The wind, how it cuts me!

It was the biting wind that got me today. The minus degrees I can handle... the wind is a bitch. So much so that come lunchtime, I had resolved that going riding would in fact be less enjoyable because of the weather and I'd rather stay inside warm. Not many times I choose not to ride, especially when I'm about to have 10 days break of it while G is away, but today it happened.

Tomorrow I will have to exercise the camels anyway, so it will be one last ride before she leaves. My shoulder is hurting again as I write this... must resume my stretches again tonight.

G's husband has put himself on this weird diet post-health retreat, where each few days he changes to more solid foods after initially just drinking tea. He tells me he has never had an appetite in his life so he eats just to taste the food and be socialable. Now I find this a bit far-fetched but I will believe him, because what else do you do... his current diet consists of a jar of jam A DAY, some soup and a tub of yoghurt. Don't tell me how this is healthy but anyway... me and G just sigh and shrug.

Nothing much interesting happened today since I was a hermit. I studied some more Spanish, finished the manual for what to do around here (yay!!) so the Brit has something to study before launching into it all, did some more South American organising and tried to resume organising the music for my sister's wedding. Have some ideas but we'll see how it goes...

Cake and coffee... wait, COFFEE???!!!

DRY. That is the only word I can use to describe today. Dry in my throat, dry in the wind that swept into every crevace of my body and clothes, dry in the snow and dry in the water troughs. Everything is now frozen, I have to walk each horse to the small auto watering system to drink one at a time. In this freezing cold, it's not ideal. Bring on the English girl - she can do it! haha

I was promised a horseride this afternoon but - thankfully considering the sheer iciness of the weather - G was late coming home and I was all done with the stables as the sun was almost down. Instead, I rested a little and took it easy. I had a really odd thing happen while I was sleeping last night. I don't recall this ever happening before... in my dream I was back in Oz, organising things and having all these great ideas. Then, because I was on such a roll with said ideas, I actually woke myself up and continued to brainstorm in realtime. What this effectively did, however, was keep me awake for a couple of hours from about 2am. Restless.

At first I just tustled about, waiting for the daily alarm clock that is the 6am church bells next door to chime away. But, with no sound for quite some time, I looked at my phone and it flashed 2:19 at me. Urgh.

So, all in all, I wanted a rest today. I pretty much finished the manual for the farm, which I am quite proud of and which I'm sure G never dreamed she would have, and I did some more Spanish. Head currently overloading with information. I wonder how many people are crazy enuf to actually attempt to learn a language in 2 months. I'm shit but I am still trying!!

Ate a MASSIVE piece of delicious apricot slice today during high tea in the afternoon with grandma and friends, and forced myself to drink most of a coffee she poured me without asking. It is the second time I've done that out of politeness in my life and I hope to god it is at least another 10 years before I have to do it again. Hideous. The taste of coffee lingered in my throat for hours afterwards, finalls replaced by garlic in the evening. Not sure if that's all that much better, though...

Bucking bronco/camels - free sightseeing for the locals!!

Another great day today - the sun was shining and making the below-zero (I think all this week we'll be getting about -4 during the day, at least...) temps a little easier on the body.

I asked G to take me sightseeing, so we ended up heading to an open day at a school for girls to learn hospitality, housekeeping, florist and general "life" skills (I think Australia's equivalent is TAFE), but the thing is, this school is in an old castle. So while I was absently wandering through each room of displays and chatty girls, I noticed some amazing old floor-to-wall paintings and the odd piece of furniture rescued from the rubbish tip that echoed of times gone by.

There was cake at the end. Oh, so much cake. And, after supplying the school with a generous tip as thanks, we devoured so much cake. Oh, so much. I waddled out of there, pretty sure that any weight I may have miraculously lost in the last few weeks was sitting pretty in my belly once again. Hello, old friend. I missed you.

G being G, and an opportunist at the best of times, took the chance while there to peddle her camel business and before long, I found myself sitting in the director's office telling her how nice her school was. Waiting outside that door for her to be ready really took me back to high school... haha

After that, G drove me to Shallenburg castle (spelling?), I'm told one of the most famous of the castles in Austria. It really was a sight to see, but unfortunately only from the outside again. This time it wasn't tightass me that stopped the inside peruse, but the closure to all tourists of the whole building. I had to be satisfied with some happy snaps outside overlooking the beautiful garden, currently covered in almost undisturbed snow.

Back at the ranch, I took Creo out for another forest adventure and he was great... again. After, G had said we would take the camels out for a run but she was feeling tired so I let her rest while I sorted things out for the afternoon muck-out. Not long after, I got a call saying she was up and ready for camel action, so I took Wolga (pronounced "Vulgar" - she's Russian, I think it suits) out of her box, got her ready and was off for another camel cursing exercise.

I wasn't 100% thrilled about having to exercise the camels, given the hefty blister I got on my thumb last time, but I am so glad I did it. They were FULL of life today, and with G at one end helping to yell, they didn't take much encouragement. Seeing a camel buck and canter is really something you will never forget - it. is. absolutely. hilarious. I was cantering along behind them yahooing with the whip... today the cars really had a reason to slow down!!

Frozen Malteser poo balls

I could tell from the early skerricks of morning that it was going to be a beautiful day. Albeit accompanied by tit-freezing wind, but cloudless and sunny nonetheless. I started by hacking at the frozen camel poo - little balls that closely resemble Maltesers - on the ground and hoisting my jacket higher up my neck (why didn't I wear my scarf??) until I had worked enuf to not feel the cold as much.

I sent myself to my room - away from the internet - to practise Spanish and had a good session of memorising more words. Urgh, my brain is almost exploding! Finally cleaned the sink in my room - one of those tasks I remember I need to do each night as I brush my teeth and am just about to go to bed. Then remember again the next night as I brush my teeth... and it goes on.

In the afternoon, I went out for two rides in the forest that is the backyard. It was SO GORGEOUS out there... just me, my horse and occasionally some stags and wild mountain sheep frollicking about, with the sun slanting in through the conifers. Cantering through the powdery snow in the afternoon sunlight is something I will never forget. Just breathtaking. Would've looked a right fool smiling to myself had the deers given a shit. Was also very impressed at the younger horse I rode, the leopard appaloosa coloured one (Creo). I think I have a new favourite.

Chatted to the British girl due here next week on Skype, and she seems lovely. I wonder if she can massage... my shoulders are starting to ache. Maybe leave that question a couple of days. I had a thought today... the last person I knew from England with her name I had a threesome with on my boyfriend/guy I was seeing's birthday, which was the beginning of the end of things with him (he wasn't the third person involved...). Imagine if it's her haha!!!

Pretty sure the cat is knocked up... just saying

My shoulder muscles are starting to ache a little now. I need a massage. Some magic hands, please.

Bad news on the Vienna front too, which I forgot to mention earlier. The flights have shot up in price so I don't think any of my mates from London will be making the trip. Good news is that I have reconnected with an old school friend I drifted apart rather unceremoniously from years ago, and she - by chance - is also living in Austria so hopefully we'll see each other before I go to South America. BUT, can you believe, she is also going to SA around the same time! Sign?? I think so.

I went riding today in the front paddock with the camels, very briefly, then again in the afternoon with one of the older girls that is training G's horse in Parelli. We went a bit faster and actually almost galloped, which was nice but I was a little apprehensive because I am not used to going so fast in snow. And my horse wanted to run! But it was all good.

Got me some fandangle, sparkly new suspenders today - braces, if you will - which I actually need to keep my jodphurs up which are losing elasticity around the waist. No, it's cos I'm just losing so much weight, that's it. Haha... well, people actually think I am losing weight but as it has been my whole life, I am always the same, just in different lights and clothing. I am eating so much chocolate I don't see how it is possible I am losing weight.

So I am in love with my new suspenders. They made them right in front of me, I just pointed to the horsey design and snip, sew, clip - done! I wondered why anyone invented belts at all. Then I went to the toilet. That's why. A little awkward especially given how much clothes I am wearing in this winter chill (getting colder again) but I will deal with it for their awesomeness. Have already decided to ask for another pair, this time in a more neutral colour so I can team them with other items of clothing. Can't wait!

Oh, and I am putting dibs on the fact that the neighbours adopted cat, who I named Chloe, is up the duff. Despite being thought to be neutered. Just putting it out there...

SUPER stoked about my new braces!!!

And I actually need them to keep my riding pants up! Twice as cool :)

South American plans slowly take form...

Well, my whip blister didn't live too long to see this world. I popped it while cutting the beets for the deer. In the eerie basement. Although, in recent times, finding a gigantic pile of moulding sugar beets in an Austrian basement instead of anything else is something many would consider lucky...

The snow was a sight to see this morning - at one point the flakes were MASSIVE and I stopped working to try and catch one to look at at. Well, technically they aren't giant flakes, just a whole bunch of smaller flakes bunched together. Still, I love them!

G asked if I wanted to ride after the morning work and, considering her 10-day leave to a health retreat (well, someone's gotta do it, right?) would mean no riding in her absence, I said yes. I got to choose who I rode, so I took out the youngest Creo (also the spotted leopard one!) who is a nervous wreck. He was as expected. Then Gnom again who, rather than being fast and having to be reined in all the time, actually verged on being lazy today. Is it me or him??

I spent the rest of my day concreting the Spanish I'd taught myself in my room or while mucking out. Problem with the latter is that I always get back to "I love you" and then BOOM, Rihanna's Te Amo is in my head and I find myself losing all interest in espanol and shaking my ass to "she put 'er 'and around me waist" instead. Dammit, now it's back in my head.

Started to get a little tired of listening to G's husband talk about why the way he lived his life was the best way (breathe) and henceforth politely declined his offer of going for a drive to a racetrack (more one-on-one time with him). I wouldn't have minded seeing some nice vintage cars but I just needed some "me" time, and I was tired of agreeing with him.

After yesterday's efforts with writing intro letters to South American Help X places, I got 2 replies from Argentina, 2 from Peru and one from Ecuador. All but 1 in Argentina were positive so now it's just a case of seeing what fits where... possibly when I get to Brazil. Some will incur massive bus trips but it's nothing I ain't done before. I don't want to commit to too much though, and then find I get some other random opportunity when I hit South America that I really have to take. But most of the places seem pretty casual so we'll see...

As it stands, I want to get to Brazil, then Bolivia on my way to Peru, then upwards to Ecuador and down down down to Argentina and finally Chile, where I fly home to. Woot woot!! Excitement plus. About EVERYTHING!

I'm so hard I get whip blisters

I am in high spirits today, after waking up before my alarm and doing the morning work in light snow - meaning not-too-cold temperatures - and then having a good workout with the camels and some great work on another horse that I previously disliked.

The camels were much more energetic today, and while I thought I'd have to really push them along and stress my voice, they reacted quite well and were frollicking up and down the paddock for quite a while. And if you've never seen a camel frollick... well, just like everything else they do, it's extremely funny. Half the time I'm laughing too much to sound authoritarian enuf to get them to move. G said they would have also been getting more used to me so would be more inclined to do what I said.

The horse I rode afterwards, Gnom, was the first horse I rode here and I did not enjoy him. He is shit with mustering camels and walks too fast so I always had to rein him in. Today, however, after a warning from G that his energy would give me a good "adventure", he was a little angel and we actually worked quite well in the paddock with his head down and a nice working trot. My very elementary dressage skills got a good ol' dust-off and I actually felt like I was riding WELL. That's a change.

Was meant to go shopping with G's sister today but she cancelled.. Then G heard and got all angry at her. There is such a weird chemistry with this family unit, I just can't work it out. So I try to avoid it all. The less I say, the less I step on toes. Other than that they're lovely people.

Oh, and today while I was crackin the whip I managed to give myself a blister on the bottom of my thumb. Talk about AWKWARD! Grr... Anyway at least I have something to show for my efforts.

Rio here I come... a couple days early!

A couple inches of snow fell last night, waking me to a fresh powdery covering of all things outdoors. It was still snowing when I went to the animals, which meant this time I couldn't see the stars (can you believe that? I actually see the stars I start so early in the morning!!) but it was lovely working in the light snow - when it wasn't fallen into my eyeball.

One of the factory workers' girlfriend R was at the farm and G being G put her straight to work - I was told she was "here to help" so I rearranged my schedule to give her some of the less scary, camel-related tasks to do. Turned out she was given some tasks of her own by G so I had a little help from her with the horse stables at the end, but since she's not used to doing it, I did about 7 in the time she did 3. But I am thankful I got to do 3 less!

She speaks Spanish as well, so I was asking her lots of questions about the language and the 6 months she spent in South America. She didn't know anything before she went and within a month was confident on the phone, so there is hope for me yet!

On a sadder note, I have officially started biting my nails again. Before today, I was biting them to a shorter length because I can't have long nails in this environment, but now, sitting at this laptop (damn you laptop!), I have bitten a few down to the ends. Sob sob...

Today I went with G's husband W to one of the factories they run for handicapped people (apparently they have 3), where they give simple tasks with their elastics so these people have something to do and I guess earn some money. I walked past a showroom with some of the things they made and I was really impressed! If I had the cash and the bag space, I would've bought a tonne of stuf from that selection!

Afterwards, we stopped in a pub for a tea (for W) and beer (for me). I don't often drink alcohol here so when I do, I always get drowsy and a little spacey. More so than usual I mean :P

My travel agent - bless her second trimester pregnant belly - stuffed something up with my booking and has had to move my flight forward a couple of days to Rio. This means I need to reorganise my flight from Vienna to London, and arrange some accommodation in Rio for those extra days - all of which she says Flight Centre will cover. Which is good, because there really isn't any other option here.

It means I'm in Rio from March 1, more crazy carnival life to experience and maybe some more chances to get mugged. Cross those fingers now!

Rock solid cold

The cold weather has well n truly returned, this time bringing with it an icecold wind to really dig deep into my warm layers of clothing. Fun times. I have conveniently misplaced my scarf and warm beanie hat so I just had to shrug my shoulder deeper into my jacket and pull my hoodie around my neck.

The water has gone back to freezing in the horses' boxes so that's more work for me, making sure they have enuf to drink. But I can't leave the hose out because that too freezes up and I can't fill up the water bucket. The ground has also turned rock solid underfoot, so while it's not so slippery, riding is harder on the horses' hooves and the camels - already lazy - are even less inclined to move their asses when I try to exercise them.

Today I had the "help" of one of the younger students, who is a nice Austrian girl of about 13 but actually, when it comes down to it, pretty useless at moving the camels. So while I was relying on her to help keep things in check, I soon realised I would have to do it myself. Oh well, luckily G didn't make us try for too long. I would like to keep my voice intact, for now.

There are 10 more days until this British bird apparently comes to help at the farm for a month. It will be nice having someone younger to hang out with and also the help! But with me here alone I don't get asked to do too much in between the stable work, so it's pretty chilled. Maybe with another person G will start amping up the workload again. Urgh!!

Though, to be fair, I do enjoy working for G because she appreciates the work I do and tries to thank me often for it. I don't feel she overworks me and I know if it's too much I can just tell her, and she'll organise someone to come and help me or do a shift instead of me for a day or two. She consistently says she is glad I stayed, and I am glad too, but I feel a little bad that I had to be paid to stay. But it was the only way. I'd be heading to the brats in Bratislava if it'd gone any other way.

Seeing Austria through my champers glass

Today brought with it more English and more delicious food... as I sit here typing my stomach is about to burst from eating the leftovers for dinner (there's still some left in the fridge).

I did the morning work in record time (2 hours) - without even meaning to rush! - and thought I'd have a quick nap before being picked up at noon by one of G's friends for lunch and some help with English learning. Seems it wasn't to be, as I found things to keep me busy until I was rushing to change clothes in time to be picked up.

Now, still having not had any nap time, I need to go to my room and try to rest my brain before making it sleep. I've been having a hard time shutting off lately, there is so much going around my head and I am not as exhausted as usual so I can't just pass out anymore. Damn my body regulating to this routine!!

Lunch was awesome, some meat rissoles (I taught E the word "rissole" and it sounded so funny, colloquial English coming from an Austrian), mashed potato, creamy sauce and a variation on the traditional sour potato salad they always seem to serve here. Mmmm.... even with my full stomach my mouth waters at the thought of it.

We went across the st (literally, across the road) to a young boy who was learning English at school and talked with him and helped him with his exercises. After a while, it does start to drain my brain, all this thinking about what I'm saying. I'm not meant to think about what I say!! I'm me!

After that, and a couple of glasses of champagne (sweeeeet), I was driven the scenic route home and tried to stop myself from lapsing into an alcohol-spurred slumber to enjoy the views. We went through lots of little villages, all with their pastel-coloured Austrian houses with little designs around the windows, plantations of Christmas trees and dustings of snow from the last couple of nights. Actually, it was snowing softly this morning when I was feeding, a really light snow that fell ever so slightly onto the ground. My favourite kind.

The scenery really is so stunning here, the area is world heritage listed because it is so pretty and has so many ruins and castles around about. I didn't see any today but we often drive past one... it's like oh, hey, there's another 1000-year old building. Sweet. Next!

On another note, my Spanish friend can't come to Vienna anymore and another friend I had invited just quit her job so I doubt she wants to splash out on a city break... here's to hoping my other mates don't dog it! Oh well, I will just hans solo. I need to sort my visa to Brazil anyway...

English, English, English

Oh, and I forgot to add something about yesterday - I helped again as a native English speaker but this time, in a proper English lesson held by G's friend E. It is so easy helping with a language I've spoken my whole life, but it's good to also see what problems people encounter when learning new languages. Now with my Spanish, I can totally empathise!!

Speaking of which, I am coming along slowly but surely... although every time I think I am getting better, G's sister comes in and rattles off some sentence super fast and I have no idea! I am much better at reading it at this stage! But my little Spanish friend is also helping me, we speak almost every night on Facebook and I try to talk with him in Spanish where possible.

Actually, he says he wants to come to Australia after he finishes his law exams at the end of the year and we can get married. Or I can move to Spain. I like Spain but I don't think so. Let's just see if he ever gets to Australia first.

Tomorrow I am having lunch with E and then helping a young boy from her neighbourhood who is having trouble with his English. I don't really mind but sometimes I feel I should be getting paid for this! I mean, G is paying me to be at the farm but all this extra stuf... hmmm...

News just in: flights bked, tax refund back!!

Today I fed and mucked out the stables for all 10 camels and 11 horses, fed the sheep/deer, jumped on a horse and exercised the camels in the big paddock hans solo (hard work, the lazy fuckers), had breakfast then booked my flights to Brazil and Australia. At that point it was 10am.

The remainder of my day has been considerably less hectic, as I accompanied my boss' mum - who turns 89 this year - with her nephew and his wife to a local restaurant for lunch and another cafe for cake. Not gonna lie, the food here is pretty good. Particularly the cakes. I had to continually refuse their offers of more food, saying I was already bursting at the seams, and they said I shouldn't worry about getting fat because I was far too young. They clearly didn't grow up in Australia.

Yesterday I was keen to ride but G was out n about all day doing whatever she was doing, so I didn't get a chance. I don't mind the quieter days, though, she is so energetic and offering me to go here n there I always seem to have things to do. I like having a few extra minutes to have morning cuddles with No Name - I WILL get G to do the same just once before I leave. She didn't even know the cat liked to cuddle until I sat down with it!

It has started snowing again, albeit lightly. I woke to a fresh covering of snow everywhere and instantly everything was beautiful again. No more of this "mud" business. Let the Bandaid heal the world :)

G has gone off for potentially the whole weekend to have her eyes checked, so I'm chief animal girl again. No problemo, I am all over this shit now!

Oh oh oh, and I finally found out how much I get back from tax and it was just what I expected!! Several hundred pounds, just what I need for South America, now that's booked! Maybe that will drag me just above the poverty line then...

Everyone wants a piece...

I vetoed riding today as a slight rain continued to dampen the already slippery as hell (would hell be slippery? Probably not) ground, and the horses built up a larger vat of energy to expend on me next time I clambered on.

Straight after the morning feeding and mucking out, I rushed to join the weekly English class G and her friends held, this time at the farm, and helped to explain and translate some stories. It was hard work! Then I shared with them the poem I wrote for my mates' wedding, trying to get them to see a different way of applying English to creative writing. Found 3 spelling mistakes as I was reading through - embarrassing much??

The animals - mainly horses and cat called No Name after years of no one naming it - were staring at me to give them attention, let them out, just do SOMETHING other than rush past with coffee cups and tea thermoses. That cat has just gotten way too damn used to our morning cuddles. But apparently it's the first time it's done that with anyone, so I guess that's nice.

Other than that, I have kept pretty chilled today. It was that just-wanna-feel-cosy kinda weather, and I didn't want to push myself too much. I have to get up before 6am tomorrow (hating life) to get finished earlier to accompany E to her English class as a special guest native speaker. They're milkin' me, that's fo sho!! Ha! But G said I was the best helper so far with English classes because I understand the mentality of the environment the best. Maybe she's just buttering me up with all these compliments so I work harder... haha... nah... I really am awesome.

12th century castle ruins in Austria

 

Rodeo camel girl vs. mud

A few clouds nudged the sunshine around a little today, but overall it wasn't all that bad - especially for winter. I tried exercising the camels on horseback but it was quite difficult with the super slippery mud and a young horse full of beans. With one hand I was whipping the camels along (or trying to), with the other I was trying to stop my horse from bucking and simultaneously breaking its leg falling down. Hey, I've never been a woman afraid of a little multitasking!!

I went into Melk with G today kinda by mistake - I thought she was going into Krems and I would be able to check out the town, but Melk I have already been to so I had 2 hours to kill which I spent wandering around the monastry gardens. At one point I wanted out and the gate was locked so I scaled the perimeter looking for a way to jump out - it being an old fortress this task wasn't so simple.

Eventually I walked back to the main gates, shifted to the right and tried the next door... which was open. I hope they didn't have security cameras. What an idiot.

Now I'm trying to learn the Spanish days of the week and some more little things... I am not sure if I'm cramming too much and if it will all just seep slowly out while I'm not looking, but I fully intend to be able to converse slightly before I leave this place. That's six weeks away.

The travel agent hasn't gotten back to me about my flights. She must be super busy. Just want to get it sorted so I can then sort out my visa for Brazil. The guy was really nice when I rang up to ask questions... it sounds pretty simple to get, they even said they'd take a photo of me instead of having to go to a passport machine. Super sweet!

The weather looks like it's back on the descent over the next five days, so that's AWESOME. Hmm... Was getting used to this pleasant, non-freezing environment. Ahh well, back to 3 jumpers it is then. Well, gotta go and cook myself some dinner. Becoming quite handy in the kitchen these days... if only I had someone to cook for. Hahaha...loner.

Road trip to Vienna... and we end up at the circus!

Another cloudless day. It is just beautiful, I can't believe it. Well, I can believe it is beautiful because this is Austria but I can't believe this weather!! Global warming on our doorstep hey. I am walking around in a hoodie and just soaking up the sunshine (obviously not at this moment as I type on the laptop!)... how's the serenity.

I woke to a slightly chilled morning, and when I walked out I was met with the glittery sparkle of a freshly frosted driveway and grass. So lovely! And you know how much I like glitter...

Was meant to book my flights to South America today but I haven't heard from the agent. She is super busy and I know the flights are confirmed, so I am in no rush. I did have to call London today, however, to check up on the everlasting saga that is my tax. Urgh! Worst company ever. I am now waiting on a call from them hopefully telling me how much I am going to receive from their fuck-up with my tax code in 2009/10 and the small amount of the year I worked in 2010/2011.

Yesterday G and I went to Vienna so she could meet some friends and I could do some sighsteeing. Beforehand, we visited her mare at the fancy pants equestrian centre and I took my Spanish to study. While I was learning all the prepositions, I avoided eye contact with the skin crawly riding teacher that apparently goes for the young'uns (his gf is about half his age) and soaked up the freaky winter sunshine.

Plans changed en route to Vienna and G ended up cancelling the original meeting with her friend and opting instead to take me to see her friends at their family circus. It was great fun, they had camels, horses, ponies, goats and acrobatic tricks. Not the highest standard but a bit of fun for the kids on a Sunday, and such a great family atmosphere with every mother, father and daughter popping behind the popcorn stand or selling glow sticks after each act.

We then whizzed over to catch her old acting friend's movie as part of an independent film festival at the local cinema. I received a pair of raised eyebrows when I said I wanted to come in and watch it, because it would be in German (hey, the musical in Germany fun!) but when I said I'd go walking instead her friend (also a factory worker and with a small part in the film) bought me a ticket without asking and I was in.

It was interesting, a couple of them were good but others were just so so... I could understand pretty much all the storylines because they were either in English, silent or simple storylines. Acting was pretty dismal at times but hey, that's independent cinema for you!! The actors afterwards met all my expectations, and none of them particularly positive. I was glad when we got out of there.

G then drove me into the centre of town - Vienna, such a GORGEOUS town - and we looked at the stunning opera house before going to the most exclusive hotel in Vienna for a hot chocolate and cake. Not going to lie, it was pretty fine.

Kept myself awake for the drive home in case G fell asleep at the wheel, and made myself content with cake for dinner so I could sleep asap. At least the morning wasn't too cold to wake up to!

Winter... or was that spring??

The weather has taken a freakishly springlike turn these last few days, culminating in today's almost complete melting of the snow around these parts and near-flooding of the local stretch of the Danube (the river that runs through several European countries).

The waters are apparently now receding so no towns will have to be evacuated or anything but the other days they did have to close a few areas and divert traffic. I like to think it's just Australia saying hi.

G and I took an outing to the next biggest town, St Pölten, to see about getting my fucked digital camera fixed (result: no) and grab a few other things. We drove via an old 12th Century castle ruin on the way back, and I jumped out and took some snaps - firstly, on my brother's camera that ran out of battery then on my shitty broken one that has no flash and no screen display. So I am interested to see what I actually took photos of.

I almost fell asleep in the car on the way back but still said yes when she asked if I was still keen to ride. And it's a good thing I did, because for the first time the weather allowed us to leave the paddock and venture into the back forest.

This farm actually has a massive piece of the forest attached to the back of it - it goes a couple of generations back and has for the whole time housed a menagery of animals (although I'm pretty sure the camels are an addition from this generation!). The elastics factory was G's dad's and she's continued it - some of the people have worked here their whole lives. Can you imagine??!

Another girl came to ride with me, and we took the young horses. I, on Barack, of course got bucked again but was all good. G just keeps getting me to ride him so I must be doing something right. I hear he's from a zoo so maybe that's why he's a bit mental. And why I suit him.

When we'd unsaddled and done all the nightly animal duties, another girl arrived keen to ride so we saddled up another 2 horses and went back out as darkness closed in. Lucky my horse and the girls knew where they were going cos I had no idea. This time I rode Hafi, the other Haflinger that isn't Barack (and nowhere near as pretty).

G has lent me her wrist support bandages, so now it's a little easier to do the hard work but today I had help again so it's not so bad. I will keep wearing them riding and working, and hopefully I won't do any permanent damage to them. Damn my old cranky joints!

I have had to change heavy jackets because the one I was wearing now smells like tramp. Gross.

Poem for my newlyweds

The Vine

Their two souls were destined to meld, intertwine,
Branch, thick with purpose, meeting branch on a vine.
Lines of strain showed where they had met,
Grooves now lay dormat, wood hardened to set.

No breeze too heavy, nor sunshine to bright,
Nothing, not one thing, could damage its might.
Safe and secure, encased in their grip,
Solid protection, from root to the tip.

The summer heat warmed and threatend to burn,
The vine changed its shape, found shade in its turn.
Autumn rushed through, catching leaves with its wind,
Stripped bare and naked, though marginally thinned.

In winter, their courage exceeded the cold,
They sprouted new branches, yet treasured the old.
And now, in fourth quarter, the spring arrived sweet,
Reminding the souls of their very first meet.

For seasons they came but they only passed through,
Serving as tests of a love pure and true.
Each growth path diverted, each stalk with its vein,
Was part of its life, as the sun and the rain.

These souls, intertwined, ravished fire and flood,
Through power of mind, spirit, speech... their blood.
And they knew, when that vine ceased the power to give,
They'd find a new purpose, a new life to live.

For theirs, theirs were souls that were destined to meet,
And love was the fire they were destined to heat.

Dedicated to Tiffany and Matt - may you have everlasting happiness and joy in your new lives together xoxo

Warm(ish) weather is icy icy baby

It's been raining the last couple of days, which makes for some interesting situations. I have to be extra careful now because the snow is melting away, exposing the ice that has laid underneath for weeks, and even the mud is sometimes slippery. On the other hand, it is pretty good weather (as in 2 jumpers instead of 2 jumpers and a heavy overcoat kinda weather) for wintertime.

But luckily, because of my gammy wrists, I am having an easy day today, largely inside resting (although typing on the computer for hours probably isn't helping the wrist situation) and not having to do the animals in the afternoon. I keep thinking how nice it is of G to give me the afternoon off, then I remember I haven't actually had a day off in the almost two weeks I've been here! Not that I mind, it's not an issue and G needs me to do the work because she physically can't at the moment. Like I said, good brain and body training.

Well, I'm off now to teach myself some more Spanish. Yesterday was numbers 1 - 1000, today basic phrases. OK. Deep breaths. Ouch, my head already hurts thinking about it.

Camel surprise

It was my first experience taking camels on the road today, as we had a birthday party to take two of them to. Loading them up was the same as a horse, they went on to the float pretty easily and traveled well. It's a fact that camels sit down for most of their travels, which I find kinda strange, but then again camels are the strangest of strange animals. Like a dinosaur crossed with a llama crossed with a giraffe.

Anyway, I digress. So we drove to an equestrian centre and here we gave camel rides to anyone who wanted them, while we waited for the birthday girl. She arrived pissed as a fart, on the back of a golf cart thing with a blindfold on, and was super surprised when she saw all her riding friends, bottles of champagne, a cake, presents and two camels!

She was only turning 27 so I asked what made the big fuss, and was told she was the owner of the riding school which I found amazing for a girl her age but you just never know these days. Kids are doing all sorts of things. Actually, she is my age and I have done much more weird and wonderful things so far... and it will only keep going, if I have anything to do with it!!

G is giving me an easy day tomorrow because my wrists are getting weak and a bit sore. I did a lot of physical work today, which I'm not complaining about because I like that it disciplines my mind and body, and hopefully tones me up... it's just that me wrists, me darn wrists... Arthritis by 30, I swear.

So I guess it's a Spanish day tomorrow. Today I learnt how to count to 1000, now I need to get on top of my common prepositions. Eek.

English haunts me

No matter how hard I try to distance myself from the world of English teaching, it just comes back to haunt me. Well, I make it sound worse than it is really, but yesterday I was included as special guest native speaker in G's regular English get-together with a few friends. They could all speak quite good English so I was just tuning them on the finer points when needed. Now the lady who runs it wants me to come along to her proper class of adults in Melk. Whatever, it's not like it's hard to speak my language!

Other than that, the day wasn't too different than the rest. I had to have a sleep after the English lesson because the first solo day had made me a little weary, but I was wide awake again after I jumped on Barack for a couple of bucks along with my ride.

I forgot to say, one of the first things I did here was name the next door neighbour's cat who had just adopted herself into this family because I don't think they fed it. So I called it Chloe. I don't know why, the name just seemed to fit. It is such a pretty name.

Anyway, I'm rambling now and before I post about today, I need to get the sweet potatoes out of the oven before they burn - sheizer!!

Solo Camel Girl... with flying colours!!

I am now moving the camels all by myself, given G is out of action following her eye operation. Yesterday I was on Barack and G was walking behind, and I was pushing the 10 camels from one end of the paddock to the other to give them some exercise. Afterwards, she said I did a good job because the camels just would not have moved if they didn't respect me. Hoorah!!

To be honest, I am actually growing quite fond of the camels. They are so funny, I could just sit there watching them all day. Often I go into the yard with them and just play around... they really are so sweet. And after the initial shock, the smell really isn't so bad. Just wouldn't recommend going into the camel yard before a big date...

It was the first time I was doing everything, the American girls having left at Ridiculous O'Clock in the morning (which so happens to also be the time I now have to get up). By the day's end, I was buggered but also satisfied that I'd be able to get it all done without any assistance. Especially the camels, which I can now round up, catch, collar, tie up and release all by my lonesome :) It's just the mucking out (4 camel stables and 9 horse stables) that gets me. But it's good character building stuf!

I am seriously debating buying a camel when I settle in Australia. But I want one of the ones caught from the desert so it's not sent to the abbatoir. But I want a two-hump one, and they don't really exist in Australia except in zoos I'm told. Bahh humbug. Oh well, I am sure I could find one I can love. And it would be a play friend for Issi, my horse.

So that's an old adopted dog, a horse, a camel, a cat and another puppy later on for me and my new home. Looks like I'll be that crazy old spinster living on a hill throwing surplus kittens at unsuspecting visitors... ahh well, someone's gotta do it right??

Extreme sledding. Debut performance.

 

Camel ride... reach for the sky!

Yesterday was the last time I would have the American girls' help, so I really made the most of it. We cleaned, cleaned, cleaned all these different rooms and got the hay and straw ready, and got kinda obsessed with kicking up the melting pieces of shit ice (literally, shit and ice mixed together). My favourite call was from K saying, "Oooooh, I got a big chunk!!" We really need to get out more.

The factory is back from holidays, so we have a bustling little property here in Eitental. We also have picky secretaries that don't like us smelling like camel in her office. Dammit.

A man with a small tractor piled the compost heap up to make more room and in the process unearthed the deer guts and amputated heads we'd so delicately covered up after the hunter kindly left them there from his kill. Gross. But I have to admit, this deer meat is the SHIZ NIZ. Restaurant quality.

I helped G to drop some clothes off to a recycling bin, my suggestion after she said she wanted to burn them, and was told on the way home they used to belong to a former riding pupil of hers that killed herself at 30. Grim ride home.

My skin is getting really dry from this weather. It's balls.

Bones bones bones in Kutva Hora, Prague

 

This is how the Austrians make party

Last night was my first Saturday night in Austria and so it was only fitting that it was the first time we properly socialised with the locals. G's husband W took us along to an Austrian fundraising party for the local football club, and just as we were worried we'd stick out because we were wearing different clothes, we saw it was actually fancy dress!! Totally missed that memo. We were the only ones not dressed up, which made us stick out even more but was pretty funny because it's not often so many people get into a themed party like that.

Old, young, they were TV stars, superheroes, a giant strawberry (my favourite), witches, clowns... you name it. There was a deliciously 80s cover band playing all the hits - Ghetto Superstar, a bit of Shakira, Tina Turner - and we danced up a storm. Especially to the traditional Austrian music. At one stage we were roped into a conga line around the whole restaurant. Good times.

I made friends with some younger people and they invited me to their gig in February, which should be cool. It will be nice to hang out with some people my own age, I don't know when the next helpers will come and the American girls are leaving on Tuesday morning :(

Drinks were bought left, right and centre, and before we knew it we were a little drunk. And it was 4am. We eventually fell into bed about 4:30, just 1.5 hours before our alarms would ring to feed the animals. Heavy.

We just got up, worked as fast as we could trying not to make any mistakes, and collapsed into bed straight after. Funnily enough, my state made me care less about potentially being attacked by a camel and now I am more confident being with them alone. Go figure! K couldn't sleep so she thankfully did the final bits of work while we slept until midday. God, it was good.

G came home in the afternoon and then we had dinner at her mum's house, which is the house we stay in. She has the cutest little shitzu dog, it runs around like crazy and its tongue is always poking out just a little. Cuteness plus.

During dinner I faded fast and now I'm literally just staying awake to water the horses then caput. I am out.

Extreme sledding - one way to learn!

The funnest part of my day came at the very end, when we were just about to retire to bed. A worker from the factory at the farm (it makes elastics) came with his girlfriend to check on some pipes and then asked us three if we wanted to come sledding. "Now?? Are you serious?" Was my reaction - it being about 8:30pm n all.

They said sure, let's go, so we pulled out the ancient sleds from the barn and trudged up the hill out the back. Turns out this property goes a fair way back there. The snow reflected a good deal of light but it was a pretty cloudy night, so the moon wasn't giving us much help. Probably a good thing that I didn't see the bumps n lumps anyway - blind ignorance is best sometimes.

As most Australians would agree, I have no experience whatsoever with sledding (except maybe down a mud hill or a plastic waterslide in the backyard when I was 5), so I just basically got on and went for it. I did one decent run, but the others were pretty dismal. I was ass over tits for the good majority of it all. I expect some tasty bruises in the next few days. But that was still pretty damn entertaining!!

The American girls were also equally as uncoordinated, although we did get a couple of good runs in. I was soaked through my 3 pairs of pants and gloves but it was so much fun. Except at the end when we kinda broke one of the sleds. Oops. I hope G doesn't get angry because I think they're quite old... Damn my fat ass!

Everything else went great, considering it was the first day G was away having her operation and there were no hiccups. One of the ladies from the factory came to help with the camels, she spoke no English but I managed to communicate enough with her. She was only needed here half an hour so that was good - even then it was just a couple of camels that she really needed to be there to help with. I got this.

Stay for a wage? Don't mind if I do!

It's January 6 in my blog world now and this, for the record, was the first time I had actually been asked to stay longer at a Help X place in return for a wage! Hoorah! I had a feeling this might have been on the table but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

Basically, G is having a secret eye operation that she doesn't want anyone to know about and so will be out of action for a few weeks at least. Being a bit of a control freak and stubborn by nature, I know it is very hard for her to entrust the care of her animals to just anyone so I do feel quite flattered that she thinks I'm able to do it. In our chat last night, she told me I had done a very good job so far and she could see me learning much more here.

I was honest with her and said I needed the same amount of money as I would've been paid for teaching in Bratislava, and she agreed. It is over a longer period of time, but it doesn't make a difference as it's all I would've earnt either way with teaching. I just would've had to deal with kids again. And I prefer animals, because at least you can hit them if they misbehave. I have emailed the English school twice now and got no response so it's their loss for being so unorganised.

For me, the situation also fits well because it means I still have free acommodation, food and some expenses, while also getting valuable training that I can use through my life. People pay a lot of money for this shit. I also get to ride horses and train the 2 younger ones. And for her, she gets someone who is capable to handle the camels, ride the horses and be reliable with any other task. Win win, really!

During the day, we exercised the camels again and so you all understand what this means, I will explain it. We saddle some horses, jump on and move the camels from their holding pen through the farm and to the paddock over the road. Altogether there are 10 camels so they can veer off here n there at times, but mostly when the majority are going one way, they just follow each other. Camels are smart animals but they certainly don't mind following the pack.

When we're in the paddock we run them from one end to the other, exercising the horses at the same time. Then we leave the camels in a bunch at the end of the paddock and do some work with the horses. I keep training the 2 young horses with natural horsemanship/western style, and a bit of English. I am really trying not to have them have to use the harsh bits the other horses use.

The American girls came along again, and have made some good improvements with rise-trotting etc. I met another of the girls about my age that comes to ride the horses, they have all been nice so far and able to speak English well. This, of course, means I am not improving my German at all but I hope to pick up more here n there. Now that I'm here for 2 months!

RIP little guinea pigs

January 5 and we've got this animal routine down pat. The girls had their first chance to ride the horses and I had some more practice on a now much calmer Barack. But first we had to clean the guinea pigs and rabbit pen.

Firstly, until now I didn't even realise G owned these animals. Secondly, the pen hadn't been cleaned for a few weeks and when I lifted up one of the little houses I found 3 dead guinea pigs. Gross. 1 big one and 2 little babies :( Actually, that reminds me that we have bury them today.

So where was I. OK, guinea pigs. We sorted them out, then later on went for the ride. The girls were pretty basic in their riding skills, but still had fun (I hope!). We didn't take the camels this time, it would've been a bit hectic with the girls.

Afterwards, G drove us into town to check out the Melk monastary which is just beautiful. However, us being tightass travelers, we didn't want to fork out almost 10 euros to go for the inside tour and just admired the pictures from the souvenir shop of what it would have looked like. Oh well, we got close enough. We walked a little around Melk but retreated soon after for a hot chocolate indoors as it was getting a little too cold. But damn, that hot chocolate was good.

This night we didn't go out, just chilled a bit while G went to visit some relatives. It was good downtime. I got to bed at a very respectable hour and was a little more fresh when I woke up the next day. Unfortunately so was the weather, and I found it very difficult to get out of my warm bed.

Spotty horse time

Another day down and it's getting harder to wake up in the morning. Me bones are freezin up and the dodgy wrists are rearing their wristy little heads again. Ahh, to be young again. On the plus side, I have been asked to do less of the menial work and focus instead on the feeding and more important tasks, probably because when I alone I will have to do it all and she doesn't want to scare me too much!

We rode again, me on bucking Barack once more but this time he was very well behaved. I also rode my favourite (but I'm bias) leopard horse which is not Appaloosa but still beautiful. He is only 4 or 5 so not trained much but he is very sensitive and good to ride.

This night we went for a real Austrian experience at a restaurant called heuregen in the wachau, which means wine of the first year. It is a traditional custom of Austria which sees vineyards open their doors as a restaurant for a few weeks of the year, serving cold food like cheese, bread, meats and spreads along with wine from their own vineyard.

Nowadays it's a custom reserved for tourists but G has friends who told her about one opening now, in winter, so we went along and had a nice night out. The couple we went with were really lovely, the husband was the mayor of the little village and the wife was very good in English and keen to talk. Us girls scoffed our faces and finished the plate, then tried not to fall asleep on the drive home.

At home, G asked us to water the horses just as we were dreaming of bed and we dragged our feet to the water trough... she got the picture and said we could go to bed instead. This time I slept before my head hit the pillow.

Buck, FUCK, buck, FUCK!

The first day with the American girls helping was also the first I was trying to do things for myself - I needed to learn because G is going for eye surgery and I need to be the one to look after the animals while she is gone and then out of action.

My memory was a little hazy but she was still helping me so that was alright. There was one camel whose a bit snappy so I needed help with that but otherwise I did alright. We finished a bit later than normal but that just left room for improvement!

A teenage student and another girl about my age came to ride, and I hopped onto a horse for my first ride with G. She was still cautious about my abilities, as lots of people overestimate their experience, so I was on one of the easier ones.

We took the camels out to get some exercise in the big front paddock and it took just one turn out the front gate for me to make my first mistake. Granted, she didn't explain what I was meant to be doing properly, but I accidentally chased them too far away and they bolted up the mountain track they usually go on for tourist rides. So, as punishment, I was the one to follow them up - on foot because of the ice - and chase them back down. Good exercise!!

Once down, we pushed them up and down the paddock and after a short while I was told to go back and get Barack, one of the younger and less trained horses. During my ride on him, he was very nervous and bucked me 4 times but I stayed on and kept my cool. It showed how much I'd improved without realising it and was also good to remind me what horses were capable of. I hadn't had a live wire like him for a while!

So I guess I proved I could ride and I didn't have to do the night work with the animals, just went to the equestrian centre again, this time for dressage. But I didn't sit in the heated box cos, like most places in Austria, there was someone smoking in it (a pipe, no less!!) so my eyes could not take it. I can't believe a country like Austria still allows smoking inside. Urgh!

Day 1 and I'm a zombie

Waking up at 5:30am is hard. Particularly if you're still trying to get over NYE from the day before. So absorbing a mountain of information about how much feed a two-hump camel gets compared to a one-hump was a little difficult.

My job here is basically to look after the animals, but with that comes training in how to deal with camels safely and the best way to work with all the animals at the farm so they all eat and drink enough, and everything goes smoothly.

The moment I stepped outside, I was amid a soft snowfall, ever so pretty in the morning darkness. It helped make things a little easier to digest as I kept staring off into the distance at the sparkly little white balls of fluff.

At times feeling a little woozy from sheer exhaustion (and possibly the stench of camel piss), I eventually got through all the feeding, mucking out, animal handling and cleaning up, and after some breakfast retired to my bedroom. That was about 10am. SIX HOURS LATER I woke again and went out to meet G to go to the equestrian centre where she has her expensive Thoroughbred that she trains in competitive disciplines.

It was FREEZING at the centre but luckily I could sit in a little heated box to watch her get yelled at in German by the showjumping teacher. These places I just can't get... it is really a foreign world to me. The shin pad for one of these horses probably costs as much as my horse in Australia cost.

Then it was off to Melk train station to collect two American helpers who were coming for a week. I was excited as it meant I had younger company and also some help at least for a week! They turned out to be lovely girls, both from California, and we became friends instantly.

Bed time couldn't come sooner but instead of falling straight asleep, my body decided to toss me around the creaky bed for a while, I think because of my extra long sleep in the middle of the day. Oops.

The most intense sausage ever

To say my bus ride to Vienna was enjoyable would not be entirely true... I was running for mayor of Struggle Town after NYE and it was a blessing that I was able to stretch out on 2 seats and try to sleep during the 5 hour journey. And occasionally I would peek out the window at the changing landscape, still covered in snow but now getting noticeably more high brow.

Landing just outside the city centre, I was helped by some German girls to the main train station and stupidly wandered around helplessly trying to find it before asking someone and getting pointed to the rather large building opposite the local train station with WESTBAHNOF printed in equally obvious letters above the door. Ahem.

About an hour later, I arrived in Melk, a town I assumed to be just like the other Help X places - completely remote and isolated. How wrong I was, I thought, as I strode down to the town centre and saw the massive Stift Melk (monastry) that overlooks everything. What a magnificent building. As before, photos will come... apologies for the delay.

I had to wait an hour and a half for my new host to pick me up, so I went to the cafe and ordered some kind of sausage from the German menu. The waitress didn't speak much English so I took my chances. The plate arrived and on it were two giant weiner sausages, split down the middle with cheese melted into them, and wrapped in bacon. Plus sides. Not gonna lie, I was scared.

So after tackling the mountain of sausage in my hungover state, I met my new host G and we went to her camel farm. There, I met the camels (so funny!!) and she showed me around a little. Altogether, there are 10 camels, 10 horses, a bunch of wild sheep and deer, 3 ostriches, 2 cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and her mum's dog. So, plenty to keep me occupied :)

I was pretty tired so I went to bed as soon as I could... Unfortunately sleep didn't come as easily, given I was actually in a bed with a blanket and not on a floor with my jumped laid on top of me, but eventually I dozed off. Then came my alarm at 5:30am...

New Years Eve with no dramas??! Ole!!

New Years Eve. A time for loved ones to get together and reflect on the year passed. A time for friends to make new friends and enjoy their surroundings in perfect harmony. For Buddhists, it was also a time to go CRAZY!!!

Seriously, those who know me know I LOVE to dance and NYE is certainly no exception. I was ready and raring to go before most people left the sports hall - so much so that the Lama commented on my tutu-ed outfit and glittery makeup when he blessed me - and I knew that I would not be the only one on the dancefloor. A welcome change to the cynical and scared people who frequent most of the clubs I find myself in.

I had been thinking about a particular Spanish boy the last few days and once he saw me out of my homeless person get-up of fisherman pants and oversized hoodie, and realised I was actually a decent looking female, it was on. He followed me to the party and indeed stayed with me all night, buying me drinks and dancing with me.

We joined a packed dancefloor and boogied our little hearts out to cover bands, some DJs and a funk band. I think. It all started to blur into one after a while. The drinks were flowing, but not so much that I got really wasted, and I was running high on life all night.

At one point I ended up kissing some Polish (or Czech??) girl in front of Spanish boy, which he didn't know how to take, and then afterwards apologised profusely for interrupting me haha... Bless him.

We lost T and M about 2 minutes after walking in but ran into them a few times through the night. They, along with everyone else, was having a really good time and I can safely say it was one of the best parties I have ever been to. Not one person got angry, messy drunk, rude or negative - everyone was just there to enjoy themselves. Who would've thought they atmosphere was possible, especially on NYE right???

Towards the end of the night, I lost Spanish boy and ended up calling it a night and going back with his Brazilian and Spanish friends. Thinking he was back already, I went to what I guessed was his sleeping bag but he wasn't there so I tucked myself in and had a lovely hour of sleep before I felt someone jump on me and try to get into the same sleeping bag.

Now this sleeping bag did not have a zip so this manouveur was particularly tricky, and given he was naked when I woke up, also somewhat brazen for the middle of a sports hall. I eventually convinced him it wasn't a good idea and we fell asleep, me out of bag and him inside. I thought this better since he was still naked. Haha... the Spanish.

A couple of hours later everyone was roused from their slumbers and pushed out of the hall. I didn't need the encouragement, I was already on my way to the bus station to get a bus to Vienna. Camel farm, here I come!!

It's a Buddhist retreat and I'll cry if I want to

Over four nights, I was absorbed in this little piece of the Buddhist world at the Prague retreat, and at times it was a rollercoaster of emotion. The unbalanced act my mind had been playing in the weeks beforehand came to the front and sometimes I just burst into tears while I was talking to T and M. They being the wonderful people that they are made me feel totally loved and encouraged me to feel emotions that I have spent my life supressing.

I think a lot of it came from missing home - I always do around this time of year - and with that the feeling of belonging, of closeness and of true connection with people. The people I met at the course all had such amazing energy and it was truly inspirational to see such a gathering so devoted to bettering themselves for the world around them. If only we could all live in such harmony.

Of course, Buddhists are never ones to play up to stereotypes so while I was thinking they would spend NYE in lotus position humming mantras to themselves, I was gladly, oh so gladly, proven wrong.

Om Mani Peme Hung

Om mani peme hung. Sounds kinda weird and unintelligable, doesn't it? Imagine hearing it, for the first time, chanted by 2,000 other people in a big sports hall outside Prague city centre while meditating at a Buddhist retreat. Yep, it was full on.

My first experience at the Diamond Way Buddhism retreat was seeing, first hand, Lama Ole (the man who guides this lineage of Buddhism) talk with all these people who had come from all corners of the world to learn and practise with him. I was totally lost. At the best of times, I am distracted during meditation but imagine how hard it was to stop myself opening my eyes to look at the people around me chanting these mantras and counting how many they'd done on their mala (beads)... it was a lot to take in.

Luckily, I had my friends M and T, as well as a lovely travelling teacher, there to help explain me through the more foreign bits (pretty much all of it) and so I spent the next few days absorbing what I could and putting everything else in the "to do" basket for later.

It really is a step by step process trying to understand Buddhism, and I know it's not for everyone. But as T said to me in Munich, I kinda already think along the same lines as much of this philosophy so it wasn't all too hard to comprehend. The parts about treating everyone with kindness and trying to shed your mind of negativity and ignorance seems to make sense. The parts about enlightment and crushing cups with the power of your mind, a little harder to take in.

The first night I stayed there, which was actually the second of the course, everyone was quite energetic and sleeping in the sports hall (where they held the lectures and soon 48 hour meditation) was a little difficult. Apparently when you practise enough, meditation becomes a powerful energy source and so these people must not have needed sleep or something. Either way, my mind was swimming so I probably wouldn't have slept easily in a pitch black queens bedroom with a foot massage either.

The knee bone's connected to the...ceiling??!!

For those who have heard of "The Bone Chapel" in the Czech Republic, this was my time to see it. Knowing little more than the fact it was indeed a church covered in human bones, I scurried my butt off to Kutva Hora, a town about an hour from Prague centre and first explored the pretty little town before battling increasingly freezing temperatures to get to this random, tiny church plopped kinda in the middle of nowhere.

Surrounded by a graveyard that for years was believed to be able to decompose bodies in 3 days (hence was quite popular), this chapel was adorned floor to ceiling with decorations from human bones in, I guess, an attempt to celebrate and honour the dead. Not sure how the relatives of the people whose bones were used would feel about that, but since no one seems to know or admit who they are, I guess that's not a problem.

I took plenty of photos, cos you know, honouring the sacred and the dead and all that doesn't really count when you have paying tourists, right?? At least I took my flash off... Will post them up later.

By the time I got outside again it was FREEZING and of course when I got to the tiny station populated mainly by Asian tourists, I discovered the next train to Prague wasn't for over an hour. So after some smart maneuvouring on my behalf (getting pretty handy of these train lines, I must admit), I got myself back to the city a little quicker and grabbed my bags from the hostel luggage room to try and find this sports hall for the Buddhist retreat.

Well, that turned out to be a bit more of a mission than first thought. After some mislaid directions (thanks Google Maps), I got tram after tram and then finally found myself connecting with a bunch of other people with sleeping bags and mats, and walking into a big sports hall full of regular looking, suspiciously not stereotypical Buddhist types. And so this amazing experience began...

Pretty pretty Prague

So I am in Prague. Excited to be alive. After a somewhat uncomfortable sleep in the hostel in a saggy bed on top of a snoring party animal (and I swear some kind of bug was biting me but I think I was just paranoid - it happens when the hostel is only 3.78 euros a night!!), I was ready to see what this fantastic city had to offer.

Got talking to a nice British man staying in my dorm and we ended up sightseeing together. Stomach pains brought me back earlier than planned to wallow a little in my own self pity before the painkillers kicked in, and meanwhile aforementioned party animal awoke from his slumber to tell me my "beautiful smiling face was the nicest wake up he's had in a while". Later, he wrote a song about me called "Sweet Wild Angel Child". Well, I don't know if it was really about me but he insisted I inspired him to finish it. Sweet.

So I got some good pics of Prague in the wintertime. It is really such an amazing place, full of tourists but amazing. Definitely the prettiest part of eastern Europe I have seen so far. In the wintertime the rooftops look dusted with icing sugar and the streets hang heavy with the sweet smell of mulled wine and punch. I wish I had a chance to see more of it but alas...

Somehow I got my new friend T to agree to dying my hair red and after massively underestimating the amount I need for my collosal mop, painted about a dozen of the wretched things in the hostel room and kept a remarkably good handle on turning everything period colour. Ewwwww.

The dye job was average, the colour not as bright as promised (they never are, are they??) but I was glad I did it before the meditation camp as I'd been promising myself for ages.

I had a few beers at the hostel, made some friends and a few of us went bar hopping to the places we found without cover charge. Was not that exciting so we just headed back and I got a better night sleep in a different bunk.

Concentration camp styles

So where was I?? OK, we've had Christmas and now I am heading to Prague. Good times ahead. Or so I thought.

The ticket I decided to get was a Bayern ticket, a regional type for trains going from Germany to Plzen in Czech Republic that was still only 28 euros for a single and even less if you went in a group. I couldn't see anyone going my way to jump in on their ticket with, so I just bought my own and hopped on the first train.

What was meant to be about 5 hours to Plzen then another hour or so to Prague turned into an epic 11 hour train adventure because of the snow, that at times felt more like a concentration camp or something - all us people trenching through the snow-drenched train station in the middle of nowhere with our luggage, and people yelling at us to go this way, that way, in German. Pretty funny actually.

Speaking of funny, I had a random man come up to me and ask if I liked this German reggae singer Martin someone, because of my hair, and I said I didn't know him. So we said he'd send me some music on email and I gave him my address. I think he was a little slow, bless him, so I hope he didn't think that was a successful pick-up attempt.

My second train was cancelled so that threw my world into orbit. I then had to figure out the next best way to get to Prague on regional trains (not so simple when you have someone as bad at geography as me!!), then after a couple of trains I found myself waiting with 40 or so other people at a station completely closed up and with no source of information besides one information line a Czech lady rang (and then had to be translated into English, then French, then whatever other language the people around me spoke), and waited 2 hours for the last train of the night to take us to Prague.

Well, that train didn't go to Prague either so we all hopped off and thus concentration camp begun. Finnnnnnnnnally, we got into Prague and I practically skipped to my hostel (I would've actually skipped had the roads not been iced up), I was so excited to be there. One beer later and I hit the hay. Sightseeing to come tomorrow...

The REAL Christmas day

December 25. When us Australians and many other (civilised) parts of the world like to celebrate Christmas. And even though it's not traditionally the German Christmas, I was invited once again to join in the second day of eating too much and meeting up with family, via M's parents in Munich.

While yesterday we feasted on weiner (sausage), potato salad and pretzels, today's menu was just to die for. Starting with chestnut soup (wow), we then had salad, then for mains a roast beef that had marinaded three days in red wine, potato dumplings, vegetarian bread and herb dumplings, and lots of gravy. I just ate a million slices of pizza for dinner but my mouth still waters at this description.

Then came dessert and we were STUFFED! Well, kinda, me and T still had to have more later on that evening because we're fat shits.

Again, the family (this time from the father's side) were all really nice and I had a wonderful time. Nipped off to the computer for a moment to organise my travel to Prague, and then for the first time since coming to Munich, fell asleep not drunk.

My first white Christmas

Wow, what an experience the last few 10 days have been!! Last I posted I hadn't even time to talk about Christmas, then I was whisked off to Prague to see the sights, and attend a Buddhist retreat including a massive NYE party. And now I'm in Austria. So let me start at the beginning...

First... IT WAS SNOWING!!! Finally, my first white Christmas!!!! I could not believe it, I was so happy. Beautiful snowflakes everywhere :)

As I explained earlier, I was invited to join M, T and his family at M's sister's house on this day. Everyone was just so lovely, I even got some small pressies and gave some too, and I got to play with their family Labrador - so sweet!!

The crazy thing about Christmas, though, was what was going on inside my head. On one hand, I was extremely sad to be without my family on this special day but also I was so overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the people around me. They really made me feel welcomed and part of the family, I just couldn't believe how bless I was.

Some of the feelings I was having were really deep and I don't know if explaining it in words would really do them justice, but after celebrating for two days with these beautiful people, I felt I was much more ready to experience the Buddhist retreat and soak up what it had to teach me.

But this was just December 24 (when Germans and all of Europe celebrate Christmas). Then we have the REAL Christmas...