Aint no mountain high enough

The past 3 months has been quite the hiking extravaganza.  Sharath and I have climbed a total of 7 different mountains (technically 6 mountains and a canyon trail) scattered around Arizona, that's like a mountain every 2 weeks!  There are literally mountains or canyons around every corner here.   

We are the tiny figures on Devil's Bridge

The wear and tear that this has done to my body, in terms of exhaustion and muscle pains has made it particularly difficult to keep you guys updated with all our travels.  I would just get round to feeling human again and we'd be off on another adventure to some new vista point! 

Having officially done our last hike of the trip together,  the beastly Mount Wrightson, its finally time to share all those slightly torturous but stunningly beautiful moments with you.   

Before we get stuck in let me just say that my hiking experience hasn't been all smiles.  At times walking up a giant rock has really tested my patience, motivation and endurance to the max, both physically and mentally.  

There did seem to be one recurring trend in our adventures in regard to these struggles. I would start a hike particularly grumpy when we had to get up around 5am and eat breakfast on the move. I am not really a morning person.  Especially if I haven't slept very well the night before, for example cos I'd had to nap in the car or we were so far up north that our motel room was freezing!  Luckily (for Sharath's sake mostly)  this moody period tended to be short lived, as it melted away with the amazing views and general highs from the physicality of it all. 

We also found that food was an extremely good motivator.  Nothing like the promise of  a diner brunch or a Mexican feast to keep you moving, when you realise you still have everything you just finished huffing and puffing your way up, to climb back down.   

I'm not going to bore you with the nitty gritty statistics and names of each trail we went on but here are a few things that stick out in my mind.  The colours in the rocks in places like Sedona and the Grand Canyon are amazing, due to the sheer variation in the rock. There were vast hues of reds, greens, golds that combined with the purples and orange cascades of sunrise and sunset to form quite the Modern Impressionists painting.   It was not only the rocks that showed this immense capacity for variation but the vegetation and terrain in general. I remember going from one layer to the next, then looking down on it all from the top and being awed. All this took millions of years for natural forces to sculpt into the earth.  Wow!

YAY! it rained! Picacho Peak

There was one hike up to Picacho Peak, where the Sonoran Desert graced us with a little rain, a rare and celebrated occurrence (among some, there are definitely some Arizonans who complain about rain as much as the English when it occurs.)    This might have been my favourite hike, in terms of the experience of getting there and coming down, although there were definitely those with more breath taking views. The clouds were low making everything a little hazy, the desert was green and smelt amazing! An added bonus was the lack of intense heat even though we only began the trail around midday.  It was perfect hiking conditions, although a little slippy on the rocks at times. 

The 10 mile round trip and 4000ft of elevation of Mount Wrightson are the one set of statistics I cannot stop myself from bragging about, despite my promise not to bore you with techinicalities .   Most of our hikes had been around 5 miles or less (and a max +/-2000 feet of elevation)  up until this last one, so as you can imagine this was quite the step up.  The trail is said to take most people about 7 hours round trip, it took us more like 12. 

I should point out that Sharath and I have a habit of losing track of time when we are together. We like to take our hikes slow, so we can take in all of the new surroundings (or read a book in a picturesque setting). This day dream filled approach had never caused any problems on our previous short hikes, as we could always trail run back down the relatively short distance before it got dark.   Our tendency to meander was not the only reason our hike was so long, somewhere along the way I developed a throbbing and persistent pain in my upper right thigh. I remember it being particularly bad when we were a little under 2 miles from the top.  We discussed if we should just turn around and head back down, this may have been the sensible option but I could see the top!  It felt like an injustice just to turn around with out reaching those magnificent views across all of Arizona and out to the Mexican border. So we trudged on. 

 Silly faces time!

So much glee

I was so elated when we finally reached the top, I was literally shouting and running with joy for the last few meters. The views were utterly spectacular, with the classic Arizona clear blue skies all around. We were on the highest point in the Santa Rita Mountain Range; on top of the world. 

After refueling and beginning our descent it became obvious that we weren't going to reach the car before nightfall.  Mount Wrightson is what they call a forested Sky Island. A vastly bio diverse mountain, with vegetation and wildlife all over the peak, completely surrounded by the much less inhabitable cacti filled desert.  The unique ecosystem gave us a canopy of trees to walk among for most of the way, which was a great source of shade on the way up but a little intimidating in the dark on the way down.   As the sun set and we pulled out our torches, I became fairly anxious and jumpy to the sounds of lizards and snakes scuttling around the forest floor.  The signs warning that this was bear country down at the  start of trail head was also playing on my mind.  

My heightened state of fight or flight instinct came to its climax when we heard a tree crash to the ground somewhere behind us.  For a moment I really thought, "we might die tonight".  After some reassuring words to calm me down I got my confidence back and we started moving pretty swiftly back down the trail, as my desire to get home overpowered the sense of pain coming from my thigh.

Descent sunset view from Mt Wrightson 

In the conversation on the way down I discovered that night hiking was a real thing that people do for enjoyment, actively choosing to hike at night rather than during the day, but I figured it probably isn't for me. 

Some how we manage to keep each others spirits raised and made it to the car around 10:30pm, worn out and hungry but victorious!  

When we finally got home to feast on some real food, instead of the days fill of trail mix, cereal bars and Hershey's Almond Kisses, I could barely walk but I was pretty damn proud of myself! I'm certainly not going to forget this hike for a long time and I don't think my legs will either!

That was a bit of verbose trail through my hikes, but I hope you managed to make it to the end and found it as satisfying as I did.

Americans and the English, same same but different?

After over a month of living and breathing the cleanest air in all of America (supposedly),  I feel I am well tuned into to some of the cultural and lifestyle differences between the overly polite English, like myself, and those obnoxiously loud Americans. 

One place where I really feel like the UK and the US is on different planets is on the road.  You guys have so much space your freeways are six lanes wide!  Six lanes! In the UK 3 is the norm,  4 if you're lucky (not including the hard shoulder). I don't think a one way street exists here either, which must be nice , as driving in a new city in England tends to result a series of frustrating battles; where your destination is in sight but the turning says no entry, so you have to encircle the neighbouring streets a few times until you get to that same street but facing the opposite direction.  Oh the frustration.  I wonder if the simplicity of US roads reduces the prevalence of road rage.

EDIT, CORRECTION :   Arizona does have one way streets they are just 4 cars wide and in a grid system, so its not that complicated. 

When the federal government builds freeways they pretty much blow up anything in their path in order to create the shortest route to connect two destinations, by my understanding. This means travelling for 2 or 3 hours in the US gets you much further than in England, with our winding roads encircling this or that. Yes we may be a tiny island but we are densely populated, there is a lot going on. Arizona has vastly empty desert plains all over the place and then they stick some suburban housing complex in the middle of it. 

Here in Tempe, there are empty lots of land,  that are in a prime location for the retail industry, but for some reason the people here would rather scatter far and wide and increase their commute and transit time, just because they have the space.    

I've never owned a car back in England, so I'm used to walking everywhere or relying on buses or trains to get me places.   I swear outside of the university campus there are only a couple of hundred people who walk anywhere in this city.  Cars are king.  Now its starting to heat up, temperature wise, I think I am starting to understand why.  Air Conditioning is the only way to survive out here! The heat is unrelentingly dry, and the skies are so free of clouds it looks like someone placed a giant paint sample card in front of your lens.  Its shorts weather from now on until November!

 I got the bus to Phoenix Zoo the other day,  there was literally me and 3 other people on there, all who got off at the next stop. All my bus journeys in the UK consisted of a predominant presence of the young and the elderly and then everyone else in between.     

Smart

Beastly

Speaking of cars being king.  Smart cars are considered a joke here, next to four-wheel drives, pick up trucks and hummers they do look ridiculous. Back home and across Europe a Smart car seems like a viable, efficient and some might even say 'smart' way to actually find a parking space in a major city.   

Efficiency is clearly not on the mind of some Americans though,  taking a tank engine and riding it around your tarmacked freeways, seriously unnecessary. It's a good thing gasoline (petrol) is so cheap for you guys.

Next on the agenda is religion.  I 'm starting to really appreciate how secular England is. I find talking to people from different religions and trying to understand their different belief systems, really interesting.  My issue with religion is when, someone tries to push their beliefs on me or decides to actively insult me because I'm not a believer.

Last weekend me and Sharath attended an open mic event in downtown Phoenix, that was largely spoken word performers, with a few musicians thrown in to the mix. It was a fun evening, there were lots of passionate people sharing their thoughts with the room.  Towards the end the religious extremists seemed to take centre stage, and I found this pretty uncomfortable. Perhaps its a reflection of the music and arts communities in the UK, and their tendency towards the liberal left on the political spectrum, but I don't expect to be called selfish for being a 'heathen' in an evening of arts and entertainment.   It led to a pretty big discussion about the role of Christianity in the US.  Oh and the audience had this tendency to shout "speak it" and "tell it" at various moments in peoples performances, which is a new sign of appreciation to me. My inner polite Englishman found it a little irritating.
. 

This is how we do it in England

The US has discovered Cornish Pasties and made them into a gourmet food.  You heard me, those meat and potato filled pastry cases you buy at Greggs for (a little more than) a quid, when your short

My Gourmet Pastie

of cash and in need of something hot and filling to eat on the go, are marketed as an actual evening meal here.  Last night I sat at a proper sit down restaurant and ordered a "Cornish pasty"  filled with all kinds of fancy ingredients, chicken, pesto, artichokes, mozzarella.  It was really tasty, I have to say. Would giving pasties a face lift in England be a success or is it down to the novelty factor?  They also had English puddings on the menu, so I introduced a couple of Americans to the wonders of Sticky Toffee Pudding (mmm) , made with imported treacle. It seems strange not to have treacle as its just an unrefined version of syrup, but it obviously hasn't made it across the Atlantic yet.


I think that's enough snark filled analysis for this post. I'll be back soon, as my photos are telling me I've been to so many amazing places and I'm yet to talk about them.  Here's a sneak peak of things to come:

Devil's Bridge, Sedona, AZ

Greetings from cacti land!

Hey out there. I hope everyone is enjoying 2015! I know I am. I've left England behind and I've been in Tempe, Arizona for the past week. Time has zoomed by!

I've been excited and counting down to this trip for a long time and its taken some time to process that it's finally a reality. This trip isn't just about seeing a new bit if the world and having fun, although there will be plenty of that, but I'm also perusing an exciting new relationship. An extra burst of euphoria. Turning a chance meeting on a kibbutz into a, 6 month long, transatlantic in-depth discussion of life, dreams, emotions, and 2 hour long Skype sessions into actually being in the same room together once more, has been one hell of an adventure, in itself.

I'm very much still figuring out what to do next with my life but back in Garstang I felt a little trapped by everything. Location, lack of transport,  and a resulting lack in social circles. Time to try looking at things with fresh eyes. I can't work here, as I am on a tourist visa and US immigration assured me on entering that they would  to quote "hunt me down", if I seek employment. But I'm looking to do some more volunteering and enjoy being in the company of someone who's on the same wavelength as me. I know in the end what I do with my life is completely up to me but it's nice to feel like I don't have to face everything alone. And yes I know that's not true when I'm in England either, my friends and family are great but it's difficult to see that when your daily life seems to invoke such isolation.

Oops this wasn't meant to be such an emotionally fueled post just a round up of what I've been up to, but I guess my inner writer has other ideas.

I guess what I'd really like to say is that I'm following the things I believe in. Love, kindness, that there's more to a human being than what's written on their bank statements each month, in adventure, expanding your horizons and learning from people and the world around you. I might not quite have the balance right but I'm enjoying working on figuring that out!

Here's a few photos to capture this last week's adventures:

The cowboys are on their way!

Goat Kisses

Phoenix is massive!

street art, Tempe

Chinese feast

Green, green its all...wait is that an armchair?

Last week I volunteered with the local Canal and River Trust, cleaning up the Lancaster canal for a few hours.  It was a fun morning spent on a canal boat with fishing nets and rubbish grabbers.   I was a little shocked by how much we came back on the boat with us.   I don't understand why so many people feel the need to throw unopened beer cans or half filled bottles of wine, even the empty ones, crisp packets, take away boxes, everything just chucked  into the canal. I didn't realise people were quite so wasteful and careless.

I personally feel extremely lucky to be living near such beautiful landscapes, but there's obviously a lot of people with no appreciation for our lush green surroundings and waterways. Perhaps they should spent some time in the desert too!

Check out this collection of things we pulled out of the canal and along the verges of the toe path:

In my other volunteering exploits I've been bring new life to some plants, propagating fig trees and lavander and hebes and expanding my plant knowledge massively.  I also made a few festive table decorations with pieces of holly, fern, that kind of thing.   Creativity and practical  aspects of life feeling well and truly satisfied.

The only thing missing some intellectual stimulation!  Although, mi español es mejorar!

The job hunting is fruitless at the moment, but I do have something to look forward to.  I'm leaving the country again on an extremely thin shoe string budget,  in the new year! I'm off to Arizona to spend time with a guy I bumped into at the kibbutz in my last few weeks in Israel,  and haven't stopped talking to since. I feel like I'm kicking off some gossip generator in the ex Ein Hashlosha volunteer network, you'll be sitting there figuring out who it is.   I'm  incredibly excited about flying out there,  but I have 5 weeks before then to make the most of.
I'm looking forward to a Christmas at home with the family, after last years hard work and stress in trying to create some sense of Christmas on the kibbutz.  It had its fun moments and it was certainly memorable, but this time I'll know exactly what to expect,  which can be nice once in a while.  

Having a year away from the UK over the Christmas period, does seem to have meant I missed the arrival of us deciding to join in the with America's mass consumerism fests. Black Friday did not exist in England before I left for Israel, I swear.  Those supermarket fights were
shocking!  Please try to engage in civilised Christmas shopping people.



Hope you're enjoying this extra warm and sunny festive period!

Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London

 

London, London you are filled with endless possibilities.  Its's quite overwhelming the range of places you can go and the vast amount art and culture that litter your streets and buildings.

The back garden!

I've just returned from 6 days of looking after a beautiful bloodhound and two adorable cats in north London.  Not only did I get free food and accommodation in exchange for my services, I also got some cash in hand to be able to enjoy myself while I was there (money whoopee!).  In between dog walking, where I got to enjoy London's green spaces on a daily basis, I managed to figure out one or two things that really stood out on my map of must sees in London. 

Having done most of the major central tourist attractions I am interested in a month or so back, when I was there last with the Koreans, and important stuff like the Science museum on previous visits, I decided to go a wander through the artsy, alternative, retro, hippie type world of Brick Lane and check out their Sunday market. 

World food stalls, vintage clothes, ridiculous queues for bagels and great street art was very much right up my street (apologise for the bad pun).  My favourite parts of
the day was getting a free sample of handmade chocolate from a guy working  in the chocolate shop on Brick Lane and his comments abut feeling like Jesus.  As soon as he appeared at the door with baskets of chocolate a steady flow of chocolate lovers swarmed towards him through the crowds of passers by. My lunch was pretty great too, delicious Jamaican lamb stew with rice eaten in the hustle and bustle of the street stalls while the guy on the right serenaded me with No Woman No Cry.  Good timing, Mr Busker.   

Sleeping Snowball

At the top of on my list of things to do in London was to check out Spoken Word London. I had hoped to build on my National Poetry Day experiences, with another performance of the same poem but with the added element of reciting it instead of just reading it.  Unfortunately, my underestimation of how long it takes to travel across London meant that I didn't quite get there in time to sign up.  

All was not lost none the less,  I saw some fabulous performances! There was a really diverse range of voices and subjects,and I got talking to quite a few people in the intervals too. A real friendly and open minded bunch. There was even one guy who stripped off completely naked during his first poem and kept his clothes off for the rest of his 5 minute stint.  That was definitely a first, a little distracting I have to say, but it worked well with the message in his words and certainly makes it a memorable evening.

Me and Minie

Izzy

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for events like this, a little closer to home, in the future. 

There's nothing quite like recieving a kick up the arse from your friends

I don't usually post on such a regular basis but after my last post on my attempts to find employment, I received some daunting fodder for thought. It came from not one but two of my friends. They don't know each other either, living on different sides of the Atlantic ocean.

I don't want to share all of it with you, as its a bit too raw and personal for here in my opinion. Let's just say there was a lot of calls to aim higher. It's great to have friends who recognise and acknowledge your potential and are willing to poke you with a stick of realisation, when they think you've missed the mark. I'd like to thank you both for that.

All the same it wasn't one the most easy things to be on the receiving end of. Mainly cos I have no idea how to start pursing something I feel is bigger than me, out of my reach. Where do I go from here?

That's not strictly true. I know I can look to the things I enjoy, the things I'm passionate about but crystalising those things into something more than interests is quite the task. Even trying to pin one single thing down to throw my energy at and pursue is a tangled mess of indecision. I am working on trying to line up some ways to pursue writing and journalism in 2015, so that should be a step in the right direction.

One last thought, it does feel amazing to realise how much your friends believe in you.

Entering the world of earning money, the final hurdle, attempt 2: close but no cigar

On Wednesday I had another job interview! (I really enjoy these things haha)
A cafe assistant managers post, in a cafe that's part of a community project helping vulnerable adults. This interview went even better than the one for the local supermarket position. I had the same food vision as the manager of the cafe about local produce and trying to introduce organic food, whilst trying to keep prices low and accessible for everyone.

The interview allowed me to really use my creativity on menu ideas and how to improve customers experience in the cafe. I'd had a few weeks to think about it all and I was brimming with ideas and possibilities. The people interviewing me, were clearly as enthusiastic about my ideas as I was. It was nice to have a conversation where everyone is on the same wavelength.

But once again my efforts just weren't enough to get me employed and earning money. I got really good helpful feedback on the phone though, so I know exactly what I was missing. The two other candidates had previous hands on experience of working with vulnerable adults and I don't. And to pretty much quote my feedback, if working with vulnerable adults hadn't been in the job description I would have got the job.

That's kind of a frustrating reason in itself because I have been trying to get that experience through a voluntary position, but due to factors outside my control I'm still waiting for legal approval of application.

Poor timing world, poor timing.

I do feel like I'm getting closer each time though, and getting better at presenting myself to potential employers. All this learning has to pay off at some point, right?

Anyway I'm in London house, dog and cat sitting to boost my bank account temporarily. Going to be making the most of the vast amount of things to do on my doorstep, so I should have an interesting update for here some time soon.

Found this on the Black Swan Buskers Facebook
page from my outing in Alnwick the other week