Everyone has probably heard about the earthquake that happened near Lima last week. Several people have asked us if this will change our plans. The short answer is not really. After I heard about it I checked the news and some other useful resources: The South American Explorers Club and Lonely Planet. I remember after the Tsunami in Thailand, the Lonely Planet's official position was something like "Go travel. In a region where tourism is a vital source of revenue, it makes things even worse for the people there if tourists cancel trips because of the disaster." I figured the same would go for Peru.

The Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Forum on Peru had a lot of interesting opinions and ideas. I originally browsed it just to get an idea of the situation in Lima but by the time I finished reading, I thought, "Wait a minute, we might actually be able to do something useful." There are volunteers from the US who are probably booking tickets to fly to Peru and help out right now. We already have our tickets and we don't have to worry about limited vacation time from our jobs.

I've sent an e-mail to Un Techo Para Mi Pais: a South American organization that already builds simple houses in poor areas around South America. I think it is a student organization so I hope they don't consider us too old.

Another organization I learned about is Hands On Direct Relief. There was a listing on the Thorn Tree. A bit of browsing on the website led me to their contact info which was a PO Box in Carlisle, Massachusetts. This I found very bizarre because Carlisle happens to be the town I grew up in which had a population of about 4000 people when I left (and never went back) in '89. HODR is also looking for volunteers so if we are too old and our Spanish is to minimal for Un Techo Para Mi Pais, maybe I can work out something with HODR.

We had a wonderful time and great food with my fellow potters at Clay Associates (CA). We ate and talked about our trip and took a group photo



Then I glazed my last piece "Udu" (An african drum). I learned a lot in the past 2 years by making mostly ceramic drums and some other things like tea pots, jars and cups. I was also researching and experimenting with making my own glaze which is a very crucial part of making ceramics. I received lots of help and information from my instructors about making glaze and glazing techniques. Doing pottery gave me another way of looking at the world and nature. For example, from now on, anywhere I go I will be looking for other potters and ceramic studios to learn how they do this magnificiant art. I enjoyed every moment of my time at CA. Don't miss the summer and Christmas sales at CA.

Later at night we went to the Blarney Stone Irish pub to see our friends and play Irish music with some of my old band members (Skelpin)

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I played my new accordion which I bought for our trip and Tamia played her harp in a few songs. We had a very nice crowd at the pub. I also took one of my last hand made drums, the Chicken Head Drum (CHD)

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The CHD had a vey good time and ate lots of beans "$1 bills"



given by Chicken lovers.
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Let me tell you that if this CHD was not the first one in the world, it is definitly the first in California. People at the pub asked me if I am taking the CHD with us around the world! A woman at the pub asked whether I would sell my gig hat and the CHD. I shook my head "NO". Well, I didn't even ask the woman how much she was offering for the CHD!

BTW, the photos at the pub were taken by a very good friend (Andres).

-RD

No, Mother, I'm tired of this swimming, I want to set out and see what's happening elsewhere. Maybe you think someone taught me these ideas but believe me, I've had these thoughts for a long time. Of course, I've learned many things here and there. For instance, I know that when most fish get old, they complain about everything. I want to know if life is simply for circling around in a small place until you become old and nothing else, or is there another way to live in the world?

-From "The Little Black Fish" by Samad Behrangi (translation to English from
http://www.iranchamber.com/literature/sbehrangi/works/the_little_back_fish.php.)

Rowshan came up with the name for our blog a few weeks ago: The Little Black Fish. The Little Black Fish is a story by Samad Behrangi, a famous Azeri writer from Tabriz/Iran. The story is about a little black fish who leaves her pond because she wants to explore the world. On the way she meets various characters: some wise, some foolish, some kind, some dangerous. I read the story online and agreed it was a wonderful story and so we've adopted The Little Black Fish as our RTW trip mascot.