My USA Visit

Haha nearly 7 months later, it's time that I blog about my visit home to the USA. This trip home, although technically done to switch my India visa from tourist to employment, was also a chance for me to catch up with all my friends in different corners of the country.

First stop was Michigan. It's always a bit strange for me to go there. Technically, I guess it would be my "hometown", but given I only lived there for about 4 years during high school...it doesn't feel too homey to me. The only real home thing about it is that it's where all my stuff is. It's fun perusing my closet, pulling out clothes I forgot I had. I can never stay there too long though. I feel a little out of place with mid-westerners. They look at me like I am crazy for living in strange places...like NYC, let alone India and Sri Lanka. I feel completely disconnected from the few friends that I have left there, those that have not fled to bigger cities. They are all settling down, getting married, working real jobs...all which is fine, but is not where I am or what I am doing. It makes me wonder what my life would be like if I never went to NYU...would I be married and with kids? What job would I be working? Would I be happier than I am now? Who knows. I don't care...I'm happy with my life now, with all that I have seen and done...and that's all that matters...to me...to my dad, well, that's another story. And, that discussion is usually another reason why the trip to Michigan tends to be a quickie. One week was enough to enjoy the comforts of homecooked food, a nice comfy couch, driving my own car, and my dad's big hugs...then it was off to NYC...my second "hometown".

NYC is always the best part of all my trips. It's where I feel the most at home and at ease. Again, although I only lived there for the 4 years of college...somehow this place connects with me. I get the city, I feel very comfortable and at ease, I know my way around, and of course, it doesn't hurt that I have some of the best friends in the world there =) (shout out to CiCi and Shannon!!) This time though, the trip was a little dented with the fact that I found myself sick with some stomach bug. Enter "Squirmy Wormy". Apparently, I didn't leave all of India behind when I came home haha. Without a valid health insurance in the states though there was not much I could do but learn to coexist with Squirmy...making for some and well really, some not so entertaining moments. A week in NYC and it was time to head out...and down to DC via the Chinatown bus...and with CiCi in tow.

Anytime I go anywhere with CiCi it is sure to be an awesome time, so my trip to DC was no exception. The Chinatown bus was painless and brilliant especially in comparison with Indian busses and trips. I just kept thinking that this 5 hour trip is considered long for the states, and in India a 12-18 hour trip is considered short. I looked out the window at the landscape, the huge wide smoothly paved highway lanes, which all the cars abide by; the highway with only trees and sparse vegitation on the sidelines, void of any people, animals, or houses. I am not in India anymore! DC itself, although shortlived and only a few days, was awesome. Got to bike with CiCi on a marathon training run encompassing all my favorite old running routes, which was nostalgically awesome. And, even better, got to spend time visiting all my BFFs (shout out to Fro and Kevin...you can fight amongst yourselves who is the bigger BFF hehe). Unfortunately time flies when you are having fun, and before I knew it it was time to move on...and further down...to Atlanta!

This was a new addition to my usual USA circuit. I went to Atlanta for an unofficial BPR Team Silver reunion. The timing of the Atlanta marathon coinciding with my trip home was too much to pass on, especially since Emmanuel was flying all the way from Kenya to run it. We (David, Dot, and I) all made plans to be there to cheer him on to victory as the King of Atlanta. It was very exciting to see them, but even more exciting to get to see some of the BPR staffers who I had kept in touch with and who sooooo awesomely put me up at their places and entertained me throughout my visit (shout out to Janell and Phil...you guys are so super awesome!) I was really impressed with Atlanta! Although I had been several times before for track and cross country meets, this was the first time I really got to see the city, and it reminded me soo much of Portland, Oregon, something I definitely didn't expect. It just had a very alternative and chill feel to it...very neat place. I would definitely go back and recommend it to people...especially if you have Phil and Janell to show you around =)...and especially if you go to the Aquarium...which was a highlight haha. The marathon itself was super fun to watch and interactive, with Phil and I biking the route and trying to catch as much of Emmanuel as we could while at the same time somehow quenching our Starbucks coffee craving =)...this involved a demonstration of how it is possible to bike with a coffee cup in the bike's water holder. Emmanuel himself ran his heart out...as usual impressing us all with his dedication and spirit...Emmanuel, you are my hero! =) After the marathon we got treated to a dinner with more of the BPR'ers and staffers...including Dill, Rudy, Tricia, Laura, and Vicki. Was so fun getting to see them all and catching up, but of course was bittersweet without the rest of the crew. The rest of the time in Atlanta flew by...and next thing I knew I was on a plane heading back to NYC.

Part 2 of NYC was short...real short...just a day. It was mainly spent in preparation for India...and I won't lie...it was a hard and depressing time. Having visited with all my friends, lived a day in their lives, seen their homes, their jobs, their friends, their fun...I was a bit (or more than a bit) jealous. I wanted that. I wanted stability and a normal life. I wanted a home of my own. I wanted to wear nice clothes and jewlery and makeup like normal girls. I wanted to go to bars and hang out with friends in normal places. I felt tired of being adventurous...tired of India...of the weird East. Those were the thoughts flowing through my head as I secured my flight and my visa and prepared to move for a YEAR...a whole year! Why why why?!?! Why was I going...why had I made this commitment...and how was I going to make it a whole year?! All I knew was I had to. It was too late not to. And, so...depressed and sad and not wanting to go in the least...I bid adieu to NYC, to the States, to my friends, and to a normal civilized life...and boarded the plane back to the craziness that is India...well...almost.

Haha, in typical Shiri fashion, I managed to make the most of my ticket's layover in Paris. I extended for a few days, getting to visit with Audrey, in Paris in the spring time haha awesome! It was a great break...or seguey. I spent time sightseeing around the beautiful city with the awesomest tourguides ever (shout out to Audrey and Fanny!!) It was such a pleasant surprise to see Audrey again, especially since it was so unplanned...and to see her in this (her own) surrounding was so cool. Unfortunately, as was the theme with the rest of the trip...it was too fun and went by too fast and before I knew it I was on my way...this time to my final stop...Mumbai...=(.

Next Up: How I survived my first month in Mumbai...

My Sikkim Experience & Goodbye Delhi

Okay, so I am incredibly backlogged on blogs, so in order to try to catch up more quickly I will be skimming through the past 8 months or so really fast. Will try my best to remember and highlight the best points...but if you want to know more about anything...just email away =).

So...Sikkim...heaven on earth. Really, this isn't India. A state in northeast India, bordered by Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. The people are more Asian in appearance, the land is more Himalayan and untouched in appearance, and the whole place is magical. Buddhist temples and prayer flags everywhere, green green rolling mountains contrasting the white cap mountains in the background. It's breathtaking.

I went there to compete in a mountain bike race... That didn't end up being my poragative for very long. The bike race ended up being a little more intense and serious than I had bargained for...especially since I am no where near an experienced mountain bike rider. I am talking riding straight down hills with no paths in pouring rains, then climbing for 20km straight up hill...all at 2500m+ of altitude and with limited support (food, water, shelter, warmth). The weather wasn't too cooperative either, pouring rains, sleet at the top of the hills, mid-March cold. To top it off we were camping the nights in real camps, meaning no showers or bathroom facilities, let alone a simple place or means to dry our clothes. After a few days of this and I was done. I switched from participant to staff, lasted in that role for another day or so, before I decided I was uncomfortable with the attention and privileges I was getting as the sole foreigner (the other participants were all either local or Nepali), and decided I would enjoy the rest of the trip backpacking on my own...so off I went.

I spent the next few days going from little village to little village. Travelling by shared jeep, hitchhiking, motorbike, or simply my own two feet. It was really fun and exciting to be off on my own, and to feel so safe. One of the first places I went, a town called Pelling, I stopped and asked a local midway on one of my hikes for some directions, and then asked him how safe it was for a female foreigner to be wandering like this on her own...and he said, that Sikkim is the safest place...and I honestly believe him. I never was scared or uncomfortable as sometimes happens when I am travelling alone. This time it was just really really inspiring. I would go to towns where very few people probably go, get a teeny tiny shitty room in a falling down house, hike up to the highest monastary and just sit, listening to music, watchign the views, watchignt he people, taking pictures, and thinking. Lots of time for self discovery and self awareness. Lots of time to reflect on my decision to stay in India longer, to reflect on my upcoming trip to the States...

The week went by somewhat quick, and before I knew it I was on my way back to Darjeeling in West Bengal. I went there and then to my final stop, Kalimpong, a completely uneventful boring city as I discovered, before finally grabbing a flight back to Delhi.

A day and a half in Delhi, saying goodbye to work people, friends, and most importantly...my sweet sweet cutlet (Audrey). We spent this final day doing our favorite things, eating at Choko-La, drinkign at Mocha, biking around, eating hummus, watching LOST, and then finally we au-revoired...me to the States and her to Paris. The end of our time in Delhi, our time as roommates/workmates/travelmates. I really feel so privileged and lucky to have met you, Audrey. You made my stay in Delhi what it was, and I can't imagine how horrible it would have been without you. Watchign LOST together, bar crawling around the markets, experiencing street food, downloading movies, working on Social Protection, bitching about work, cooking up dinner parties, travelling everywhere on every form of transportation...all of it was incredible because I got to do it with you! =) Thanks for everything. Will miss you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

Next up: My Whirlwind USA Visit!

From Nepal to India (Darjeeling, India)

We crossed over from Nepal into India, and could right away feel the difference. More crowds, more chaos, more noise...more troubles. Once across the border we hopped a shared jeep to the nearest big town, from where the plan was to hop another shared jeep up to Darjeeling our intended final stop for the night. Unfortunately, by the time we got to that big town, it was apparently too late for jeeps to be driving up the steep steep twisty turny road. No one would take us, and it looked like we would be stranded, however, with some luck from Ben's hindi skills, and my pushy Israeli skills, we managed to convince the taxi stand to get us a car. How long they took to get us the car was another story, as we waited and waited, until finally some random kid showed up to drive us, and the older Indian couple we had bargained to share the car with up the steep steep twisty turny road to Darjeeling. I have to say, once we started driving, I could definitely understand why none of the jeeps had wanted to go up it in the dark...it was in fact very steep, twisty and turny, making for quite a scary drive. A drive that was made even more scary due to the driver constantly falling asleep at the wheel, causing Ben to play role of entertainer, trying his best to keep him awake and keep us safe.

We finally pulled into the Darjeeling area near midnight...only to discover a crazy protest parade procession of sorts. Apparently, there is a separatist movement in the area, the Ghorkas, who have been fighting for sometime for a separate state called Ghorkaland. That night there had been some parade or procession making its way from Calcutta to Darjeeling in celebration of an election or something...and we somehow got caught in the midst of it. Screaming drunk kids waving flags, shouting "Ghorkaland Ghorkaland. We want Ghorkaland" to screaming drunk crowds. It may not sound that scary, but it was...you could definitely see how a situation like that could escalate into something more dangerous and violent. It was something out of a movie. We stayed in the car, drove straight slowly, and eventually veered from their path.

We arrived at our guesthouse for the night, one setup for us by a friend of Ben's family, real late, and were pleasantly surprised to find a whole meal waiting for us. We enjoyed the late night snack in bed, and then crashed. The next morning we woke up bright and early, or rather I woke up bright and early, and then spent the next hour or so nudging and nagging Ben to get up. It was so surprising to feel how incredibly cold and damp the room was, but the views from the windows more than made up for it. With Ben needing to hop a flight back to Delhi, and me needing to hop a jeep to Sikkim, we had to rush the sightseeing. But, it all worked out well in the end. Having grown up there, Ben took me around showing me the important stuff, and then we went to visit another family friend of his who owned one of the nicest hotels in the area. We enjoyed a quick coffee and lunch in their luxury car, and then next thing I knew I was saying good bye to Ben and on a jeep...on my way to Sikkim to experience...Himalayan mountain biking madness.

Next up: Sikkim aka Heaven on earth!

The Nepal Trip (Part 2: Kathmandu)

We got to Kathmandu early afternoon and immediately set out to find a guesthouse. It wasn't too hard, and once settled we went about exploring. I was so surprised to find Kathmandu really really nice. Nepal in general, compared to India, is a lot less populated and crowded. And, even though Kathmandu, as the capital and as an Asian city is crowded by nature, when compared to Indian cities it just didn't seem that bad. The best part about the city though, were all the squares, temples, architecture, and history...which gave it just a bit more ooomph for sight seeing, something definitely missing in Indian cities. I even found it to slightly resemble a European city...slightly...a fact that made me realize I've been in India too long =). We walked around, went to the main square, tasted all the street food, especially the MoMo's (Tibetan steamed dumplings that are heavenly), and then tested out the nightlife. There were tons of places to go, lots of bars with live music, lively crowds, fun backpackers letting loose, guaranteed good times.

Our original plan was to stay in Kathmandu for two days, and then proceed by bus...an 18 hour bus...to the eastern border of Nepal and India. Unfortunately, we soon learned that this would not be a possibility, as the southern portion of the country was in a strike, with all roads blocked and any car/bus/vehicle found traveling on them in serious risk of danger and violence. Only one bus was brave enough to make the trip, and would only do so at night surrounded by police escorts...which wasn't guaranteed to be any safer. With such a warning in place, we were definitely scared into opting for the much more pricey and less adventurous flight option...though this turned out to have its own perks. One, we got to stay in Kathmandu an extra day, and two, as we would soon learn...this gave us the opportunity to fly in a teeny tiny jet over the Himalayans...with a crystal clear view of...none other than...Everest (but more on that to come).

Our few days in Kathmandu were spent touring around the surrounding valley. We got to visit several small villages and enjoy their different squares and temples. We indulged in countless amounts of MoMo's, to the point where we were soon saying, "No mo MoMos!". And, we warmed up with Tongba, the local Tibetan hot millet beer. The nights were nonstop as well, with us getting the local nightlife perspective from a couple of Ben's friends from school who were now living in Kathmandu. The entire stay was insanely fun, weird combination of spring breakiness and backpacking adventureness.

The final day we hopped a rickety mini plane to the border town. Flying on BuddhaAir (seriously the name of the airline) we got the surprise of our lives as we looked out the window and onto Mt. Everest. It was AMAZING! The flight was real short, we landed in a field with just a tiny little shack of an airport on the edge, deboarded, and then went about trying to bargain our way to the border. The strike still in effect, no busses or taxis were readily willing to drive. Instead, random people were choosing to offer their driving services at inflated prices. The best option was to pile more people in and share the costs. Ben's semi-Hindi skills came in amazingly, as he was able to talk to and convince an older Indian couple to join us to the border. The rest was pretty adventureless...we drove to the border, walked across...I got restamped...and we said good bye to Nepal and hello again to India.

Next stop Darjeeling!

The Nepal Trip (Part 1: Pokhara)

Well...almost two months later...here is the beginning of my blog on the trip to Nepal...

So, as I left off on the last entry...we arrived in Pokhara super late (or super early, depending on how you look at it), had an adventure trying to find a guest house, and finally landed one with a crazy Austrian. Having had a little too many adventures for one day, we went straight to bed... The next day the adventures resumed. Emerging from our guesthouse in the morning we were ambushed by the Austrian, who proceeded to follow us to breakfast, and then proceeded to entertain us the entire meal with his crazy tales...none of which made any sense. He went on and on about how he got here, constantly confusing Nepal for India, not knowing where he was, and misordering the sequence of events in his stories. He told us how he sold all his clothes to become Shiva (the Indian god), then ran around naked and got caught by the cops and sent to jail. He told us how he met the Prime Minister and had a jet that was taking him back to Austria that day. He also told us that he was writing a book, in two versions...normal and "super fast", with the "super fast" version, simply the normal version with necessary words highlighted. For instance, a sentence that read, "I want to eat a sandwich" would in superfast be highlighted as "want sandwich"...the hilarity of it being that this "superfast" version was what I like to call "Indian english", or the bad english you are forced to speak here to be understood. It was entertaining. The list of Alex, the crazy Austrian's, crazy nonsense stories could go on and on...but one last one, he wanted us to work for him, going to fancy places, taking pictures of wealthy people, and just spending money on everything. Then he offered to fly us on his superfast jet to Austria for the day...we passed on the offer...finished breakfast, and then proceeded to try to duck out and ditch him.

When we were finally successful at leaving him behind in some shop, we took off to explore Pokhara, the second largest city of Nepal. I was surprised to find it a really cool city with a fun vibe. It's a place used as the transition between treks up the Himalayans, and therefore is filled to the brim with adventure/sports minded people, partying it up after either just getting back from some crazy adventure, or partying it up right before getting ready to go on some crazy adventure. The end result is lots of cool people partying it up. The main road is filled with tons of fun bars with live music playing in most of them. Unfortunately, with our time constraint, we were unable to make the most of it in terms of treks and adventure sports...but, we did make the most of the city and its local sights.

Our one day there was spent busy busy, first renting a boat, paddling out on the lake to an island, and then hiking up a "mountain" to the World Peace Pagoda, a gigantic white domed Buddhist stupa. It was fun, different, and beautiful. When we got to the top, I took advantage of the lawn in front of the pagoda and in true Shiri fashion, had fun doing some cartwheels, striking yoga poses, and taking a nap on the grass. The most entertaining moment was mid-yoga pose...when a random Nepali guy came up and started matching me in poses...inverting on his head, doing some warriors, the works. It was a great photo op =). When we were yoga-ed out...we exchanged some words, came out he was Sri Lankan...how random! =)

The it was back down the mountain, and off to enjoy the rest of Pokhara from the comfort of a motorbike, which we rented to drive up a hill and watch the sunset... Unfortunately, the hill we wanted to get to the top of turned out to be a little too high/far...so in the end we never made it before dark...but, the drive itself was an adventure...Ben trying to manage the bike, twisting turning up and down steep hills while constantly stalling out =)... Adventurous...and fun. Before calling it a night, we went out to one of the bars with some kids we had met on the "mountain", enjoyed a quick game of pool, listened to some live music, watched some sportscenter (that was random!), and just soaked in the atmostphere...a laidback chilled bar...something I have not been able to find anywhere since getting to India.

The next day, bright and early, we woke up and hopped aboard a tourist bus to Kathmandu. The bus trip was surprisingly enjoyable, we had a lovely breakfast stop on the side of the road that included variety flavored cutlets (spinach, veggie, you name it), made to order omellettes, and more. I was impressed! The remaining 8 hour trip went by super fast, as I spent the time staring out the window, soaking in the beauty of the country, the people, the kids, and the lifestyle of Nepalis...simply beautiful. I wish I could explain the feeling I get when driving along on these trips. People make fun of me because I literally sit mesmerized the whole time, just staring out the window, watching life pass by... Its like watching a movie to me, and with my iPod on, I have a wonderful soundtrack, and can literally watch the movie forever. It always makes me think a lot, hits me hard, makes me feel super lucky, glad, and thankful for everything I have. It makes me realize how much I love travelling, how much I love my life. I can't explain it...but I love it. So...anyways, I spent the 8 hours on the bus to Kathmandu watching this movie...and it was good.

Next up...buddhist temples, strikes, and stranded in Kathmandu...

Last Moments in Delhi…First Moments in Nepal

The next/last two weeks in Delhi went by fast. I was very busy busy finishing up work and our infamous Social Protection paper, trying to check off all my Delhi To Do List, and working hard to get everything set up for my upcoming trips (Nepal, Sikkim, USA) and move to Mumbai.

Although, I originally thought it would be easy and fun to say good bye to Delhi and my life there, in the end it surprised me completely by being really hard and kind of sad. I think it takes a good three months at least to get the hang of any city, no matter how great it is, and unfortunately, I think I was only just starting to get the hang of Delhi when I left. I finally had made my own routine, I knew the things/places I liked, had a growing number of friends, and was starting to make a relatively nice little life for myself. The last few weeks especially were nice, thanks to the addition of two Americans at our office, a guy from (surprise surprise) NYU Stern and a girl from Maryland…both awesome! Audrey and I had a great time taking them around, showing them the ropes, and helping assimilate them to life in Delhi and at the MIA (our work).

Alas, though, all good things come to an end, and so…the time came to say goodbye. We turned in the paper, finished our to do list (i.e. sightsee’ed around the rest of Delhi, and ate/drank at all the places we had planned to), and then packed up. I headed off to Nepal with my friend Ben, and Audrey took off with her parents for a trip to Rajasthan.

The trip to Nepal turned out to be AMAZING…and will probably span a couple of blogs. But, to start it off, here are the adventures from our first day or so…probably the funniest part of the whole trip.

It all began with a night train from Delhi to Gorakhpur, which surprised us by being one of the best train rides ever (warm and sleepable!) We got into Gorakhpur 16hrs later well rested and rearing to go, hopped on the first bus we could find to the border, and then ended up sitting without moving for about an hour while they tried to cram every available space with someone or something. The bus finally took off, we got excited again, and then 5 hrs later we arrived at the border. The crossing turned out to be nothing special, which was probably fortunate, no real spectacle, just a lot of trucks and us walking across, me taking lots of pictures, you get the idea. I got my visa on the spot, no problemo, then it was off to find a bus to somewhere, we weren’t really sure where, since we really hadn’t planned anything beyond the crossing.

The only busses available at the time were night busses and local decrepit ones, so we bypassed them, opting to hitch a ride on the roof of a jeep to a nearby bigger town. Unfortunately, the story at the bigger town was the same, nothing but local decrepit night busses, and to make it even more funny, we ended up buying a ticket and getting on the same exact local decrepit night bus that we had turned down in the first town…the conductor looked amused to see us again =). In the end though, it actually worked out great. The driver and other passengers on the bus were awesome and super fun, got some entertaining stories and conversations, and actually got to our destination (the city of Pokhara) early, with us arriving at 2am instead of 6am!!

Being early wasn’t all that great though, as this left us deserted on the side of the road in the middle of the night in a city we didn’t know after nearly 30hrs of straight travelling, And, here’s where things got really funny/entertaining. Some guy pulled up in a car, claiming to be a taxi. Speaking English he offers to “manage us a guesthouse”, saying he knew the ones that were open and would knock and wake them up, etc. Not sure of our other options, happy to be able to communicate, we hopped in glad to have someone drive us somewhere. Sitting in the front seat next to the "taxi driver" was some deaf kid about 10 years old. We weren’t sure what his role in this car/venture was, and then out of nowhere the driver turns to the kid and starts screaming in his ear asking him where a guesthouse is…as if the kid could hear him. It was weird. Then he just keeps saying he can "manage", but then after driving for a bit more, he stops in the middle of nowhere, turns to us, and says it is too late and no one is open, so he doesn’t know what to do. Haha…great! I pull out the bible aka Lonely and start yelling out names of guesthouses, trying to get him to take us to them. He just keeps arguing against them, so we try to get out, and then he says okay okay…and starts driving again. We start looking out for places with the lights on, and then stopping at each. We find one place open and willing to take us, but bad luck, the guy working there turns out to be an asshole and overcharges us like woah, so we leave and keep driving.

Finally, our luck showed up, and we found another place that looked alive and open, with some guy working on the balcony. We called up to him asking if we can stay, and he said yes and for whatever price we wanted!!!!! At this point it was 4am and we were soo tired and happy to just have a place, that we tried not to ask too many questions, and just take it as it was. The guy working there turned out to be Austrian, and claimed to own the place, just having bought it that afternoon. He also claimed to have just finished writing a book, which he wanted us to read... We declined, offering to read it tomorrow, and concluded that our new Austrian friend/hotel owner Alex was probably majorly tripping on something, and most likely not the real owner. Unfortunatley, we were too tired to find out what he was tripping on. We went straight to our room and to bed, falling asleep to the sound of Alex firing everyone working at the hotel…no joke!!

And that…was our first day in Nepal! =) Stay tuned for the rest of the trip…it only got better! =)

Rajasthan Weekend (Day 2 - Bundi)

There is no greater or more wonderful surprise, then going to bed expecting the worst night sleep, and waking up somewhat refreshed. We went to bed, freezing, bundled, and anticipating another sleepless night. But, to our surprise, despite the open air windows we slept relatively well…I credit the multiple Hindu gods that were surrounding our beds.

After a quick watery coffee that looked like tea, which we drank outside with a bunch of monkeys, it was off to explore Bundi and its main site…a BIG fort. Right away I was impressed with Bundi. It was a very untouristy yet touristy city, at the same time. Hard to explain…but pretty much, there were a lot of tourists, but all of them were the nice respectful kinds, the ones who love India for what it is, and the city itself was void of all those usual tourist stuff/scams. There weren’t even any normal guesthouses or restaurants, just real people’s houses and kitchens. Kind of cool set up if you ask me, and a great way to really experience the city and culture.

The fort, the main attraction, was actually really nice. But, as is the case with all forts, once you’ve seen so many rooms in it…you’ve seen it all. So, pretty soon, me and Audrey were pictured out, and it was time for our famous naps. We laid our bags down and went to sleep on the roof of the fort in the bright Bundi sun. An hour or so in the sun, we were napped out, a little more tan, and ready to go. We left the fort and headed back to the town. Lunch was adventurous/annoying…as I said, in Bundi there are no real tourist spots, so even the restaurants were just people’s house kitchens…meaning that food takes FOREVER to be made. We waited nearly an hour for a fruit salad…yea it was that bad. Luckily, we weren’t in much of a hurry, our train wasn’t until that evening. We took our time eating, then explored some of the vegetable markets, napped at yet another fort, watched some weird dancing celebration in the street (which we were invited to join and politely refused), and then headed off to the train station.

Unfortunately, bad luck came in to play here, as our train was delayed two hours…and the Bundi train station, a very small train station, turned out to be deserted and by far, the most boring and un-fun Indian train station I have ever seen. There was only one vendor in it, selling samosas, meaning no entertaining ourselves with street food (our usual means of entertainment) =). We watched the only other person in the station, the guy at the vending stand, make his samosas for a while, and even contemplated asking him if we could try a go at it…but gave up when it seemed like it would be too much trouble to try and explain, and instead settled for another nap.

Two hours later the train finally pulled up, we got on, and once again with no fun entertaining street food to experiment with, we went to bed. 10 hours later we were back in Delhi, and surprisingly well rested and ready to work…

Next up...last weekends in Delhi and the infamous Nepal trip...

Rajasthan in a Weekend (Part 1: From Delhi to Pushkar to Bundi)

The final Audrey-Shiri weekend trip from Delhi was the much anticipated trip to Rajasthan, a state in western India, known especially for its desert and camel treks. Unfortunately, having only a weekend, we made it to neither (they were too far west), and instead went to visit a very touristy famous and holy city on a lake called Pushkar and a fort city called Bundi. Both were awesome!

Doing it on the last minute, in true Audrey-Shiri style, we found all the trains booked and had to resort to a public bus…unreserved. Not having a predestined time to leave actually turned out to have one BIG pro…it meant that we had the luxury and time to wait for the recent episode of LOST (best TV show on earth) to finish downloading…and then watch it (of course) before leaving. It was worth the late departure just to know and then hypothesize more on who gets off and who stays on and why why why…oh I love that show!

We arrived at the train station by 9pm, in time to catch the last bus at 10pm. We were all happy and fine, talking LOST talk, when we noticed the bus we would be taking. One of those decrepit looking busses with bench seats…we were not happy anymore. Decrepit looking busses are fine and dandy for daytrips…but a night trip…in the wintertime…not fun! Not fun at all! Audrey was more than a little unhappy. I tried to make do…tried. We got on, got seats, huddled in our shawls and pashminis (Audrey in her sleeping bag) and watched some iPod podcasts. The first couple hours wasn’t too bad…and then it got cold…really really cold. With the bus being in the decrepit state that it was, the wind and cold just billowed in through the cracks in the walls and windows. There was no hiding from it. Audrey went to an empty row, covered head to toe, and tried to sleep. I tried to do the same, but my head to toe cover wasn’t good enough. I lost all sensation in my feet, my hands, my whole body. I put pants over pants, pashmini over face, hood tied as tight as possible, three pairs of socks, and nothing helped. When I am cold, I am cold! The worst was when I had to go to the bathroom halfway through, the pain of the bus bumps (and they were plentiful) on my bladder was torture. Finally, at around 4am we stopped somewhere in the middle of nowhere and I ran off in search of anything that resembled or could be used as a toilet. I found a couple older women doing what seemed to be the same thing, and in the pitch dark and nowhere-ness we flocked together, eventually ending on a mound by a garbage dump squatted down in a semi-circle facing the bus…it was slightly entertaining. Back on the bus, iPod back on, I thought only a couple more hours to go…I can make it…and I did.

We arrived in the city of Ajmer (the closest big city to Pushkar) at around 7am, and from there hopped a relatively short bus to Pushkar. Got into Pushkar and first thing immediately was find a hotel room with hot shower, and shower. Once all the feeling had been regained in our limbs we were good to go, and things from there went up and up. We found a sweet café for breakfast, then walked around the lake, taking pictures, buying souvenirs, and talking to locals (especially this one adorable little girl who could speak phrases in almost every language and took a great liking to Audrey). Pushkar is a holy holy city, with lots of rules about what you can and can not do, i.e. it’s a dry city, you are not allowed to hold hands in public with a boy, you have to walk in holy areas with shoes off, etc. But…it is also a magical, serene, and really beautiful city, with the setting of this mirror looking lake in the middle, helping to set the tone. It was a nice change of pace from Delhi, provided a great atmosphere for the day, and was perfect for picking up a ton of presents for people back home. The only problem is it is small and after you walk around the lake once…you have seen it all. So, post lake walk, we went, grabbed food, and then grabbed bus.

We hopped a bus to the nearby (5 hours away) city of Bundi, another Rajasthani city, one with a huge fort and pretty views. Luck was on our side as the bus we grabbed turned out to be less decrepit than the one we had arrived on…meaning we were able to stay relatively warm. Even luckier though was the fact that it got us there surprisingly faster than it had claimed. We got off at about 9pm…unsure of where we were or where to go, we grabbed the first auto rickshaw we could find and yelled the first guesthouse listed in Lonely Planet (Bible). The adventure to find a guesthouse in the dark and this late at night was fun. The driver first took us to the major attraction fort (as if we wanted to go site seeing in the dark??) and then when we were able to convince him to take us to our guesthouse instead, it became clear he had no idea where to go, and so in true Indian fashion we had to stop every second or block to ask someone new for directions, leading us back and forth and in circles and all around. Finally, we arrived at this alley and way in the back the guesthouse we had wanted. Everything about it was slightly more than a little sketchy, but we braved it, and found the guesthouse to be someone’s literal home. Apparently, in Bundi, the guesthouses are all just real houses, that the locals rent out extra rooms in. This one was no exception, with the woman who owned it,affectionately asking us to call her Mama, and showing us to a room, which we swore was probably her own. After noting the open windows that wouldn’t close, we bundled up in more and new layers, then plopped down on the bed, s urrounded by an assortment of Hindu gods (Mama’s), which I prayed would somehow keep me warm for the night…

Next up…the day in Bundi!

Varanassi Continued in Sarnath…

Woke up in our cell block of a room, disoriented from the lack of ventilation. Got up and did the only thing we knew how to do in Varanassi, eat at a German Bakery =). This one was the tops though with areas to lay down while you eat and all the ingredients hand made as part of an income generation program for the local women. It was awesome food to say the least! We contemplated staying there all day, but then decided to make use of the 16hour train trip we took to get there, and try to see a little more of the surrounding area. We elected to go visit nearby Sarnath, a holy city for Buddhists.

We caught a rickshaw there, and within a half hour pulled up. Right away we were bombarded by kids trying to sell us useless things. Ben taught me how to say, “I don’t want it” and “It’s not about the money, it’s ugly” in Hindi…two very useful phrases. Alas, they didn’t work…and the kids still pushed, “Only 50 Rps. madame…I give you good price…okay okay 40 Rps…last offer.” I didn’t even know I was bargaining for the piece of junk…

The one site to see in Sarnath was the ancient ruins of a Buddhist temple/town not sure, and a tower built to honor the place where Buddha died…again I think, not sure. To be fair, we were still all really out of it from the night before. We bought tickets, causing a scene by trying to sneak in with the much much cheaper local Indian tickets (purchased by Ben), roughly 50 Rps to the 500 Rps foreigners are requested to pay. However, I guess we don’t look Indian enough or they were too quick, and in the end we had to buy the 500 Rps tickets…grr.

Inside it was nice, very serene and calm, a drastic contrast to the crazy hectic ness of Varanassi, a Hindu city, and creating a nice analogy for the two religions. We watched a bunch of monks praying in the grass, watched women and men praying around the tomb/tower, and then went to do our own sort of prayer…naptime…in the grass. Spent the rest of the time there, nearly 3 hours, just laying in the grass. It wasn’t all laziness though, while Ben slept, Audrey and I were productive in doing some work for work, reading articles and organizing a paper we are trying to write. I also had some fun doing random yoga poses and cartwheels on the grass, much to the amusement of all those around us…especially the funny kids from South Korea who later came to take pictures with us.

As it got darker and colder, it was time for us to leave. On the way out, we experimented with the street food, making sure to taste/test all the varieties of vendors…and they were all good. We had a hard time grabbing an auto, and while we were walking and waving for one’s attention, a random car pulled over and offered us a ride. Never turning down rides in real cars, or those for free for that matter, we all hopped in. The guy seemed nice enough, a westernized Indian from Varanassi now living in…MICHIGAN =)…we bonded for a bit. He was home to get married, his newlywed wife sitting meekly, quietly, and sacredly next to him. Obviously it was an arranged marriage…so much for westernized. Things were going good until he started spouting pro-Bush nonsense, and then…to make it worse crazy anti-Semitic ideas on how the Zionist (pro-Israel) movement was the biggest terrorist organization in the world that Israel should not be allowed to exist, and so on. I got really really quiet and uncomfortable sitting so close to him…Audrey and Ben got nervous. Luckily, the topic switched over to his wedding, the size, the cost, etc., and before you knew it he was dropping us at the train station…safe and sound and alive…thank god! Lesson learned…don’t talk politics with random people who pick you up off the street.

The train ride back was fun in the beginning. We filled up on cutlets and tomato soup, drank some drinks, played some cards, and went to bed. That’s when the cold set in…billowing through the broken windows and cracked walls. It was sooo COLD! I swear I almost had frostbite it was so bad. There was no sleeping to be had, my feet were completely frozen to the point of painful throbbing aching. I was covered head to toe in everything I had, with my pashmini and t-shirts wrapped around my triple socked feet…but that wasn’t even helping. It was awful. Worst train ride ever. Poor Audrey had it worse though, sleeping on the lower bunk next to the window with all the random stragglers trying to fight for a spot by her feet. Crazy! Got into Delhi at 7am, frozen, but in time to go straight to work. Needless to say, it was a pretty unproductive morning at work as we spent the better half defrosting in front of the heater. Overall though, great weekend, filled with tons of cutlets, street food, thandia, and good times!! My cheeks hurt from laughing =).

Next up…the weekend in Pushkar & Bundi.

Crazy Fun in Varanassi! (Part 1: the Ganges River, German Bakeries, & Thandai!!)

To add to our saga of Indian weekend trips, we decided to head out to Varanassi, an ancient old holy city on the Ganges River. It’s a very strange and intense city, known especially for being the place you go to and die…seriously. Apparently, in the Hindu tradition, when you die, you are sent to Varanassi to be cremated. There are tons of cremtoriums (is that the word) located all around the river bank, tons of wood chopped up and stacked all over ready to be used in the burning, and tons of people carrying bodies towards the water…it’s strange. The city itself is small, condensed, but really really overcrowded, even for an Indian city…which says just how cramped it is. The streets are so narrow that even rickshaws can’t drive down them, and the houses are all built ontop of each other and decaying. The crampedness unfortunately, also makes it look dirty, with trash laying everywhere and weird sewage spilling all over the alleys. The walkway by the Ganges is out of control, with people selling everything and anything, crematoriums operating on non-stop, people washing clothing all over the banks, and holy rituals going on everywhere. The description may make it sound uninviting, but surprisingly it’s really cool and one of the most popular cities for tourists to go to, probably because it one of the most “Indian” of cities.

We left for Varanassi the Friday after work, taking the night train up. To entertain ourselves we brought along our typical goods, a deck of cards and drinks. The train ride up was fun and entertaining, sitting on the top bunks, playing cards, drinking, and eating every random food that came by, especially the tomato soup and cutlets. Audrey loves her cutlets! I have to say, and this may sound scary, but the best part of traveling in India is the random street food that they sell. It is so fun to be adventurous with. When traveling on the bus, the fun is the stops at bus stations, where vendors rush the windows trying to sell you everything and anything, and you can just sit back, not move, and take your pick. On the train, it’s a little less fun, less options, but still pretty good. You have sellers roaming the cars screaming their goods in nasal voices, “Chaiiiiiiiiii Chaiiiiiiiiiiii!”

We arrived in Varanassi bright and early and a little unprepared for the chaos. Getting out of the train station we were swarmed by rickshaw (both auto and bike) and taxi drivers, trying to guide us to their ride and shuttle us off at an absurd price. Using my amazing ability to bargain, I got us a decent fare, and off we went trying to locate the cheapest guest house Lonely Planet had to recommend. It got kind of interesting when halfway there, the auto driver stopped and told us to get out and walk with him, the streets being too narrow for his car. So on faith, we started walking, through these little alleyways, past all kinds of weird activity and smelly things. After about 15 minutes + of this, being completely disoriented and lost, we started to get kind of worried. Where was he taking us? And, even better question, where were we? But, faith was right, and sure enough he delivered us to the “lovely” guest house, a rickety dark building. Not wanting to take our chances with any other place, and not really sure where we were to begin with, we accepted the room, or rather the cell. It was really just a square cell, no windows, no nothing, but one big bed taking up the whole room. But, for only 100Rps., none of us were complaining.

Post-check in, we dropped off our non-valuables, locked up the “cell”, and took off to explore. We walked over to the river bank, and then proceeded to walk down. All along are strings of ghats, these sort of of big basins, where people wash, do laundry, do holy rituals, what have you. The ghats for cremating were off limits for pictures, and not that pleasant to really watch, so we tried to stay clear of those. It was interesting and intense, crowded and pushy, but well worth it…for the first hour or so. Then it got kind of repetitive…you really can only look at so many dead bodies being cremated and people washing clothes.

It was still relatively early in the day, about 11am, and we had already exhausted the one tourist attraction. So, we sat on the side of one of the ghats and started trying to contemplate what the heck we would do for entertainment the rest of the time. Here was where Audrey had a brilliant plan. All through out the winding streets and walls of buildings there were tons and tons of signs. Each of these targeted at tourists, written in English, French, Hebrew, and Japanese, and advertising some store, restaurant, or the most popular, a bakery. For some reason, and I couldn’t figure it out, but German Bakeries were the thing in Varanassi, with at least 4 listed in the Lonely Planet and signs everywhere pointing arrows in the direction and dictating how many meteres you had to go. So, Audrey decided, why not do a Bakery Crawl…hitting up each of them. And, with nothing better to do, we did.

First stop, was the Open Hands Bakery, a sort of handicrafts shop with bakery/coffee house attached, really really nice. It was the furthest south and a little off the path, but that was fine, gave us more to do while walking there. We sat on a balcony overlooking the bustling street, ate some wonderful crepes and fruit salad, and indulged in decent coffee. Then, trying to further kill time, we relocated to a couch inside and sprawled out with reading material, reading and talking, and not moving from there for another couple hours. It was nice. Finally, it was time to go, so on we went to find the next bakery, a 15 min walk up the road. This one was a little less fun atmosphere-wise, but the tea was good and the nachos, which we saw someone else order and then proceeded to order ourselves, were even better. We sat there for another good hour or so, before continuing on our way.

Stomachs full and not really sure of the quality of the remaining bakeries, we decided it was time for more adventurous things…and this was where Ben had his “brilliant” idea…to try the local Bhang and Thandai drink. I had never heard of this, and I don’t want to it injustice by trying to describe it, so I just say…look it up on google or something. We continued walking up the street, stopping along the way and inquiring about Bhang sellers. Just walking though was stressful, it was so crowded, traffic was out of control, loud and noisy and polluted and smelly, and more so than usual. You couldn’t stop or turn for a second without fear that you would get hit by one of the many cows, bike rickshaws, autorickshaws, people, you name it. You had to be constantly alert and ready, and with the smells it became quite a headache. So, when we finally came to the most congested of intersections, and Ben found a Bhang seller, we were all very relieved to take the break.

We went inside his little stand, while Ben got the drinks, and we sat, nervous and unsure of what to expect. Ben returned with the most artificial yellow-colored drink I have ever seen with tons of white curd chunks floating around in it. Everything about it scrame that it would get us sick. I am sure it would be under the “Danger and Avoidances” section in Lonely Planet. But, being the crazy, probably stupid, and adventurous person that I am, I tried it anyway…haha and it did get me sick, more from the feeling of the chunks sliding down my throat than anything else. Ben, though, got even sicker, but he had drank the whole thing, I had had only half. We left, slightly embarrassed and unsure of what the effects of the drink would be, and began heading back to the guesthouse.

It really was by some miracle that we found our way back, through the twisting alleys and all. Returning to our cell, we were happy for the relative quiet and peace, rested for a few moments, and then went up to the roof restaurant for some entertainment. Up there we found a pool table, TV, and a bunch of tourists from all over. We started talking to a few, and I had to hold back my laughter/disgust at a couple. There was this guy from America and a girl from Canada, and the guy was a typical brash American, talking just to hear himself talk, swearing up a storm, bragging about everything he’d done, and repeating himself over and over again. He just kept talking about how he wanted to climb mountains, but not with two hands, with one hand, full hand, no two fingers, just gripping it, you know. Oh man. It made me glad to be able to claim Israeli-ness. He also went on and on about how he was jumping in the Ganges tomorrow morning, that he didn’t come all the way around the world to just f***ing look at it, and that he was plugging himself up, all of himself, and taping the goods, and just going in. Have fun with that one buddy! The best was listening to him mispronounce every single city, saying Kerala as Keraaahla, Rishikesh and Rikshesh, and Varanassi with the long American “A”. Unable to bear listening to him any longer, we retired to our cell…where we proceeded to spend a lovely and fun-filled evening together, cooped up in the cell and without any ventilation. Warning: Don’t try this at home. The next morning we were definitely feeling the side effects…TO BE CONTINUED.

Best Sunday Ever!!!

This blog is dedicated to one of the best Delhi Sundays. It started off on a great note. Exhausted from our crazy one-day Chandigarh adventure the previous day, we finally got slept in…and I mean slept in! In total non-Shiri fashion, I woke up and got out of bed around 11am! Woah! I know! Refreshed and rejuvenated, I went off to the gym for a quick morning workout. It was nice, and I had a blast watching the Meet the Press podcast on my iPod…its almost like the real thing. Then, enjoyed a lovely bike ride home on what was an unusual sunny, warm, and blue sky day in Delhi (usually the smog is so thick you don’t see the sun).

Back home, we began getting ready for our big brunch, which meant in true Audrey and Shiri style that we were cooking up a storm. French Audrey took over on the crepes and fruit salad, while I went to town with some Israeli shakshuka, omelletes, and french toast (which apparently is not a French dish…go figure…I guess it’s kind of like french fries).

A bunch of friends came over, we set up a table outside in the warm sun, and then proceeded to stuff ourselves like crazy! Yummmmmy! After we had digested enough, we decided it was time to work off those calories, and being the lovely day that it was, decided to go to a park to play some football. One of our friends, Ranjan, had a car with him, so we piled in, and took off, enjoying the rare pleasure of not having to bargain with a tuktuk for a ride.

The park was awesome, filled with people, warm and sunny. We kicked around the ball, I enjoyed chasing after it, trying to run as much as possible. Unfortunately, in typical India fashion, the park “police” came over halfway through to kick us out. Never did find out why or what the problem was…in India they are always closing parks at random hours or doing weird things. Apparently, green open spaces are to look at, not play in… Who knows. But, we’d gotten enough in already and by now it was getting a little breezy, so off we went.

The next stop was a mall…my first Indian mall. With my iPod out of commission, I was on a mission to find an Apple store to replace it…and I did. It was fun. Walking around the mall on a Sunday, almost felt like being back in the States…well almost. Post-mall it was back home for some dinner…and…BEER PONG! That’s right, I succeeded in bringing it to Delhi. I have to give my friend Ben big props for this one. He helped push for it, finding big enough cups and picking up the balls. We set it up on our round plastic table, and then had a blast playing. Audrey turned out to be a little pro, and I surprised myself by not being as bad as I usually am =). In the end, Audrey and I managed to take it to overtime, where we eventually ended up losing on the last cup. Close game though.

Nearing midnight and with work the next morning and my early morning workout before that, I retried to bed. The fun continued without me, as I learned the next day, but that was fine with me…as I had already had way too much fun for one day. All in all, BEST SUNDAY EVER! Thanks guys!! =)

My Wonderful Life in Delhi!

Since, winter break, things here in Delhi have been on the up and up. We’ve found little silly ways to make our daily lives more exciting and entertaining.

First, we implemented Theme Night Dinners. Once every week, we would pick a different cousine, make a menu, look up recipes, buy random rare ingredients, and go to town in the kitchen trying to make it work…and then have a massive yummy home-cooked feast with all our friends! It’s been great, entertaining, educational, and yummy! Let’s see, recently we’ve successfully done a Greek Night with Greek Salad, pita & hummus, tsatsiki, moussaka, and halavah; a Mexican Night with homemade tortillas and chips, salsa, guacamole, fajitas, & quesadillas; and an Italian Night with gnocchi, pizza, bruschetta, mozzarella salad, & tiramisu…with everything, all dishes, absolutely from scratch!! Impressive I know! =)

We also started our notorious Delhi Bar Crawls. These sound a lot more fun and crazy then they are, but they entertain us, which is more important. Pretty much, the city of Delhi is made up of a bunch of small villages or “enclaves” (subdivision if you will). Each of these villages has its own “market”, and some of the nicer expat focused ones have nice markets with nice westernized bars, restaurants, clothing stores, etc. So, to better explore all the million markets around Delhi, we decided to pick a new village each week, and go on mini bar crawls in their marketplace. So, we started with the most famous expat village, Defence Colony, and proceeded to stop in every possible restaurant/lounge/bar in the market and get one drink in each place. It’s fun because there really aren’t that many places that serve alcohol, so in the end you go to like 3-4 places, 5 if you are lucky, but it gives you an excuse to go to a new area and something to do there other than just shop. Since, the first crawl we have also done Vasant Vihar, GK1, GK2, and South Ex. The best discovery from this was a real pub like bar called Café Morrisons in South Ex, by real pub like bar, I mean the music wasn’t blaring so obnoxiously loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think, the drinks were relatively cheap (relatively), and there was no crazy dancing or hyped up décor thing going on. The only bad part was that apparently they are always out of draft beer, and once even ran out of beer completely, despite it being early in the evening. Can’t win them all…

Then of course, there’s been our Oscar Movie Marathon and LOST Parties. Living overseas, especially here in India, is like living in a black hole of media…you have know idea or knowledge of the movies, shows, or pop culture happenings going on back in the States. The best we can do is find sketchy downloads online. So, with the discovery of a new really good website, we have begun our quest to watch all the Oscar nominated movies before the Oscars. So far, we have seen Michael Clayton, Atonement, and No Country for Old Men…only two more to go. The fun thing about this is our black hole effect means we have never seen a single preview, commercial, trailer, nothing! So, we really go into them with no prior knowledge on these movies, what they are about, what they are rated, if they are scary or funny, who is in them…I mean nothing! Not a clue! It’s made it more interesting and surprising. Then there’s the LOST parties…and these need no explanation haha, it’s just the same as always, obsessed LOST fan Shiri finds another obsessed LOST fan and together they download the LOST episodes, wait anxiously while they slowly download, then excitedly watch them, freak out, and discuss, then rewatch, freak out some more, and then do a bunch of stalker obsessive internet searching about the episode and possible meanings. =) It’s awesome! Too bad I really hate the time delay and the fact that this year having them play in the States on Thursday night, means the earliest we can get them is Friday night…not the best of nights, but hey =) can’t win them all!

There's also our Sunday Brunch ritual. Every sunday, when we aren't travelling, we either make brunch ourselves (cooking up a storm and having everyone over to eat like kings) or we go to one of our favorite brunch spots, either the much loved Choko La cafe or the newly discovered Mocha Cafe. The first, is really our "spot", we even have become friends with the waiter and have our own table/boot, #42. We found it by accident, just happened across it, and fell in love instantly. It's a chocolate cafe that is actually really really good, and is known for its chocolate and hot chocolcate drinks (hot chocolate, which rivals City Market's in NYC...yeah it's that good!!!). It also though, has an incredible menu, of which we have literally worked hard to try everything. It's just fun to have a "spot" to know the people and have them know you, makes you feel like living here is less transitive. The other place Mocha, is our new discovery. Unlike Choko La, which has a great menu and amazing deserts, Mocha has an uninspiring menu, but AMAZING coffee...I mean AMAZING! =) So, obviously you can bet that Shiri is more drawn to Mocha...which has been helped by the fact that it also has free wifi there too. All in all though, its been surprising to discover such nice places in Delhi!

Finally, there’s my Morning Routine…which I love! Every morning I wake up…super early (5:30am), drag myself out of bed, bundle up, and pedal off on my new bicycle in the dark Delhi cold to my new gym. I get to the gym, enjoy a fun workout on the elliptical while watching the previous days Today Show and NBC Nightly News podcast, then ab it up and head back on the bike. On the way home, I get to stop by my favorite vegetable stand, where the guy running the show is so sweet to bring me rare and “exotic” expat fruits and veggies, i.e. avacados, spinach, and asparagus. I pick up my fruit for breakfast (an apple, banana, or grapefruit, or if I’m feeling fun then my favorite Indian fruit, cheeku and grapes), my veggies for lunch (some cabbage and broccoli to make into soup), and also some veggies for dinner (tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots for a salad). Then with my new days food in my bag, I continue pedaling, getting back to the office/home, with just enough time to do some quick yoga and stretching while streaming Portland’s 94.7fm radio station (the best radio station in the country). A quick quick shower and then its off to work (or rather the office room next door). Along the way next door, I get to stop by the kitchen and stir up some yummy South Indian coffee, which I then drink happily while reading my BBC news and New York Times news emails. And that, is how my day starts in India!! =) Ever hectic, but ever fun!

Next up: Best Sunday ever and a Weekend in Varanassi!

The Uneventful but Entertaining Chandigarh Day-Trip

After what seemed like a never-ending week of work, Audrey and I were desperate to escape Delhi and travel India some more. Unfortunately, we were still a little worn out from the recent and hectic Holiday Trip, so instead we decided to take a day-trip to the “nearby” city of Chandigarh—“nearby” being a supposed 5 hours by bus…supposed. According to Lonely Planet, Chandigarh, a city north of Delhi in the Punjab state, is known as being the most modern India city, really revolutionary and westernized. It is famous for its wide streets, big shopping malls, and this “really cool” fantasy rock garden (more on this later). So, with such a hyped up description and close location, we couldn’t resist.

We woke up early on Saturday morning, and headed off by rickshaw to the bus station in Old Delhi, about an hour away (that’s how spread out Delhi is). Things weren’t going so well when we noticed that it was by far one of the coldest days ever. Huddled closer, shivering and chattering away, we tried to brave the freezing cold air blowing on all sides of us. We made it, somehow, and then got extremely lucky. As we were getting out of the rickshaw, not even inside the bus station yet, a bus came rolling by with the conductor screaming “ChandigarhChandigarhChandigarhhhhhhhh”, so without hesitation or pausing we hopped right on, never even having to enter or deal with the chaos that is the Delhi bus station! As we made our way to some open seats, I became really glad it was a “short 5 hour” ride, as it was freeeeeeeeezing on the bus, with the windows unable to fully close and freezing air blowing through cracks all over the walls. 5 hours later though, we were still on the bus, and my feet were severely numb from the cold and my inadequate footwear (handmade Indian slippers…long story). Every time we’d stop at a bus station, and the random street selling people would come up to the window shouting about whatever the good was that they were selling, water, nuts, fruit, random stuff, I would just shout back “Socks!Socks!Socks!” hoping someone might actually have some to sell. I mean hey, it’s India, they sell everything! Unfortunately, no one responded to my SOS Sock cry, and so not knowing what else to do, and really being in numbing pain, I took my pashmina scarf thing, wrapped my two poor feet in it, and rubbed like there was no tomorrow. It had barely any effect, but at least an hour later (after more than 6 hours on the bus), we pulled into Chandigarh.

The first entertainment from nothing, which would pretty much be the theme of the whole trip, was the fun we had eating (or rather experimenting) with the bus station food. I had a blast trying the different coffees or Nescafe or hot milk with touch of Nescafe, while Audrey explored the “veg burger” and “cutlet”, both which turned out to be delicious and would later become big staples and standards for us while traveling. Post-bus station, we headed out, following Lonely’s advice to go tour the High Court, described as being a “must see”, and having “extraordinary architecture”. What we found was a brick building with absolutely nothing “must see” or “extraordinary” about it…just a brick building. After some circles around the building still showed nothing more interesting, we decided that the Lonely Planet authors were probably trying to be funny…and I guess it worked, because we were laughing. The next stop was to the Fantasy Rock Garden, a weird amusement park type place, but without any rides, and made completely out of recycled garbage. It was listed in the Lonely Planet as the second most visited attraction in India (by local Indian tourists) after the Taj Mahal, which quite possibly could have been another joke on the LP author’s part. The only words to describe this place are, “sooooo Indian!” Recycled trash turned into ugly stick figures and planted all over the walls, recycled garbage making flowers by a waterfall, etc. Weird and not pretty and with nothing really to do, aside from swing on swings and taste more street food…both which we did =). Regardless of how boring and strange the place was, Audrey and I did have a great time just making fun of it. Sometimes the worse things are here in India, the more entertaining they become…this was a case and point, another is Bollywood movies. It was hilarious to watch the locals though be so into it. Take the wishing well for instance, they all gathered around in awe and entertainment to watch someone throw a coin in…ooooooh! Wow!

After a quick run through, we were back on the streets and undecided where to go. We started walking, for lack of rickshaws nearby, and all of a sudden it struck me how strange of an Indian city this was. First, it was quieter than most. Second, the streets were wide, and we were walking on a sidewalk, not by the street, but separated from the street with a strip of grass…GRASS!!! It sounds like the description of every sidewalk in the States, and so, it may seem like nothing special, but…here in India, sidewalks are non-existent and grass even more so. The other strange thing about this city was the suburban feel to it, with residencies and homes. Very weird.

With time to kill before the bus home, we went towards the big shopping area hoping to entertain ourselves in a bar or some thing. Instead we ended up entertaining ourselves with more street food. Experimenting with sweet potatoes grilled in front of us and touched up with lemon and paprika…mmmm mmmm mmmmmmmmmm! Then a fruit plate of papaya and melon. Once we exhausted the food options and bored of the shopping area, we began to make our way to the bus station.

The bus ride back home was a lot more pleasant than the one up in terms of the temperature and style of bus, we upgraded to a deluxe push back seat bus vs the local decrepit. However, it was far far far from a perfect or comfortable ride. Picture this, we’re sitting on the bus, tired, trying to fall asleep, when out of nowhere something goes scurrying over our feet…yup…we had a mouse friend. The rest of the ride, another 4+ hours, we sat/slept huddled close with our feet as high up on the seats as they could go. To make it worse, just like the bus ride up, the one down was also extended way past the quoted 5 hours. The only good thing was that at one of the pit stops, I was able to randomly buy a beautiful big soup/coffee cup, something I’ve been looking for for a while (Indian coffee cups are like shot glass size and not nice).

We arrived into Delhi super duper late at night, and grabbing the first auto we could find, a big mistake, as it turned out to be the SLOWEST auto driver in India, something I never thought to be possible. The guy was literally just tuk tuking along, taking his sweet time. Freezing and shivering we began to hug and huddle tight together hoping to block the air. This didn’t help the slow driving situation though, as now the driver, intrigued by two white girls hugging in the back seat, kept turning around to stare and smile at us, and making him drive even slower. After a while I couldn’t take it, and just started yelling, “Vroom! Vroooooooom! Gooooo!” as loud as I could, trying to get him to rev the engine, put the pedal to the medal, do whatever it would take to make the little 3-wheeler move. It didn’t seem to really do much more then make him laugh and stare at us some more, but finally we did get home. Freezing, we ran straight for the warmth of our beds and heaters. Lesson of the trip: Don’t go to Chandigarh, and if you absolutely have to, don’t do it as a day trip!

Next up: Our weekend in Varanassi…watching bodies be cremated in the Ganges…

Back to Reality…Life in Delhi.

The first weekend back after our trip was mainly dedicated to two things: work and resolutions (see previous post). The work, was because we are required to work one Saturday a month, and since this had already been a short week, we thought it best to make this Saturday the one Saturday. The resolutions, were in terms of finding a doctor (resolution to become healthy) and finding a gym and bike (resolution to become active).

Since, the trip (sitting on busses all day/night and walking a lot) my leg has been getting worse and worse. Back here in Delhi, sitting at work has become unbearable, with severe shooting pain going up my back if I sit too long, and no relief even when standing. As much as I hate going to doctors for this, having to pour my heart out to them and hear them say, yes I can fix you, so easily; and then offer the same solutions, which don’t work and just play with my mind, getting me all excited and hopeful, and then letting me down hard, not to mention wasting HUGE amounts of my money and time, I knew something really had to be done for this. So, I started searching again, and through google found a sports orthopedist nearby who agreed to see me same day.

I was really nervous, dreading the visit, but also as usual, also secretly hopeful that something would be different. He did turn out to be real nice. He had a Western education and perfect English, and wasn’t too comforting about knowing the cure…a good sign from what I’ve learned. He asked me to get MRIs, Xrays, and a nerve test and come back and see him with the results. Now here is the best part of India, their health system. No where else is it so efficient and responsive. I was able to get an appointment with him the same day, as well as get MRIs and xrays done within the same hour and at the last minute on a Saturday evening no less. It was even possible to schedule the nerve test for early the next morning (Sunday morning). Talk about convenience and flexible schedules! The MRI lab even picked us up from the doctors office (in an old-fashioned ambulance too!!) The only down-side in all of this…the money. I am praying that my traveler’s insurance will somehow help cover it, after all…my pain is most definitely stemming from that horrible bus ride from Kerala to Goa =).

Unfortunately, after all the tests were done the conclusion turned out to be the same as always…no one knows what it is. The tests (minus some inflammation and swelling from the surgery) were all clear, so the doctor did what they all do, and prescribed be drugs and physical therapy. FRUSTRATING!! I could go on forever about this, and just thinking of it now I want to scream, so I probably shouldn’t say anything. I agreed to test his physical therapy theory for 10 days non-stop, if there was relief I would continue, if no change, we would stop. The next Monday we started, and from then on for the next 2 weeks and some, I went every day from work to physical therapy to have my butt/hamstring massaged, probed, shocked, ultrasounded, heated, etc. The result, as usual, no change…so I am back to square one. Ugh!

My other resolution (gym and bike) was a little more fruitful. I found a gym about a 30 minute walk away that I was able to bargain the fee down to something a little more reasonable, from 4000Rps/month (about $100) to 2500Rps/month (about $60), still too much, but reasonable. The gym itself is actually really nice, especially for India. It has all my favorite machines, good quality ones, my favorite brands, and lots of them! Plus theres my favorite ab fixture and tons and tons of weight machines, and yeah it makes me happy! =) The only problem is that to get there it involves either: a rickshaw, which is a pain to find early in the morning before work, and annoying to bargain with each time; walking, which is kind of far and not the most pleasant thing to do in India; or biking… I chose the biking option, so the first thing I needed, was a bike. Luckily, through a post on a expat listserv, I actually found one, and I nice one (well, again for India). So, from that day on, I began my awesome morning routine: waking up at 6am, biking in the dark and cold to the gym, working out to news in Hindi, then biking back home/work, along the way stopping by my favorite vegetable stand to pick up my veggies for lunch. It’s nice and fun, and so entertaining to watch people’s reactions to me, little white girl, passing them on my bright red bike. I love it! It has also helped improve my mood during the day too. Being able to get up and out of the house, and then come back, all before work starts, is so nice! It makes it feel almost as if I don’t live and work in the same place…almost. =)

So, that’s a little update on life in Delhi… Next up our travels continue, with weekend trips to Chandigarh & Varanassi…

Shiri’s New Years Resolutions

The craziness of the Kerala-Goa trip left us more than a little tired. We spent the first couple days back just relaxing, working during the days and sleeping at nights…doing absolutely nothing more exciting. I spent most of the week working on my new years resolutions. First, I went over my resolutions from the past year to see what I had accomplished, a pretty impressive list if I don’t say so myself =). In one year…I had:

• Lived abroad (for the first time) and in 4 different countries!!! (Sri Lanka, US, Israel, and India)
• Gotten to run again (although it lasted briefly, it did let me run around the world!!)
• Lived in warm weather all year and kept a tan
• Worked three different jobs
• Traveled a lot (visited 24 countries in one year!!)
• Reduced and became more responsible and conservative with the amount of partying/drinking
• Become more independent (more comfortable traveling on my own)
• Become a better writer
• Met lots of new people
• Gotten closer with my family

Looking at this list, I am pretty proud of myself, with some more than others. It may not seem like a bunch of accomplishments to others, but take the living abroad thing. I had never lived outside the US before last year, and now look at me, I’m in India and willing to stay here for who knows how long. The running thing obviously makes me happy too, especially since I can’t run now…gives me hope. The traveling, wow 24 countries!! And, becoming closer with my family, getting to live with my older brother, visit with my extended family, talk more openly with my dad, and bond with my younger brother has been just great.

So for the coming year…drumroll please =). Here are my 2008 resolutions:

• Become healthier. I say this in regards to both body and mind. I want to finally heal my leg, take the necessary time off of running, while still proactively working to find a cure. I want to become okay (mentally) with not running, and reduce my obsession with working out to something a little more “normal”. I want to become healthier with my eating habits and weight issues. I want to finally grow out my nails =). The list could go on…and on…
• Become active again. Since coming to India I tried a little experiment, trying to (for the first time years and years) not be active, to not workout, and to see if for once I could be okay and happy about it. Well, I found that at first it was okay. I was so inundated with new things, that the distraction was nice. Soon though, without my normal outlet, I found myself starting to go crazy, to feel more and more unhappy and discontented. It was hard to have people not know this side of me, the side that loves to workout and is a fitness freak. It was hard to recognize myself. So, my goal now is to see if I can strike a balance, whether I can be active in a healthy way, allowing my leg to continue healing (i.e. no running), while finding activities that give me peace of mind and the release that I am so desperately in need of. It’s definitely going to be hard to do in India, where working out is not a part of the culture and so accepted as it is in the U.S., but I have made it work elsewhere and I know I can make it work here too. My goal is to a) buy a bike, b) join a gym, and c) every morning bike to the gym and back before work. Kind of excited about this idea, so let’s see how it goes.
• Stay still for more than 6 months. I know this sounds silly to most people, but 6 months in “Shiri world” is a long time to live in one place. The past year I didn’t live anywhere longer than that, and although it was fun and exciting and offered me so many opportunities that I am definitely grateful for, it also had its downsides. All the wonderful people I met, I had to leave just as quick; as soon as I was getting the hang of a place it was time to pick up and start all over; I have been limited with how many things I can have or can collect. I know this is so girly, but I miss being able to have multiple outfits to wear; and I miss having more than one pair of shoes or being able to accessorize. This doesn’t mean I am giving up on my free-spirited adventurous travels. Far from it! In fact, as another resolution will show, I am still looking to travel more. I just think I want to find a solid base from which to travel, and for now, it’s looking like Mumbai might be that place. We shall see…
• Create a solid work output. I worked 3 different jobs last year, not getting to stick around with any long enough to create something solid, tangible, and transferable to my CV. I want to be able to create something this year that I can be proud of and say I did this! It’s about time…I’m getting kind of old haha.
• Stay happy! This one’s my favorite. =) So, I am constantly getting emails and msgs from people and friends saying, “Wow. So jealous. You are living the life.” Blah blah blah. And, I feel bad saying it, but I don’t always feel that way, in fact…I’d say it’s about mmmm 35% of the time that I feel that way. The other 65% I am actually kind of sad, for numerous reasons. I know this is probably shocking for most people who know me, and see the bubbly cheerful side of me, but it’s true. I know I am pretty lucky with a lot, but there’s so much else that really gets me down. The worst is…usually it’s really running related, or the not being able to run fact. Sometimes, it’s the transitive thing, other times it’s the not having money or a real job thing, and sometimes it’s the being away from friends and family. So, it kind of goes with the above resolutions too…but, I hope that this year I am able to find someway to make myself more happy for the full 100%, or I’d even settle for 75% of the time. =)
• Travel, travel, travel. Haha I know this may seem like a contradiction with the above resolution to stay put, but it’s not. I want to have a base to stay put in, but I want to continue traveling from there, on vacations, short trips, work trips, what have you. Right now, up on the list of places to go is Bhutan (obviously haha!), Bangladesh & Nepal (both which I should be going to soon…), China (hopefully for the Olympics), and the rest of Southeast Asia. Let’s fill up all my extra passport pages I just got!!
• Learn a language. This has been on my resolution list every year. Although I did make a little more progress with Hebrew this year (oooh and did take Sinhala for a while too), I am still not conversational in any language other than my native English, which is more than a little embarrassing.
• Get closer to family. I made progress, but there’s still more to make.
• Stay in warm weather =). This would definitely involve moving away from Delhi haha, and I think Mumbai might work.
• Stay in touch with friends better. Once again, this goes with the staying put thing. I make lots of friends all the time, close ones in short periods too, but once I leave a place I have the hardest time staying in contact. Thanks to Gmail & Facebook, I am definitely getting better, but still…those should not be substitutes for the good old phone call. So, if you are reading this, and I have not talked to you in a while, let’s make a Skype date! =)
• Find a boy. =) Haha wouldn’t be a girl if this wasn’t on my resolution list would I? Once again though, I think this will probably go along or come out of the “stay put” resolution…well, let’s hope so! =)

Yup, so those are my resolutions… Let’s see how I do!