The energy is flowing in the right direction now

Now that I’ve gotten rid of all that stuff that was hindering my progress (in the last blog), I can move down the path a little further. Just kidding, the stuff is still all here, and no one contacted me and offered to buy it, either. Never mind, the process has begun.

There’s no way that I’m not going, and just to prove that, I booked a reconnaissance trip to Cuenca for April. Watching the fare drop on Kayak.com for three straight weeks convinced me that it had gotten about as low as it was going to get, so I bought. And was totally vindicated, when the next alert came in with a mucho big price increase.  

So now I have a confirmed itinerary in hand, and I’ll fill in the spaces, like hotel nights, as I go along. I’ve found a couple of fantastic websites that will help with that information, and a lot of other information that I’ll want to have for my trip, like a map of the city. Also connected with the official website for Cuenca, which has a great promotional video. The more I see of the city, the more I feel like I’m going to the right place.

One of the websites, www.cuencahighlife.com, is for people who live in Cuenca,  and emails notices for upcoming happenings; art exhibits, concerts, Christmas events. The restaurant review section is fantastic.

Right on the heels of buying my ticket, I started bidding for jobs online, preparing myself for a long period of proposing jobs and being ignored, until I finally got a small one. Incredibly, I got the first one I bid on, and suddenly my whole plan is actually looking like it’s going to happen!  I have a long way to go before I’ll be making what I need to support my Cuenca life, but I feel as though the energy is all flowing in the right direction now.

Wahoo – one day before the Solstice, typically the lowest time of the year for me, and I’m full of energy and looking forward to a 2011 full of changes! And happy holidays to you!!

For Sale: One Past Life

For Sale:

- Service for 12/Blue and White Rice pattern china with dragon design. Bought one dish at a time every time I went to the grocery store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and lovingly used for over twenty years as everyday china. Service includes dinner plates, salad plates, cake plates, cups and saucers (one small set/one large set), serving platters, three sizes of bowls, teapot, condiment dishes.  

- One rattan chest with black lacquered insets, used as a Christmas tree stand for Christmases spent in Southeast Asia. Then used as a coffee table in New Hampshire and Vermont.

- One collection of the works of Thoreau, including my own journal kept the first winter I lived by myself in New Hampshire, in the style of Thoreau.

- One three-piece set of Makkum porcelain – one ginger jar with lid and two vases, flower and bird design, bought on a day trip to the northern provinces of the Netherlands, where we drove across the sea causeway and marveled at the frozen waves of the North Sea.

- One collection of museum guides, all bought on site: The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia; The Pushkin Art Museum, Moscow, Russia; The Louvre, Paris, France; The Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France; Monet’s Gardens, Giverny, France; The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;  Kroller-Muller Museum, The Netherlands; and more.

- One batik representation of Ganesh, the Elephant Headed God, Overcomer of Obstacles, purchased in the main marketplace in Kathmandu, Nepal.

- One white cotton hand woven blanket, bought at a roadside store in the mountains of Greece, at the top of a winding road on the way to the Ancient City of Troy.

- Two small etchings of the Old City of Prague, purchased at a local artist’s stand on the bridge in Prague.

- One framed papyrus depicting geese and ducks feeding, bought at a souvenir shop near the Great Pyramid in Cairo.

These are possessions that reflect my life lived so far - so hard to let go, but impossible to keep if I want to move forward.