The Nomadic Intern

Two things have happened this week that have left me thinking. The first was the suicide of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain; both are very sad!

Anthony Bourdain was a large personality, not someone whose TV shows I really enjoyed. I felt he was a little over the top.  he traveled the world showing how people really lived, by sitting down around the table with food. People chatted with him in a very honest way, and he always asked if they were happy. HE MADE THE WHOLE WORLD HIS NEIGHBORHOOD!!

I believe he really cared about what he was doing. I feel the empathy he felt for people and the chaos and pain of what is happening in the world was just too much for him to handle emotionally!

I remember a few years ago when my favorite actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman died of an overdose; Jim Carey said he was just too gentle of a soul and just couldn’t deal with the noise in the world.

Now, to the miracle: Where I am staying in Cambridge with my friend Heather. Her Grandson Edward has just climbed a sea stack called The Old Man of Hoy off the coast of Orkney (Scotland). It is 450 feet straight up, at the age of EIGHT and will now be in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest to make this rope climb.

Why this is so amazing? He did this climb for his mom who has terminal cancer and is very ill. Edward also climbed to honor his mom and has raised over 30,000 pounds toward Cancer Research. He was on all the UK networks along with President Trump.

These two events, to me, show the Ying and Yang of the world.

Anthony Bourdain

A very special young man, with his Mother.

I am now in Cambridge UK for one month, seeing friends, sorting out luggage, and seeing movies at my favorite movie house in the world. I am still doing interviews for my book. I was interviewed for one hour today by a reporter from the travel section of one of the National Newspapers on my travels, and in particular, about the Freighter Ship I travelled on last fall.

I have made the decision to try out living in UK for a few months. I will spend time in Christ Church Dorset, between Southampton and Bournemouth in the south west of the country. It’s a lovely home for the summer, first floor of a heritage home in the middle of town.

In September I will move about 10 minutes away to an equally beautiful place, on the top floor of a home, for a few months. I will go to Toronto in September for 2 weeks and in October I hope to go to India.

I am also doing research on another Freighter Trip, possibly around the world, not sure if it is feasible?

I will also make several trips to London to see plays, attend the Prom concerts and for a friends book launch.

So, I will have a base in UK for a while; let’s see what that feels like!

Beach huts by the sea that people pay 300 thousand pounds for!

House with red door, where I will be living in Dorset!

I am a Royal family addict and have been since I was kid. My mother would always give me all the books on the Royal family. It was a real treat to be in the UK for the wedding.  I started to watch on TV and than ran to the local cinema where you could watch for free on the big screen. Apparently they couldn’t charge. It was a rule from the Royal family. They even handed out a glass of Posesco! The cinema was full of people in costume and people even wrapped in flags.

Watching on TV with the venue being Windsor Castle was an additional treat. 6 years ago I spent 3 days and 2 nights living at the castle. I was there as a guest of my friend Will, Minister with the Church of Scotland and head of Theology at Princeton in the USA.

I don’t remember the topic for the think tank I was attending, all I can remember is living at the castle. I was like a kid in a candy store!! From the beautiful rooms, the wonderful delivery of tea in early morning, to walking the grounds before the tourists come in. Seeing the nursery school for kids of the household staff, to watching the Queens dog walker walking the corgis; even the trash being collected outside the Queens apartment! Chatting with the Knights who live on the grounds and at night a most beautiful tour of St George’s Chapel by one of the Knights! (where the wedding was held).

It is something special that I will always remember and Oh, we had our meetings in the room with Queen Victoria’s throne in corner, highly intimidating!!

At the pub!

Cinema in Christ Church Uk that showed royal wedding free of charge!

Great couple, will make a difference in the world

Very unusual addition to royal wedding discussing the power of love!

Here I am in Christ Church UK, between Southhampton and Bournemouth. It is very beautiful and very friendly. There are lots of tourists.

My friend Carol has a lovely old English Cottage she has restored and has given it to me for very good price. It is located just behind the high street. The town has a quirky cinema, which shows everything. The town has good restaurants, and the sea is very close.

I am spending my time on the book and doing many interviews on Skype. As I get into this, I realize what I have taken on and the responsibility and trust that people are giving me with their information. This will be a very long term project. I am interviewing about 35 individuals around the globe, so lots of work. I feel it is a real privilege to be doing this. I will take the train to London next week for the day to see Dadi Janki, who is now 103! I first met Dadi about 30 years ago and she has been a part of my life ever since. As I have said before she speaks Hindi, which I don’t speak and is one of those things in life that I can’t explain why this relationship is so important to me.

I am interviewing about 15 Brahma Kumaris and many other people that I have met on my travels that are offering and have given much to the world.

I have also sent letter to Pope Francis, The Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Modi asking for quote (a long shot, but you never know).

I wasn’t surprised to hear on the news today about the British Tourists that have disappeared in the jungle of the Democratic republic of Congo, trying to see the Gorillas. If you remember when I was there I left early.  It was far too dangerous, but I did it and the Gorillas were spectacular! I hope the tourists are as safe as they can be and are just being held somewhere. The DRC is a very scary place and on the world stage it just seems to have been forgotten.

My Cambridge friend Paul will pick me up and take me to Cambridge for month of June, after that I don’t know, UK, Canada. Stay tuned.

Beautiful church down the street!

Bird in flight at local pub!

My back yard in Dorset!

My home in Christ Church Dorset!

Southern tip of UK in the sunshine !

When the sun shines with 28 degree temperatures in UK!

I am on the sea just outside of Thessaloniki in a village called Perea (as it is called ).

It is very quiet. I don’t think the tourist season has started yet and it reminds me of being in Nicaragua where I said, it was like watching paint dry. But, it is sunny and 24 every day, perfect for me.

My friends Anna and Velko have been lovely and supportive. They involve me in their life when it fits for both of us. They are wonderful parents and are very concerned about the well-being of their children. The children are polite and caring!

I also have to say, it is so sad what happened in Toronto. I started out my career at the North York Civic Centre (where this happened) when Mel Lastman was Mayor. The BBC is covering news every hour as well as  German and Russian TV. I have said for years the Mental health system in Ontario is second rate. The resources have been slim as long as I can remember. When I was dealing with my Mother’s illness, I ended up on the Board of Directors of a large Mental Health Hospital, as requested by the Minister of Health, and it was fight every year to acquire resources from the Government.

I also feel the dark side of the net is very difficult to detect and it deals and promotes how to be secretive. I was taken on it once and was absolutely terrified by what I saw and heard. I should also say as this world gets more complex, mental illness gets much more difficult to detect.

My job here is to write and work on my book…..the working title …In Search of Spiritual Intelligence…most of my time here has been arranging interviews with people all over the globe. I plan to do about 35 interviews over the next few months. I am taking it slowly and thinking my way through the maze of connecting and time zones.

Writing is a very isolated job and is all absorbing!  But I am very excited about the possibilities.

I am on my way to Christ Church Dorset in UK for the month of May. They will have a Movie House!!! EXCITING STUFF

The star, Bisera!!

Where I am, at the sea!!

Well, I travelled to Skopje Macedonia which is new country for me.  My friends Ana and Velko were going for 2 days to visit family and they had appointments and invited me along. The trip takes about 3 hours. Velko arranged a hotel (The City Centre Hotel) for me in the centre of the city which was 50 euros for 2 nights in total. He is very well connected here, and the hotel was just lovely plus it had CNN, so I got caught up on Trump News!

This city was full of surprises for me. First of all, Mother Theresa was born here!

The city centre looks all new with many statues, fountains and new fronts on the buildings. It looks very European and impressive. Many cafes and restaurants, the food is very good and very inexpensive. I took 5 people out for lunch with a bottle of wine and it cost 25 euros.

I went to the history museum. I had an excellent guide that told me about the wars and the relationship with Greece, which isn’t good. The Museum cost 2 euros with an excellent private guide.

It is very poor in Macedonia and people are not happy that the Government has spent all this money on the grand centre.

My biggest surprise was a very large Holocaust Museum. It is a beautiful large new building in the centre. It is about the same size as the one in Washington. It was closed, and no one knew quite why. The museum was built on a site where the Jewish community lived, but sadly nearly 8,000 were sent to the camps from this community.

Many trees surrounded by mountains, all in all a delightful surprise plus friendly people.

I also had excellent teeth cleaning for 20 euros!!

P.S

Another surprise

I met Luke on the street, a morman. He was a very well dressed young man. He has lived in Skopje for 2 years. He had received this mission from church in Utah and will be going home next month to attend College.  He was funny and said when he received the letter from church saying where he was going for 2 years, he had never heard of or had any idea where the  country was.

Believe it or not Mother Theresa was born in Skopje! Who knew?

Below are pictures of the vibrant centre of Skopje, Capital of Macedonia

Here I am in Peraia Greece, just outside of Thessaloniki.  I am here for the month of April. I have spent the day with good friends sitting on the beach in the sunshine. (not hard to take) I will be 75 tomorrow! It is difficult for me to believe since both of my parents died much younger, so at this point I am beating the odds.

My friend Brenda from California has given me her flat for reasonable rent. It is on the sea, so I can pay full attention to my writing in the quiet and the beauty.

Last week I had 2 lovely days in snowy Montreal with my friend Eric. It’s always good to catch up. Then I was off to Halifax to see Judy, who has offered to be my book coach. Judy made me work and think very hard, which was great. I also drove to see my Granddaughter Spencer at University. It was lovely to see her happy in her new surroundings.

Flying to Greece, I flew Turkish Airlines just excellent in every way!

I am having my birthday lunch with Ana, Velko and their 2 great kids Gorazd and Bisera by the sea in the sunshine. It’s PERFECT!

Velko is a business man and has the Maserati Car Dealership. He also is awaiting a very important posting in Greece, which will allow him to take his skills to other parts of the world.

A lovely friendship and sharing has developed!

So, tomorrow I get back to work on the book, enough fun for now.

PS – the outfit I am wearing is a beautiful silk outfit I received as special gift!

With Ben at the Bar Mitzvah; young man lighting the candles!

My book coach and friend Judy in Halifax.

With Spencer on the ocean in Antigonish NS. (Very chilly).

HALIFAX BK FAMILY!

View from terrace of my new home in Greece for the month of April.

I AGREE!!

At my Birthday lunch by the sea. I was teased and told this picture was nicknamed The Movie Star

Birthday lunch with my young friends Gorazd and Bisera

I love this little girl on the beach in Greece.