Day One - The Arrival

The name Selvadorada directly translates to 'golden jungle' in Spanish, and jungle it most definitely is.  (I don't know about the golden part yet.)  When I arrived there, I was presented with a vast tableau of wild untamed, unexplored greenery, some of which hadn't seemed to have been touched for millennia. 

When I arrived there, I got some lodging, and was presented with a machete, and a can of spider spray.  I soon realized why I needed the machete - I needed it to cut through the thicket of overgrown weeds that had covered everything, not unlike the rocks I had to hammer through in the tombs in Egypt and France years ago.  I knew I was rusty, but I didn't realize I was this rusty.   Is this what having five kids after your last adventure can do?

Anyway, I cleared one thicket...

...only to drop my bag in quicksand!  Needless to say, I was super pissed.

I let out more than a few expletives and stood there, for a good couple of hours.

After I calmed down some, I walked across this absolutely gorgeous bridge with some of the most breathtaking waterfalls I'd ever seen in my life.

I came across an archeological dig site, which of course was going to be part of the slide show for my students.

Carefully I took notes on the location and contents of the dig site.

While I was doing that, though, a snake slithered within inches of me.  It didn't bother me though and went on about its business. 

Next, as I left the dig site, I was nearly eaten alive by a swarm of angry bees!  I decided to use my logic to calmly focus and stay still, hoping the bees would go away.  And they did.

  

After cutting through another thicket, I discovered a temple!  Unfortunately, I was tired and famished, so that concluded my first day of exploration.

Hello again

I know it's been awhile since I posted on here.  I'm a) married b) had five children since adopting Satis and Imsety c) gotten a job teaching at a university (!!!!).  That last one, that one is a bigger shock than all the rest.  Because I never went to college as a student myself.  And because I absolutely hated school even though I was whip smart and often corrected the teachers. 

The fact that I am now responsible for molding minds... me, the rebel who was on a first name basis with the police... is the most stunning thing of all. 

Which brings me to my next point.  Since I am now responsible for molding minds, I had to renew my passport.  Which brought total sticker shock.  Everything changed. 

And because I am now responsible for molding minds, I have to constantly stay sharp.  And I mean constantly.  The young people coming into my classroom are sharp as tacks.  I love that.  They challenge me.  And I have to challenge them too.  Which is why I've taken on another journey.

I can tell tales about my repeated trips to China, Egypt, and France until I'm blue in the face.  The first time I set foot in Egypt, I was green - in more ways than one.  I had never been away from my cozy privileged Sunset Valley home for any significant length of time.  I wasn't much older than they are. 

 But now, I'm a completely different person, with much more life experience.

Indeed, Selvadorada represents a new and altogether different type of challenge, for which a different sort of lesson plan will have to be drawn up. 

So... here goes nothing...

Pangu’s Axe Part 2

The Chinese government has decided that it would rather spy on me than talk to me.

I cannot explain this sudden change of strategy.

They’ve sent two ‘reporters’ – Cui-Fen Tai and Dao Wen (I forget her name) to basically document my every move.    They even took pictures of the throne upon which I sat in the bathroom. 

Seriously, these are the worst ‘reporters’ I’ve ever seen in my life.   All they needed to do was ask me questions about why I am after the axe, and I’ll tell them.  So far I’ve only given them one blanket statement about the axe and its significance in the lore of Shang Simla.  Qin Shan Hu wrote extensively about the powers of the axe in the writings that I unearthed from the bottom of the Resolute Fist tomb.  He does caution against over-reliance on the weapon, however.  I cannot read much Mandarin – what I was able to decipher, I did so with the help of the classicist at the library. 

And yes, they still ask questions about my brother.  I have refused to comment on his personal life; it is truly not my concern.  As long as he is happy, then I am happy. 

They even managed to trail me while I visited the bookstore in town and spoke with the bookseller about acquiring a rare volume of ancient dragon tales.  I tend to pick up a lot of history tomes, anyway, when I’m shopping in these stores.  Each one of these places has its own special character.  I know it sounds hokey but it’s true. 

 

I do have my methods of eluding these stalkers, however.  One of the denizens sent me in a tomb to fetch some semi-precious stones.  I was all too glad to go, because sleeping in one provided some measure of protection from the paparazzi.

 

I also caught quite a few koi at the dig site, where there was a sunken ship. 

I was also sent to catch three red assassin bugs to place near the First Emperor’s tomb to protect it.  These are exceptionally rare and dangerous bugs found around Shang Simla.  I used to collect bugs as a little girl and my mom hated that I had bowls of bugs everywhere.

Pangu’s Axe Part 1

 

So, I’ve arrived in Shang Simla, China, going after the elusive Pangu’s Axe, which is a mystical weapon I’m told could smash boulders. 

 

But first, I had to go all over town to get permission to seek the renowned weapon. 

No sooner had I arrived in Shang Simla and the secluded Scholar’s Garden than I was chased by paparazzo.  And at my first news conference in Shang Simla, every single question – every damned question – was about my brother Sebastian’s rumored relationship with the pop superstar Lola Belle.  Not a single question about Pangu’s Axe.

It’s bad enough that the video of them dancing in some nightclub in Bridgeport went viral, posted and re-posted all over the internet, it’s even worse when what would be my crowning achievement as an explorer – finding this mystical weapon – is completely overshadowed by petty gossip about my kid brother’s love life. 

I answered every question about the rumors with a curt, “You’d have to ask him.”

I mean, he’s my kid brother and I love him to death, but I don’t understand why every question had to be about whether or not he was dating Lola.  I actually don’t care at the moment.  I don’t know her personally, but if she makes him happy, then I’m happy. 

So, I took out my frustrations on the poor martial-arts board at the Garden.  I didn’t care that I was watched by the pap.   The Scholars’ Garden is supposed to be a place of respite.  I found none here today.

Later,

Savannah

Back in the saddle (sort of) Part 3

I woke everyone up with the guitar and this one Egyptian melody I was trying to learn.

Cheesebum had taken Sety and Satis to the market, so the only ones left at base camp were AJ and me.  “Where do you want to go next?” I asked him.  He wanted to return to the Sphinx and this time, go inside.  So I said, okay, we’ll go. 

So when we got to the Sphinx we went inside.  I turned around because AJ was with me. 

Unfortunately, I was in a dive pool when he found me again, and again I sent him back to base camp.  He is much too young to do what I do.  Yet he insists on following me, lol.  What have I done to this kid?

Back in the saddle (sort of) Part 2

A challenge in Al-Simhara required me to go inside a copper quarry and fetch something.  So I had to report to Madbouli and receive my ‘marching orders’ so to speak. 

 

I spent most of the evening hunting for turquoise stones.  I’m an old pro at this stuff. 

 

After I returned, Andy and I took seats at this old stone table in the Tomb of Discovery.  I wondered what life would have been like had we been a pharaoh and his consort.

At the end of a trying day, Andy and I fell fast asleep in the same tent.

The next morning, AJ beat all of us in waking up.  He ate himself a jam sandwich and was off to the races again. 

 

The next thing I knew, he was chasing Amelie around base camp and had wandered inside the Tomb of Discovery. 

 

Andy found this little fishing hole in the middle of the desert.  Satis turned on the video camera and thus caught one of the embarrassing moments I’ve had since I started traveling.  Click on the last pic to see it! 

Needless to say this is why I didn’t follow my family into music. 

Back in the saddle (well, sort of)

I was reminded once again of why I love this stuff. 

When I last wrote on these pages I was a single woman.  Now I’m married with three kids. 

My growing family and I took a trip to Egypt recently.  I dragged my now-husband, Andy; my two adopted teenagers, Imsety and Satis, and my biological son, AJ, to the pyramids of Al-Simhara.  I’d settle here permanently … if I didn’t have my whole family in Sunset Valley. 

The minute he got there, Sety chatted up Amelie Tisseur, a French explorer.  I wonder about him though.  He seems to have inherited his bio dad’s… um, gregariousness, for lack of a better term. 

Then I leaned over and I overheard him talking about me.  His Simlish isn’t great, still, but I have to admit it’s vastly improved.  Apparently he was telling Amelie the story of how I found him and Satis.  “Blond lady ride on Kenspa,” I heard him say.  Apparently Sety will tell the tale to anyone who will listen.  I’m not sure how I feel about that. 

 

AJ, the lil man, wanted to see the Sphinx so I took him there.  I also taught him the mummy song I’d learnt from Satis way back when.  I actually think he’ll be an adventurer as well.  I’m not sure I’m happy about that, either. 

 

I’m ridiculously out of shape (that’s what having a baby will do) so I found myself chasing Andy through the desert.   First on Kenspas and then on foot.  Andy had an opportunity to go into one of the pyramids and I didn’t want him to go in unprepared.  He doesn’t do this stuff for a living, I do. 

 

Andy checked out the door while I watched.  Sety came by a few moments later, then I sent him and AJ back to base camp while Andy and I checked the place out. 

 

Andy wanted to learn the mummy song, and plus his opportunity only required him to go inside the tomb, so this was where we stopped.

 

And while we had the tomb all to ourselves… well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll shut up now.

 

More later, Savannah