanish class with Jackelina and she¨s another delightful teacher like our Nuri from home. Unfortunately although I know a few words and phrases such as ¿Puedo tomarle una foto por favor?, I am still a Spanish dud. I do love to try Equadorian foods though. Yesterday I had a delicious sweet green drink made with naranjillas and a potatoe and avacador soup and today I tried a cuppa of guanabano (a huge green fruit that is green on the outside and white and sweet on the inside) as well as a psecado (fish) with yuca. I also tried Jim´s drink called maltes; a malt beer with raw eggs, sugar and milk, sounds awful tasted great. We did a day trip yesterday to Otavalo, a famous market town. Unfortunately the market was mediocre, a tourist market, not the real thing (no dead chickens), and the day was a tour and we had to stop and see the lama on a rope and stop and see the caged condor and eagles and owls. Two highlights from the day, I did buy a guaba which looked like a giant 2 to 3 foot long pea pod. It is either brown or green. The seller snapped it over her knee for me. Inside was a row of 1 inch black seeds covered in a stringy, slimy, sweet mass. Jim and I each ate this slime from around one seed and then you should have seen the eyes on the small boy when I gave him and armful of guaba! Just as it got dark we stopped in a park with a large area filled with huge clay hummingbirds, each one decorated by a different artist. I didn´t like the painted lobsters that Halifax had a few years ago, but the shape of these hummingbirds was pleasing and there was a power in the shear numbers of them and in the painting on them.

January 30, 2012

Jim and I had a meeting with Ivar Mendez in Halifax last Thursday and we are heading to this remote Mountain Village of Aucapata for most of March! We'll be teaching art to kids in three different schools. Ivar's staff from the Ivar Mendez International Foundation in LaPaz, are helping to plan all of the logistics. Although we've had an art project in this area, Jim and I have never actually been able to get there due to lack of transportation, poor roads and the rainy season. Stay tuned!

January 23, 2012

I'm trying to make sure that I can update this blog when we are travelling in South America.

This morning was bitterly cold in Nova Scotia, but by the time I took Marsh, our dog, to the Marsh, the tide was high and the day was glorious. I love this little piece of heaven called Portaupique. When we first got to the marsh, there was an eagle and a flock of black and white sea birds. Always there is something to make me gasp. Luckily Marsh didn't see the eagle or he would have been swimming before we had time to have a walk.

December27, 2011

Dear Friends, Family and Fans
Once again Jim and i are planning a South American Adventure. I am planning to post the sketches and the ramblings every couple of days. We would be delighted if you'd like to travel with us vicariously. Postings will start on February 5, 2012.
In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season and that your new year will be happy and healthy.
Hugs
Joy

March 20, 2011

I have been touched by the death of Ottilia Chareka. I never met Ottilia and I'd never heard of her until she was murdered this week by husband. A short film on her life captures her tenacity, her committment, her goals and her ambitions. We in North America always feel so entitled and we have so much. Ottilia was born and raised in Africa. She had to really work for her education and at the same time she was raising a family and working as a maid to pay for her tuition. Most people would have dispared and thought that it wasn't possible. I definitely want to have Ottilia in my play "Invisible Prisons". She won't be talking about her abusive marriage but rather her life and her goals. I want her full of life, talking about inspiring all of this world's sisters. Then I will have her lay down with the shroud over her.

The Pantanal. Brazil

Giant Pantanal cranes,
(White with black heads and a narrow red featherless neck ring)
Pose, as cranes do,
And seem to announce,
`Welcome to the Pantanal`.


The jungle is alive with sounds;
Screetches, trills, hissing and chortles.
It is every shade of brilliant green.
The ivy covered foliage along the river
Is dotted with flowers;
Hybiscus, morning glories, bird of paradize.
Enormous jungle trees tower behind.


The sliver of moon and a zillion stars
Give way to the morning light.
High wisps of cloud float in the clear light blue.
Throughout the day, the sky darkens.
The clouds build and in the late afternoon
A burst of thunder and rain
Disappates the intense heat.
Just for a moment
The mosquitoes rest.

For three days,
We walk in the jungle.
We ride horses.
We go in boats.
We travel in the back of trucks,
In the day time and at night.
We watch.
We listen.
We breath.

Occationally, we retreat to our dark cold room,
That is deliciously free of the heat and the bugs.

The sounds of howler monkeys
(Much like a super highway)
Start and end each day.
We watch them swinging through the canopy.
A young one rides on its´ mother`s yellow back.
Large black ones dangle from
Hands, feet or tails.

Despite our searches,
We don`t see any jaguars, ant eaters or iguana.

We do see many camen.
From tiny to two meters.
They lounge along the river`s edge
And then slither into the water.
Only their rounded dark eye arches
showing above the surface.


Herd of carabaris,
(Large brown river pigs)
And groupings of black South American river rats
(Also the same size as large pigs)
Parade along the rivers edge
Or munch on the hyacynths in the water.
Two giant South American river otters make an appearance.
As does a deer
And an armadillo.

Overhead,
In the trees,
And in the water
Are birds.
Some like the Pantanal Crane are unfamiliar.
But many look like kingfishers, hawks, hummingbirds
Woodpeckers, herons or egrets.
I am enthralled with all the jungle birds.
The toucans;
With their fuzzy black heads
And colourful eyes
And enormours colourful bills.
The Parrots in all sizes and colours.
The brilliant green ones disappear completely in the green foliage.
The parakeets that swoop
Across the river in pairs;
Flashes of blue or red.
The large white osprey like bird with its´
Slicked back black toupay.
He has adopted us or
Us him.
The tiny inch long ground feeders
In yellow, green and red.

And an unexpected jungle highlight
Turns out to be the cameraderie
amongst our fellow travellers.
They`re from all over the world
And mostly half our age.
We talk religion, ethics,
Books, nonsense,
Mosquitoe bites and politics.
Cold beer and good conversation
Has never tasted so good.

The Train of Death

Our Lonely Planet Guide and rumours
Told us of giant mosquitoes filling the train cars,
Layers of dust coating all the sleeping passengers,
Crowds of people and contraband packing the aisles,
Derailments, break-downs in steamy jungles,
Even the name:The Train of Death.

In reality the train ride was okay.
It was long, (more than 14 hours)
And it was very rough.
Occationally the train stopped
And peddlers and begging children would fill the aisles.
Occationally the police would check passports, tickets and luggage.
But mostly we slept in air conditioned comfort
Through the jungle on the way to Brazil.