The universal language of "stop" - yeah, it's a thing.

Back in the summer of 2013 we drove into the province of Quebec for our Nubian goat WWOOF gig and saw our first "ARRÊT" sign.

(au nom de l'amour)

"Arrêt" and "pamplemousse" are two of the few words I remembered from five years of French lessons more than 20 years ago. I knew that "arrêt" meant stop, and I knew that the official language of Quebec is French, so this sign seemed perfectly normal to me. (Honestly, I was much more amused by the Loblaw signs everywhere. I did admire Quebec's creative method of indicating a four-way "ARRÊT" though.)

We spent two weeks in Wakefield, Quebec, where one street featured the sign below... I smiled every time we drove past it.

Wakefield is the new Portland

It might sound silly but at the time, I didn't realize that stop signs were universal (at least in our journey's universe) - the shape and color were the same in every country we visited. Most traffic signs were easily recognizable too.

Now, I know that it's due to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals and has been enforced since 1978, along with many other universal traffic signs and laws.

But I didn't know about this agreement while we were traveling. So I naïvely marveled at the common shape and color everywhere we went. From this miraculous revelation (!), I went on to notice that many countries we visited displayed the word "STOP" on their stop signs, no matter what their native language.

(I should note that many countries we visited didn't actually employ the use of stop signs, especially in rural or underdeveloped places where we were simply left to our own devices to get across the street or drive into zipping traffic. But in developed areas of Central Europe, Western Europe and Vietnam, even when the majority of the population did not speak English, the stop signs all said "STOP.")

So then, of course, I started noticing when "STOP" wasn't "STOP." Turns out there are quite a few exceptions, but here are just a few that we saw in our international travels...

Turkey

Morocco

Lao

Thailand

Cambodia (the only bilingual stop sign we saw -

also, possibly the only stop sign we saw in all of Cambodia)

Even the Aussies change up the stop sign now and then. Here's a reminder on the Perth train to reserve the seats near the doors for families:

this sign kinda freaked Patrick out

Universal stop signs and other traffic indicators certainly make driving internationally a lot safer and easier.

They also make this big giant world feel a lot smaller.

And I mean that in a good way...

Habitat Global Village build #2: West Hawaii!

Our Cambodia Habitat for Humanity Global Village build was one of our favorite volunteer experiences. Because we had raised so much for that build, we almost had enough to fund an additional solo GV build for one of us. The running joke was always to build in Hawaii on our way back to the mainland... Haha, right?

One day in November I checked the GV schedule, sent an email, and within a day I was officially invited to join Team Cocores in Kona for their January build. And within a week or so, I'd raised the final few dollars to participate. Haha, indeed!

everything is awesome!

everything is cool when you're part of a team!

I've already sung Habitat's praises and explained our Cambodia build in depth, so I will keep this one brief. Each GV build is different; perhaps the one consistent thing is not knowing exactly what you will be doing on the build when you sign up. For this week-long build on Kona, our team of 14 helped with drywall and exterior finish work on this house:

before

Very soon, Kahealani will be able to move into this home with her family. Throughout the week this lovely mom shared her positive energy, excitement, smiles, and gratitude with the group. It was a pleasure and privilege to work alongside her as well as the West Hawaii Habitat construction crew and Team Cocores.

prime time

we spent a lot of time looking like the dancing Charlie Brown kids

a rare quiet moment on the construction site

Kahealani and Elsa

This home is part of an ongoing Habitat West Hawaii initiative to improve homes that were provided to native islanders about 40 years ago. These homes are now in need of repair, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has limited loans available for upkeep. Habitat West Hawaii helps out by refurbishing homes to make them safer and healthier for residents. Read more here...

almost after - painted and almost trimmed

It wasn't all caulk, primer and paint though.  As with the Cambodia build, Team Cocores had opportunities throughout the week to experience the local culture and true Hawaiian hospitality.

lunches at Aunty Gwen's

(a local Habitat supporter who welcomes

GV teams into her home with open arms)

a tiki guard at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

sunset lu'au at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott

(we clean up nice)

Polynesian fire dancing at Te 'E'a O Te Turama Hula Halau

The team also enjoyed beautiful beaches, whale watching, Volcano National Park, and night snorkeling with manta rays (I skipped this one - Patrick and I are going to do the dive later).

volunteering is HARD!

While the Cambodia GV build will probably always be my favorite, I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience a build in West Hawaii. The island pace was definitely challenging to this former IT project manager but I enjoyed the overall team energy and I was able to go at my own high-strung speed most of the time so it all worked out.

Half of the group was 25 or younger, and afternoons of 'N Sync blaring from the radio were also a challenge - I'm sooooo old school New Kids on the Block!  Seriously, though, during the week I had some really interesting conversations with "the kids," and I was impressed that they chose to spend their winter breaks or limited vacation time with Habitat for Humanity. I hope they all keep it up, either with Habitat or some other worthwhile organizations.

we're the kids in America, whoa - oh!

(note: only 8 of these were "the kids" - sorry, Ann!)

West Hawaii Habitat currently builds all over the island and also has a ReStore for all your home needs. If you'd like to donate, volunteer, or otherwise support this affiliate, please check out their web site!

To see what Global Village builds are coming up, check the Habitat International schedule here. They're super fun and I highly recommend the experience to anyone looking to travel and make a difference!

(p.s. HUGE thanks to all my donors who helped make this happen!)

Friday five: things we will miss about SE Asia.

As we enter this whole new world of Nepal for a month and start to make amazing new memories, we wanted to pause and mention a few random things we will miss about SE Asia. In no particular order, they include...

The ancient history. These cultures have intermingled, fought together against outside enemies and also against each other, and influenced each other since what seems like the beginning of time. As a result, architecture and religion came together in some really amazing ways over the centuries.

Cham Towers near Quy Nhon, Vietnam

Phra That stupa in Vientiane, Lao

Buddha statues in Si Satchanalai, Thailand

the story on the wall at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

And like the countries in South America, each SE Asian country we visited claims to have the oldest "this" or the most precious "that", and everyone claims that they ruled the whole territory back in the day. The perspectives were fascinating.

The markets. Not the shopping markets - but if you've been reading you know that already. We're talking about the fruit and vegetable markets that are usually surrounded by food stalls.

Hoi An, Vietnam's lunch market

Sapa, Vietnam's veggie market

Kampong Cham, Cambodia's fruit market

Phnom Penh, Cambodia's Russian market

We loved the fruit markets in Central Europe and we loved the addition of food vendors in SE Asia.

The critters. We spent a lot of time outside over the last six months, so we saw some pretty amazing critters. Butterflies of all shapes and colors, giant spiders, patient snails and grasshoppers, tiny geckos...

... lizards large and small...

... crazy jungle bugs...

... urban snakes...

... and one scorpion hung by its tail in Nong Khiaw

(yep, it was still alive)

The jungle bugs were the best. (They always are.)

The lush green even in the midst of otherwise dry, dusty villages.

terraced rice fields in Sapa, Vietnam

our backyard in Viang Veng, Lao

hiking in Koh Tao, Thailand

view from Kep National Park, Cambodia

The natural beauty in each country was really stunning.

And of course, the warm, friendly people and the kids screaming "HELLO!" everywhere we went.

Gia, SuSu, and Sang from Sapa, Vietnam

cute Misato at our Thailand farmstay

Mr Cherin from ThreeJ Guesthouse in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand

our HFH Cambodian team leader Samvitey ("Raymond") from Phnom Penh

We especially appreciated the warm welcomes in the non-touristy towns and villages like Buon Ma Thuot, Quy Nhon, Oudomxai and Kamphaeng Phet. (And all of Cambodia.)

With the yen comes the yang, so here are five things we won't necessarily miss about SE Asia, in no particular order...

The hot. OMG THE HOT. It was no dry heat either - it was all humidity all the time. From March through August, temperatures ranged between 30-40C (that's about 85-105 for you US folks); add 80-100% humidity and you get OMG THE HOT. Didn't stop us from spending lots of time outside...

Dalat, Vietnam

(March 2014)

Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

(April 2014)

Nong Khiaw, Lao

(May 2014)

And that's about the time we stopped taking pictures of us sweating like pigs. But it went on through the end of Cambodia, and we never did acclimate to it - our last day in Bangkok, we ate lunch at an outside market and dripped with sweat the whole time.

The noodle soup. It can be quite tasty sometimes, and also quite photogenic, but more often than not it's quite plain and certain nutrients are consistently lacking.

our first noodle soup

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - March 2014

we ate a lot of these too

(gotta do what you gotta do sometimes)

our last noodle soup

Bangkok, Thailand - August 2014

I'm pretty sure our bodies suffered from all the noodle soup. We had to work really hard to balance our vitamin intake, and even still this usually meant juices from the grocery store which were usually heavy on the sugar. Even milk has lots of sugar here. Really looking forward to a sugar detox soon.

The long bus rides. They were never actually comfortable, and the levels of "uncomfort" varied from A/C sleepers with hard short beds, to A/C buses with narrow seats and no leg room, to buses with no A/C and incredibly hard seats.

our first "sleeper" bus to Dalat, Vietnam

oscillating ceiling fans, one of the greatest inventions

Buses were often loud, one way or another. Many had TVs which blared atrocities like karaoke videos or Jackie Chan movies. And almost every bus had a horn and a driver who wasn't afraid to use it - nonstop. Thailand was the only country where horns were a rarity. As a result the rides could be pretty stressful at times.

border crossing bus rides were always stressful

no matter how many times we did them

But the scenery along the way and the amazing bus decorations usually made up for all the "uncomfort."

Clarence enjoying a little buddy time on the bus to Battambang, Cambodia

The plumbing. We had no problems adjusting to the showers-with-no-bathtub and occasional squat toilets.

What killed us were the bathroom sinks with detached plumbing underneath. Brushing your teeth or hand-washing laundry became an exercise in keeping your feet dry because the sink drained directly into the floor. Sometimes there was the illusion of plumbing but sometimes they didn't even bother.

the pipe to nowhere -

Shang Hai Guesthouse in Battambang, Cambodia

Sometimes there was a makeshift drainpipe that hung over the balcony. Those were our favorites.

The rented bicycles.  Apparently it's a rule in SE Asia that bicycles for rent must have half-pumped tires, no gears or malfunctioning gears, and short seats that make your knees ache with every pedal rotation. We still managed to have fun on these bikes...

our first bike rental in Hoi An, Vietnam

not even thinking about climbing that mountain in Nong Khiaw, Lao

goofing in Sukhothai, Thailand

fun with signs in Si Satchanalai, Thailand

... and we've vowed that any bike we purchase when we get back to the US will have these exact specifications.

So that's our SE Asia wrap. The amazing definitely outweighed the mildly annoying, and we were usually able to laugh through the mildly annoying anyway.

If you've been to any of these SE Asian countries, leave us a comment with something you miss (or don't miss). We'd love to compare notes!