Food!

So its been a while now that I have been skipping meals, buying less nutritious food, eating smaller meals, and losing a bit of weight.  I haven't bought meat in months it seems.  I check prices and just walk to the bean section.  I've decided that eating meat when I eat out makes more sense.  You pay maybe a dollar extra for meat in a restaurant other eatery, as opposed to like six dollars a pound minimum for some kind of low grade meat.  Now of course NYC is really expensive, the highest in the country by far.  But that's I guess all part of it. 

In the last month I have been forced to really address these issues.  I have started looking at Food Pantries and finding ways to get food without paying for it.  I have not been dumpster diving as of yet, but others I know have been.  It is part of what the world is coming to it seems, even as we throw away millions of pounds of good food each year.  I have been really lucky that my mother has runs a community garden that gives its food to the needy.  I have been the recipient of bags of kale and other produce that have kept me healthy of late.  And that is no small thing.  Healthy food is expensive. 

But I have gotten to the point where enough is enough, I no longer can keep trying to spend money I do not have on food.  I spend my days trying to apply to jobs that don't seem even remotely interested in me, have few if any prospects at this point, and will possibly be homeless in just a couple weeks.  I have no place to turn for help in my situation.  Family, the government, neither really has the means to solve my income issues.  It is only up to me it seems, yet, resume after resume I am getting no where.

So Friday I applied for food stamps.  They were quickly approved and I picked up my card today and went and bought some meat.  It's actually probably not the best impulsive decision as 200 dollars of food a month does not go very far, especially in NYC.  But this is the way it is.  I will be back to beans the next trip to the store.  I will start trying to strategically mix home cooked meals, and food pantry stuff.  This is an issue for me though as I have these allergies.  If I want to be at my peek - the best position to get a job - I need to be able to get the right food in me.  But hey, I'll have to take what I can.  I stopped eating wheat for 3 or four days last week and started felling pretty good.  Even the bike accident injuries seemed to heel a bit.  But immediately, one weekend back eating wheat and I could completely see the difference, even started having issues with hypoglycemia again.

It is amazing what food insecurity does to people.  The system itself is set up in a way that does not put me in the best position to succeed.  If I had no dire need to find food and shelter, and could put my best foot forward, I would be able be the best I could be.  But that is not where I am right now.  So I have to take what I can get.  I am no longer able to support and provide for myself.  Hundred's of job applications in the last three plus years and little to show for it.  I have tried, and anyone that says otherwise I would love to have words with. 

But as of now, I am one of those many people out there on "entitlement programs".  One of those many that some how don't feel like they have to work hard, that can just skate by and live off everyone else's hard work, right?  Yeah, like facing death in West Africa to better your resume, trying to start businesses, non-profits, and volunteer endeavors, officiating girls lacrosse, selling shoes, applying to schools, etc.  If you think I haven't tried, haven't educated myself or worked my ass off to make a place for myself then you are out of touch with the world we live in.  I am not an exception, I am just another of millions - in fact billions - throughout the world that just want to work hard, and make a difference in their own and others lives through these efforts and the fulfillment of their abilities.  The world is failing us, just as I am failing in my job search and ability to support myself.  But hey, at least social services in New York City treated me with dignity and respect.  That is a far cry from the way social workers treat you upstate in Poughkeepsie. 

Sustaining an Occupation

So as you may have noticed for an Occupier this blog is decidedly not so much about Occupy events and outings as one would expect thus far.  This is because of the ever increasing realities of an occupier's life.  It is not about sitting in a park and simply shouting at cops or marching through the streets while the kitchen group gives you free food.  It is about sitting through meeting after meeting, reading over a hundred emails a day from any multiple number of people and working groups, and most importantly in trying to find a way to sustain the occupation within you.

This wasn't such a stress at the outset.  When I first got down to the park, I had been setting aside money for the trip/work in Africa written about earlier in this blog.  I had projects set up and ready to go and had been slowly saving money for them.  When the occupation started I went all in and used that money.  It bothered me a bit, but ultimately the occupation and any true socio-economic and political change that would happen as a result would have a tremendously positive effect on the areas of the world being expropriated by our system of exploitation abroad.  Hence, Sierra Leone without having structural adjustment programs and private corporate interests raping their land and resources for a quick profit (to very little local benefit) seemed like a good cause.  So I used that money to live off of while I was in Manhattan.  I was lucky to have this.

When I first went down to Zuccotti park (liberty plaza) it wasn't as difficult either.  There was nothing I needed to spend money on.  There was this amazing community of people all working together.  There was a safe enough place to sleep (Yeah, it was outside, but I had my sleeping bag and camping gear from my Africa trip and life).  We had sanitation, we had the kitchen, comfort (for a jacket or toothbrush), there was medical, meditation, whatever.  There was nothing that I/we needed or wanted really (other than a complete and total reassessment of the way we as a society lived our lives!).  The library, teach-ins, the think tank, we had it all..

Now truth be told, I wasn't eating enough and was running all over the place, but sustainable can be different at different times in one's life!  In general, the food situation was great at first, but then there became less and less, and the situation more and more tenuous.  There had been a time when the entirety of Manhattan's soup kitchen community was sending their people down to liberty plaza when they didn't have enough food or at times they weren't open.  We were feeding over a thousand people a day, and sometimes at each meal!

Food however, slowly went from being available all day in some capacity (usually however it was donated/when) to being cut down to designated servings usually in two hour blocks.  This certainly made it tough if you were facilitating the think tank from 12-6 every day and couldn't wait in line, or there was no food being served when you could wait.  The kitchen group was great though, they worked around it all and helped working groups in this situation out, delivering a few plates when they could or even a whole box of pizza at a time.  All told though, I lost a lot of weight during the original months of the occupation as a lot of people did.  It topped out for me at about 20 pounds (9 kilos) at  its height (I've since gained a little back though).  But so be it, I was carrying more weight than I needed anyway!  

Anyway, point is, that while it was getting tougher, things were still manageable.  I was spending a lot of nights outside of the park at this point as well, and also still working some upstate/eating up there, sleeping in my car, whatever.  But then the park was raided.  The NYMD (New York Military Department) destroyed virtually everything: 4500 of the library's 5500 books, computers, the entire kitchen, all of the think tank's stuff and much of the data we'd been collecting on what people wanted out of the movement.  After this, there was no place to go; no home, and food was much tougher to come by as there was no longer three meals a day, only whatever you could get your hands on when you were down at the park and/or the kitchen delivered food.  It was a lot of cold beans!  All of a sudden, sustainability was a huge question for everyone. 

I was really lucky in all of this though.  I had gotten to know some really great people and was connected with a family that invited me to stay in a room in their their basement.  There were some catches as other people used the room for work things during the day and I didn't want to be too far in their way in terms of the kitchen.  So things got much more expensive as I had to eat out a lot more.  And they live in Greenwich Village, where eating out is a practice in financial humility.  I found one place to get Pho (Vietnamese soup) for under 10 bucks and ate there a lot.  But hey, who cares!!  I didn't have to pay rent and with a little money in the bank I was living A LOT better than A LOT of people.  But still, time adds up with time while money does not.  The room and the savings went a very long way, but it has been over six months now and the money ran out long ago.

So this is the reality of the occupation.  Individual's are not funded as best as I can see (though Ben and Jerry of ice cream fame have tried to interject there financial will upon us in quite negative manner I might add, and much like a structural adjustment program!).  People as a result of the lack of means are falling off to the side or minimizing their time at Occupy due to the strict human needs of food and shelter (and who's effects are magnified by capitalist exploitation).  We all need to eat, and most are not used to being homeless and sleeping "rough" - especially on a cold night in NY.

So here we are an occupation that no longer gets donations (which it had difficulty allocating through its processes anyway) and no longer has a designated place to live and eat for its members.  We must find ways of supporting ourselves, as it is within these confines that the occupation is struggling.  While we are all horizontally living in our hearts, we are all living individually in our day-to-day realities.  My food is my responsibility, your roof is yours, her income her's.  This is weighing very heavily on many people including myself, and it feels very heavy in a down economy where jobs in general are very tough to come by, nevermind jobs one is actually qualified for and stimulated by. 

So that is my point of departure with my job.  I have to have it to support my occupation, even while it so profoundly detracts from my occupation.  I work evenings.  I miss all the meetings it seems worth being at.  I am constantly stressed about whether I'll have my job by the end of the week, and wasting time thinking about minute details of telephone calls.  For 5 plus hours a day I am treading water, not really moving forward much in terms of personal or occupational growth.  But that is the way things are right now for the occupation.  There is a tremendous amount going on.  The working groups are doing countless things and making countless things happen at each and every corner, but we have lost a lot of people - not in heart - but in time and commitment.

I've been talking to a lot of people about this and we've been thinking about ways to make the movement more sustainable, but it is tough.  It will take a great deal of planning and fine tuning to get a proposal together that could be acceptable and within the principles of the Occupy movement.  But it is the essence of where we need to be right now though.  While the "movement" being sustainable is a given at this point, we need to be able to sustain the daily lives of individuals within it - while maximizing their and our power and/or capacity to work for the movement.

Home

So the flight went well. I didn't feel the full on relief I thought I would once we took off. Just seemed to revert to the old flight mode. But getting in to Brussels felt good. I went to the spiritual center and did some chi gung, was nice. I grabbed some cheese and such and took a little nap.

Getting on the flight to New York was more of the same. But I specifically picked Jet Airways because I, A, love Indian food, and B, because they have a great entertainment set up. I knew I'd be drained after the time and really wanted to just have some good food and relax. :p I love it when a plan comes together!! When they delivered my food and took my first bight was when I finally said, ok, now I feel good.

The plane was only half full and I got to lay across the four middle seats and watch 3 1/2 movies. The attendants were great, they gave me extra food and water and just generally were were too nice. So much so that as we were getting ready to arrive they brought me to the back and gave me a bottle of wine and a couple beers!! Funny that I always make friends like that. And you all poke fun at me because I'm too friendly and talk too much!! Lol!! That's the way the world should be!!

The evening was not quite so nice though. The second meal I ate on the plane didn't sit well with me. And once I got home, it all came right back up. I spent the evening vomiting. Not fun. I still feel pretty much like rubbish here at 3am, but a bit better. Worst little bout of that I've had in a long time. My mother thinks its nerves and my body finally letting go of all its been through. My bro was saying the change of food. Three continents worth of airline food!! Who knows, whatever it was, I'd rather not go through it again!! Lol.

But I'm home, never really hit me much, but I also didn't have the chance to take it all in (as it was all trying to get out!!) but we'll see today. Gonna go watch the Giants game from Sunday...

Watch out for the duck!

So much less productive day in terms of school visits, but productive in life learning!! So up and out, on the bikes, but almost to first school... Flat tire. Got to there and then Lindsay and the local coordinator left and headed to the next school (where she was again the first white person). JMK, the director went to go fix the tire, and I sat there - random white guy sitting on a wooden chair in front of the school with class and lunch breaks going on around. I sat there writing in my journal about feeling like an exhibit at the museum...

Tire haunted us as we tried to move on, but ended up back in Samaya and spent two hours as the whole village fixed the flat. It was so sureal. There sit Lindsay and I, with women and children all around, half watching us and half watching the group of men/boys working on the tire. They wouldn't let us help, so we sat... half there, half untouchable. Seemed quite odd indeed. Ended up it took too long to change, so we aborted the school hopping and headed back to Makeni with a brief stop back in Kamakwie for a few things. The few things of course were about 250 pounds of rice, a couple chairs, a table, some wood, three goats just stuffed in the back, and four chickens with their legs all tied together... Both Lindsay and I were terrified at the animal scenario. But animals here are not treated with a great deal of compassion, different world...

Then on the way back we hit a goat... and I learned it is all far more complex than that!! The goat was already hurt, broken leg of some sort. So as the other's moved it didn't. We tried to stop but got it somewhere - I couldn't tell how, but it was still alive. JMK and the owner exchanged contact info and on we went.

So here is the system: if you hit and kill a goat it is 100,000 Le for the driver to pay ($25). That is a lot of money here - 20 days pay for the average worker. The driver is always seen as at fault rather than the animal. But there are of course different values for different animals. The hurt goat would be about 70k. A sheep is more than the goat as it has better meat and some intriguing superstitious value . A chicken is worth about 50. A dog is worth nothing, nor is a cat - no food value. But the most important one of all not to hit is a duck! Yes, I've been wondering why Kap's family has a duck in the back yard (with no water), and that I see ducks all over here.  Intriguing!! Lol.  The duck as the most sacred animal....

Culture Clash

So picture this.. Me.. Eating canned celery salad with pasta and drinking orange soda!! So this is part of what I had for dinner tonight. Not everyone, just myself and the other opotu (whitey). You see in Sierra Leone, eating local foods cooked in local ways is not putting out your best. Where we put out our finest china and cook something nice, they break out the canned goods. After all, they are much more difficult to get than rice and cassava. They are imported, they cost more, and you must have more money or a higher status to have them. And of course it is rude not to eat and drink it. So here I am - allergy boy - trying to stave of malaria and other tropical beasts through eastern medicinal meditation, exercise, a healthy fresh diet, and strengthening my immune system eating away!! Fanta and canned food, because that's how we do!! Lol.

I just find it amusing how things go as they do. Rituals and customs make both sides do things they may not want to do, and without ever even asking about whether it is desired. Culture!! Oh, and they put on the generator as well.. In all seriousness, we humans are all they same. We all want to show ourselves in a good light and deep down inside we all want to be nice to people, to make them happy and feel welcome... Thanks, it worked tonight!!

Ok, one other tid bit... We spent three hours to drive 55 miles this afternoon. That is less distance than driving from suburbia Poughkeepsie to NYC. Imagine if that commute to work took 3 hours bouncing around in a 4x4. And this road is THE MAIN ROAD from Makeni north to Guinei. An international road!! 87 miles from Makeni to Guinei takes 6 hours. !?!? How does an economy flourish if people can't sell their goods 30 miles away and companies can't export with ease? Somehow... we've gotta get a real road built here... ;-/

They haven't eaten all day...

Hhmmm... Can't figure out what to write for the title. I'm hungry. But not as much as these kids I'm staying with must be. I came home and usually there is food cooking or ready. Not today. No money was left for food today, so no food was to be had. They havn't eaten all day. They needed 7000 leones, $1.75 for all ten of us to eat. I gave them 10000, and it was like the alarm at the firestation had just rang. They all scatered, some for water, some for food, some to get the fire started. They were hungry, but with no complaints. This is life, their life. As the one person here said, we eat when there is food. Up to now there has been plenty, but not today... And now as I write this, it is raining. They cook outside over a fire, now they cook outside in the rain... Insult to injury...

It seems wrong to write about the other worries of my day now, but I will as it is one of the main things i'm here to do. Oh.. And pouring now!!

So I started early this morning. Straight to reading how bricks are made. Fun stuff!! ;) but whether I like bricks or not, I want to help, I want to rebuild, and this makes me a brick man for now!! I went over to the expat hangout again today. Its the only place with power, and I can blend in as if I'm a hotel guest. Pretty much only white contract workers there - to expensive for everyone else.

I spent the day reading about this machine we will hopefully get and taking this information and turning it into a business plan/costing sheet for Kaps and Kevin to research this week. We've got to get someone in here that knows how to make bricks though. It all has to be just right. They seem to think we can just make it happen, but we need expertise. And that is exactly what it is all about with this type of thing, its not whether you can do it, but whether you can get people together that can. I'm trying.

Otherwise it was like little England today. I was surrounded by bright white brits baking by the pool, and english premier league football (soccer). I wish I was surrounded by american football!! No such luck.

Very interesting these expats. Always talking about how great the "package" is. Here for short high paid stints. Not for a cause, not to help - at least much more than themselves. Not all, but virtually all. And not all brits here, but virtually all.

Africa minerals is building a single use train line from their Tonkolili iron mine (aparently will be the biggest iron mine in the world) straight to Freetown. No one else will use the train, only them. And it's immense. Looks like they are building a full interstate highway. And that's actually what the locals think. They think they'll get to use it. Nope. It is strictly so Africa Minerals can take down an entire mountain set, cart it to port, and ship it off to the highest bidder.

They've brought in workers from all over the world, even others from Africa, but don't seem to be using much from Sierra Leone. Rumor has it they will provide 11000 jobs, but I see few so far, I'm sure they will come. They will pay laborers to mine for 5000 leones a day - $1.25 - and then they will sell the iron for billions and make lots of people in the UK and wherever very rich. Taking Sierra Leone's resources and leaving only a few dollars behind for the people while they watch football and drink imported beer. There is something wrong with this, at least to me...

A day in the life...

So today was a very interesting African day. Got up and had two visitors before 7.30!! No time is private time!! I found two mosquitos in my net, both of which were tested for internal content and both were full of human blood.. Not the best of omens!! But as always I did some chi gung, hoping it will make a difference. Then I went for a run with moses (neither of these are typical african though!!). Of course though on the run I wanted to see a specific area and of course didn't!! Then I was supposed to meet with Mak, the rugby coach and head of athletics for the northern province. Found out later that his phone was off as it was out of charge.

I went instead to the internet place and it was not working. Its at the posh hotel that all the foreigners stay at, so I set up shop near the pool/bar area and started to write. There where two (i think british) business men all geared up, obviously on a mineral type profit making mission, then in came my crew of young african progressives - educated and trying to make a difference. Of course here was me (idealist) and then a youngish scotish ngo women, several random africans, and another american ngo/writer type. All meeting up in the same place. People that in other lights would never be in the same room. I of course struck up convo with the ngo types - and the next group of for profit guys to come in - which ones do you think I got along with!? Anyway, out of it all I might of gotten a free two day trip to a far out village next week, and also an invite to a conference on disabilities next weekend.

From there my next appointment fell through. So I headed home where dinner consisted of "bush cat". Not sure what it was, tasted good, but stomach a bit off. I think it is the oil in everything i'm struggling with... Then I waited for the first meeting's person again and eventually pushed off to tomorrow and headed to meet up with two peace corps volunteers for a little conversation. Headed from there to look at school for the disabled. Part of the school and housing are in an old slaughter house. What!? It was the first thing here that made me angry. Appalling conditions, packed into rooms, in a place designed for killing (though apparently never used). I need to go back in day light to get some pictures. From there we headed home on a motorcycle and called it a night.

Woo.. what a day. Got nothing done I set out to do, but saw some incredible things, met some interesting people, and got some other things done that I didn't intend to do... But hey, this is Africa.. Amazing place. ;)

siesta

SO I'M OUT EXPERIMENTING AGAIN, AND YES, I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS JUST WANTS TO WRITE IN CAPITALS! BUT MAYBE THAT IS THE WAY EVERYTHING WILL BE FROM SIERRA LEONE - YELLING!!  SO YOU ALL CAN HEAR ME FROM ACROSS OCEANS AND MOUNTAINS!!  LOL  OH YEAH, AND NO PARAGRAPHES EITHER!!  ANYWAY, SO I'M HANGING OUT IN MY HAMMOCK SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FISHKILL RIDGE AND MOUNT BEACON. I'VE GOT SOME DECENT PICTURES BUT NOT SURE HOW I WANNA HANDLE THEM FROM THE PHONE HERE.  I'M EATING A NICE LUNCH OF COLD CHICKEN SAUSAGES AND CHEESE AND CRACKERS. I NEED SOME VEGGIES HERE BUT LEFT EARLY IN MORNING AND DIDN'T GET ANY ON THE WAY.  OTHERWISE, IT'S COLD, 54F (11C) AND GETTING COLDER IT SEEMS, DESPITE WHAT THOSE LIEING METEOROLOGIST WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE!! LOL.  THE REAL ISSUE IS THE GEAR. THE WOOL IS GREAT FOR WARMTH AND QUICK DRYING, BUT IT IS NOT WOVEN INTO A DOUBLE LAYERED WICKING FABRIC TO PULL THE MOISTURE AWAY FROM MY SKIN. MEANING, WALKING IN MY COLD SWEAT DOESN'T HELP, NOR WILL WALKING IN MY HOT SWEAT IN SALONE (SL). BUT I'LL TAKE THAT HOT WEATHER OVER THIS COLD STUFF ANY DAY!!  THINKIN TO JUMP INTO MY SLEEPING BAG HERE, BREAK OUT MY BOOK, "HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA", AND SEE WHAT COMES OF IT!! I'M THINKIN A NAP!! ;)

Things...

Getting close...!!  Also getting tired of planning and experimenting, and whatever else there is that I've been doing.  I've spent the last couple days out in the woods on two treks.  Not very long, but fully geared up.  Its been rewarding, no soreness, no issues, nothing of concern.  I still am not completely geared up though.  I finally gave in and decided that I needed to buy a stove.  I purchased the MSR Dragonfly stove.  I wanted to use the aluminum can stove, but I have just gotten to the point where there are too many uncertainties.  Most profoundly, both whether I could actually get it to work properly, and whether I could even get the right kind of fuel in Sierra Leone.  So I've decided to just get a proper stove that can use any kind of fuel (white gas, kerosene, unleaded fuel, diesel, and even jet fuel!!) and would function in most any environment.  But... another cost...  :-/  One, that had to be done though. 

Otherwise, the only real things left are to finish up my medical kit, get a bed roll of some kind, and maybe a safari type hat. Also, extra batteries, toiletries, couple books, etc.  I have also decided that I will take a bit of food with me.  Maybe a few couple kilos (4-5 pounds) of rice, some energy bars, and some homemade beef jerky.  I am of course experiementing with makeing the jerky right now.  Not bad so far...  we'll see...  ;) Ultimately though, this week is about relaxing, getting into the woods with my gear, and trying to just get comfortable walking and in my gear.   

If I'm safe...

Another substantial development has come about.  I spoke to the one Peace Corps volunteer that I have been coresponding with fairly regularly now - "Alli".  I spoke with her for 30 minutes and 37 seconds using SkypeOut and calling directly to her mobile phone.  It cost $14.48!!!!  Holy #$@^#$%^#@!!!!!  I guess I won't be hearing from too many people while I'm over there.  There has got to be a cheaper way to do that...  We'll see.  Not sure how much data usage goes one with skype to skype online calls.  That would seem to be a heck of a lot cheaper on the whole, but this puts all the cost on me while in country. 

...why wouldn't he be??

But this call was great.  I learned one fundamentally profound thing: I WILL BE ABSOLUTELY FINE.  I know there are enough detractors (or in urban parlance - "Haters") out there that have been critical - even patronizing at times - regarding my trip.  I have tried to tell everyone that I will be absolutely fine.  And I will.  I'll probably be safer in Sierra Leone than driving through Newburgh, NY!!.  There are good people out there, and it sounds like a lot of them live in Sierra Leone!!  ;)  

Hiking Lessons

So yesterdays trip was a very good learning lesson on what I will be doing daily and how best to try to handle it. Firstly, the water situation is going to have to be solved properly.  I was planning on getting a camelbak bladder that can either go into the backpack or on it somehow.  My backpack is not ideal as it is old and doesn't have a compartment made for it.  The other thing is that I drink a lot of water, so this is key.  I was out for pretty much 7 hours yesterday and I drank over five liters just while I was out, never mind before and after, and I still only peed once while I was out, and that was at about 6 hours into the journey.  So in a day like yesterday I would imagine that I drank 7 or 8 liters of water.  The plan then is going to have to be to make sure that when I wake up that I start hydrating immediately and that once I stop I do the same.  Because the more water you carry the heavier it all is.  It is nice though that your pack gets lighter as the day goes!!

The backpack is a bit tricky, it is not ideal.  It is old, and was not bought to do what I'm doing but to go around europe from hostel to hostel.  It is not going to be good in the rain and was not entirely comfortable.  I mean it was ok, and poor people don't go out and buy new things, but my shoulders are a little sore today, but nothing I would get used to though.  The bag's straps don't sit at the same angle as my trap muscles do so they dig in a bit.  The waste strap is a bit tricky as well, couldn't get in right spot to take more weight off the shoulders without restricting the waste area.  But the biggest thing that I really needed was a pocket or two.  Everything I have on that pack is in the back, I definitely need something on the waste strap that I could put the phone in, pen and paper, snack, whatever.  Everytime I have a thought and want to remember it for writing later it would be nice to be able to note it, and pockets in my shorts seemed to be in the way of walking.  That will be a necessity.  I definitely will need a compass, I was actually quite happy with my sense of north and south, but it was because I knew the map of the trail and the sun was out.  I'm good at that stuff anyway, but Sierra Leone will be a different and less 'known' scenario.

Shoes:  I love the Vibrams.  But I have to get my feet in better shape to stretch and work like that.  The hills took a lot out of them, asking them to flex more and more powerfully than they had.  I should have done about ten miles the first day out instead of 16.  I also would like to get one of the trekking pairs that has a little bit more grip and a bit of padding.  The padding could be a plus, especially with the pack on - but not a necessity while walking, running it could help though.  I'd also like to get the new running one the bikila, that has a bit of padding as well.  It seemed like my body was used to walking "barefoot" with my natural weight, but once I put on the heavy pack my heel strike got much harder.  After about a mile or so I feel like my stride had adjusted to the body/weight dispersment.  My feet are really sore on the inside today.  The muscles and tendons really.  But actually it is mostly the left one which a did hit at one point.  I also have a leg length discrepancy that annoys one side or the other at times.  So it could be some of all that.  I don't have anything even remotely resembling a blister though.  They were fabulous in that sense.  Actually, the shoes were fabulous in general except for a little slippage in the beginning on steeper grassy hills, but it was fine once I settled in.  

I started out in a simple pair of cotton shorts, it really would be nice to just use synthetic moisture management shorts and stuff, but I just don't feel as good when I wear synthetics.  We'll see, a pair of running shorts I have would have been great so maybe i'll try them in the future.  But the shorts I started in were really quite good, they did get drenched though.  I changed into more typical lightweight cotton cargo shorts once I started back.  I don't know if it was because when I stopped that I stopped sweating and my thighs dried up, but the chaffing started immediately.  I changed shorts after not even a mile to similar ones as what I started in (and have been running in regularly) but they didn't help.  I will need to solve this problem as it is debilitating.  Inner thighs and 'up' ouch.  Body glide is another option, but that is one of those long term debilitating, short term 'solutions'.  Your body becomes dependent upon it.  Usually I get some chaffing the first few times out running each spring in shorts but my thighs just sort of adapt after a bit.  Maybe this would happen?  I don't know, this was pretty bad.  I must admit I even thought that I might need to consider underwear as I was finishing up - huge concession for me.  Then of course my mother gave a brief lecture on that one as well.

One thing I was thinking with the shorts and shirt was to have two pairs one for the morning and one for the afternoon as I did it yesterday.  That way the wet one could hang and dry while hiking.  If I wore one pair all day they would never dry at night and it was really nice to put a dry pair on after lunch.  I wore a 'spouse' beater (more commonly known in a 'gendered' context which I prefer not to use;)  I thought this was pretty good.  I don't know if it is best, but I was cool enough I suppose.  I can't vouch for how good it would be to walk into a village like that though, backpack on, looking gorilla-esque.  I still want to try the silk shirts and see how they works.      

I also stopped to try to get some stuff out of my pack and it underlined the need for organization.  I wasn't trying to be for this day, just looking to add weight, but I will need to develop a system.  I am going to basically be living with this thing on my back and need for it to be completely functional.  I also saw a father and son that were using hammocks, they didn't have much great to say about them.  "Good for a couple days, but not extended trips".  Everything I hear though is that I will have to stay off the ground with tropical camping, and that pretty much starts and stops with a hammock.  Theirs was interesting, straight tied to three trees it was just a nylon hammock with a mosquito screen on the top.
 



I'm thinking I will have one, they said they were great weight wise, but then I would take a bed role and light bag so I could sleep on the ground if needed.  One thing I took from the book a long way gone, is that surviving in the forests there is incredibly feasible.  Ishmael was 12 and he managed with just the clothes on his back, I should be able to as well with my pack and no war to navigate through.

Bugs.  Wow, they are annoying.  The one thing I can't understand is why it is they just want to fly into your eyes?  I don't mind them flying around me, or landing on me, but why must they fly into my eyes?  Even blinking isn't sufficient.  The problem that I had with this is you can't really enjoy the forest, you are kind of squinting and blinking, its like your face must remain tense and defensive at all times.  But it was really only an issue in the forrest, in the clearings it wasn't an issue.  I put on a little bit of natural bug spray and it helped some, but I think I sweat it off in about fifteen minutes.  It was supposed to be 92 (33C) degrees yesterday, but it seems much nicer and cooler in the forest.

As far as other equipment, I thought about a hat, but think it would be hot, though I did spend a lot of time wiping sweat off my brow.  So might be worth looking into, especially if it rains.  I think for me it really will be about more pockets and better organization of my thing in a way that is more usable while moving.  It is really annoying to have to take off your pack to do or get anything.  I'm thinking I might look into the way the army sets up their gear, could be a good benchmark.  I also needed business cards, as I met a few people that I could've just handing them a card and maybe they'd check the site instead of just telling it to them - I'd probably forget it.  They are one of the target audiences so a good idea.  The food was fine, nuts and dried fruit, broccoli and grilled chicken, I wasn't hungry much at all.  Not even for lunch or dinner for that matter, but I knew I needed to eat.  Fruit will be important, but it sounds like it is readily available in Sierra Leone.  My body will need the sugars.

Anyway, I think its time to end this novel for now.  I feel like there was more, but you're probably already either asleep or didn't even make it this far anyway!!  lol.  Enjoy the day...        
 

Appalachian Trail

So I'm getting geared up to head out on the Appalachian Trail for what looks like a 16 mile saunter.  Going to go from Route 20 in Pawling to the "Wiley" shelter which is right before the connecticut border.  It'll be an 8 mile out and again back.  Given my experience with hiking like this though I have a sneaky suspicion I won't be able to walk the whole way.  Out and backs just kill me and I usually end up just running back.  When I went to Greece and hiked from see level up a 1500m (4500ft) mountain, and then ran the whole way back down and was back by 1pm.  I think I am just so used to running that walking feels so slow and my mind just gets itchy!!  But I'll be packing up not just a regular backpack.  I'm gonna take the pack that I would take to Sierra Leone and pack it full of stuff to weigh it down.

Just finished a big old american breakfast (yes, I'm cheating - first experiment and all), and am packing up kind of a grazing scenario for eating.  I've got some nuts and dried fruits, left over grilled chicken, some raw broccoli, and blueberries, but I'm out of rice cakes and raw bars.  My local Stop and Shop here doesn't carry either routinely.  Poor planning, but I'll survive.  Gonna take 6 liters of water with me, A, just in case, and B, it will weigh the backpack down!!

I'm going to send messages to the Facebook/Twitter scenario which will feed onto the Walking Lion site.  So anyone with nothing better to do on a saturday (or probably just my mother) can check it.  But anyway, its 10am, and getting to be time to be moving.  I do want to be out there for the hottest part of the day which should be about 3pm.  Actually, I shouldn't be in much of a rush, I must admit I don't 'wander' very well on hikes.  Usually just get after it, A to B.  I used to have a great hiking companion that would pretty much race up mountains with me!!  No more...  Now not sure how it will all work out...  Giddie Up!!