Front Page

I was really excited today, when I noticed that my pics is on the front page of www.rollingstone.com! It is a shot of the Beastie Boys, from the Big Day Out!!

Rollingstone

I got to do my first shoot in New Zealand, the Big Day Out, last week! It was really exciting. My photos just went live today, you can either go to www.rollingstone.com, click on photo, then on Big Day Out 05. Or you can just go to, http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/_/id/6858521. I really don't know who is scarier, Slipknot or The Polyphonic Spree.

Climbing in New Zealand

Last week I did 5 days of Rock Climbing in Wharepapa New Zealand. It was awesome! I just love climbing with the Kiwi's, they are so relaxed and just love being outdoors, it was a real pleasure! I stayed at this really cool Hostel, Bryce's Hostel, where they had their own bouldering wall and climbing shop. Bryce knows all about the area, climbing equiptment, and was really cool to just chat to. He took me for a climb, it was great climbing with the area master!

I climbed a lot with this German guy, Reinhart. On the second day we got lost on a farm looking for a climb. It took us a little over 2 hours! The climb was well worth it, it was up a tube. I got sunburnt, and I really never want to see another cow again. They would moo at me while climbing! It was definitly a unique experience. The farm land (Smith's Rock) looked like something directly out of Lord of the Rings.

I am working on a website with my climbing pics, I will link it soon to my climbing page. They are on http://www.serablue.com/kristi/smithspics.html, and http://www.serablue.com/kristi/waipapapics.html.

New Zealand

So today I am off again, flying to New Zealand, and arriving 2 days later (I arrive on the 12th). No more Winter for me!! I am going to summer:)

My first few days I will be rockclimbing in Wharepapa, then off to Auckland to photograph the Big Day Out! After the Big Day Out I am going to go to the very North of the north island and hopefully learn a bit about the Maori.

New Page

I put up a new page on my site for some of Dave Scales' travelling pics. He has recently travelled to Damascus, Chatila and Beirut. I have him linked on my Friends page under "pics from my friends travels". The direct link is http://www.serablue.com/kristi/scales2.html. Check out his Blog for his travelling stories, http://tnfalpha.blogspot.com/.

Please feel free to send me pics for this section of my site. I really want to get pics from all over the world from people who travel or live in different countries.

This is Charles, outside his Kitchen in the Jungle. He made me as well as 3 others, Dr Lau (leading cacti botinist) as well as a German author and her son, a New Years FEAST in this kitchen. He took all these herbs from his Organic farm and gave us all a meal to remember.

more San Miguel Kids

Kids in San Miguel

Life is Rich

It is crazy how people who have nothing in the way of material possessions can have so much in the way in way of life. I have seen way more smiles in poor villages then I have in New York City, Atlanta, or even London. These village kids really taught me that life is rich, no matter how poor you are. Sometimes I think that all the western world has built has taken people further away from what is truly important in life. People are so busy trying to make it, or be rich, or successful that they have forgotten about life. I feel like our progression in a way is pulling us further away from enjoying the simple things.

Mayan Village

After an overnight in Belize City I flew down to Punta Gorda in the Toledo district of Belize. I decided to stay in a Mayan Village to learn a bit more about their way of life. I had read that the Toledo district was for "those who are truly adventurous" as well as "be prepared to rough it". Did I listen, not really.

I woke up my first night in the village to go use the bathroom only to find two huge black transulas. I don't know much about these spiders so I decided it was best to just stay away. Then I went back to sleep. I woke up early, (it was still dark) turned on my headlamp only to see a scorpion right next to my head! It was inside of the mosquito net with me, so it probably slept with me the whole night! The little village children said that they have all been stung and if the scorpion bites to kill it, and squeeze the green stuff out of their bodies and rub it on the bite! Luckily I was never stung.

I learned a lot about the Mayans during my stay in the village. I really wanted to learn a bit about their religion so I started asking questions. I found out that in the villages, the people were either Catholic or Christian. The Mayans I met didn't know much about the Mayan religion. I had this group of women try and sell me a carving of a Mayan God in a rock. I asked "which God is this" and then replied " I am really not sure, I think that it is the God of Corn". I just thought it was crazy to have people continue with the arts celebrating the religion, but yet know nothing about the religion itself.

I did meet some lovely people in the village. The girls in the pic below are from the Choco family and I just loved hanging out with them and their family. I would sit on the porch and the girls tried teaching me their language Katchi, and we would watch the other villagers. These little girls knew 3 languages, English (the official language of Belize), Spanish, and Katchi. The families in the village are usually quite big with up to 10 people sharing a small room and sleeping in hammocks or on the floor.

With the Choco Girls in an Mayan Village