Su casa es mi casa, right?

Setting: Miami, Florida at a house belonging to Yolanda, a friend of my Auntie Libertad's from the Dominican Republic.

Occasion: Yolanda's birthday

Libertad, her son, a friend of hers, and myself arrived at Yolanda's apartment complex and waited in the parking lot until we got the call that it was safe to go in. This was a surprise birthday party and we didn't want to be responsible for ruining it! We entered Yolanda's house and were greeted by friendly welcomes. Yolanda told us to make ourselves at home. I sat down in the chair offered to me. I was a bit taken aback when Libertad's friend took this invitation quite literally, almost immediately going into the kitchen to start making herself coffee and getting out cheese and crackers that she then offered to others.

I'm not sure why I was so surprised, Yolanda had told us to make ourselves at home so doing so was appropriate, right? I guess I expected for us to sit down and then get offered something to eat or drink. It never even occured to me that we could just go into her kitchen and help ourselves. This got me thinking about what it means to be hospitable. We often say "Mi casa es su casa" but I wonder how often people mean it. In the Dominican Republic, when they say it they mean it!

What's your hospitality personality? Let's take a quiz and find out!

1) When you meet someone new that you get on so well with you are sure you will become great friends, you

a) Tell the person that s/he is welcome to drop in on you anytime and give them your contact information fully expecting the person to stop by your house unannounced on some random date to chat.

b) Offer your phone number and say that you'd like to get together some time.

c) Nothing. If your paths are meant to cross again, they will.

2) You just moved and a good friend of yours comes to check out your new digs. When s/he arrives you

a) Offer them something to drink or eat that you've just made hoping someone would stop by, get it for them, and then explain where all the food and drinks are so they can get what they want themselves the next time they stop by.

b) Offer them something to drink or eat and then get it for them.

c) Just hang out without offering them anything. You're not a charity, after all.

3) Say you're upstairs and you don't hear it when a friend lets him/herself into your home, helps him/herself to whatever food and drinks s/he finds. When you come downstairs to find him/her on your couch watching T.V., pigging out you

a) Give them a hug and ask if there's anything else you can offer them, giving them a hard time for not coming more frequently.

b) Are surprised and let them know they should call next time so you can prepare more then ask them if there's anything else they would like.

c) Scream. You don't like people invading your privacy and you let your friend know it!

Now let's see what your answers tell us about you!

Mostly a's: Congratulations! You are the epitome of hospitality! When you say "Mi casa es su casa!" you mean it with all your heart. You want people to help themselves to whatever they want whenever they want. You treat people like family.

Mostly b's: You are a great host/hostess in the more formal sense. You provide for your guests and want them to feel welcome but prefer to take care of them rather then have them raid your fridge. You like to control things in your house.

Mostly c's: You like your privacy and when you see people you prefer to be outside your home. When you do have friends over its on your terms and you don't entertain them. You're not a clown.

I'm mostly b's, although I'm working towards becoming more on the a's side. For some reason I'm possessive over food. Some sort of hording instinct, most likely a fault of evolutionary food shortage woes. If I share my piece of chocolate cake with you then it means I really think you're special!

My abuelo, from Spain by birth but raised in Cuba, noted that he feels that the level of hospitality changes according to the social class or wealth of people; he says that the poorer people are in the Dominican Rebpublic the more hospitible they seem to be. When I thought about it, I realized that the same seemed to be true of my experiences in Indonesia. Is it true that the more you have to share, the less you have the desire to do so?

So, now that we've established more or less your hospitality personality, consider what sort of guest you are. Are you attuned to the expectations of different hosts and do you adapt accordingly? In places like the Dominican Republic, when people tell you to help yourself to something, they really mean it and would be insulted if you "politely" decline the offer.

Go ahead, help yourself to some cake!

It takes a bit of crazy to do something that is, well, crazy

"'There are few lonely places in this world,' wrote scientist and traveler Henry Elliott in 1886, 'and the wastes of the great Alaskan interior are the loneliest of them all.' Enclosed by mountains on three sides, the interior of Alaska was a land which few people knew well.

In the decades after the Civil War, a few explorers, adventurers and prospectors made their way into this subcontinent, which covers half a million square miles on top of North America. Lieut. Frederick Schwatka came down the Yukon River on a log raft in 1883 and passed the mouth of a huge river known as the Tanana, the 'River of the Mountains.' The confluence lay almost at the geographical center of Alaska. Judging from the size of its mouth and the stories the Indians told, Schwatka thought the Tanana might be the longest unexplored river in the world." (Cole, Terrence. Crooked Past The History of a Frontier Mining Camp: Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks: UA Press, 1991. pp. vii.)

An aerial shot of the Tanana river I took while flying into Fairbanks.

Lieut. Schwatka and his group built rafts themselves and floated the entire length of the Yukon all the way to the Bering Sea without knowing anything about the terrain. The group that came after his was lead by Lieut. Henry Tureman Allen and their mission was to explore the Tanana. They went up the Copper River, hiked through a pass in the mountains and then floated down the Tanana to the Yukon. It took them 3 months and they nearly starved to death. When they arrived at a trading post on the Yukon, traders greeted them in disbelief; to their knowledge no one had ever crossed the Alaska Range to the Yukon and they thought the feat impossible. Of course, Athabaskans had been living in this area for quite some time. I can only imagine what it would have been like to be literally the first person to set foot in the interior of Alaska.

I've been a tourist, a traveler, I've lived in places foreign to me, I've been adventurous, eaten "strange" things, gone places I'd never been before, but when I read or hear stories about people who charted territories that had never, to their knowledge, been explored before I am reminded that there's a whole nether category of people out there. People who are so driven by curiosity and the desire to expand, not only their, but also humanity's knowledge that they abandon their fears, or at least compartmentalize them well enough to realize their dreams. These people are everywhere, in all fields of study or "walks of life" and I wonder what it takes to become one.

Spider webs in Bangkok

The bus I had ridden for 10 hours from Chiang Mai dropped me off in front of a cafe in Bangkok at 5am. I put my backpack beside a table and was about to make myself comfortable in one of the chairs when I noticed that the chair already had an occupant: a black spider of relative good size working feverishly on what promised to be a web of impressive dimensions. I sat in the chair across the table from the free entertainment and observed the action. The spider, who will henceforth be referred to as Spideous Maximus or S. Maximus, made quick work of the chair, constructing a web off of both the arms and the back. Spideous Maximus then jumped what must have been about 6 or 7 feet to a chair belonging to a neighbooring table. The person who had been sitting in the chair was fortunately temporarily away so S. Maximus was able to expand his empire, incorporating this new chair. Spideous Maximus worked frantically and the ensuing web was indeed impressive. I then noticed that the eyes of the partner of Mr. Temporarily Away had also made contact with Spideous Maximus and were not impressed. He reached across the table and forcefully flicked my new friend off his empire in the making. His partner then returned and sat down, unaware of what he had just destroyed.

I decided to take myself on a sunrise walk around Bangkok.

I later enjoyed sunset from the river

and a Thai night market that sold everything from used T-shirts to probably stolen electronics. I bought a used red velvet blazer which came in handy when I landed in Alaska!

The streets of Bangkok were decorated in honor of the King of Thailand's upcoming birthday.

A walk in Chiang Mai

One of my favorite things to do is explore a place on foot without any particular direction in mind. I essentially wander aimlessly through neighborhoods, city centers, parks, anywhere I feel the urge to traverse. This act is a variation on the Buddhist practice of walking mediation, but I admit that I was more influenced by the character Miss Eleanor Lavish in E. M. Forster's novel (ok fine, the movie is what really influenced me) A Room With A View who always encouraged travelers to throw away their guidebooks in the hopes of getting themselves lost in a place because, according to her, it's the only way to have a real adventure. I concur.

A walk, practicing the art of random direction taking, with my friend, Kenny, led us to this elephant float at Chiang Mai University. That ain't in no guidebook people!

We also stumbled upon, and were able to join in on, a late afternoon session of Tai Chi offered in a park at the university.

I generally do listen to music while I walk, so I'll pick a playlist that suits my mood and take off in whatever direction feels the most appealing. If I come to an intersection, I again choose whatever direction feels like where I would like to be. The goal, if there must be one, is to be entirely open to the experience of walking in a place, paying attention to all that your senses pick up on. I sometimes don't listen to music if I really want to focus on the sounds of a place, but I like the way that listening to music helps me focus on the visual aspects of my wander since I often bring my camera with me (although I rarely remember to use the darn thing). Sure, I get lost sometimes. I come to dead ends. I find myself covering ground I've already covered. See things I've seen before. But more often then not, I am allowed access to scenes and evidence of life being lived that I would never have had an opportunity to observe and appreciate if I did not take the time to just explore and experience a place with no set direction in mind.

Thai country bars a more enjoyable life do make

I first heard of Thai cowboys in reference to the ladies men of southern Thailand who, generally speaking, are young, attractivish, work in bars and hit on members of the western, female tourist population in the hopes of adding notches to the ol' belt.

Can you spot the Thai cowboy in this picture?

As I traveled north I came to realize rather quickly that the Thai infatuation with American Western culture was not in any way limited to the southern beach context. In fact, all things resembling an American Western are popular throughout Thailand, arguably even more so in the north where the landscape more closely resembles that of the Wild West. Thanks ever so kindly to my awesome Couch Surfing host (aka "the Great Tribal Leader"), I was afforded the opportunity to enjoy a night of drunken debauchery at a Thai country bar in Chiang Mai called Tawan Daeng, apparently a chain of bars originating in Bangkok. At least two bottles of whiskey were ordered and divided amongst our group. Bless the memories, the ever so blurry memories, of an excellent time.

This is the stage.

Sorry, this is the stage where countless bands played to our coordinated or not so coordinated body movements.

Quiz: In order to party in a Thai country bar you need a) Bottle(s) of cheap Thai whiskey b) Mixers of choice c) A bucket of ice d) Your or someone else's mom e) All of the above
The answer can be found in this photograph of Thai women partying in proper fashion.

Here are some friends I met on my dancing exploratory wander.

This lady is possibly the best dance partner I've ever had. Ever.

According to my ever so loving mother I have William's syndrome because:

"Williams people talk a lot, and they talk with pretty much anyone. They appear to truly lack social fear. Indeed, functional brain scans have shown that the brain’s main fear processor, the amygdala, which in most of us shows heightened activity when we see angry or worried faces, shows no reaction when a person with Williams views such faces. It’s as if they see all faces as friendly."

When I mentioned other not so flattering characteristics of this syndrome she swore up and down that she just saw "one little thing from a T.V. show and the only thing it said was that 'they weren't fearful of others' " and she didn't actually know anything about it. I suppose I shouldn't be too offended. She did apologize profusely.

An Expedition to Chiang Mai Part II

November 15-27 "Our party and members of the tribe engaged in jointly enjoyed activities or Then some stuff happened to some people and things"

We went to a waterfall in close proximity to our abode.


On our journey up the path to the waterfall we were greeted by a buffet of apparently delectable insects.

At a later point in time I dared to ingest a crispy and spiced member of the cricket family.


Several other members of the cricket family were also consumed after discovering the taste and texture to be quite pleasant.

We went to the Sunday market and I purchased many pretty things of dubious quality.

You never know what you're going to see at the Sunday market in Chiang Mai.

Another night our little group decided to head for Chiang Mai University to observe a much anticipated meteor shower. Alas, it was too cloudy to witness any major cosmic drama. Fortunately we were in such a thorough state of inebriation after a rather eventful meander that it was difficult to be too disappointed.

The night was lovely. Perhaps one of the more enjoyable nights of ma vie (yes, I'm pretentious). The morning inspired a burst of sociability and we joined a group of musically inclined Thai university students.

That's me on a cellphone. I'm so cosmopolitan it's painful. My Couch Surfing host belted out a tune or two while a friend of ours proved to be musically adept.

I discovered hot pot!

I saw some temples (places with Buddha statues, incense, and fancy roofs).

An Expedition to Chiang Mai

[Author's note: I'm a 19th century British Colonial Anthropologist. The facts are, well, facts and the interpretations are based on an entirely objective analysis of empirical observations gained via the use of the scientific method. Obviously.]

November 14 - Day 1 "A much anticipated meeting with the great Tribal Leader"

Our party set out for the distant village of Chiang Mai on the eve of November 13 in the hopes of making contact with a little heard of tribe dwelling on the fringes of said place. Our party had been fortunate enough to make initial contact with the Tribal Leader some weeks prior through a popular networking site, http://www.couchsurfing.org . He seemed a most friendly and accommodating fellow and many members of our party who had experienced anxiety at the prospect of encountering a strange tribe for the first time felt much relief.

The Encounter

The majority population of Chiang Mai is comprised of a large tribe of brown skinned people. One of them was kind enough to offer our weary party transport to the house of the Tribal Leader of the small tribe it was our object to study. He did this in exchange for some trivial amount of currency, but perhaps a belt or bracelet could have been offered in its stead. Upon arrival, the Tribal Leader greeted our party with a most gruff and authoritarian tone so as to establish his dominance. Many members of our party fled in fear of his ferocity.


Here is photographic evidence of the great Tribal Leader at his most ferocious. Note how he bares his teeth, clearly a means by which to indicate his aggressive nature and desire for dominance.


Tribal Expressions of Sexuality

Upon arrival in his dwelling place, our party was at once struck by the noble Tribal Leader's desire to communicate his preoccupation with his virility with what appeared to be strategically placed condoms and pornographic material [Author's note: The Tribal Leader later explained that Maxim is a male interest magazine and not pornographic. Our party is amused by this distinction.] Several members of our party at this point fled in a state of intimidation and discomfort, but those members of our party who remained fearless accompanied the Tribal Leader to his neighboring tribal apartment to meet with several of his closest associates where we were greeted by a strange and unexpected sight: three people in bed together in such a state of comfort so as to cause one to desire to join them in their lounging. Clearly this was a ploy to tempt members of our party into joining the tribe in their strange sexual practices. Our party repressed any urges to do so.

The great Tribal Leader left our party in the care of these new acquaintances while he pursued a means to support his need for sustenance; he went to teach English to members of neighboring tribes people. The tribal threesome, into whose care we were left, proved to be quite welcoming, allowing us to relay messages to our homeland via the use of a well traveled laptop.

Upon the return of the Tribal Leader, our party joined the tribes people in a quest for much needed nourishment. The Tribal Leader, through his mastery of the brown tribe's language, was most helpful in assisting our party in procuring quality food products. We were most thankful. Many members of our party began to feel quite at ease with the members of this small tribe, perhaps even the kindling of friendships emerged.