70. Still call Australia Home

for now .... 

SYDNEY

It's taken me a week to get over my jet lag .. or perhaps the rigors of travelling for five months.  I've been sleeping 10 hours a night, and am finally rested.  I've caught up with friends, and I've unpacked my winter clothes from storage.  Every time I hear a crow call, it reminds me of the CIAO!!! of Italy.  My iphone has church bells as its ring.   I'm glad to be back, surrounded by my friends, and my truckload of goodies, but I'm looking forward to being back in Italy in September.

When I set out on this journey, it was with the idea of taking a tiny bead and trading it up to something wonderful.  I traded beads with people I'd had significant interactions with and when one person gave me two beads for my one trade, I decided to keep that momentum going and keep one for myself and trade one onwards.  Many of my dealers gave me gifts of beads, or put surprises in my goodies bag.  All of these are going to go in to my travelling bead necklace.  Putting it together will be a story that only I know the intimate details of. 

In Nepal, I traded my first little glass frog bead with Salim for a dzi bead.

In Essaouria, I made the next trade of the dzi bead for two Venetians from the mid 1800's.

I traded the two Venetians for a Roman eye bead and a rare Kiffa bead in Taradount.

I kept the Roman eye bead and traded the kiffa bead for a big chunk of amazonite and a Yemeni silver bead in Marrakech. I kept the Yemeni.

I traded the amazonite for two old double Afghani silver beads in Istanbul.

I traded the old Afghani silver bead to Sarah, in London, for a piece of very old Moroccan fossil amber and a rare moon bead.
I didn't want to trade the pieces Sarah gave me! I'm putting them on my travelling bead necklace.

But the bead journey continued. In Venice, Giorgio gave me an old Lewis & Clark glass bead from the mid 1800's.  I gave Sylvia an old Turkoman silver and carnelian pendant.

They gave me the use of an apartment in Venice, and the keys to their friendship and guidance.

Fair Trade. Very fair trade.



I couldn't be happier than if I were a boar sniffing truffles mid season!