Email Dispatch #1 September 13, 2007

Hello to each of you!

Thank you for your warm wishes, support and enthusiasm about hearing from me as I turtle through my year-long adventure. I am excited to share with you as I go along. I've always felt that sharing a good experience with someone makes it ten times better.

If you prefer not to read the following treatise or are just curious, check out my blog "Turtle Tracks" at the following web address: http://tortugatracks.blogspot.com/
I will be updating it periodically, posting experiences, photos, interesting facts, projects and randomness.

London was a mixture of excitement and relaxation, a time to unwind after weeks of preparation for my departure. In London I was suddenly faced with a void, where the day before I had faced a thousand details that needed remembering. Suddenly sightseeing, relaxing, drinking tea, taking photos and dipping my toes into the thick mysteries of English history and architecture were the only items on my docket. The home of the Tangs, a Chinese family from Hong Kong that I let a room from in London, was quite an experience in and of itself. The location near Russel Square in Camden Town was perfect and the family kindly offered for me to join them for meals if I wanted. The first day I was there they had rice, pork, bokchoy and stir-fried dried shrimp, which for my sensitive jet-lagged stomach, was a bit much. So - I was not met by beans on toast for breakfast as I had expected, but rather dried shrimp for lunch! One never knows what cultural experiences await around the next corner.

Fortunately my exploration of London was not extensively affected by the Tube strike that had the city up in arms. I primarily used the Picadilly line that continued to run with good service throughout the strike. I was able to take it to most places in Westminster that wanted to go. Buses were also fun, as I was not strapped for time. Climbing onto the top floor provided quite lovely views. Once, at the end of a long day of walking I boarded a bus that was going vaguely in the direction of Russel Square and took it to the end of the line, enjoying the architecture at dusk and people getting on and off as we went.

London's Museums and architecture are amazing. I went to the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern and a couple of galleries along the Southbank that were interesting. One was showing a project done by two artists, Shona Watt and Pete Gomes, who led art and design workshops with pupils from 32 secondary schools in London. Other artists led workshops with secondary school classes in China on the Yangtze River, in River Ganges in India, the River Liesbeek in South Africa and the River Nile in Egypt. The result was a work on paper from each class relating to an element of the river ecology that was their focus. I was fascinated and inspire by these works. The premise and model for the work was like a confirmation of my goals for this journey and education; a sort of confirmation that in CAN BE DONE and it can function in the world.

I enjoyed St. Paul's cathedral from the outside and the London Eye as well. The visual spectacles were enough for me. However Westminster Abbey was quite another story. Walking the interior was like going into a time warp. Even with the many tourists around me, I was transported. And the neat thing was that others were too - all in different ways. There were countless burials of famous kings and queens, knights etc. in the floor, in the walls and in special tombs in the center of specially built chapels. It was here that I saw a door built in 1055 AD, the poet's corner where over 120 poets, artists, writers and actors are memorialized or buried, and the place where royalty has been coronated since 1066. The architecture and stone work itself is incredible from both inside and out. It is stunning to see a colossal building of stone, that is unimaginably, mammathly heavy and yet delicately crafted in high Gothic style. To create the illusion of lacy intracy from stone is incredible.

Due to an unforeseen curfew from the Tangs I did not stay out very late - which is contradictory to the very nature of London. However I did see "Lord of the Rings" at the Royal Theater on Drury Lane and it was fantastic. I was completely taken with the costumes, the stage, blocking and mechanics (lots of stage action up and down and rotating!) as well as with lighting and special effects. The acting and singing were excellent as well - so smooth that is all melded together within the plot much better than I imagined it would. I was ready to be impressed, as I had heard from a reliable source that it was quite the show; but even with high expectations I was truly wowed! And then I did go to a couple of clubs with Elisha Weisman, who arrived in London the day before I was leaving for Totnes. It was fun and good to get out to see some of the acclaimed London nightlife.

Then a nice 3-hour train ride along the coast brought me and my 100+ lbs. of luggage to Totnes, where Jet (said Yet), the mom of the family I'm renting a room from, picked me up at the train station. The Cooper-Kamphuis family home has been a wonderful place to land. They are truly generous, open-hearted, fun and in no way uptight. They expressed concern that they would be too messy by my American standards. I would so much rather that, than walking on eggshells all the time. We are sharing cooking. Our schedules may be different once my classes start, but for now it's great. I have a lovely little room on the west side of the house off the street looking onto their backyard. They have two old chickens and a nice little garden. They are very environmentally conscious and enjoy many of the same topics of conversation as me. We have enjoyed comparing cultural notes as I've been settling in. They have one little one, Sam, 8 and Danny in highschool and Johanna, who is off to Unversity this year. I feel very fortunate to have found such a great family in a home so conveniently located near the town of the Totnes and Dartington College. The town center is only 4 blocks away and Dartington College is about 2 miles. Totnes is a lovely little town saturated with history, fun little festivals and artsy people. I'm still in exploration mode and making more discoveries every day.

The walk to Dartington along the River is beautiful. There is alots of water fowl along the river and the water is incredibly clear. At some points along the river the rocks at the bottom stare up at you like a thousand eyes. The path then cuts up to the college. There is hill at the end, which is a good workout. The walk takes 30-40 minutes at a good clip. I have my eyes open for a bike. Hitch-hiking is also quite common here, especially to the college. It's fun to be in a safe environment for a change. The college itself is a 14th century mansion set on 1200 acres of land on a hill. It is in an absolutely amazing setting with a mixture of old a new buildings, and acres of manicured gardens, hedges and rolling grasscovered hills. I didn't get to meet any faculty because it is set up in such a noninstitutional way that it's hard to find my way around and to locate people, but my overall impression was good. There are a couple of nice little restaurants and pubs up at the college. Things are getting going for the next year....emails are beginning to fly to new students. I now have my first cell phone (mobile) so that I won't miss a beat in the student world. Texting is extremely popular over here. Even advertisements often provide a special number for text inquiries. So I took the plunge to become a cell-carrying member of society, at least for now.

Many of my settling-in details have been accomplished so I am now faced with free time to relax and days that begin with me not knowing what will fill their hours. It's a nice change and a state of being that I do not seek naturally. So now I find this gift in my lap and I am very grateful. I will keep you posted from here as time goes on. And on that note, please keep me in your loop as the year goes on!

Ta Ta from Totnes,

Claire

P.S. Sorry this is so epic....I just realized that it really DOES go on forever! I have lots of time now, but don't worry, they won't be this long in the future.