Just a quick note to say I'm safe and thriving in Southern Italy, where the sun shines, wine flows and olives grow... all my best for the holidays - it's Christmas in London this year, and maybe an update or two before I get home on the 2nd...
All my love and warmth,
Elizabeth
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
December 7 - Feels like a week's gone by...
Dear friends and family,
I arrived safely in Cambridge last night, only to dash off again tomorrow to Heathrow to meet one of my best new friends and fly to Rome.
I’ve just spent the most lovely and difficult 24 hours with this family – only difficult because they are so loving, genuine, hospitable, and British I almost don’t know what to do with myself. At half past 9 last night after meeting Dana at the train station (my second cousin once removed - or whatever the relation is) I stepped into her and her husband’s flat to find myself faced with four church leaders (including Dana’s husband, Mark) discussing the heres and theres of deaths, marriages, and denominations over tea, all very distinct and agreeable personalities, all very British. From my small exposure at Findhorn and my huge dose in the last day or so, I’ve found British humor extremely enjoyable, and I have often just sat back and relished it rather than bursting out laughing (the former goes over much better in respectable company). I had the pleasure of having afternoon roast with Mark, Dana, and a friend of the family named Betty (formally Elizabeth) whom Mark described as “refreshing” and “outside of the box” – and she was indeed, quite charmingly chatty and rather opinionated about the way things should be done and especially how they should be written and spoken. I truly enjoyed her company, especially because (in spite of her firm beliefs about the English language) she regularly stepped back and got a good chuckle out of her own personality.
After Sunday roast Dana and I wandered the streets of Cambridge, admiring the stately, imposing colleges and cobblestone streets while listening to the jingle of sleigh bells in the newly constructed behemoth of a shopping mall just one street over. I met one of their three daughters, Rachel, who seemed incredibly mature for her age, but had a gaiety about her which - whether it’s conscious or not - must have something to do with how wonderful her parents are. After tea with Dana and a wonderful conversation about her work in family therapy, it was back to the flat to sit on couches, talk, drink more tea, and watch the end of Miracle on 34th Street (which I was actually a bit disturbed by this time around. I can’t imagine showing this to my children in good conscience. Am I becoming a Values Snob?). Tears welled up in my eyes after we all said goodnight. I can hardly believe this is real… it’s not as if I haven’t experienced great generosity before, but something about the mercy of stepping out of such an intense and life-changing experience as Findhorn into such a solid, warm & homey atmosphere just chokes me up.
Let’s hope the rest of my trip goes this well, or that I can bring some of this safety and warmth to wherever I end up; there’s plenty to go around.
I arrived safely in Cambridge last night, only to dash off again tomorrow to Heathrow to meet one of my best new friends and fly to Rome.
I’ve just spent the most lovely and difficult 24 hours with this family – only difficult because they are so loving, genuine, hospitable, and British I almost don’t know what to do with myself. At half past 9 last night after meeting Dana at the train station (my second cousin once removed - or whatever the relation is) I stepped into her and her husband’s flat to find myself faced with four church leaders (including Dana’s husband, Mark) discussing the heres and theres of deaths, marriages, and denominations over tea, all very distinct and agreeable personalities, all very British. From my small exposure at Findhorn and my huge dose in the last day or so, I’ve found British humor extremely enjoyable, and I have often just sat back and relished it rather than bursting out laughing (the former goes over much better in respectable company). I had the pleasure of having afternoon roast with Mark, Dana, and a friend of the family named Betty (formally Elizabeth) whom Mark described as “refreshing” and “outside of the box” – and she was indeed, quite charmingly chatty and rather opinionated about the way things should be done and especially how they should be written and spoken. I truly enjoyed her company, especially because (in spite of her firm beliefs about the English language) she regularly stepped back and got a good chuckle out of her own personality.
After Sunday roast Dana and I wandered the streets of Cambridge, admiring the stately, imposing colleges and cobblestone streets while listening to the jingle of sleigh bells in the newly constructed behemoth of a shopping mall just one street over. I met one of their three daughters, Rachel, who seemed incredibly mature for her age, but had a gaiety about her which - whether it’s conscious or not - must have something to do with how wonderful her parents are. After tea with Dana and a wonderful conversation about her work in family therapy, it was back to the flat to sit on couches, talk, drink more tea, and watch the end of Miracle on 34th Street (which I was actually a bit disturbed by this time around. I can’t imagine showing this to my children in good conscience. Am I becoming a Values Snob?). Tears welled up in my eyes after we all said goodnight. I can hardly believe this is real… it’s not as if I haven’t experienced great generosity before, but something about the mercy of stepping out of such an intense and life-changing experience as Findhorn into such a solid, warm & homey atmosphere just chokes me up.
Let’s hope the rest of my trip goes this well, or that I can bring some of this safety and warmth to wherever I end up; there’s plenty to go around.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
December 6 - Last day at Findhorn
Tomorrow morning I head off to Cambridge to stay with some family for a couple nights, after which I’ll fly to Rome to have one last hurrah with a few of my dear friends from the program. Afterwards, one friend and I are heading to an Italian ecovillage (www.torri-superiori.org) – she’ll stay for few nights, and I’ll stay and work for just under two weeks. I am so excited. (I apologize that this is a rather lackluster post – I’ve been packing and saying goodbye all day and am considerably exhausted). After that I’m heading back up to the UK to spend Christmas in London.
I have had a marvelous time here, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything – hopefully I’ll have more time to reflect as time goes on and the internet café becomes my only connection to the outside world. All I want for Christmas (and my birthday) is safe travels and to know my family and friends are enjoying these precious days with people who love them…
Hopefully I will post again soon (?)
EV
I have had a marvelous time here, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything – hopefully I’ll have more time to reflect as time goes on and the internet café becomes my only connection to the outside world. All I want for Christmas (and my birthday) is safe travels and to know my family and friends are enjoying these precious days with people who love them…
Hopefully I will post again soon (?)
EV
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
December 3rd - Thanksgiving Photos
I realize it's a little late, but who doesn't like to stretch holidays out?
This part of my journey is almost complete: I have three more days in the ecovillage with my classmates, after which I will be careening about Europe at breakneck speed... or more likely at this point, strolling through parts of Italy at as leisurely a pace as possible. I'd like to settle down a bit in one region, to really enjoy my surroundings on a deeper level, even if it's only for a couple weeks. I'll update you on my travel plans when they become more concrete.
Meanwhile, we had a lovely Thanksgiving - complete with turkey (gasp!), real boxed wine (a classic), and card games - the only thing missing was football on the telly, which was probably the only point of possible contention during the whole feast, and it was handled with grace - although I kinda missed the muffled cheers of crazed fans in the background.
Mom sent me a package of Thanksgiving decorations, and let me tell you, they were a hit. The paper turkey, scarecrow, maize, etc. made the little eco-house really feel American, and many warm thanks were extended to you that night, Mom. I know it made sound odd, but it really made quite a difference. I got a lot of really sweet comments about it.
Callie shows off her luscious stuffed tomato recipe. We had a blast preparing most everything using ingredients from the communal kitchen & shed - free food is always a bonus.
We encountered many a strange potato in the mashing.
And got extremely bored while the strange potatoes boiled.
Which brought us to another house full of feast-preparing students, including Mikaela and her pies. Some of the ingredients are still strewn about our kitchen, but the tart apple pie was well worth the mess.
Once we had completed the prep and arrived at our generous teacher's house, we all explained what we had made and why. And of course David (the professor some of us affectionately call "Papa Bear") made us all say something we were grateful for... talk about feeling at home :)
We all contributed one family tradition to the feast. I contributed cheese and crackers; my favorite part is the waiting (and I've already baked so much for this group they've taken to calling me 'mom').
Jake and Leaf heartily enjoyed the cheese and crackers (not to mention the wine).
I clean my plate and promote world peace at the same time - life is good. (I must have been dizzyingly full to have given the peace sign in that moment...)
We chose to replace the post-meal nap with post-meal massages. Not a bad swap, in my opinion.
I'm not sure where I'll be for Christmas, but if it's half as enjoyable as Thanksgiving was I'll have nothing to complain about. I'm going to deeply miss the makeshift, motley family we've formed here...
This part of my journey is almost complete: I have three more days in the ecovillage with my classmates, after which I will be careening about Europe at breakneck speed... or more likely at this point, strolling through parts of Italy at as leisurely a pace as possible. I'd like to settle down a bit in one region, to really enjoy my surroundings on a deeper level, even if it's only for a couple weeks. I'll update you on my travel plans when they become more concrete.
Meanwhile, we had a lovely Thanksgiving - complete with turkey (gasp!), real boxed wine (a classic), and card games - the only thing missing was football on the telly, which was probably the only point of possible contention during the whole feast, and it was handled with grace - although I kinda missed the muffled cheers of crazed fans in the background.
Mom sent me a package of Thanksgiving decorations, and let me tell you, they were a hit. The paper turkey, scarecrow, maize, etc. made the little eco-house really feel American, and many warm thanks were extended to you that night, Mom. I know it made sound odd, but it really made quite a difference. I got a lot of really sweet comments about it.
Callie shows off her luscious stuffed tomato recipe. We had a blast preparing most everything using ingredients from the communal kitchen & shed - free food is always a bonus.
We encountered many a strange potato in the mashing.
And got extremely bored while the strange potatoes boiled.
Which brought us to another house full of feast-preparing students, including Mikaela and her pies. Some of the ingredients are still strewn about our kitchen, but the tart apple pie was well worth the mess.
Once we had completed the prep and arrived at our generous teacher's house, we all explained what we had made and why. And of course David (the professor some of us affectionately call "Papa Bear") made us all say something we were grateful for... talk about feeling at home :)
We all contributed one family tradition to the feast. I contributed cheese and crackers; my favorite part is the waiting (and I've already baked so much for this group they've taken to calling me 'mom').
Jake and Leaf heartily enjoyed the cheese and crackers (not to mention the wine).
I clean my plate and promote world peace at the same time - life is good. (I must have been dizzyingly full to have given the peace sign in that moment...)
We chose to replace the post-meal nap with post-meal massages. Not a bad swap, in my opinion.
I'm not sure where I'll be for Christmas, but if it's half as enjoyable as Thanksgiving was I'll have nothing to complain about. I'm going to deeply miss the makeshift, motley family we've formed here...
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