CURRENT MISSION

To be as much as possible near kind people and in a beautiful environement. Looking for beauty all the time and always grateful of meeting folks who have different traditions and simple lives.

ABOUT ME

I had a store in Laytonville CA which was only opened in the summer.
Every winter i go home to Goa and i also I travel around.That is when i do my shopping . Hand looms hand embroidery and anything that is beautiful, that has good colors, good texture that is useful or fun to look at. Now that the store is closed I do more business on wholesale.
I still have a storage with dozens of bins filled with treasures. ' fruits of my travels'. Some I manage to find stores to sell them. But I also hope one day I will have a "on line store'

Every where I travel one of my goals is to be where I can soak in hot springs.I have pain in my joints and to soak in hot water always make me feel better.
I went to 7 hot springs last winter! (2009) 2 in Bali.( not hot ) ! 3 in Thailand. One in India and one in Nepal. Japan is my ultimate goal which I am now looking into. as we say impossible is not French, I follow my dreams and we'll see. Couch surfing will be especially essential for this new adventure.

PHILOSOPHY

If i can make a difference in people's life then it makes me happy.
I practice improvement in kindness and compassion.
I am a student of positive and creative thinking.
I am fully committed. There is no way back.
I practice to cancel any thought which will not bring any happy results and to replace with new thoughts which will bring happiness.

I always invent new dreams and see if i can pull them through.
i do believe that we can have only one thought at a time. To have a strong focus on very interesting and fascinating projects help my life to never be dull or boring.
Faith in the power of Light and Goodness and trust in Spirit within me, enriches me and guides me to choose joy over pain, happiness over sadness and hope over fear.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

It is too complicate these years to get on line and communicate with people for having couch surfing guests.

and i am not much home! I am moving most all the time.
I was in Nepal with the kids this October(2013) and in Burma in November!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first experience by my self on couch surfing was a failure. it was in Japan in 2010.
The reason was because in japan they mostly sleep on futons and due to my replaced knees i cannot sit on the floor nor up by myself.
So it was so difficult. i ended spending a lot of money on bunk beds which i really don't like. hard to get up and I bang my head !
But one of the worst thing is that I had no couch surfer friends. I was really on my own . no support . No friends really so that was hard.
Right now( dec 20130) i am in Rotarua in New Zealand. just had a great grand ma hosting me in Gisborne.
I did send so many requests and it took weeks to get an answer and now i got 2. someone said the New Zealanders do not answer!is it true really ? looks like it !
I wonder why be on couch surfing if one never answers !

My second time in couch surfing was with my son, in Bresil, in 2011. Now that was much easier. we even stayed in a community in the NordEst who had their own private water fall !it was awesome.

Interests

Traveling amidst nature and beauty, Soaking in hot springs, buying extraordinary things, making my store beautiful.( I still have a little store at a gathering of friends every July, in Oregon and some times we do festivals.)
Going on trips with the 10 children of this little orphanage of Kathmandu, which is now so much part of my life.We just went to Pokhara and saw the whole range of Annapurna. it was all clear!
Going on memorable bike rides with my son looking for hot springs, awesome views and smiling people.
hanging around with old and new friends.
Classical Indian music of all kind is so enjoyable to me. Specially the singing is my favorite.
I just attended ( 5-8 dec 2013 ) the council of the 13 indigenous grand mothers in Gisborne. The MAORIS WERE SINGING AND DANCING. AMAZING! SO ALIVE !
I feel empowered to meet and pray at the sacred fire of the 13 grand mothers. I went to 3 councils: in Japan, Brazil and now New Zealand. I learn a lot with them always. And always there are hot springs also !

One of my greatest passions the last few years has been to have the tailors of Kathmandu, make new designs for new patches and find bags of old forgotten ones under their cabinets and buy them all. I have now a huge collection of hand embroidery patches which some i sell at stores or at festivals. One day i hope on line...

I practice old and new languages.
I never cook but with an exception . I am a Chai maker. I often make big and huge pots of Chai. When i am home in Goa very often I have a Chai party with friends and we hang around. Often we play music and make a fire outside like in the old days, and have a pot luck.
Some thing new last winter ( 2013) I had (and will carry on again when I return to Goa mid January a ' food for thoughts breakfast', 9.30am on Sundays. after we all ate, each one shares a thought, a prayer, an experience etc.. and we talk about it.

Traveling in Indonesia , (Bali and Sumatra )this last April and May 2010, I discovered a new interest: IKATS. If I have had many Ikat tapestries in my store I never understood that before being woven a lot of the threads were being tied into knots for the dying process and in that way also preparing the threads for the patterns. IKAT for the people of Indonesia has been a very fully part of their spiritual life. It is now for me very new passion!

In Goa also I have a library for children. all first readers, all levels up to youth with all the classics; even for grown ups. But specially I invite the mothers to teach their babies to read when they are one year or 2 years old! And i show them how to do it.

• humanities
• singing
• beauty
• festivals
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• partying
• shopping
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• surfing
• business
• languages
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

I like all travel books .Specially on Hot Springs. Some spiritual books at a very small dose. like may be a page at a time or a paragraph are enough to inspire me.
Classical Indian music is my favorite. I have also discovered on my computer, lots of World music from the Putamayo albums that loving friends have put there for me to use..
I have discovered the joy of writing and I do send to my friends the tales of my travels as well as photos that illustrate all the new adventures.
If you wish to be on my list you can ask me and i will put you on.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Having giving birth to 3 great children, and traveled with them.
Having seen them transformed into wonderful adults that are giving and sharing.
Amazed often by the generosity of simple and poor people.
Seen the beautiful blown away smile of the orphan children in Kathmandu when I gave them a beautiful doll, and teddy bears.

Teach, Learn, Share

We have home schooled our kids and also I have taught my babies to read. It is always fun to share about that.
Love to talk about fun travels and find humor about those harder times .
Always happy to practice languages and to learn new things if they are not too hard ! Happy to guide any one going to India , specially for the first time .

JUNE 2014. Was in morocco with my son.people were so nice and friendly. A full delight. we
started to learn at once the Arabic alphabet. Fascinating! As soon as I can take a few minutes I practice a bit.

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Cambodia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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