There's a First Time for Everything...

So they say. We've been continuing our list of 'firsts' since we arrived in Turkey over 1 month ago, and recently it feels like we've had a jet pack propelling us forward into new things so fast we may lose a limb if we don't hold on!

Two of the biggest firsts for us happened at almost the same time (in this past week within a day or so of each other), and solidified our winter stay in Turkey: work and housing.

I made Deviled Eggs for Thanksgiving! After remembering with such fondness my Grandma Nancy's famous eggs, mine weren't quite the same-but they were pretty darn good!

Our Thanksgiving feast! We felt so  blessed to be included in our friends' celebration.

Since being here, we have been almost exclusively staying with friends, house and city hopping once a week, lugging our packs around on public transportation that was never intended to accommodate someone with backpacking packs. For me (Kindra), in spite of the wonderful times we were having with people at their homes, I was becoming increasingly ready to have our own space. Particularly as the possibility of having jobs was becoming more and more realistic, I was craving a space to unwind COMPLETELY without expectations of interaction or engaging with those around me. The introvert in me was becoming slightly grumpy at the lack of private space and quiet time, yet the extrovert was loathe to leave the exciting and fun environments of families, friends, new people, games, and meaningful conversations. Like the terrific time we had with some 15 fellow Yanks for Thanksgiving last week! It was a blast! The introvert prevailed, however, and once we finally found an apartment that was: a) furnished b) in the general area we wanted and c) a month to month rental, (which we were continuing to trust God for despite its supreme lack in this area) it only took us 20 minutes to look at the place, agree upon it, give the first month's rent in cash and have the keys in our hands. It took several days to reach that point, but, as is the case with many things in Turkey, once a decision is made on something, everything else moves very quickly. So this is our FIRST apartment in a foreign country as a married couple- woohoo!

Our living room! It's a little orange...we call it the Life Room.

Our new pad has 3 rooms, which we're thinking of opening up to couch surfers (!), a small kitchen, huge living room and 2 bathrooms-1 of which has 2 separate showers side by side......? Not sure what that's about, but as we have been saying more and more often: "Hey, it's Turkey!" Meaning-logic is not a prevalent value of this culture, so there are many things that, especially to a Westerner, can seem confusing or unnecessary. It all adds to the color and life of this place, and can be a refreshing break for us from what sometimes seems the too logical and practical, thought through approach of many Americans.

The other major FIRST is work-we are "official" English teachers/conversation club facilitators/our boss told us upon giving us our schedule that we can "do whatever you'd like with the classes-they're all yours!" So we have teachers books, and classes varying between levels A (beginner), B (intermediate) and C (advanced). Every level has 2 additional levels, 1 and 2. So A1 is the very beginning of the course, and C2 is the end goal for students, with a graduation certificate to reward their efforts at the end. All sounds great, right? Well we certainly thought so......and then we had our very FIRST class last night.

Austin paying with one of the many children we've met staying with different families. This guy and his family are all Kiwis! (From New Zealand)

We taught separate classes, Austin's was a C1, mine a B2. 9 of 12 students showed up for him, 5 of 7 for me. We were originally told that we should try and focus on listening and speaking as much as possible, since we are the only native English speakers in the program right now, and we thought-how hard can that be? Just talk and listen for 2 1/2 hrs. Sure! Great in theory-until we realized that the A/B/C/1/2 levels didn't really mean much at all, and the levels of English that we were dealing with were in NO position to be speaking and listening to the things we had planned to discuss. So despite our preparedness with our list of 'get to know you' questions, a great lesson plan and even colorful name tags, with only 2/5 students in my class and a few in Austin's being at the levels we had thought fitting for their class level, it quickly turned more into this formula: 1) student A speak about themselves for about 30 seconds (instead of 5 minutes) 2) student B ask a question from our "get to know you" sheet in badly pronounced English 3) student A have no idea what the question means, and student B has no clue either 4) student C or D, the only students who could really speak or understand, translate the question in Turkish, with responses of gales of laughter from everyone else, and student A responds in Turkish 5) Student C or D translates the response into English, and finally 6) when I, teacher, ask student A to try saying that in English now that they've heard what it sounds like, they all laugh and say "too hard" or some equivalent. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

We later learned a key piece of information that fit these seemingly unfitting puzzle pieces together-the students are not required to take any sort of exam after their first test of speaking when they first join the program to determine which level they are at, which seems basically pointless. After this initial "test", the students MUST be passed after the end of each level, no matter what their abilities are. Which means a student can take a test, for some reason be put into a B1 class, have TERRIBLE English, and at the end of the session-which lasts only 1 1/2 months- move onto the B2 class. Because that's what you do. And EVERY student receives a "diploma" at the end of the program, after "graduating" C2. No matter what. So when a fellow teacher, upon hearing that 2 of my students were in B2, remarked "I had them in B1 last session and I specifically said these 2 should not advance under any circumstances, they couldn't keep up with B1 at all and I suggested they move back to A1 or A2-how on earth did they end up in B2 now? I'm so sorry for you," I was less surprised than you might think.

So here we are!  With our Christmas decore in place, and *mostly* moved into our new huge, slightly cold apartment, working in an unpredictable English environment. Every day is an adventure-although the flavor and color of our adventures have changed slightly. From rustic to city, camp food to stove tops and an oven that appears to not work, solitude and wilderness to cars and flashing store signs. We're trusting God to provide for us just as much in this new season as He has in our past ones, and boy has it been an unexpected ride so far!

We've decorated our living room with silver sparkly stars and tinsel

Finishing touches of home decoration-maps in the hallway, and Christmas in the living room

Armed and ready!

Snapshots

Hey gang!

Austin here with some photos from the last three months (we have lagged on photos for the blog).

We left super Switzerland and enjoyed an amazing opera in Vienna for Kindra's birthday (courtesy of Kindra's dad!).

Our arrival in Croatia began with a colorful tour of Croatia's captial, Zagreb.

Croatia captured us completely with its unbelievable waterfalls in Plitvice.

 Another waterfall that captured our hearts :)

Having a blast in the historic Croatian city of Split.

We ran into an awesome French couple that we traveled with: Ziyha and Esteban.  Here Esteban poses in all his glory by the sea at Dubrovnik.

A memorable and challenging moment: when our tent flooded on the Croatian island of Mljet.  I awoke in the the night to find copious amounts of water surrounding us during a heavy downpour.  I shook Kindra awake and said those infamous words: "We are in a lake!"

Fun times with Cacahuete, our beloved Montenegrin stray cat that captured our hearts and ate our leftovers :) (shown with Zihya and Esteban)

Our journey from Montenegro to Turkey led us through Greece, where, unbeknownst to us, many Turks travel to during a specific holiday.  Stuck here for a day because our bus was overbooked, we befriended Ahmet and "exchanged" passports over a gyro dinner.

Back to beauty: our time in Bursa led to some camping in a magnificent canyon, full of calming waterfalls and wood walkways.

A Return To Our Second Home

We are back ın Turkey!  Thıs ıs lıkely obvıous, gıven the strange ı letters (as I type from an ınternet cafe ın Bursa).  Kındra ıs hangıng out at our temporary home, an apartment some good frıends are lettıng us use (feels lıke a home our own own!).  We have been here two weeks and have never been happıer to be here.  Turkey ıs serıously a second home, after lıvıng here for two years ın İzmır.  The language ıs comıng back quıckly, and even Kındra ıs pıckıng back up her Turkısh and rememberıng heaps, too.

We spent a week ın Istanbul, walkıng nostalgıcally down famılıar roads and watchıng such a beautıful culture unfold back ınto our lıves, lıke an old frıend walkıng through the door of our hearts.

We love Turkey.

The food...ah ıts ıs soo delıcıous and full of varıety.  Each regıon boasts ıts unıque delıcacıes; the other nıght we had a new frıend cook for us an amazıng desert called İsa'nın guzelliği (the beauty of Jesus).  The people: kınder than you could possıbly ımagıne.  For all our travelıng through Europe, comparatıvely Turkey blows those cultures away ın hospıtalıty.  Complete strangers offerıng us tea, food, tours around town, etc.  For ınstance, we went campıng a few days ago ın a remote canyon near Bursa.  We had a long walk back to the local vıllage, a frıendly man who had only just arrıved at the canyon offered to drıve us back.  We heartedly accepted, and got way more than we bargaıned for!  He took all the the way to town, took us to a cafe for tea and lunch, and ıntroduced us to hıs daughter and wıfe!  The daughter was learnıng Englısh, so we had a great exchange ın mıxed Englısh and Turkey, laughıng and celebratıng our new frıendshıp.  They then proceeded to take us on a tour of theır famıly farm, the local parks (turkey ıs full of natural beauty), and fınally, they paıd for our bus back to Bursa!!  Ok, we are movıng to Turkey =)

There are many more storıes lıke thıs of kındness and laughter to share, and we treasure them ın our hearts.  The weather ıs slowly growıng colder, and eventually we must choose our wınter plans.  Perhaps we wıll hıtchhıke across Turkey to the East before ıts gets too cold, or maybe a suıtable short term job wıll present ıtself.  Defınıtely we wıll be vısıtıng İzmir!

More to come on the Turkısh stage of the journey!

Goodbye Europe

After ten amazing and special months in Europe, we say goodbye. As I write we are bus riding our way to Istanbul, to Turkey, to a place we have called home many years ago. It is surreal to travel to Turkey as vagabonds after so many months of wild camping, hitchhiking and simply living in the present. We will be mostly staying with friends, who have showers and warm homes. Turkey seems tame, mild. Well, especially compared to Albania, but we'll talk about that later.

For now, I want to let you into some reflection of mine. For the last three months, we have put off WWOOFing and volunteer work for a more spontaneous, adventurous way of travel, one where we wake up each morning and ask, want do we want to do today? Where do we want to go? What are the deep desires of our heart that we want to pursue today? Maybe it's learning woodcarving, or fishing. Maybe it's going for a swim. Maybe we have no plan and then suddenly God brings something incredible to bless us and grow us (bad experiences have often turned into the biggest blessing, never judge a mishap until it plays out).

This way of travel has brought about a lot of patience and frustration, but also countless beautiful relationships with fellow travelers and locals. Kindra has mentioned the French couple, Esteban and Zihya, that we have traveled on and off with. They have become some of the closest friends of our trip if not our lives. Our most recent rendezvous in Montenegro with them was the sweetest. Esteban and Zihya, or as we lovingly called them "the Frenchies," found an abandoned bar on the Montenegrin coast to wild camp (it had a covered terrace, great for an approaching rainstorm), and they invited us there (we had taken a detour to the Croatian island of Mljet while they continued onward). It was such a beautiful time of laughter, card games, wine, a bonfire on the beach, deep conversations, impromptu dance party, etc. We wandered the local city together, sharing a kilo of spiced cooked meat (cevapci) while waiting out the rain. A local stray kitten befriended us and became our temporary adopted friend, which we adoringly named Cakuhaut, French for peanut. Cakuhaut was a lover, it simply wanted pets, belly rubbing, and to be with you. He slept in our tents and stole our hearts.

Then came our collective move forward to Albania, a wild and chaotic country that we knew nothing about, but were drawn to visit. Hitchhiking there didn't work, so Esteban negotiated a cheap deal with a taxi and across the border we went. Our driver, a character of a guy from Shkoder, made for an unforgettable ride. When we hit the Montenegro Albania border, he offered the border guard a cigarette (which he took) and got out of the car to chat it up. I was half expecting us to be invited to coffee or have a drink with the guards! More like a social club than a border, it was such a refreshing contrast to every other crossing. We were then led on a whirlwind tour of Shkoder, meeting the taxi driver's girlfriend, acquaintances, fish salesman, and finally ending in coffee. Kindra and I had a quick decision choice to stay in Skhoder or continue to Tirane (the capital) and on to Istanbul; we chose to say goodbye to the Frenchies and move on. We miss them!

We had the craziest bus driver to Tirane, and along the way we gawked at beautiful mountains and donkeys on the main highway. The next morning we left for Istanbul via bus on the shittiest road you could imagine (though with warm people and unbelievable scenery, Albania is at the top of our visit again list). The border to Greece was, as expected, very slow. While our bus waited in line, locals outside sold barbecued meat and newspapers; I went to chat it up in my nonexistent Albanian and hope our superlong overstay of our visa in the EU wouldn't result in a ban or huge fine. But a few hours and one bag search later we had our entry Scotch free into Greece.

Greece turned out to be a beautiful nightmare, our connecting bus to Istanbul was to be overbooked due to Turks on holiday, and since we had a ticket but no seat reservation we were told it would be a three day wait! We tried everythiiiing, other bus companies, even toyed with detouring to Bulgaria, but in the end a cheap hotel was a safe refuge until our stand by departure 24 hours later. The town of our temporary Greek prison, thessaloniki, turned out to be relaxed and social, and I stuffed down four pork gyros during our stay :)

There you have it! Turkey here we come! Il ginc yolculuk geliyor!

We Have A Bag For That

Writing a blog while you have to pee is certainly one way to try and distract yourself...we'll see how this goes! Austin is out looking for a wild camping spot near the old town area of Dubrovnik, which we have heard marvelous things about. Currently it is mainly windy and a bit cold, and we have our bags, but hopefully the marvelous bits will come soon.

Bags, bags, bags. The vagabonds sop. Our bread and butter. When a good sized, durable bag is worth it's weight in gold. After over a year of traveling, we have cone to some important conclusions: organization is key to our mental health, and bags are essential for organization. Our possessional lives can really be broken down to what bag they are in: essentials bag (always kept very accessible), liquids bag, general food bag, lunch bag, breakfast bag, papers bag, sleeping bag, tooth care bag, tent bag, misc bag, water filter bag, clothes bag, and of course, our back packs, which are really just glorified big bags. We have big and small zip lock bags, cloth bags, paper bags, and endless plastic bags. Any new item we obtain? We have a bag for that. And thus we maintain our sanity, after one too many "'where is the hand sanitizer?' 'I thought it was in your pack' 'well, I've emptied my entire pack into a confused mess on the dirty ground and it's not there'" moments.

Huzzah! A brief glimpse into our luxurious practical lives-We are learning as we go. We have also assembled a list of travelers rules which we pretty strictly adhere to now, which we now offer you at no charge! Ahem:
-never pass up a water source
-never pass up a bathroom
-never leave camp without headlamps and Swiss army knife
-always have extra fuel
-avoid getting into a new destination after dark if possible, ESP if it's a big city
-bring your passports on every mode of travel bc you never know when they will check
-and finally, if you are hungry and there is cheap good food available, just eat some

And there you have it! Not the shortest or most glamorous list, but it is our in process vagabond survival guide. And constantly being influenced by the amazing people we meet, who so often seem to be 5 steps ahead of us in terms of knowledge and preparedness. Like the Slovenians who kindly refused our offer of measly snacks, because they had caught fresh beautiful fish they were cooking. We do not know how to fish yet, but hope to learn soon! Or the American that showed us his amazing stove he made out of a beer can, as we blush at our expensive mass produced camping gas canister. Or the French that showed us how they made amazing food that made us cry-mushroom, chicken, rice, creme fresh, curry, spices, onion-makes our rice and veggies fare look pretty measly and theirs cost just as much as ours. But therein lies another grand truth of our journey: there are always people more prepared, more informed, with different skills than you. And it's a beautiful thing. It is through this reality of community that we can really learn from and teach one another, and there is not much room for pride in this lifestyle. Which is also a beautiful thing. It is one of the things that makes community so engaging and fun, and at times challenging. admitting your own limitations and inabilities, and finding the courage to try Sonething new (like the "special medicine" of the Slovenians for my cold- a big shot of nasty ass liquor, which actually did help a bit.)

Not to suggest that we have been just scraping by and surviving! We have been essentially hopping from one beautiful waterfront to another with views that rival a 5 star resort-for free :) although my recurring cold/cough friend has made things pretty rough at times over the past three months, and I think more people have seen me in some embarrassing state of humanity or another like peeing or shaving my bikini line than is reasonable.

In fact, we just left a recent favorite, the island of vis off of the Croatian coast. We scored an amazing camp spot right by a beach, and met a wonderful French couple who we are now loosely traveling with. There was a certain night that a lovely slovenian kayak group of five camped with us, (turns out Slovenian wine is fantastic!) and at any given moment you could hear English, French, Slovenian or Croatian being spoken-the Swiss couple were having a low key night, so no German dialect of Swiss that time. A truly international evening! Even yesterday on our nauseatingly windy but spectacularly beautiful 5 hr coastal bus ride to Dubrovnik we sat next to an Argentinian couple, bringing our daily language mix to French, English, Croatian and Spanish. Ow, my brain!

And here we are-enjoying the last moments of sunshine along the coast before the winter sets in, contemplating what to do for that chilly season. Should we try to work in turkey? Or head to Africa? Maybe get a cheap flight to Asia and enjoy their warm winters? Or fly all the way to Australia and find work there? Not sure yet, but hey, that's what prayer and the holy spirit is for-yahoo! What we know is it will all be well, because we are outrageously loved by the perfect lover and king, and there is a classical concert tonight that we will try and listen to for free with our frenchies before a group home/camp made Mexican dinner. I'd say we know enough :)

Seasons Changing

Kindra here! Man it's been a long time since I've written an entry-it's time to channel my inner grandma Mary! (She has already written one wonderful book about one of our ancestors called Yankee Warhorse and is writing another one right now! Pretty amazing!)

As I sit here on a warm Croatian beach in the Roman ruin stuffed town of Split, reflecting on how we got here from magic Murren seems as natural as the gentle waves crashing. It was 3 weeks ago that we said a final goodbye to our now dear friends there and we boarded the train for Vienna to celebrate my 26 bday. And about 6 hours, major train ticket confusions and $500 unexpected later, we stepped of hte train into a big city, after living in a town of population 500 for 3 weeks, to be greeted by friends we hadn't seen since February and had only met once. Quite the change of pace! Our friends Nate and Bethany were great hosts for our 4 days there, and their King Charles Spaniel 4 wk old puppy kept us all entertained! But most importantly for me, I GOT TO SEE MY OPERA!! Die Fledermaus was the perfect lighthearted, fun experience I was hoping and I was one happy duck =)
We then got a chance to stay with a friend of theirs, Janet, for 2 nights, who has lived all over the world, so we got to learn more about Africa and had all sorts of crazy story swapping! After exploring more of the city, the Wienerwald woods and sampling the joys of wine tasting with new friends, we had a decision to make.

At this point, we had a fork in the road decision: go back to our beloved Switzerland in Interlaken (the area we had so fallen in love with previously) to house sit for a friend for 2 weeks, or continue our journey east and head to Croatia. So, after realizing that either way would be amazing, we decided to continue into the unknown. To Croatia. Zagreb was such a cool city, with open markets and beautiful parks, but language like nothing we've seen so far on this trip. No more romance languages that we were kind of able to figure out-squiggles over letters, consonants everywhere-we had left western Europe for sure!

And entered the land we have been hearing and dreaming about for months. first on our list was Plitvice Lakes National Park, with waterfalls that Austin had pictures of hanging up in his corporate office! Any boy was it worth it! We camped there for a week and the waterfalls took on a new beauty and personality every day-rain, shine, afternoon, dusk...it showed us a new face every moment. And we loved it.

Now we are in Split, not sure where we are going but we are leaving tomorrow. It is continuing our new season of travel-following our hearts and going by word of mouth. Either Dubrovnik or the islands for us tomorrow, but who knows!!

I have noticed a definite season relationship of our hearts and the earth, and our summer season is coming to an end. The air has a faint chill, and we are in unfamiliar land. Fall is here! Another thing happening in me now has to do with my identity. God spoke over me awhile ago that I would be a warrior, and the time has come now for me to step into that and begin learning. Listening to a Graham Cooke serious and dwelling with the Lord more is bringing me closer to these truths, and I have a lot to learn! Which is really exciting for me, as I am "Ms. Accommodating and Everything is Ok as Long as we can Avoid Conflict so I just Don't Say Anything If I'm Hurt or Upset..." Needless to say, I have lots of room to grow =)

That's all for now folks-Internet is becoming less and less available, but we'll update as it's possible! Until next time, here's looking at you, kid!

Nouns

Today's bog is how I, Austin, grew up learning to approach nouns. This is a continuation of my recent learnings from 'the open road university of life,' but maybe it will take a different direction. Before I begin, I have to clarify some areas from the last blog, especially on love and Christianity. First, I worte the blog, not Kindra, and so a lot of the statements express solely my views, and not neccessarily hers. Second, when I spoke of the deeper religion of love and my journey of being less 'Christian' or less religious, I was not describing a crisis of faith. Rather, I meant that I am less focused on living out the practical life that most Christians live, which usually involves Bible studies, going to church, etc. not that these are bad, but my focuse has turned inward, to the heart, to teh deeper places where I believe God dwells within us. In this place I find the true motives of my actions, and I also find true rest. Because no amount of doin on the external will bring me rest, only an internal journey will. Hence how our trip is an external one across countries, but just as much internal as we cross our hearts.

Back to nouns. A noun is a person, place or thing. Growing up, I learnied to make various nouns that were a part of my life (such as friends, family, travel, countries, toys, electronics, etc.) into big checklists. Wanted a toy? Saved for it, bought it, check. Hadn't seen a friend in awhile? Called them, check. Another country to see? Go there, come home, check. On to the next. Now, nothing wrong with this intrinsically, and I am cool with others operating this way, but for me, I think I started to miss something. Life became a big "to do" list. I rarely spent time immersed in a moment, savoring it. Instead, I was off to the next task, next adventure, next relationship. I became a doer. I became restless. I couldn't sit in a moment, or be present to what was in front of me or be able to listen. And so, my newest life lesson is approaching nouns differently. Without the checklist. If is and will be a difficult struggle and imperfect journey, but one worth pursuing =)

Right now we are on a train to Vienna to meet some friends we met very briefly in North Ireland who happened to live in Austria's capital. Kindra's birthday is September 7th, so we will celebrate in one of her fave European cities =)

Cheers!

A Blossoming Journey

Gotta love it.

Hey folks, its 2 am in Swwwwitzerland, the land of milk and honey (and a great deal of cheese, and more cheese, and cheese fondue....), so what you get is Austin in sleepy, joyful rambles recounting the last two weeks.  Soooo...the answer is yes, we are STILL in Berner Oberland, having moved from wild campsite A in the valley to campsite B in alpine land Murren to cozy Mountain Hostel in Swiss classic small village Gimmelwald, then back to campsite B, and now, finally, in warm bed A of our new friends Doris and Ed.  Wait?!  You're transitioning a lot, you say.  Yes, we are.  To tell it all to you straight would require skype and a glass of wine.  But since this is a blog, I'll have to keep it to some highlights intermixed with philosophical conjectures.

We are loving life.  I don't say that as gloating, or as a fake, glossy cover, just simple feelings.  The last few weeks have been unreal.  Unreal in the kindness and generosity of absolute strangers, unreal in the abundance of fun, genuine friends,  unreal in the views and experiences and laughs.  Unreal over pourings of love.  It is a season of finding and thriving in who we truly are.  We are creative.  We are silly, laughter filled people.  We love to sit with people who are different from us, to learn from them, to enjoy what they uniquely contribute to humanity.

We are finding ourselves.  I have spent A LOT of time connecting with the absolute coolest people, and it has rebirthed my love of people.  Or rather, my love of connecting with people, of circulating social circles, of rallying people to a cause and encouraging them, of having deep, honest conversations on the most important topics to myself and Kindra.  Conversations about food politics, imbalanced health care systems, backpacking, the relevance of God in a post modern age and the deeper "religion" of love, the pains of our past, the dreams of our future, the laughter of the present.
 Kindra is finding her passions for guitar, jewelry making, and world issue awareness expand and evolve, as well as her love of meeting connecting deeply with people.  It is so unreal how you can form a genuine and deep relationship with a new friend in an evening, one that is more honest and intimate than people you have known for years.  Take our time with Doris, a Swiss native who grew up in Canada before returning to Berner Oberland to run a hotel at eighteen and fall in love with an awesome English dude, Ed. 

Doris approached us from her group of friend sBBQing in Murren one evening to offer us some wine (cool already in our book!).  We start chatting with her, and she invited us to come hang with her and her crew.  Within an hour or two of talking just with Doris, Kindra and I had shared some of the deepest details and feelings our trip, and it our blew our minds how accepting and at the same time honest Doris was.  She extended an invitation for us to stay with her and Ed, and here we are now, four days in hanging out with such cool people.  Never on this trip have we felt so welcomed into a home, so a part of the culture of that home and free to be ourselves.  It has inspired us to pay it forward in every generous way possible on our trip and beyond, and I am mentally chewing on thick morsels of the meaning of love, on the deepness of generosity that exists in this world, and the freedom we were meant to have as people, to actually feel alive and happy.  And I am wanting to blog another time on how Kindra and I have become so "unchristian" or unreligious in our lives, yet the abundance of God and the realizations that his heart is so so deeply love and acceptance are clearer each day to us, and the crock of thinly veiled judgmental religious performance that trumpets a conditional view of God becomes more clearly the garbage that it is.  Again, more on that later.

Also, Kindra was pretty sick, but has recovered!  We stayed at the coolest place ever, the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald, to help her recover for a few nights (ironically, camping alone for a night was what really healed her).  I met many incredible people, especially some super cool outdoorsy guys.  We hiked together, we rallied a bonfire together, and we swapped life stories and fun moments.  I wish I could tell each story of the song filled nights or strenuous hikes with epic views, but my eyelids are getting weighty.

Stay classy you guys, and follow your dreams!

Pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/117860913937238604610/albums/5913822296556787505?banner=pwa

Another Heaven on Earth

We made it Switzerland!

Thats right, we finally worked up the courage to leave our beloved Cinque Terre, and now we camp peacefully a stone's throw from a four hundred foot cliffside waterfall and a view away from God's version of Renaissance art: the Swiss Alps.

Right now I (Austin) am sitting restfully in the dense green forest that we temporarily call home, watching my wife of three years twitch and turn through dreamworld in our tent, even though it's almost one pm. Now call us lazy, but afternoon sleep ins are not the norm, she has a lasting cough that needs less hiking/adventure and more rest (I hope my herbal tea concotion of garlic and honey does the trick!).

Yesterday was adventures aplenty, we hiked the ridgeline above our sleepy waterfall valley, with drool inducing views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, three famous alpine peaks. It was like stepping into heaven. We yodeled and laughed on the trail, ate wild raspberries next to us, and went snap snap! with our camera aplenty. The mountain view looked just like my dream of the Alps; it was powerfully surreal and confirming, it felt so right to be in this place.

Our amazement expanded to bursting as we entered the small, picturesque Alpine village of Murren, where the tourist information desk attendant was the kind, older Swiss MC from a folklore music show we saw the night before! He gave us the inside scoop on the best local hikes, and to out delight told us wifi was free there. Free wifi?! It's the little things that make this trip, and a TI center with free wifi and a power source for charging our wimpy MacBook battery is like winning the lottery for us. We smiled big and plotted moving our campsite to Murren. As if things couldn't get better, we met a young engaged couple, Stephanie and Tyler, in nearby small town Gimmelwald who happened to be UCSB alums and attendees of Reality Carpinteria, our old church. This is unreal! We had dinner with them and exchanged stories and laughs. They not only share our Alma mater and faith, but are also super passionate about healthy eating and responsible agriculture. Tonight we rendezvous with those two again; I am on overload at how amazing this time in Berner Oberland is turning out.

Kindra is awake now and full of garlic breath from my herbal tea, it's time to make something of this day!

Ciao for now!

Goodbye Cinque Terre

It's been three amazing weeks since we arrived in Vernazza as sweaty backpackers, then unsure of our plans and skeptical of Italy. Now we have a whole new appreciation for the beauty of this nation and its people, and our love of these five small coastal towns has exceeded most places of our trip so far. Here we were transported to a world somewhere in between college life and our travels of the US national parks. In college we were able to meet people and make new friends without batting an eye, in the national parks we felt free to roam and explore trails and hidden beauties, to be adventurous. Cinque Terre had both, a melting pot of relaxed and friendly vacationers from across the globe, and endless adventures. I (Austin) remember the first time we took the train between villages without paying. I remember sneaking through hillside vineyards to avoid the outlandish coastal hiking fee booths. I remember all our chats with Brittany at the Internet shop. I remember our romantic evenings eating out of this world good take out pasta and watching the sunset.

The memories go on, like meeting Ines and Muhammed, the Moroccan couple who shared their wine and olives. The Grindwald family who told us of cliff jumping in Manarola.

There was swimming long, lazy strokes before the heat of the day. Listening to the mother daughter team at the local market argue and laugh in Italian. Breathing it all in and wondering if I am dreaming.

Right now we ride the train to Milano, to catch our connecting ride to Switzerland. This morning Kindra gave me for my birthday a beautiful cork necklace that she hand carved into a water drop shape, so I could carry a symbol of the tranquil Cinque Terren waters with me. It makes me think of our Gelateria buddy Powell, a local who said dreamily to us, "Vernazza is in the blood." He is right, Vernazza is now in our blood, in our hearts. Goodbye for now, Cinque Terre. Thank you God for the gift of this place, a temporary home where our hearts expanded and our souls rested.

I hope we return.

Still in Cinque Terre

That's right...the McRobbies are still here.  I (Austin) have personally fallen in love with the place.  Like mad high school crush in love.  Don't call the moving truck yet....unless a Mexican food stand opens nearby.  But still pretty amazing.

In fact, we even tried to leave last week.  That's right, we packed up our tent and heavy Deuter bags, found a helpx host in Tuscany, and caught the graffiti covered trenitalia headed towards small town Montepulciano.  Our hostess, a middle aged Italian woman, picked us up twenty minutes late from our arrival station and took us to her gorgeous property up in the hills.  She seemed nice enough initially, and left us at our room to settle in.  Waves of loneliness crashed on us in the room; despite our hopes, leaving Cinque Terre and our beloved, friendly Vernazza was growing into a stormy looking choice.  Oh well, I thought, let's make the best of it.  We settled in, and then strolled around the property, and found a cool outdoor bookshelf and dining table.  Perusing the books, we hardly noticed our hostess making dinner, except for her request to set the table.  And then the storm hit, as she expressed strong disapproval at our not helping with dinner (oops, I guess we could have offered, our bad, first night and still finding our bearing I suppose).  Ok, not a big deal, I could see someone being upset, let's move right?  No.  She continuously mentioned our lacking in helping our dinner, pointing to the fact that this is not a B&B, and we are there to help.  Ok, point made, our bad, we will help, water under the bridge?  Umm, no.  She then made utter mince meat of just about every purpose or dream in our trip, finding details to criticize and challenge.  Neither of us have ever felt so directly insulted or demeaned, it was almost comical.  Almost.  We tucked our tails and put up with it all dinner, as each flung remark furthered our regret of leaving peaceful Cinque Terre and hardened our resolve of leaving this God forsaken farm of forgone human compassion.  Needless to say, we promised each other we would work the next day to be polite (perhaps we are too polite?) and then declare our departure.  The next day was worse, starting with more insults about starting late at 9 am (the night before she insisted we start when we want), and constant putdowns our farm capabilities.  Kindra finally said, yeah we are leaving, which she readily accepted.  We packed our bags, happily walked down the road (no way she was gonna give us a ride), and hitchhiked back to the train station (nice older guy picked us up, some redemption to our temporary fuming contempt with Italians).  Sweating and wounded, we connected on the train ride back with each other and God, reevaluating our trip values and swearing never to helpx again (that will probably change). 

So, we are back!  It's different here in Vernazza, but still our beloved Italian escape.  I am learning the deep needs of my heart to rest, to relax, to feel, to enjoy, not to add more guilt or checklists to my life.  So many stories to share, but I guess I can't type them all (well, I could, but that wouldn't be fun), so you'll have to ask about them when we return :)

We are probably headed to Switzerland next, I had a dream about Interlaken the beauty of its nearby Alps, and it inspired me to consider getting there for my birthday.  What a place to wild camp and hike and breath fresh Alpine air, and eat chocolate and drink fresh milk and....ok I don't know about you but I ready to head there now!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this, smell the roses and enjoy something you love!

Switzerland, the land of happy dreams.

Beautiful Italy...Breath It In!

Waving from our favorite swim spot!

 Hi there!

Austin bloggin at ya from Cinque Terre again, we just can't seem to get away from this place!!  It has captured our hearts, not only with its lovely beaches and grub, but the friends we have made here as well.  Example: Brittany, the Texas girl married to a Vernazza local ( Vernazza is the village that we make our humble adobe of the five), who helps at the internet cafe we frequent; her kindness and helpfulness with getting to know Cinque Terre has been amazing.  Then there is Andrea, a Roma local vacationing here at his past away grandmother's mom, who makes us smile and feel so important.  And, of course, the local shopowners, who remain genuine and friendly despite the mass tourism present.

Enjoying our three year anniversary dinner.

Another layer of depth in our experience hearing stories of the flood that hit Vernazza and killed three locals.  It was October 2011, and what assumed to be just a few inches of flooding in shops became within moments a ten foot high water surge through the main street, dragging cars, debris, and even people into the ocean.  One powerful story is the sacrifice a local Gelateria owner made by holding the shop doors shut against the rising water while his family climbed to safety.  He was swept away in the surge; the full story in English is here: http://savevernazza.com/testimonials-2/.  Kindra and I were in tears just reading about it.

Other stories include numerous close calls and absolute miracles that resulted in lives saved.  The shopowner of the Internet Cafe was in her brother's wine shop across the way, and they for some odd reason chose to keep the door propped open during some of the flooding, which later gave them an unexpected escape.  Another woman was hanging on for dear life in the flooded street, when the water level dropped for a few moments, enough time for her to float down to the square, where she was rescued by those on higher ground.  Here is a video of the flood:


In the aftermath, the Vernazza townspeople had their hands full clearing loads of debris, but were able to get open for the following tourist season.  Locals are more united from the event, but uncertain whether is would happen again (this kind of flood hadn't occurred since the middle ages).

Tomorrow, we may leave for Tuscany to pursue a wwoofing option.  In the meantime, we release the uncertainty of the our future plans and instead play in the sun and enjoy the adventures and lessons that God has for us here.  :)

More photos:  https://plus.google.com/photos/117860913937238604610/albums/5905291286111365617?banner=pwa

Kindra leaps into the smooth Mediterranean.

Cinque Terre

Austin here :) Yes we lag on blogging big time. Yes we re having a whirlwind amazing time. And yes, we are in Italy, sun scorched and happy, our bellies full of pasta and the views of Cinque terre surrounding us. Kindra is off in search of a local orange colored cocktail, and I am resting on a town bench in Manarola (one of the five towns, we are wild camping above another one called Vernazza.) Just hours ago we jumped thirty feet off rocks in a deep ocean pool (eight year old kids were doing it, so why not us?) Here in Cinque Terre we celebrate three years married. I can't believe one of those has been 90% spend on the road! What a crazy life we live. Our blog may be getting a revamp, as we switch from sharing every logistical detail of our trip to sharing learning expeirences and feelings.

Right now we are happy, relaxed by the ocean calm and slow Italian rhythm. We spent three weeks WWOOFing and exploring Switzerland with my mom (what a sport she is), but not a lot of time getting qt with each other of God. So our focus changes, as we slow down and seek the deeper things of life. Time to enjoy the evening and get off the Internet. Ciao!

PS check out our Picasa web album for more pics of our time in Italy =)

This is Kindra now! wow what an amazing time we had with Austin's mom, Vicki! I was surprised by how much I responded to having another girl on the trip with us....we seem to get a lot of boy time with people we meet on the road or hosts, most of the women we meet on the road tend to be busy tending to their kids or otherwise unavailable to have adventures and giggle time with. It was a terrific time in Switzerland, and our hosts Tobias and Olga couldn't have been more perfect for the season-we even learned a new awesome game, kubb! After wwoofing in Trubschachen, Switz, for 10 days, we went to a vrbo in Andermatt, where we hiked basically every day in the GORGEOUS alps, then took trains to our Lake Como apt where we had lake and mountain views. Niiiiice. Between fondue, dinners of bread and cheese, tasting as many Swiss chocolates as we could, and then pasta, breads and meats, our bellies have been full and happy =) It was certainly a tearful goodbye, and I still can't believe how quickly the time went by.

Now in Cinque Terre, we are finding the pace of our hearts on the road again, wild camping, hiking, and plunging into cool waters every day. God has been teaching us both so much about Him as our Father, and it has been touching us to our core. I am seeming to see him move and work everywhere we go, and I am loving reading about Jesus' life in Mark right now (how spiritual do I sound right now! lol) He is seriously just the most INCREDIBLE person ever, and it's like a breath of fresh air every time I read about how he lived here. We are falling in love with the Italian people and culture, much to our surprise since it was initially extremely abrasive and exhaustingly hot.

Until next time, we remain your sort of faithful bloggers!

With mom on Lake Como

The view from our campsite at Cinque Terre

Beaches, Bicycles, and Jazz

 Kindra says: Corsica. To most Europeans, this word evokes images of dramatic mountains meeting turquoise warm waters, smells of fresh breads and pastries being baked by the local boulageries, sounds of music festivals floating in the air, and tastes of Pietra beer, the local amber beer of Corsica. To most Americans, this word evokes, at best, some thought of a corset perhaps, and at worst, a ringing “what the hell is that?”

The official, delicious beer of Corsica with the Tour de France playing in the background

Austin and I have had the distinct privilege of staying on Corsica exploring the western coast for the past 10 days, and are certainly the better for it. Although we weren’t terribly impressed in Bastia where our ferry landed, we had only to board “The Trembler”, what the locals call the train (for good reason, it shakes so badly!) to have our opinion totally reversed. The soaring sheer mountains and the tropical looking greenery captured our hearts instantly.  We didn’t get a chance to see the semi-wild pigs that roam the island freely and apparently stop most train rides, but the scenery made up for the disappointment every time. When we got off the Trembler at Calvi, tired from our traveling day, we were greeted with a small town feel, a long white sand beach, and live jazz music walking through the streets-and we smiled at each other, knowing we had found a special place for us. We ended up staying in Calvi for 5 nights-2 longer than expected, thanks to us discovering the truth of what other travelers have said about the local bus- “it can be one of the most frustrating experiences of your entire life, so avoid it at all costs if at all possible,”- but worth it. We met new Austrian friends, found our local best food place (most delicious herb quiche in the universe!), lounged at the beach, snorkeled, and even got to play on what can only be described as a Wipeout-esque inflated water playground, which was easily one of the most fun things we have done ever.

A view from 'The Trembler'-you just see all the places you want to go and explore as you ride through the island

The Cali beach

Calvi sunset

The amazing Wipeout reminiscent playground! The big kids one was in the background-you better believe we climbed up that huge white rock wall and jumped off the top!

To top it all off, little did we know that not only was it the 27th annual Calvi Jazz Festival, with a different jazz band playing at the harbor for free every night for 5 nights and culminating with a Glenn Miller Tribute Big Band show on the beach, at the base of the castle, but it was ALSO the Tour de France! Coming to Corsica for the first time in history for the 100th anniversary of the race, starting the day before we left the island. Perfect timing or what!!

A volunteer percussion only energy filled part of the Calvi Jazz Festival that would play every night through the streets

An upbeat jazz group that would play through the streets after the more official performances of the evening were over.

From Calvi, we *finally* caught the but to the tiny town of Osani, meeting more friends on the way, to hike in 7 km to the renowned town of Girolata. We stayed there 2 nights, all the more appreciative of the quiet and solitude after being in fun but slightly crowded and noisy Calvi. Even though it was windier than should be allowed in the Med for that first half of our time on the island, in Girolata we marveled at the red towering faces of Scandola, a World UNESCO sight, and had a spectacular hike in and out. We even met an Italian family on our hike out, and they gave us a ride on the cliff hugging, winding, one/two ? way roads to our next stop- Porto! After our 2 nights there, we finished it off by heading back into the wild, but this time to the renowned mountains. Although the waterfall we hiked to wasn’t the most memorable we’ve seen, our time in the mountains was a needed, peaceful place, where we both had opportunities to enjoy extended time connecting with God and each other.

Our campsite in Girolata

Little, beautiful Girolata

While in Girolata we had a little climbing adventure!!

Finally, we got to see the Tour de France on day 1! It was a very flat stage, so they whizzed by us in all of about 15 seconds, but the adrenaline and energy from the caravan giving away free stuff, the crowd’s excitement and the rush of the pelaton finally  rushing by us was totally worth it. For our grand finale we got to camp for 1 night on Bastia on the beach, where we had 1 final swim in the Med, and after saying I wanted to  every since Spain, I FINALLY was brave enough to do beach the European way ; ) If only for 15 minutes.... 

All our free caravan goodies

Waiting for the riders with our official gear

And there they were! It was over so fast, but such a rush!

And here I sit, on the ferry heading back to Italy as we make our way to Milan on public transportation today and prepare to meet Austin’s mom Vicki tomorrow! I already miss France so much, the culture our hearts have now fallen in love with on 2 separate occasions, the language I at least partially speak and understand and food I am familiar with. But we can say this much about our time in Corsica-we are going back, and want to take everyone with us!

Hitchhiking, Tuscany, and Hotels

 Kindra here- Oh my goodness! How much has happened since our last blog post....where to begin? We have been in internet silence for the past several weeks since leaving Duruxa, as hitchhiking doesn't exactly provide extensive internet opportunities. Now, however, we are splurging in a hotel *gasp!* and going logistics mad, catching up online. Anyways, here's at least a few stories of our past few weeks traveling from Cangas de Onis, Spain, to Tuscany, Italy.

What became a common site as we hitched

Things got interesting for the last few days at Duruxa when Austin had a few back episodes, cramping, etc., but God completely healed him as soon as we hit the road! We have met the most interesting and kind people while hitchhiking, even if it took us an average of 1 hr while waiting on the road to meet them =) We were picked up by young Spanish couples, middle aged single French  men and women, and groups of Spanish and French men-all as unique as can be imagined. Mary in Spain, for instance, was living in her big white van with her bf (who is a mountain hiking and canyoning guide in the Pyrenees!) teaching art to children and the elderly in Bilbao-hands down one of our favorite cities we've been to, while Jean Christophe in France (with his gorgeous Peugeot) works in the technology with chips in passports and credit cards-and both were equally warm and eager to tell us all about the region we were driving through. Needless to say, hitchhiking if nothing else broke many stereotypes I had coming in-not a single ride from a big rig!

Another common sign, literally, for us as we tried hitching to San Sebastian

Chorizo and cheese with bread-our Spanish version of pb&j on the road

An incredible grown up playground in Bilbao, Spain we discovered! Rope courses, big slides, rocks-it was so much fun! Incidentally the guy in the left of the picture turned out to an American, and the partner of a Cirque de Soleil acrobat that was working in a show across the river!

We saw the Gugenheim in Bilbao....from the outside

So between hitchhiking, trains, buses, trams and metros, we made it to Mr. Millers in Tuscany, the land of rolling golden hills, olive orchards, abandoned castles and plenty of local traditions, and where his patio view and REAL BED! awaited us-a bed and shower has never felt better or been more needed. He was a wonderful host and eager to show us the surrounding areas, such as Sienna, which was full of rich, bizarre Italian history, such as the Palio di Siena horse race. Seriously, check out this race, it's hard to believe! While there we had some needed time to rest and recuperate from our taxing albeit adventurous journey getting there, and realized something: Austin and I haven't had a space of our own or alone time NOT traveling since April. At all. And we realized something-while being a tourist is exciting, it is also exhausting, and we needed to recharge alone together. Hence, the current hotel splurge.

Montpellier-where some kids stole about 3 euro from our out of a tram ticket machine. Sneaky little ones.

Enjoying being a girl in Cassis

Cassis!

Feeling the toad tiredness in Nice.

We have set aside this season of our trip as a time to reconnect with each other, apart from the exhaustion of traveling and figuring out how we're getting to the next place; and just as important, to reconnect with God. We so believe He has a desire for us on this whole trip experience, and we have not been prioritizing time with Him to sit and listen as we would like to. I am convinced there are specific things He wants to reveal to us, show us, tell us, on this trip and no other time in our lives, and I don't want to miss this incredible opportunity to deepen my relationship with Him. So we are reevaluating our trip, assessing what has been good, what has been hard, and how/where/when we want to continue our journey. To help with this, we are going to the French island of Corsica tomorrow for 10 days-with NO real plans =)))) We will arrive on the ferry, take a train to the northwest, and start looking. Listening. Walking. Camping. Sitting. Being. And nothing else. My heart is already so looking forward to the room to expand and rest there!

Tuscany

Our host, Mr. Miller, on the right getting ready for his flute concert at the pizzeria next door to his apartment in Murlo.

Once our time on the island is over, we will joyfully bound back into Italy to meet Austin's mom in Milan, who is visiting for 3 weeks!! We will be WWOOFing with her in Switzerland for 10 days, then just enjoying the area with her for another 10 days or so until she flies back to America. As we haven't seen any family since we left in January, we are SO excited about this gift of time with her!

It's hard to believe our time here in the hotel is already coming to an end and our internet will again be a luxury not a norm, so the blog is short as the night gets late. And, after all, we have been wanting to finish watching Return of the Jedi for about a month and tonight is our last night ; ) Let's go and see what Corsica is like!