The Crazy Adventures of Shiri

My USA Visit

2008-03-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

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

2008-03-08T06:23:00.000-05:00

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)

2008-03-02T10:01:00.000-05:00

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)

2008-03-01T02:18:00.000-05:00

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)

2008-02-25T10:22:00.001-05:00

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

2008-02-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

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)

2008-02-10T19:33:00.000-05:00

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)

2008-02-08T06:14:00.003-05:00

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…

2008-01-20T21:25:00.001-05:00

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!!)

2008-01-19T22:53:00.001-05:00

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!!!

2008-01-13T04:13:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-01-12T12:52:00.004-05:00

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

2008-01-12T08:31:00.001-05:00

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.

2008-01-05T04:10:00.000-05:00

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

2008-01-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

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!

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 12: Final Day in Mumbai!)

2008-01-02T05:10:00.000-05:00

The final night of the trip was spent in the typical fashion, uncomfortably on a night bus. It’s funny how for the majority of the trip something always got in the way of us having a decent night sleep. This time it was the fact that out of the entire bus, I had to be seated in the only broken seat right behind the only broken window that wouldn’t close. The beautiful defect of my seat was the fact that it would not stay pushed back; meaning that the second I’d get comfortable and start to fall asleep, my seat would slowly start inching forward on its own, eventually waking me up as my head abruptly met the seat in front of me, which was nicely pushed back way past its limit. This happened over and over again…throughout the night. It was all I could do not to cry from being so tired and wanting to sleep so bad. I looked over at Audrey at one point, tears in my eyes, and just whine, “I can’t do this!” I think she laughed…and in retrospect the situation was pretty comedic. To make it even worse, my iPod, always the savior on these night rides, had just broke and so I was left alone with the noise of the bus to calm my suffering. It did get better eventually, or I should say I got entertained. Looking out the window, enjoying the late night chai/coffee reststops, and even trying to time the seat, see how long it would take to move from down to up. FYI its fastest record was about 2 min…its slowest maybe 8 min…

We arrived in Mumbai bright and early, and began heading down to the touristy area of Colaba. I was pumped when Audrey, who had only been to Mumbai once, briefly, and had had a bad experience, turned to me and said it was surprisingly a nice city. =) This made me very happy as most likely it will be my future home! She even compared it to the London of India…I always say it’s like an Indian New York City.

We ate a quick breakfast in a touristy café downtown then hit up the India Gate, sneaking into the Taj Hotel while we were there. Next, we strolled up to the High Court and University buildings, along the way passing by a brand new hummus & falafel restaurant that I have to say, probably was a convincing factor for me wanting to move here. On the way over to the beach we passed by a cute coffee house, which we couldn’t resist making a pit-stop in. It was awesome! The coffee absolutely fabulous and strong, such a rare thing to find here! Refreshed and revived, we continued to the beach and up, eventually grabbing the suburban train to the north. We got off a couple stops north from where we could watch (and take pictures) of the biggest washing ghat in the city. This sounds like an odd tourist attraction, and it is, but it is also one of the coolest. Pretty much, this is a unch of ghats, a kind of tub, where all of the cities laundry gets washed, and from a bridge right across from the train station you can actually stand and look down and see it all. It’s pretty interesting to watch. From there we headed towards the famous Mumbai mosque with the loooooong walkway through the water. Usually the walkway is covered by water, and it looks like the Mosque is floating, but because of droughts, water issues, etc. the water has receded and now the walkway is visible, walkable, and surrounded by rocks and trash. It was a pretty intense and crowded experience walking down it, and when we had finally reached the Mosque at the end, they wouldn’t let me in unless I left the running shoes that were tied to my bag outside, and knowing me, there was no way I was parting with my running shoes…so we never went in. Good walk though.

Back on the mainland, all that was left was to grab a cab to the airport…even this had to be trouble though. It seemed fine at first, we grabbed it, he used the meter, and we were on our way. The drive was long and trafficy, Audrey slept on my shoulder, while the cab driver kept talking to me in bad English and I kept trying to pretend like I was interested/listening/understanding. But, when we got to the airport, and we tried to pay what the meter said, it got ugly. The cab driver was asking for 300 Rps. more than what it said, which we outright refused. I gave him what he deserved and started walking away. This kind of thing unfortunately, does happen a lot, and usually once you leave they leave it alone. Well, not this guy. He actually came after me, pulled my back and wouldn’t let me go. I started screaming and getting the attention of the security guard, who came over to mediate, meanwhile with the usual India nosey crowd forming. When I explained that he was trying to overcharge us, the 300 surplus amount that he was requesting dropped drastically to 50 more than what we should owe…let me stress still higher than the actual amount. The worst though was that the security guard sort of just mediated the bargaining between me and the guy, with the end result us having to pay the 50 more, which really makes no sense. The guy got no penalty for trying to rip us off so absurdly, and then got rewarded by having us still pay more, while we were forced to have to act greatful that we weren’t ripped off more. Explain that, please?! The whole thing though was wrong and unfair, and definitely left us with a bad taste.

Once in the airport we beelined for the bathroom, trying to make ourselves as presentable and somewhat clean as we could…it wasn’t easy. We were so dead and tired and smelly. I felt physically sick from the lack of sleep. The plane ride was uneventful. We arrived back in Delhi, and again…all we needed was a taxi, but it had to be difficult. Not wanting to take a rickshaw in the freezing cold of Delhi, we went for the pre-paid taxi (this just means you pay for the fare at a regulated booth before getting in the cab). The only problem was that (as is always the case in overpopulated India) we were not the only ones waiting for a cab. In fact, we were just one of many many many people in the chaotic line with no guard or anyone manning it, meaning no order whatsoever. Despite the single-file line, people were cutting and pushing to get in the cabs, creating disorderly chaos that meant the line barely moved or progressed. Then they got smarter and stopped bothering with the line altogether, instead trying to hail the cabs before they even reached the loading area. This made it even more difficult to get one that was free, and when we tried the trick of hailing it before the loading area, we actually got in trouble and the cabs refused to take us. Now please explain that to me?! So, at this point, tired, feeling sick, and freezing (we were wearing summer south India clothes in cold north India), I start to lose it. I began screaming and yelling at the guards who weren’t doing their job, but telling me to be patient and wait, screaming at the cabs who refused to stop or take us, and screaming at the people who kept stealing the cabs from us. Finally, I grabbed one that was stopped and empty, and for no reason, as we got in, the driver got out. Oh no no no! I really lost it then, yelling at him to get in and take us! I think I must have been making quite a scene, because he kind of looked at me like I was crazy, then got back in and drove off…with us in the cab.

So, it seemed like it was all going to end well, but then I asked him…just to make sure…whether he knew where he was going. Let me explain…in Delhi (and most of India) cab drivers will always take you even if they have no idea where they are going. This gets so annoying, especially when you just want to get somewhere and you have to wait for them to get lost, ask for directions, get lost again, ask for directions again, and over and over again. The trick is to ask before you get in if they know. If they don’t answer, that’s usually a “no”, as they never actually say “no” in India, they just keep quiet. Well this driver didn’t answer when I asked, a definite bad sign. Just to make sure, I asked again, but still no answer. So, now I was even more upset. A pre-paid taxi driver who doesn’t know how to drive from the airport to our place…great! Luckily, in the end, it turned out okay. He knew enough to get to one point and Audrey and I took over the directing from there, eventually making it home…to the good old MIA. And once in the house and warm in my bed, I started to feel bad and guilty about losing my temper…but…sometimes you really just can’t help it…

So…that was that. The amazing and awesome Kerala-Goa trip finally came to an end, and for the first time in two weeks, I slept…and slept well!!!!!!!! =)

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 11: New Years Day in Panajim)

2008-01-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

How many times have you begun a new year waking up in a hut on a beach, meandering down to the restaurant canopy on the beach to eat breakfast while laying down on duvets, then getting to go for a morning swim in the warmest ocean water while splashing around with some big waves? Anyone? Well…I know that up until 2008…my answer would have been no. That was exactly though, how our day began. We spent the rest of the morning just lying lazily on the beach, nothing more exciting than that…

One thing though, I did have an interesting interaction with one of those women who walk up and down the beach selling stuff. On most of the beaches here, you have these women or men that walk up and down all day long selling all kinds of things. From fresh fruit that they cut up right there for you (That’s my favorite, I mean how often while on a beach can you say I want a fresh watermelon and have it brought right to you? Sometimes the convenience here is amazing!) to sarongs and pashminas, weird toys, drums (That’s the weirdest one…I mean why would I, a tourist, want a drum? Where would I put it??), jewelry, etc. Sometimes the amount of stuff these people are carrying is out of this world. You see them walking on sand with all of it on their heads all day in the hot sun…it’s quite a work out. I wish there was a way for me to buy from all of them, but really, that’s just not practical…there’s so many of them. And, sadly because there are so many of them, they actually are quite annoying. I mean, constantly having someone come up to you to sell you something, “Madame, sarong, sarong?” does not play into my idea of a relaxing, peaceful time on the beach. Anyways, so even as early in the morning as it was, there were tons of women roaming up and down. At one point a young girl and even younger girl (maybe 10 or so) came up to sell some jewelry, and then ended up taking a rest by my chair. I got to talk to them, and it was really interesting. The older girl, first of all claimed to be only 14, which honestly was not possible…or was it? She spoke pretty good English, and told me how she was from the town of Hampi and had come to Goa to live with her brother and his family, because she could work here selling stuff to tourists better than at home. The only problem though, was that the area (part of the beach) that she was able to reach from her brother’s place was a not such a touristy spot, and so she rarely would sell much…maybe one or two things every 5 days! She said that there were no busses operating that area, and so for her to get anywhere she would need a bike or take a taxi, which she couldn’t afford. I thought it was so interesting (although I wasn’t sure how much of it was true), because it was a classic example of how simply providing access to finance for these small-scale businesses/entrepreneur activities may not always be enough, how other areas will also need to be developed before they can truly generate income, i.e. in this case better access to transportation. Just interesting to think about…

Anyways, so as much fun and as pleasant as the beach was, we were unable to stay there too long, as we had a date that evening with a bus to Mumbai, leaving from the town of Panajim (about 30km south—aka 4 hours away). We quickly showered, said goodbyes to our friends, and started venturing out, unsure of how we were going to get anywhere…since, this was not a very populated or touristy area the amount of taxis and rickshaws were limited. Finally, we came across some taxis and bargained our way down to something reasonable, hiring it to take us to the nearest big town, Mapusa. From there we jumped a bus to Panaji, arriving with plenty of time to explore the city before our next bus.

Panaji (also knows as Panjim) is the capital of Goa and a very Portugese influenced city. It was surprisingly really really nice, quiet, colorful, and very un-Indian in a lot of ways. It’s sad that it doesn’t get that much attention. Most people bypass it going straight to the beach towns, but from my experience, in terms of Indian cities, it’s one of the nicest I’ve seen. Audrey and I had a blast just walking around, roaming the streets, taking tons and tons of pictures of the different buildings with fun Portugese signs and in brilliant colors and shades. The city was laid out over some hills, with parts above others. We got to hike up a big staircase to the top part, roaming around there it was sooooooooo quiet and peaceful. It was hard to believe we were in India without the usual honking and beeping. The only bad thing was that the quiet was due to the fact that there weren’t that many people around…but there were stray dogs, and unfriendly ones. At one point we found ourselves forced to walk with sticks and stones in hand…just in case (I am not about to deal with rabies shots in India again…did that already once last year…not again!).

Walked out and pictured out, we turned to Lonely to find a place to eat before the bus. The Bible’s recommendation was for this awesome sounding place…but bad luck, it was closed when we showed up. We picked instead the second decent sounding place…which turned out to be nothing more than two tables outside some teeny tiny bar run by some woman in a old lady suit and with a deep voice. The funny thing though, was that seated at the other table was another set of tourists with a Lonely Bible, and soon after in came another pair (again Bible in hand). It is amazing how much influence Lonely can have on businesses! Unfortunately, it was a bad recommendation, with the deep voiced lady saying the menu to us and then not having the ingredients on hand to actually make anything on it. So, we ending up leaving just as hungry as we came…not exactly the best start for a night bus.

Off to the bus stand we went. Since, we were taking a private bus, the bus stand was really nothing more than a chaotic parking lot where all the private busses come and park, no signs and no real order, and tons of middle-class Indian people milling around with too many suitcases for their own good. It kind of feels like its operated black market style or rather Chinatown Bus style. The busses are all named weird things like Baby Jesus, Laxmi, ours was called Shiva, with the names written in BIG letters right on the bus. So, when you are looking for it you have to ask for the bus name, as in, “Shiva? Shiva?” It’s kind of funny. Well, our bus was no where to be found, and after much pushing and yelling and questioning, we finally got placed in the spot it would eventually come to…it was late we were told…big surprise. Coincidentally though, the spot it was going to arrive at was located right by the street food vendors. Being the adventurous street food testers that we are, and also being hungry from not having dinner before we had fun. First, we got an appetizer of these weird shell ball things that they fill with some potatoe thing and then pour some sweet and spicy liquid on…not great…but okay. The main course was excellent though, an omelette sandwich, grilled right in front of us. Finally, desert was a coconut…mmmmmm. =) The good food helped make the hour and half wait pass somewhat more eventfully. And, just as it was getting a little too dark to see anything and my butt was getting to sore to squat on my bag anymore, we heard the cry for “Shiva! Shiva!” and bolted to the bus, settling in for the last night bus/bus of the trip!

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 10: New Years Eve!!!!!!!)

2007-12-31T08:57:00.000-05:00

Well, as detailed in the last entry (see “Shiri & Audrey meet crazy cat”), we woke up bright and early on the rooftop in Arambol Beach. The day started off on a great note, with us laughing hysterically (again see previous entry), a nice contrast to the way we had gone to bed…scared shitless. In good moods, we went down to breakfast in our cute guesthouse, coincidentally an Israeli-owned guesthouse. I was so pumped to see the menu…Israeli breakfast…complete with shakshuka, and prepared by a real Israeli!! =)

Interjection here: Arambol Beach can really be considered Little Israel…seriously! It’s out of this world, how many people are Israeli, or were speaking Hebrew (locals and tourists!!). Signs were in Hebrew, even the keyboards were in Hebrew…it was crazy! More people were Israeli than not I think. It made the game “where are they from” pretty easy to play. The other odd thing though, was that after Israelis it was Russians that made up the majority of tourists. That threw me for a loop, because honestly I don’t think before coming to Arambol I had even met one Russian person in all of India, now or even the last time I was here. Yet, in Arambol…there were sooooooo many. Just like with Israelis and Hebrew, signs, food, menus, everything was also in Russian. Crazy! Hearing all the Russian and seeing all the girls in teeny tiny clothing definitely brought me back to BPR and my adventures running across Russia/Siberia this past summer. I was even tempted at one point to order a Russian salad, complete with all the tomatoes and mayo you could ever want (who would want it I still don’t know). That temptation faded real fast though, especially when I saw the Israeli salad listed right below it. =)

Anyways, so post-breakfast we began the short venture towards the beach, with a quick stop along the way to book the bus from Goa to Mumbai. It was kind of more than a quick stop though, cause it involved us stopping into every travel agent along the way to see what price/time they were offering…and if you know anything about beach towns/tourist towns in India, you know that travel agent offices are more plentiful than…well than anything…pretty much every body is a travel agent. It was also funny because they all kept trying to put us on the Paulo Travel bus, the most expensive private bus operator, and the one all tourists take. I swear there is some black market, mafia, cutback thing going on…because that was everyones first offer to us, and only after we specifically said, “We do NOT want Paulo” would they claim to have anything else. Strange. In the end it worked out and I think we got a good deal…and not on Paulo =). But, while we were waiting for the transaction to go through, a couple (Russian), guy and girl in teeny tiny skirt, came in and started inquiring about how to get from Goa to Kerala to Hampi. The agent was actually not to good at giving options, and with all of our India travel expertise, we felt it was our duty to offer advise. We actually ended up helping them route their trip, making sure to warn them not to take a bus between Kerala and Goa (my tailbone was still bruised at this point). They were very appreciative…and Audrey and I began thinking about starting our own travel business…we’re still thinking =).

So…then it was beach, sun, and fun. Laid out, got nice and tan, and then in the early afternoon began to finally make our way to another beach where our friends were, the beach we were supposed to have gone to the night before. Again, it was nearly impossible to find a ride to this small, isolated beach, but in the end, we got to explore a new mode of transportation (and here we thought we had tried them all), taking a motorbike taxi! =) Picture this…Audrey and I, with all our stuff, on the back of a motorbike, being driven by a “taxi” driver…that’s three people plus like two BIG backpacks on one little motorbike! Somehow it worked…and we arrived at Asvem Beach.

The rest of the day was spent in utter laziness and relaxation. Asvem Beach really was a quiet beach, with like two guesthouses and very few tourists. We met up with my friends from Sri Lanka, Jodi and Brynn and some of their friends, and just spent the whole day lying on duvets under a canopy on the beach, with a lot of drinks, magazines, and food...i.e. heaven. As the evening approached we kept lying, but began ordering more drinks and more food. Eventually we had a whole on feast on the beach. It was a great way to start our new years celebration.

Successfully stuffed, we began walking down the beach to a beach party. I really wish I could say that it was such an incredible or amazing party. I want to do the notorious “Goa Party Scene” some justice, but the thing is…and I should have been more prepared for this…the Goa Party Scene is known especially for its trance/house/techno (I really don’t know what the difference is between all those) music, and personally…meh that’s not my type of scene. It was really really cool though at midnight, when fireworks started going off like crazy, we all had champagne in hand, feet in sand, and were staring at the waves crashing on the shore a couple feet from us. That was awesome!! Never started a year like that before. The party itself honestly wasn’t bad, if you like that sort of thing. There were tons of people there, an “inside” and “outside” area (i.e. on the beach and inside a canopy), a HUGE tv, loud music, cool décor, etc. The “inside” was like VIP or something and guarded, though not very well. I think you just had to pay or something…we of course didn’t, but we did have fun constantly trying to sneak past the guard. Sometimes we’d win and get in, sometimes we wouldn’t. One time I didn’t and the guard got all in my face and was rude and pushy, and that’s about when I thought…meh it’s been fun, time to go home.

So…Audrey, Brynn, and I left the party, and began walking home along the beach. Probably not the best of ideas…three white girls, late at night, on New Years Eve night when most people are drunk, walking home on a deserted beach…hmm…yeah I think that’s how a lot of scary movies begin. Honestly, it was kind of scary, and we did have some Indian guys (drunk) following us at one point. But, I think all of us with our cell phones in hand, torches flashing back and forth, and walking super fast must have scared them off…or they weren’t really following us to begin with…not sure. But, the good news is we got home safe and sound, getting ’08 off to a great start, that’s for sure!! =) HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Night 9: Audrey & Shiri Meet the Crazy Cat!!)

2007-12-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

So…here we were, the night before New Years Eve, in Arambol Beach in Goa, one of the most popular beaches, trying to find a place to stay for the night. Definitely not an easy task! We had some good luck in the beginning, with the owner of the restaurant we ate dinner at, offering to let us sleep on a mattress there…a tempting offer, but also slightly sketchy…we decided to look elsewhere first and hold that as our last resort. So, we began searching for a place to stay, walking up and down the road, asking everywhere, pleading, begging, trying to look as pathetic as possible and hoping that some kind soul would take pity on us and offer us something. That kind soul turned out to be an Israeli owner of a restaurant/guesthouse, who offered us a mattress under mosquito netting on his gorgeous roof…for FREE! As we got settled in, unable to believe our luck, he came up with what was the best cup of herbal tea ever (it is sooo rare to find herbal tea here…usually there is only masala chai). It was honestly too perfect to be true...and that is the truth and the lesson we soon learned: Nothing in this world is for free or that easy!!

So, getting ready for bed, we were elated. Thinking, “Look at us, we found a place to stay in Arambol the night before New Years when no one thought we could, and for free! Woohoo we are awesome!” Then came the cat…and this is the point where I have to ask you all not to judge, because words can not do this story justice!

So, the setup was as such: two nice mattresses underneath a lovely mosquito net, on a beautiful clean tile roof, with no gate or door to the steps. So up came a cat and made itself quite comfortable on our bed. We weren’t bothered at first, but as it came time to lay down, and we tried to shoo it off things started to get crazy…or rather the cat started to get crazy. First, it was going nuts on the mosquito net, seriously, NUTS! So, we moved the net, hoping it would follow. But, then it went nuts on our mosquito spray, so we sprayed it, hoping it would run away. But, it didn’t…no no, this cat was a crazy cat. It started going nuts on our stuff, on our bed, and finally, on us!

We weren’t sure what to do, we tried to sacrifice one mattress to it, but it wasn’t having it…it wanted both. We gave it a toy, tried to con it downstairs…it came right back up. Audrey contemplated throwing it off the roof…we paused…it seemed like a good idea…but…well…we just couldn’t. So, the next thought was to trap it. We got a box, and we got the toy, and we got the cat in the box. The next question was how to keep it there…we got a table, we put the table on the box. But, this wasn’t good enough. The cat was still going nuts, pushing the table off, tearing holes in the box…so we got the curtain, a heavy curtain, and we wrapped the box with the table in the curtain…and then we tied the curtain. The cat got out of the box, started going nuts in the curtain, so we got some cushions…and we fortified the box, table, and tied curtain with the cushions on all sides. It was quite a structure. But, we still weren’t convinced, as it was still going crazy, meowing, clawing, the works. It was about 2am at this point, and Audrey and I were sitting on the top of chairs, torch (flashlight) in hand staring at the structure willing it to just die or be quiet or something/anything, so we could finally get some sleep.

Well…it didn’t stop moving/meowing, but eventually, we couldn’t keep our eyes open, and finally laid down to sleep…or to try to sleep. Every 15 minutes or so, one of us would hear something and jump up, wide alert, torch in hand, and terrified that the cat had escaped and was coming at us. In retrospect it really was silly how scared we were…but at the time…it was really scary! I mean, I think I almost started to cry at one point, from being soo tired, wanting to sleep sooo bad, but being sooo scared of this damn damn cat! Morning soon came, or rather not soon enough, but it came. And with it, came two girls up to the roof to do some yoga. So, there they come, and there we are, me, Audrey, and this structure… Quite a sight! We start to clean up the bed, wash up, give them space for their yoga…and meanwhile try to figure out what the heck to do with the cat, who is up and meowing at this point. Slowly we start to defortify it. One by one, the cushions come off. As Audrey gets ready to pull the string, I decide these girls need to be warned. So, I go to try to explain as best as I can that we are not cat haters/killers, but that this is a crazy cat, and it was for our safety that we had trapped it, and warning them to stand back or get up, because after being trapped all night it is probably going to be even crazier. Looking terrified, they stood up on the chairs, as Audrey pulled the string. We all held our breaths as the cat peeked its head out, looked round, and then bolted for the stairs and down… And that was that! That was the cat that we had been so scared of all night. That had kept me up, convinced it would attack me. That was it; it just ran away, finally leaving the roof and leaving us alone. Hah! I think the girls thought we were crazy…and I am sure most of you reading this think so too…but honestly, if you had been there you would have done the same! Guaranteed!

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 9: 40km in 5 hours…Palolem to Arambol, Goa)

2007-12-30T11:38:00.000-05:00

Night busses really make you appreciate a night in a guesthouse. We woke up refreshed and pumped to spend our day (or rather morning) not on a bus, but on a beach and in the sun. Breakfast was awesome, right on the beach, in a shack, eating laying down on duvets, coffee and paper, with the sun and waves, ahhh heaven! The seguey from there to the beach was so simple…about two steps to a beach bed…didn’t even have to leave the place. Spent the morning just doing nothing, sun, sleep, tan, swim, and repeat! I love it! I really am a beach bum!

Around 1 or so, sunned out, we began to make our way off the beach and towards the bus stand enroute to the next stop, a beach in the north called Arambol where we were meeting some other friends. Before leaving though we made a quick stop by some clothing shops we had scoped out the night before, putting us a little in the money hole, making our bags slightly bigger, but also getting us some cute outfits to wear the following night, New Years Eve. At the corner of the main beach road, we got on the first bus, a small party bus from Palolem to Margao, the biggest city nearby. We were pretty happy, content, and confident that the 40km distance of our journey from Palolem to Arambol would not take too long…but as always in India…that was just not the case.

5 hours later…and 4 busses later…we finally arrived…well sort of. Backtrack a little…so, the bus to Margao let us off, and with our luck, we hopped right away on the bus to Panajim. Arriving in Panajim (the capital of Goa) we took a pit stop to try to book our trip from Goa to Mumbai…a tricky trip considering our flight from Mumbai to Delhi was bright and early the morning of the 2nd. This meant that to make the journey of 12 hours from Goa to Mumbai in time for our flight, we would have to leave during the day on the 1st. Well, given that that is New Years Day, the busses operating were limited, and limited to early morning departures…definitely not a fun option… We ended up opting to switch our flight instead, taking an afternoon flight on the 2nd, which would let us take a night bus on the 1st instead…still not perfect but much better. Only problem was that to switch the flight there was a fee, and in order to pay the fee we needed an Indian credit card (this is always the case here and it makes life soooo difficult!). The only other option was to go directly to the airline’s counter in the airport (not an option obviously). So, as we sat outside the travel agents office on the streets of Panjim, I turned on business Shiri mode, and well, got shit done. First, let me say a HUGE thank you to our friend Ben, who let us use his card’s info for the transaction. So, with that problem solved, I switched both mine and Audrey’s tickets (which honestly is not an easy task to do on the phone with an Indian who can barely understand English and who I could barely understand, with tons of background street noise, in the hot sun, while carrying all our bags and stuff). Tickets switched it was time to get the low down on the busses from Goa to Mumbai, which we did…and then it was back to the bus station, catching one more bus from Panajim to Mapusa (pronounced Mapsa).

We got to Mapusa…and you guessed it, grabbed another bus, the last one to Arambol. No day can be complete though without some interesting Indian drama…and this bus ride had it. I honestly, don’t think I really understand what happened, but it was definitely something interesting to witness. About 15 minutes into the journey, the bus stopped on the side of the road to let some people on…normal enough. The not normal fact was that the people were obviously poor poor poor. It was a family of about 6, an old woman barely clothed with bandages on her arm, an older man, a middle-aged man obviously drunk, and three kids, two girls and a boy. All looked very dirty, smelly, carrying sacks of god knows what. As they got on, the other passengers started making quite a scene, yelling at the bus conductor not to let them on. I don’t know what the deal was, why he let them on or why they didn’t want him to let them on…it was pretty confusing. But, they got on, went to the front, sat down, noisy, fighting, drunken…etc. One by one the people in the surrounding seats would get up and move to another seat in the back, to get away from them. It was kind of hard to watch. At one point, as the bus driver was trying to get money from them, the drunken man tried to start fighting with him, and had to be somewhat restrained by the other passengers. And, shortly enough, about 15 minutes later they got off…making another scene as they piled out…the older woman flashing everyone with her saree barely doing its job. The interesting thing though was that at no point did they seem dangerous or really bothersome…I never felt threatened by them at all, and to be honest, it really just seemed to be the reaction of the other passengers that got them riled up. This was my first real exposure to the internal prejudice and discrimination that is the caste system of India. I still don’t know a whole lot about this, but it is something that really bothered me and made me think a lot. It made me question the effectiveness of my work here. If Indians won’t even help each other, recognize someone lower then them, and are not willing to enable someone lower to move up, how can we expect to? I could give all the microloans I want to a poor woman of a lower caste, but if no one is willing to buy from her, and she remains restricted to selling her goods or doing her business within her small caste level, how will she ever move up? It was hard to watch…a lot to think about that’s for sure. They say the caste system has been abolished…and well, in theory perhaps, but in practice no way. Every day the news tells yet another story of a family killing a boy or girl for marrying outside their caste…what is that? Why does it matter? These are things I just don’t think I will ever understand…but anyways…that’s for a whole other discussion… India is one interesting country that’s for sure!

Back to the bus ride…so Mapusa to Arambol…a long journey on a not so comfortable bus, pretty late at night. The plan was to actually go to Asvem Beach, where our friends were staying, not to Arambol. But, Asvem was farther away…and not on the bus route, and with my phone dead and Audrey's searching for service…this was not looking like a good option. Our plan...go first to Arambol, and figure it out from there. So we got off at the Arambol stop, a dark road in the middle of nowhere…not a bus station that’s for sure. Not sure what to do, or where to go, we just started walking. Soon enough we saw signs for guesthouses and restaurants, and had more and more white people whizzing by us on motorbikes…we were going in the right direction. We kept walking, stopped by a store to STD call my friends (not a disease haha, but the name of pay phones here in India). Talked to Jodi, and it was confirmed that the only way to Asvem was by cab. The next adventure was trying to hail a cab to Asvem…and here we had no luck...as the only cabs were real cabs, i.e. real expensive, and low on funds and used to the cheap way, this wasn't looking like an option. So, we kept walking, trying to figure out what to do, and about a mile later, we finally reached the town/beach. Tired, exhausted, smelly, all we really wanted was a drink on the beach, so we decided to postpone plans of going to Asvem for now, and focus instead on getting that drink. We went to the first restaurant we could find, and with drink in hand and food in belly, we made a new plan: find a guesthouse here in Arambol…spend the night, and figure out how to meet up with our friends the next day. Well…it was a nice plan in theory, except as we soon found out, all the guesthouses were booked…literally... So homeless in Arambol we were... (To Be Continued…)

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 8: The Day of the Bus…Mangalore to Goa)

2007-12-29T10:06:00.000-05:00

We woke up this morning on yet another push-back seat bus…not exactly the most pleasant of sleeping arrangements, but then again, could always be worse. We had hopped the bus to head from Kerala to Goa, a long journey (20+ hours) that apparently did not have any direct busses or private operators. The only option we could find was to take two busses, one first to Mangalore, change there, and then another to Goa. And, so that was what we did.

The first bus brought us to Mangalore early early in the morning (6 am). The funny thing is, we were definitely not the only foreigners to have planned this itinerary (Kerala for Christmas, and Goa for New Years), as the bus was full of white people doing the same thing. As we arrived to Mangalore, we all piled off, dirty, sleepy, disoriented. Audrey and I became the champions of the group, rushing straight to the enquiry booth to find out when the bus to Goa was, what platform it would arrive on, if we could buy tickets in advance, how long the trip was, etc…all the important questions (we really are pros at public transport in India). Within 5 minutes of arriving, as everyone else was still getting off the bus, we had the low down. Bus to Goa, 7am, platform 7, buy the tickets on the bus. We relayed the message to the group, and then went off to “shower” in the public toilets…or rather, stalls with holes and faucets. A quick breakfast of bananas and coffee (small cup of Nescafe loaded with sugar and milk) and we were back on a bus…this time, a local bench seat decrepit bus. The good news was at 7am, it was empty, aside from all us foreigners. We piled on, happy and content to have tons of room and be able to lay out…but little did we know the trip we were in store for.

There is a reason there are no direct busses from Kerala to Goa, and no private operators…it’s because noone…and I repeat NOONE should ever make this trip by bus. I like to think of myself as pretty adventurous, daring, cheap, all of the fun components that make a backpacker...well, a backpacker. I’ve traveled on all sorts of roads, in every condition imaginable, with busses/cars/trucks/motorbikes/you name it in all shapes and conditions, and, honestly, I do not lie when I say that this was by far, hands down, the worst road experience I have ever had! Yes, I mean it…it was even worse than the pothole roads of Siberia!

As soon as we started, with the floor shaking and rattling like it was going to fall out from below us, the windows and walls barely holding up, let alone the seats which kept sliding…we knew it was going to be interesting. The best was watching the other passengers react every time we hit a pot hole, every say, 10 seconds. We’d all go flying up in the air as the bus driver went flying over the pothole, barely braking at all. One of the other foreigners, a girl from France, was not having it, trying to sleep laying down, she took a hard hit…it was hard not to laugh…but the pain I got in my tailbone helped me to hold it back a little bit.

Two hours in, I was in pain, not from the bumps directly…but from the bumps reacting on my full bladder. Audrey looked to be in the same boat, and so when we finally made a pit stop at a bus station there was no hesitating as we both beelined for the bathroom, getting some much needed relief. Five hours later we were still going strong, and still trying to learn how to read the signals of when a big bump was coming up…i.e. the guy in front of us grabbing hold of the rail and lifting himself up before the bus could do it for him. It was at about this point in the journey that we both decided there was no way we were going straight to the north of Goa, as we had originally planned. Instead, we made a quick improve decision to get off at the first beach in the south, shortening the journey by a couple hours. It still meant we had three more hours to go of hell…but it was nice to know it was ending soon. And…soon it did. We got off at the Chaudi/Canacona bus stop…shaken but alive. A quick bus (30 minute ride) took us from there to the Palolem Beach.

Welcome to Goa indeed, definitely a whole other side of India, much more islandy, touristy, carribean like. The locals even dress different, almost like Latin Americans, tight clothes, not many sarees, bright colors. The busses are all decked out party busses, small, fun, and happening. And, of course, it’s just teeming with foreigners, from all walks of the world, but mostly…coincidentally enough for me and Audrey, they seemed to be from Israel and France. It was fun for me to be back…I had come to Palolem last year when I was in India. It was also a little strange. I mean, how many people go to Goa twice in one year?! And, to think of how much I had done (BPR) in that time? And, to think how I would never have been able to imagine that I would be back or living in India by now? So strange…

We walked to the beach, then walked on the beach, and then went hunting for accommodations…not an easy feat considering it was two nights before New Years Eve…or so we thought. We ended up scoring early on, at the second place we tried, and scoring well…a nice cheap room right off the beach. Settled in, showered, and then went to do the usual…find a travel agent to get the low down on a bus tomorrow to the north. The verdict, public bus to the next big city, switch, another bus, and another… Too much to think of right then. So, beach time it was…and was it ever nice. Nothing like laying on the sand, with the sound of waves behind you. I crashed hard, waking up with the sun setting...gorgeous. Dinner was even nicer; Lonely (Planet) found us an amazing, and I mean, AMAZING real Italian restaurant (owned and cooked by a real Italian). I got a real salad…real soup, and Audrey was in heaven with her real pasta! It was such a nice end to what was definitely not such a nice day. Nothing like great food and great wine!

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 7: The Day of Nothingness…Cochin to Mangalore)

2007-12-28T12:18:00.000-05:00

If there is one thing I learned from this trip, it is to appreciate a night of good sleep. Tonight was another such night, the second in a row in fact! We woke up on the island of Fort Cochin, in a comfortable guest house, well rested and content. The biggest event of the morning was the funeral for my purse/big bag I carry everywhere. Anyone who knows me, or has meant me in the past two years has met my bag as well. I carry it everywhere, and have literally carried it everyday since I bought it in Guatemala for what was probably around 50 cents. It is not the nicest of bags aesthetically, but comfort wise and for practical purposes, it is perfect, easy to carry and can fit everything. Unfortunately, wear creates tear, and seriously this bag was tearing. Holes inside and outside, rippings all over, and the dirty smells and stains were starting to worry me. It was time for a new bag, so with the purchase the day before, this meant that the old bag was no longer needed. I did contemplate keeping it for nostalgic reasons (I mean this bag did go all the way around the world with me) but my attitude towards clutter (I hate unnecessary things) got in the way of this thought. Ultimately, I knew that I had to leave it behind...and so the funeral began. The bag was laid to rest on a plastic chair in the guest house in Cochin. I left it laying there, with the blue ink stain as its sole memory of me. Hopefully, it will be found my a really loving and carrying person, who will use it somewhat to the degree that I did, because honestly, it was a good bag!

The bag behind us, our day began. The immediate plan was simple: find transportation to get us to Goa, the coastal state directly above Kerala and about 20+ hours away. Sounds easy enough, but unfortunately, like most things in India...it wasn't. All the trains were booked, no direct busses operate that route, and only the one public bus going in that direction would only go as far as Mangalore, a city some 8 hours north of us. After much discussion and research around town, the winner was the public bus to Mangalore, leaving that night at 7pm. The only problem was that we had to go to the mainland, a ferry and 30 minute walk away, to buy the tickets. This didn’t sit to well with us, since it meant either 1) going to the mainland, then coming back to Cochin, and then going back to the mainland later in the day, or 2) leaving the comfort of Cochin, our nice Indian utopia island, heading to the mainland, and then trying to find a way to kill time all day there until the bus that evening. At first we decided for option 1, but when we asked to leave our bags in the guesthouse, a practice that is the norm here, the owner was so overwhelmingly rude, making comments about how we should be buying an extra room, and how he didn’t want to be responsible for our stuff, and how thankful we should be, yada yada yada, and so eventually we just grabbed all our stuff and headed out, opting for option 2 instead.

The ferry and walk was quick and painless, we arrived at the bus station, bought our tickets, and dropped off our stuff at the coat check, a sketchy locker in the back of a food stand. We then went off in search of entertainment…being as open minded as possible. The first stop was to find breakfast, aka coffee. We followed the Bible’s suggestions for a café, ending up in a pretty nice, westernized, Starbuck-style place. I got the usual hot coffee and cold coffee combo (earlier in the trip, I discovered that if I order a black hot coffee with a normal cold coffee and mix them together myself, the result is actually pretty good!!) and Audrey her normal fried egg and toast with chai. (It’s funny but we are both creatures of habit, and by the end of the trip we really could and did begin ordering for each other.) Breakfast consumed, but in no hurry to go anywhere or do anything, we stayed there for a while, just sitting and reading the magazines they had, basking in laziness, something we had not felt since the beginning of the trip a week ago. Trying to extend it as much as possible, we consulted Lonely (Bible) and decided that the nearby cinema it mentioned would be a good idea. Sure enough, with our normal luck, we walked over to the cinema, got in line, bought a ticket for the next show (not knowing what/when it was), and ended up being perfectly on time to see what turned out to be an actual decent Bollywood movie (a very very rare thing). The movie, Taare Zameen Par, was about a young boy who couldn’t focus in school, kept getting in trouble, and was eventually sent to a boarding school, where his art teacher discovered his rare talent for painting, took an interest in him, and diagnosed him with dyslexia, helping him to finally begin to learn. It was so funny how obvious the whole dyslexia thing was, like within the first 5 minutes of the movie, I was saying, “oh…he’s dyslexic, what’s the big deal.” Yet, it seriously took the whole movie for them to diagnose him, and I don’t think anyone else in the theater picked up on it any earlier. And, I should mention that this was with the whole movie in Hindi and no subtitles. However, apparently, dyslexia and learning disorders in general, are just not heard of here in India. And, as a result, there are often big problems with kids, schools, and parents. Overall, though it was a surprisingly good movie, helping to entertain us and kill a good three hours (Bollywood movies are 3 hours long!!!)

So, movie over, the question was, what to do next. We decided to go in search of the magazines we were reading in the café earlier (which I had wanted to swipe, but Audrey’s conscious did not allow for). This wasn’t as easy as we had thought it would be Why is it, that whenever you don’t want something they are everywhere, but whenever you do want it, it’s never anywhere to be found?? This was the case with a magazine stand. We walked up and down, looking in a mall, a market, and asking everywhere, finally, finding them in a discrete book store. The next step was finding a place to sit and read them. My brilliant idea was to sneak into a hotel, and preferably a hotel with a pool. The beauty of India is that our white foreign skin is a ticket to get in anywhere, regardless of how we look. So, despite our dirty backpacking look, we could still walk into the nicest hotel in Ernakulum (the mainland we were on) with the attitude that we belong, and not get bothered in the least. In fact, quite the opposite, the staff would go out of their way to help, make sure we have everything we need, and offer services to us. It is a great trick to know, whenever you need a quick break from the uncomfortable and chaos of India.

So…we did just that! Walking into the Taj Hotel with attitude and making our way to the poolside area, magazines in hand. No sooner had we sat down, then two guys walked in, one wearing an NYU in Prague t-shirt. Having absolutely no inner monologue, I said rather loudly, “Hey! NYU! I went there!” As odd of a coincidence as that may seem, it got even odder. Turns out that the two guys now lived in New York City near Union Square (where I used to live), and knew each other from college at University of Michigan (near where I live in Michigan). One of the guys was even from Michigan, the other from California, and neither had gone to NYU, but had studied abroad with their program. We ended up just sitting by the pool for a couple hours, recounting our favorite places/bars/hangouts in NYC and Michigan, and playing the name game to see if we knew any of the same people…we didn’t. It was such a nice surprise to get to talk American talk, also a little odd. Audrey sat quietly back just listening, unsure of what to make of it. Their story was pretty simple and common for Americans, one of them was Indian born in the States, and had come with his family to get back to his roots and see his extended family, the other was his friend just taking a trip. They were your typical luxury foreign tourist, going to the big cities and Agra (Taj Mahal), staying at fancy hotels, renting private cars, etc. (i.e. not getting the real Indian experience). Oh well, to each their own.

Having successfully killed enough time, we all (us and the boys) went out to a quick dinner. The creatures of habit that we are, I got my usual soup and plain salad, Audrey her rice/pasta dish that always comes out bad/Indian. After that it was rush rush rush to the bus stand to catch our lovely night bus to Mangalore. All in all, a successful day spent doing…absolutely nothing! I like it! =)

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 6: Allepey to Cochin)

2007-12-27T13:12:00.000-05:00

Day 6 of the trip got off to a great start! After what turned out to be the first real good night sleep of the trip (i.e. no freezing cold room and damp bed, no sprawled out snoring bus driver, no mosquitos and abnormally cold weather, and no sickness) we were woken up by chanting from a nearby Mosque. Refreshed and revived we got up and decided to head out…on rented bicycles…to explore Allepey. Background: Allepey, according to Bible aka Lonely Planet, is “a slice of Venice in India”. And, although, it is a nice city and does have canals that run through it, I really don’t think I would go as far as to compare it to anything like Venice. First, since it is an Indian city, it is still, for the most part, smelly, dirty, congested, and chaotic... Not the same adjectives I would use for Venice, that’s for sure! The “tree lined streets” were overwhelmed with traffic and trash, so much so, that you didn’t even notice any of the trees. And, although Lonely also described it as a “small quaint city”, the bustling city of almost 300,000 (which to be fair is small for an Indian city) fell short of that claim as well. However, I have to give it credit, it still had some charm. And, we did have a blast, renting bikes from our guesthouse and touring around on them. First, stop…breakfast! =) Stopping by the local Indian Coffee House (a chain coffee shop/diner that seemed to be a staple eatery in the South), where we watched everyone down some pinkish clear liquid, which we were told was some ayurvedic drink. With Audrey’s sick experience still fresh in our minds, we decided to refrain from being too experimental, and resorted to our staple breakfast: coffee and fruit salad for me, tea, fried eggs, and toast for Audrey.

Stomachs happy, we returned to the adventure that is, biking on Indian streets. Picture this: two white girls, riding around on decrepit India mountain bikes way too big for us, and criss-crossing through traffic, rickshaws, cows, and motorbikes. It was soooo much fun! Really made me miss commuting on bike, and got me thinking about getting a bike when I returned to Delhi. It was also nice to finally, FINALLY, do something the slightest bit athletic or active. So…overall GREAT time! =)

Back at the hostel, we returned the bikes, checked out, and went off to the bus station to catch a bus heading north. With our usual, Audrey-Shiri luck, as we walked into the bus station, a bus pulled out with the conductor hanging out the doorway screaming “Cochin-Cochin”, the very place we were trying to go. Without thinking twice we hopped straight on the moving bus, and ended up grabbing the last two remaining seats. The ride itself was uneventful, Audrey slept, I listened to music and took pictures, and about an hour and half later (real time not IST time!!) we arrived in Ernakulum (aka Cochin). Background: Cochin is the capital or main city of the state of Kerala. It is a big tourist spot, well developed, and nice. The whole city is made up of several islands, connected by ferrys and bridges. Cochin or Fort Cochin as it is actually called is just one of the islands. The mainland, Ernakulum, is where all the transportation (railways and bus stations) are located, i.e. where we were dropped off.

Getting off the bus, our first task was to find a means to get from Cochin (or Ernakulum) to Goa tomorrow evening. Everywhere we asked directed us elsewhere, and finally we found a public agent who could offer us info on a bus from Cochin to Mangalore (the halfway spot), from where we were on our own (and luck) to find a bus the remainder of the way. We took our chance on the information, opting to wait it out, talk to people, and maybe find better or more direct options. So, with that settled (for the time being) we proceeded to make our way to the ferry to catch the boat to the real Cochin, the island. Again, Audrey-Shiri luck played its hand, with us walking onto the ferry (one that runs once an hour) literally right as it was pulling away.

As it let us off on the other side of the river, we found ourselves faced with, what was honestly, the nicest Indian city I had seen to date. Quiet, clean, pretty, cultural, organized, wow…it was something. We walked through the main market, through the port area, the street vendors and handicraft stands, and made our way to the main street with hostels and restaurants. After some searching (we were definitely not the only tourists in this town) we found a decent guest house. After very quickly dropping our stuff off, we headed out again…this time walking by foot east on the island towards an area called “Jew Town” (not derogatory, but rather the name for an area where in the old days Jews had lived). The walk took about 30 minute, and with the lighting, the attitude of the people, and the colors of the buildings, we were able to get some really good pictures (our secret hobby…or not so secret.) The walk also took us by an art gallery, and since neither of us had experienced Indian art yet, we decided to do a quick peek through…quick was right, and after watching a slide show of cabinet members flash on a wall (their idea of art?) we returned to our walk. The final destination was a famous old synagogue (the oldest in India). Unfortunately though, by the time we got there it was already 4:30 pm…and closed for the day. Even worse, with the next day being Friday, we were told that it would be closed that whole day too. Big bummer!

At least it awarded some interesting pictures, and I got to enjoy the surrounding shops and street signs, all denoting something Jewish and selling nice handicrafts and jewelry. In fact, the items were sooo nice that I was finally able to find a new purse/bag that I was willing to replace my ratty-tatty old torn purse/bag from Guatemala with. I also saw a bunch of things that I wanted to get for people as souvenirs, but with the way we were traveling…light (only one bag) there was really no way we could carry it… So, I settled for taking pictures of the items instead, hoping that by facebook tagging them with the person they were for and a description of why I chose it for them, it would do. The shop owner was so nice throughout the whole ordeal, talking to us and entertaining us with his questions. The best though was his reaction to my answer to “where are you from?”, the staple question here in India, and a question I always struggle with. Israel/America…America/Israel… In the end, we actually always choose to have fun and make up random places, just for the heck of it. Today’s location was Cuba (in the past it’s been Finland, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Denmark, etc) to which he replied, “oh I thought you were Israeli…” Oops hehe.

With Jewtown complete, we began heading back to our guesthouse and the main area. Our final adventure of the day, finding dinner, mosquito spray, internet, and hand sanitizer. The first was the hardest, surprisingly, as no place served alcohol, and the places that had anything more interesting on the menu than the normal standard menu fare, were ones located outside and amongst zillion swarming mosquitos. Finally, the winner was chosen, a rooftop restaurant, with meh food but good reading material. We sat across from each other, uninterested by what we ordered, but very absorbed by our magazines (India Business Today and India Today). And with that complete…it was off to bed, hoping for another pleasant nights sleep…to lead to yet another amazing day in India.

The Kerala-Goa Holiday Trip (Day 5: Kollam to Allepey via Houseboat)

2007-12-26T13:09:00.000-05:00

Today was one of the most pleasant days I have ever had in India; the type of day when I can say for certainty, I love India, and I would be willing to stay here for longer. We woke up today in Kollam, Kerala, a small port town on the coast with, to be honest, not a whole much going on. Its main attraction, or point of reference, is as the base for the much talked about and world-famous Kerala backwater cruises, which coincidentally enough =) was exactly why we were there as well.

Some background: Kerala is a state in the south of India, along the western coast. It is a gorgeous state known especially for its backwaters or intricate “highway of rivers” that crisscross through all the little villages. People live right along these rivers, often opting for boats, canoes, rafts, etc. as opposed to cars, tuk-tuks, and motorbikes. It is very serene, peaceful, green, and beautiful. It is also, the most Christian dominated state and the most literate (with 100%). Unfortunately though, according to the Bible (Lonely Planet) it is also the state with the highest suicide and alcoholism rates, attributed mainly to the fact that smart literate people are unable to find job opportunities…turning instead for the bottle. In answer to this, efforts to promote tourism have been on the up and up, and nowadays, Kerala is seen as the top vacation destination for local tourists (Indians) as well as foreigners visiting India…with these backwater cruises being the main attraction/activity. The cruises can be done in a variety of ways, mediums, price ranges, and time frames. They can be as expensive as $1000 for individual rented full houseboats for several days, or as cheap as $5 for the conventional “tourist” boat ride from one city to the next…guess which one we did? =) Our ride was from Kollam up to Allepey…a distance of about 75km that took more than 8 hours by water, but was honestly worth every second.

The only problem came with how Audrey, who was soooo sick the day before (having to go to the hospital and all) would handle such a trip. Our tickets already booked, we decided to play it by ear, and lucky for us, it ended up going okay, with Audrey making a miraculous and quick recovery, thanks in part (or whole) to the magic shot and medicine from the doctor the night before.

We arrived at the dock early, as requested, with tickets in hand, and were informed by a not-so-nice guy that we were late, the boat overbooked, and therefore, we might not be able to go. In typical Shiri fashion, I ignored him, we got right on and rummaged for a seat. Turns out though, he was right about it being overbooked, as evident by the lack of seats available for all onboard. This led to a very interesting series of interactions between the majority foreign tourists (which were all the older, package tourist type…not our type) and the local Indian tourists. I am so embarrassed to admit this actually happened, but we witnessed an Indian woman approach a couple and ask for the empty seat between them that was hosting nothing else but their bags. They answered back blatantly and rudely, “No. This seat is for our stuff.” It was so disgusting. The woman, turned to her family already seated, a relatively wealthy looking family, and said she was going to go sit on the floor of the deck. Her sons, two teenagers, looked so embarrassed at this. It made me uncomfortable to watch, and since, I actually wanted to be on the deck in the sun, we decided it made more sense for us to give her our seat. Funny enough though, she actually politely refused to accept this, and we ended up both sitting together up on the floor of the deck…which I should note sounds nice in theory, but remember this is India…so as we always say, “lower the expectations”…now imagine a dirty decrepit boat, and that was the floor we were sitting on. Speaking of decrepit, the best part was watching the captain try to start the boat…took about 5 goes…kept stalling…but persistence finally paid off, and late but at least never we took off.

It was amazing—sitting on the floor, ipod on and camera in hand, with the water close enough to touch, sun on my face, and the most beautiful picturesque sights all around me. Seriously, it was the type of thing you see in movies or on the Travel Channel. I just kept going over and over in my head, how lucky I am, how fortunate, how amazing my life is. Despite it being an 8 hour trip with pretty much the same repetitive sights over and over, it remained captivating and went by pretty fast, with stops for both lunch and tea on the side of the river. I laid on the deck the whole time with Audrey (and the Indian woman) taking pictures non-stop and remaining excited and appreciative, in contrast to the rest of the passengers, who remained seated below the deck in their seats, some bored, others irritated, none too pleasant. The difference between us was so clear that it was even noticeable to the captain of the ship…who eventually invited us onto the stern of the ship, to get a better view and better pictures. I almost died, when the other people aboard saw us sitting there and in their whining rude manner asked to join, and he blatantly refused, saying we were “lucky ones”. What comes around, goes around I guess… =)

With the sun setting on the river and the sights becoming even more beautiful, we began to engage in a pretty quality and thought provoking conversation with the captain, our new friend (between our incessant picture taking of course). The issues and things that came up in our talk were sooo interesting, things I honestly would never have expected. First, when we asked to take our picture with him, he was hesitant, and after he finally consented and we showed him the result, he responded upset, saying that his skin was not nice, “not white like ours”. My response was to joke and say that at least it wasn’t pink like poor burnt Audrey’s =). Next up, he asked why we (foreigners) were always taking pictures of local people, why it was interesting to us. We tried to explain that what people here do in their normal day to day activities are not things we can normally see back home, and so when we want to remember India, and what life in India is like, it is the people that we remember or want to remember, hence the pictures. It was interesting to think that he probably thought that what the people do, act, and look like here is the same all over the world. This was confirmed when he said he had never left India or even Kerala (very normal for local Indians) and that “in his dreams” he would visit the States. The whole interaction just reaffirmed my previous sentiment…I am sooo lucky!

Having him ask us to sit up front, having him be so honest and open with us, and being able to share all that in such a glorious setting, was very moving. It is at these moments here in India that I just really love this country. People think I am crazy when I say that, but honestly with all the bad that happens here, there is also, just so much good, and the fact that I get to witness it, or can bring it out when others can not, makes me feel very special, and oddly enough, at home and at peace here…

The boat finally pulled into Allepey (the Venice of Kerala according to Lonely), our destination for the day. We got out, bid adieu to the captain (politely turning down his invitation for tea), and set off on our search for lodgings. Despite, people warning us again that it would be nearly impossible to find a place to stay in Allepey on last notice, the first stop (as recommended by Lonely) was rewarding. We ended up winning with a wonderfully nice, cheap, and clean room with shower (not bucket! Woohoo!!). To celebrate our good fortune and good day, we went out for dinner, wining and dining at a pool-side restaurant. It was a great ending to a great day! Yay for India!! =)

The Kerala-Goa Holiday Trip (Day 4: Merry Christmas in Varkala and Kollam!)

2007-12-25T13:26:00.000-05:00

So…where was I? Ahhh, sleeping on the roof in Varkala Beach, under the stars and a mosquito net. Sounds lovely right? Well, as luck would have it, we got stuck with the coldest night of the year so far…and without any blankets! So…it was more like shivering under the stars and mosquito net all night long, not the most pleasant night’s sleep that’s for sure. Woke up to learn though, that as far as bad night sleeps go, I actually had it lucky, since shivering beats puking/diarrhea in a Indian style toilet any day (rather night) of the week…just ask Audrey ha! That’s right…she got hit by the dreaded traveler’s curse. The exact cause was never really identified, but we believe as ironic as this may be…that it was from…UNSAFE DRINKING WATER! Apparently, Audrey who had gotten a little too much sun the day before, woke up in the middle of the night parched and thirsty, went over to grab what she thought was our water bottle, downed it without thinking twice, and not too much later noticed that it was in fact not ours but a random bottle that had mysteriously appeared next to our stuff (how/why/when we don’t know). The next thing she knew she was up and at it in the “bathroom”, or the hole in the board behind the curtain… Anyways, being the trooper that she is, (and honestly I got to give her sooo much props for being able to carry on as well as she did in those conditions), she got up and started going about the day (p.s. it was Christmas) like nothing was wrong.

First stop was to a café/restaurant on the boardwalk (i.e. strip of land with tons of restaurants on cliff above beach). Being the crazy touristy place that it was, we actually found one café that served real, REAL, coffee…in, get this, Starbucks cups!! Ha! I enjoyed that! Poor Audrey just looked at the fruit salad…nothing was going down still. Next stop was to the beach…to the sun, and to the water. It was so nice, probably one of the prettiest settings for a beach ever. Black sand, huge waves, and surrounded by soaring cliffs. I had a blast basking in the sun, feeling the much missed warmth, and willing my skin to bronze. Unfortunately, the only down side was how big the waves really were…which made swimming more than a little dangerous and prohibited. In fact, according to Lonely (Bible), Varkala Beach is one of the most dangerous beaches in India and the one with the highest drowning rates. Nice to know, and good thing there were plenty of lifeguards on hand blowing whistles incessantly.

Sunned out, we headed back up the cliff to the boardwalk…and here things started to go downhill. The sun and lack of food started to get to poor, sick Audrey. She kept trying to tough it out, but honestly, whatever it was, was getting worse and worse. We decided to rest a bit in a restaurant, then head out and up (by train)…to our next stop, the city of Kollam. I want to mention the auto ride to the train station though, cause it was slightly entertaining, and is one of the defining…I love India moments of my stay here. So, coming from the crazy tourist area and trying to get an auto at a reasonable price isn’t easy. Looking very pathetic and worn out, carrying both mine and Audrey’s bag, and having Audrey shuffling behind looking very sickly, we were finally able to score a really friendly nice driver, who was even kind enough to stop at a Chemist on the way to pick up some dehydration salts. On the way though, I was able to have a pretty good conversation with the guy. We talked about the superpower that was America and that will soon be India, about the economy, the insurance industry, and finally about microinsurance and microfinance. It was awesome! He was so well informed, educated, and interested, and offered such a different perspective on things that I don’t get anywhere else. I love those random conversations!!

Anyways, so…train station. We got there, and with our usual luck, hopped right on the train without a wait. The ride itself was short, about 30 min, and soon enough we were in Kollam…a very unexciting and unattractive city, but the base for the ever popular and famous backwater cruises (which we were going to take the following day). Off the train, we went straight to the guest house, and Audrey went straight to bed. I left her, lying under the fan, with a lot of water and dehydration salts, and looking okay…not well…but not bad. And I went off exploring…although, honestly…there wasn’t much to explore. I did see an interesting church though, decorated in Hindu/Indian style (i.e. lots of kitsch!). I also saw several Happy Christmases…for some reason they don’t say Merry in India?! But before I could get excited over any of it…I got a text from Audrey. She was getting worse, shivering, sweating, ferverish… I went back, and we decided the best thing would be to go to the hospital, and so, that is how we spent our Christmas night! In the hospital in Kollam, India! Good times!

Honestly though, it could have been worse, and if there is anything that India does right, it’s there medical system. It’s quick, efficient, cheap, and responsive…i.e. it’s perfect! The hardest part was actually getting an auto to take us there, getting him to understand what I was saying. This is a very typical problem actually, for some reason their ears here are sooo sensitive, and their minds not soo open. So, for instance the word hospital, when I say with an o like house, means nothing to them, but if I say it with an o like home…well, then they get it. So, it’s a game to say a word over and over with different emphasis, pronounciation, and sounds, until you get it right and they understand. So, here went the game “hospital (with an o like house)…hospital (with an o like home)…hospital (with an o like hum)!” The correct answer was…o like home! It’s actually a frustrating game to play, especially when it’s with obvious words. You are sitting there trying so hard to work with them, and sometimes they just won’t try, they hear your accent and immediately assume they don’t understand or rather decide they won’t understand and refuse to try. Anyways, so finally we got to the h (o like home) spital. Audrey went to see the doctor, he prescribed like 10 different pills and a shot, and ordered her to only eat plain rice. Within 15 minutes we were off and on our way.

The final adventure of the day was trying to locate plain rice…which, you would think would be simple in India…right? Haha wrong! Nothing is simple in India! And, apparently in Kerala, plain rice is only a lunch time food, and since this was now late night, all the restaurants (or hotels as they are called here) refused to serve/make/help us. After much fruitless begging we returned to our guesthouse, where I dropped sick Audrey off, and then went to continue my rice search. Finally, after discussing with the guesthouse attendant for a while, I found a place that was nice enough to make us plain rice. And…so…that was our Christmas Dinner….plain rice on a banana leaf. Yummmm! Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night from Kollam!

The Kerala-Goa Holiday Trip (Day 3: Kanyakumarai to Trivandrum to Varkala Beach)

2007-12-24T12:13:00.000-05:00

Day 3 started somewhere between Coimbatore and Kanyakumarai, on a cramped semi-sleeper (push back seats) bus, sandwiched uncomfortably between the window and a sprawled out off-duty bus driver. At about 5am we got our wake up call, with the bus driver turning on the bus lights and starting the loud bollywood music. Wide awake, and feeling very very dirty, Audrey and I spent the rest of the morning snapping pictures out the bus window all the way to Kanyakumarai.

To give a little orientation and background, Kanyakumarai is the city at the most southern tip of India. From that point, looking out at the water, you can see three major bodies of water merge: the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. It’s a pretty holy city with pilgrims coming to bathe in the waters; and although, technically you really can’t tell a difference between the different waters…it’s still is cool to think of.

We arrived there in the morning, and spent the first hour or so on a mission to find a) the time table for an afternoon bus/train to head north, and b) a “shower”. The first one was the hardest, with everyone telling us different things, and having to go back and forth between private operators and the public bus stand. The final verdict was a 4pm bus to Trivandrum (a city north of there). The second item came a little more easily, though no more comfortably. We began by consulting the Bible (aka Lonely Planet), which pointed us to the cheapest hostel in the city. When we got there, we inquired first for a room, which they had none, and then for their bathroom or shower. They directed us outside to a latrine with a sign on the outside wall that said Gents. And it was here that I took my first shower of the trip. In a dirty outdoors men’s bathroom, I showered with the faucet. Talk about roughing it! The best part was how refreshing and happy we were afterwards.

So fresh and so clean we headed out to explore the city, which in typical Indian fashion, wasn’t so exciting to explore. The one thing we wanted to do, this boat ride to the island and big statue, had the longest line ever, so that was an immediate pass. Instead we walked around, went to the temple, stuck our feet in the water, walked through the market, and up some lookout point. With a little more time to kill before our bus, we went back to the city and I finally got to learn what the widely advertised “Tiffin” was, and have my first Tiffin experience. I say widely advertised because it was literally mentioned on every sign, for every restaurant in the whole region…yet I had never heard of it and had no clue what it was. Apparently though, Tiffin is just another term for fast food or snack food. It entails like dosas, samosas, etc. just quick food pretty much, not as exciting as I would have hoped. Afterwards it was off to the bus station, to fight for a seat on another local cramped bus.

While at the bus station waiting we ran into another foreigner (seriously we flock to each other) from Denmark who was very entertaining. The best though was his claim that the bus ride would only take 3 hours…unaccounting for IST time (India Standard Time). 5 hours later we were still on the bus, and another hour later we were finally pulling into Trivandrum. As we got off the bus we once more refreshed ourselves in the public toilettes, and then it was off once more to figure out the bus/train situation to go further north to Varkala Beach. In line with our luck for the trip, we ended up grabbing a ticket on the train leaving that minute…hopping on with just a second to spare.

The train ride was quick and pleasant, especially after how unpleasant the bus had been. We were entertained throughout the ride by some nice Indian guys, who went out of there way to tell us everything and anything about the area of Kerala we were in, and offer to help us find a place to stay. It’s funny how sometimes they can be soooooo nice it’s annoying. Like these guys really were just trying to help, and were so genuinely nice, trying to find us a cheap place to stay, make sure we knew how to get around, etc. Such things happen so often here too. Everyone wants to take care of you, help you out, and keep you safe, and its not in a sleezy or weird way, it’s always real genuine and sincere. The problem is though that the way they travel and sightsee, and the way we do, is so different, that their advice is pretty much useless, especially when we have the Bible (Lonely). So there’s always that uncomfortable task of trying to seem really interested and appreciative for their info, but at the same time ignore them and make your own plans. It’s worse when it’s late or you’re tired and you have to fake interest and try to stay involved. This was the case on the train ride, all I wanted to do was sleep, and all they could do was ask more and more questions about us.

Finally, we got to Varkala Beach, a tourist beach attraction in the south of kerala, and our end destination for the day (a long day that it was). Pulling up to the train station, the city looked like a normal Indian city, but once we tuk-tuked it further to the shore, things became a wee bit different, more commercialized, touristy, Cancun-y…odd. We found a spot on the roof of a guesthouse, outside under mosquito netswhich was oddly enough owned and managed by an American, and not just an American, a native Detroit-er Michigander!! It was so fun to meet someone who could reminisce about familiar places like Livonia and Northville (cities by me in Michigan). He even claimed he could hear my Michigan accent…but I think he was making it up. As it was Christmas Eve, we decided to treat ourselves to fun dinner/drinks, and went off exploring the “boardwalk” a strip of restaurants, bars, and shops that line the top of the cliff, under which there is a sharp drop and then the beach. The scene in the town was a little odd, all foreigners and no Indians, aside from the workers and shop owners. To make it worse, the foreigners were the rude and disrespectful kind, the kind dressed in inappropriate clothes for India (mini skirts, halter tops, etc.) and acting loud and crazy, making a scene and giving foreigners a bad impression. It was a shame, because honestly, the setting of the beach, underneath soaring cliffs, was one of the most peaceful and beautiful settings I have seen. Yet, the atmosphere and tourist scene was one of the worst in India, making us feel out of place for looking so obviously tired and dirty as only backpackers can, usually the norm in India. We grabbed our drink and headed back to our room/roof for the night. Excited to finally sleep, I cuddled right down to bed…but it’s never that easy…

The Kerala-Goa Holiday Trip (Day 2: Ooty to Kanyakumarai)

2007-12-22T20:42:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of the trip started rough, numb, and frozen. I woke with my toes still frozen from the night before. My shower option wasn’t any better, a bucket of freezing cold water…I opted to be dirty instead. Audrey, the ever brave one, sucked it up and took the ice shower…and was probably better off for it, since as it so happened, our next shower did not come for another few days…

The day was spent venturing around the town of Ooty, which I found to be interesting, and semi-entertaining, but nothing too special. First, we went to see the Rose Garden. It was nice, though most of the roses weren’t in bloom, so it was really just a garden, or rather just a park. It had decent views though, which was good for pictures. After, we walked through the town for a bit, stopping to “sample” or “taste test” the various Indian snacks and sweets (p.s. the snacks and sweets may be my favorite part of India). Our walk eventually led us to the train station where we tried to get a seat on the famous Ooty “mini-train”, some tourist attraction that involves a 3 hour ride in a toy like train through the tea plantations and hill country. Unfortunately, the train only runs once a day and tickets for that one ride can only be bought 20 minutes before. To kill time until the tickets went on sale, we decided to explore one attraction called the Thread Garden. Honestly, words can not do this place justice…well maybe two words, soooooo Indian! Okay, so the Lonely Planet (Lonely for short) aka our Bible described this “Attraction” as a huge garden of tons of gorgeous flowers sewn intricately together. Sounds odd and unappealing to describe, but next to the list of things to do in Ooty, this one topped the list. So, we grab a rickshaw and direct it to the Thread Garden. In my mind I visualized a nice, well kept park, with colorful flowers and laurels and such. Instead, the driver stops on a congested street by the “lake” (the main attraction in Ooty) in front of a random store front, he points, and says Thread Garden. Skeptical but curious we walked in, and two minutes later and 10 Rps. poorer, we walked back out. Apparently, the Thread Garden was just a room or “garden” where hundreds of flowers created out of thread (i.e. fake flowers) were. Sooo Indian! Back out on the street, we still had an hour+ to kill before the train tickets, so we headed towards the “lake” a sort of amusement park, paddle boat, type of place. We actually ended up renting a paddle boat, and enjoyed a relatively relaxing ride on a dirty dirty lake, surrounded by tons of young boys in paddle boats trying to take our picture and talk to us. The only real good thing about the “lake” experience was the carrot street vendor women. Mmmmmmm nothing beats being able to buy ready to eat carrots straight off the street!!

Paddled out, carrots digested, we returned to the train station to check on the mini-train ticket situation. But, in typical Indian fashion the tickets, when the tickets went on sale (20 min before the ride) they were somehow already sold out as well…ha! And, that was the last of the mini-train…to the government bus station we went, with our next stop, Kanyakumarai, the southern most tip of India. However, when we got to the bus station we were informed that the bus to Kanyakumarai was already full, our only option was to grab a bus to Coimbature, a nearby bigger city with more frequent busses to Kanyakumarai. Busses to coimbature we were told came every hour. We agreed.

An hour later the bus pulled up and the small herd of people waiting rushed the bus in typical Indian bus etiquette. If I can suggest one thing that everyone who visits India must experience is getting on a local bus at peak time or a peak stop. There is nothing like it! People just mob the bus, pushing, shoving, elbowing, trampling, you name it they will do it to get a seat. And, somehow, I like to think of it as my Israeliness, I am really skilled at getting right in there, pushing and shoving like the best of them, and somehow always ending up with a seat. This time was no exception, although funny enough, in the end (and this is very typical) everyone was able to sit, no one stood, meaning that the big rush and chaos for seats was completely unnecessary…like I said, very typical.

The bus ride started off nice. Taking fun pictures out the window, listening to good music, eating good snack, and then POP! Somehow the bus got a flat tire, and we were forced off the bus, although promised that it would return fixed. We were left standing on the side of the road with all the other passengers, most of whom we became friends with in the process. One guy, an older guy, who was actually from Sri Lanka, talked a bunch, about Sri Lanka vs. India, his realtor business, and his daughter who was living in Toronto. Funny enough, he had gone to visit her a bunch and gotten to travel around Ontario, including even…Windsor, Ontario, my home away from home when I was 19 =). We had a good time reminiscing about Casino Windsor and Ouellette Dr. Good times on the side of the road in India! There was also the only other foreigner on the bus (now off the bus), an Iceland guy who also joined our conversation, detailing for us everything we could have wanted to know about the pharmaceutical industry in India (his line of work). Finally, the best of them all, was the policeman guarding the station, making sure none of us jumped on a wrong bus, or that the other people waiting for a bus wouldn’t cut in line in front of us. Every so often he would come by with a quote on the waiting time we had left. The first estimate he told us was 5-10 minutes, but as he put it “it’s Indian time…so you never know!” I love when even Indians can acknowledge the IST (India Standard Time) concept…always late! While we waited, the policeman became our friend, chatting about how he excited he was to go visit his daughter in NYC next spring. An hour later the estimate was upped to 20 minutes, and finally, an hour and half later the bus was fixed and after another chaotic mob scene we were back in our old seats and rearing to go.

The bus was long and bumpy and crowded (luckily we had seats), and finally late and dark we arrived at the Coimbatore bus station. Afraid that we had missed all the busses to Kanyakumarai (our end destination), we rushed off the bus and towards the private bus stand, hoping to find something. The private stand ended up being fruit-less, and so on we went to the public gov. stand. There our much talked about “luck” of the trip kicked in, and we happened to grab the last two seats, on the last night bus (push back seat kind) to Kanyumarai. Pretty pumped we settled in, ready for a night on the bus… Now here comes a trend in our trip, the moment we would praise ourselves for our luck, there would always be some twist. The twist this time was that we couldn’t sit together, and that I had to sit next to the bus driver (the long trip had two drivers that alternated). Despite much protesting by us, and the other passengers (in our favor), all of us trying to understand his reasoning for why we couldn’t just switch seats , there was no progress. And that is how day 2 ends, spending an uncomfortable night squished between the window and the sprawled out, snoring, off-bus driver.

An Indian Christmas Dance Party

2007-12-22T06:34:00.000-05:00

The Kerala-Goa Trip (Day 1: From Delhi to Bangalore to Ooty)

2007-12-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

So…here begins the blog of my holiday break in India, one of the best vacations ever taken! =) I went with my roommate Audrey, and being the adventurous, brave travelers that we are did not make any prior plans (regarding transportation or accommodations)…save booking our flight there and back. We left it all up to luck, chance, and instinct, and I have to say…I think we fared pretty well...getting the adventure of travelling by, literally, every possible form of transportation available—busses, trains, boats, bikes, taxis, rickshaws, you name it, we rode it!

The trip was also characterized by extremely good luck with timing…starting right from the start. The flight we booked was from Delhi to Bangalore, and was a red-eye wee early morning flight, and unfortunately, the cab we ordered for the airport never showed up. Given the time and the quiet nature of our neighborhood, this posed a huge problem, as there really was no way to find a ride to the airport. Luckily for us (the theme throughout the trip), one of the cab companies I called was able to send a car “right away”, and in a rare turn of events, the “right away” ended up actually being “right away”!! Something that is very very un-Indian like!

We arrived in Bangalore early in the morning, and with absolutely no interest in spending any more time than was absolutely necessary there, we went instead straight to the bus station. The plan was to go from Bangalore to Ooty, a small quaint hill station built by the British, and about 8 hours away. Beelining it to the enquiry and booking counter, we got the low-down that the next bus was arriving “any minute”…an hour and half later, after jumping onto many wrong busses, we were finally onboard. The 8 hour trip, held close to form, and we arrived at night in Ooty. The first surprise came with the weather…it was freezing! In flip flops my toes began to numb, as we walked aimlessly around the “lake” trying to orient ourselves to the predetermined guesthouse. We finally landed ourselves (with the help of a rickshaw) at the YMCA Guesthouse, a quaint cabin like house that at the late hour was bumping with music and an apparent dance party. We were immediately excited to see the place decked out in Christmas decorations and trees! In a country where Christmas is not popularly celebrated, it had not been feeling even remotely like the holiday season, so to be surrounded by such comfortable and familiar (although still very Indian in design—i.e. the Happy Christmas’s instead of Merry Christmas and faltering wimpy skinny trees) was nice and welcoming.

We checked in and were invited to the “dance party”, which we happily accepted. Watching Indians dance is by far one of my favorite activities here. It’s great! They take it sooo seriously, all of them, making it fun for everyone, spectators and participants alike. I can’t say I joined in…but I was tempted…briefly =). After we had our fill of Indian dancing, we retired to our cozy little room. Our excitement faded fast when we discovered how absolutely freezing the room was, how damp the beds were, and how there was no hot water. Needless to say, my toes, which were still frozen from our walk to the guesthouse, remained frozen for the rest of the night, as I shivered and shook in a damp, freezing bed. Definitely not the best nights sleep…although in retrospect, it may have actually been one of the better ones from the whole trip… So ends day 1!

Pre-Trip Blog: The Happy Birthday Audrey Weekend in Delhi

2007-12-17T01:19:00.000-05:00

So, I wrote the following blog pre-holiday trip, but in the chaos of getting my work done and getting ready to leave, I forgot to post it. So, better late than never, here it is. And, please stay tuned for my upcoming blogs on my past week and half whirlwind tour of the south east coast of India. Hope to post those by the end of the week…

If you read the post from last weekend, I am sure you know how this week started…exhausted! I took the first few days to recoup, rest up, repair. By mid-week I was feeling better, and spent most of my evenings on a mission to buy a coat. Okay, so I keep getting heckled about my wimpiness regarding the “cold” weather here. I know I am from Michigan, and should be accustomed and resilient to real cold, but I have to tell you that Delhi’s 50 degree (8 C) nights feel much colder when you are either inside the un-insulated houses or outside driving in an open aired auto. Not to mention the fact that I arrived here completely unprepared for the fact that it wouldn’t be blistering hot and humid. I ignorantly assumed that it was going to be the same climate as Sri Lanka, bringing all my tropical island wear with me…and therefore really don’t have even any semi-warm clothes here. Luckily, by the end of the week I had scored a nice coat, a space heater, and extra blankets! I promise not to complain any more about the cold.

Friday came quickly, which was actually kind of sad as it was Antoine (one of the other volunteers) last day in India. Poor kid had to go and get food-poisoning his last week here, making our celebration for him pretty limited. We did succeed in throwing him a little office party, and then tried to take him out to a bar Friday night. Unfortunately, since he was still recovering and his flight was at 1am…he couldn’t stay that long. After he left, the night still young, Audrey (other volunteer) and I began to focus on our mission to find a real pub in Delhi. We headed off to a place called Blues, which came highly recommended. With lowered expectations (it’s what you do in India) I was pleasantly surprised to find it pretty cute, though I don’t think I would call it a real pub. It was more like a show pub, with waiters dressed in old-fashioned bar gear and tables set up, but with the typical loud music, streaming lights, and dance floor of India bars. I had a blast though watching the people get progressively more drunk and start dancing outrageously to the bad music. The best was the group of guys sitting next to us, who has the night went on got more and more entertaining to watch. I even made a video of them, and will try to post it. Quick description: one guy had tight black shirt and jeans worn extremely low on his waste, other guy had tight rockstar looking shirt on with jeans worn way too high on his waste, and third guy had a shirt with elbow pads on them, but at least his jeans were worn normal height. All three came in looking too cool for the place, but within thirty minutes, were dancing like there was no tomorrow to all the bad music being played. The best was how serious they were taking the dancing and the music, and how cool they thought they looked while doing it. Oh it’s so Indian, I really love it!!

Saturday, I unfortunately had to work. We each have to work one Saturday a month, and since I was out of town last Saturday, this week was my turn. It’s not the most fun, but at least it’s not every Saturday! The excitement for the day started though when I realized that I could steal the bed from Antoine’s room and merge it with my tiny twin—making one HUGE bed! I have to say best idea ever! I love my bed and room now…I may finally be okay with the fact that I rarely get to leave the house. =)

That night, we went out in celebration for Audrey’s birthday (the next day). We decided to continue our quest for a real pub, and discovered one called Pebble Street with a HUGE screen tv. The night was even more fun as I got to see two Sri Lanka friends who were in town. Talk about small world!! After one stop in a lounge, we finished the night at an expat holiday house party, which was pretty cool.

The next day was dedicated to Audrey and the spas. We went first to brunch, where we found the cutest café with good omelettes, decent coffee, and real amazing hot chocolate. Then it was beauty time. We got pedicures, facials, and experienced…our first ayurvedic massage (explanation/description to follow)… All I can say is, at least I now know what a true India ayurvedic experience is like, and now that I know, I can also promise I will not be getting one again…

So, I have definitely had my fair of massages, all over the world, in all different ways...suction cups on my butt, rolling pins, weird slapping motion, etc. I would say that I am pretty comfortable with most anything, but this pushed my limits. Pretty much you go in and there’s a wooden table with a pot. They tell you to undress completely, then tie a weird diaper thing on you, and have you sit on a chair as they pour oil all over you, in your hair, face, and body. Then you lay on the table and they massage you with the oils (I know this sounds like a weird porn movie…). It was so awful though, because the table was so hard and the room so freezing. I really did not find the procedure pleasant or rewarding at all. In the end they take you to the shower and wash it all off with some green scrub soap stuff, but then you are wet and even more freezing. I don’t know if I have fully recovered from this experience yet… I know for sure my hair hasn’t…the oil just doesn’t seem to want to fully wash out. So…to conclude…great authentic Indian experience…got to love those…but not one I would do again!

End of the weekend…one week to holidays down south in warm Kerala!!
Happy Birthday Audrey! We miss you Antoine!

Weekend in Mahrashtra (Part 3): Adventures in Ajanta

2007-12-09T12:08:00.000-05:00

We pick up in part 3, where we left off…cranky, tired, hungry, and on a 4 hour local bus ride to Ajanta (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). I’ve been on a lot of uncomfortable bus rides, but I have to say, this ride tops the list of uncomfortableness on public transportation. It started off nice enough. I had my a seat (i.e. was not standing), and was comfortably next to a very very thin Muslim woman (note that the very thin thing makes a huge difference when the bus seats can barely accommodate one person let alone two). The oddest thing though, was that the bus conductor (the person in charge of collecting money and letting the driver know when to start and stop…a very tough job when the bus is so crowded you can’t move or see) was a woman…and not just any woman, but a religious Muslim woman (the kind with everything covered but their eyes)!!! Talk about feminism reaching new levels! Ha! It made me pretty pumped to have been on that bus…but then the sickness started. Not sure what caused it, whether it was something I ate, drank, or the fact that I hadn’t really slept or eaten well since Wednesday (it was now Saturday afternoon). All of a sudden, waves of nausea came over me, over and over again. The kind where you are doing everything in your power not to let it all come up, where you jaw is getting that tight uncomfortable feeling. All I could think to do was open the window wide and lean as far out as possible. Note to self and others: don’t try this on a fast moving bus! It was not pretty, and I felt so bad for all the people around me. Luckily, it didn’t last long. At least that time around. The waves kept coming back, and I spent the majority of the bus ride alternating between hanging out the window, and clinging to the cold metal bars of the seat in front of me. I have to say though, as far as getting sick on a fast, bumpy, crowded local Indian bus goes…it could have been worse. I could have been standing or even seated in the aisle. And, having the woman next to me (who spoke decent enough English), and the woman conductor was a nice comfort, as they kept patting my back and head.

A couple hours later, the ride from hell arrived in Ajanta, and I found myself on the side of a deserted road, with nothing but two auto-rickshaw drivers. I asked them to take me to the closest guesthouse. They agreed for a pretty hefty amount, which considering I could have walked there, was even more outrageous. However, at this point I was too tired and sick to care, so I consented, and the next thing I knew I was checking in to a rather deserted but clean guesthouse. I suppose the guys working at the desk were bored or just real intrigued by the sole girl traveler, but they were so friendly and would not stop talking to me…about anything and everything. I ordered a bowl of soup, sat down, and watched the India vs. Australia cricket match with them. They had a blast taking pictures with my cell phone, which I later discovered as my backdrop (and funny enough the pictures they took were of the different Hindu god pictures and statues that decorated the room). When in India… One interesting thing that came out of our conversation was the fact that I have seen and traveled around more of India than they had…something I have found rather common for local Indians. I asked them why that was, and they said that they didn’t have the money. I almost immediately shot back, “But it’s so cheap!”, before I realized the weight of my statement…cheap for me…not for them… I know this is something very obvious to most people, even to me, but it’s interesting how sometimes certain situations like this can really drive the point home, or really make you realize the differences in standards of living, and how fortunate most of us really are. I have never felt so bad, spoiled, and guilty.

After the soup, I decided I wasn’t interested enough in cricket to stick around and see the end, and retired to my room. The next morning, I woke up feeling much better, refreshed, clean, and ready to see some cave temples!! I left the guesthouse, and assuming that the temples were right outside, started inquiring where to go. An obstacle course awaited me. First, I walked about a mile and half, following a couple young boys who I assume were working at the caves selling postcards and crap souvenirs. Then, we arrived at some junction, where I had to pay a tourist fee, then proceed through several parking lots and a market place, before arriving at a bus stand, where I paid a bus fee, sat on the bus, and 30 minutes later arrived at the gate. The caves themselves were actually pretty impressive, and better than the ones the day before (despite the Lonely Planet claiming otherwise). The difference I found was that the Ellora caves (day before) were all impressive in structure and design (built from top down). There were also a lot more of them in both number and variety (including Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist ones). On the other hand, the Ajanta caves (“todays”), despite having far fewer and only being Buddhist, were a lot more impressive in artistic talent. You could very clearly still see the remains of paintings or “frescoes”, statues, and detailed designs on the doors and posts. The whole layout was a lot more appealing too, strung out in a horseshoe like shape along a big cliff. Pretty nice. I went through them relatively quickly, then climbed to the top of a look out point and relaxed for a while, before beginning yet another long adventure…heading back to Mumbai…

Retracing my steps getting to the caves, I hopped on a bus to the junction, then sat on the side of the deserted road waiting in the hot mid-day sun for a bus to come by. About an hour or so later one did, and I hopped on it, and enjoyed a relatively uneventful (thank god!) 2 hour ride to Jalgaon (a transition city). Arriving at the bus stand, I went to get a rickshaw to take me to the train station, and had the good fortune to have someone who spoke English nearby. They heard the auto driver trying to rip me off outrageously, and stuck up for me forcing the driver to lower the price to something more normal. That is rare!! Got to the train station, and not having a reservation, confidently tried to have my luck and buying a ticket. Unfortunately, the whole train system in India is screwy, and you can’t buy reserved tickets on Sundays…meaning the only ticket I could get was standing on a unreserved (in the lowest class). To make matters worse, the train, which was scheduled to arrive at 2pm (it was 1:45pm), was late (not a big surprise…it’s India) and didn’t show up until nearly 4:30pm!! I enjoyed two and half hours of just sitting in the train station, watching flies encircle me, bums patiently and persistently beg at me, and enjoy the ever present…”Chai! Chai!” screams of the tea man. Finally, the train pulled through, and despite half the people saying it wasn’t my train, the sign on the car that said, “Mumbai” told me otherwise…and I hopped on. Not sure what to do, since I didn’t have a seat, I started roaming the cars, hoping to find the conductor and beg in my ignorant foreign way for a seat. I finally found him, and when I showed him my ticket and made the, “I don’t know what to do” face, he responded by telling me this was the “super fast train” and to get off. I started to get frustrated, not understanding why I couldn’t be on the “super fast train”. Luckily, I had a really nice guy standing nearby who spoke English, and who patiently explained to me that this was an express and reserved car, and I was holding a local and unreserved ticket, two apparently bad things to have. The train started pulling away, so before I could get kicked off (I really wanted to be on the super fast train) I turned and started roaming once more through the different cars, eventually stopping by an open door. Trying to make the best of the fact that I was on a 10 hour train ride without a seat, I positioned by backpack by the door and made myself as comfortable as possible. A little bit later the nice guy that spoke English came back through, found me, and started keeping me company. He turned out to be soooo nice, and helpful, hiding me from the conductor whenever he would walk through, and eventually letting me share his seat with him so I didn’t have to stay by the door. It also turned out that he was living in Mumbai and near to where I was supposed to be staying that night (a guesthouse the company I interviewed with had set up for me). We decided to share an auto together, which made things for me sooo easy.

Before I knew it we were in Mumbai, well almost…it was 10 hours. The nice guy helped hail the auto and direct it to where I needed to go, then he even paid and that was it…no strings attached!! Rare indeed! This was followed by even better luck…with the guesthouse I was set up with being more than a little amazing! Think extended stay Marriott’s, it was nice! Bathroom, kitchen, living room with TV (!!), and a HUGE bed, not to mention free internet downstairs! Too bad I was only going to be there for…oh a couple hours (my flight was at 5am)…definitely regretted the choice not to just stay in Mumbai for the weekend.
Took a hot shower, used some internet, and went to bed. A couple hours later it was up again and off to the airport for my early morning flight. I arrived in Delhi with about 45 min to go until I had to be at work. Ran out of the airport, and caught the world’s best auto driver, who zig-zagged and sped somewhat safely the whole way, pulling into the driveway with 5 min. to go! Wooo what a weekend! And…now it’s back to work!

Weekend in Maharashtra (Part 2): Adventures in Ellora

2007-12-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

Part two begins with me freezing on an air-conditioned semi-sleeper bus from Mumbai to Aurangabad. Some quick India bus definitions…sleeper busses are coach style tourist busses but with bunks in them for sleeping. They usually come with the option for sleeper or non-sleeper seats, non sleeper seats being a normal seat that reclines almost fully back. Then there are the semi-sleeper busses, which are supposed to be busses with non-sleeper seats only…but in actuality (or at least in my experience) have always just been normal coach tourist busses, with normal small reclining chairs. Finally, there are local or government busses which are hard paneled seated chicken busses. These busses can generally be either A/C or non-A/C busses, A/C obviously costing more and being “better quality”. Anyways, I was booked on a “semi-sleeper” a/c bus, which despite it being freezing outside still had the a/c blaring. The trip was absolutely awful!! Although it was pretty vacant, and I got a couple rows all to myself, it was sooo unbearably cold the whole time that I could not sleep a bit. The erratic driving and constant short stopping, which would jolt me off the seat, didn’t help a bit either. Finally, around 7am we arrived…

Aurangabad was surprisingly a pretty new and big city…did not know. I was really only there as a transition point though, literally just walking through from one bus station to the next, and grabbing a local bus to Ellora (the site of the famous cave temples). On the bus ride out there I got a chance to meet a fellow backpacker, whose name I unfortunately forgot…for the sake of this blog, we shall call him “Joe”… Anyways, the fun thing about traveling around India (or really any developing country for that matter) is the backpacker networking. I think it has to do with being so obviously foreign (being white in India will do that) and being able to sympathize over the awkwardness of large backpacks that makes you automatically connect and have an unspoken bond. This is also helped by the fact that local people always seem to think you already know each other or at least should know each other. Anyways, so “Joe”, a Canadian from Nova Scotia who is working as an English teacher in South Korea and traveling around India for the next two months gets on, and over the next 30 min bus ride we become instant best-friends. The bus ride was made even more enjoyable by the two old men sitting on the cramped bus bench next to “Joe”. One was wearing a hot pink turban wrapped and had a cane that he kept tapping and leaning his chin on, while the other had a white towel wrapped around his head and chin, almost like a jaw brace. They were so perfectly old Indian looking, and I tried to discreetly take a picture, but the jolting of the bus and the fact that I was standing didn’t help.

We got to Ellora and “Joe” and I went off to find him a cheap guesthouse to stay in. He was nice enough to let me use his accommodations as a place to change and wash up quickly. Note: having rushed to grab the bus the night before, and then rushed again in the morning to grab the local bus, I hadn’t even had a chance to change clothes since my interview, let alone use a bathroom!! So, needless to say, I was very very appreciative, as was my bladder. After my quick costume change, we went off to the caves, and enroute made a local friend with a guy named Vijay. Ever the entrepreneur, Vijay approached us at the ticket office with surprisingly good English, and asked us if we would give him 500 Rps. in exchange for US$10 to pay the entrance fee (which could be paid in either 250 Rps. or US$5)…why? Because he wanted to profit off of the low US$! Haha! After doing so, Vijay offered himself as a free guide, and despite this usually not being a wise thing to accept (they will always ask for money in the end) I was intrigued by his good English and knowledge of the market, and agreed to let him follow us around for a bit. He ended up being an awesome resource. In normal Shiri travel mode i.e. rushed, I was trying to get through all 20-some temples of Ellora and make it out to this meteorite crater about 5 hours away all in one day. Vijay was great in helping me save time, by focusing on only the important and most impressive temples, and doing so relatively quickly, thanks to his scooter and the shortcut we hiked on the cliffs above. He also proved great for giving background info and history on all the temples and sculptures, as well as for providing insight into the income and business opportunities that tourism had brought to his city, something I always find fascinating. He explained that he spends his days working not only as a tour guide, but also selling jewelry (homemade by his mom) to tourists. The jewelery, which was gorgeous, was all handmade form stones from that area. He explained that one rich guy provides all the supplies for such jewelry to the different families in the area, they then work to make the pieces and then sell them. 180 Rps. of every piece they sell goes back to the guy to cover the cost of the supplies. The remaining money is then split 50/50 between the guy and each respective family. The typical necklace Vijay claimed to cost 800 Rps., although since I was his “friend” he offered it to me at 250 Rps. (so, not sure what the real cost was…), and so of the 250Rps., he would only really get 35Rps. I found the whole thing very interesting, and spent the rest of the time trying to figure out if there was a way to get cheaper access to supplies for the families, so they could enjoy 100% of the profits…

All in all I saw about 20 Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples, all of which were really remarkable, and built from the top down and from as long ago as 300 BC! By the end though, I was caved out and ready to move on. Vijay helped me hail a shared jeep taxi, I thanked him, bought a necklace, and went on my way. More than an hour later, the shared jeep taxi (a jeep that drives the bus route and picks up people along the way, costs about the same as the bus, but unlike the bus, you are sure to have a seat on the jeep taxi, despite it being very very cramped at times) arrived back in Aurangabad (note: the bus took only 30 min…point: shared jeep taxis are not the way to go!).

Now the fun really started…trying to find a bus to Lonar, a small town with a supposed huge meteorite crater, which from the Lonely Planet’s description…sounded sooo awesome! Too bad no one else had ever heard of it, and I couldn’t find out any info on the bus schedules there and back. I finally got on a bus that was supposedly heading there, when I realized I was all out of cash, and not wanting to risk going empty-pocketed to a small town, which would most likely not have an ATM, I quickly hopped off the bus before it could get to far out. At this point, it was getting late in the day and I was getting pretty cranky. Lonar just wasn’t seeming to be in the cards, so I decided to instead grab the first bus I could to Ajanta, a site for more famous cave temples. (P.S. Both Ellora and Ajanta are World Heritage Cities.) Soon enough, I was on yet another local bus, on a 3 hr bus ride to Ajanta… Stay tuned for Part 3 and how to be politely sick out the window of a local bus…

Weekend in Maharashtra (Part 1): Mumbai

2007-12-07T11:56:00.000-05:00

The adventures in India just keep coming, and last week was no exception. I wish I could have written this entry sooner, but the busyness of work got in my way. I just hope it does some justice to the craziness I experienced…

This adventure takes place down in Mumbai and the surrounding state of Maharashtra, and to save time and length will be broken into a couple parts. The first part takes place on Friday. I took off work that day to go down to Mumbai for an interview, and then wanting to take advantage of being down in the South decided to make a full weekend out of it. I toyed with a couple ideas, either spending the whole time in Mumbai, heading down to the Goa beaches, or venturing out east to these famous cave temples. In the end, I decided that since I’d already been to both Mumbai and Goa, the cave temples would be the best bet…wrong decision…

Now, just to give a little context for those unfamiliar with the size and layout of India (and don’t worry…I actually didn’t realize how big it was before I came here), traveling from Delhi to Mumbai is about a 2.5 hr flight, it’s farther than NYC to Chicago. India is an absolutely huge country, and traveling around anywhere no matter how you do it, takes so much time. It’s broken up into different states, with each state having its own big cities, language, food, culture, etc. Delhi is its own state in the north of India, and is very very different than the South in many ways. Some examples, the weather…right now Delhi is about 70s in the days and 40s at night vs. Mumbai which is 90s in the days and 70s at nights. There are also cultural differences, food, dress, and so many more. I tend to find life in the South to be somewhat similar to Sri Lanka, and I think that since last year when I came to India, I mainly traveled around the South with only a brief trip to the north at the end that is why I’ve been so unprepared and surprised by how different life in Delhi is than that in Sri Lanka.

But anyways, so I went down Friday on a very early morning flight and with practically no sleep the night before (by no sleep I mean like 2 hours). There has recently been an influx of cheap discount airlines in India, and they are all direct competitors trying to outdo the other, so the end result is nice perks for consumers in terms of comfort, style, price, etc. The plane was brand new, the flight pretty comfortable, and the whole thing painless…something rare in India. Got to Mumbai and was immediately blown away by how nice the airport was. The bathrooms even had western toilets, nice showers, and changing rooms! Then came the adventure of trying to figure out how to occupy myself until the interview later in the afternoon. I ended up spending a fortune on tuk-tuk rides, going first to find the office, then to the train station, and then back to the office. Usually this would have been painful, but surprisingly in Mumbai all the auto (tuk-tuk) drivers willingly use their meters! Let me explain, see tuk-tuks, or autos as we call them, all have fare meters in them…but, which they also always claim to be broken or just simply refuse to use. The result is a fight to get a decent fare and not be outrageously ripped off, with more often than not an inevitable “foreign/white person tax” added on. But, in Mumbai they all used their meters without hassle, making hailing them easy. I also got the chance to ride on their suburban train or their version of an above ground metro. It was pretty nice and cheap. Each train has a women’s only car, which is kind of fun, because it is full of women from all sects and classes, and the people that go through the cars selling stuff are all selling hair bands and earrings, things only women would want. I also had the fun of watching the strict muslim women, the ones dressed all in black with just the eyes showing. As soon as they got in the car with only women, they all removed their face covering, made me feel kind of special to be allowed to see them like that.

The hardest thing about Mumbai though is the drastic clash of poverty and richness. There’s no separation at all. You can be walking in the nicest neighborhood, huge houses and then see awful slums. It is known for the Dharavi Slum, the largest slum in all of Asia and the world, which sadly is listed in the Lonely Planet and other tour books as an attraction and with possible tour guides for it. From the train station you can see the slums and shacks across the tracks, and see the poor kids playing on the tracks, naked and dirty. It hurts to watch. Even the beggars on the street look worse than beggars I see elsewhere…and I see a lot of beggars in India. I am at the point where I am almost numb to these daily sights, but for some reason…this time I found myself surprisingly really affected. At one point while waiting at a light in the auto, a group of kids came over asking for money and making the normal beggar, food motion with their hands. I happened to have some crackers in my bag so I started handing them out to them, and was so surprised to see them actually happy to get them (usually when I give food I find that they are disappointed not to have money). Not just that, once they got a cracker, the kids would leave and go sit down to eat it contently (usually they get really excited and start asking for more and even fighting with each other). The whole thing was really moving, and as the light turned green and we started to move away, I caught a glimpse of one really young girl sitting on the median naked, dirty, and eating the cracker with such an innocent happy look on her face. I lost it. No one should be subjected to that kind of life…no one…let alone kids…

I’ll touch on the interview and the outcome (good news!!) in a later post, but the rest of the day was dedicated to finding a bus/train to take me to Aurangabad (a city 8-10 hours away) that night. After much trouble, I finally found one, but getting to it was another story. In typical Indian fashion, the auto driver claimed to know where the place was, and only after driving for more than an hour in massive traffic and as it turned out in the wrong direction, did he admit that he had no idea where to go and start incessantly asking people for directions. Afraid I was going to miss my bus, I started to get really upset, and finally at the millionth stop to ask directions just hopped out and hailed another one. Well…apparently that was not the thing to do. It casued such a scene! I had the old auto driver in the face of the new guy yelling at him that he stole me or something to that effect (it was all in Hindi so I really may be making that up), then demanding I pay him, which I adamantly refused since he took me nowhere near where I was going…if anything further away. A crowd started gathering and trying to mediate, while I am sitting in the backseat just begging the guy to start driving so I don’t miss the bus. It was really dramatic. Finally we took off, drove like a maniac, and made it to the bus place…just in time!

That was about it for Friday and Mumbai... Stay tuned for adventures at the cave temples Ellora and Ajanta, not to mention details of my numbingly cold 10 hr air conditioned bus ride to them…

2nd Week Highs

2007-12-03T14:02:00.000-05:00

So true to my word, the previous week’s lows were followed by some serious highs. Although, it started as just a continuation of the past week, with nothing besides work, work, work, it ended with good times and tons of fun!

First, I guess it would probably help if I explained a little bit about what I am doing here in Delhi, and the organization I am working with. I am working with the Micro Insurance Academy (MIA). It’s a brand new, non-profit research institute that is dedicated to conducting research on microinsurance, and then consulting and training actual microinsurance units, those implementing microinsurance programs. It’s a pretty innovative organization, as there is really no one else out there doing this type of work. Having just started in September, they are really really new, and this week marked their first big training program, a workshop on “Reinsurance for Micro Insurance Schemes” (for fear of boring most of you, I will leave it at that, but if anybody wants more details on the workshop, organization, etc., email me). So, things were more than a little crazy around here, when I arrived, as everyone was trying to get things situated. I was thrown right into the chaos, getting the opportunity to create one of the sessions myself—a session on how microinsurance units can use integrated risk management to become “good” risk clients for reinsurers. I wrote my own 16 page chapter to be handed out, and prepared a two and a half hour presentation with an interactive exercise. Needless to say it was a lot of work, really time consuming, but in the end very very rewarding. So, that was why my past week and weekend were sooooo work consumed. The workshop began on Wednesday, and from that point on work slowed down a little and things became a lot more fun.

First, I had the opportunity to sit in on the whole three day workshop. Listening to each lecture/speaker, was real educational and helpful for getting a better understanding on microinsurance and its role within India. It was also a nice break from the daily routine, and provided for more interaction with new people. I was especially happy when I met one of the participants, an American girl from California. She just so happened to be going to a belated Thanksgiving dinner that night, and invited me along. It more than made up for my actual Thanksgiving, which was spent…you guessed it…working. The dinner was amazing, and it was so nice to finally meet new people and get an in on the Delhi expat scene. It also helped pave the way for my birthday celebration, that coming Thursday night.

I celebrated in true Shiri fashion, going out with my fellow MIA volunteers, Audrey & Antoine, as well as several other MIA staffers, their friends, and some of my newly acquired expat friends. It was awesome! We went to a sheeshy lounge that was having a special drink deal for “expat night”. It was crowded with people from all over the world, decent music was playing, and at midnight, I turned 24!! It was sooo much fun!! And a huge relief, since I was definitely bummed to not be hosting my annual bar crawl (an event that has been held the past two years and judging by the comments I received this year, was definitely missed by everyone involved, not only me—to all of you missing out, sorry and trust me when I am back in the States we will do something to more than make up for it…a ½ bday bar crawl perhaps?).

The next morning, tired but pumped, I got up, gave the presentation I had been working hard on all week, and then done with everything, waited happily and with suppressed excitement for the end of the day. Come 6pm, the workshop ended on a positive note, and Audrey, Antoine, and I celebrated in true fashion—hopping a night train to Amritsar, in the Punjab state in north India (right by the Pakistan border). It was a great way to celebrate my birthday weekend, and the end of a hell two weeks of work. The train ride up was pleasant, made even more pleasant with card games and drinks. We arrived early in the morning, found a nice guest house right away, and then went off to see the main attraction—the Golden Temple (the holiest site for the Sikh religion). It was AMAZING! In the midst of a loud, crazy busy city, there was this beautiful white marble structure, with a huge marble atrium ! Everyone inside was required to take off their shoes, and cover their hair (men, women, and kids). People were kneeling and praying all over the atrium, purifying themselves in the lake, while constantly being serenaded throughout the complex by this beautiful chanting music, played live by 4 priests (I think that’s what they are called) sitting inside the golden temple. Even more interesting, however, were the surrounding buildings of the structure. Keeping to their beliefs in equity, there was a free guesthouse and free kitchen for “people of all classes”. It was a real interesting experience, and kind of nice to witness and be part of. We went through the whole thing, including the free kitchen, and the golden temple. The only thing that was slightly disturbing was how fanatic and rushed people were once we got inside the golden temple—which first required having to wait in a huge long line. Escorts/volunteers in the inside were managing the lines, but not in a polite or serene fashion. In contrast, they seemed to be rushing people along, and kind of pushing the people to throw money (donations) into the center where the priests were playing the music. It just seemed a little odd.

We left soon after, rushing back to the guesthouse and grabbing a rickshaw to take us over to the Pakistan border, where the next main attraction for the region was held—the closing border ceremony. Now, this was hilarious! Apparently, every night at the border, this huge ceremony takes place on either side, with a huge crowd of people from all over coming to witness. Think of it almost as a homecoming spirit competition between the two countries. People decked out with flags and t-shirts on either side, screaming “India Freedom!” and/or “Pakistan Freedom!” in their native tongues (Hindi vs. Arabic), dancing up a storm, and playing loud music. It was hilarious. To make it even more entertaining was the fact that us foreigners, were sequestered in our own little section…maybe cause they weren’t sure which side we would cheer for? It definitely was one of the best, funniest, and most hilarious experiences I have had so far in India. After the ceremony, we went back to the guest house, and crashed; eating dinner from the warmth and comfort of our beds, and captivatingly watching Black Hawk Down (which was on TV). The next day, we strolled around the city, hitting all the nooks and crannies often not traveled by mainstream tourists. It was so fascinating to watch the people hard at work, in metal shops, wood making shops, printing presses, etc. We also got a chance to go back to the Golden Temple and sit and watch the sunset, which was gorgeous!

Another night train brought us back to Delhi early Monday morning…and brings us to now…where it is back to work, and the start of a new week. Let’s hope it keeps going up from here!! =)

First Week in Delhi!!

2007-11-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

So far, through my own personal experiences, as well as my conversations with others, I have found one common thread in expat life, regardless of location…the extreme highs and lows! Within only one week of being in Delhi, I have already experienced both ends.

My flight from Istanbul landed a week ago, early in the morning, and it definitely feels like I have been here a heck of a lot longer. I spent the first hour or so, getting readjusted and reacquainted with India, the familiar sights, sounds, nuisances, etc. I was so happy to find my new house westernized, very clean (well relative for India), and full of wonderful amenities, such as hot water, an actual shower/bathtub (and not just a spout over the toilet!!), an air-conditioner, and a nice big fluffy towel. I was also happy to finally meet my new roommates/fellow volunteers, Audrey and Antoinne, both French students doing an internship program. Not caring enough about the possible jetlag, the first thing I did was sleep, and was so happy to hear my old friends, the buzzing mosquitoes playing their lovely music in my ears. I actually was amused when I woke up slapping myself like the good old times in Sri Lanka and sweet Russia. Luckily, this didn’t last more than a day or so, before I found a mosquito repeller to plug into the outlet which worked better than anything I have ever seen. Why did we not have this in Sri Lanka or Russia? The funny thing was I actually asked about mosquito coils (which is what we used in Sri Lanka), and they said that that is only for use outside! Ha!

Anyways, the rest of my first day was great. I met everyone in the office, including my director’s wife, Maya, a fellow Israeli. I got coffee with Maya at a real nice coffee house, with real Americano style coffee! (Sidenote: Ooh and I had my first India lunch experience, which I have to explain and I promise to take pictures of, because it is actually an ingenious concept. So basically, we have these lunch buckets delivered, think a soup canister with a string. Inside are about 4 round tins, one with rice, one with chappati bread, one with some vegetable stuff, and one with some dahl soupy stuff. And pretty much you unscrew canister, take out the tins, go to town, close it up, and send it back to the lunch place. It’s cute watching everyone grab their bucket. For the first couple days, the food wasn’t too bad, all vegetarian, and decent enough, but the novelty is starting to fade…and I’m starting to really want just a decent, non-spicy, salad.)

That first night, I experienced what trying to go out in India is like. First, the traffic is out of control, and there is no way to describe it and give it justice. I am talking streets jam-packed with speeding, loud, beeping, cars, taxis, rickshaws, motorbikes, regular bikes, pushcarts, cows, horses, you name it. There are barely any crosswalks, it is definitely rare to find a stoplight, and almost entirely no sidewalk/shoulder to walk on. So pretty much…walking anywhere and especially trying to cross the street is a life & death experience. Not to mention, that there’s really no place walking distance anyways. Delhi is a HUGE city (I really did not know this), and is sprawled out over a massive area, divided into separate subdivisions or “enclaves” and “colonies”. Each colony is like its own little village, with a market area, school, and split into different blocks, A-Block, B-Block, etc. In bigger colonies, the market area may be real nice, I’m talking real nice, with stores like Bennetton, Espirit, Levis, etc. Or, in smaller colonies, like mine, it can have a simple vegetable stand and some local general store. The actual “downtown” or Old Town area of Delhi is a good 45 minutes away from us with good traffic, which may never happen as far as I can tell. Without a car, and with there seeming to be no order to their public transportation (I still have to find someone who knows anything about where the busses go or if they go anywhere…), our only real option is to take a tuk-tuk, or as they call it here an “auto” or “rickshaw”. This isn’t bad at all, especially since they are much cheaper than in Sri Lanka, the only problem is finding ones that want to drive you as far as you want to go and not charge you an insane amount just because you are white, both which are nearly impossible to bargain for and if bargained for will always inevitably come with some ‘catch’ at the end.

The whole transportation part is always an adventure, and somewhat limiting factor in our willingness to go out…and actually…it did provide for one interesting/scarring story…(Sidenote: The second night, we were trying to get an auto to take us home, and everyone kept asking for ridiculously high prices. Finally, I found one guy who didn’t say no right away, but that he was “waiting on a customer”. He said something to the sort that if the customer didn’t come back in a couple minutes then he would take us, and when I asked for how much, he said “as you like”. Kind of confused, but tired enough to want to believe him, we decided to wait and see what he would do. We were waiting for a couple minutes, when I went to ask him if we could go, and I noticed that he was shaking a little oddly, my eyes went downward and I discovered the source of it all… It was all I could do to not scream, laugh, and run away all at once. Instead, I just turned with huge eyes towards Audrey, who had also just made the discovery, and then quickly turned away, and jumped in the first auto we could find. Ugh ugh ugh! I swear I may have nightmares about that sick auto driver, his “waiting for the customer”, and “as you like” fare the rest of my life!)

The rest of my first weekend was spent exploring a nice restaurant/bar in Connaught Place (commonly known as ‘CP’ and a very central shopping area), explored several different markets (some nice and some not so nice), and sight-seed around the India Gate and the Lotus Temple. I also got a chance to experience Delhi’s new Metro system, which although very short in length, is so clean and modern and fun! You don’t feel like you are anywhere in India when you are down there, it’s amazing! Monday started my first day of work, and I was pleased to be thrown right in, and not bored. I was given some real fun, interesting, and important tasks to do, creating powerpoints for an upcoming training session on reinsurance and writing reports/chapters for a manual that will be given out at the presentation. As dorky as it may sound, it was nice to be working again, feeling productive, using my brain, and being busy. I also found it so relieving to be working with an international and not local NGO, to have the communication be so much easier, and the place be much more organized and established. I also found another friend, a local staff member named Shriya, who is sooo nice, and has a real interesting and diverse background, including having lived in Moscow and being married at 23!

Yeah, so those were all of my experiences within the first couple days that left me on a very high cloud, feeling super happy about the decision to come. I really liked the two people I am living with, the house is so much more comfortable then the one in Sri Lanka, India has a lot more access to western culture and amenities than Sri Lanka did, the organization I am working with seems much more organized and established, and the work I am doing definitely seems like it will be fruitful. So those were my highs…and then came the lows…

I work and live in the same house. What this means is…you barely go outside, and since the sun sets at 4pm, and I work until 6pm, you rarely are in the sunlight. For someone like me, a sun addict, this is causing severe problems. It’s also hard because you really don’t have your own space, well I have my room, but it’s pretty confining. If I go outside my room, I’m in the office, which can be a little awkward at times; and everyone in the office can know everything you are doing at all times too, no where to hide. The other downfall is the working hours and strict structure of it, Mon-Sat, yes Saturday! This means no trips on the weekends, and only one day off a week! We are fighting to have this changed. Also, the weather is kind of a bummer, it’s not cold…but it’s not as warm as I thought it would be. I am laughing because when I went to Sri Lanka I brought a bunch of clothes that were useless there, and so when I came here I thought better and only brought the stuff I used in Sri Lanka, which funny enough is useless here. At least clothes are cheap so this shouldn’t be a problem for long. And of course, as usual, there’s the whole running/working out component of my life. Still no running for me…it’s really frustrating, and I don’t know what I need to do to finally stop thinking about it, being sad about it, or somehow cure it. But, essentially, I haven’t run since I got here, and it hurts worse than ever. Go figure! Working out otherwise has been impossible, since I still haven’t been able to find a gym anywhere in Delhi (apparently they really don’t exist here!) and as I mentioned before it’s nearly impossible to walk anywhere, so combine that with me living and working in the same house, and pretty much I have the activity level of a couch potato right now...and it’s driving me more than a little crazy!!! Finally, going back to the working/living in the same house thing, this really really limits our ability to meet people. The fact that Delhi is so huge, and that I still have not been able to find an expat community of any sort, has not helped either. Hopefully this will change with time, and I am definitely taking advantage of our one weeknight (Sat. night) to go out tomorrow night. So, those were the lows…oooh wait one more, Thanksgiving…it was nothing, I just worked, worked, worked all day, and that was it…made me pretty homesick.

So, yeah altogether they made me pretty sad and down about being here… I guess, I really did not know what to expect, and I kind of came expecting the worse and imagining it would be just like Sri Lanka…and it’s definitely not! There are a lot of similarities (foods, smells, dirt, discrimination), but also more differences (climate, I can wear jeans here!, fewer bugs, more people speak English, much bigger city, less connected expat scene). I was so happy to immediately find that a lot of the things that made me unhappy in Sri Lanka weren’t here and I think that got me super excited, but then when I discovered new problems I never had in Sri Lanka, I got bummed out… Oh well…

The good news…is with every low, there’s going to be a high! =)

24 Hours in Istanbul

2007-11-15T14:03:00.000-05:00

My adventurous trip to Delhi began this past Weds, with the first stop Istanbul. However, before I can even begin to talk about the trip I have to touch on my ridiculous last few hours in Israel…

Troubles with the Indian Embassy in Israel and travel office, kept me stressed and agitated up until the last moment, severely limiting my level of excitement. Just hours before my flight was supposed to leave Tel Aviv, I still did not have my passport or visa. It was a fight to get it in time, a fight that left me in tears and hysterics. Apparently, the process in Israel is not straightforward. To get a visa, you can not go directly through the embassy; you MUST use a visa office. Since, I was using an American passport in Israel this caused even more troubles; the visa office had to contact the Indian Embassy in Israel, who then had to contact the Indian Embassy in the US, who could finally clear me for a visa and send back the form to Israel. The whole thing was supposed to take about two weeks, and despite needing to be in Delhi as soon as possible, I patiently waited in Israel the two weeks until it was supposed to be ready. However, the date they claimed it would be ready and the date that it was actually going to be ready on, were very different. And at the end, despite the fact that I received it later than the prescribed date, and not early, they still demanded an expedited fee...almost 200 NIS more than what I was to originally pay. When I tried to argue the logic of the situation, instead of listening to my side like most rational businesses, they became quite hostile and violent, grabbing my passport out of my hand, threatening to lock me in the office and cancel my visa. It was out of control! I have never ever been in such a situation before. Finally, I gave in, agreeing to pay their ridiculous surcharge. But, it couldn’t end that easy… The next obstacle was that they would only accept cash, which of course, since I was leaving the country in an hour I had already gotten rid of. So, off I went to the nearest ATM (on the outside of the building). Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake of taking my passport with me, and when the ATM would not accept my card, my short trip became quite a long voyage (about 30 minutes) in search of a working bank machine. Unaware of how my elongated absence would be construed, I was absolutely shocked to get a phone call on my mobile with the visa office shouting and threatening to cancel the visa if I did not return…IMMEDIATELY! Unreal! Long story short…I found a bank machine, took out money, ran back to the office, threw the money in their face, and ran out as quick as I could. Thanks for your service!

The rest of my rushed morning in Israel involved getting a much awaited Israeli breakfast with friends… For those who don’t know, an “Israeli breakfast” is an experience that everyone should have! =) It involves a wonderful huge spread of delicious and healthy food…eggs, breads, dips, and salad galore! It is, what I believe; besides maybe hummus, Israel is best known for. I have even found in Darmasala, in northern India near the Himalayans, the words “Israeli breakfast” written in a menu. After that, it was quickly packing, grabbing one last falafel, and off to the airport!

The two hour flight to Istanbul, and the whole airport process itself, was relatively pain free…and not very remarkable, which was probably a good thing. I got in around 8pm, and had a good time wandering the airport, changing into warmer clothes, converting my currency, and doing everything in my power to hold myself back from going to the Starbucks. Getting from the airport to the downtown area, where I was hoping to find a hostel, turned out to also be relatively easy. It was slightly unnerving because I had really not planned or prepared much for this leg of my trip. I had no hostel booked, no idea where to go, how to get there, or what to see. I found myself on a metro going in the only direction—away from the airport. I took it to the last stop, and then was informed to transfer to an outside tram for “downtown”. I stepped outside, and was blown away, by a) how cold it was, b) how European it looked, and c) how nice everyone was. Despite the fact that no one spoke English, I had several kind people helping to direct me around. Soon, I found myself on a platform awaiting the tram, and deep in conversation with a man from “a fighting country”, i.e. Iraq, who “wanted to practice his English”. The conversation was going well, until he asked me to come back to his house because he was lonely, explaining that this was a common request in Turkey. I don’t know how common or uncommon that is, but all I knew was I really wanted the tram to come soon…

The tram came, and I took it to the Sultehmat (sp?) stop, the old city and main tourist attraction area. By this point it was already nearing 11 pm, the old city was dead, save the hordes of tourist vultures. As I got off the tram, looking bewildered and very obviously lost, they swooped! It was so frustrating, in order to make them leave me alone, I had to pretend I knew where I was and knew where I was going, to keep walking and not stop to look at the map, despite having no clue whatsoever. Luckily, I soon ran across a lovely couple from Brazil, who escorted me to their hotel, which was also close to several affordable hostels. Pretty soon, I was safe and sound and with a place to sleep for the night.

The next morning I got up bright and early to see Istanbul the only way I know how…by running. A small snapshot camera in one hand and my map folded up conveniently in the other, I took off. A 40 min run lasted nearly 2 hours, with all my stops for taking pictures, getting lost, etc. It was awesome though, and allowed me to see other areas of Istanbul that would have been too far otherwise. After my run, I changed quickly and was off to sightsee like a normal person. Within only a few hours, I managed to visit several of the famous mosques/churches, including the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofa; wander through the maze of the Grand Bazaar; explore an underground bath house; visit the university campus; and watch traffic weave in and out of the old roman aqueduct. I found it to be an interesting city, filled with the history of several cultures, religions, and eras. I left satisfied and content with what I saw, and looking back at the hundreds of pictures I took, I am even more amazing to think that I saw all of it, in only 24 hours!!! One things for sure…I am definitely, one good traveler! =)

Before long it was time to head back to the airport. I hopped the tram to the metro, and was there before I knew it. With spare time to kill before my flight, I somehow weaseled my way into the airport business lounge, entertaining myself with the free internet and drinks while I waited for my flight to Delhi. Ironically, the flight was delayed by two hours, but from the stolen comforts of the lounge (which included a shower, bath, and fitness center) I found myself for the first time ever, actually content and even a little happy to have the delay. Two hours later, relaxed and happy, I was finally heading to my final stop…Delhi here I come!

Life pre-India…

2007-11-11T05:00:00.001-05:00

I want to start by apologizing for the delay in blogs. Daily blogs are definitely a thing of the past--of the run, when I had a lot more going on, and was moving around more…but I do want to try to uphold a weekly blog, at least. So, with that said here are my updates…

The move to India is set. I am scheduled to fly out on Weds the 14th, and am very stressed/anxious getting everything situated. The Indian embassy in Israel has hijacked my passport, and is taking their sweet time issuing the visa, despite my constant and incessant pestering. I have no guarantee that it will be ready in time, which is more than a little annoying…but there is really nothing I can do, but sit and wait and hope. In the time being, I have been enjoying the company of my dad here in Israel. He flew in last week, and it has been real nice to spend time with him here. I still have not felt up to making any big trips around Israel (I guess I am still real tired from this summer), but we have made a couple nice day trips—to Haifa, Akko, and hiking around some beach parks.

I got the chance to celebrate Halloween in Israel, which was more than a little interesting. Pretty much, Isreali’s and the bars here just used it as an excuse for a party, but with very little Halloween effects (no dressing up, no trick or treating, etc.), which was to be expected. My American friends here though, did not let that deter them, and definitely held up to a normal standard of celebration. I had a blast dressing up as an old granny—jogging suit, bifocals, grey hair, fanny pack, and all. Despite being the least attractive person at the bar (well besides my other “granny” friend), I had a blast! Can’t wait to see how Thanksgiving is celebrated in India…

I have still been attending Ulpan (the language school) every day…but a little less enthusiastically. It really is full-time school, and a little hard to adjust to. I will be honest, and say I am a little disappointed by how little my Hebrew language skills have improved. I can definitely read and understand much better, but my speaking is still sub-sub-par. Honestly though, I really have no one to blame but myself, and my lack of effort. I am in awe of those who are unafraid to put themselves out there and speak a foreign language, no matter how bad it comes out. I have found a block…some fear I can’t explain…but I hope that it will dissolve soon… I really want to be able to speak another language (languages).

I have tried to keep up my beach ritual, but with the upcoming “winter”, the sun seems less strong (though the sky is just as blue and the sun just as sunny), the wind a little stronger, and my tan slightly less defined. If that’s my biggest worry during the “winter” though, I am very very happy. I couldn’t even imagine being back in the cold, experiencing snow!! Ugh…sitting here in the outdoor café in my t-shirt and shorts, I am shuddering just thinking of it.

My running is still not a possibility, and probably one of the harder things to put up with. I try every now and then, but it’s always the same…painful. I am hoping the move to India will help take my mind off of it, maybe give me the opportunity to throw myself more into other activities—i.e. meditation and yoga. I have found myself recently reminiscing more and more about this past summer and the run, and feeling very nostalgic towards it. I am not sure whether it is the running, camaraderie, or traveling I miss more…probably the running… I hope this passes…

Well, I think that is all for now…please stay tuned for news on my trip to Delhi, including my 24 hour layover in Istanbul!!! =)

The Next Step…India?!

2007-10-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Israel almost a month already. Time really does fly when you are having fun. To the disbelief of my family, friends, and myself, I have actually been trying hard, for once, to stay put and relax. I have made only a few side trips around Israel (to the North and Jerusalem), with the majority of my time being spent in Tel Aviv. I have worked hard to make it feel like I am living here, not visiting, and I owe a big thank you to my brother for all his help with that. I joined a gym and have been doing a lot of spin classes, my new work-out love. I started trying to run again, which isn’t nearly as fun as it used to be, or pain free, but which lets me explore more of the city and especially the pretty parks. I enrolled in an Ulpan, an intensive Hebrew language school, and have been attending classes 5 days a week for 5 hours at a time (8am-1pm). It’s definitely a shock to my system to have to sit still in a classroom for that long, and the first couple days were more than a little rough, but I really enjoy it. It’s nice to have somewhat of a schedule, and a reason to get up and get my day started early every day. I’ve also met some really nice people through it, and of course, most importantly, I really think my Hebrew comprehension and comfort with speaking is improving.

I have also been internet-ing, and job searching/applying like crazy. I’ve had some good luck and a lot of bad luck, and overall am in pretty good spirits, still hopeful, patient, and very happy. The good luck, which is probably the most important news, was an offer I recently got to go work/volunteer in India for a couple months with the MicroInsurance Academy, a non-profit research and training institute in Delhi. With their big microinsurance conference in November, they wanted me on a plane heading out there, like…yesterday. It was a rough couple of days, weighing my options and trying to make a quick decision on what to do, whether to stay in Israel longer, jump plane to India, or go back to NYC as I had originally planned. For someone who hates making decisions on trivial things, like what to eat for dinner, this was my hell.

As much as I love living here in Tel Aviv and Israel, staying longer would mean missing the New York City Marathon. I know that probably seems like a silly reason, but…having watched/cheered it every year since 2001, with the men’s Olympic Trials being run the day before, and even more importantly, with several close friends (shout out to CiCi, Sarah, and Toni: Good luck you guys! You’re my heroes!) running in it this year, I really really wanted to be there. It would also mean missing the award celebration for the 2007 Runner’s World Heros of Running, which the Blue Planet Run and us runners will be awarded at (as will Alan Webb and Ryan Hall, two of my celebrity running heroes!). And, to make it more difficult, the fates/stars really seemed to want me to go back to NYC. Somehow, from all the way over here in Israel, I managed to land an amazing cheap sublet, in Park Slope, and coincidentally only two doors down from my best friend!! It seemed meant to be…but…then there were all the cons with leaving Israel: the weather issue (Tel Aviv is still in summer mode!), the Abba (dad) issue (he’s coming out to Israel the day I was supposed to be leaving), and the money issue (I don’t have to pay rent in Tel Aviv). So, in the end…Israel won out and I cancelled my return ticket. I had just begun to get used to the idea of life here in Israel, when this India thing fell in my lap. Picking up and leaving so soon would counter a big reason why I wanted to stay in Israel, getting to spend time with my dad. I was really torn, and then it kind of worked out in a strange way. The visa process ended up taking a lot longer than anticipated, and gave me an extra cushion of two weeks—a perfect amount of time to see my dad, enjoy more of Israel, and sufficiently mentally prep myself for life in India.

The new plan, for the time being, is to head out to Delhi in about two weeks, to stay there, initially for 3 months with the possibility to extend if I am really enjoying myself and the work. I am real excited. The work sounds interesting and the opportunity real hands on. I get a chance to work with microinsurance, something I am real interested in learning more about. And, getting to stay in Delhi, gives me the opportunity to explore more of north India, which I missed out on last time I was in India. Also, the close proximity to Sri Lanka, gives me an opportunity to go back there for a visit, and most importantly, finally get reacquainted with my stuff that I left back there. Oh and last but not least, when the job is over, I’ll be perfectly located to begin my much anticipated and planned South Asia tour (starting in Nepal and working down to Indonesia)! =) It’s still all tentative, no commitments to anything, and I am definitely still looking for other opportunities and jobs all over…but in the meantime, I figure, I can go over there and be productive, gaining more exposure/experience while looking for jobs, instead of just looking for jobs and sitting on the beach, though believe me I will be out on the Goa beaches at least once a month =).

Well, that’s my news for the month…I will be sure to send out an update with my contact info from India and more concrete news on that whole move when the time comes closer and things are more definite. For now though, it’s just life as always, good, great, and FABULOUS! =)

My Israeli Life…so far…

2007-10-07T15:53:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have gone by at normal Shiri hectic pace. My two week stay in New York City was a whirlwind. I spent one weekend up in Boston, visiting with my friends Will and Eryn, and getting to experience life as a Cambridge student (fyi…it’s pretty nice!). The following weekend, was even more exciting though, with the success of the Tanda First Benefit, a fundraising event for a non-profit in South Africa that my good friend Shannon was involved in. (If you get a chance, please check it out, www.tanda.org. The organization works with orphans of AIDS and other vulnerable children in South Africa, helping to set up after school programs. They also are involved in an amazing income generating program that takes handmade, stunning jewelry made by South African women and sells them online through their website.)

Last week though, I landed here in Israel…and things finally began to slow down, allowing me the much needed vacation I've been dreaming of since the run. I arrived in the middle of the Jewish holiday Sukkhot, a harvest holiday that apparently also celebrates the Jewish people’s nomadic years in the desert…hmmm =) how fitting… I spent the holiday at my aunt’s house, visiting with family, and doing a whole lot of nothing…aside from reading, laying on the beach, and eating a lot of really good home-cooked Israeli food…now that’s a good life! It’s been great to be able to spend time with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; family I very rarely get to see when I’m back in the States.

After the holiday, I moved on to Tel Aviv, which I am making my temporary home. I am proud to say that the majority of the past couple days were spent laying on the beach, trying to gain back my faded tan, and from what I can tell, succeeding!! =) After swimming in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Indian and Arabian Sea, the Great Lakes, and most bodies of water in between…I was shocked by how warm the Mediterranean Sea was!! Honestly, it’s amazing, beautifully clear and clean, and surrounded by gorgeous fine white sand. It's my heaven! =) If the weather stays this perfect, I can’t make any promises about leaving anytime soon.

The rest of my time has been spent roaming around this amazing city, scouting out the different gyms (all of which are top-notch, phenomenal, and brand new), searching for real ice coffee (they sell this “ice coffee” that’s like a coffee smoothie…and definitely not the same), trying to find an Ulpan (intensive Hebrew language program) to sign up for, and most importantly, actively searching and applying for jobs (here in Israel, back in the States, and all over the world). In all honesty, the job search though, is probably taking up most of my time…which is probably a good thing…and hopefully will show some rewards soon =).

For now though, it’s life in paradise! Hope all is well with each of you, thanks for continuing to follow along, and...if you happen to hear of any jobs that sound up my alley, please don't hesitate to forward them along or pass on a good word for me ;).

Life Post BPR--Update #1

2007-09-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

It’s been three weeks since the run ended, yet amazingly and surprisingly, it feels longer. I wasn’t sure how I would adjust to the freedom of life outside the confined walls of the run, whether I would be able to wake up at a decent hour on my own, have the motivation to run with no directions, eat whenever I want, and just be able to sit, relax, and do nothing if I so choose. I have found though, that strangely…it is almost as if the run never happened. I have fallen back into a normal life (if you can call mine that) without any conflicts, enjoying the luxury of freedom and choices more than ever before. I find myself lucky to have found the adjustment phase this easy, and I fully credit my current lack of schedule and responsibilities. Unlike the other runners, most of whom returned to families, jobs, homes, and their old life, I have been thrown into the middle of a big unknown…struggling to find some order or plan. I have no home right now, no job, no plan, and no idea when I will. I fluctuate between sincerely enjoying it, and then at the same time forcing myself to enjoy it. Never before have I faced a blank picture of my near future. Since age 14, I have worked non-stop, one job after another, with something always lined up. I am told this is normal, expected, and okay…yet it doesn’t feel so. I am trying to make the best, taking the time I have off to visit friends, old home cities, and bask in a rare phase of laziness. In the past three weeks, I have lived on friends’ couches in New York City, Washington DC, Michigan, and Boston, with my current location back in New York City. I spend my days living their lives, following their schedules, discovering every wifi hotspot in each city, contacting everyone I neglected the past three months, and trying to research/plan a next step. I am deeply appreciative to all my friends for their amazing support, hospitality, and generosity. I feel so lucky.

My running has been nearly non-existent in comparison to the miles logged the past 95 days. Despite trying to run several times, it is as if, after successfully completing their mission, my body and legs have finally gone on a much needed vacation…no longer obeying my command to run. I am okay with it. For years prior to the run I battled injuries, trying desperately to regain the form I once had in college. When I got invited to participate in the run, one of the biggest doubts in my head was whether it would damage me as a runner long term. What I decided at that time, was that if through some force I was granted the strength and ability to survive the 3 months, I would never ask for anything more in the realm of running. I would be okay to retire early, to end my running career with the closure that I had sought for so long. I would no longer attempt to push my body past its limits or search for the answers behind my constant injuries. I would accept my fate and purpose and just stop. I now face the question of whether I can live up to that claim, whether I can in fact stop contently. I honestly don’t know whether I will ever be able to not want to run, but I can say, that not being able to no longer pains or upsets me as it used to. I am okay with not running, and I am finding pleasure in old and new activities, getting reacquainted with my bike, taking yoga classes again, and finding enjoyment on gym machines. My life and contentment no longer revolves solely around my ability to run…and that I am thankful for, and I thank the run for.

The rest of my story is simply about what to do next…how to integrate this experience on the run into my future plans. I am finding that so far it has already begun to influence my job search. As I continue to look for work in the development industry with my primary aim at microfinance, I find myself drawn more and more to jobs with focuses on environmental and sustainability topics. I enjoy going on interviews, and being able to reference my experiences as answers to their questions, i.e. “how do you handle team work?” etc. I am finding myself more personally involved, interested, and intrigued by the water issue than ever before. I spout off my water facts in all situations, to everyone I meet, continuing to try to generate awareness for the cause. And, I have found that people, in general, are amazingly receptive and interested. Everyone wants to know more, helping to give a renewed sense of purpose to what we did. I have no doubt that it will continue to play a role in my life from now on

As far as my immediate plans and the answer to the “what are you doing now” question…well, so far I have the workings of a vague outline at least through the end of November, although unfortunately it does not, as of yet, include a plan for my generating income. I am scheduled to fly to Israel next Monday, and although it is set as a one-way with my original intent to move there temporarily, I am now looking to return to New York in time for Marathon Weekend, the first weekend of November. I hope to be able to stay around the States, most probably in the New York City area, at least through my birthday at the end of November, with the rest remaining unknown. As I actively job search, I find myself conflicted between wanting to work and wanting to travel. I have a long list of places to visit and friends to see …it is hard to give up the traveling bug, which seems to have bitten me hard. I hope and expect that with more time, things will begin to fall into place, defining some sort of route or plan. For now, all I know is that life is good, and I love life. =)

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement during the run, I encourage you to continue to follow along as I venture out into the unknown and experience new adventures. I also encourage and welcome any and all comments/suggestions/ideas/tips/etc. on paths to take, jobs to apply for, and so on. Until then…

Day 95: THE FINISH!!!! =)

2007-09-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

Today marked the end of the run, the completion of 15,200 miles, and the return to the start. Today we did it. We made it all the way around the world, in one piece, in 95 days, non-stop, 24 hours a day, with one baton, and only 21 runners. WOW! The magnitude of this still hasn’t sunk in, and probably won’t…for a long time.

The morning started differently than the past ones. All the runners, minus the team running, gathered for a breakfast briefing of the days events. Afterwards it was off to the start of the final leg of the run. Standing outside the hotel, gathered and waiting to walk to the UN, it was a complete déjà vu of the first morning. Amazing! We walked over, huddled, thanked god, and started letting the finality sink in. Emmanuel came running in a little while later, exuberant and cheerful as always, stopping short of kissing the ground as he reached the sidewalk outside the UN…where it had all began 94 days ago! Then together we listened as the last message was read, and the baton was passed for the last time, between Mary and Emmanuel. Mary took off with the baton, and the rest of us in tow. We covered the final 4 miles from the UN to the Seaport, altogether as one team, very very slowly (we had an hour and half) and full of excitement. The run went right down the East Side, past East River Park, the track I trained at for four years of college, and along a lot of familiar sights. It was strange for me to be able to now associate two teams with one spot. As we neared the Seaport, we stopped and gathered once more. Creating the team formation that we would run in as, and then…we finished…running through the balloon arch, through a cheering crowd, and onto the stage.

At 12pm…we stopped running, stood altogether, all 21 of us, on stage…with the baton. For the first time, in 95 days, no one was running, the baton was not moving, and we had completed our mission. We had circumnavigated the globe, running through 16 countries, and had made it back to the start…going only in one direction…always East. Amazing! A ceremony followed, with Jin Zidell, founder of the Blue Planet Run, and Patty Temple Rocks of DOW making speeches, each of us runners were recognized and received awards, laurels, and thanks, Mary and Richard gave amazing and eloquent speeches on the behalf of us, pictures were taken, and then we were free to mingle and soak in the atmosphere. Several people surprised me by showing up to give support, including my dad, my friend Shannon, and the staff at the office I worked in through college. It was a great feeling to see all the familiar faces, and to hear how they had been following along the entire time. Before we could get too emotional, distracted, or free…we were whisked off again…this time to Battery Park City for a photo shoot for Runner’s World magazine. We were photographed for the December issue, having been given the honor of “Heroes of Running”, an amazing honor!

As quick as we could, we finished the shoot, piled in vans, and headed up to the hotel to get ready for the nights festivities. An hour was all we had to transform from the runners that we had been the past 3 months and into beautiful people…but everyone did amazing, and ended up looking absolutely fabulous. It was so cool to see people dressed differently, some people were even hard to recognize. The festivities started small at a reception at the Maritime Hotel, where each of us were once more recognized and awarded with gifts and plaques. One by one we came up to give thanks and say a little something. It was nice to hear the different stories and memories people had, and definitely started to drive home the finality of the situation. After we had all been recognized, the celebration moved next door for the party portion. My awesome NYU friends, Shannon, CiCi, and Sarah came to join me, and I had a great time sharing the night and excitement of BPR’s finish with them. More videos, thanks, awards were given…lots of drinks were drank, and a ton of dancing was done. The only odd part of the night was when my shoes got stolen…yeah that’s right, stolen! Weird I know, but apparently, uncomfortable silver stilettos are in high demand. Having taken them off to go dance, when I returned…they were no where to be found, and despite the entire staff at the bar actively searching with flashlights, they remained stolen. The good news was that they were incredibly uncomfortable, relatively cheap, and less that I have to pack and bring back. So, hopefully whoever took them will enjoy them more than I did. As the party began to end the night was just beginning, and we all transitioned over to a bar next door, me barefoot and all, to continue the celebrating.

Despite having no shoes and getting some glass in my foot, it overall was a great night, made better by the company of so many awesome people. No tears, no sadness, just happiness. A great ending to a great trip, and a once in a lifetime experience! Thank you BPR, thank you runners, thank you staff, thank you to everyone for the support, the friendship, the camaraderie, and for making this something I will never be able to forget.

Day 94: Back in the City! New York! New York!

2007-09-03T09:08:00.000-05:00

Woke up today, excited, pumped, and rearing to go. Running the 9am leg, I was soooo excited when I saw the route and knew it. Starting in Queens and ending in Brooklyn, it would go by some memorable NYU cross country landmarks…Fort Greene, locale for hill workouts during cross country season, and Prospect Park, our favorite place to do mile repeats. Even more excited was the fact that my most awesome friend Shannon had agreed to come out and bike alongside me, my dad and some family friends were coming to the exchange point, and some distant cousins might also be showing up…wow talk about fans! =)

The run itself was…meh. My legs were very tired and heavy, the route slightly ugly and boring (straight on Myrtle Ave forever), but the end was real nice…finishing at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to the park. Unfortunately, due to the Haitian Parade going on at the same time, which apparently is the largest parade in the country, traffic was terrible and my dad and crew unable to make it down in time. Relieved to be done with what quite possibly was my last run of the whole trip, I stayed behind as my team went on, heading over to Shannon’s place, only about a block away, to shower, change, and relax. I can’t begin to explain the feeling of just hanging out there…amazing. Everything about the run nearing the end began to feel real. Sitting in a familiar place, doing normal people things, wow…life was almost back to normal.

We spent the rest of the day running errands for the party the next night, the final shebang! I went shopping and got some dresses, shoes, and accessories, and we hit up a salon for the appropriate pedicure/manicure/beautifying routine. Finally, I returned to the hotel to meet back up with the run…and that’s when chaos began to ensue. Team Silver had been originally booked in a hotel outside the city in Long Island, but since the traffic the next day was not going to be conducive to driving into the city during rush hour, we decided to request a hotel change to inside the city, where apparently the entire rest of the run, crew, and people were staying. The only problem was lack of available rooms, so being flexible, we agreed to sleep on floors, share beds, and do whatever it takes. As with most things on this run, the seemingly easy tasks always turn out to be the most dramatic and troublesome. It took a while, some lost patience on everyone’s parts, but finally we were all checked in and with a spot to sleep. I was stationed with Laura and Dot, and we all had an actually great time.

We went out to celebrate the completion. Dot, Laura, Emmanuel, me, and Dot’s friend Kimmy, all hit up Dos Caminos for dinner and drinks. It was fun, and afterwards two NYU friends of mine, Keely and Jamie also met up with us. I stayed behind with my friends as they returned to the hotel, caught up with them, and then came back with them to the hotel bar for some quick drinks. Not wanting to have too much fun or do anything too crazy, saving up for the next night, the final party, I went to bed fairly early…ready for the FINAL and BIG day…the FINISH! Woohoo!!!!!!!

Day 93: Good Times on the Jersey Shore!

2007-09-02T08:48:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Jersey! Today was the last run ever on the night shift, and we could not be happier. It was also our first run in New Jersey, and I was surprised to find mine still somewhat rural. The start exchange point was relatively close to our hotel, awarding us a little extra sleep…woohoo!! I ran first and picked up from Team Orange in the parking lot of a bar in the middle of nowhere…literally. The bartender however, was around and enthused, and came out to support us there…and then again 10 miles down the road. It was great! Amazing to watch people pick up the BPR spirit! My run itself felt awesome. The area was surprisingly really nice, contradicting my NYU and nyc notion of Dirty Jersey. It was so pretty in fact that at one point a whole herd (is that the right term?) of deer actually frolicked across the road right in front of me! I just stopped in place…amazed and awed. Around the halfway point, a Road Closed barricade appeared. I was forced into the van, onto the highway, in detour, and eventually, a while later, redropped off on the opposite side of the barricade. Interesting break in the run, and made more interesting by the excellent company of the Night Pilots.

As my last night shift run ended, I passed off to Mary in an empty parking lot, with the bartender from the previous exchange point and his girlfriend as spectators and fans. Mary took off running, and we continued on our way, stopped shortly after by the bartender and girlfriend as we were passing a WaWa gas station. Holding a huge case of water, they explained they had stopped for gas, explained our story, and gotten all the water donated! How cool is that! We stickered and t-shirted them all up, and continued on to the next WaWa, coincidentally also an exchange point. We were so surprised to find the WaWa rivaling the Japanese 711s…amazing gas stations I tell you! Great for 4:30am runs!

The rest of the morning went by quick and fine. We were all in better moods from the previous day…more rested, and really as Dot would say, “smelling the barn”. Our last exchange point was more like a Welcome Home Dot Party. In Tom’s River, NJ, her high school hometown, a HUGE crowd of family and friends came out to support and run with her. It was really amazing how many of them there were. As she ran off, I hopped aboard with the Night Pilots, enroute to the beach!!

We spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun on the Jersey shore at Asbury Park, a surprisingly really really cute beach spot. It was awesome, made even more awesome by CiCi, my most awesomest friend from nyc, coming down to hang out. An exchange point at 1:30pm broke up our sun session, and with it nearing the night pilots bed time, they left, and I was rejoined by Team Green’s Laura and driver Kevin (also known as Laurel’s brother).

Then the most amazing part of the day occurred. Looking for a spot for the big BPR van, we found one that in typical Jersey Shore fashion was a parallel parking spot. Kevin, from Vermont where apparently there are only 5 total parallel parking spots, freaked out a bit, and I volunteered my parking services. At first there was a skeptical response from everyone in the van, except from CiCi who actually affirmed my talent. I hopped into the front, with everyone outside scouting, and then somehow (I am still pretty amazed), backed it in, in one shot, without having to readjust. I should also add, to make it seem all the more impossible and me all the more amazing, the width of the road was only about 2x the van’s width and filled with parked cars on both sides…making it a very very tight squeeze. Anyways, after succeeding, taking the necessary pictures, and receiving the necessary shocked appreciation, we went back on our way.

Once we had all had our fill of sun and cancer, we ate a nice dinner in the quaint downtown, dropped CiCi at the train station, and went on our way to Fort Lee, NJ across from the GW Bridge and the location of our hotel. Driving up the turnpike past Exit 14, with the skyline in view, it really finally hit that we had made it the whole way. We’re back! Wow!

Day 92: The Day Things Went Wrong

2007-09-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

Today really tested the limits of my body…and surprisingly, I survived. On no sleep and a little alcohol, I was still able to finish my 10 mile leg in decent time! Wow! I was even impressed. The day started where yesterday left off…in a Baltimore Super 8 Motel with my DC friends, staring at a disgusting, used, hotel room and wondering what to do next. The only thought in our minds was to find an open bar…which we did. Although we only stayed briefly, I had to be up and ready to run by 1:30am, we were still able to get in our standard Jaeger Bomb. Once back in the hotel, my friends and I said our goodbyes (and their good lucks to me on my upcoming run) and then it was off to the start of the day. Will had the unfortunate luck to be running first, playing my hero, and actually swapping with me so I could run with Maureen, an NYU cross country friend, later in the shift. The morning went by in a blur of me dozing off and sleeping, heavily yet unfulfilling, throughout most of the legs. I think there were a couple of guest runners, I know we went through cute Wilmington, DE, but the only clear part begins before my run.

I ran the last leg, going from Delaware into Pennsylvania. As a great surprise, Maureen, a friend of mine from my days on NYU Cross Country, showed up to run with me. It was sooo fun!! It was nice to run with her again…it’s been a while, and we got to catch up and talk and yay! The fact that I was running on no sleep and all, didn’t even seem to make a difference…well not much at least, that’s how much fun it was. We finished into the last exchange, switching the night crew for day crew, and passing off to Team Green. Making it just perfect, Maureen surprised everyone with homemade cupcakes…mmmmmmmmm! =) We all went out to breakfast together, Team Silver, Maureen, and her dad, and it was great fun including them in our day. Thanks Mo for the company and fun!

Things from there started to go downhill though. The lack of sleep and stress caught up to all of us, and tempers and patience grew thin. First, when changing after my run, I noticed that only one flip-flop was available… Yup…again, just like in China, somehow, someone, or something had kicked my flip-flop out of the van. My only hope was that it was the opposite one from last time… The rest of the day I was barefoot and visibly sad…I loved those flip flops. Then…I started to notice my phone was missing. We called and called it, hoping to hear it ring, but it just kept going to voicemail. I tried to retrace my steps, figure out where it was placed last, and my only thought was maybe it got run over by a car. So, I made the team reluctantly return to the last exchange point and search for pieces of broken phone…no luck though. We arrived at the hotel, and after cleaning out the van, the phone was eventually found…in the bottom of our cooler filled with water…dead. =( None of this would seem like that big of a deal in retrospect, but at the time, when we were all so tired and cranky…it did…

Trying to stay proactive and positive, but doing a poor job, I went to a local grocery store, bought a cheap pair of plastic green flip flops, came back to the hotel, laid by the pool for a bit, and then crashed hard in bed. Thank god for some sleep!

Day 91: Homecoming in DC!

2007-08-31T22:32:00.000-05:00

Today started really early, with a wake up call of 1am, and ended really late. Running the first leg in Maryland farm country was awesome. Absolutely beautiful, fresh smelling crisp air, and fun rolling hills. Since, both Emmanuel and I were to run portions of the DC run later that day, we decided to split the 3am shift, running 5 each. My 5 was really fun, and as I finished, and we started heading into more known areas, I started to get more and more excited. At the 6am exchange, we were surprised by a group of people waiting for us, that included a Rotarian, two reporters, camera crew, and a local running club. We had fun talking to them, interviewing, and passing out our goods (stickers, pins, etc.) As our 3am shift ended, and Team Green’s began, Emmanuel and I hopped aboard their van to continue on. It was fun being in the same van as Dot and Jason again. The first thing their driver, Kevin, noted was the immediate increase in energy and volume. I guess we are the loud and energetic team. Jason ran first then Laura, and then me. I was supposed to run the portion into DC and through GWU’s campus with Emmanuel, but a slight change in last minute plans that involved the exchange point having to move from the Lincoln Memorial down to the Capital added 3 extra miles to the run, and since I am not quick enough to run 13 miles in 90 minutes, it was unfortunately only up to Emmanuel to cover or sprint most of the run. I did get the chance to do the first 5 running into Bethesda, and got the awesome company of guest runner Navid, who was soooo excited to meet BPR. He came ready with a whole support team decked out in T-Shirts that said “Team Nav”. It was really cool! As Emmanuel took over, getting ready to sprint into DC and meet the Kenyan Ambassador, an extreme honor in his country, I jumped in the Pilot Van to help navigate through a familiar city. It was fun spending time with Fast Eddie and Doctor Steve, trying to get daytime gossip out of them. I think Navid, who was also riding along, especially enjoyed the insight into “Behind the Scenes of BPR”. It was fun to be back in DC again, driving through my streets, my campus, and getting to watch Emmanuel the Kenyan and BPR run my daily run. When we finally arrived at the exchange point at the Mall, I was overjoyed to find my friends sitting, waiting, stickered up, and listening to the guests on stage. Thanks Maria, Fro, and Kevin for coming out!!!! =) It was great to come back to a city I lived in, see some good friends, and know that I got there by running…WOW!

Once the exchange was over, which by the way was a very nice ceremony—Emmanuel came in in style and presented a signed jersey to the ambassador who graciously accepted it. Then Dot ran out, once again accompanied by Navid, the guest runner. Following that, Simon led a fun run around the Mall with members of the UDC Track Club. After all that, I left with my friends and Will to get food, then took off with Will to get showered and changed at my friends apt and hit up some serious shopping at Pentagon City. We probably broke the Guinness book of World Records for the quickest shower/change session, rushing through in less than 15 minutes for both of us!!!! Only 4 days until the big finale, and I have to look good for it, so we must maximize all free time to involve shopping and beautifying. At the mall, I succeeded in finding three really cute dresses, and getting a pretty cute haircut…albeit really short one. Will also was able to pick out a nice outfit, and played the pseudo boy-friend role of okaying my outfits like a champ! Thanks Will!! =)

The fun didn’t end there though. Post mall, we booked out to go to the Nationals baseball game against the Giants with all of my friends. It was so fun to sit with all of them and just relax. The only unnerving part was the fact that we had to run at 3am…and it was already 9pm. When the game ended, my awesome friends agreed to drive us up to our hotel in Baltimore, so we all piled in the cars and headed up. By the time we got to the hotel it was already almost midnight, and with a 1:30am departure time this did not leave a lot of time for sleeping…so…I decided to chance it and stay up the remaining hour and some.

The next hour ended up being a lot more interesting than most though. First, when I tried to check into my hotel room, or rather, when I tried to check into the Night Pilot hotel room (which should have been empty since they were off running/working), the room they were in was occupied and locked from the inside. I went down to the lobby to inquire and they said to try it again. The sight inside when I did was outrageous! Cigarrette buds everywhere, sheets in the corner, towels in the bathtub, TV blaring, and the worst smell ever. It was clear that something not so innocent was going on in there…and the fact that we still had the room booked made me feel slightly queasy. I couldn’t stay in the room for long, so my friends took me down the street to a bar to hang out, which we did until I had to run. So…lesson learned…JUST SAY NO TO SUPER 8 MOTELS!!!!!

To Be Continued...

Day 90: Pennsylvania Welcomes Us.

2007-08-30T22:15:00.000-05:00

Ahh the first day of the Sunrise Shift brought a nice surprise. With Mary having run the afternoon before in her hometown, our Team only had 3 legs to cover and got the opportunity to start a little later than usual…at 4:30am. It was kind of cool to almost feel like you were waking up and running at a normal hour. As we pulled up the starting exchange point, we were surprised to find the other teams’ van missing. The daybook and GPS said we were in the right spot, so we just waited around, and sure enough a couple minutes later the Night Pilots showed up with their flashing yellow lit van and running in front of them super speedy fast was…David! He ran in like he was on fire, apparently having the best run of the trip so far, finishing in 68 minutes!!! Woohoo! Go David! =) Soon after Team Yellow’s van came back, they had gotten delayed in the Sheetz gas station down the street—overwhelmed by all the amazing options for late night food. I picked up the baton from David, hoping that I would get some of his speediness, and took off into the suburban night. My run was pretty decent, got to go through some quaint towns, past a college, and then over some serious hills. I felt like I was moving better than other days, and had fun struggling over 5 miles of uphill, and then cruising or speeding down 5 miles of downhills. With the company of lots of roadkill that included a skunk and snake, I finished my run and handed off to Will.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, aside from some intense fog that made it nearly impossible to see anything more than a step in front. Will had a pretty fast run and past off to Emmanuel, who ran quick too, giving us a huge cushion of time. We arrived at the 9am exchange point about an hour early. To kill some time until the next team and day crew arrived, Will and I held an ab session on the grassy lawn nearby. Somehow that drew the attention of a couple passerbyers, and as they came by to see what we were doing, we got the chance to hand out stickers and pins. As that was going on, the day crew and team showed up, with the stage and some media people. We ended up sticking around, doing some radio and tv interviews for a while, before finally heading out to the hotel.

With time to kill before bed (at 5pm), I laid around the small outdoor pool, trying to soak up the little sun I could, while internet-ing and making plans for our adventure in DC tomorrow. Dinner at a nearby restaurant closed out our day. Only 5 more days!!!!!!!!

Day 89: At Home with the Chervenaks.

2007-08-29T06:04:00.000-05:00

The greatest part about the switch between the graveyard and early morning is the “two” days off in between. Although the actual time off, 48 hours is the same for most shifts, on this one, since you go to bed twice before actually getting up to run, it really feels like you have two full days off. So…part 2 of our day off was spent in lovely Elmira, NY at home with the Chervenaks…and it was AWESOME!

We woke up first in one of the comfiest beds of the whole trip, in a hotel in downtown Corning, a surprisingly quaint and cute town. Once we were all up and about we made way over to Mary’s parents’ place, to spend the day relaxing and eating. They were so hospitable and welcoming and just great. Honestly, it felt so good to just sit in a backyard patio with tons of home cooked food in front of us and not worry about anything. We even got to get our day off massages there, right outside in the backyard…talk about convenience!!! The route was scheduled to go right near Mary’s house, so around 3pm we all took off to watch Mary and her brother run the 10 mile leg together, with their dad on the bike. So cute!! =) Once they were off and running, we went back to the house, ate some more food, socialized with the other teams stopping by, and then finally…finally dragged ourselves away and moved onwards to our hotel for the night.

An hour some later we had arrived, and soon after I was in bed and ready for my couple hour night of sleep. Last night shift of the trip coming up…

Day 28: Here Comes the Bride!! =) BPR Weds it Up in Niagra Falls!

2007-08-28T17:51:00.000-05:00

Words may not do today justice…it was just that good! =) We woke up, pumped, energized, and rearing to go. It was our day off, and we were going to a wedding at Niagra Falls—definitely a first for this trip! The hour some drive was occupied by me frantically finishing my bridesmaid outfit, a BPR t-shirt transformed into a tube top, as well as creating a tie for Emmanuel out of, once again…a BPR t-shirt. I have to give myself an A+ for creativity on uses for the extra large BPR t-shirts! =) We arrived at the falls with enough time to help set-up, arrange balloons and flowers, and get everyone situated. By the end…I have to say…it looked awesome! We had all the groomsmen, the male runners, dressed in matching tuxedo T-shirts, and by that I mean t-shirts with a tuxedo design, and pinned with blue and white boutonnières. The bridesmaids, us female runners, were all in different Shiri-designed styles of the BPR t-shirts, and holding blue and white bouquets. The BPR stage, equipped with the balloon arch, was transformed into an altar, and balloons and flowers were set up as an aisle. Having all the runners in one place at one time was super fun again, and together we made sure to ignite every single person walking by…and there were a lot. By the end we had a decent sized crowd standing by prepared to witness the exchange and simultaneous wedding. It was really cool!

Jason and Taeko came running in together, dressed quite humorously. Jason was wearing a white top hat, and Taeko was in a veil and white gloves. They ran in, and did the baton exchange with Brynn and Sean, who then ran out. Then as quickly as possible, Taeko disappeared, only to emerge as a beautiful bride in full wedding dress, jewelry, and veil. The ceremony itself was actually quite tastefully done, and really really moving. It was clear how excited, nervous, and unbelievably happy both Jason and Taeko were, and there emotions were definitely carried through onto the crowd. Jin acted as the father of the bride, giving Taeko away, and a man was on hand to perform the official ceremony and provide the appropriate documents. To make it even more moving and connected to the run, several Cherokee rituals praising water, life, and marriage were performed. All in all, it really was a beautiful ceremony. When it was done, there was the traditional throwing of the bouqet…which turned into a friendly “battle” (not really) between me and Melissa…which she eventually forfeited to me hehe woohoo! There was cutting of a HUGE cake, and then lots of mingling…which let me tell you, since we barely see each other all at once, getting to hang out really is awesome. I thought that it was by far one of the more fun times of this run—getting to all hang out together, doing something a little off-topic from the run, with nothing but positivity in the air...I wish more days were like today!!!

We left shortly after, heading out of Canada, back into the US, and enroute to Elmira, NY…home of the Chervenaks! A quick pit-stop for a picnic lunch/dinner in a gas station parking lot, and we arrived to our destination… real home =). It’s hard to explain how great it feels to be welcomed into a real home, after months of hotels. The Chervenaks were amazing!! Making us feel right at home, with home cooked food that included home made hummus(!!!) What a great way to end, and amazing day!!!

Day 27: Wedding Dress Shopping…and Toronto by Night.

2007-08-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

Staying outside Toronto, in Brampton, ON might have seemed like a boring place to spend the day, but with Jason and Taeko’s wedding a day away, a dress to be bought, and bridesmaid outfits to make, it was anything but boring. I woke up to a phone call from Team Green, just arriving from their early morning (3am-9am) run. I went straight to work, fitting Dot and Laura, and creating their outfits as quickly as I could. I think they turned out good, so…success! =)

The next job of the day was buying a wedding dress. Laura, Dot, Mary, and I took Taeko into “town”, and surprisingly found several bridal stores. The only problem was that apparently in Brampton, people don’t shop on Mondays and most of the stores were closed. Finally we did find one store open, and within the aisles and aisles of dresses were able to score several suitable options. The next problem was selecting which dress…with Taeko being the perfect model and looking gorgeous in each, this was definitely not an easy task. Eventually we did narrow it down, and found the PERFECT dress, then the perfect veil and jewelry. She really looked awesome! As Jason picked us up, it was hard to conceal all the excitement.

Team Green went on to bed, and we headed off to run. The first stop, the BPR bus for the nightly tailgate dinner party…tonight’s location, the Home Depot parking lot 1 mile into the first leg of the run. With Mary running first, and getting to run right by the bus, we hung out for a bit, getting some dinner and allowing me time to make Brynn’s and Melissa’s outfits…quickly. As Mary ran by, she got a large cheering crowd, definitely setting a good tone for the night. With an exchange point at 1:30am in the center of Toronto, it was sure to be a fun-filled and energetic evening. Emmanuel ran second, I rode along with the Pilot Van, and the rest of the team zoomed ahead to downtown Toronto for some late night igniting. As I picked up the baton at a gas station outside Toronto at midnight, I definitely wasn’t overly thrilled to be running, but with Alessandro (i.e. Tie Man) on the bike, and the skyline laid out in front of me, things definitely looked up fast. I had a pretty fun run, going through some great neighborhoods, doing some good window shopping, and getting a tour of Toronto by night. I ran into the exchange point in Dundas Square (the Times Square of Toronto) real pumped up. It actually had felt like I was somewhat running in New York City, and boy does that bring back some good college memories. Despite the late hour, there was still a crowd around, and I had fun talking to a couple reporters and fans, before jumping into the fountain of water nearby. Nothing beats running and getting to wash off right away! =) As Will ran out with a guest runner, I dried off from my “shower” in the fountain, and then continued onwards. The final run of the graveyard shift done and never having to do another one meant a very very happy Shiri. Only 6 more runs…60 miles to go!!!

A little outside Toronto at 3am we met up with Team Green, and had an impromptu bachelorette party for Taeko…involving lots and lots of toilet paper =). A reporter from CH television was on hand to witness the festivities and get some interviews, and then it was off to bed for Team Silver...back to the hotel we came from, meaning a real quick drive! Woohoo!!! =) I hear wedding bells ringing…

Day 26: Welcome to Canada.

2007-08-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

We woke up today in Sarnia, Ontario, the Canada border town near Port Huron, MI, somewhat the equivalient to Detroit’s Windsor. Quick background: For those unfamiliar with the Michigan/Canada border and ties, Windsor is the Canadian city right over the Detroit River. From the suburbs of D-town it takes about 30 minutes to get over, and with a drinking age of only 19, it is quite the party town. Weekend nights in Windsor are filled with 19 year old Michiganders roaming the strip of Oullette Drive and the slot machines at Casino Windsor. Having gone countless times myself, I must say, it is quite fun, and for an American 19 year old, close to heaven. I have often heard Sarnia compared to Windsor, but I must say; now after seeing both, although, it is a quaint little city, it holds nothing to Windsor in terms of party scene and fun. Seeing as we were on the Graveyard Shift, sleeping during the day and running at night, none of that really mattered for us though.

I woke up mid-day, and after a quick breakfast with the boys, Will & Emmanuel, I spent the “morning” internet partying it up. A little bit later, Mary and I joined Dot and Laura for a girls date at the bar. It was nice to get to hang out with all of them, and I definitely enjoyed the rare social moment…there’s barely any social-ness during this shift. The day went by real fast and before we knew it, it was time to head out for our run. As we waited to pick up the baton from Team Yellow, we got to enjoy the benefits of the BPR bus, grill, and all. Dill was there, grilling up a storm and making sure everyone was well-fed. It was nice to see the day team, and spend some brief moments with them. I took the opportunity to fit Laurel for a “bridesmaid” shirt, a unique Shiri designed, cut up BPR t-shirt. Surprisingly, for the lack of mirror, and the fact that I was cutting it in the dark and hurried, I think it turned out pretty well. Edo was so impressed in fact that he made me design a personal shirt for him as well…which I did…though it definitely wasn’t my best piece.

Emmanuel led us out for the night, with me anchoring. The theme of the night was slow running. Despite us all feeling like we were moving…all of our times were extraordinarily slow…so much that we began to question the odometer…and ourselves. The other theme of the night was sleep. We all crashed in the car immediately after we were done running, and in my case, since I was running last, I crashed while everyone else was running, waking up just as it was my turn to head out. Cranky from sleep and freezing cold I made my way shuffling about. To wake me up, or make me smile, the Night Pilots decided to get lost several times within the first half mile. I literally ran around in circles, going one way, then back the other, all the while still being able to see the team van. We kept beeping and waving to them, yup still here, still here…well, I guess it was funnier at the time. The good news though, was it did wake me up, however the bad news was it also added time and slightly tired me out. As I finished my run in London, ON (home of Labatt’s Brewery and passed off to Team Green, I was more than ready for bed. Ahh…on to Toronto.

Day 85: Midland Rocks!! Thank you Dow!

2007-08-25T09:19:00.000-05:00

Today, celebrated the run’s arrival in Midland, MI, headquarters of DOW, and one of the most supportive cities we’ve gone through. Festivities for the run, DOW, and the cause were in full force all day, but the largest and most memorable, was the exchange point ceremony they set up right before their own Blue Planet Run 5K Run/Walk. I started my day around noon, and pretty groggy from the lack of sleep (grrrrr…graveyard shift). My dad who had come up to Midland with me, picked me up and took me to a coffee house in the downtown area. The reaction I got there was definitely nothing I would have expected. While standing in line to buy my drink, first one person than several others started asking me if I was one of the runners. As I talked to them, more people took notice, with one man even commenting that he had been following my blog online. It was so strange to have people somewhat know me, but not know them. I did my best, despite my grogginess, to stay energetic and peppy, handing out cards and inviting their emails. One lady even insisted on buying my coffee, and at that request the cashier commented that I must be a “celebrity”. Strange, but very cool...apparently, in Midland, the Blue Planet Run has reached that status. Feeling a little more energized, I wandered around with my dad, trying to kill time until the official ceremony started. I had fun playing on a swingset in the park, swinging on the tire swing, sliding on the slides, and pretending (or wishing) that I was a kid again…that is until a real kid kicked me off. =(

One by one the teams began to arrive, and we all got real excited to be in the same place at the same time, for what was the first time since the start of the run on June 1st. The thing about this run is that since it is constantly moving, never stopping, someone is always running, and we are never ever all in the same place. Today, was the exception. Looking around it was strange, but once again, very very cool. It made me actually quite sad that I haven’t been able to get to know more of the runners. Being stuck on one team this whole time, I know my own teammates very very well. I’ve been lucky to have a few switches throughout the trip, Dot and Mary, Will and David, and Jason as the alternate. But, other than those few, I haven’t really spent much time with anyone else. Now with only a week or so left of the trip, I feel like that is definitely my one regret. It would have been nice to alternate around more. C’est la vie.

With an emcee on stage, and guest celebrity, Desmond Howard, the 1991 Hesiman trophy winner and Michigan football player, one by one us runners were introduced and brought on stage. As we entertained the crowd, Heiko and Mary ran in, accompanied by a HUGE group that included Dow CEO Andrew Liveris and the Reese High School cross country team. It was amazing and very moving to watch them, first on the big screen as they ran down the street, and then in person as they moved through the crowds and onto the stage. It made what we do every day seem so much bigger. Heiko and Mary then did an amazing job of talking and giving thanks. Mary was so good that she literally moved us to tears. Afterwards, we got a chance to mingle around, sign some autographs, talk to people, and even cheer on the runners as they completed the 5k run/walk. Overall, it was a really great experience, and something that definitely helped liven the mood of the run, and get us all pumped up for the finale…predicted to be even bigger.

Team Silver was running the 9pm shift, so after a quick lunch/dinner, it was off to the exchange point to pick up the baton and keep the run going. The run traveled tonight through the Saginaw region going east towards Sandusky. Although, it was a pretty quiet night and not too eventful, it was still marked by several supportive fans…seriously Midland rocks!!! =) At the 9pm exchange, two girls came out hoping to get a chance to meet Heiko (the real Midland celebrity =), and although he unfortunately wasn’t there, they were still upbeat and great to have around for the message reading. Even more surprising though, was Nina, an awesome lady who came out to a really abandoned and deserted exchange point at midnight!!! She was sooooooo sweet, and came bearing a huge platter of fruit, which was definitely appreciated by both our team and the following team. It was so nice talking to her, hearing about her own experiences in Russia, and comparing them to ours. Wow! I know it sounds silly, but it’s strange to think that there are really people out there reading our blogs and following along. So many times it just feels like it’s just us alone out here, but thanks to people like Nina, we know we are not alone. It’s a great feeling and definitely huge inspiration, so please please keep the support and good thoughts coming! Almost to the finish! As I finished my run, my last run in my homestate in MI, I got real emotional. I can remember running here before the run started, questioning whether I would actually be able to do this, whether I would actually make it the whole way, and you know what…here I was, running on Day 85, with only 8 more…8 more runs, 80 miles to go. Wow! I am going to make it! Wow! =) Team Silver finished the night on a high note, and headed off to the US/Canada border and into Sarnia, ON. Good bye MI! Thanks for a great time! =)

Day 84: Home Sweet Home!!!

2007-08-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

I can not explain the feeling of waking up in my own room, in my own bed. It was extremely surreal to get up, look outside, see my car parked in the driveway, see my neighbors’ houses, and then get to lay around, watching some TV, cooking some good breakfast, and just RELAXING! The only thing that struck me as slightly odd was that usually when I wake up in my house, the first thought would be, which way do I want to run today. Today, though, since I was running the 9pm shift, that wasn’t really a thought or concern. I spent the majority of my morning going through my bags, washing every single article of clothing trying to get the awful sweat smell out of them, and then playing the “what don’t I need game” to try to get rid of all the excess stuff. Let me just say, that’s not one of my favorite games. I always end up rethinking things, I mean I might need this for this, and what if this happens, then I would definitely need this, and before you know it, I haven’t taken anything out, or worse, I’m left with more than when I started. (Warning Side Note) This brings up an interesting point that I don’t think I’ve ever talked about in my blogs. So, some might be wondering what we’ve been carrying with us through the trip. Well, for the past 84 days, all of us on the team have been schlepping (yes, there’s the Jew in me) around these big rolling duffle bags filled with BPR logo clothes and shoes and everything we would need for the whole 95 days, shoved into one bag on poor wheels. The majority of clothes are running clothes, t-shirts, long sleeves, shorts, sports bras, pants, jackets, socks, etc. We usually have about 4-5 pairs of each, to get through each shift until the next laundry day. Altogether they take up pretty much all the room in the bag, like 90%, with only a remaining 10% for personal clothes…and as a result for someone like me (not afraid to admit this) who does like clothes…a lot, and looking like a girl, and being able to feel somewhat normal not wearing running clothes all the time, it’s been real tiring to wear the same two outfits every single day for 80 some days. In the beginning, most people’s bags were somewhat empty, but as the trip progressed, people bought things, and the result, we’ve been left with bulging bags that we must sit on to zip. The most hated part of my day is definitely the part going either to or from the hotel room, which is always conveniently positioned at the farthest end of a hall, to the van. So, as much as I hate the “what don’t I need game”, it was very important to play it well, and I think I did, clearing up a lot of room to make the bag easily zippable on one try, and swapping my personal outfits for new ones.

The rest of the day was spent running some errands (Target & Trader Joes hehe), visiting friends (Brandon wheeeeeeeeee), and best of all getting to go by my therapist who did some awesome active stretching and massage work on me. Thanks Parker!!! The legs feel great! =) It was seriously not that exciting of a day, but to me, it was perfect. Got to drive my own car and feel independent and on my own schedule for the first time in soooo long. Oh, and one of the coolest things was getting “recognized” hehe in Trader Joes, when a lady saw my shirt and came up to ask me which runner I was. Very very cool that it’s spread that far.

Around 6pm it was time to say goodbye to home life, end my “vacation”, and get back to the run. My dad, “Abba”, was awesome enough to drive me back to Battle Creek where our 9pm starting point was, and then was even more awesome to stick around watch me run, and then surprise me by deciding to stay and drive up to Midland for the big event tomorrow. I feel so lucky to have such a supportive father. Thanks Abba!!! I really appreciated it, and loved having you around. Especially, since as luck has it, whenever he watches me run, wherever it is, I always seem to run well. This track record started a while ago in college when he would come to my cross country and track races. If he was there, I would run shockingly fast times for my season, surprising myself the most. Tonight was no exception, although my run wasn’t crazy fast, it was great, no pain, and also the longest run for me yet! =)

I ran first, picking up the baton from Will, who had swapped out to run an earlier leg with his father. As I headed out with the company of a guest runner Gale, I was surprised by how light and easy my legs felt. I cruised along for the 10 miles, chatting with Gale, and trying my best to run easy despite the faster pace he was pushing. My encouragement and amusement definitely came when the team van would come beeping by, followed closely by my dad’s car, which now included Emmanuel in the passenger seat cheering enthusiastically. As we ran into the exchange point, the question of whether I could run a couple extra miles to cover for Will’s missing leg was sprung, and since I had felt great so far, I said sure, and took off. In the end I ran about 13.5 miles, about a half marathon, which might be the most I’ve run ever! To all you marathoners out there that’s probably a shocker, but let me remind you, I competed through college with the longest distance being a 10k…so, yeah 13.5 woohoo!! =) As I finished (again), I got the pleasure of leaving with my dad to go straight to the hotel in Midland, instead of having to wait around until the end of the shift at 3am. I felt bad about abandoning the team, but…you know you would have done it to if you could, plus it was like a one time thing. Driving with my dad didn’t seem to save us from the standard BPR experience of getting lost though, and three turn arounds later we finally arrived at the hotel. Wooo what a day!

Day 83: Team Silver Takes a Quick Vacation to MI! =)

2007-08-23T02:05:00.000-05:00

I woke up overly excited today for our day off, and for the prospect of sleeping for the first night in 80-some nights in my own bed, in my own home! The morning began a lot more chaotic than usual, with a time change, Central to Eastern that somehow snuck up and was a lot closer than anyone had realized. As a result everyone was a little rushed, but it all worked out. We started our day with a luncheon hosted by the South Bend Rotary Club. Accompanied by Jin and Rajesh, of the Foundation, we were extremely successful at delivering the message and mission of the run and the cause. We were even able to collect a really generous donation, so a HUGE thank you to the South Bend Rotarians, for the awesome hospitality and support of the run. It is definitely appreciated!! After the lunch we headed down the road to the National College Football Hall of Fame, where the 1:30pm exchange point was located. With a decent sized crowd, we got everyone pumped up and rowdy for Lansing as he ran in with a guest runner.

As Sean ran out, Team Silver got ready to depart for our quick “vacation” in Michigan. Will’s awesome mom picked us up from South Bend, and we road tripped up to Portage, MI, nearby to Will’s hometown of Vicksburg, and where we were scheduled to BPR it up at a high school Cross Country meet. We pulled in, set up the stage, and went to town stickering, t-shirting, and shouting the “Water is Life” message to everyone around. I have never seen so many t-shirts and stickers given away so quickly! It was awesome. I had a blast dancing up on stage, cheering on the kids as they raced, and then even distributing water as they finished. Overall, it was definitely one of the best and most fun outreach projects our team has done on this trip so far. As the boys finished racing, a HUGE storm rolled in, killing the mood but not our spirits. We quickly packed up, deflated the balloon arch, and ran for shelter inside the school. Once the storm passed it was time for me to take my quick “vacation” from the team, and my dad came by picking me up and taking me…HOME to Canton, MI! =) The hour and some drive felt so short compared to all the driving we’ve been doing this trip, and was so rewarding and worth it when I got the pleasure to unload in my room, sit on my couch, eat dinner in my kitchen, and best of all…sleep in my bed!! It is really the little things that you miss the most on a trip like this. =) Ah…Home Sweet Home!

Day 82: BPR hits Chi-Town!

2007-08-22T02:04:00.000-05:00

Today marked the beginning of familiarity for me, with Chicago, the first of many cities to come that I have personal ties to. We woke up in Joliet, IL, just south of Chicago, had a relaxing morning, and then headed in to begin our fun-filled day of running. We got the baton a little earlier than usual at 1:30, since we were swapping a leg with Team Orange, and Emmanuel ran out and onwards to the Magnificent Mile. His run was by far the best of the day, going by all the great Chicago sites, the Sears tower, John Hancock building, the Water Tower, and so on. He finished up at Wrigley Field, where I was waiting excitedly to run. While I was stretching outside before running, a couple girls walked by looking a little more than inquisitively at me. It was clear they already had some knowledge of the run, so I said hello, and sure enough they turned out to be well-related, Rudy’s daughter, Malka, and her friend. They were great company at the exchange point, listening to Emmanuel and I read the message and cheering me on as I headed out.

My run had several turns in it, so I pre-prepared with a cheat sheet—written turns and landmarks on my hand. Edo, acting Scooter Man, and I made a pact that if I got lost he would not drink another beer the rest of the trip, so for his sake, I was doubly determined not to get lost. And…I didn’t. The run, despite the crazy heat (at one point I read 98 degrees on a flashing sign) went really really well. Running through the Jewish community, past dozens of synagogues and yeshivas, wearing skimpy running clothes and drenched in sweat and water, waving the baton and saying, “Shalom. Shalom.” to all the little Jewish kids and their parents was fun, but I don’t know how well it went over…=) I ran on and on, stopping every so often for water, running on residential sidewalks, past commercial areas, just overly thrilled to be doing some real city running again. My leg felt absolutely great! I ran strong and happy, and finished up at a park on Lakeshore Dr. where I used to race at in college, and where I fittingly had clocked my fastest Cross Country 6k time. Ah the memories. =) Yay!

Brynn was waiting at the exchange point, ready to run the baton into downtown Chicago, her home-turf. We quickly piled into our van, sweaty Shiri and all, determined not to let the crazy Chicago traffic stop us from watching the finish. The Chicago exchange point was awesome, rivaling only Denver in excitement and turn-out. Brynn ran into a huge crowd of support, and with a huge group of runners and kids, and passed off on stage to Mary, who ran out. It was especially fun for me, as I got to see a couple of good friends who were living in the area. Nisha, an NYU friend came out to watch, as did Brian, a friend from high school. Since, I had already finished my run for the day, I had the luxury to stay behind for a bit, and got to go to dinner with Brian and then go by his place to see some other high school friends. It was really strange to be doing something so normal in scope—hanging out with friends in an apartment. Unfortunately, the run must go on, and so did I. I rejoined the staff a little later at a restaurant downtown, and hopped a ride with Phil and the Exchange Point vehicle (stage and all) to the hotel. Torrential rains, possibly as I hypothesized from the “lake effect”, caused our drive to be a little more difficult and slightly more scary than anticipated, but eventually, we arrived safe and sound to La Porte, IN. One day closer to MI, and my own home! =)

Day 81: Hot Times in Illinois!

2007-08-21T22:30:00.000-05:00

Going out on a limb here, today was THE hottest day of the run for Team Silver—clocking in at 95 degrees, high high humidity, and zero breeze! I started out as the first runner for the team, running at 3pm under the blazing sun on good Old Route 66 outside of Bloomington, IL. With Mary accompanying me on the bike, providing a constant stream of entertaining stories, and Edo, Luigi, and Dr. Green in the Pilot Van, providing a constant stream of refreshment from a Super Soaker water gun, I ran along…and ran great! I am so happy to say my legs are feeling better and better each day, less and less pain, more and more fluid, and just overall stronger! Yay! =) The heat was the major obstacle of the day. I stopped ever 2 miles to cool down, drenching myself head to toe, and within 1 min of starting back up, would be overheating. It felt like your skin was boiling! I finished up though strong, happy, and into a great exchange point. The local NBC affiliate was there, a bunch of Roatarians, and a couple DOW families and kids. It was so great to see them cheering, get to play with the kids, and say the message in front of all them. The Rotarians were especially great, explaining all the water work they have been involved in already, and offering a generous donation to the run! Thank you so much! It’s been amazing how great their support throughout the run has been, seeing them in random parts of Russia and Siberia, and then again in Illinois, is amazing! As I cooled down, Will ran out.

The rest of the day went by in a blaze of heat. Will struggled a little during his run, and we did our best to provide him with as much support and water as possible. Mary ran next, and to pay her back for her great company during my run, I tagged along on the bike. It felt so great to be doing something other than running, and fun to be biking along casually on a summer evening through small town Illinois. Halfway through one of the Rotarians from the previous exchange showed up on a bike, and joined us on our 10mile stroll through Towanda, Illinois. Drake was great, providing some real interesting conversation and first-hand knowledge about the water crisis and solutions. As Mary finished and Emmanuel ran out, the rest of jumped ahead to the finish, where the BPR pimped out bus was stationed conveniently next to a swimming pool. Unfortunately, the pool was closed, but fortunately the grill was not, and we tailgated away with Team Green and the Day Crew. Another day…another drive to the hotel…

Day 80: Igniting St. Louis one Touch at a Time!

2007-08-20T11:19:00.000-05:00

We began our day in Chesterfield, MO, right outside St. Louis. The drama of the day started with a phone call at about 11am informing us that Heiko was in the hospital and that we, Team Silver, would need to cover the last leg for Team Yellow, the 9am-3pm team. Lacking any more information on Heiko’s injury or why he was in the hospital we definitely were in a bit of a panic. We arranged ourselves in a way that we could cover 50 miles as a team, and headed off to their 1:30 exchange point. When we got there more chaos ensued as Heiko, back from the hospital (he had severely sprained his foot the day before when a dog was chasing him), was insistent upon running a little bit, and Paul and David, were insistent upon backing him up…our help was not needed. So, more confused then ever, we drove on ahead to our normal 3pm exchange point and relented to enjoy the fact that for once, Team Silver was very early to the start of their shift! =)

The exchange was in downtown St. Louis, right near the arch and was fun. A bunch of DOW people showed up, a luncheon and tent was set up, and a big group of kids engaged us on stage. The picture of our BPR balloon arch in the middle of the big St. Louis arch was also pretty awesome. David and Paul, sharing the remaining 5 from Heiko’s leg, ran in together with the baton, and Will ran out. We talked for a bit with the people there, signed some shirts, got some food, and then headed out—10 miles down the road. Will came in strong, but drenched from both rain and humidity, and Mary ran out, with the company of two friends from her home who happened to be in town on business. Their 10 mile run took them across the MO/IL border and stayed exclusively on a pedestrian dirt path. We love the dirt paths! I ran last for the day, and despite it being dark, had a GREAT run! Not to jinx myself, but recently I have definitely had a string of good runs! Yay! Edo, acting day pilot, and alternate runner in training, joined me on foot for the first 3 miles, running amazingly for someone who self proclaims to hate running. The 7 remaining miles flew by as Allesandro, i.e. Tie Man, i.e. Luigi, biked alongside describing his Phd in Silent Movies and the book he is writing. (It really is amazing how interesting everyone on this run is. Meeting them in one context you don’t realize what their lives outside this run are like, but wow, everyone has some really cool stories to tell.) I ran into the exchange point strong and feeling great, although completely drenched from sweat and humidity. Really, I could ring out my shirt and fill a bucket with sweat! It was that bad!

A quick dinner at the bus and it was off to our hotel in Springfield, IL…home of the Simpsons! I tagged along in the day pilot van for a change of pace and because of their appreciation for my musical taste. =) Another day done…only a handful more to go…

Day 79: Good Times in Wal-Mart and Jefferson City, MO!

2007-08-19T08:03:00.000-05:00

The afternoon shift in the middle of no where is a riot. You wake up, with the whole morning to wait around to run and with nothing to do for entertainment…that is unless there is a Wal-Mart nearby, and your names are Will and Shiri. =) Somehow, we managed to entertain ourselves there for the entire morning. Grocery shopping, home decorating, sporting goods, all the aisles got touched. And by the time we were done, nearly 3 hours later, a rain storm was in full force outside, so we were forced to stay put a little longer. About a half hour later, and a quick picnic with some hummus and baby carrots, we were free to venture outside of our wonderful Wal-Mart shelter and refuge. The next obstacle of getting the goods to our room turned out to be less than dramatic when I was able to fully push the cart all the way from the parking lot to my hotel room with no stops. Yay sidewalks! So, pause, and let’s consider how a paragraph about Wal-Mart may be an indicator of how exciting middle Missouri is! =)

As we headed out to run, I got slightly excited when I learned that a) we would be running through Jefferson City, MO, and b) it was the capital of MO! This is slightly embarrassing to admit, but my capital knowledge is less than stellar…and I definitely would have guessed St. Louis or Kansas City…definitely not Jefferson City, a place I had never really heard of. By the end of the trip though, my goal is to have all the capitals of at least the states we have crossed (15) down…totally doable.

The route started out very very rural, and as we picked up the baton from Team Yellow and Mary headed out the only thing in the horizon, besides fields and fields of corn, was a HUGE storm brewing in the sky. Throughout Mary’s 10 miles the storm brewed, came, and went…all very violently, and impressively Mary battled through it, despite our encouragement to get in the van and wait it out…talk about tough!!! =) At the worst of it, and it was bad, a stroke of lightening and clap of thunder occurred nearly simultaneously, indicating it was very nearby, and at that Mary conceded to get in and wait for safety. As soon as the thunder and lightening sounded far enough apart though, she jumped right back out to finish up her run. We watched as the wind and rain just threw itself at her, amazed that she was able to stand up through it. As she finished the skies cleared up, and for the rest of the afternoon we had relatively mild weather. I ran third for the day, and despite wanting the rain (it still has not rained on me once this trip and I love rain runs) it stayed dry but humid. With Edo, acting Day Pilot, on the bike and providing wonderful company and conversation I ran my way towards the capital of MO, running a great run through the downtown and around the capital. It was real fun to watch the people relaxing on their porches, enjoying the end of their weekend, and almost felt like I was just back at home in Michigan going for a Sunday evening stroll. Loved it! Best comment of the day goes to the guy outside the white house on the corner, who replied to my, “Hello! Running around the world for Safe Drinking Water!” with “Ahhh are you kind of like Forest Gump??” =) My run ended at a trailhead state park outside the city, and where the BPR bus and a tailgate was forming. Will ran last and got the benefit of a gorgeous dirt trail the entire way, the only unfortunate thing was no car could traverse it so it was up to him and the bike to navigate…and they got lost…=) About 5 miles in though they realized their mistake, turning left immediately at the start instead of turning right, and after talking to a nice family in a house in the middle of nowhere about the run and how to get back to it, they found there way back. With our shift complete and us wellfed from the bus party we headed onwards to good old Chesterfield, MO…right outside St. Louis!

Day 78: Team Silver Ignites Kansas City!

2007-08-18T07:39:00.000-05:00

I heart days off, especially when they start as relaxed as today…with a nice hard-earned massage! What a way to start the day! =) The rest of the morning was spent exploring Lawrence, KS…and by exploring, I mean shopping =). Its funny how after wearing the same clothes every day for 78 days, getting something new to wear becomes super exciting. Even more exciting though, was the fact that while shopping and igniting (yes, both can be done at the same time) one of the people I talked to had already heard all about the run and us. I felt like a pseudo-celebrity…well almost haha, but it was cool to not have to explain it to them, but have them know about it already.

Since it was our day off of running we were scheduled to do some media events in Kansas City that afternoon. We said goodbye to Lawrence, and moved onwards east…our first stop, a Foot Solutions store—one of the sponsors of the run. The people there were real friendly and excited to see us. They fitted us for new shoes, gave us some nice socks, and took a ton of pictures with us. It was cool to see how excited they were about the run. The next stop of the day was at a retirement village. To be honest, and please don’t judge, but I was a little apprehensive at first…nervous about being able to make conversation and feel comfortable. I feel bad, but I’ve never really felt at ease talking with older people, especially when I don’t know them well, or at all. So this was definitely something I wasn’t super excited to do. But…it actually went well. We came just in time for their supper, and after a brief introduction, we took turns going from table to table and just sitting and chatting with the residents, all who were extremely friendly, nice, and welcoming. We did our best to explain what we were doing…and since it does sound a little out there and crazy at first, it was unfortunately not that easy to do. After supper we held a brief informational meeting upstairs with the interested residents, about 15 showed up, and got a chance to talk to them more in person. It was nice. They all had some really interesting stories to tell. We took pictures, talked, gave stickers, and t-shirts, and helped make a bulletin board about the run. One woman and Emmanuel bonded over the fact that she had lived in Kenya for a while, and she even brought out an old picture of her house to show us. Another woman, Mary, all clad in purple, inspired us by saying, “Nothing bothers me. I just don’t let it. Just roll it off your shoulders.” What an amazing spirit and attitude!!! As we left, I felt a lot better then I did going in…so that made me smile. Older people aren’t that scary to talk to! =) Pretty soon it was off to our hotel and the start of the new afternoon shift!

Day 77: Running to a Day Off!!!!

2007-08-17T00:11:00.000-05:00

Our shift began nice and easy, nothing too exciting, save our exchange point at the National Greyhound Association, where the entire staff came out to talk to us, get stickered, and listed to me and Mary say the message. As I began my run, I began to feel like I was back in Sri Lanka…that’s how bad the humidity was. However, unlike in Sri Lanka, where I would wake up and run at 5am to beat the heat, today, I ran right at the peak of the heat…at noon. The only thing that got me through was the amazing wonderful support from Dill, acting Scooter Man. He was there at every mile with a spritz bottle and cold water, spraying us down and making sure we didn’t overheat. And thanks to him, despite the heat and humidity, I actually had one of the best runs in a while! =) To make it even better, as I finished, I began a well deserved day off! Two shifts back to back, 8 days of 10 miles straight, through elevation of 4,000-12,000 ft, my legs and body have been feeling dead, and a day off is like pure heaven!! =) No one can take the smile off my face! It’s my day off! Woohoo! As we finished our shift we headed eastward to Lawrence, KS home of Kansas University.

Will and I wasted no time going out and exploring the campus…and it surprised us by being sooooo nice! Walking around it definitely reminded me of Ann Arbor. There were tons of cute restaurants, coffee houses, boutiques, thrift stores, etc. A nice dinner, brief shopping, and some yummy ice cream made the day absolutely perfect. We finished up the day in the pool, enjoying our well deserved night off. I love Lawrence, KS!

Day 76: Good Times in Salina, KS!

2007-08-16T23:48:00.000-05:00

Today marked another day of running in straight lines through cornfields and humid heat, with the best part being the dirt roads we got to run on (easier on the legs than pavement). Our big exchanges for the day were in front of small town churches and McDonalds, where we did our best to ignite with the locals, all who were extremely enthusiastic and excited to meet and talk to us. Although, we had no guest runners today, we did see a couple local journalists come out to photograph and interview us, as well as one family and their kids who had read about us in their paper. I ran the 2nd leg of the day, and had the wonderful company of Fast Eddie on the bike alongside me. He entertained me with wonderful history lessons, theology discussions, and odd factoids (i.e. a kiwi bird has the largest beak, clams have recorded the loudest animal noise, and there are only 13 official vantriliquists in the world). We passed off to Team Green just in time to watch the temperatures jump from semi-bearable to un-bearable. Poor Team Green.

Salina, KS marked our hotel for the night, and what an interesting place it was. Our hotel was decked out with a swimming pool and water slide, ping pong area, video games, and a cool sports bar with comedy hour, pool tables, and cheap cheap drinks. I wasted no time checking in and getting into the pool. Will and I had a blast watching Emmanuel experience his first water slide, and then giving him his second swimming lesson. Dinner was fun and involved a Benihana like restaurant. Post-dinner we all went to the hotel bar to take on Emmanuel at pool and watch the comedy hour. The bar turned out to be surprisingly fun and reminded me of a night out with friends in Michigan. As more and more of the crew showed up, things became more social. I had a great time igniting with some of the local people in the bar as well as the awesome bartender, Brandon. I wish all our hotels had fun bars like that, though it probably wouldn’t help with sleep…

Day 75: I Heart Runner’s Edge =)

2007-08-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a sad day for Team Silver, as we lost one of the original members, David, who was switched with Will from Team Yellow. David, we will miss you soooo much! Thank you for your constant positivity and good nature, you definitely put the spirit in the Silver Team. At the same time though…Welcome Will!!!! Can’t wait to spread the Silver Spirit to another Global Messenger! =)

Today started a little strange. With our starting point only 6 miles from the hotel and the hotel owner really excited about the run, an impromptu exchange point was set up at the hotel. This meant that the first runner, me, would run 6 miles to the hotel, stop, say the message, then continue the remaining 4 miles of the leg. About a mile from the hotel, a boy on a bike rode up to me wearing a BPR t-shirt. Zach, the boy, became my pacer, riding alongside and telling me about the 4 miles he runs a couple times a week and his pigs. It was so cute and definitely helped make me forget how tired my legs felt. The “exchange” was fun. I ran in, smiled, waved, said the message, and then ran back out. As I ran out, Zach rejoined, as well as David, a pace runner and the coach of Runner’s Edge, a local Denver running club that paced us through most of Colorado. David was awesome company for the remaining 4 miles, entertaining me with stories, protecting me from the dogs, and pushing my tired legs. Thank you sooooo much David! You rock! I finished up the run, slowly, and passed off to Emmanuel. The next bit of fun came from Will’s pace runner, Jodi, who showed up with her two kids, Sarah and David. With them in tow, along with Ned and David from Runner’s Edge, we had quite a caravan at the exchange points. At one stop, we found a house with sprinklers and a trampoline, and I was able to introduce Emmanuel to another sport, trampolining. It was fun, minus the bruises incurred from bumping into a skinny, bony Kenyan with poor balance. Mary was our last runner for the day and got the pleasure of crossing the Colorado/Kansas border. She had the honor of running with Ned, from Water for People, a Denver based NGO that is a partner with the Blue Planet Run Foundation, and also the one responsible for setting up the Colorado pace runners. He ran with her up to the border, marking the end of the fun portion, and the beginning of the hot, straight, corn field part. Good bye Colorado! Hello Kansas!

With the running part of our day over, we headed to the hotel in Oakley, Kansas. A dip in the pool, dinner, and it was off to bed.

Day 74: The Days Return…and Welcome to Denver!

2007-08-14T09:12:00.000-05:00

Back on the day shift! It felt so good to be able to go to bed at a normal hour, and better yet wake up with the sun. To make the day even better our first exchange point was a big one in Downtown Denver, where we were surprised by the BPR Youth Board, a group of high school students who have been working hard to spread the message of the water crisis. The students were amazing—so excited and enthusiastic, all dressed in blue, and eager to get as much attention and attendance to the event. They had a free pancake breakfast, tons of blue shoelaces to hand out, and were on every corner, every bus, every street passing out the word. Their work paid off, and Denver definitely was one of the biggest events of this trip with all the teams showed up to ignite, all the runners were up on stage talking, there was a pancake eating contest that Will represented in, and a huge group of pace runners that accompanied David out. All in all, it was one of the most fun events to partake in, and I think we owe a HUGE thank you thank you thank you to the Youth Board for their hard work on planning and organizing it. Keep up the good work! =)

Onwards east…as we headed out of Denver, accompanied with guest runners, from the Denver based Runner’s Edge running club, the entire way. David ran in with an entourage, exchanged with Mary, who ran out with Jim, and then it was my turn…at the hottest part of the day. As we pulled up to the exchange point, an obscure off highway location, I got a little nervous/excited to see who my guest runner would be. It’s like a surprise each time, you never know what kind of person you’re going to get, and it definitely makes the runs more exciting and anticipated. My runner turned out to be awesome!! =) I definitely lucked out getting this really cute girl named Danielle who could hold up amazing conversation and the pace. Talking to her before we started got me a little nervous, she mentioned her 3:30 marathon and her treadmill marathon!! Oh man, I thought, she’s going to blow me away! But, luckily with the intense heat (it was real real hot!) there was no need for speed, and we took it easy, trodding along, and talking about our life stories (she had some good ones to share). Before you knew it, we were at mile 10, sweaty, hot, tired, but…done! =) Thank you so much Danielle! You rock! Definitely helped me through that one!

With the day done, we moved on to our next hotel in Stratton, CO…population 650…

Day 73: Overcoming the Continental Divide at 12,000 ft.

2007-08-13T22:11:00.000-05:00

Today marked one of my biggest accomplishments of this whirlwind trip…running both up and down the steepest and highest point of the run—Independence Pass and the Continental Divide. With enough forewarning to know that the altitude would rise from 8000 ft to 12,000 ft over 15 miles, I was definitely nervous. Knowing how big of a challenge this run would be, all of us wanted to have some part of it. We decided to split up the legs. I began the shift with the first 5 miles of up…starting from Aspen and climbing steadily. With an accompanier guest biker alongside I trudged along, huffing and heaving, but moving steadily. I felt the effects of altitude immediately: nausea, heavy and labored breathing, heavy legs, a little light headedness, etc., not to mention the constant decreasing temperatures and increasing wind. As I shuffled up the mountain, the mile markers passed later and later…and the time moved slower and slower. Somehow though, I did it!! I know it may sound silly, but finishing those 5 miles definitely was one of the bigger accomplishments for me on this trip. I passed off next to David who was more than a little excited to attempt the next 5 miles, and he was joined by Emmanuel who was accompanying him for “training”. As they finished their 5 they were joined by a pair of guest runners, Morley and Dylan from Aspen, who had volunteered to run the remaining 5 up to the very tippy top, at 4:30am no less—talk about crazy runners! With the excitement just building, David couldn’t resist continuing on to the top, so together, David, Emmanuel, and the guest runners ran up. A little before the top, Mary and I met them, joining in to run the remaining portion over the tip. The timing was amazing! Just as the sun was rising, we hit the peak, and were rewarded with an astonishing view. My luck was even better, as I got rewarded with the next 5 miles, running down from the peak, through gorgeous switchbacks and astonishing scenery. It was hard to run and not trip from staring so hard. I finished up, past off again to Emmanuel, who passed off to me again a little later, to David, and then finally to Mary for the final leg of the day. As Mary ran, David, Emmanuel and I, on an enormous runner’s high went into a small roadside Café and ignited up a storm. The people were all so interested, enthusiastic, and supportive, especially when Mary went running by.

As we ended our shift and passed off to Team Green, I definitely felt the same high as if I had just run a real hard but fulfilling road race…nice! =) To make the morning even more enjoyable, we got to bask in the fact that we were finally finished with night shifts for a while, it was our “day off”, and we were heading to Denver. More exciting yet for me, was the fact that I was scheduled to see an active isolated stretching therapist who I was confident would be able to help me more than anyone I’d seen on this trip so far, and I think he did…but, I guess the results will really be known tomorrow. The rest of the day was pretty calm, took advantage of the surrounding commercial area to hit up a Super Target, Wild Oats, and Barnes & Nobles. And, that was pretty much it. Tomorrow we run through Denver…and in daylight! Woohoo!

Day 72: Welcome to CO!

2007-08-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

At 3am this morning, we began our first run in CO, and immediately experienced enormous support in the form of two guest runners, Kate and Matt, two of the many many guest runners that have been set up throughout this great state! Thanks to the great partnership between Water for People, a Denver based NGO, and BPR, guest runners have been planned for every leg, at all hours, of the CO route!! That’s huge, and let me be the first to say…THANK YOU! We love the support!

Mary started the day off, running with Kate, and they had a blast. Up next was David, and he got Matt’s company. As they came in, Matt hadn’t had enough, and decided to tag along on my leg for another 10. Lucky for me, he was already semi-tired from the previous 10, so my slow pace wasn’t a problem. Our run crossed through the quaint city of Grand Junction, CO and involved a lot of turns, something that really excited me after the straightness of the previous nights’ routes. Crossing into Grand Juction also more personally, marked the first city since Boston that was not new to me. Everything from here forward too, are places I have already been, which can be both good and bad... Back to the run though, Matt was an awesome companion. My legs were still feeling very heavy for some reason (I really think it’s altitude related), but with him next to me it wasn’t that bad. So…a HUGE THANK YOU to Matt! You rock! Thanks for the run! And…good luck on training for the Leadville 100!

As Emmanuel finished up, we socialized with Team Green on the side of the road, and then it was off to Glenwood Springs and our hotel. Despite initial thoughts of visiting Aspen, my energy level was at below zero, and the only thing I really could muster was getting into my bed. Somehow, and this will be the true indication of how tired I was, I went to bed at 1pm, napped until 3pm, woke up, interneted and ice-bathed, then passed out again at 5pm, sleeping straight through until our wake up at 1am… Now that’s what I call a good “nights” sleep! =)

Day 71: Nothing too Memorable.

2007-08-11T23:48:00.000-05:00

We left for our run this morning, and honestly, I was just not feeling it. I don’t know what it was, if it was the first effects of altitude or what, but I felt drained of energy. David ran first, and for the first time this trip, I decided to take a nap before my run. I set an alarm and passed out…probably getting a better sleep in those precious 45 minutes than I had gotten the entire night before. When I got up to run though I felt more sluggish, and grabbed the baton from David with limited enthusiasm. I headed out into the dark night, shuffling along uphill, trying to get into the spirit that has highlighted this night shift so far. At mile 2 I was still not feeling it, mile 3 still no, and by mile 4 I was worried. My legs felt heavy as rocks, and it was taking everything in me to move forward not fall backwards. The darkness and constant uphill just weren’t helping, and at the halfway mark, Mary came to my rescue in true hero fashion to split the leg with me. She finished strong, Emmanuel took off, and then I jumped back out to run my remaining 5. This time things were sooooooooo much better. With the sun rising and Mark, the EMT’s company, not to mention a rolling terrain of both up and downhills, I finished my 10 for the day on a much better note than I had originally started. As Mary finished the remaining 5, we headed to the exchange point where we were greeted by Team Green, the pimped out bus, and a nice breakfast. A huge thank you to Mary for helping turn my run around =)…thank you thank you!

Enroute to our hotel we stopped by the cute city of Moab, Utah. Although we were not able to spend a lot of time there, what I did see was great. Definitely more of an earth friendly, alternative scene, very hip, young and cool, tons of coffee shops with WiFi, natural health food stores, the works…i.e. my type of city. =) Moab is now on my checklist of places to go back to. Being on the 3am shift, there wasn’t much more excitement to the day, well except for the fact we crossed into CO! Woohoo! We stayed the “night” in Fruita, CO…of which all I saw was my bed... =)

Day 69 & 70: The Most Relaxing & Never-Ending Day

2007-08-09T18:17:00.000-05:00

I woke up today, nice and late, in Escalante, UT…a small town with one street, a couple outdoors stores, some restaurants, and…that’s about all. Since we were starting the 3am-9am shift tonight/tomorrow morning, which meant going to bed around 5pm, my first thought when I saw the time (10am) was, “Wow! Today’s going to be a 7 hour day!” Well…I was wrong…but for the first time, it actually wasn’t a bad thing.

Despite Escalante not having cell phone service, our hotel did have a very good wireless connection. After wasting the first few hours of my day uploading pictures to facebook =), I found myself a little strapped for entertainment and began wandering around the parking lot, where coincidentally I met the Night Crew and some of the other teams…all doing the same thing. The manager of the hotel found us and advised we go down to the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, where she explained there was a nice lake to swim in. Lacking any better ideas, we did. The lake turned out to be AMAZING! It was the perfect temperature, beautifully clear and blue, and combined with the blazing sun, so refreshing. We proceeded to spend the day alternating between laying out on the dock and jumping in the water. For a water and sun lover like myself, it really was the PERFECT way to spend a day...all 7 hours of it.

After a great dinner, I was in bed on time and enroute to getting a perfect night’s sleep…that is until I was awoken by loud music and cheering. As it turned out, an impromptu exchange point had been set up in the hotel parking lot. With Team Yellow running through the town at 9:30 pm, and the entire crew of staff and runners staying in the hotel, they had decided to take advantage of our presence (something that is very noticeable wherever we go) and spread the word throughout the town. It worked amazingly, and the small town of Escalante, UT actually became one of the most attended Exchange Points of this trip. So, despite my sleep being interrupted, it was hard to stay mad or upset for long. Once I got my contacts back in and my clothes on, I was out there dancing away and igniting with the rest of them. By the time the music was shut down, it was already almost 11pm, and with us leaving to run in less than 2 hours it made no sense to try and get some sleep…so the next option was to try and stay up. This turned out to be easy, as a bunch were going on a night trip to the lake for some star gazing. The lake by night was just as beautiful as by day, though much colder. We laid there staring and counting dozens of shooting stars…amazing!

The lake and stars helped keep me up, and I got back to the hotel just in time to pack up and leave for the starting point. Without any sleep I volunteered to go first, get it out of the way, and then hopefully crash post-run. Unsure of how I would feel, I started off hesitantly, but ended up having a great run. The stars were incredible, the run was rolling hills, and the small sliver of the moon was definitely something else. Altogether, the night sky was incredibly powerful. So moving in fact, that the abundant jack rabbits who were sprinting alongside me did not seem to bother me…that much. Now, I know you are thinking what everyone keeps saying to me, “They are just cute bunnies. How can you be scared?” Well, my answer to you is, “a) I am scared of all animals…you don’t know what they are thinking, and can you can’t talk to them…that’s scary enough. And b) Have you every seen Monty Python??? Killer Bunny anyone?? Talk about random and unpredictable…I’d rather not tempt it.” The important thing though, was by focusing on the stars I seemed to be okay with them. As I finished my run, Emmanuel took off, and I passed out asleep in his “cave” in the van. Next thing I know he was finished and Mary was off. As she left, I somehow managed to mumble to David something about waking me up if we pass something pretty…and it was a good thing I said so, because the next thing we knew we were passing through the MOST beautiful part of the trip so far! Now I know that is a HUGE statement to make, but…it’s true (by a unanimous Team Silver decision no less!) The scene was incredible. Right as the sun was rising Mary ran through and down a series of switchbacks that were steep and winding. From the top you could watch the whole thing, and even more cool you could hear the amazing echos of her footsteps and our cheering. It was really something else. Emmanuel was actually so taken by the sight he couldn’t bother to sit still in the van, and ended up jumping out to run down it, stopping to take pictures and yip along the way with excitement. So cool to watch! The next entertainment came in the form of a couple from the UK that we found in the middle of nowhere. As we went over to ignite and spread the message, we were taken aback when they said they already knew all about it, having heard Dot speak on NPR a few days ago. They were impressed and excited to have run into us and asked to take pictures and even made a donation! Woohoo! Thanks!!

As we finished up our shift and handed off to Team Green the temperatures really began to soar, and I became soooo thankful for the night shift, which surprisingly was not bad at all this time around. Really looking back, we lucked out majorily. We got to run one desert by day, one by night. We got to see some amazing stars, right before a meteor shower. And best of all, we got to drive/run through the switchback canyons right as the sun was rising! Nothing can top that! =) Our drive to the hotel post-run was interrupted with a short but beautiful ferry crossing in Lake Powell. I couldn’t resist jumping in the crystal clear water to get my swimming fill of the day…I really am a water child at heart! =) On a roll, we succeeded in talking to several people aboard the ferry about the run, and even got a $100 donation from one of them!!! Amazing! That’s water for a lifetime for 3 people!!!! It was a quick drive from the ferry to the hotel, and after a quick dinner/lunch/whatever, we were sound asleep in bed by 3pm!

Day 68: Day Off in Escalante, UT

2007-08-09T16:27:00.001-05:00

Arriving to our hotel in St. George, UT at 7am in the morning, and having to leave for our next hotel by 1pm, afforded us a very quick nap. My nap was cut even shorter when I saw the beautiful blue sky and swimming pool outside my room. How could I lay in bed and not lay outside??? After a quick, but refreshing swim, we pulled out of the hotel, equipped with Starbucks, and prepared to make what we were forewarned would be a long but absolutely breathtaking drive to the next destination. The forewarning was accurate. The drive, all through the Zion National Park, rewarded us with amazing views of canyons and rock formations. It was impossible to sleep through it, simply stunning!! We all thanked god for digital cameras and the ability to take countless pictures, which we definitely were.

At around 5pm we pulled into the sleepy but quaint town of Escalante, UT. The hotel though basic, did include a sign for free wireless internet (really what more could we ask for). We lined up for massages while alternating dinner…and that was pretty much all there was to our day. With nothing much around, the downtown consisted of one small street whose shops all closed by 7pm, we were forced to stay put in our rooms with TV and internet…not so bad if you ask me. I used the lack of activity to catch up on some much needed sleep…and it worked! =)

A quick note to add: I have been meaning to mention my email address: SLeventhal@blueplanetrun.org. If you ever have any questions, comments, motivational thoughts, or anything, please feel free to write me. I love to hear from people, and now that we are back in the States with more constant internet connection, I promise to write back too! =)