#95 - Summit a New Mountain

Climbing Sigiriya Rock in Sri Lanka was not quite what I had in mind when I added this list item.  I was imagining an actual mountain, going along a trail, even if it were just a short, couple-hour hike.  However, once we reached the top of Sigiriya Rock, I knew it exceeded all of my expectations for a fantastic climb.

12 of us climbed 1202 stairs.  First we went up the front stairs where we could see a meditation cave, 2 species of monkeys, and several iguanas.  We could see the remains of the moats, walls, gardens, and pools of the king who made this natural fortress his home.  Then we went up some narrow passageways along the face of the rock to see some paintings 1500 years old.  We then reached a spectacular landing where we snapped some photos before going through the Lion's Throat.  Two paws of the original lion remain, flanking the stairway to the top.  There used to be a lion's head, so climbers would literally go into the lion's throat.  Many more steps later, we made it to the top, which is covered with remains of the king's palace.  The views were incredible.

Sadly due to injury and illness, Cheryl and Neda could not come with us to the top physically but Karen called them to the top during one of my favorite moments of the trip.

I really loved this stop on our trip.

#12 - Go to a New Continent

I doubled up with Sri Lanka since I'd never been to Asia!

We also managed to see the Hong Kong airport, a Hong Kong hotel, the Singapore airport, and the tarmac at the Bangkok airport.

#11 - Go To a New Country

The University of San Diego has an international requirement for students at all levels, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to do my doctoral work there.  However, for over a year, I struggled to see even one graduate-level international course that could fulfill my own two requirements: 1) I wanted the course material to be directly relevant to my work in higher education and 2) I wanted to go somewhere I would never go alone.  Many of the courses that seemed to apply to higher education were in Europe or the Caribbean.  Though I have not been to some of the countries offered, I have been to Europe and now I've been to Puerto Rico.  I wanted to go somewhere further, somewhere that would push me outside my comfort zone.

In the fall, I saw postings for "Community Models of Leadership" in Sri Lanka.  Immediately I was drawn to the topic as I believe strongly that recreation is an excellent mode of building community and can be portable for collaboration and community building across offices.  I also feel drawn to campus mental health initiatives that promote community as a practice for good mental health.  I believe I will continue to be drawn to roles where I can foster community.

Then there was the second part: IN SRI LANKA.  I would never consider going to Sri Lanka alone.  It is far away, is just 4 years removed from a 25+-year civil war, and their written characters are close to sanskrit, a language I certainly do not speak or read.  

In this course we worked with the Sarvodaya social movement in Sri Lanka.  More specifically, we worked with the international unit to participate in a shramadana in a village.  For those few days, we would stay with families in a village and work each day on a project of the village's choosing with the villagers.  For us, that ended up being the village of Kelegala in the mountains, and we renovated their preschool.  

This experience more than met my expectations.  I am most grateful for the care I was able to give and receive through our USD contingent, the Sarvodaya staff assigned to us, and the villagers.  Here is a brief summary of our trip.

Tue Jan 7:  I finished packing and drove to LA to stay with Kelley and Jeff Garris in Pasadena.  They took me to a lovely dinner and it was wonderful to catch up.

Wed Jan 8:  We flew to Hong Kong.  Our flight was delayed and we missed our connection so we spent the night in Hong Kong but really only took advantage of the comfy beds and complimentary buffet.

Thu Jan 9:  We lost this day in the time change... or something.  (We left at 12:10pm on the 8th in California, which was already 1:10am on the 9th in Sri Lanka.)

Fri Jan 10:  We flew to Singapore and then Colombo (Sri Lanka).  We arrived late at night, so we drove to a center owned by Sarvodaya to spend the night.

Sat Jan 11:  We went to the Sarvodaya Headquarters and met Dr. Ariyaratne, the founder of the Sarvodaya movement.  We then went to the Sarvodaya Meditation Center, where we met a Buddhist monk who allowed us to join a meditation for children.

Sun Jan 12:  We drove to Nuewa Eliya in the mountains.  It was supposed to take 4-5 hours but instead took 7-8. We did some bonding on the beautiful drive and made some great stops, like at a sweet lodge that caters to rafters on the nearby river.  We learned the village in which we would be staying was a 1 on Sarvodaya's 1-5 scale.  There was a bit of anxiety, especially since the weather is much colder and rainier in the mountains and many of us were not prepared for that.

Mon Jan 13:  We arrived at the village and were immediately overwhelmed with excitement when we saw the line of very young children waiting to place tea-flower leis around our necks.  We walked to the preschool with the villagers and felt immediately welcomed in all the ways people can without language.  We went to our assigned homes, in pairs.  Maria and I stayed in a very nice house that was much nicer than either of us were expecting.  We then went to work on the preschool.  I mostly painted and played games with the children all afternoon.  In the evening, one of the older daughters took us for a walk along the nearby lake with her younger cousin.

"Blowing It Up" caught on quickly in the village.  All the cool kids were doing it.

Tue Jan 14:  We went to work again.  I did some painting, some sifting sand for concrete, and some carrying dirt.  That sounds like a lot but it feels more like I played with the kids, including some cricket.  We spent the afternoon visiting a Buddist temple and a Hindu temple.  We attended a cultural show with a bon fire.  Our group sang "Doe, a Deer" and "Saranganita," a Singhalese song that Mangula taught us earlier in the day.

Wed Jan 15:  We sobbed goodbyes to the villagers in the preschool.  I still don't feel like I did enough physical labor but I love how much joy and laughter now exists in those walls and on that playground.  In the afternoon we visited a tea plantation.

Photo by Sheehan

Thu Jan 16:  We headed to Kandy and made stops at the elephant orphanage, where we got to feed an elephant, and then to ride elephants.  We then stopped quickly at the hotel and then went to the Temple of the Tooth, a Buddhist temple with a relic of the Budda.

Fri Jan 17:  We hiked Sigyiri Rock, maybe one of my favorite non-village parts of the trip.  It was 1202 stairs that lead to an spectacular view.  Then we went to Dambula, which holds five caves that serve as Buddist temples.  There were monkeys everywhere.  We returned to the Sarvodaya Meditation Center in Moratuwa.

Sat Jan 18:  We had a late breakfast and then met with the director of the institute of higher education in Sarvodaya.  We then walked around Moratuwa and did some shopping at the legendary Laksala. 

Sun Jan 19:  We met with Dr. Ariyaratne's daughter, Dr. S. Charika Marasinghe.  She spoke to us of women and children's rights and her skepticism of organizations that rely on donors.  We later met with Dr. Ariyaratne's son, the executive director.  We then had class.  Then we took the van to Colombo to shop and then we headed to the beach to relax and watch the sunset on our last day in Sri Lanka.  We had a late flight with a stop in Hong Kong.

Mon Jan 20:  We arrived in LA.

Thank you, Travelers, for such an unforgettable experience.  #lifechanging #passthelentils

#64 - Rock Climb (Outdoors).

The only climbing I'd done before this year is on NEIU's indoor wall.  I probably only did it twice.  I worked there 6 years.  I went up on the indoor high-ropes course maybe 3-4 times.

Each time, I'd suit up and then casually start the climb up to 35 feet.

From the moment both my feet left the ground and every foot after that, I'd freak out.  I'd swear, sweat, curse myself for thinking I'd enjoy it.  I'd come down legs a little shaky, frustrated that I was being such a punk.

So why not try it outdoors?

Lucky for me, the caving trip included about an hour near the end of climbing up cliff faces out of the sink hole that housed the caves.  And this was an hour after 4-5 hours of caving and an hour or so before that of "training," hiking, zip lining, and repelling.  We were already exhausted.  And then had to climb out.  There was no other option.

It was a bit simpler as there were o-rings in the cliffs at the steepest parts, so this wasn't an experience where I had to find hand and foot holds in the rockers.

But dang.  It was crazy steep.  When I'd look down the 100+ feet below, my heart raced.  We were scaling cliffs.

We were clipped in but about half the time, I felt like I was otherwise completely alone.  I could only see others sometimes and hear them a little more often.

I finished exhausted, bleeding, and so thankful for the experience.

#63 - Go Caving

Once we decided to go to Puerto Rico, I asked around for advice from others who had been there.

Conveniently, my friend Al, the originator of the list, had gone to Puerto Rico in 2011.  He suggested spelunking, something he had done for his list.

I sent out his blog post and link to the company, Adventuras Tierra Adentro, to the group, and eventually Laura & I decided spend one of our days on that beautiful island in a cave.

We had both skimmed Al's blog and quickly clicked around the site, but somehow the only two things that really stuck out to me as really difficult were 1) the 5:45am departure and 2) the spiders.  I had been up that early a couple times in my life before, mostly for races, and I could do it again.  And at least the spiders didn't have thick, hairy legs.  I wouldn't let them stop me from a little adventure.

What I didn't realize was that it was going to be a BIG adventure.  

We left San Juan at 5:45am and didn't return until close to 4:30pm.  Here's what I remember happening...

(I hope to add more pictures if we ever develop our disposable cameras, but most of the pictures are outside of the cave.  See Al's blog or the website for more general pics.)

Laura & I set our alarms for 4:30am so we could get up, call the cab company repeatedly (our hostess Noyda at the Coqui Del Mar said that we should keep trying because the companies don't always pick up reliably that time of the morning, but they were there), wait for the cab, and then head over to a park in Condada to wait for our group and our ride.  What actually happened was that they answered the phone within 30 seconds during Laura's first try at 4:45pm and a cab arrived 5 minutes later.  Luckily we had everything packed the night before.

We arrived at the park shortly after 5am.  And then we waited, watching the partiers heading home or still raging at the bars in Condado.  (Bars in some areas stay open until everyone leaves.)  We sleepily chit chatted, mostly about how we could have slept in longer.

Then Brian, a fellow Chicagoan and adventurer-for-the-day, joined us.  Then Tamara and Chris.  Then some others.

The van rolled up, just like Al described, with the Indiana Jones theme song blaring.  Then they rolled out a red carpet.  Then they did a whole schtick full of information and jokes.

The show continued on the bus where we introduced ourselves and learned about the trip and our guides for the hour-or-so-long ride to a bakery, where we would pick up our gear.  We had some snacks and suited up.  By the end, I had on my hiking boots, running capris, knee pads, and my rash guard with my helmet, lifejacket, and backpack ready to go as well.

It took us maybe 15-20 minutes from there, another ride full of joke-filled information.

Then we very quickly hiked down to the training area, which was very, very muddy.  We put on our helmets, learned how to clip in with our caribiners and all of that other good stuff.

We then hiked a bit further to the zip lines.

We zip lined 3 times, lower and lower into the sink hole where the river ran through the caves. 

Beautiful.

Then we repelled over the lip of the cave to the mouth.  

(That's actually me.  Thanks, Tamara!)

We then put on our lifejackets and gloves to protect us from the water and the spiders, scorpions, and cockroaches inside.  We flipped on our lights and as a group, headed into the cave, almost immediately entering calf-deep water.

Soon after, the bracelet I still held as a gift to our Adult Development class from Tara Edberg broke off my wrist.  It was a slight, blue string with a charm that said "hope."  

We saw our first bats quickly.  Then cockroaches.  Then giant spiders.  I saw one scorpion that our guide pointed out.  I love bats.  I told myself I would just have to coexist with the rest.

We were in and out of water.  Calf deep.  Thigh deep.  Waist deep...  Shoulder deep...  Then so deep we had to swim.  In murky cave water.  Weird.

Our time in the cave entailed lots of hiking, bouldering, wading, swimming, jumping into cave water, a jump into darkness, swimming through a tunnel that only had a foot or so of space between the water and the ceiling, a candle-lit lunch, more bouldering and swimming, a race through thick, deep mud, and eventually a little drift down stream back to the mouth of the cave.  It must have been 4-5 hours later.

Then we learned we would have to climb out.  Like, out, up the cliffs we had zipped and repelled down.  I'll save the description of that for the next post...

But eventually we arrived at the top exhausted and victorious.  

And somehow rallied to party in Condado that night.

Champions.

#88 - Spend the Night on an Island.

I had completely forgotten about this one until I reviewed my list in Puerto Rico.  And how about that?  Puerto Rico is an island.  Check.

(Yes, Puerto Rico is a large island, but to the best of my recollection, I have never slept on any sort of island ever.)

Dino found us a place using airbnb called Coqui Del Mar.  I would happily recommend it to anyone looking for a low-key place with wonderfully accommodating and helpful hosts.  The place we stayed in would be particularly good for a large group.

#10 - Go to a new state or #11 - Go to a new country.

I didn't go to a new state or new country, but I did go to a new territory of the United States, so I'm counting it as #10.5.

I have always hated my birthday.  I cried all but one year from 1997 to 2003.  And when I tried to have a gathering of some sort, I was so preoccupied with who didn't show up that I didn't fully appreciate the people who did.  That wasn't fair.  And a belated thank you to those who did show up.  I wish it had meant as much to me then as it should have.

So starting in 2009, I have scheduled weekend trips for my birthday.  That way, as long as one person was with me, I'd have fun.  Plus, if I left town, I already knew who would show up and who wouldn't.  And I had no hard feelings towards those who didn't because I couldn't and didn't expect everyone to drop their lives and spend money on wherever it was I wanted to go.

In 2009, 4 of us (Beth, Jen, Jen, & I) went to Las Vegas for my 29th birthday.  I didn't even know one of the Jens and we had all a great time.  Plus, 2 of my guy friends (Dino & K Rob) who lived in San Diego surprised me and showed up the first night.  Awesome.

In 2010, 7 of us (Masters, Virus, Alicia, Lindsay, Reiko, Beth, & I) went to Louisville for my 30th birthday.  The first night we went to Churchill Downs and the rest of the time we just bummed around Louisville.  Lovely.

In 2011, 3 of us (Masters, Alicia, & I) went to Kalamazoo for a night then drove to Ann Arbor where I saw many friends pre- and post-football.  I was surprised by what a good time Kalamazoo was.

In 2012, I drove up to LA, stayed with Shehrzad, whom I hadn't seen in years, and went out with her sister Sheila, whom I also hadn't seen in years, and some of their family and friends in Hollywood.  I do not like Hollywood.  I really like Sheila & Shehrzad.  They were so sweet and fun.

This year, one evening, I was wondering aloud where I might go this year.  Dino said if my birthday were the same weekend as the Puerto Rico Tip Off, we should go cheer on Michigan there.  So I looked it up.  It was the same weekend.  We did a bit of casual exploring to see if it could happen.  Then we decided it could.

It ended up being Dino, K Rob, Sanjiv, Masters and me off to Puerto Rico for 5 days.  We went to 3 Michigan games, Old San Juan, some forts, some restaurants, the beach, and Masters & I did some caving.

The stadium was strange.  There weren't many people there for the first couple games.  The Puerto Rican Michigan fans were fantastic.  Especially the Banana.  Plain clothes vendors sold beer and pina coladas.  If you ordered a pina colada with rum, you drank a bit and they topped it off with rum from a clear, plastic bottle.  There were fried balls and things to eat.

Old San Juan was beautiful.  The forts had incredible views, and that part of the city is so colorful and with small, cobblestone streets reminiscent of some old European cities.  We had a great meal there.







The beach and water were warm.  The others spent a bit of time at the beach.  I'm not a beach person so I put my feet in the water, soaked in a few minutes of sun, and then headed back to do homework on the porch.












The caving will have it's own post.

Driving was a disaster but that seems to be my only complaint.

Thank you to Dino, K Rob, Masters, & Sanjiv for being a part of my most adventurous birthday trip!

Coqui.