Journey of a lost Indian, part 2

 It's really happening. The airline tickets to Asia are booked! Bali is a mere 2 weeks away.

I like to think of our impending journey as a Motorcycle Diaries-ish adventure-  Without the Leper colony, the crippling Asthma condition, or the Cuban Revolution. Better still, en lieu of a Latin-American man with a moustash pressing up against me for ten thousand miles... I will have a gorgeous blonde hanging-on to my waist.

No offense, Dr. Alberto Granado. I know you understand

 This week started with Simone receiving her first round of tropical disease vaccinations. I, however, politely declined the Doctor's attempt to woo me into his super-sterile office for some 'healthy jabbing'.
(Ya, thats right... Dave said 'NO' to an injection. Is it 2012 already?)

Was refusing my shots slightly ignorant? Perhaps. Borderline reckless? Some might say so. Still, I remain steadfast in my decision to abstain from having genetically modified micro-organisms 'professionally' forced into my bloodstream. Now, I confess, thoughts of doubt concerning my refusal to conform DID arise in my mind for a moment... Especially as the Dr eyeballed me with a look that says:
"I know better than you. And if it weren't illegal, I'd stab you with this needle right here in front of your girlfriend."  The look was really quite similar that of an 8th grade Math teacher, after choosing a student to solve one of those ridiculous Algebra equations. You know, the question that he KNOWS you can't answer.

Well, I'm sorry Mr Stevens, but i'll never understand why A = B. Especially
if AB = 2 + C... But god bless you for giving me that 61%.

OK, seriously now, contracting a virus or developing an infection would be a terrible 'downer' during our travels. I assure you that we are adequately prepared to prevent and/or combat these illnesses with a cocktail of modern medicine, herbal remedies, bug spray, and common sense.

Japanese Encephalitis? Dengue Fever? Hepatitis A? I say Hepatitis B -ring it on

Moving forward, here is the first entry of what I intend to develop into a periodic addition to my blog

 The section is called 'Observations, Honorable efforts, and Know-it-all's'


Observed:

Simone's adorable word of the week


The Word:                 Storenate

Definition:                  Unknown

Used in a sentence:   "I want you to take-off some pictures and storenate them."

*In attempt to satisfy her wishes without mentioning that 'storenate' was an unfamiliar word to me, I handed my ipad to her with the photo link open. I figured that way, she can storenate some photos exactly how she wanted to.


Honorable effort:

I admit, I have somewhat 'slacked' in attempting to becoming fluent in the German language since arriving in Europe. I'm constantly learning, but languages, like math or playing piano-  clearly are not my forte.

On that note- Swisgerlish is a word that I use to describe the errors I make while attempting to converse with the people in this part of Europe.
 Swisgerlish is my personal fusion of Swiss words, spoken with an attempted German accent, that come out of my mouth mostly English. Completely involuntary and with the best intentions, my words are frequently spoken in this dialect.

There is also 'Swench.' It's my version of Swiss, attempted with the existing French vocabulary memorized from my upbringing.

Finally, there is my personal favorite; Spangerman.
For reasons unknown to me, I periodically slip a Spanish word, or word(s) into my attempted German sentences. This generates curious looks towards me, while I proceed to order a non-carbonated mineral water at the restaurant table.

 " Ein wassa, ohne kohlensaur- Muchos gracias. (Confused, I wonder how I let those last two words slip out... especially since I don't even know how to speak Spanish)

Rosetta Stone, why don't you have an ipad App yet?


Know-it-all's moment:

Dave's Self-Diagnosis of the week


Diagnosis: Hypokalemia (Moderate-severe Potassium defficiency)

My symptoms:  -Unusually high occurrences of acute muscle cramping
                       -Facial edema


Probable cause: Over-intake of dietary sodium. (It's not unlikely for me to eat 8oz-1lb of cheese on certain days)

 Another possible cause of my alleged Potassium imbalance: Sabine's passion for cooking everything on full temperature. Those of you who know me well, know that high-temperature cooking scares me. (I have not used a microwave or toaster in over 6 years).  The Bargetze household features an induction cooktop that has temperatures ranging from 'Pleasently warm to the touch,' all the way to
'Core of an active volcano.'  Sabine cooks using the later. However, in this specialized case, I digress. Reduced bio-availability of minerals is a small price to pay for the pleasure of enjoying the dishes that Sabine masterfully creates. Delicious and passionately crafted, I would never ask her to prepared it any other way- I'll just chase my molten zucchini quiche with 1800mg of sustained-release KCl. Problem solved.

*The above mentioned facial edema could be an isolated incident, or, very possibly, entirely fictitious- potentially caused by a hypochondriac flashback from when it was rampant in my younger years. Another plausible explanation, is that I simply became fatter.

As I look back at this post, and reflect on my time spent while formatting the first one, I realize how happy I am to be able to stay in touch with my friends and family during this time away. With that said, thank you all- for being an inspiration for me to continue with these posts. Without you, I would just be talking to myself, about myself... and that would make me feel like even more of a crazy person.


Love and light to everyone

- Show quoted text -

Journey of a lost Indian

The deaf dog

Missing Monroe

 I'd like to start by saying thanks to this blogs biggest fan. Hi Mom!  I'm sure you are already reading this, somehow- despite the fact that I have not yet pressed "confirm" to physically publish this text. The speed that you are able to read, comment-on, reply-to, and post photos in emails and on Facebook, must be some form of a superpower. I'm always impressed, and a little scared. What government organization do you work for?

....Don't answer that.

Seriously now, I love you mom, but if you ever create a Twitter account for yourself, I will donate my Ipad to a local Indonesian kid. I swear...one invitation from Susan Catudal  to "Tweet", and Ketut gets a shiny new 3G iPad.

Moving on.

The focus of my blogs are simply to communicate with anyone willing to take the time to read and/or reply to my comments, observations, and experiences during our upcoming journey. Again, hello Mom. I know that the events to come for Simone and I will warrant an extra level of importance to document. Not that our life previously has been boring....but we are maturing now, and the content of our lives requires much less "editing" to make it presentable to our families- or for that matter, the general public.

Yes, that is Simones underwear on my head

            
            
            With that being said; Its been almost 4 weeks since leaving Los Angeles.
  

Many of my friends asked what made me so quickly decide to pack up, sell all my belongings and move across the world. "Why NOW" was a popular question. I even caught myself pondering exactly that, several weeks ago as I was posting my beloved Juicer for sale on Craigslist... Moving just felt right- It felt necessary. Undeniably, powers beyond my full understanding were guiding me into the consciousness that I must leave everything behind that I owned, and all that I was comfortable with, to set out and experience the world as if it was one big home for us.  These powers manifested themselvs in various ways- sometimes discretely, other times they were as vivid as hallucinations
 (Hello, Stardust). .... Or were they Fairies?

A Fairy flavor for everyone

Then there was my Tesla plate heart-resuscitation experience. Shortly before that, our beloved cat, Kitty Monroe, decides one evening to go on a (Permanent) adventure of her own... My Hummingbird rescue-mission only a day later, followed by Japanese healers revealing to me that I'm a Hopi Indian.
(From the 2nd Mesa, Arizona. Specifically)

Great-great uncle Cheetahfox. He puts the 'Hopi' in "Hoping this white-devil takes the damn picture already"

 All these occurrences, and several more, seemed to be happening for a reason. Currently, I am writing this while sitting on the "ICE" train, about to enter the city of Berlin- and It's still unclear to me exactly what is going on, and I have no plans or expectations of what the future will bring. What I do know, is that things are starting to make a little more sense each day that goes by.
            
              White mountains, red wine, and happy cows
                        My first week in Liechtenstein.

View from the Bargetze kitchen

Happy cows. The way nature intended.

Enjoying a glass of 1998 Chateau Margeaux in Zurich

 Life in Europe is amazing. And very different. Things are simple here, it's almost like I have traveled back in time several decades. Ok, maybe a couple centuries. I certainly miss some of the conveniences of LA....like enjoying being able to ask for almond butter without being looked at like an Alien. Sabine, a lovely Austrian woman, is the Bargetze family's full time chef. I LOVE Sabine. The look on her face, when I asked her to add almond butter to her shopping list; Priceless.
It was very similar to the time when I asked for 2lbs of Horse meat at the Vons grocery store in LA, my first week of having arrived from Montreal.
The deli guy repeated these words 3 times to me: "You want to buy HORSE? To EAT?.... Finally telling me that he thinks horse meat is illegal in California.
It turns out, horse meat actually IS illegal to sell in many parts of the State.
On that subject, people in Liechtenstein (like many European countries) eat EVERY possible part of an animal that can be digested. This includes the digestive system of animals. On the Bargetze menu this upcoming Tuesday: Tripe. I'm not sure if Sabine will prepare the 'Rumen' (A cows first stomach) or the 'Reticulum' (A cows second stomach) but I'll keep you posted and let you know.

Regardless of the chosen preparation, I now embrace meals like this and consider them part of my "training" for what is to come as we travel through Southern Asia.... where Pet-Food will take on a whole new meaning. As in, domesticated species that I previously considered my friendly companions, could unknowingly become my meal. I'll do my best to revert to my vegan-based diet days when the Asia travel starts. It would be a near-impossible task in our current European village, as would a gluten-free diet. (thinking of you, Jonathan)

On that note, here is a short list of some of the many things that I love about Liechtenstein, in no particular order:


-I can see from one side of the country to the other. And no, LASIK surgery did not give me superman vision, Liechtenstein is actually that small.

-Roundabouts.

-The tap water is delicious- Its all-natural mineral profile includes up to 65% calcium, about 25% magnesium concentration, and a completely alkaline PH. Trust me, that's good.

- I can say without question that the quality of food here is everything I wished it could be.  Nüsslisalat, (Mâche salad) that grows in the back garden of the Bargetze's home, is the best I've ever had.
 And maybe its the fertile soil in Liechtenstein, or it could be the rain water or even the mountain spring water that naturally flows across the valleys throughout the entire country...whatever the reason may be, shockingly, I now love tomatoes.

-Cheese and butter goes with everything, on everything, anytime, all the time.

-The same above goes for wine and beer (Hello, Lee)

One of several walls covered in world class red wines at the Bargetze home. 

-Simones family owns an amazing restaurant less than 5 minutes from our house. We can eat authentic Italian food and amazing wood-fired pizza anytime, and Bailey can sit at the table right by our feet. Just like home;)

-There are almost no stop-signs in the entire village, and I have not yet seen a police officer.

-Red lights last less than 20 seconds

-Everywhere I order a coffee, it comes short (like a triple espresso), ground and pressed right there on the spot. I have yet to be surprised with a less than amazing coffee. This includes in gas stations.

-Speaking of gas stations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, each of them feature on-site bakeries. It's true, fresh bread is coming out of the oven as I am filling up the car with gas.
* BP, I'm still mad at you for the oil spill last year...but damn, you make good bread.




If you are still reading, check out the following link for more photos of our trip:


http://s1119.photobucket.com/albums/k627/nativedavid514/




My next blog should be complete after our return from Italy next week.








 Ciao!