Happy Holi from Udaipur

Last month I took my first non-AIF just-for-fun trip in India to Udaipur to celebrate Holi, the festival of colors. I've had this blog post almost ready for weeks, but just haven't had the time to finish it and upload it. So, before I get on a train for rural Kutch tomorrow (blog with photos soon, promise), here are a few of my favorite pictures from my last adventure to Udaipur.

looking out and looking up

day and night

The lake palace

disturbing the birds on the lake

up close

streetside fresh gulab jaman--yum!

the view from our hotel

Holi color & water guns

Holi color

Pre-Holi*

Post-Holi*

Happy Holi* from...

too much fun with photography*

(*photos borrowed from friends--thanks!)

Have you laughed today?

On Valentine's some friends and I went to a local Spanish tapas hangout for a drink and tapas, of course! Excellent calamari by the way. At the end of the night, the manager bought our table free shots and asked a photographer to take our picture. We thought it was the restaurant photographer taking a picture for their photo bulletin board. Little did we know it was for the trashy tabloid section of the paper. Hahaha...I can't stop laughing. I'm a 'Cocktail Queen'. It's so scandalous, I love it!

A Tribute to One of the Greatest Adventures

I haven't been doing much blogging lately. I've thought about it, I've wanted to do it, but I just haven't had the time. I realized the reason I was able to blog so much in Japan was because I worked at a job that actually required very little of me. When I wasn't planning lessons or grading papers I sat there studying for my MA or handwriting blog posts. That kind of leisure time no longer exists. But in the last few months I was able to piece together this little Tribute to one of the Best Adventures of my life--trekking around the Annapurnas. Enjoy!




If it doesn't fit your screen, you can view it on youtube.com

Thankful for internet at home!

Happy Thanksgiving webcam skype call from college friends in Seattle!

Thank god for technology, for skype, for digital cameras, for laptops, for internet at home, and for POWER!! 10 years ago when I first came to India, email was barely a possibility and international phone calls were not dependable. What will another 10 years bring us?

Internationalizing Thanksgiving

'Suband' -- Co-hosts of the tastiest Chennai Thanksgiving Party, 2008.

We've been talking about this event for several months, but actual preparation only started the night before -- shopping in the monsoon rain! After work I ventured out in my raincoat (no umbrella) and hit up the import grocery store for cranberry sauce and ranch dressing mix, the supermarket for things like flour and of course the fruit and vegetable market. On a good day I would walk to all of these places, but given the rain and the quantity of food being purchased, I hired an auto to chauffeur me around for a whopping 50 rps ($1US as of today's rate). All of you reading this in the US, Japan, and UK might think--'hot damn, what a bargain'. But, I take the bus to work for 5rps or $.10US round trip -- so it's actually very luxurious and extravagant to spend so much for transportation!

We invited people to come at 7pm because Saturday is a working day and dinner is a late affair here. Plus we were hoping to have a rooftop dinner party under a starry sky! Even though I started cooking at 10am, and with all day to prepapre, it was still rushed and we were still cooking even as guests arrived. Sadly, Hamsa is one of the unlucky ones that has to work on Saturday but was able to get 1/2 a day off. While I was sweating buckets in the kitchen, she was braving the rain running around town collecting last minute items: corn, extra plates, a microwave, and twinkle lights.

Most food preparation is done on the floor. At first it seems odd, but actually it makes a lot of sense. It's easier on the back to sit and chop. The kitchen doesn't have a fan and gets really hot. Plus the floor is swept and mopped (almost) everyday, so it's clean!

Every Thanksgiving meal must include mashed potatoes and gravy. This was no exception, although it was a completely vegetarian meal!

Our kitchen fits one comfortably, two if you don't mind bumping elbows and three or more only if you don't mind slow dancing really close!

The final line-up prepared and/or provided by the Suband Team: Fried rice catered from Saravana Bhavan, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, garlic green beans, sweet butter corn, yogurt raita, apple pie filling, applati (apple-chappati pie), banati (banana-chappati pie), and cucumber and carrot sticks with ranch dressing. But because it was a potluck, we also had sambar-idli, dosa, pulao, vegetable curry, rotis, tomato gravy, cakes, pastry items, Indian sweets, and kesari. Our tiny kitchen was literally overflowing with food!

Interesting fact: the idea of 'potluck' doesn't exist in India. So inviting people to a potluck caused some confusion and comments like "Why would I bring my own food to someone's house when I can eat it at home?" Another person thought they had to bring food ONLY for themselves and eat it at someone's house. In the end, EVERY Indian (except 1) brought store or restaurant food, nobody else brought homemade food except the Americans! Considering American culture is often criticized for its obsession with pre-packaged food, fast food and eating out, I found this very interesting.

'Thanksgiving' was a first for most of our guests. So I took a few minutes to explain the different foods. Thank goodness we had two rice dishes in addition to the 'American food'. I think everyone liked to try the new foods, but they were not overly popular with the Indian crowd.

The food did receive 'thumbs-up' from Hamsa's family!

Personally, the exciting thing about sharing thanksgiving in other countries is gathering people with various backgrounds and watching them interact, connect, network and make friends. In attendance we had Indians, NRIs, Indian-Americans, non-Indian Americans, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, doctors, med students, fellows (AIF, Fogarty, & Watson), college students, NGO professionals, HIV/AIDS activists, and education activists. Phew--it was a fascinating mix and many numbers were exchanged!

Pre-dinner lounging while we wait for all the guests to arrive! Sadly, it was raining most of the night and our rooftop idea was impossible to implement. Mr. Christopher (far right) had planned and brought games to play with the group but there just wasn't enough space since we were all packed into our very tiny apartment.

There was more than enough food for everyone! In fact, most guests left with more food than they brought--the true sign of a good Thanksgiving meal!

Our landlord's sons came up and tried the food...although polite, I think it got mixed reviews. They seemed to prefer the fried rice and veg curry options.

In addition to friends and family, we invited lots of our co-workers. This is me, my 'supervisor' (although she HATES that title), and her husband. It was fun to hang-out with them after work.

Food Coma!

I realized last night that I haven't actually celebrated Thanksgiving in the US since 2002! The last six years I've celebrated in India 3 times and Japan 3 times! I don't have any pictures from the 2003 Thanksgiving feast, that was before my digital camera era. But the other events are pictured below. Each year has taken a slightly different twist. In Japan there was always a turkey and apple & pumpkin pie, not to mention the famous door prizes! Last year in Dharamsala, we were unable to prepare food for all of our Tibetan students, so we just served brownies and tea. And this year it was a rainy vegetarian feast! Where will I celebrate Thanksgiving next year?

A Tibetan Thanksgiving Dharamsala, India 2007

A Festive Funami Thanksgiving Toyama, Japan 2006

A Festive Funami Thanksgiving Toyama, Japan 2005

Nyuzen's First Thanksgiving -- Toyama, Japan 2004

Camping by Lake Baikal

Russian Village Life--I love the blue window trim!

A night by the lake--so idyllic!

On the shores of Lake Baikal! Crystal clear water you can drink! Delicious!

Team GBT bids 'paka' to Lake Baikal and to all our new friends!

Hiking out from our Lake Camp spot! Why can't I learn to pack lighter??

Vladivsotok-Irkutsk Train Journey

Here we go: Vladivostok to Irkutsk!

Nappy Nappy!!

All boys do is sleep!

A happy (but dirty) train family!

Food stops! Delicious homemade goodies!

Photos from the Ferry

Saying Good-bye in Fushiki!

Please, please don't leave me!!

There WAS a swimming pool at once upon a time!

The reason for the hangover through immigration--cheap beer!

Vladivostok Train Terminal with our Ferry in the background! And our new friend, a JET from Gunma!

A Blessing In Disguise

I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Irkutsk, Russia after returning from two weeks in the Khamar-Dhaban Jungle with Great Baikal Trail (www.greatbaikaltrail.org) and I am weeks behind on my blogging and stories I would like to tell. So I am going to start from the beginning and hopefully in the next few weeks be able to catch up a bit. So here goes....back to July 28th, Ferry from Fushiki to Vladivostok:

We boarded the ferry bound for Russia just after noon yesterday. Mihoko, Yuko, Shu, Linea and Owen came to see us off. And thank goodness they did. For some unknown reason they were given special permission to board the boat with us. We found our cabin with four beds, bunk-style, and a private bathroom and shower. And we all explored the ship a little--ooing and aawing at everything 'russian'. At about 230 they called us in to do immigration in the disco hall. The Japanese immigration/customs officer had set up his desk and computer just below the disco ball on the dance floor, next to the stage. I handed over my passport and gaijin card. No problem. JP handed over his passport and the immigration officer handed it back and said his visa had expired and he would need a new stamp. I went out and alerted our entourage. The team started brainstorming and putting the pieces together. After consulting with a few crew members and the Japanese staff, we collected JPs bags, I handed him his trans-siberian ticket (worse case scenario) and Mihoko, Shu and JP ran to the car and headed to the Toyama airport--the ONLY place he would be able to file for an extension. The airport office had been warned and was waiting. In the meantime, Linea, Yuko, Matt and I sat waiting in the ferry reception lounge texting friends and waiting for updates. That was at 320. We got a call from the airport crew at just after 400 that they had completed the paperwork and were headed back. The ferry was scheduled to depart at 600. Hurray!

At about 445, the immigration officer called for JP over the loudspeaker. I went in and told them he was on the way and they said they would wait--amazing! The Japanese worker on board said he had never seen anything like this before, they never waited for anyone! And apparently the boat had finished loading all the cars early and was ready to depart EARLY!

At about 450 JP and the gang came running in! The guard had been given instructions to let them in and the front gate and they were allowed to drive right up to the boat! Three minutes later JP returned having satisfied the visa requirements! He was free to leave the country! An announcement was made in English that all visitors (ie our friends) were requested to leave.

There was a lot of crying and hugging and laughing after the stress of the afternoon and getting JP to the airport and back on time...not to mention the reality of saying good-bye. Linea and I held each other for a long time and cried. I thanked Shu profusely for his amazing driving and navigation skills. And without Mihoko and her travel agent connections, Im not sure we would have pulled it off. And Yuko remained calm and helped keep us sane through the entire thing. What an amazing team and group of friends! JP could not have gotten on the boat without them. And we would have had to leave him behind!

After our teary good-byes we ran to the top deck and yelled good-bye. We made a paper airplane and weighted it down with a safety pin. We took photos and a little after 530 we pushed off. For all the people on the boat, we were the only ones with an entourage and our friends were the only bon voyage party on the docks. Not only did many other passengers already know our story from the crying and chaos in the lobby, but now we had a good-bye party too!

As the boat turned around and left port, we lost sight of everyone, but quickly ran to the other side and resumed waving. As they all faded from view, I called Linea from one final choked up good-bye. We were both crying.

I stayed on the deck awhile texting last good-byes to friends all over Japan. Before leaving Toyama bay the dinner announcement was made and we were seated for our first Russian meal--meat and potatos, soup, cold fish, and an apple roll. JP was seated at a seperate table for an unknown reason but quickly made friends with the other foreigners seated there--a Brit, two Americans (ex-JETS), 3 Fins, and an Australian couple. Next to our table was a Ukrainian family that introduced themselves in broken Japanese that ended with the husband asking if I had a boyfriend and the wife laughingly requesting that he stand up because it was time to go. Between the three of them they had finished a bottle of vodka at dinner. Astounding!

After living in Toyama for 3 years, I have too easily and complacently adopted the common stereotypes of Russians as unapproachable, loud drunks, only tied to the used car business. But I have have no Russian friends and I have never really talked to any before, at least not in my three years in Toyama. I know my stereotypes are not fair but they are there, and I felt them all surface when I saw the ferry and realized the adventure I had just signed up for. They were reinforced when we saw big burly bare-chested Russian men loading car parts onto ALL the decks of the ferry and saw trucks parked outside the docks selling car stereos, tires and other misc. goods. I sat and had lunch with my friends and cried. What had I decided to do? This was not Japan anymore. But surviving the little setback of JP and his visa situation required asking Russian crew and staff for help and interacting with all sorts of people onboard. The end result: they were all so helpful and friendly! The pursur on board that spoke English kept walking by us all afternoon as we waited for JP to return and said, "Dont worry, be happy." And they kept telling us they would wait! In the end it all worked out and it helped me see people for people: helpful and friendly!

The two night journey ended too quickly if you ask me! We barely had time to catch up on some much needed sleep and crack open a book...oh and visit the Disco and try some Russian beer, before we arrived in Vladivostok and had to deal with customs, luggage storage, finding food, and making our train!

And now...I am going to sleep! I will continue the tales from the trans-siberian and from Siberia from another exotic location...tomorrow I board a two night train to Mongolia! My goal: see some sumo!

Love from Siberia!

The Last Party with Toyama Friends

This overnight party has been in the works for months. We've been talking and planning and thinking about how to say good-bye to our best friends of three years. So, we rented a traditional Japanese house in Nyuzen and set up camp for the night. Yuko, Mihoko and Chika took over the food and cooking responsibilities and we ate REALLY well! There was a lot of lounging, some drinking, watching old home movies, telling "I remember when" stories, co-ed onsening and late night talks. It was a great chill overnight party, a great way to spend time with friends before everyone goes in different directions. Most of us still have another opportunity to say good-bye. But there were a few final good-byes this morning. I wasn't involved in any, but I cried anyway. I hate seeing close friends part. Because it means we are all saying good-bye to a very important chapter of our lives. It means that our paths that have crossed for the last three years are about to fork and head in different directions. And none of us really know if our paths cross again--when or where? We all hope they will, but the reality is uncertain. It's always best to enjoy the moments we have together and not think too much about what may or may not happen in the future. Thanks everyone for making this overnight happen!! It was a great way to spend a chill night with close friends! Adding more memories to the last three years that won't soon be forgotten!

Yuko and Mihoko cooking up Yakisoba and Okonomiyaki

Our Family Dinner

Whoa...kinda busty in this pic!

And looking drunk in this pic!

Our overnight escape