A Life Less Ordinary

Drinking Water

by Irene

Everywhere we go here in the Dominican Republic we ask for bottled water, and if we get a glass of ice, we don't pour the water into it. The hotel has a little sign in the restrooms which indicates you shouldn't drink the water, and when you ask for 'water' at a restaurant or anywhere (ie the supplier we were visiting) there is no doubt they will bring us bottled water.

Why can I drink water out of my tap for "free" (nothing is free - someone is maintaining the massive distribution logistics of the water) in San Francisco, but can't in the Dominican Republic, developing countries, and even in some places in the US? Why do I typically spend close to $0.00 for drinking water per day in SF whereas here I "spend" (well, expense) about $3-$4/day (assuming $1 per water bottle, which I don't think is even the price of a water bottle anymore)?

I don't have the answer, and I know it would be a complex one -- for example, I haven't studied Dominican Republic's geography/geology, watersheds, or policies surrounding water management. I also don't know whether people here do drink tap water, but being a 'guest' and from a 'big company' we are not offered tap water as a sign of respect (and knowledge that our bowel systems can't handle any pathogens we aren't typically exposed to on our own). But why is that? Why is "success" or "prestige" measured by being able to afford to provide us with bottled water, rather than being able to afford to provide worry-free drink water from the tap?

Obviously, you and I live in areas where the tap water is especially good because it is snow-melt, and this is unique in the US and Europe. Not everyone's tap water will taste as good as ours, but at least it should be contaminant-free. But is access to safe drinking water the responsability of the government? Should it be a top-priority to fix the problem for governments where this is not the case? I think yes.

Instead, bottled water companies come in, make significant investments in factories that process locally withdrawn water through reverse osmosis or whatever necessary chemical/biological treatment, put it into plastic bottles and sells it to the local people and abroad. But why isn't the government of this place doing that instead, so that access to clean drinking water is available out of people's taps in their homes? What were people doing before Coca Cola came in and started bottling their water? The people who are dying from cholera and other water-born infectious diseases are still dying, because they're not the ones who are buying Dasani. In fact, its THOSE peopel who should be buying bottled water, not us here in the United States, but I imagine they can't afford it/have access to it.

It is clear that big companies - sure including mine though disclaimer I do believe we have been one of the most ethical - moved to developing countries during globalization in the 80s and 90s and were able to get away with a lot more stuff than they could have in the United States or Europe, which already had complex and rigorous environmental laws  including the Clean Water Act, for example. By coming to places like the DR, China, India, Vietnam, Mexico -- it was possible to start pumping out and then discharging out whatever they wanted to. There was no government to say "no you can't do that' and in fact, I'm sure the governments were often happy to have them come in and start manufacturing because it brought jobs and knowledge.

I'm not saying that if multinational companies didn't come into remote places in the world and start manufacturing there, that those places would have figured out everything and would have been better off. We don't know that. I'm saying it is difficult for these places to back track now when the infrastructure to extract water from the good water sources are tapped into by water-bottling companies, and it will be hard for governments to gain that space back .

So this goes back to the original question - who should be responsible for providing clean water to people: is it companies or government? It is case specific?  Why are companies so much better at this than governments? Is water a typical commodity, so rules of economics apply? There are places in the United States where people's water sources have been contaminated due to fracking (getting natural gas deep underground). These people don't turn on their taps, showers, laundry machines: they buy their water from Wal-Marts or other water distributors. Doesn't that seem bizarre to you? Doesn't it seem like we are a bit removed about how important water is in our daily lives, and it is difficult for us to imagine what it would be like without it?

Trip Wrap Up

by Helen

(I wrote this posto on a plane home a couple of days ago)

We’ve had a wonderful trip. Five and a half weeks went by quickly, but not too quickly if that makes sense.  As my mother said in a voicemail she left us on Skype today, there is no reason to be sad about an end of the vacation, because it’s just a beginning of lots of stuff.

How true these words seem right now.  I am coming back to what seems like a brand new start.  New career, new husband, post school life that doesn’t seem temporary in a sense.  When I finished college and went into politics, while I thought that I may make a career of it, I always knew there would be more schooling and more permanent things than Sacramento.  Now, for the first time, I sort of feel grown up. 

This trip has taught me some things and reminded me of others.  I remembered how much I love learning about people by interacting and observing people and less by studying their art.  Hence, I loved the Louvre music video that we put together.  I loved looking at art differently and kind of scaring people around us at the Louvre when we made funny dance poses in the middle of 2000 year old art (you can find the video here if you don’t know what I’m talking about). 

I loved cooking dinner in Iceland and taking a break from going out to eat.  It felt more sustainable that way – in that you can keep travelling if you aren’t always going out to eat, money and preference wise.  I also loved having a Dine Out book for Paris so that we could explore the French food scene in a more organized way.  I enjoyed going to a Jazz Festival performance in Iceland as well as seeing a movie (Cowboys and Aliens, and I loved every minute of it).  Even though we did less “must do” things in Iceland, I actually feel that I got to see how people live and what they do in a country very far away.  For example, there is an intermission during every movie at the theater, which is totally brilliant for popcorn and snack sales.  I saw a country start shutting down and preparing for a long winter ahead even though it was just the end of August. 

We also went to a water park in the south of Turkey and to Euro Disney in France.  One would say that there is so much culture to see and so many more meaningful things to do than those, but when you get to be lucky and travel for 5 ½ weeks, it’s fun to do the things that the locals do in a sense.  I think I saw more French people at Euro Disney than in Paris. 

I learned to be thankful for my health and good weather.  This is the first time I travelled that I felt like I had health issues.   From a stomach bug in Turkey to ruined feet in Paris, to a cold in Iceland – I was definitely ready to not have any issues.  I hope to not remember that when I look back on this trip, I certainly enjoyed our travel even during the sick moments.  But when I felt fine (most of the time all and all), I never took it for granted. 

Good weather during travels is also something that was easy to expect.  We got lucky in so many places, but our plans kind of got foiled in Vienna for a day and in Iceland when we got caught in low clouds, downpours and general ickiness.  As Adam said, on those days we enjoyed each others company.  We laughed through all those days as we ran for shelter in Vienna or tried to hike in chilling winds and sideways rain on the peninsula in Iceland. 

I also got to appreciate Adam in many ways and myself as well.  Together, we never really shied away from a cool detour or a new experience.  We embraced the hard core traveler parts and the “I’m going to take a break now” parts.  We talked a lot, but also sat quietly in coffee shops and read.  On our last night of the trip, we chased the sunset all the way to Gussfold in the Golden Circle.  We missed the sunset (we never seem to be able to watch a sunset together), but got to wander around the busiest tourist attraction in the dusk all alone which was really cool. 

Travel really easy amazing.  You learn so much about yourself but for me, I mainly learn everytime that we are all people.  All trying to do our thing – be it in the villages of Romania or in the bustling center of Paris. 

I’m excited to be back to the US.  Excited to be a wife.  A marketer.  A friend.  A sister, daughter, and family member.  There are so many things I want to do for people in my life and for myself.  So much I feel that I want to give back to those who have helped me get to where I am today.  Not that I am anywhere, yet really.  But I have a path.  I didn’t always have one.  I didn’t find it alone and I certainly didn’t pave it in solitude.  

 

Out of This World Video

by Helen

 

Iceland Pictures!

by Helen

We had a great time in Iceland. Definitely a trip worth planning out a little bit ahead of time and worth staying in different parts of the country as opposed to just Reykjavik).

Here are some photos:

   

Southwest France

by Helen

After a whirlwind stay in Paris for 6 days, we headed to stay with Adam's family friend Sophie in southwest of France.  Sophie lives in a small town called Mosnac near Angouleme and more or less in the Cognac region.  While she's definitely had a tough life (reminds me a lot of Grandma Maia actually), she has a great spirit, attitude and surroundings around her.  

Her family is originally from Norway and her grandfather started a cognac business when he moved to Triac, France on the Charente River.  You can learn more about the family business here.

We spent a couple of days going to Triac, Cognac, and a couple of other small towns on the Charente River.  Life definitely slowed down for a few days for us when we got to enjoy the French country side and the people.  We met lots of British people too who have left their busy England lives behind to move to the quiet.  

Overall, we had a fantastic time and our host Sophie was most welcoming toward us which we really loved and appreciated. 

Photos are here:

 

Video discussion what animal, vegetable, or mineral this area is can be viewed here with our host as a special guest:

 

Dance Party at the Louvre!

by Helen

Just to save you all the suspense, the mineral for Paris is marble.  And to honor all the marble creations in Paris, we take you to a very special location in the heart of Paris.  

 

 

PS This is the most fun time I've ever had at a museum ever.  I love my husband! 

Paris!

by Helen

Our European vacation is quickly coming to an end.  We have spent the last couple of days in Cognac country and pictures of that are coming very soon.  In the mean time, we are off to Iceland and here are the photos from Paris: 

 

Resort Time Video!

by Helen

For the last 6 days, we have hung out on the Agean sea in Turkey.  We have done absolutely nothing and have loved every minute of it while here.

We did find time to record this video however: 

 

 

Diving in Turkey

by Helen

During our honeymoon part 1 in the Caribbean this summer, I got certified to dive.  It was harder than I expected, but glad that I can now join in on underwater adventures.  I learned at a very safety oriented places (Pirates Point Resort) where we talked about safety stops, computers, maximum depth, etc.  It was also located in one of the top 10 places to dive in the world, so my bar was understandably set high.

Today, I tried diving without the safety net of Pirates Point off the coast of Turkey.  We were at a location where there was a sunk airplane (donated by the Turkish army to the dive people to create a site) that we got to explore and then the wildlife in the second dive was pretty cool too.

Couple of interesting things to note on the dive experience in Turkey:

1) When I was not sinking fast enough in the Caymans, my instructor would add an extra weight onto me, but here the dive-master stuck a rock into my BCD to help me.

2) Clyde, Adam's eternal grouper companion on all his warm water dives, was able to make it from the Caymans to Turkey to greet us.  

3) There seems to be little to no way to book a diving tour directly with a dive shop in Bodrum, Turkey.  They prefer that you do it through an agency.  

4) There was an ice cream boat that came by around 3pm! What  a great idea! The only thing missing was some music, like the kind that comes with the ice cream truck.  

5) Unlike the Caymans which has protected wild life, the guides don't really care that much about the eco system in the water here.  Our guide picked up and played with a small octopus for awhile, handed me a sponge while diving to hold and in general touched lots of things at the bottom of the ocean.  

6) Lots of people on the boat smoked - from guests to crew. 

7) Most people on the boat who were going diving were doing the resort dive where they learned a few basics and dove for a short period of time in relatively shallow water.  I'm glad I got certified so I could actually dive because I think this method would have really scared me.  

Overall, it was a good day to have while in Turkey.  I still have a ways to go before I am comfortable enough under water that it's truly relaxing, but it's getting better with every dive. 

Thoughts on Vacation To Date

by Helen 

It feels like we've been gone from the US for a long time and that we are very far away from everything and everyone we know, yet the glittery McDonalds signs and the Starbucks cafes that advertise amazing turkish coffee are a constant reminder of the small world that we live in today. 

Some thoughts on Romania:

We started out in Bucharest, which I had a hard time describing as pretty.  It was industrial. It was beaten down by the last 80 years. It looked scary with lots of graffiti, though didn't actually feel scary once you started walking there.  It was a mark of its time.  And there wasn't much happiness and optimism about Bucharest.  There were pretty parks which stood out to me as a bright light.  It was in Bucharest that I noticed lack of patriotism or love for the country - even by tour guides of museums. And that was a first for me.  As developing as some of the places that I've been to are (Kenya, Guatemala, Belize, etc.), people there are usually proud of where they come from.  Romanians didn't seem excited about anything that was Romanian.  

If my only encounter with Romania was Bucharest, that's how I would have viewed the whole country, but luckily we had a week to spend in the country after which I see a bigger picture.  The country was beautiful and untouched by 20th, let alone 21st centure.  There were horses and carriages, sheppards and cheese making that likely hasn't changed in 200 years.  People were happy to be there, happy to be leading their lives without the intrusion of modern amenities such as whipper snippers.  As our guide said city dwellers often complain a lot because they expect more from the social contract they sign with the government - we give you taxes and you give us services.  The services aren't that great in Romania as provided by the government, but in the country where that expectation doesn't exist as much, people are happier.

I also had some weird feelings about being from Russia while in Romania.  I felt like people looked like me and ate food that I've been eating my entire life and yet, they really didn't speak any Russian (a generation of my parents and older probably learned it but have forgotten it very quickly after 1989).  It was not advantageous of me to say that I was from Russia and that was an interesting feeling as well.  I'm guessing this is how the British feel when they go to various places that they've colonized (not that Russia actually colonized Romania).  

Overally, I did feel like I was a kid in a candy store.  I was able to have sour cream with every meal and as many pickles as I could stomach.  

Istanbul:

I loved Istanbul.  I was really excited to visit it and see what it's all about, but it really exceeded my expectations.  Partly thanks to the book - Istanbul: The Collected Traveler, partly thanks to Turkeyplanner.com and of course thanks to Adam who is always up for any and every adventure, we really got to see the city and how dynamic and cool it is.  The variety of sights, people, food, cultures, etc. are amazing.  I think Istanbul clearly shows the tension that we live in today in the world.  Aya Sofia is a prime example of a church that has been half remade into a mosque and now is standing as neither one nor the other in an identity crisis of sorts.  

We were in Istanbul during Ramadan so the calls to prayer were even more pronounced and the religion more visible, but that didn't take away the lack of all religion in the new city which is just as modern as any Western European city or a Coastal US city.  

I would love to go back to Istanbul and explore more of it for a longer period of time. It actually seems like a city that is hard to explore as a tourist but rather one should live and work in for a bit to really get to know.  

And now we are on the Turkish Coast in Hotel Doria enjoying amazing views of blue water, the beach and in general some R&R from the rest of our vacation.  

Our next stop - Paris.