Rita Golden Gelman - Female Nomad

September 3, 2010

I just got a wonderful invitation from a reader to house sit in Bandon, Oregon. I've been to Bandon and that coastline is one of the prettiest drives in the US. I'm not 100% positive, but I think I'm going to do it.

So, my plan would be to leave Washington, DC in mid-November, drive across the country (I haven't thought about the route), talk in bookstores and at Rotary meetings and visit schools as I go, and end up in Bandon until April. Yay! I'll feel like a nomad again.

I'm thinking that I might want company as I drive...but I'll deal with that later! Maybe I could do something like organize "serial drivers."

My year in DC has been great, but I haven't been away from the computer for more than 10 minutes. The Bandon house doesn't have an internet connection, a TV, or a land line. I can get e-mails on my phone. And if I have to go to the library to write, it'll get me out of the house and I'll meet more people. It'll be interesting. Another adventure. Hooray. Hmmm. I wonder if I can still write with a pen!!

I got an e-mail the other day from my friend, Wayan, in Bali. You met him in the nomad book. He's a professional guide and he wrote about the healer from the Eat Pray Love movie:

"I went to see the healer Mr Ketut Lier 3 times in his house with my clients to have their palms read. He read me also. I think people abused him, he looks worn out, sittng in pain and fueled by money ; he charges Rp. 250.000/person for about 20 minutes of reading. I think he got problem with his prostate.
One day 3 of my clients sat together in front of him and he read them one by one. The guests were disappointed because the reading was almost simillar. He would say; "Your lips is sweet like sugar, You have wonderful eyes, you would live over a 100 years old, etc...."

Interesting and sad. It's why I don't really want a movie out of TOAFN.

Don't get me wrong. I want all the people who have seen or read EPL to buy TOAFN....but I would not want to send a film crew into the villages and jungles of my life. The anthropologist in me knows what that can do to a culture.

More later this week. If you haven't seen the post below about the Servas conference in Washington state, check it out. I'd love to meet more of you and reconnect with those of you I've already met! And I love meeting Servas people. Should be fun.

Ciao, Rita

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

August 28, 2010

The main reason for this post is to let you all know that I just decided to go to the 2010 Tri-National Servas Conference (Canada, Mexico, US) in Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, Washington. Everyone is welcome, member or not.

www.usservas.org/conference2010

How about joining me and around 100 other people who will be attending? I would absolutely love to see old friends and meet new ones at the conference. I might talk for a tiny bit about the progress of Let’s Get Global (Servas is our fiscal sponsor.), but I’m not one of the speakers. Mostly I just want to hang out with people who share my values and have a fun weekend. Connecting is what I’m all about and this is a great group to connect with.

I will arrive on Friday afternoon, October 1st and leave on Sunday, October 3rd. I’d rather not have to rent a car, so if you decide to go and want a passenger in your car from Seattle, send me an e-mail.

(femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com)

I’ve been to other Servas conferences. They’re fun, the people are always interesting, and the overwhelming sense that you are among people who care about peace in the world is powerful.

Servas members are a very special breed….they’re connectors. Servas members want to interact with people when they travel, and they like having international travelers stay with them when they’re in the US. (You can be a traveler, a host or both.) I’ve stayed in hundreds of Servas homes around the world. I’ve sung, meditated, danced, herded sheep, milked cows, and done a ton of talking and eating. Wherever I travel, I always carry a Servas host list.

A lot of you have written that you want to do what I do….so do it! Here’s your chance. What fun it will be for me to meet unmet friends and renew friendships with those of you I already know. Go for it….just do it. Worry about the money later!

I just made up my mind this morning!! I’ll already be in Seattle talking at a Rotary luncheon on Sept. 22nd. I had a flight back to DC on the 28th, but I changed my flight a couple of hours ago!! I’ll be flying redeye (ugh!) back on Oct. 4th. It was the only flight still available on Virgin America.

OMG, I’m so excited. I hope a ton of you choose to come. To update the last line in the Nomad book, “I can’t wait to see you.”

And remember, if you’re driving up, I’ll entertain you from the back seat!

Hope to see you soon.

Love, Rita

___________________________________________________________________________________

Site Menu

FEMALE NOMAD AND FRIENDS

Excerpts from the new anthology

RITA GOLDEN GELMAN

Introduction - Home Page - A Brief Bio

TALES OF A FEMALE NOMAD

The Book - Why I Wrote the Book? - The Proposal - In Search of an Agent

The Writing - Writing for Adults - The Editing - Cuts - Reviews - NEW Collaborative Cookbook

THE NOMADIC LIFE

More Than One Way - Servas - Trust & Serendipity - Connecting - Family

Practicalities - Physical Challenges - Bali - Vivekanand Camp jhuggie

ONGOING JOURNEY--SEE POSTS BELOW

Earlier journeys - Old Posts

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

List, Photos & Descriptions - Bio for Kids - Writing for Kids

E-MAIL ME

femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com

August 14, 2010

I'm hoping that those of you who have written me with your thoughts about how Tales of a Female Nomad compares to Eat Pray Love will take it viral. I think if we can get tons of Tweets out there, TOAFN sales will dramatically increase. I'd love to succeed on the coat tails of EPL. If there are enough sales, maybe I can fund Let's Get Global with the royalties! That would be amazing. Be sure to mention both titles in your Tweet. Thanks. The Facebook comments have been incredible.
There's room for more! How about a Facebook post on your site? Thanks everyone. rg

__________________________________________________________________________________

August 13, 2010

I just wrote this on my Facebook page:

"OK. I confess. I'm jealous of the huge success of Eat, Pray, Love. Not the
movie...but the fact that the whole world is talking about the book! I
wish the whole world were talking about Tales of a Female Nomad."

The two books are similar.....women who are traveling on their own, searching for something.
Elizabeth Gilbert's search is primarily internal; it's a story of self-discovery. I enjoyed her book. There's

a bit of overlap, but my book is mostly external, a search for common humanity.

Happily we both found what we were looking for.

The Facebook comments are pouring in. Several people mentioned that a part of EPL's best-sellerdom was Oprah-generated. We tried, but Oprah wasn't interested in TOAFN. And the EPL movie was a given once the book was a best seller.

I'm not jealous of the movie. I like Julia Roberts. I'll definitely see the movie.I'm especially looking forward to the scenes in

Bali. I've had several feelers over the years from people (none of them stars in the industry) about doing a movie. But the anthropologist in me just could never give anyone permission to bring filmmakers into the jungles and villages that were so precious to me. The intrusion would be devastating. And there was no way Hollywood could recreate the songs of the tribal men in Irian Jaya or the burial of grandma's bones in Borneo.... on a set.

.

So....I'm not jealous of the movie. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I just wish the book, Tales of a Female Nomad, had half the sales of Eat, Pray, Love. I could be funding my Let's Get Global project all by myself. Now that would be cool!! RG

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

August 6, 2010

The volunteer letter went out to my listserv last night. If you'd like to see it, click on the link. And once you're there, click on Blog. I'm hoping tons of people all over the country, and world, will sign up to help us build the movement. It's pretty exciting to be part of a movement to change the thinking in our country. Join us. What a huge difference it will make in our population when the majority of us have experienced the world. As of now, more than 75% of the US citizens do not have passports!

Join us in changing the mentality in the US. We need all the help we can get. Fill out the volunteer form and let us know how you'd like to help. I'll be back in a couple of days and let you know how the campaign is going! Check in again soon.

Love, Rita

PS I'm in Washington, DC at least until December and I'm hoping to find a couple of college interns to help out. My deal with volunteers is that I can't pay you.......but I'll feed you! I'm also hoping someone with lots of experience organizing projects and lots of time to get involved, will come along to help me make things happen. I'm flooded with ideas but I need help figuring out how to make them happen. It's fun and fulfilling to be involved in a cause you believe in. Send me an e-mail. femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com

______________________________________________________________________________________

August 1, 2010

I've been working with Kelli Shewmaker on a form for volunteers. She found a GMail Form and set it up so that when you put in your information, it will automatically go into our spreadsheet. Amazing. That means that we can ask for a list of volunteers in Michigan.....and they will pop up. Or if we need a graphic artist, we just put the words in and voila! Please send in your request and we'll send you your form.

Let's Get Global is going to need volunteers all over the country, in every state and city and town. That's you. The strongest qualification is enthusiasm for the idea that our young adults should have international experiences as part of their education. It's a global economy! Our young people have to know the world they are going to inherit!!

I did a Wisconsin public radio show a month and a half ago and during the call-in part, a man said he was the CEO of a major company and if he has two resumes in his hands and one of those applicants has done a gap year....that's the one he will hire. Respect, understanding, confidence, flexibility are just a few of the rewards of having cross-cultural experiences. And those who do it before college are so much readier for the social and academic challenges of college. Have a look at our gap year site.

Please help us by filling out the volunteer sheet and e-mailing it back. We're almost ready to give out some assignments. We need professionals of all types, speakers, representatives in communties across the country, corporate contacts, volunteers with "people" skills, volunteers who like to work with kids. Want to mentor a potential gapper? Want to help set up a photography show where kids can earn money for their GY? Want to do some research in the corporate world? How about checking out foundations....and gap year programs. Or let us know what you think should be in the kits we provide for the after-school clubs that we're planning to set up beginning September, 2011. Got any contacts that you think would support us.....let us know.

If you too want to bring the Gap Year into the US consciousness, we want your input. I promise there will be projects that you can take on. And we're hoping that you will bring in a friend to work with you. We're big on the idea of teamwork. It's a lot more fun to work with a pal. And you'll both be a part of changing the kids, the country, and the world. Watch for our form. Kelli and I are meeting on Monday and Tuesday and we hope to have it set ready to send on Wednesday.

Love, Rita

_____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

July 19, 2010

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2010/07/19/burned_out_students_take_timeout_before_starting_college/

Randi Mitchell just sent me this link to an article in the Boston Globe this morning. Check it out and let me know if you want to be a volunteer, wherever you may be. There is so much benefit from a year abroad.....maturity, respect, understanding. We live in a country with far too much intolerance and xenophobia. Connecting cross-culturally is the best tool for fighting prejudice. Join me in my movement: Let's Get Global. (We're a project of US Servas, Inc.) I'm determined to change the mentality in this country. (75% of the people in this country do not have passports!)

Plus...we are living in a global economy. A year in another country is a dynamite item on a resume.

Isn't there someone in the Washington, DC area who wants to work face-to-face and full-time with me on bringing an international Gap Year to the U.S.? Passion and purpose are keys to staying young, healty, and happy. I need a committed pal to brainstorm and plan with. I smile a lot, partly because I know I'm involved in something important. Send me a note with your phone number and I'll call you. Especially if you have organizational skills!! femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com

OK. Back to work. Love, me

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

July 18, 2010

Just came back from a family reunion. What fun to catch up with Uncle Bob and his family, a whole pile of cousins, some of which needed to be reintroduced, and lots of kids who weren't even born the last time I went to a reunion. My brother and his wife were there from Texas and my niece...from much closer (Danielle and I do see each other).

I have to admit that I prefer one-on-one talks and the kind of conversations that can only happen when two people are intensely sharing lives.....not too much of that at a reunion where there were 42 people to meet and talk to. There were a couple of people I never had a chance to do more than smile at. But I'm glad I went and I'm hoping that some of us can get together on our own.

We're an interestiing family...and several cousins are involved in education and non-profits and law. They had some interesting advice about how I can proceed with Let's Get Global. I came home a couple of hours ago with some challenging ideas to think about.

I'm still struggling with the organization of LGG. Tonight Jennifer, Deena, and Kelli are coming over and we're going to try to talk about all the parts that we have to address. Jennifer goes back to school soon and Deena leaves for England in a few weeks. I really need an executive director....a seriously committed full-time volunteer would be ideal.; but I've found that most volunteers have lives! I would love to find someone else who is free to work daily with me and to devote her or his life to LGG. It's so so important to have a population that has been educated in the world. How can we be leaders if we don't even know the world we're trying to lead? And where will multi-national corporations find employees who will be sensitive and respectful to other cultures in their business dealings? I could go on and on. And, of course, there's all the fear and xenophobia in the US that needs to be eliminated---- cross-cultural interaction is such a perfect solution..

If I can't find a volunteer, I would love to be able to hire an experienced executive director. Then I could be writing articles, giving talks, connecting one on one with educators and kids. That means funding. Cousins Larry and Paul suggested separately that I search for highly successful people who are products of international exchanges in their youth.....for help in funding. Peace Corps returnees, AFS graduates, Rotary scholarship recipients who have made good. If any of you have any contacts or even if you know of people who have gone on from cross-cultural experiences to highly successful jobs, please write and give me details so I can follow up. I'm also open to all suggestions of funding sources you may know about..

Enough for today. I have to get things ready for our planning session in few minutes. Have a good week.

Best, Rita

_____________________________________________________________________________

July 2, 2010

I probably received about a hundred birthday wishes today on Facebook..and they're still coming in. That's pretty amazing and humbling. Thanks to all of you.

Most of my Facebook friends are readers of the Nomad book where I wrote about my life of living and connecting around the world for 15 years. In the book I don't try to teach any lessons or tell people how they should live. It's very much about the joy I experienced (and continue to experience) connecting with other cultures.

As most of you know, I put my e-mail address on the second-to-last page and the response over the nine years since it was published has been explosive. I've had thousands of letters from readers telling me their secrets. Revealing myself in the book clearly opened the door for readers to open themselves to me. I love it.

I've learned as much from my readers as they've learned from me. I've learned that many of you feel stuck in your lives; others live in fear of taking risks; others of you are having exciting experiences while discovering yourselves and the world.

How fulfilling for me to read letters from people who have been inspired by the book to open up their lives to new experiences, to revisit their dreams. Taking risks, breaking through psychological barriers that you've set up for yourself (often based on the voices of your parents, teachers, uptight friends), can be incredibly liberating.

Some of the ingredients of joy (hey, at 73 I figure I can share some of the things I've discovered...none of them very deep or philosophical, but very human). A lot have to do with letting go of rules. Most of them were designed to keep kids out of trouble and cultures intact. If you're an adult, the whole bit about not talking to strangers doesn't make any sense. Shoot, talk to as many strangers as you can. Everyone has a story and your life will be dramatically enriched.

And all those rules about what you should eat and when, what you should wear to make you look like everyone else, what you should do that is age-appropriate. Forget 'em. I encourage you all to break down your inhibitions by breaking patterns and rules. If you e-mail me I'll send you some simple and wacky things you can do to help you break out of the box and change your wiring.( femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com). Ask me to send you the "Tips." A lot of them are harmless, but many will make you feel a little naughty....and feeling naughty has a lot going for it!

I've learned from my letters and my life that the pursuit of passion is a key ingredient of feeling good about yourself. You don't have to cross borders to care deeply and work to create a better world, but having a purpose to your days and your life clearly brings on feelings of joy and self-worth.

And finally, the act of smiling always brightens the world, on the inside and the outside. I love to walk down the street making eye contact and smiling at everyone walking toward me. A "Good morning" helps too. Both the greeting and the smile are usually returned....even in Manhattan, where people always tell you not to make eye contact. Don't listen. Make eye contact and smile. If we all did it, the whole world would be smiling.

So smile a lot and talk to strangers. Do a lot of laughing and singing. And try eating new foods.

Ciao. I'm off to have a sushi dinner for my birthday.

Love, Rita

_____________________________________________________________________________

July 1, 2010

It's one in the morning. Will someone please tell me why I am writing instead of sleeping?

This afternoon, the one that just was, I got an e-mail from Jennifer Connor who has been doing some research for me at the Foundation Center. She found a Mazda Foundation grant that sounds like a great fit for Let's Get Global. The problem was that the application had to be in tomorrow (that's today). July first.

So that's what I did until a few minutes ago. The worst part of it was that it is one of those PDF files and when I moved the application, everything I'd written disappeared. The application was there....my text was not. There had been a warning that I'd better print it out because it wouldn't save. That's what I did....but there were a lot of lines that had + at the end of them, meaning like on Facebook that there was more. Except when I printed that out, the stuff after the + didn't print.

And then I moved the document so that I could e-mail it and all my entered text disappeared. Really, it was just a blank application...after hours of work. Fortunately, it was just two pages....but I had worked on the wording and I had to come up with it all over again. Yuck!

It was not a lot of fun realizing that. And I couldn't figure out how I could print it and send it because all those + marks had no continuation on a printed page. And what if the same thing happens again when I try to e-mail it. So I finally retyped the whole thing into Word. It wasn't a lot of fun. And that's why I am up at this hour. I still don't know why I'm writing. I guess to get the frustration out of my system. Of course, if Mazda gives me a couple hundred thousand dollars for LGG, it will have been worth it.

I plan to hand deliver the Word document when I wake up. The offices are about 30 minutes away from my house.

Good night. Love, me

_______________________________________________________________________________

June 27, 2010

Starting when I woke up this morning...after a night of horrible dreams...there's been constant negativity to the day: lousy news in my e-mails, depressing articles in the newspaper, and I just discovered that somehow my address book is missing and so is the ginger I need for the cumin chicken I'm making for dinner, and I refuse to go out in the 100 degree day! I can't wait to go to sleep and wake up again. Tomorrow has to be better! rg

______________________________________________________

June 25, 2010

I've been without a computer since June 9th. It was agonizing. The software for writing this is on the computer, so are my contacts and all the material I've been writing for funding proposals. I can get e-mails on the Blackberry that my son-in-law, Bill, gave me before I left Seattle, but learning how to use it and typing one letter at a time made me crazy. And there is always a line at the library...besides, I can't write in the library and that's mostly what I do!

It was still on warranty. First they told me three to five days, then seven, and finally it was sixteen days! Do not ask me what I think of Hewlett Packard? It was not a big job, but they wouldn't let the local shop do the work; they needed the machine sent to them! My next computer will not be Hewlett Packard.

I finnaly got it yesterday and am easing back into work. At the moment, I'm writing the text for an inquiry funding letter to philanthropists, foundations, heads of companies, celebrities. and ordinary folks who agree that bringing the Gap Year to the US will dramatically change the kids, the country, and the world.

I need the funding to hire an executive director, a social networking person, a marketing-pr firm, and to create an after-school pilot program in five schools across the country that will get kids across all segments of the population interested in doing that Gap Year. A dynamite program that will get people talking and schools wanting to be a part of it. We are not planning to sponsor an exchange program....but rather promote those that are already there, help kids find funding, and encourage new programs. When the demand is there, more programs will appear.

Once I have a staff that can handle all the organizational aspects of our movement, I will be free to give talks, meet with funders, government people, educators, parent organizations....and volunteers. We're going to need a lot of them if we're going to make the Gap Year a cultural norm in the country! (And we will.) I will also be doing interviews and writing articles. I'm determined to make this happen.

I'm totally open to your ideas, your comments, and of course, your contributions. If you can help with contacts in the foundation world, that would be great. And if you know any individuals who might want to make significant contributions, that would be great too. For a major contribution ($100,000 or so) I will cook them a fabulous international banquet in their kitchen and I'll sing and dance too!!!

Please check out the LGG site: www.letsgetglobal.org It's just a beginning.

I'm hoping you'll send me an e-mail with your concrete, detailed thoughts, suggestions, and contacts. Which celebrities do you think might want to help out...how about companies, corporations, CEOs, friends?

I really do want to hear from you. This has to be a team effort! femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com

Thanks.

Love, Rita

PS For those of you who don't know, we are a project of US Servas, Inc., our fiscal sponsor, so we do have legitimacy in the field of non-profits. Servas has 15,000 members worldwide and has been around for 60 years. Check them out online: www.usservas.org.

_______________________________________________________________________________

June 7, 2010

Back in DC after a long day that began with the taping of a TV show in Seattle. I will try to put a link to the interview and cooking demonstration tomorrow when I have time to figure out where it is. Check in again after twelve.

Tomorrow, the 8th, I'm doing Peter Greenberg....a national radio program. I don't even know if they do the interview live or if they tape it. I'll find out tomorrow.

Meanwhile it's midnight in DC....but my body-time is still three hours earlier.

I think I'm done moving around through time zones for a while. Don't forget to buy the anthology.....and sign up for the Global Dinner Party. See the menu above. Check out: www.facebook.com/femalenomad

Love, me

June 6, 2010

I'm still in Seattle. At eleven tomorrow morning, Monday, I'm doing an interview on a new King 5 television show, New Day Northwest. Yesterday they told Teri, a good friend who is helping with PR (teri@cittermanink.com), that they wanted me to do a cooking segment! That'll be a first for me.

We decided to do the Thai chicken salad called, larb gai; the recipe is in Female Nomad and Friends, and it's easy and delicious. Most people know the dish, but few have ever made it. It's incredibly easy, low-cal, and it can be made ahead of time for parties.

One of the questions they asked Teri was, "Can she cook and talk at the same time?" I sure hope so.

Today Jan, my daughter, and I will go out and buy double the ingredients, one set to cook and "platter" (that's a verb!) before we go....and another to bring, unassembled, to the studio. I think we have to chop and slice before we go (cilantro, mint, lemon grass, Kaffir lime leaves). Another adventure. I fy back to DC after the show.

Two final things: if you haven't done it yet, please try to buy Female Nomad and Friends this week. You'll love the book....and the recipes too. Buy copies for all your friends. Remember that all the author royalties are going for vocational-school scholarships to kids from the slums in New Delhi.

And do sign up for the Global Dinner Party. You can read about it above. Just click on Global Dinner Party in the menu above and then sign up on Facebook (www.facebook.com/femalenomad. We already have hundreds of hosts in this country and in 14 other countries around the world. Please join us for a first!!!

Love, Rita

June 2, 2010

Had a wonderful interview yesterday on Wisconsin Public Radio. They set me up in a Seattle public radio studio. The interviewer was Jean Feraca. Lots of good questions from Jean as well as the callers. It was an hour and it flew by.

On Friday, nine of the contributors to Female Nomad and Friends are meeting in the afternoon to celebrate....and then we're all going to be at:

Third Place Books

Friday, June 4th

7:00pm

6504 20th Ave. NE

Seattle, WA 98115

I hope all of you in the Seattle area will come say hello. I did a local radio show this morning and forgot to mention it! Not too bright. The store is small....so maybe we'll have enough people without my help. rgg

May 31, 2010

Collateral damage: when you fly across the country, east to west, you wake up on day one at five AM! I do love Seattle, though....and it's great seeing my daughter, Jan and her husband, Bill. And Roxy barked and jumped around and made wonderful dog noises when she greeted me.

Today is Memorial Day and I desperately need a haircut. I like it really short so I don't have to think about hair. When I finish this, I'm going online to see if there is a hair place open somewhere. I actually have a place called Changes that I like (Bill uses them) but they're closed.

Tomorrow night I give a talk on Vashon Island. It'll be the first talk I've given on Female Nomad and Friends (pub date is June 1). I've given the Nomad talk hundreds of times....I could do it in my sleep....but this is a new book and I have to spend some time today thinking about what to say. I mean, I'm only one of 41 contributors! It's tricky to be talking for all those people...I haven't met most of them. I do know that giving all the author royalties to kids from the slums in New Delhi for scholarships to vocational schools was a great idea and I can certainly talk about that. Not making any money from the book makes it a lot easier to ask people to buy it, for themselves and all their friends. And I do like the fact that I'm doing it through Rotary, here and there.

I can't wait to shop in Viet Wah. I'm going to buy them out of Bumbu Pecel (a dried block of spiced peanut sauce that I use as a dip for soft Vietnamese rolls (there's a recipe in the new book). It's delicious and easy (you just shave it and mix it with water in a frying pan. I also spoon it on a platter of steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts. I can find peanut sauce in lots of places but none of it is as good as that block. I did discover that Amazon.com has it, but it's more expensive than Viet Wah.

And I'm definitely going to have lunch at Tamarind Tree. Their Tamarind Crepe is one of my favorite dishes ever.

Today I'm talking to a reader from Food Network in NY. I think they want to get involved internationally in our Global Dinner Party. I'm excited about that! It's such a perfect match. Connecting through Food is the theme...that and the anthology. People all over the world will be sharing food (ideally recipes from the book) and talking about the stories and what they represent: crossing borders, taking risks, communicating without language, trusting, caring.....

If you're reading this in another country, you can get the book on your Kindle in a minute! Starting tomorrow.

Have a look at the Global Dinner Party posts in the main menu above and then rush to Facebook.com/femalenomad and sign up. The night of your party I'm planning to monitor Facebook (for lots of hours given the time differerences) so that we can send messages back and forth all around the world. What fun!

Love, Rita

May 25, 2010

I've been hanging around here clicking and trying to put in pictures, text, pages, and messages. The only thing I'm good at is writing new posts. Can't figure out how to size a picture or place it where I want it. I've tried clicking and dragging and talking to the computer. Nothing works. So, while none of the images are quite where I want them, there are at least some new images.

Do check out the new page under THE GLOBAL DINNER PARTY called Why, Where, and When and then go immediately to www.facebook.com/femalenomad and sign up to join our Global Dinner Party on June 18th. And don't forget to tell all your guests to quickly order the book and read it so they can talk about it at the party. (If you don't have a Facebook page, send me an e-mail to: femalenomad@gmail.com and let me know you want to join the party. And tell me where you're from.)

Go to www.facebook.com/femalenomad and have a look at EVENTS. We're going to have parties all over the US and in Canada, Mexico, Turkey, China, Colombia, New Zealand, Australia and England. How exciting. Join us and have one in your house. All we're asking is for each of your guests to buy a book and read it before they come. We're putting together a kit for hosts!!! We want your videos, photos, and reports. Please join us. What fun!! And all the author royalties are going to send kids from the slums of New Delhi to vocational schools.

Hurry and add your name. We'll be posting the kit here and on Facebook.

Thanks. Love, Rita

May 24, 2010

I've been to Fort Collins, Colorado since my last post...visiting family, Mitch, Melissa, Cris and four animals--two dogs, a cat, and a bird. It was great being with them. Cris is six and full of energy, spice, and everything anyone could possibly know about fish!

I just spent the last three hours working on this site and I'm not even half-way finished. I added the Global Dinner pages but I haven't written them yet. I put up a page for Old Posts so I can clean up this home page, and I haven't transferred them yet. And my computer is having problems. And all the bolded text here disappeared. I guess tomorrow will be more of the same!!! Good night.

May 16, 2010

I just spent four days in Hammond, Indiana, at the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Until a month ago I had never heard of Napoleon Hill. He started the self-help genre nearly a century ago with the book, Think and Grow Rich, not something I would pick up on my own. But they wrote and invited me to speak, and agreed to make a nice donation to Let's Get Global.

I had a great time. Most of the principles that you have to observe if you want to acquire money, can also be applied to creating a richer life, things like purpose, enthusiasm, teamwork. I also learned about essential oils, walking a labyrinth, and how to play a didgeridoo (look it up!).

To play a didgeridoo, you put your lips into one end of a five-foot long hollowed tube and flap them. You don't tighten them the way you do with a trumpet, which I played when I was in eighth grade; you flap them. Dr. Sam Boys, who was the expert giving the workshop, talked about "loose flappage." Don't you love the word? Flappage. I'm sitting here right now flapping my lips and, without the hollow tube, I sound like a motor boat. The looser your flappage, the deeper the tone.

Dr. Sam has developed the art of circular breathing too. He can just keep the air going out without a break for a breath. He does it by storing air in his cheeks and expelling it through his mouth when he takes a breath. He opened with a ten minute session while we meditated....and when it was over, every organ in my body was vibrating. I can see how it might be used as a healing practice. We were all given PVC pipes to learn on.

Now I'm back in DC working more on the Global Dinner that we're putting together for June 18th. I hope you will have a party that day at your house and join thousands of us all over the world. We'll be posting plans (when, where, and some suggested recipes) on:

www.facebook.com/femalenomad.

The dinners will be a celebration of my new anthology, Female Nomad and Friends, Tales of Breaking Free and Breaking Bread All Over the World. The book is a testimony to the power of connecting through food; and

all the royalties will go to sending kids from the slums in New Delhi to vocational school.

None of the writers is earning a penny!! We're asking everyone to buy a book now---you and all your guests---so you will have time to read it and talk about it at the party. There are some challanging discussion topics at the end of the book. So, click on one of the buttoms up top, buy enough books for all your guests, and then go to Facebook and register your party!!

That's it for today. Love, Rita

And if you are a college student in DC or summering in DC...and want an intern position (no money, but I'll feed you), I'd like to add you to the team as well. I'd be happy to talk or write to your college. Let's Get Global is a project of US Servas, Inc., a 501c3 that's been around for sixty years....so your school would most likely OK the position.