dapple

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.

13. Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

vermont to kenya: preparing for lwala

well, i didn't wander far this weekend. just north to my vermont home. it's beautiful right now, as always, but a special charm with the trees crowned with color. my purpose this weekend was to attend the screening of a movie called 'sons of lwala', a documentary of the genesis of a clinic in rural western kenya, in a small village called lwala, initiated by 2 brothers in a family of 6 children to commemorate their father's dream of building a place where his neighbors could receive health care. the brothers, milton and fred ochieng', are dartmouth alums and are both pursuing/finished with medical education at vanderbilt. in their 'spare' time during med school, they have been trotting the globe, literally, to campaign and fundraise to make their vision a reality. and so, the movie tells of their dramatic and passionate journeys, both literal and figurative, hither and yon.

i met milton and fred yesterday, along with their eldest sibling, omondi, who is visiting the usa for the first time, in honor of attending the movie screening. their 2 sisters, grace and florence, were also in attendance, along with the youngest sibling, solomon. this is the first time the siblings have been together since their father's death. both of their parents are deceased, from AIDS, which is prevalent in lwala as it is in many parts of kenya and africa. estimates of up to 30% of the population have HIV in their bodies. this is a lot of people. no one in the community is unaffected.

so, why this topic as an entry today? well, i am planning a visit to lwala from mid-december to mid-january to volunteer at the clinic as a nurse. finally having practical, portable skills is something new for me, a new adventure in travel, of perhaps being actually useful. there will be a lot of learning - mostly mine, i am certain - while i am there, overwhelming to be sure, with up to 100 patient visits per day at the clinic. the village itself is ~1500 people, but the catchment area has expanded to include ~50,000. this is perhaps because the lwala community clinic is the 'only game in town', so to speak, for miles. people arrive by foot, bicycle ambulance (mattresses strapped to the bike), wheelbarrows, livestock...

my hope in all of this is to do some good, get on the ground in lwala, and LOOK. SEE. FEEL. community assessment has been formalized throughout my public health and nursing education, and now i am going to press myself into service and see what i know. i also hope that this will be the first of many visits to lwala, i am looking for something to dedicate my energy and passion toward for a long term commitment. this could be it.

southern roots

 
 
 
 

southern roots

many probably already know this but i was born in atlanta, georgia. i spent the wee years of my life as a southern babe. this by default precludes me from native vermonter status, which requires that you (and your 7 previous family generations) all be born on green mountain soil. so. i found myself in the south once again this weekend to celebrate the marriage of a peace corps friend, allyson (who in my mind wins the tough cookie award having endured many difficult and random issues in mongolia, including her ger burning down), to her longtime sweetheart pearce (who i hadn't met until the wedding and now of whom i heartily approve), at gorgeous neverland farm near cumberland GA. i arrived in SC and drove, in the dark, to north georgia and became very very lost en route while navigating with a miniscule mapquest image and didn't arrive at my lodgings until 2 am. but i was greeted sweetly by angie, another peace corps pal, with whom i stayed at the black bear lodge, after her coaxing and encouraging me on my fleetingly battery powered mobile phone which did not receive or send signals very well in the mountains. we slept well that night and started our next day in the hot tub at our cabin! i could probably handle that kind of start to each day. saturday was mellow, including biscuits and gravy (!!) for breakfast at a local diner - talk about southern comfort - and a pedicure in the small town of helen, which is apparently the oktoberfest capitol of the state with permanent german-motif alcohol facilities everywhere. i arrived too late in the week to partake in the pre-wedding activities, which included a hillbilly golf tournament, karaoke, and polka dancing. and so, i am heading north again, so quickly after seeing such dear friends. i am blogging on my phone from the greenville-spartanburg airport in greer, SC, fortunate to have snatched the very last seat on a northbound plane after arriving at the check-in desk and learning the flight i needed had been moved to 11 am instead of 3:30 without my knowledge. ah, adventure american-style...

black sea and sea of marmara

 
 
 
 

and more images from istanbul

 
 
 
 

more images from istanbul

 
 
 
 

images from istanbul

 
 
 
 

turkey...more than beaches and baklava...

...but i seem to be enjoying these trappings the most while here! istanbul is an absolute feast for the senses - each and every one engaged fully at all times - and i am in sensory overload most of the time. for someone who is detail-oriented and fascinated by color/texture/fragrance, this place is a bonanza. the bazaar alone, regardless of any purchases, is enough to entertain one for hours, just perusing the modern wares in an ancient covered market. and the tea...everywhere i go, i am kindly and warmly offered a cup of tea...on the ferry ride across the bosphorous, by shop owners, and at fire departments (i happened to be passing by a rural firehouse near a beach along the black sea in the town of agva yesterday, and there were 2 firefighters trying their luck at table tennis - i would surmise they have been inspired by the olympics - and as the ball bounced away from them and toward me, i retrieved it, and the fire chief offered me some tea!).

long having wanted to visit turkey, and now here, i am thrilled. here is a non-sensical thought: china is not mongolia, turkey is not china, but mongolia and turkey share significant history and linguistic roots. it's true. both languages share a genesis in the altaic-turkic language group. although turkish uses the latin alphabet (very similar to the english one), and mongolian uses cyrillic (conveniently accessible to me as a former student of russian), some of the words and vowel harmonies are similar to identical across both languages.

and the history...while turkey has been home for the roman, byzantine, and ottoman empires, mongolia under the rule of CHINGGIS KHAN (not genghis...mongolians would not approve of this malignment of their cherished leader's name - it's CHINGGIS) dominated most of the asian steppe plateau, as far west as turkey - the largest empire in all of history, larger than the former soviet union, i believe. so, really, i am coming full circle here. throw in some russian influence as well (quite prominent here) and turkey encompasses all i've ever studied, where i've lived, and everything that interests me.

now on to mosques...i have never seen so many in my life, all in one place. in fact, i don't know that i have ever visited a place which is predominantly muslim. i have been to russia (orthodox), mongolia (buddhist), china (officially atheist but largely buddhist-influenced, with confucian as well)...so this is a new experience all around for me. places of worship always fascinate me, with their ornate facades and awe-inspiring caverns. the acropolis, parthenon, temple of nike, st. basil's cathedral, notre dame, st. peter's basilica, sistine chapel, church on spilled blood, forbidden city, aya sofya, the blue mosque, selmiye camii...and my simpler churches at home, all designed to bring us closer to worship...it is so interesting to me how different religions and faiths evolve, and how the places of worship have been designed to reflect and channel adoration of and for God. really, i think anthropology is looking better and better...languages, cultures, religions, traditions, beliefs...there's so much to explore.