A blissful greeting to each of you! I recently heard a yoga teacher say “beginnings and endings are easy…it’s the process of allowing for a smooth transition that takes our focus”.  This concept can certainly be applied to birth; as we all know that the transition phase of labor is often referred to as the [...]

My cousin, Darci, and her beautiful daughter just moments after birth I went to a yoga class for the first time in six weeks this morning with my favorite teacher, Juliana (@ The Yoga Room in Astoria).  With each breath I released more and more of what I’ve been holding so tightly to these last [...]

This evening I was remembering that last year was 10/10/10 (which to me, it’s a really great day when all the numbers match up). I decided to look into my journal from our trip last year and discovered that the words I wrote then still resonate for me today – “let’s see what will happen [...]

A Real-World Education: Things I Learned About Birth Abroad  By Elizabeth Mangum-Sarach, CD(DONA) New York, NY In April 2010 my husband and I set off on our first adventure — driving overland from London, England to Capetown, South Africa on his BMW motorcycle (R80GS). We traveled for twelve months and six days, rode 30,000 miles, [...]

Months have flown by since Jason and I have returned to the states. It’s 7:25am on an already steamy July morning in New York City.  Jason left about 30 minutes ago for his new job in Brookfield, Connecticut at Max’s BMW.  It’s a long commute; but, he is loving every moment of grease on his [...]

On my last morning in Africa I woke to the memory of dreaming of a baby elephant in the sea. She was floating around, on the waves, enjoying life with only a hint of fear about the giant elephant seals behind her.  I’m sure there are many translations of this; but, as I know from [...]

After 27,000 miles, 343 days, 40 countries on 3 continents, one full year of marriage we drove into Capetown, South Africa on a 30 year old BMW R80GS yesterday afternoon, March 21, 2011! Approximately 40km outside of Capetown the view of Table Mountain was our first sign that we were about to reach our final [...]

Admittedly, I am quite overwhelmed by the amount of time that has passed and the awe-inspiring events that have taken place during the last two months.  Jason and I have ridden through Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, back to Tanzania, Malawi, and into Zambia. We are heading to Botswana tomorrow, then into Namibia, and then finishing [...]

Per usual, so much has happened since the last blog update! Although, this time I have a pretty reasonable excuse for not writing; which is, there is hardly any internet in Africa and when there is it is so ridiculously expensive! On that note, I will give the very brief update as to where we [...]

At the moment I am sitting, quite comfortably, on the patio, of the Cairo Community Service Association (a “club” for ex-pat’s) watching a mama cat nurse her four kittens. The look on her face mirrors the wave of feelings I have been riding for weeks; exhaustion, confusion, acceptance, exhiliration, exhaustion, and even more exhaustion! Never [...]