2013 Holiday Letter

Sitting down to write this year’s Christmas letter, I wonder when Christmas cards will be a distant memory.  I’ve come to treasure my yearly holiday letters for they now represent an on-going summary of my life.  I hope you enjoy reading about my wanderings as much as I enjoy reading the cards and letters I receive.

Wander I did this year, setting foot on a land new to me and returning to some of my favorites.  I spent more time away from home than in the Twin Cities which I still do call home.  In January, I lived in a Hindu ashram in southwest India along with 250 other yogis taking a 200-hour teacher training course.  I’m not sure I’d recommend that grueling of a schedule (non-stop from 5:30am to 11:00+pm six days a week), but figured if I was going to spend a bulk of time learning more about yoga I would do it where it originated, and get certified to teach if I ever decide to do so.  I met some wonderful people in the ashram, and even visited some this year. 

I left a few days open to travel in India before heading to the Maldives where I totally relaxed on a live aboard dive boat.  Scuba diving is my passion so I revel in being able to dive four times a day and observe such marine wonders as whale sharks.  Knowing that the Maldives is a Muslim-dominated country, I was still surprised when the brass OM I bought in India was confiscated at the airport.  Non-Islamic religious items cannot be brought into the country, but fortunately, they can be retrieved upon leaving.

I spent the next six weeks in Minnesota shoveling snow and chipping ice away from my front stoop, but missed the onslaught that fell after I departed for Mexico in April.  I visited my ashram roommate in Playa del Carmen, taking her yoga class, seeing her new yoga studio that overlooks the water, and meeting her dogs and husband who I heard so much about in our month together. 

The reason for going to Mexico was to help my cruising friends, Tom and Rose, deliver their sailboat from Isla Muheres to Florida.  The benefit for me was to visit Cuba.  We flew into Havana rather than risk any issues with their boat, and made a circuit from Vinales, to Cienfuegos, Trinidad, and through Guantanamo on our way to Baracoa before returning to Havana.  We stayed in B&B’s, referred to as casas, which gave us a good idea of how the locals live.  Those running the casas have a better life than many.  Some even have (slow) internet, thanks to foreigners contracting for it for them.  It’s kind of nice yet at times disconcerting to be so disconnected, especially when you hear about tragedies back home where loved ones are, in my case the Boston Marathon this year.  I didn’t realize how much pent up anxiety I had about the safety of my nephew until he confirmed that he was “still kicking” and tears welled up in my eyes.  It did make me ask why I travel to remote areas.  The answer was more along the lines of how I can keep in better contact when traveling.

Cubans are very friendly.  I felt safe the entire visit, maybe because crime is almost nonexistent.  Some people were very open about their frustrations of living there, Fidel and his brother, and how nothing has changed in 30 years.  Many images of Che Guevara can be seen throughout Cuba. 

Cuba has two currencies—convertible units (CUC’s) and pesos.  Tourists are supposed to spend CUC’s, which we did.  We also used pesos which are really meant only for the locals.  The Lonely Planet noted on one page that we should expect to spend 60 CUC’s a day on the economy plan, and on the next page that locals earn the equivalent of 30 CUC’s a month.  We’d pay for the casas in CUC’s and egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast and pizzas for lunch (in pesos) at the myriad door fronts for less than fifty cents. 

The covers of various Cuban editions of the Lonely Planet have a picture of an antique American car.  That’s because, mainly in Havana, the locals pride themselves in these vintage models.  Some are in excellent shape, those are the higher priced taxis.  The less expensive taxis are not in such great shape.  The door may open from the inside or outside, but not both.  Rarely would you be able to roll the window up or down because the handle was missing.  We heard, with pride, the history of one car being passed down from grandfather to son to grandson.  That one was very well maintained in a homemade kind of way.

I continue to teach sailing during the summer on Lake Superior out of Bayfield WI.  The classes were fun, though my increased knowledge in marine weather and eyes on the sky weren’t enough to keep me from getting caught in several storms.  The colder water temperatures kept me out of the water, so different from my numerous swims the year prior.  I was fortunate to house sit for some friends during July and August, allowing me more time to enjoy the area, continue my yoga practice at a local studio and enjoy walks along the lake.  I also volunteered at Big Top Chitaqua and the Bayfield Maritime Museum.

My sailing season ended a few weeks early this year because of a trip to India and Nepal in mid-September on behalf of Toddler Food Partners, a non-profit for which I volunteer.  It was rewarding to see our project in the slums of Mumbai helping kids under five overcome severe acute malnutrition (SAM).  We serve as a catalyst, partnering with local organizations in the production and distribution of a peanut butter paste with micronutrients that outperforms their traditional treatment.

We ventured into our first conference, in Nepal, to publicize our organization with the hope of helping eradicate SAM in other areas.  I stayed on after the conference in the Himalayan lakeside area of Pokhara to practice yoga, and learn more about Buddhism.  Yoga in southeast Asia includes more breathing exercises and not as much strenuous physical exercise to prepare one for meditation, its original intent. 

I came back home to work on a fundraising dinner for Toddler Food Partners before heading out to Los Angeles to visit some friends and spend Thanksgiving with my family.  My sister and brother-in-law moved to LA in February, living now a mere five miles from my niece and nephew-in-law, leaving my nephew the lone Wulf in Boston.  I’ll see them all in LA, including with my nephew’s new girlfriend!

When you receive this letter, I’ll be on another site visit, this time in northwestern Thailand.  I volunteer for Schools for Shan Refugees which provides funding to educate ostracized Shan from the Shan state in Myanmar now living in and around Chiang Mai.  Maybe I’ll put into practice my TEFP (teaching English as a foreign language) training.

I’ll fly back to LA for Christmas, then home for several weeks before escaping to the British Virgin Islands . . . . for work.  You have to love my office setting!  And no, I don’t (yet) have any immediate plans to trade my water logged office for a drier one with a desk.

Here’s to a cozy fun-filled holiday season with those you love, and a new year filled with hope and peace.

Namaste