A place for Miracles

Hi friends and family,

I have now finished a 9 week volunteer placement at the Autism Treatment Center of America. Now I must say, this place is one of the most inspiring places I have ever visited in the world.

In the 70's Barry and Samahria Kaufman's son Raun was diagnosed with severe and incurable Autism.
When Barry and Samahria were told to institutionalize their son, they designed a home base program in the effort to reach out to their little boy. Raun went from a withdrawn severely Autistic mute little boy (with an IQ less than 30) to a highly verbal,near genius IQ young man. He graduated from university , and is now in his 30s and shows no signs of Autism. In fact he is now an international speaker.

The programme that the Kauffman's created is called The Son -Rise progmame and has been running for almost 2 decades from the USA. It has touched 66 countries around the world, and their story was made into an award winning NBC TV movie called "Son-Rise A miracle of Love."

The Kauffmans have written 12 books in 22 languages (over 3 million copies sold) and have been read in over 280 Universities around the world.

They run their programmes out of this beautiful 100 acres of sanctuary in Massachusetts which is where their home is. This very sacred haven of learning and contribution .... was certainly a humbling place to work. I was blessed to work in the the marketing section with an inspiring team of people wanting to make an impact in the world.

Here they also run a number of Adult education programmes including Inner Strength, Calm Amid Chaos, Couples Course, Parenting , Extraordinary man and recently I took one called Radical Authenticity. So you can all see why I was drawn to this place.

The volunteer team were great with about 12 of us... including 4 Polish volunteers, who are now taking the programe back to Poland and opening a school there.

In my first week I had the great opportunity of working with twin boys with Autism from Poland. David and Luke were 4 and identical twins...and full of life... I was blessed to have spent the weekend with them...they were so much fun....

here is the web address www.autismtreatmentcenter.org

Well I am now in LA and off to spend a few days with an Australian lady in Phoenix
Until next time.....

Love and hugs

Katrina
ps life is a playground not a battlefield

Flying high with Eric

Hi guys

I was flying today from Panama City to San Francisco and had a hilarious trip with an unnamed airline.....its a true story and I thought that I would share it with you all...
As we are seated the flight attendant comes out and announces the following....

"Ladies and genttlemen if you have an Ipod, I Phone or I touch... we are completely impressed.
We ask you to turn off your equipment when the aircraft is taking off.
For those who dont understand what Off means... that does not mean game mode, aeroplane mode, or sleep mode...
OFF MEANS OFF
But you can look up the meaning in the dictionary... but dont google it now... because if you do, its a $25,000 fine and if you can afford the fine then you would have flown with United."

"Now there are 20 ways to leave your lover.... but there are 6 ways to leave this plane in a case of emergency... we have signs overhead and disco lights on the floor.."

"If we are lucky enough for this flight to turn into a cruise.... the life jackets are under the seats... we have 4 lovely designer matching oxygen masks available....
nitrus oxide... sorry oxygen will be flowing at 75cents for the first minute and 25 cents for each additional minute after that....."

"If you are travelling with a small child...............WHY?????????
or if you are sitting next to your husband who is acting like a child... then put the mask on yourself first......"

"This is a non complaining, non whining, non smoking flight.....
Federal officers prohibit the tampering, destroying of smoke detectors in the toilets.... Blah.... Blah..... Blah.... Blah.....
If you must smoke, the smoking area is outside on the wing... if you can light it, then you can smoke it... and feel free to watch our inflight movie out there...
GONE WITH THE WIND.."

As we land... his departing words were
"Now get off the plane"

KT

Sex in the City

Hi friends and family.

Well I have reached country number eight in Central America....yea....
As you can see from the blogs... it has been an interesting and challenging journey.. but yet rewarding....
On my way to Panama City there I was standing at a bus stop when I met 2 girls.
Little did I know what the conservation would bring us all.

Meg and Erin were 2 sisters from Seattle. They were in shorts, flip flops with matching backpacks (could I have found a set of long lost flashpacking sisters?). They looked like they had just come out of the jungle. I knew when I met them that we were alike and we were going to have great fun... There they were ....Crumpled clothes, hairy legs and granny pants. They had just tracked through Central America for 2 months and I for four months. So what does a girl with hairy legs do in her first metrapolitan city (with skyscrapers) in four months.....take the team and turn us back into girls again.

Our first stop was a huge two story shopping mall... (just like a westfield). Off goes the granny panties into some beautiful lace ..... underwear, off goes the shorts into some sexy playful dresses, the flip flops are replaced with some stunning heals (only one pair each girls). Our afternoon of pedicures, waxing and a perfect evening finished with a $3 Sex in the City Movie night.... in airconditioning...... The girls were not short of a date nor plenty of whistles....
my work is done......

Panama city is a interesting city with skyscrapers on one side and slums on the other...
We have been staying in Casco Viejo which is not unlike Havana in Cuba... I thought it was pretty and was saying to a local friend how beautiful it was.... his reply was..."dont be fooled... you are still living in the slums... 6 months ago they were slitting each others throats in the back alley way"....mmmm comforting...

Panama city lends itself to a 77 km shopping (ooops shipping) canal. It joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The canal has approx 16,000 ships passing through it each year... It was built in 1914 and was only recently handed over to Panama by the USA in 1999. It has 3 locks and the picture is of Miraflores Lock where we spent a morning. The most expensive price that has been paid has been $400,000 and the smallest is by Richard Halliburton in 1928 when he swam through and paid 36 cents. All boats book their spot two months in advance and every day the authority auctions off the last vacant spot to the highest bidder.

I have just secured a 9 week placement back in the USA doing volunteer work for the Option Institute which is a place that works with families with Austistic Kids.
I am the new assistant marketing person (which I know nothing about... but will find a way). So at last I will stand still for a while....Fancy sleeping in the same bed for 9 weeks... luxury......

Anyway I decided to take an interview with the USA embasy to extend my USA visa from 3 months to 6 months..... they loved me so much they granted me a 10 year non resident visa................. go figure.......
Now to answer all those questions that you have been emailing me....no I am not staying in the USA for 10 years.... and yes I will come home.... one day....

take care all

Kat

Operation Lion King

INVENTORY

(1)HEAD COVER (CHECK)-to stop little friendly fellas from dropping into your hair and establishing new families into your scalp

(2)TORCH (CHECK)-(to spot the targets or friendly fireflies)

(3)LONG PANTS (CHECK)- to hide the white legs of the Europeans so we dont give away our position.

(4)THICK SOCKS (CHECK)- to tuck the long pants into... to stop anything from climbing up your legs into your knickers (thats of course you are wearing any... we are backpackers)

(5)ENCLOSED SHOES (CHECK)- to stop slimy things from squishing and burrying themselves inbetween your toes

(6)LONG SLEEVED JACKET (CHECK)-to stop you from becomming a banquet for the bugs

(7)FLASHPACKERS LIP GLOSS (CHECK)- not a good idea- it just encourages the little fellas to stick onto you and form new colonies

(8)NIGHT TEAM (CHECK)- headcount... there are 10 of us.. of which 4 are French... this is going to be interesting

(9)TEAM LEADER (CHECK)- we have the Steve Irwin of all guides..... his job is to identify the targets so we can shoot and get us out alive

(10)BUDDY GIRLFRIEND (CHECK)- to scare the sh** out of when you get bored in the dark....yep it works...

(11) WALKIE TALKIE(CHECK)- to communicate with the other teams to maximise our stay and allow the execution of our mission sucessful

LOCATION
Thats classified
(but I am sure that you would know from the scenery Monteverde... Costa Rica)

MISSION
Leave nothing but footprints
Take nothing but pictures
Kill nothing but time

EXECUTION
With our inventory checked off... out teams in place... torches on....and buddy scare completed ......we have just recieved a Radio tip off that our first target has just been spotted.....as we run through the jungle on the night jungle tour... yep you guessed it... we have found him....

A two toed tree sloth... doing sloth stuff...hanging upside down feeding.
In fact they spend most of their lives upside down... and can rotate their head backwards (not unlike the Exorcist, except without the projectile vomiting).
Target identified and shot...

A female tarantula , only coming out to take her prey...it puts a new slant on the book EAT PREY LOVE..... or perhaps PRAY EAT LOVE....target identified and shot...

Then there was the deadly snake(so deadly I forgot its name)... I was being a female and looking at about 10 different other things...but one of the most deadliest snake in Central America.... so cute you want to take it home in your top pocket...

We were then instructed to turn all torches off....(the universe is testing me ... you know I hate the dark). Then I felt a thousand pairs of eyes in the jungle staring at me.....why was I all of a sudden in the next Madagascar movie....

Fireflies everywhere...sending out their own morse code light signals to match their mating species...I wonder what happends if they get confused and get a dash and a dot mixed up..

Anyway back to the lights...when our torches were off we were told to hold onto the person next to us....then the unthinkable....... yep you guessed it
the most dangerous predator of all appeared....
more dangerous than any snake, wild cat, or spider.....
it landed right smack bang on my girlfriends butt.....

Crikey it was the hand of the tour guide.

Now I thought he said to hold the hand of the person next to you...but Damm I must have misheared.... he must have said butt not hand....sorry french man.

Lights on... fireflies off... hands off butt and hands apart..
Mind you its the first time I have seen my girlfirend lost for words...
Exit jungle... 10 persons still in tact.

MISSION ACOMPLISHED

CODE NAME KITTY KAT

PS yes that is a photo of a mother scorpion with her babies on her back..

A visit to the Orphanage

Hi friends and family...

Yes I have finally found a dry town in Central America where it seems that it hasnt been affected by the rain season....
I have found a little town on the Carribean coast called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca...

This morning was spent visiting the Jaguar Reserve Centre with all the little orphanes of the jungle. Any one who is going this way... this is a must... and its not in the lonely planet bible...

We spent the morning playing in a cage of about 10 howler monkey babies... which were orphaned by the non insulated electricity wires .....which killed their mothers..
They were so cute.. and cuddly... except when the peed on your head.

We played with baby sloths... poor unfortunate animals... they were not blessed with beauty....they were still sleeping with their teddy bears....
In the orphanage there were several snakes, wild cats, owls and the most beautiful frog I have ever seen in the world.... (yes Ben I finally found one to play with)....the red eye tree frog.....

I couldn't resist... I just had to share my baby photos with you all..

Love and hugs
katrina
Ps the head seemed to be missing his body.....I was not even going to ask how this guy got here.....

Costa Rica

Higuys

Well I am in Costa Rica....still in Central America...
This is a country in which I will never get bored of...its adventures include jungle hiking, a cast of exciting creatures, waterfalls and popular surf towns.
The waves are huge, the scenery is breath taking and the lifestyle is chilled out. The country attracts 1.5 million visitors per year.... I think half of them are Canadian students....

Ist stop is La Fontania.. to spot the tucans and watch the most active volcano in Costa Rica...at night... The picture I have attached of the volcano is not mine and I cant take credit for it... In fact the Arenal volcano was almost sleeping the night we were watching it... but the picture will give you an idea of what it looked like about 18 months ago when it was erupting at night. Hikers are not allowed to hike up it (so forget it Jan) as they have been killed from the explosions...

Then its off to the mountains in Central Costa Rica to Monteverde ...to the misty cloud forest reserves. When it was mentioned in National Geographic in 1983... the secret got out and now its a busy little town full of adventure tourists. This is where I..... with my new jungle buddys Cara and Morgan (yep more Canadian Students) spent the day hiking through the canopy and climbing suspension bridges (largest 57 met drop) and watching the zip liners wizzing past us. Shooting Steve Irvin footages was a blast....

Then the Flashpacker was back .....for a short revival stay at Tamiarindo.. the small town where Endless Summer 2 was filmed (for all you surf heads out there). A huge thank you to Nico and Miss Emily who opened their luxury condo and their hearts and hospitality to me during my relaxing stay in this small boutique village.

Montezumas was the next town..... not much to do in the rainy season...except dont jump the waterfalls as one poor USA back packer found it to be fatal.

Quepos was the next town where I kept bumping into more Canadians....what is with you guys..... dont you ever stay home....
We went hiking in the National Park, wading though flowing rivers and admiring beautiful waterfalls...We spent the day in 1625 ha of amazing wildlife park....spotting wild snakes, lizards, racoons, crabs, and white faced Capuchin monkeys... in which I fell in love with.

My day ended perfectly ....with my sunset buddy Ron (and USA history teacher )and I had drinks at El Avion ....watching the sunset over the Pacific. This bar was constructed from the body of a 1954 Farchild C123 aeroplane. It was purchased by the USA in 1980 and stay grounded due to the Iran Contra scandal.

Rainy season has set in ... what ever made me think of back packing Central America in the rainy season.....

from a very soaked Kat XXXXXXXXXXX

volcano surfing

Hi guys
It takes one comment by a passing traveller to plant the seed in my mind... "you should try volcano surfing.. its great.."

Extreme sports.. not my thing anymore after getting fished out of the Zambezi River in 1997..... whilst whitewater rafting in Africa.I cant surf or stand on a snow board.. out of the question....

But the damage is done...and the seed is planted... Anthony Robbins once said... "if you CANT then you MUST"....so yep it goes onto my 101 things to do when travelling list......maybe i will do it some day...

So I kept travelling... enter stage left.. one new travel buddy... Ben Kelly from England....and when we got to Leon in Nicaragua.. you know what was on the top of his list of things to do.............. VOLCANO SURFING....

Ben says... "you should do it".... and I feel sick at the thought of it..... but he books it anyway....

Now let me put you all in the picture of how this is going to work...
Take one live and active volcano called Cerro Negro which is 728m (2388ft) high... it has errupted 23 times.....usually every 7 years....
Its last erruption in 1999... when it burried a small town in 4 ft of volcano ash...
For all you maths geniuses out there... yes it is overdue by 4 years...

Somepeople have surfed it doing 80km per hour... someone has died climbing it and for those adrenaline junkies... Eric Barone tried to break a record riding his bike down ......it when he came off doing a mere 172KM or (107mph)and spent 3 months in hospital.
(check his crash out on u tube).

Anyway back to the picture..then take something that looks like a snow board(for standing) or a plank of wood with a rope (for sitting), a fireproof jumpsuit, a set of goggles, a set of elbow and knee pads and sit ontop of a active volcano and go as fast as you can down.... making it down to the bottom unscathed....
Now do you get the picture??????mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Dam that list.......

Neverless I awoke at 6am in the morning.... felling sick and having visions of coming off and doing serious harm....
After putting on my favourite volcano surfing gym gear.... t shirt with FAITH printed on the front ......I spent the next 2 hours listening to every personal development track I had on my Ipod for facing fears....

I then pulled out every personal development tool I had available from Theta, Anthony Robbins, NLP, Demartini... including incantations and pattern interupts...
The bus soon picked us up and we were on our way..I sent the goddess to the spa for the day and Joan of Arch came out to play...there was just me and Robbie Williams present in the moment.

We soon arrived after 45 minutes to sign the register book....I am sure it was for body identification incase the volcano errupted when we were on it...so they could find us..... name.... nationality.... age.......it was at that point I was questioning as to whether I should lie about my age.....I am sure I still look 34?

We visited some reptile cages to fill in time (excellent pattern interupt by the universe) and the parkranger put a Boa Constrictor around my neck..... great..... if I wasnt going to die volcano surfing and I would be strangled by a snake before I even got there....

We put our back packs on with our survival gear..... grabbed our planks and started hiking up the volcano....Piece of cake you may say.....not exactly...

Backpack, plank of wood, no path, and about 100km winds (not quite... but almost).
The skill was not getting down the mountain alive on the board it was getting to the top of the mountain without being blown off....nothing quite like the sweet smell of sulpher to remind you that the volcano was still alive and kicking....

Then it was the moment I will never forget... standing in my overalls listing to Bitter Sweet Symphony on my Ipod and looking down the volcano.....what am I doing here....my heart was coming up to my throat....
Yep more incantations, pattern interupts and of course the infamous firwalking powermove...

And just as the universe likes pushing my buttons....bees everywhere....attracted to my pollen coloured jumpsuit. Now it was a moment of life and death....
For those who know me... I am highly allergic to bees... I couldnt get off that volcano fast enough.....

More incantations and I was off.. down the hill.. I managed to make it to the bottom unscathed and at the same time managed to stay seated on the plank of wood....
I think I had volcano ash in every exposed orifice... mouth.. ears and nose...

Thank you lines men... thank you ball boys and thank you to my boarding buddy.. Ben Kelly....
Tick number 56 off that list.....

kat

Corn Islands

Hi guys
Next... the Corn Islands...Nicaragua....
Little Corn Island... Population 700...a tiny unspoiled gem in the Carribean ideal for more diving....with deserted white sandy beaches....palm trees and national food .. local spiny lobsters caught straigth off the reef....and no cars... only foot traffic. To get there catch a small 18 seater plane to Big Corn and then a small but wet boat ride to the Island...

Typical day... diving..... hammocking and then cocktails at sunset....

I have a new travel buddy and we have hired a small fishermans hut on the beach...
it is just 2 metres from the water line... out backyard is the Carribean....

Diving was our highlight of the stay....with the night dive for 50 minutes in the middle of the ocean..
20 minutes was with torches off.... and boy its pretty dark out there with no light

Then we dived through the biolumessence.....now for anyone who hasnt experience this... its one of my top 5 highlights of my trip.... (if you have seen avatar then you will know what i mean)
Its the closest visual you will get to travelling through space....
the bio lum looked like stars in the universe with small structures looking like pearls of necklaces...it was unbelievable trippy... why do drugs when you can night dive..

The locals are great and I am limited in still practicing my spanish.. the event of the month was Triva night....which we were lucky enough to experience....
I am now better informed that the three countries in South America that the equator runs through are Equador,Colimbia and Brazil (thanks Ben). I am sure I can use this some where in my life...

Adios Amegos
Kat

The chicken bus

Hi guys

I was travelling to the Isla De Ometepe which is a huge lake in Nicaragua... and I was on a chicken bus.... and thought I would share my experience with you all.
Now for those who have travelled central america ... you will know that I mean....
and for those who havnt experienced a chicken bus... then something to look forward to for the bucket list.... to try at least once in your life.....

Take one USA defective unroadworthy yellow school bus...(the ones they have in the Simpsons) and sell it to a third world country like Nicaragua or Guatemala.. where lives arent worth as much in the western country....Paint it with bright colours so its no too obvious.....

Dont clean it for at least a year..... let alone service it for more....and pack it full of hot sweaty central americans.....on a humid day.....

If the passenger limit is 50.... then at least double it....with locals coming home from the markets with fruit and veges, tourists with backpacks and even cannisters of gasoline (but no chickens).

Now only 2 per seat is out the window...try 3 or four and some of them are actually leaning out the window because they cant fit in the cabin....
Closing the doors is not an option ... because at least 5 people are on the stairs half out the door... and hanging on for life....

Turn the temperature up to at least 35 degrees and make sure that no one has put on underarm deroderant that morning.... for women... it is required that you dont shave underarms (they will be inspected)...

With a dog fight to find the next available seat... yes I am finally seated....carefully watching that my back pack doesnt get stolen....
My seat is so low that my nose happens to be at crutch level of all the people standing........I am not even going there..... you dont want to know what happens if someone passes gas.....

Now the driver has just graduated from Kamikaze school of rollercoasters.....because you better hang on or you will be thrown off your seat.....
Next comes the conductor who has managed to crowd surf his way to collect the bus fare which is $1.

A mother gets on with a baby... she cant find a seat... so she passes her baby to a stranger....so babysitters are pleantyful here....

Your stop is coming up... so you manage to wade your way through the buses mosh pit to your back pack and alight.....you just want to pray and kiss the ground because the bus didnt roll off the cliff on the way to your destination... but cant because its it pouring rain.......you just found out that you are now backpacking in rainy season.

So next time you are pissed off with the transport system in your country... think of me...

kat
the ultimate journey

a taste of paradise

Hi guys

Welcome back... you are all going to love this blog.... I think it is one of my most favourite months of my whole journey.....

I left Guatemala and headed for the country of Honduras where I met up with my German travel buddy... Jan...
We stayed on an Island called Utilla which is one of three Bay Islands in the Carrabean....We are staying in accomodation attached to the Captain Morgans Dive Centre... and have attached a photo of Hotel Kayla...
Not much to do on the Island except Dive, dive and dive... and relax in the hammock.

The Island is tiny, with only a selected eating places and a few corner shops... and of course no hot water... which is ok because it really hot out here....I decided to go for a run the other day with my ipod and when I got thru the first song I got to the end of the Island.... so I gave up and went back to meditation...

I have just completed my Advanced dive certificate which was really fun... I have dived with some am amazing people and had some incredible dives... my deep dive went to 100 ft and last night we completed on a night dive.... I hope to do a wreck dive on the weekend...

Just to complete my diving experience we had an amazing swim with spinner dolphins in the wild and then the ultimate experience of a life time........ ....

YES you guessed it.... we swam with whale sharks in the wild....

now these beautiful creatures are the largest fish in the world (not to include whales which are a mammal)... they are actually a shark and dont realy have teeth becaue they feed off plankton. ......Which was lucky because when we came head on with one about 1.5 metres away under water it opened it mouth and I think I saw its tonsils.
I felt like Joanah and the whale...I thought it was going to eat me...
They can grow up to 12 metres and 21 tonnes. We swam with 3 different ones and I think the largest was about 10 metres... I have posted you a photo as to put the image in perspective.

Just to top off the ultimate paradise experience we rented Sandy Cay Island for the night.... now where can you rent a whole island (and house) for a night in paradise for just $125 US.....
It was pure heaven..... (I have attached photos.....to give you just a taste..)
It was so tropical with many things to keep us busy... snorkeling off our own beach, fresh kingfish for dinner, bananna pancakes for dessert and sunbaking for a complete tan.

Well thats the news for the week... I hope that this email inspires you all to live your dreams and please keep the emails coming in...


kat
ps i think i am growing gills