rainbow

http://youtube.com/watch?v=siXe7bKt1q0&feature=related

loreena mckennit, beneath a phrygian sky

Happenings!

Ha Ma Iris, Lowell, Scot!

Okay obviously I'm in a upper mood. Probably because I started work today at 6 and got off at 10:45! Only 4.75 hours. It is such a nice place to work at! All four of the other waitresses (esme, maddie, tiffany, and adrina) are kiwi and very friendly. Everyone actually sort of teases one of the girls because she talks a lot. I actually love when people talk a lot because they are trusting themselves with you! They give to me, and the more they give the more I want to give them whatever I have going on in my head!

My good buddy from canada left yesterday. It was so weird. I have only known her 4 weeks, but i actually felt tears welling up when I realized she actually wasn't cleaning with us this morning. she was off to travel around new zealand. In 4 weeks I have to say stacy opened me up more than anyone has in years. she just opened up so much of herself to me when I first met her that I couldn't help opening up to her. Before i knew it i found myself starting every sentence with "ohh my god, fuckin shit....". Anyway, now i try to do what she did with me. I feel myself being much more open with people and saying whatever comes to mind, weather it be a comment or a question for them. Friendship is built on an infinite amount of random thoughts. Its just so amazing how much other people open up to me when I open many of my thoughts (I'd usually hide) to them.

Tommorrow i am going to a music concert on the streets with my two roommates. One is from taiwan (naomi) and the other is from japan (yuko). They say I talk soo fast! haha....who would think that??

Alrighty guys I hope you are doing very well tonight! I love your updates and comments :)

preface

Oh yes, and I recommend viewing the website link before reading my message....yes yes.

Amor Fati

Fianna (Irish Gaelic): Bands of young warriors
Check out this link for sure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObzQOztMaZ4
If it does not work, go to
Youtube.com
then type "Planet Earth" into the search box and click on the first option that pops up.
Our Earth is so magical, so beautiful.
Family, it almost, okie yes....it does bring me to tears. Our earth is so fragile in the same way like a woman is. I feel and empathize with this woman, our great mother. I cry with her, she is being raped and ravaged of her beauty.
We must act.

This past week has been amazing for me. 70 hours of work/life and I couldn't feel any more awake. We had ATA (advanced training academy) at City Year. We did several intense workshops, my favorite by far was the inclusivity line. So many people think of diversity in terms of race, but like you and i know...diversity blooms from the content of an individuals character. We had done many workshops focused on m&m diversity (that of color/race) this time we did it based on content.
The exercise set a group of 150 people on side of a line running across the room. (City Year is by the way one of the most diverse groups you will ever come across in America.) The facilitator asked maybe 100 questions like....
Do you feel you lived a difficult life growing up, do you consider your family wealthy, Do you accept jesus christ as your savior, are you atheist or agnostic, have you been raped, have you forced yourself on another person sexually, have you been arrested, were you adopted, do you believe the community at city year is real, do you consider yourself attractive, would you like to loose ten pounds, have you considered suicide, are you a survivor of suicide.....
When each question was asked people would either step over the line if the statment was true for them or they would remain behind the line if it wasn't. People fell on a perpendicular spectrum (if it was very true for them they went beyond the wall and perhaps all the way to the wall, or not true and to the wall on the otherside of the room)
When people found their place we looked each other in the eyes and moved back behind the line for the next question.
I couldn't believe how many women had been raped, how many people drove drunk in their cars, accepted jesus as their savior, and the number of people that were survivors of suicide....
It brought me to tears, everyone was so incredibly honest.
We had a discussion after the exercise about our reactions. I stood up and expressed my feelings, tears flowing from my eyes, unable to catch my voice drowning in the sorrow, suffering and pain. A girl said, "take your time, you got it"
I found my voice, tears flowing...that voice so weak yet so strong.
"This exercise reiterates how much pain , suffering and sadness their is in the world...everyone is suffering everyone is feeling pain in one way or another, it just reminds me the incredible importance of being kind to one another."
I felt so sorry that I may have unintentionally given someone a bad look, or said an unkind thing. Life is too short to hatred and negativity. We must spread love and kindness, there is no going wrong as long as we are kind in our hearts and in our actions.
So many people came up to me after and expressed their appreciation for what I said. They heard my voice.
One guy, he is new to City Year, he will only be doing half of the year and he was ironically placed on my team. He is such an amazing person. He came up to me and said, "you have it, you have got it, you are going to do something for this world...."

I feel scared family. I feel scared of my name. I was browsing the dictionary the other day and this is what I discovered with little effort
Iris: greek goddess of the rainbow, messenger of the Gods
Jean: related to jene or gene: to give birth
Elyse: Elysium: Elysian fields, place of condition of ideal happiness, blissful, delightful
Garth: garden or paddock, comes from gher: to grasp, enclose, garden, shelter, house
waite: comes from waiter: to wait, watch and can be related to waiter as in to serve.

I am to give birth to the messages of God to create a garden of bliss.
I could run to my bed and dream wonderful or frightful dreams of this truth or I could live and breathe with it moment of my life. I am not dreaming when strangers and family alike look me in the eye and tell me I am going to create a better world.

I have the dictionary in front of me right now. Ever since I was a little girl I would do this. "randomly" select a page and "random" chose a word with my finger ultimately knowing that fate was guiding me all along.
I just did it. I closed my eyes. Felt the heart beating in my body and resonating speaking whispers to my soul. This word will describe my destiny. It is is fate's hands, yet it is in my hands, my hands are this dictionary, I am this dictionary. My hand surrenders to my heart, my finger follows.....
task: 1. A piece of work assigned or done as part of ones duties. 2. A difficult or tedious undertaking. 3. a function to be preformed, an objective. originates from tax.

Our dad told me a secret, "Iris, hunny, I am going to tell you a secret...You must not tell anyone,
In life, remember that your two feet face forward."

My heart beats in all directions, my soul shines beyond physical limitations, and my feet, my feet face forward.

I love you guys so much. I know we can make this journey together. Our world needs us. Our fragile mother needs kindness and love to flow like a river from her heart and wash over the surface of our world to heal her scarred surface.

I am not sure what the future holds, but I am certain that if I follow my heart...I will reach the place of intention.
I send love upon the wings of the butterflies soaring between us,
Iris

update....

Well tonight I am off to work. It's going well. It's my ideal work environment for lots of reasons. But one big one is that I get to work with a bunch of kiwis which are people from New Zealand! I'm still picking up the accent and the expressions they use like "sweet as" and "aye". Its a great environment b/c I'm also learning a lot. One of the girls who is now 20 has been waitressing for 5 years. The other is 35 and says she's been waitressing since she was 20. They are very friendly, great with the customers, and are always on top of their job. Its a real change from raleigh's.

neway, my good friend is leaving on Tuesday. So me, her and the other woofer are going out for a bite to eat tomorrow, then the next day hanging out on the beach, and then going out to the shark club at night when I get back from work.

Hope everyine is doing well. Keep me posted on how life is going with you even if its just one sentence a day!!

ohh iris...I made my own veggie tikka masala the other night which tasted just like the one in naan and curry. I was so proud of myself! I have a pic which I'll post up later!

Got a job!

Hurray, I got a job at my #1 choice restaurant. I ran into it while I was running on the beach a few days ago. It's right along the water looking out at the mountains. You can see orca whales and dolphines from inside the restaurant when you look out at the water.

I'm going in for a trial run tomorrow so I hope they think I'm okay. The place feels great. The owner seems very friendly, the staff seem like people I'd click with, and it doesn't seem to fast paced. Its a gorgeous restaurant which I have a really good feeling about!

Getting out of Nelson....

Navy seals reporting for duty....

The big rafting trip in Murchison yesterday. I did some major class 3-4 rapids! I have to say that while the day was great, the rafting was a bit disappointing. It's to bad and it's really to bad I spent 105$ to do it! On the whole I'd say the rafting trip was a 4-5 on a scale of 1to 10. 1 being I was miserable the whole time. 10 being this was the best thing ever. I want to do it everyday for the rest of my life. If your the kind of person that would rather go on the vortex at great america then I highly suggest level 5 rapids! If, when your at a theme park you like to go on the bumper cars I'd say do class 3/4 rapids. They are fun, but kinda lame...yaknow?




Okay, the good and the bad. The ugly, my wetsuit smelled like someone had just peed in it the day before. geeeerosss! -The rapids- while they look astonishing here they didn't knock the raft around much. Our boat did go all the way on its side so we almost flipped, but other than that I almost felt like I was going over a bunch of large speed bumps...booooring! I wanted to feel like Kevin Beacon in "The RiverWild"--now that's what I call river rafting!

One of the more enjoyable parts was the experience of being on the river. There is something really peaceful, exciting, and beautiful about floating down a river with a bunch of people. If the rapids would have been more "life threatening" if you will I would definitely go again and again!

Also, the photographer was hilarious. She called herself "squirrel" and while you were rafting you'd look into the distance and see her between a grove of trees, or on a bridge, or on top of rocks just like a little squirrel. I thought that was some funny shit!






Another great part of the trip was that I went on a hike in which I developed a new love for hiking! It was a short 30 minute hike. The picture is a view from the top. Can you see the small town of Muchison below!! I realized I just love hiking because your getting exercise, taking in the scenery, and striving to accomplish a goal! I can't wait to do the 3 day Abel Tasman Coastal Track and 3 day Routeburn hike.




This is the biggest kite and basically the only kite I saw at this "kitefestival" which was a bit of a bust. Evidently I got there late and there were tons of gigantic kites in the air just before I got there. Even chinese fighting kites that were trying to bring eachother down like in "Kiterunner". I had no idea how popular kiteflying is in pakistan.


This is a picture from the hike. Pictures like words, always cut out so much! You just have to hear the crickets, the bustling of the birds, feel the freshness of the air, and the excitement of getting to the top to really bring the moment to justice.

Okay my party people, I hope all is going well. How are things going!!!!!!!!!! Check comments to your blogs b/c I often read them again and write more comments. :) I love you and am thinking of you everyday!

Trying to figure out what I'm doing...

Picture from Routeburn 3 day Track

ahh I'm exhausted. I've been thinking all day about what my goals are while I'm in New Zealand. It's hard to travel b/c I don't have any money. But I can't just go to new zealand and only see nelson. Working in a hostel is not the best environment if you want to stay in one place b/c people are constantly coming from doing something new and exciting in New zealand. These are terms I hear constantly...

" Ohh, this is just like the Bay Area you have to go see New Zealand."
" Ahh, you have got to go kayaking at Abel Tasman! It's beautiful"
" I've just travelled all over the south island"

blah blah....

So anyway...it's late thats why I'm moody. I think the plan will be to get a job for a while then travel the last 2 weeks I'm here


View from Abel Tasman Coastal Track which takes 3-5 days

In 2 days: level 3-4 white water river rafting!


People rafting the buller river...I'm doing this exact section of the river on monday! Yikes...

another week: Mountain biking in Abel Tasman
Just before I leave: do the abel tasman Coastal Track (1 of the 9 "New Zealand Great walks")
then down to fiordland to do the Routeburn track another "NZ GREAT WALK" takes 3 days of hiking with some awesome scenery.

Then I'll do some surfing lessons at Mt. Maunganui on the North Island
- and finish up at wellington

how bot it iris??

Possibilities!

HAHAHAHA, That group picture with all the Monks/ Hare Kirshnas is the picture of the future people! HEhe momma, your comment was so hilarious! Hahaha, did you "know I would like that" momma? Hahaha!
In Nepal and India I am sure there is usually one boy of a buddhist family that will be a monk. Imagine every family having one son given to God. Sometimes at the age of 5 and 6 these children become monks and live in monasteries.
I have been really really busy! But I am doing well, living life, biking like a crazy woman! This saturday I am going to start working with the City Heroes program. The program teaches high school youth that they can make a difference in their communities and in the world. They learn about all different sorts of social justice issues, then plan ways to be apart of the solution. I will be leading a team through all sorts of workshops, overnights, service projects and who knows what! I am so excited! I wish I had this opportunity in high school.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about next year recently ever since someone posted that Findhorn thingy.
Findhorn college sounds amazing! I would be living in an ecovillage in Scotland learning all the most valuable things I want to learn in life! The website led me to another called livingroutes.org or something like that. It also has amazing study abroad programs that would include a similar or even more extensive curriculum than LeapNow.
I also found an opportunity to volunteer in an orphanage in Chile. I wouldn't have to pay anything...well room and board would be provided as long as I live in the orphanage. I would love to travel to south america and be apart and immersed in such a youthful culture.
And of course, I could go back to Nepal and help Maggie start a childrens home.
I will also be applying to a few colleges just well...because. I should be able to get a fee waiver.
Lots of options for this life full of infinite possibilities!
Momma, I got your package! Thank you for doing that! you should also be getting a package soon! ;)
Sierra, I would tell the girl that yes, it can be a sad experience but I didn't feel sad once when I was at the Childrens home. There were so many horrible stories of why they ended up at the orphanage and well I watched three kids be dropped off during my time there. There are a lot of things to be sad about, but when you are playing with these children and see their incredible smiles and laughter....There is nothing more joyful. All I did was bring more joy, tap into that joy and embrace that joy with them. It is better to go and be with those children and feel that joy with them, then speculate thousands of miles away about how sad you think they are.
I love you guys! Muah, Muah, Muah!

Iris dancer... any new revolations about your summer plans and...

Just wondering how summer planning is going for you. Are you gonna travel then end up in nepal, or work at that jewish camp??

also, my roomate is thinking of working at an orphanage in s america. She thinks it might be to sad. I told her it wasn't but I'd get the low down on what working in an orphanage is like from you....

Ohh I randomly saw the alchamist at the book store today..weird...cause the girl told me all about it....I had to get it bc it seems fate is throwing it my way :)

Hope all is well. How are you doin???

Hope your interview went okay ma!

ladies and gentlemen...

Ladies and gentlemen..... The below group picture.. could it be a Kersten group portrait in our next life?
Sierra, you are a very creative writer!!! I hope you're kidding in regards to that picture of a man looking like a crazy lunatic. He looks someone who would push you in that sand pit! Though, the ice cream cone makes up for it.
Love,
Momma

Magic

Yay! Happy 24th birthday to both of my wonderful dancing siblings!
Sierra, I am so unbelievably happy for you. I can feel you, so happy and joyful on your journey.
Jack?, Stay strong, be graceful and don't forget about magic!
I love you guys so much!
Sierra, I too went on a walk today. I saw all the same colors you saw but they were soaring across the sky melting into the distance as todays light faded into night.
Hmmm, Life is wonderful.
Iris

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

Look who came to celebrate your birthday with you....

The meditation group in Tumkur

Wonderful 24th Birth-Day (almost quarter century ma!)

A SECRET GARDEN: MY B-DAY PRESENT FROM THE ULTIMATE ONE

I discovered this "secret garden" on my walk to the center of New Zealand. It really didn't look like anything special from the outside. I only decided to venture across the street because there was an art exhibit in the park. As I passed through the gates I walked into a small patch of paradise. There was a long white arched bridge (the kind you see in movies) with a beautiful murky stream windy under it. I enjoyed looking at the way in which the stream snaked into the distance. I crossed the bridge and discovered a tiny piece of Paris in the summer. A beautiful circular labyrinth with benches surrounding the circumference and a fountain in the middle. There were dark red, yellow, orange, and pink roses in the labyrinth. I saw the whitest gleaming seagulls you could imagine souring just a few feet over the flowers. I could hear the sound of crickets that made the place feel alive. There are palm trees, trees with purple flowers, trees with bright red flowers to name only a few. I liked the sound of croaking seagulls mingling with each other like argumentative siblings.

Lesson in traveling #1: Never look down in a portable bathroom :)





WALK TO THE VERY CENTER OF NEW ZEALAND!



TRAVELER FROM CANADA MET ON WALK

haha...



TRAVELER BOUGHT ME A B-DAY ICE CREAM




"HOLE OF DOOM" MY B-DAY BUDDY AND I CONSTRUCTED AT THE BEACH



I GIVE IT A 6 OUT OF 10



MY BIRTHDAY CAKE FROM NATE!

The owner was so nice. They stayed up until I got home to sing me happy birthday :).

HAPPY BIRTHAY TO SEA-SHINE!!!!!!!!

Hello my traveling daughter and happy #24!!!!!!!!! Did you realize your almost a quater of a century old? Did you know your mother is almost a half a century old.? That fact about your mother should make you feel very young. (forget about the quater ) Yes, you are quite young compared to all the baby boomers who refuse to age gracefully. And you have a whole quater of a century to catch up with me. Hope I totally confused you on your #24 birthday. :) :) How are you? I didn't realize that you're a day ahead in the big ZZZZZ....
Hope you fit in some dancing. Any hip-hop?..... It was so sweet of Nat to send you a birthday cake. I am wondering how he sent it without damaging the frosting and art work? Though perhaps it made you miss Nat more...uummhh....
I miss you very much. The sun did shine today which enabled jack (your brother) and myself to shed one layer of clothing.
Peace up Peace down, Peace in, Peace out...
Love,
Momma

eternal summer returns

im sitting in mom's room, have 4 t-shirts on, two thermals, a long-sleeve, two pairs of socks, and a sweater as big as new zealand, am i'm still shivering!!!
son of a jack!!!! hahah

happy to hear things are going well in new zealand! i thought they might :)
anyway, run, jump, laugh, and sing!!! (well, maybe not sing....but definitely laugh!)

live to love, love to live

- son of a jack

If anyone is interested...

Welcome to the Findhorn Foundation’s brochure of courses for May to October
2008!
Since 1962 the Findhorn Foundation and community has had a vision of a peaceful
and sustainable world. We believe that this vision can become reality one heart at a
time—that personal transformation is the foundation of cultural change. As we each
look within and acknowledge that we and the rest of nature are part of an interconnected
web of life and begin to live from that consciousness, a peaceful world is truly
achievable.
We are proud to offer holistic education in a truly remarkable setting. From our humble
beginnings as a caravan park we have built a vibrant community and ecovillage of
over 400 people all committed to living from a common ground of love, service,
respect, responsibility and right relationship to the Earth and since 1974 100,000
people have travelled from all over the world to this beautiful peninsula in Scotland to
participate in our education programmes.
Whether you come for three days to hear an inspirational speaker, participate in
Experience Week or commit to one of our longer term programmes, we have found
that it is the dynamic combination of course content, the care and expertise of our
facilitators, the nourishment of living and working with like-minded people and the
natural beauty of our two campuses, The Park and Cluny Hill College, that creates
the truly magical Findhorn learning experience.
Many people return to Findhorn again and again as a way of nurturing their own
wellbeing. If you are at a crossroads in your life and opening to new possibilities,
wanting to stimulate your mind, explore your creativity, expand into a new sense of
who you are, find time to be still and go within, reconnect with the natural world or
to simply mix with kindred spirits, the opportunity is here and now.
We look forward to warmly welcoming you.
If you are interested in knowing more about the Foundation please visit
www.findhorn.org

Look at your comments when you write a blog

Hey guys!

Hows it goin!! Just so you know,maybe you already know, you can see if people responded to your blog by going to the bottom right corner of the blog and click on comments. Also if you want to respond to something someone said just click on comments and write something on that page :)

Life here is wonderful. My mind is a little tangled b/c everyone wants me to travel. There is a disjunction between what I want to do right now and what I think I should do. I'm scared that when I look back at this experience I will want to have traveled around new zealand a bit. This part of me thinks I "should" travel. On the other hand I am really enjoying this summer land. I have no urge to travel. I really enjoy waking up to the same wonderful roomates, doing my morning exercise (soccer/bike ride/run), my afternoon meditation, maybe the beach, writing to friends, going out with random people then bed. I've finally gotten a chance to slow my life down a bit and it feels so wonderful. I live next to Abel Tasman which has some great mountain biking and river rafting! But at the same time I guess I should see new zealand while I'm here.

Magic dust particles

Heylo! The top two pictures here are of the friendship garden the kids and I did. The bottom one is a giant butterfly I started to fix...I wish I could show you the final product it was pretty magical! The weather has been amazing, I know exactly what Scot was talking about. This wind that just feels like God's breath granting a million and one wishes to your soul. I have returned to the usual, "Iris can I punch that kid in the face?" but also the wonderful smiles and eye twinkles.

Sierra, that girl sounds amazing! Is she just traveling around New Zealand? What has been your favorite part so far? Are you so excited! I am soooooooo excited for you!

I am not sure what my plans are for this summer. I may work at a jewish summer camp in yosemite or I may travel to Thailand and Vietnam and that whole region and slowly make my way back to Nepal in September where I will work at the Children's home with Maggie.

You are back in the wild...

Hey guys!

I heard Iris and lowell left. Hopefully you guys got to where your going okay. Where are you going by the way and what are your general plans for next semester. Haha I sound like aunt sally, but seriously I want to know! Send pics or just a few words.

IRIS... a girl here named honey from sri lanka sounded like you the other day. She talked to me all about the universe having infinite possibilities, following your heart, the alchemist, dhe dresses totally how she wants and is very into yoga. Crazy huh! i think I may go with her to a yoga session tomorrow. She wants to talk to "talk to your sister". You guys both have a lot of similar ideas. She's also a crazy dancer as well. We were at this jazz festival and she was so into just feelin the music. So much that this girl came up to her and said "Do you take dance lessons?" haha...newho, I hope things are going good and your flyin high over there.

WRIT WRITE WRITE!! pleaseeeeee

Jazz festival, Saturday Market, and tour of the Town

Phone: 00 64 3 539 4227 Fax: 00 64 3 539 4227 Text: 021 123 6937

Email info@thebug.co.nz 226 Vanguard Street Nelson 7001 New Zealand

That's everything you need to know. Little do you know I'm not even at that hostel...I'm up in the sky...sky diving right now ma....weeee. You can reach me at 1800- flying-free-bird. I'm a little chick moving out of the nest trying her first arial flight. Haha..just kidding.

Newho, life here is wonderful. However, you'll be happy to know I'm on the same playing field as you guys. It is pouring rain right now. I kinda like it cause that means I can go outside without getting sunburned. My nose is bright red, my shoulders, my legs and my bum all got burned. Not to0 badly though.



I went to the famous saturday flee market in Nelson the other day. It was like telegraph on x-mas accept with real quality stuff, about 5 times, the size and much cleaner. At the market Nelson residence were selling beautiful jewelry, pottery, clothes, music, art, fruits and veggies.



I went and saw a great jazz swing band. In new Zealand it really doesn't matter what age you are everyone dances!! Young and old shake it as much as they can. It was actually raining, but people were still barefoot in their summer dresses dancing away to this band called "sideshow".



These are some veggies sold at the market.



I really wanted to get to know the town so i went for a walk. There were so many independant shops and lots of flowers everywhere. I ran into this quiet park with lots of trees and a wide open plot of grass for me to sit down on and enjoy the shade.



There are so many independat stores in the city. There are about 5 main roads with over 100 small shops on each road. They have internet cafe's, a shop called possibilities that sells cool meditation stuff and alternative spiritual stuff like crystals. There are lots of clothing stores, jewelry shops, a medium size movie theatre, a museum currently displaying all of davinci's inventions, lots of restaurants serving all kinds of foods like sushi, thai, Indian, American, New Zealand.

Hello Sea-Si Shine. I feel so wonderful to know that life in New Zealand is good to you. I can't believe how beautiful the beach looks. Here in California it has been raining, like 10 inches in one day in some areas. We're wearing coats, blankets, wool socks, whatever warm we can find. Iris flew back to Boston today. Lowell will be leaving tomorrow. I can't think of anything more exciting than what you're doing now. Yell scream and dance with much happiness.
Love, Momma
Can you include your address and phone #? I could not get the info when I got back from the airport

Heyo Ms Iris I've been doing so many things here its amazing and have had little time to write. I went to a jazz concert in founders park the other day. I went to another great jazz concert tonight. I love how it doesn't matter what age you are everyone gets up and boogies! They really dont care about looking good, its just abut groovin to the music. This town is awesome. I'll write more about it as soon as I can.

Thats wonderful Sierra! Hmmmmm so beautiful! How was you flight? What has been the most exciting part so far? What are you most excited about? Happy New Year! I guess you missed New Years eve! Tiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmeeeeee WAAAAAAAARrrrrpppppp!
I love you sis!

I made it..more to come!

My new beach!