Sista K シサタケ சிஷ்ட கே सिस्ट के

Follow on twitter: @sistaKAA

2010-05-21T11:28:00.006+09:00

After living abroad on and off for the last 12 years, and in an attempt to make the transition back to the US (semi-permanently) a little smoother, Sista K or @sistaKAA , has decided to join the masses and start contributing to and participating in twitter.

Not to worry folks, I have no plans on telling you what I had for breakfast via tweets (a mango orange smoothie and coffee with milk sans suger, if you're interested). This will be an informational, news reporting and sharing, education focused twitter feed. I'll be following education news as it relates to India specifically and developing countries in general, as well as domestic educational issues and policies. I'm also interested in general issues, updates and feeds concerning international development (i.e. microfinance, public health, MDGs, environmental issues.), ELT, EFL/ESL, literacy, and global news. I'll also be reporting on the production of the Ready to Read DVD modules over the next few months. And as a member of my local community, wherever I am, you can guarantee I'll be posting about local issues and events.

I'm also hoping it will inspire me to be a more active blogger again. Perhaps the two can be mutual beneficial if used correctly. Still playing and learning about the twitter tool...lots to discover. But already impressed at its reach and ability to communicate quickly and effectively if used appropriately. These are exciting times, I'm trying to keep up.

Tweet tweet,
@sistaKAA

Can you handle Mysore Masala?

2010-05-20T12:02:00.004+09:00

Congratulations, Nithya and Vali! Mysore Masala presents a spicy dance item to wish you a lifetime of love, happiness and of course...lots of spice.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-05-12T19:01:00.002+09:00

Happy Happy Birthday Dad! See you in just two months and we will celebrate in style! Love you!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-05T15:13:00.003+09:00

To the world's greatest mom on mother's day...I love you!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Fliptastic Films presents

2010-04-10T17:48:00.001+09:00

Do it yourself: Curd in the Kitchen from Kirsten Anderson on Vimeo.

A quick update

2010-02-21T13:22:00.004+09:00

I dream of blogging again one day. In the meantime, here is a link to the blog I posted on the AIF blog in December.

More recently, however, the English team and I've been doing a lot of traveling. I've visited almost all all the districts where the Ready to Read program is being run this year. During those visits I visit schools and observe classes, interact with students and teachers and we try to screen the DVD at least once a visit. We are getting great feedback and seeing how the program is both working and how we need to adjust our teacher training to make it a stronger program in the future.

I've been on the road a lot these days--overnight trains, buses, share autos, autos, walking through rice paddies, and riding on the back of motorbikes--seeing a lot of rural Tamil Nadu. It's humbling and inspiring. It makes me appreciate coming back to my sanctuary in Chennai, and yet makes me dream of spending quiet weeks in a village learning to milk cows and sleeping under the stars.

I feel very lucky to be where I am doing what I'm doing, but my time (and funding) here is coming to an end. I need to make a plan. What's next? I'm usually great at planning. I love planning. But for some reason, I feel overwhelmed at the options, and overwhelmed at all there is still to do. Have I made even a dent? Can I ever? And will that ever be enough? Or has this just served my selfish desire to try and do some good in the world?

I posed with a class of 5th graders and their teacher in Dharmapuri district.

Wow! What's that sound? - A 5 Minute Teaser

2009-12-17T00:51:00.003+09:00

Wow! What's that sound? - A 5 minute teaser from Kirsten Anderson on Vimeo.

After a long gap...Wow! What's that sound?

2009-12-15T20:27:00.002+09:00

After a long gap, I am posting to my blog again. It's because of the project below I haven't been posting for the last few months. Watch the video below and stay tuned for how you can support this project via kickstarter.com

Behind the Scenes of "Wow! What's that sound?" from Kirsten Anderson on Vimeo.

The Art of Compassion

2009-09-13T13:57:00.000+09:00

A great man once said,
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

That man is His Holiness the Dalai Lama, spiritual and political leader of Tibet. I have seen the Dalai Lama twice in my life. His infectious smile, his curiosity about other cultures, and his love of life, travel and adventure remind me of another great man, -- my Grandfather, Harold Iverson, or as I started calling him when I was one, “Pops.”

Pops was a man of compassion. He practiced this compassion in his skillful plumbing and woodworking and in trips cross-country to attend graduations and do home projects. He practiced compassion through insightful questions that he asked during international phone calls and in handwritten letters. Two weeks ago, when I slept in a bed next to him, he practiced compassion by watching the clock all night and ringing his bell at exactly 3:55am to make sure I wouldn’t oversleep and miss my flight, - - even though it meant we had to say our final good-byes. He was taking care of me while I was supposed to be on watch taking care of him. He was innately loving. It’s who he was.

This was especially evident through his acceptance of his family’s choices and the unconditional love and support he gave us. While I never doubted this, it was made evident to me 4-5 years ago when I was living in Japan. I received one of his hand-written letters, full of curious questions asking about the food I ate, how I managed with chopsticks, was I learning Japanese, and about the exorbitant price of watermelon. It also had family updates and the latest news from Pops’ and Marge’s garden. But this particular letter was special and one I’ll never forget. Pops wrote that he was proud of me for following my own path, for not feeling I had to follow societal pressures and norms. He was 100% supportive of my efforts to travel and see the world - - to follow my own dreams. He knew my path to happiness was my own and he honored me for being honest with myself.

There are many spoken and unspoken expectations in society. I have met some and not met others. I’m okay with that. Though my path is different, Pops never judged me and never questioned my choices. He only encouraged and supported me in my quest to find happiness. In our last hours together, Pops said, “As long as you are happy, go ahead”.

Our family has had its share of divisiveness, hurt, and pain, - - but as I reflect on Pops’ life and all that he stood for, I’ve learned a great lesson from him, that perhaps I will never master as well as he, ...the art of true compassion. I strive to follow his example and to honor the life he led; to be a more compassionate loving person in my own life each day.

The Dalai Lama said:

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
Without them humanity cannot survive.”

Pops has just made his greatest journey. He leaves us with lots of stories and memories but more importantly the example he set--that compassion should sit at the core of one’s life. I’d like the rest of my life’s journey to be filled with the same spirit. - - Pops will always be with me, guiding the way.

The Biggest Journey

2009-09-05T20:05:00.004+09:00

My grandfather just made the biggest journey of his life. He was adored by many and will be greatly missed. Thank you for the memories, the stories, the support and the unconditional love and compassion.

I love you Pops.

My mom wrote a wonderful account of our memories of him and his life on her blog: Woman...on the loose!

Ready to Read

2009-06-17T22:03:00.004+09:00

I've been getting complaints about my lack of blogging lately...my apologies. Where is the time? Who has the energy in this heat? But the primary reason is because of a new project I'm working on, Ready to Read. The exciting news: I was awarded a grant from my alma matar, Grinnell College, to implement the project over the next 10 months. That means I'll be staying in India and I have a lot more time for blogging (in theory). In the mean time, visit the Ready to Read blog where I will be posting program updates and challenges--of which there are many!

AIF Exposure Visit: Kutch's Migrant Population & Education

2009-04-29T20:49:00.000+09:00

Last week, while recovering from a mutton biriyani induced illness, I flew to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, took an overnight bus to the city of Mundra in the district of Kutch, Gujarat and spent two days visiting the migrant communities a fellow AIF fellow, Diane, has been working with for the last 8 months. Working within the education sector with urban disadvantaged populations I have not been exposed to the rural scenario. It was hot, it was dry, it was sparse, it was dire and unlike anything I had seen before. The following attempts to highlight and explain some of my observations as I continue to process what we did, where we went, what we saw and all the questions that were raised.

AIF Exposure Visit

After Prev and I found our ‘honeymoon suite’ on the bus, I walked up to the front, called Diane and handed my phone to the driver’s assistant so she could tell him in Hindi where to drop us. Seven AC hours later we were awoken by the driver’s assistant and escorted off the bus. But not only were we escorted off the bus, we were escorted through the early morning dark cool desert directly to Diane’s doorstep. Apparently, Patel Travels and Diane are close, really close, next-door neighbors to be exact.

There was little rest for the weary. After a few minutes of shuffling around stuff and settling on a sleeping arrangement that would only last an hour, we crashed, woke up, showered, and ran out the door to catch the bus with peanut butter and nutella sandwiches in hand.

The next two days of buses, jeeps, walking, meeting people, trying to stay hydrated and trying to stay out of the sun was exhausting and while fascinating, was ultimately depressing and it left me asking lots of questions about the role of NGOs, development and education:

What is the role of funders in projects? Is it purely monetary? What level of accountability should be required?
How can marginalized migrant communities be brought into the network of public services such as primary education and primary health care?
If governments can’t (or don’t) provide marginalized communities with basic services and NGOs also struggle, who will provide these services? What needs to be changed so the government or NGO sector can integrate these populations?
Is something (minimal services) for a few better than nothing at everyone?
What are the benchmark indicators for primary education? How many days does a teacher need to be at school to call it education? How many days does a student need to attend school to call it education? What resources need to be provided in a school to call it a center of learning? What skills do children need to acquire for primary education to really be an education?
Are there sustainable models of education for migrant communities that have worked in other areas? What can be learned from those?
Are NGOs and donors doing adequate research before implementing projects in particular communities? Do they know enough about the communities they are working with? How can those of us working in development improve the information gathering process to better serve the communities we work with?

The primary reason I wanted to visit Kutch was to see how education was (or was not) happening in these migrant communities. The government has schools in the villages, but these schools are not accessible by the migrant populations: saltpan workers, fishing villages, and the animal herders. Realizing this need, an NGO in Kutch works primarily to provide basic services for the migrant populations.

Day 1-Surveying the Salt Pans

After munching on our sandwiches and getting briefed by Diane on the almost 2 hour bus ride, we arrived in a town called Adipur. We met our jeep driver and their research assistants and headed off to the a nearby Salt Company’s saltpans outside of a village on the southern coast of Kutch.

The saltpans are expansive and sunglasses are required to stare out at the glaring bright white salt. Similar in size and shape to the endless square rice paddies of Japan, the saltpan squares disappear on the horizon. While most of the workers work at night to avoid the heat, the day landscape is also dotted with bright pinks and oranges, and the brilliant blues and greens of the saris of the day labors raking the salt under the hot sun.

The primary activity of the day was observing the research assistants administer a demographic survey, focused on the women of each household. The aim was to collect qualitative information about the saltpan workers, because not much is known about who they are, where they come from, or how they are living. Apparently, most of the workers are from Eastern Kutch, the Rajpur and Bachau blocks. They work 6 days a week, and make about 300 rupees. They get one day off, decided by the salt company, to go and buy necessary food provisions in the town nearby. Perhaps because the workers and their families come from various villages and areas in Kutch, or because the work demands that families live near their particular saltpans, there does not seem to be much of a community atmosphere among the workers.

Each family lives in a collection of burlap tents, their only protection from the sun and heat of the desert. Since most of the parents work at night, the kids sleep alone in the tents. Consequently, while the parents are sleeping during the day, the kids are alone to entertain themselves. While I was there, walking from house to house following the researchers, I saw lots of kids. Without access to much fresh water, they looked like they hadn’t bathed in a long time—matted salt filled hair. The few babies I saw had skin rashes of varying severity, in one extreme case flies coated the baby’s buttocks.

While we were driving around the saltpans with the research assistants, Diane pointed out the cement building designated as the school. It sat empty, and looked unused, no teacher or students in sight. Perhaps it is just summer vacation? However, while we were doing our research, one of the young girls came up to Diane and asked her “Where is my teacher? He hasn’t come in a long time.” It was a sad situation, and there was nothing to say to her. Diane’s earlier attendance tracking study indicated that the teacher had indeed not been at this particular school in quite awhile.

After the research team called it quits for the day we returned to the college, dropped off the assistants and sent the jeep driver home. We went to the local “College Canteen” and sat down for a much needed refreshment - ice cream and cool drinks. We reflected on the day and the dire situation of education and life in general in the saltpans.

Day 2-Finding the Fishing Village

After another delicious feast of peanut butter and nutella sandwiches on the bus, we were dropped off in a small village where our jeep picked us up and drove us to the Muslim fishing settlement on the coast. This settlement is drastically different from the saltpans. Most of the fisher families come from villages 10-50 km away, and commute on a regular basis. The fishing village is set up to replicate a real community, with several small shops, and burlap tent compounds encircled with wooden fences hugging the shoreline. Many of the compounds have animals presumably both used for transport and food. We also saw a solar panel, several motorcycles and even a car at one house. But even as we arrived, several families were packing up and leaving, apparently the fishing season had stopped being as productive as they had hoped.

As soon as we parked the jeep and got out, an old man, one of the elders of the village, approached Diane and proceeded to tell her all about how various NGOs had been coming to this village and the work they were doing there, or the work they had promised to do. In the end he said that the NGOs had disappointed the communities. That was evident when we went to visit the school and had a look at the dry water tank.

The school consisted of concrete block rooms with a corrugated tin roof. There were colorful paintings on the walls to teach kids about fruits, the Gujarati alphabet and body parts. But nobody had used the school in such a long time that there were bird droppings covering the floor causing a horrible smell and ants had already destroyed parts of the floor. Furniture was piled up in a corner, unused for sometime. Another concrete block floor base had been built but did not have walls. It looked like the villagers had constructed a makeshift room with burlap bag walls, but it had also been neglected.

We walked around the community and along the beach, which was eerily waterless. The tide was so far out we couldn’t see the water. This also meant that the boats just sat in the muddy sand, stranded until the next tide. On the way back to the jeep, we stopped by a water tank that had been built to help supply the community with fresh water. However, when we looked inside the tank was bone dry. Apparently it was assumed that the nearby village would be the fresh water source for this community and they would not allow it. So families continue to commute into town on a daily basis for water, or have a tanker come and deliver water to their homes.

After leaving the fishing village we headed to the main office of Yusuf Meherally Center (YMC), Diane’s NGO placement. While the office itself was quiet, nearby is one of YMC’s hostels for migrant workers children. The idea behind the hostel is to allow kids to stay in the community and attend the local government school. Considering the teacher attendance is problematic at the migrant worker schools, this seems to be a more viable option. However, it too has downsides. Many parents do not feel comfortable leaving their children with strangers, especially the girls. In addition, some families do not always migrate to/from the same village; they do not have a home base, so keeping kids in a hostel in one village is counter intuitive. This particular hostel had about 24 students both boys and girls, but is probably capable of housing double or triple that. The kids were in the middle of eating lunch when we arrived, but were happy to show us their living quarters and take a quick picture with us.

Before returning to Diane’s lovely little row house, we had the driver take us through the new Mundra port area. This port is quickly changing the landscape and economy of the region. And with increased levels of pollution in the water, the migrant fishing community may be forced to find a new livelihood in the near future.

Before boarding another overnight bus, we played with the neighbor boy, Samye, the son of the Patel Travels employee. On our way to the bus stand, we took a quick tour of the walled old city and stopped off at a little snack place for dinner. Eight AC hours later and we were back in Ahmedabad knocking on Natassia and Ekta’s door at 5am.

Thank you to Diane & Dean for being such wonderful hosts. I could not have asked for better exposure! Thanks also to university research grants, the skilled jeep driver, the College Canteen, Patel Travels, and Diane’s friendly neighbors, especially little Samye.

Mujer en el flojo!

2009-04-24T00:23:00.002+09:00

I've just signed on for another year in India and my sister has just started her 4th year in Korea. No point in sitting around and waiting for us to come 'home', so my parents are applying for the Peace Corps...how cool is that! Yes, I have cool parents! Here is the latest update in their application adventure posted on my mom's blog: Mujer en el flojo! Woman...on the loose!

Missing My Japanese Home

2009-04-20T12:08:00.004+09:00

Recently a lot of people have been asking if I miss Japan, my last long-term home. Maybe its just their suggestion of missing Japan, but yes, I am really missing Japan. Especially at this time of year when all chances of snow storms are gone, but the mountains are still snow-capped. And when the cherry blossoms are blooming, a time for friends, co-workers, and family to gather for picnics, barbecues and bonfires under the trees. As I sit in my non-AC steaming apartment trying to convince myself that sweating buckets on the bus on the way to work isn't an awful way to start the day....Yes, I miss spring in Japan.

Funagawa--My favorite Cherry Blossom viewing spot!

My backyard once upon a time: Nyuzen Tulips and the Japanese Alps in the background.

Cherry Blossoms Up Close

Spring flowers in Nyuzen with the Japanese Alps in the background

Thanks Yukiko for sending the pics! Can't wait to see you in two weeks!!!

Happy Holi from Udaipur

2009-03-31T11:12:00.010+09:00

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!)

MASH Professional Development

2009-03-24T11:36:00.003+09:00

Since starting my MA at the University of Birmingham, I've been colleagues and great friends with a group of very talented and research driven guys (sadly, it is a male dominated industry). During our coursework, they decided to start MASH-Meet Ask Share and Help, a collaborative group for University of Birmingham graduates. In addition to the conferences they have organized in Japan, they have recently started a Professional Development column on ELTnews.com. Guess who is featured this week?

This has been a great tool for professional development and collaborative research projects including publishing. More on that as it develops...

A Birthday Bash

2009-03-21T22:17:00.009+09:00

Another year older, another year wiser? Hmm...that's always the question! But it is a good time to reflect and think about what's happened in the last year and how all the fun and interesting surprises life throws at us. I didn't know a year ago that I would be celebrating my birthday in India his year. And I don't know where I'll be celebrating next year. It's all part of the fun!

And what a fun birthday it was! It started off with a very HOLI surprise.

8am on my rooftop. I went up there to 'help Hamsa hang the laundry line' and instead got pounded with pink.

After showering and cleaning most of the color off, Hamsa and I made brunch for several friends. The menu included Mexican egg scramble, fruit salad and fajita salad. It was super tasty. I just wish we had a bigger kitchen to cook in, and a dining room to serve it in.

I attempted to make my Grandmother's cinnamon caramel rolls (without an oven). They were delicious even if they were a little doughy.

Georgina--eat more, please!!

Hamsa even rolled out our own 'tortillas'. Yep, we're homely like that!

After enjoying a delicious breakfast we continued the food feast at "Ecstasy" a gourmet chocolate cafe in Chennai. We ordered the chocolate chili loaf, chocolate chili milkshakes and tiramisu.

Enjoying our women's day at Ecstasy!

After watching "The Rosa Parks Story" at the International Women's Film Festival, the birthday bash continued with dinner at Cornucopia.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate my birthday and international women's day. It was a fabulously fun day with great friends and lots of food.

Have you laughed today?

2009-02-25T14:31:00.005+09:00

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

2009-02-21T03:36:00.004+09:00

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

Would you believe....

2009-02-15T15:41:00.004+09:00

It has taken 6 months, but I've finally discovered more to Chennai than dosai, filter coffee, temples and street-side jasmine stalls. Would you believe...

...that I had delicious kimchee and bulgogi this week at a Korean owned restaurant.
...that I ate amazing calamari and prawns at a Spanish Tapa's bar.
...that the Thai green curry is almost as good here as it was on Ko Samui.
...that a club in Chennai was charging $65 per couple to get on Valentine's. And that three friends and I got in and didn't pay but that's another story.
...that there are house parties with expats wearing stilettos, tuxedos and fake mustaches and drinking old monk.
...that there are crazy Italians, Portuguese, and Spanish people residing here.
...that the carrot cake at my favorite outdoor cafe is passable as real carrot cake.
...that there was a full marathon through Chennai this weekend.
...that pictures of Obama are becoming part of the natural landscape.

But let us now forget there is also...
...the guy who works at the auto-parts store down the street was concerned that I was walking around after dark.
...the aunty that live downstairs who wants to know why she hears us coming home late some nights.
...the bus drivers that yell at me for standing in the door well because its too dangerous for women, but men can hang out the bus door.
...the auto drivers that try to charge my twice the going rate because I'm a foreigner.
...the sketchy men that gawk on the side of the street or yell obsenitites as they ride by on their motorcycles.

I mention all these things because when you 'see' Chennai you would not believe that there is much more to it what meets the eye, which can be really overwhelming and quite honestly, not that impressive. There are no real tourist sites or places of interest in Chennai, but if you stick it out, and can put up with the bus drivers, aunties, curious neighbors and sketchy men, there is an interesting blending of cultures under the surface. I don't need and don't want to be part of the expat scene all the time, but it is nice to find and experience the blend occasionally.

Competing for Public Space

2009-02-13T19:53:00.006+09:00

Everyday all over Chennai's walls, gates, doors, trees, telephone poles, buses, and autos people paint or paste advertisements. The majority of them are for the latest Tamil movies. These posters are usually larger than life images of heroes saving the day--dramatic, but they haven't inspired me to see any Tamil movies of late.

The next popular city-wide advertisement is for English schools. My favorite by far is for the "Speak Easy" School of English. Apparently they didn't think to google it before they named their school that. Then again, cultural context means everything! Wouldn't it be great if it really was a speakeasy, pretending to be an English school. Could be an entirely new methodology there, probably a fairly effective one. Alcohol is only available in five star hotels, not far from the laws of prohibition.

OH, and let's not forget all the signs with interesting translations, not to mention content.

But what I find ironic is that the last two, are by far the most visible signs in Chennai. The 'Speak Easy' English school and sex specialist, Dr. Biswas have the most signs posted of any I have seen. So much so that they are constantly competing for signage space. Every day one has replaced the other, until they become one in the same, asking the question...Does Dr. Biswas have a proper English translator on hand? Apparently not.

Draw your own conclusions...the streets of Chennai are plastered with 'Speak Easy' and cures for impotency, among other sexual dysfunctions.

For more fun signage, check out my Signs in Chennai set on flickr.

Life in Chennai

2009-01-18T19:59:00.003+09:00

This is the video I made for the AIF midpoint orientation. It's just a little peek into life in Chennai! Make sure your speakers are on - Enjoy!

Madurai & SEED 9th Annual Day

2009-01-12T11:50:00.000+09:00

After my tropical beach vacation in Thailand I flew down to Madurai to visit my host family and attend the 9th annual day for the SEED Center. I've lived in Madurai for a significant amount of time and let me tell you....it's a whole different beast! Even for a 'town' of over a million people, it feels more like a village. Cows, goats, bullocks, and horses roam EVERY street. And everyone knows everyone. It's the kind of town where if you buy blue bangles near the main temple at 11am, by the time you reach home 20-30 minutes away, your family already knows that 1) you bought bangles 2) what color they are 3) where you bought them 4) how much you paid for them and 5) who you were with. One has to be VERY careful as there are NO secrets in Madurai. I loved living there, but am glad to be experiencing a metropolitan Indian city this time around.

A South Indian meal on a banana leaf prepared for me by one of the SEED volunteers mothers.

My host mom trying to negotiate with a cow so she can back her scooter out into traffic.

My host mom cooking deliciousness--a scene I have enjoyed and benefited from for 10 years!

A SEED student, volunteer and good friend of mine! She is currently trying to persuade her parents to postpone her marriage 2 more years so she can get more work experience.

Two more SEED volunteers (and a former student) who are also my role models!

The SEED students playing group 'janken pon' a game the Japanese ALTs taught them during an English camp in 2005.

Welcome to SEED's 9th Annual Day!

The Annual Day event had dancing, singing, and speeches! It was a fun afternoon and evening of community and togetherness for the 3 SEED centers in Madurai.

Some artwork done by the SEED volunteers! They should really market and sell this stuff! It's beautiful!

Some of the SEED students demonstrating some of the their art projects
during the art exhibition!

Happy NEW YEAR to all the SEED Centers!

Gap in Education

2009-01-10T17:12:00.001+09:00

A friend directed me to this link awhile back and I have been meaning to post it. It clearly shows how much more work is required in the field of education to ensure that EVERY child really is able to get a quality education. Sadly, so many factors stand in the way: governments, economic resources, access to health care and cultural norms just to name a few. This visual reminder of the widening gap in education makes me wonder if any one NGO really makes that much of a difference? These numbers are charted based on national average rates. How much can and do individual success stories impact the larger picture? How quickly will the bigger picture ever improve if we are dependent on small-scale improvements, especially in a country like India?

The Yawning Gap in Education from The Economist

Mini Adventures in Thailand

2009-01-02T22:09:00.010+09:00

Over the past few weeks I've had a few big adventures--a week in Thailand and 3 days in Madurai, and lots of mini-adventures in between. I'm back in Chennai now and back at work...it's always sad to see the holidays and vacations end, but it is nice to get back into daily routine for awhile...until the next vacation that is! I'll let the pictures narrate the stories!

Thailand is just a hop, skip and a jump away from India, but it took two flights and about 8 hours to get there. Plus, there was a potential immigration problem in India--my innocent smile solved it. And then in Thailand they didn't want to accept my domestic ticket--again, smiling seemed to do the trick! :) I arrived after an all night flight just in time for breakfast and a day exploring the island.

On my first day on the island, my parents took me literally around the ENTIRE island. We stopped at a beautiful beach for lunch, at the elephant safari to feed the baby, some sight-seeing, and for a little shopping.

No visit to Koh Samui is complete without a stop at the BIG BUDDHA!

My parents rented a jeep for my visit. It was great to have wheels to get around the island, but it was VERY small and barely sat 2, much less 3--with no shocks whatsever! No wonder Thai massage is so popular!

Hot Damn! I haven't seen a super market like this in....hmm? Actually, not sure I ever have! It was incredibly huge and so well organized. It was clean, the food looked fresh and delicious and there was almost NOBODY in it--EVER! I had to sneak a few pictures and then I was told by the staff that photographs were not allowed. Sadly, mega super markets mostly cater to the tourist industry in Thailand, and with the global economic crisis and the airport closure, there are almost no tourists in Thailand this year. Places like these are really suffering! Moral of the story: go grocery shopping in Thailand!

Lucky for me, my parents are in Thailand for several months and are staying in a bungalow, not a hotel. We were able to eat breakfast at home, make our own coffee, watch the news, and generally just relax in their flat when we weren't out and about or on the beach. And lucky for them, their bungalow complex comes with a restaurant next to a pond (with killer koi) and the swimming pool. The cooks are fabulous and everything I ate there was amazing: crispy chicken salad, lemon chicken salad, mixed vegetables, green curry, and of course pad thai to die for!

How can you beat this, really? Swim in the ocean or in the pool--take your pick! Both are amazing. And here is the best part...because all the resorts are hurting for tourists, they don't seem to care if you just walk in and go for a swim. So that is what we did...over and over again. It was like a luxury resort pool tour of Koh Samui. I wish I could have stayed longer cause I only got to see a handful of pools.

Absolutely the best pineapple and mango you've ever eaten! This very hardworking man walks up and down the beach all day with this hanging on this shoulders waiting for hungry tourists to buy fruit or roasted corn from him. It is worth every baht! The mango melted in my mouth!

Besides beaches, pools and finding more delicious food, we visited a few temples as well. This one was particularly beautiful...a temple sitting in a lotus floating on a lake. Besides big bellied Buddha and 10-armed Buddha, they also had shrines to Shiva, Ganesh and Parvathy. I guess Hinduism made it to this tiny little island! And surprise, surprise, surprise...the Evangelicals have made it to the island as well. We were invited to a Christmas service at the Evagelical Mission. Out of curiosity and hoping for some traditional christmas carols, we went. We lasted about 20 minutes before we started poking each other and asking how best we could sneak out. The best part was their version of the Christmas story which they adapted to their context to make it easier for the kids to understand. In their version, Joseph and Mary are turned away at the inns because it's high season! Gotta love it!

How did this happen on vacation? I got dragged into helping my parents teach two classes! I guess it is only fair after I dragged them around my classes in Japan. But still...I was on vacation! It was interesting to compare Thai and Indian schools. Even though my parents think these kids are a bunch of trouble-makers, they were angles compared to the inner-city Chennai kids I teach! Although, there was one boy in the 6th grade class who put a plastic bag over another kids head and tried to suffocate him. He learned the wrath of Sista K real fast and was great for the rest of class, he even completed the assignment!

Yet another delicious meal--hot pot Thai style! They give you the hot pot and you go through a line and pick out all the vegetables, meats, fish, and noodles that you want to add to it. My mom was a bit skeptical of the meat because it was just sitting out and she saw the waiters putting unused raw meat from another table back onto the buffet. Whatever! It all tasted great!

Beach time!! I want more beach time! Notice how blue and clear and clean the water is. In India, I live 10 minutes by walk from the beach and it looks and smells like a sewer. So sad!
One of the days we took a few ferries to another island for snorkeling. There wasn't enough time (there never is) but it was great to be in the water with lots of brightly colored fish of all shapes and sizes. Oh, tropical vacation, I love you!

Another pic from the beautiful snorkeling island! Also notice, how very little clothing one is allowed to wear in Thailand--shorts, bikini tops, exposed skin? What a refreshing change!
Oh, tropical paradise, why did I ever leave you?

A Christmas Eve Mai Tai! I think this is a new holiday ritual for our family. No more egg nog. No more mint hot chocolate with Baileys! We're buying pineapples, rum, fruit juice and orchids for our next Christmas celebration.

Christmas eve dinner on the beach, feet in the sand! We ate chicken satay, pad thai, massuman curry, and fruit for dessert. Who needs traditions when you have tropical beaches in Thailand? I sure didn't miss the ridiculous shopping frenzy, plates of Christmas cookies or all the obligatory cards and gifts. Family, good food and a few Christmas carols in the background...what else do you need?

Christmas Day dinner the bungalow staff put on a HUGE spread of food. There was a present exchange, I got a dry iron--so useful! I love useful gifts! But it was raining for most of the evening, so we sat and ate under an umbrella. Our contribution was our famous fudge--always a big hit. That's one tradition that's hard to give up!

Going back to the airport is always bittersweet, especially when they don't want to let you on the plane cause your ticket is invalid! Again, just smile--it seems to work! I took FULL advantage of the Bangkok airport experience because where I come from I can't eat fresh green leafy vegetables or drink deliciously expensive corporate coffee. Desperatly conservative conditions at home also call for desperate credit card measures--my first ever stop at Duty Free!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-20T19:41:00.003+09:00

Happy Holidays to all our fellow AIFers throughout India and to all our friends and family back at home! Thinking of you and wishing you a warm and happy holiday season!

YRG Care Peds Clinic

2008-12-15T21:58:00.005+09:00

It's easy to forget the holidays are just around the corner when you live in a tropical predominantly Hindu country. No mad dash to buy presents. No Christmas cookies at work. No drives through the neighborhood to look at lights and decorations. Don't get me wrong though, Christmas does exist in India, just in different ways. There are random Xmas trees at gas stations and in 5 star hotels and pictures of Santa hanging in restaurants alongside adverts for Xmas dinners. But it doesn't really feel like the holidays. Besides a few Xmas tunes from my iPod, the season could almost pass without notice...but one event last weekend reminded me of the true spirit of Christmas--at least the one I prefer to associate with Christmas.

A fellow non-AIF fellow in Chennai works for Y.R.G. Care, an HIV/AIDS clinic and research center. She invited us to visit the pediatric clinic (once in three months). YES, a clinic for children with HIV. Families travel from all over South India for check-ups and medications spending what little money they have on travel, food and staying over in Chennai to help their kids. During the Christmas season YRG Care turns this day of doctors visits, tests and waiting into a Christmas carnival full of dancing, singing, games, popcorn and cotton candy, and even a visit by Santa Claus.

As new visitors (and prospective volunteers) to this clinic, we were unsure what our role could or should be. They seemed to have plenty of people managing all the activities and the kids were happily entertaining everyone with their singing and dancing. We are hopeful that next time around we can be more active participants now that we have made contact with the organizers.
I would guess that most, if not all, of the students are non-Christians, however Santa Claus was there and all the kids were thrilled to dance on stage with Jolly Saint Nick (who was actually a Jolly Saint Nicole!).

This is the true spirit of Christmas: family and friends, fun and togetherness!

Happy Belated Birthday!

2008-12-15T14:19:00.003+09:00

Happy Belated Birthday Praveen!!! Hope you're feeling 100% soon! Sorry you couldn't enjoy all the yummy tasty food last night--we'll go again in the New Year!

An MA Graduate...at last!

2008-12-12T03:03:00.005+09:00

I started my MA program in April 2006 and after 2.5 years of combined distance and on-campus study, I apparently graduated sometime this week in abstenia. I've completed my first MA! Yes...there might just be one more!

Instead of spending money I don't have for a lot of pomp and circumstance in the UK, my wonderful roommate organized a dinner with our lovely Chennai friends and even ordered a special chocolate cake! The food was also fabulous--appetizers with real mozzarella and fresh basil, salads with more mozzarella, two cheesy delicious pizzas, and four different pasta dishes with not even a hint of Indian spice! Thanks to everyone for coming and making this a memorable celebration!

Next up: Planning my celebratory MA graduation trip to Vietnam with my dad, updating and writing a new resume, looking for jobs for fall 2009 and researching the next MA program!

A Day in the Life of...

2008-12-12T02:46:00.004+09:00

I haven't written much if anything about my work here--and I promise to post more work and project-related posts here in the future. However, I have just posted A Day in the Life of... an AIF Service Corps Fellow and information about my work at AID India and specific projects on the AIF Service Corps Fellowship Blog. Instead of re-posting it here just follow the links above if you're interested!

Another update

2008-12-09T03:42:00.002+09:00

My roommate and I went to this crazy Western Dance Competition last night with our landlord's son. But I'm too lazy to write....check this out SHOCK 2008.

Recent Events

2008-12-07T18:36:00.004+09:00

Haven't been in much of a mood to blog these days...but a long one is on its' way. I might even mention exactly why I'm back in India and what I'm doing here. Seems all I blog about is my extracurricular activities, more on my work coming soon. But for now, this is what I've been up to:

Cooking: Making pancakes, crepes, bread, apple pie like treats and other goodies! It's fun to be in the kitchen and cooking again. I've missed it this last year! I just wish we had an oven...what I would give for an oven!

Went to a concert with Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Shivamani, U.Srinivas and Selva Ganesh--some of the best musicians in India! It was extraordinary! Sadly, it was only a 2 hour concert, I could have sat and listend for days.

Thankful for internet at home!

2008-11-28T15:56:00.004+09:00

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?

Thankful!

2008-11-28T02:11:00.003+09:00

There are many things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. The list is long and not comprehensive but includes:

A Dry Safe Place to Live: Due to Cyclone Nisha--the rain and all the flooding, I am thankful for a dry place to live. This morning after our power went out (8-6), we went to Hamsa's family's house to watch live coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. I am thankful both for a loving warm family that has taken me in and thankful to be safe and sound on a day of tragic proportions in India.

A Financially Supported Fellowship: Considering the current economic crisis--loss of jobs, failing banks, high unemployment, etc. I am very thankful and feel very lucky to be a financially supported full-time volunteer this year. This is a luxury!

An Internationally and Globally Minded Family: I have wonderful family all over the world that I love and respect. They are truly an inspiration to me!

Wishing everyone at home a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Internationalizing Thanksgiving

2008-11-23T17:13:00.015+09:00

'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

In the Papers

2008-11-14T13:36:00.003+09:00

In one week my roomie and I have been in the local Chennai paper twice! And both times we are pictured with Obama--yahoo!!!! Oh, how that happy that makes me, especially since I have family, exes, and friends that surely did NOT vote for Obama! Shocking I know, but it's true!

Admittedly, the first picture only includes my arm and refers to Hamsa as a local high school student. But the second picture includes both of us, plus our friend Rajitha in an article about ex-pats living and working in Chennai. Nowhere are we quoted or even interviewed for the article, but apparently they liked our posed shots with Obama's cut-out enough to use it twice in one week!

Art, Arattai, Aarpattam

2008-11-13T21:01:00.004+09:00

If you are in Chennai during the coming month, you must check out some of the events going on at the 'Art, Arattai, Aarpattam' Children's Festival. There will be art exhibitions, street theater, films, concerts, etc. This Saturday night, the famous percussionist Sivamani will be performing with children. It promises to be a GREAT performance!

AIF Digital Equalizer Inauguration

2008-11-10T18:22:00.008+09:00

In addition to the election excitement last week, I attended an inauguration for a new computer center at a boys high school in central Chennai. Without getting caught up in too many details, American India Foundation (AIF) has a program called Digital Equalizer that focuses on increasing the digital learning opportunities in disadvantaged schools as a way of equalizing educational opportunities and quality across the socio-economic divide. In the last few months, AIF has started its DE program in Tamil Nadu in conjunction with the government. All of the districts selected for this program are tsunami-affected areas in the coastal region. However, an international company called Applied Materials has funded two DE computer centers in urban government aided schools in Chennai.

It was the inauguration of one of the centers that I attended last week. It also happens that Applied Materials funds several AIF Service Corps Fellowships, and my fellowship is one they fund. Before the inauguration I met with the Applied Materials Corporate Responsibility CEO to discuss AIF Service Corps and to tell him about my projects as well as what several other fellows are doing during their fellowship. The meeting took place in the Applied Materials corporate office in Chennai—a far cry from my NGO office environment. They had 5 levels of security: under the car check, building guard and sign-in, office security door, sign-in at front desk (including computers) and finally the security door into the office space. It was a large floor full of cubicles, conference rooms, and had a cafeteria with employees playing table tennis. We met in the conference room and had a friendly informal discussion in conjunction with a Power Point presentation I made. He was quickly whisked off to another meeting while the DE staff and I drove off to the school to prepare for the inaugural event.

During our morning meeting, the CEO was told the inauguration would be a ‘simple’ event. I turned to him and said “It depends on your definition of simple”. He smiled and agreed that in his 2 days of being in India, he realized that ‘simple’ has an entirely different meaning here. As expected, it wasn’t so ‘simple’ from a foreigner’s perspective. But the actual inauguration was somewhat what I expected. It involved lots of pomp and circumstance and formalities. As the guests from DE and Applied Materials entered, the children were lined up on both sides of the drive-way in uniform, some saluting and others playing instruments. Next was a quick meeting and introductions in the principal’s office. Followed by a quick and unclimatic ribbon cutting and tour of the computer center. Finally everyone was ushered into the gym where 300-400 boys were anticipating the pain of endless dry speeches. All of the chief guests, and guests of lesser importance (Prev and I included) sat on the stage in front of the students as we all listened to speech after speech inaugurating their first ever computer center. While the event itself did bring a few yawns to the guests and the crowd, it was very exciting to think that from now on these students will have access (although limited, 10 computers for 1000 students) to the digital world. Even by learning a few applications, programs and how to access the internet their prospects for further education and jobs will mulitple and everyone assumes it will only benefit their self-worth, self-confidence and self-esteem! This is just one of about 150 similar centers that have just opened in the last few months across the state...it is an momentous time for education in Tamil Nadu!

After the 'chief guests' had been ushered away, the students were back in their classrooms and the excitement had died down, I found myself sitting on the steps of the school chatting with teachers and administrators. The conversation centered around two topics: my limited (although apparently impressive) knowledge of Madurai Tamil and my marital status. They could not get over the fact that I speak several words of Tamil with a very clearly Madurai accent. And the fact that I am 30 years old and unmarried (gasp!) left them in a state of shock, even referring to me as a 'spinster' at one point. I tried to explain that in the US it was really everyone's choice what age they wanted to marry at, but they just wouldn't have it. I've missed my chance in India terms. More on that and living as a 'white' woman in India in a later post....lots to reflect about!

OH-BAMA

2008-11-10T16:02:00.005+09:00

Where were you when Obama was declared president? When he gave his acceptance speech?

Last week was historic and it was celebrated around the world. Early on Wednesday morning (late Tuesday in the US), ex-pats, local high school students and local Chennai residents congregated in a conference room at the Taj Hotel, a five-star luxury hotel. The U.S. Consulate had organized a huge election returns event for 1000s of people. They had live CNN feeds, political analysts, a fake voting booth, life-size cutouts of Obama and McCain, and red white and blue balloons everywhere. It was the most patriotic event I’ve been to in years and I was giddy and nervous with excitement as the returns came in. While the main room with the large screen TVs was exciting, the young ex-pat (dems abroad group) crowd migrated to another room with couches and lounge chairs. About 25 of us crowded around a large screen TV and watched as the CNN predicted that Obama had won. We were ecstatic; there was cheering, clapping, and tears. When Obama finally gave his acceptance speech, the room went silent. We clapped and cheered with the live crowds in Chicago and a few people shouted out “Yes, we can”. As I looked around at my fellow Americans, all living and working in the Chennai, I saw tears of joy and expressions of relief – change has happened and America will remember this day forever.

For the first time in 8 years, I felt proud to be an American. I’m proud to be from a country that could recognize the need for change and work toward it. I’m proud to be from a country that is trying to look beyond race and instead at the qualities of a candidate. And I’m proud to be from a country that has a dynamic new leader ready to take on the problems left by the last administration. It is an exciting time and I look forward to watching Obama lead in the coming years. After his acceptance speech, with tears in my eyes, I turned to my friends and said ‘Now, I can go home’. With a new competent leader in the oval office, I won’t dread returning to US soil – cringing and closing my eyes as I walk by the huge portrait of W hanging on the wall in the immigration halls at airports. I look forward to my next flight home and proudly walking by the portrait of Obama – a true leader and someone I can be proud to call my president. The day after Obama was declared president, I woke up early and ran to buy all the local English papers. Living overseas provides a unique and interesting perspective to American politics. Amazingly, most Indians know more about our system of government than we do. And the international excitement and importance of Obama’s win was explicit as the front pages of all the major newspapers were dedicated to America’s 44th president.

Deepavali Festivities

2008-10-31T19:44:00.003+09:00

For several days, every street corner was the scene of bombs blasting, crackers exploding, bottle-rockets whizzing, sparklers sizzling, and flower pots cascading, but now it has died down to a quiet buzz only heard in distant parts of the city when I stand on my rooftop.

Even though the bombs, crackers, bottle-rockets, sparklers and flowerpots are probably made by child labor and are extremely polluting, I lit my fair share over the last few days, admittedly with some guilt, but also a lot of excitement and adrenaline. Originally, Prev and I had plans to head out of town and explore Ooty, a Tamil Nadu hill station, but after the bus accident that didn’t sound like a very good idea, or very relaxing. Instead, I chilled in Chennai and I was invited to spend the Deepavali holiday with two families. And both homes ardently support celebrating deepavali with fireworks. But we also celebrated one of India’s biggest holidays by eating, sleeping, wearing new clothes, taking an oil bath (oil head massage), watching TV, and of course lighting more fireworks!

It was a relaxing and festive weekend! Lots of time at home watching episodes of ‘Friends’ and ‘The Office’ balanced with family festive time. I also managed to get our new futon, buy a cover for it and cook a few tasty meals too!

Urging Fellows NOT To Take Night Buses

2008-10-21T18:31:00.003+09:00

I’ve been trying to visit Madurai, my ‘native place’ in India since I arrived. It hasn’t worked out for lots of reasons, but last weekend I was finally able to book bus tickets. I actually hate taking overnight buses and avoid them whenever possible. Only under very unusual circumstances would I ever consider taking a bus between Madurai and Chennai (10-12 hrs!), but given the upcoming holidays all the trains were booked. It was either now, or wait until November. So I booked an overnight sleeper (full bed) on the way and a semi-sleeper (reclining seats) for the return.

Sadly the excitement and anticipation of my weekend trip to Madurai to visit friends and family was quickly dashed at 6am on Saturday morning when my bus crashed into a Toyota Qualis carrying young men to a DMDK (political party) rally in Chennai. A few people in my bus were injured, but five people in the vehicle were killed. They were all my age.

The front of my bus, notice the windshield fell out.

The back of my bus off the road! Thank god we didn't land on our
side or continue down the ravine.

The Toyota Qualis totally unidentifiable. This pictures has been cropped
to remove gruesome details.

I was sleeping when we hit them and went off the road. I realize I had nothing to do with the accident and I am not at fault (although my bus driver was arrested and was driving on the wrong side of the road). But the fact remains that I was in a vehicle, which was responsible for taking 5 lives. The accident could have been much worse for our vehicle, but luckily it wasn’t. I feel very lucky to be alive, and to be physically fine. But five others young people were not so lucky. There are families, wives, children, and friends that are grieving for them.

The typically Indian response is to ‘move on’, ‘it happens’ or ‘deal with it’. And those kinds of responses drive me mad. I realize those are the things I need to do…and I will do them. But I’m trying to figure out exactly HOW to do that…HOW to honor and remember lives lost. HOW to process my own feelings about being at the scene of a deadly accident. And HOW to make sure I’m not sweeping it aside as so many Indians seem to think I should do.

AIF has offered to help me find a local counselor to talk to. I do appreciate their concern and support, although I think this is something I would rather deal with on my own. And from now on I’ll be taking trains wherever I travel.

Article in The Hindu

The little things

2008-10-13T13:16:00.002+09:00

Last night while I was watching Taare Zameen Par, a Hindi movie about a child with dyslexia, it poured outside—nullifying my attempt at drying laundry on our rooftop. But with the rain the temperature cooled dramatically. When I got home, I sat on the rooftop and ate my dinner while watching the lightning bolts shoot across the sky as the storm clouds moved on. It was wonderful! Coming from Portland, I’ve missed the rain.

The movie, part of the ‘Frame of Mind’ film festival sponsored by SCARF Schizophrenia Research Foundation, was also wonderful. It was just the kind of meaningful yet light entertainment I needed at the end of a long week that included working on Saturday! It had the typical Hindi song and dance numbers but the story was about a child struggling with a learning disability and how he overcame it and found acceptance. It was sappy but the child actor was so convincingly good I admittedly shed a tear (or maybe two).

This morning, I lay in bed and listened to the downpour for several hours. It was magical, especially because our original apartment would have totally prevented me from enjoying those kinds of moments! I absolutely love the sound of rain, especially hard rain. And the cool breeze carried the intoxicating scent of rain, which lulled me into such a deep sleep I slept through my alarm. My alarm was set so I could attend be back at the SCARF film festival by 9:30 to get a ticket for Hiding Divya. Lucky for my cross-city by bus travel plans, the rain stopped and I arrived at the film dry. It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the previous film, but had an equally important message about acceptance of people who are bipolar.

Even though I only had a 1-day weekend, it was enjoyable and productive. I saw two movies, slept through a loud rainstorm, and did some necessary clothes shopping. Tomorrow it’s back to work and it looks like my project is going to get up and running this week…eek! Lots of work to be done for sure!

My rooftop yoga session got cut short this morning because the rain continues…its wonderful!

Budgeting a Night on the Town

2008-10-10T17:51:00.005+09:00

(The pasta bar at Aqua at The Park Hotel in Delhi)

During orientation we were wined and dined at some of Delhi’s fanciest restaurants, including a new Japanese restaurant that actually served sushi! Yes, I ate raw fish in India. The food was fabulous, plus there was an open bar and basically we were totally spoiled!

(Team Tamil Nadu)

But as a fellow we are asked to live simply and our stipends encourage a simple yet comfortable lifestyle. We are asked be conscious of our spending and live modestly. Fine! I’m used to living on a budget, I’ve been doing it for a long time. So, I’ve found a local fruit and vegetable stand that is very reasonable, a significant price difference from the fancy air conditioned fruit/vegetable markets. I’ve been cooking in my flat-rice and rasam, oatmeal, tea/coffee, curd and fruit, etc. And I’ve been taking the bus to/from work whenever possible (i.e. when it isn’t pouring). I have not tempted fate with street food yet, but it is something I’d like to incorporate into my life. As a foreigner in India, it is easy to live the high life. To eat at 5 star hotels, shop at American-like supermarkets and hire help to cook and clean. But on our stipends, that lifestyle isn’t possible, especially in a big expensive city like Chennai. Being forced to interact with India on a budget is empowering. It makes me appreciate the splurges even more and makes me realize how unnecessary some of the splurges are—like paying more for food just to shop in an A/C store.

The financial reality of working at NGO in India, is such that even with our “stipends of simplicity”, as fellows we receive more than many of our co-workers earn as salary. Therefore, many of my co-workers are also fellow bus riders and know the system well. However, a few of them seem not to know the system at all and are surprised that I’m getting along so well. On the way back from a field visit one of my co-workers said, “Someday, I’d like to try and take the bus.” And then she texted me to make sure I’d made it home via bus without any problems. Cute! Obviously, not everyone is dependent on the NGO salary. I work with an interesting mix of people from a variety of backgrounds and I’m enjoying all the interactions. Living on a budget allows me the flexibility to mingle at multiple levels and I appreciate that.

(Riding the Bus in Chennai)

Living on a “stipend of simplicity” also encourages innovative planning and finding all the deals in town! So, even fellows can still have a night out, especially when it’s ladies night and drinks are free! Team Chennai enjoyed a few tasty treats at the Taj Hotel this week. Fun times!!

(Team Chennai at the Taj)

RoomS with viewS!

2008-10-09T18:00:00.004+09:00

Bay of Bengal, can you see it?

It’s now a fact—we have a flat!
In fact, we have a flat with a view.

We have 6 windows,
In four directions:
North, South, East and West.
Palm trees, laundry lines, and crows.

Up above, our rooftop is an added bonus.
Doing yoga, eating dinner, or washing clothes,
We enjoy the city commotion below.
And if we stand on our tiptoes,
We can even see the ocean!

We have 4 rooms:
2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms,
1 hall and a kitchen.
Ants in the corners,
Mosquitos buzzing,
And a super sweet aunty down below!

Everything we need:
Clean, simple and safe.
It’s our new home,
And it has roomS with viewS.

Our Hall

Our Fabulous Red Fridge

Our Front Balcony and Door

Rural & Urban School Visits

2008-09-26T14:35:00.001+09:00

Almost two weeks in

Good news is we found a great flat and our furniture is being moved today. We aren’t sure yet how AIF will help us financially as we had to incur some costs for the deposit, etc. but we moved and have a safe, well ventilated flat on the 2nd floor of a home. Feeling a little closer to being settled in--thankfully!

As for my ‘work’ in the last two weeks I’ve mostly sat and surfed the Internet and read documents. But I’ve also visited several schools (both rural and urban), attended several meetings and almost have a project proposal—but not quite.

The best part of the rural school visits: getting out of Chennai and riding a bicycle around a village.
The worst part of the urban school visits: being witness to corporeal punishment over and over and over again.

Rural Visit:
The first school visit was very exciting because I got out of the office and out of Chennai with my co-worker. We chatted on the commuter train, shared food and got to know each other. When we turned up in Minjur (a community North of Chennai) we took an auto to the NGO office and met the representative. She showed us to our bikes and off we went. Cycling through villages is always amusing, especially for my co-worker who enjoyed not being the center of attention. She translated for me some of the comments expressing ‘awe and surprise to see a foreigner’ from the villagers as we cycled by. But she didn’t translate everything, and that is probably for the best. We visited two schools, both one-room classrooms with one teacher. The students were busy with the ABL (activity-based learning) program when we arrived but put their cards away and prepared for their English class. My co-worker and I observed the lesson as the representative and sometimes the homeroom teacher taught. Ideally, there is a CD component to each lesson and the schools have been supplied CD players and speakers. Sadly, one school’s CD player broke and the other was having problems with the connection. The storybook was also left at the office, so the representative improvised and demonstrated a semi-typical lesson. At both schools we were served bright orange Mirinda—sugary sweet orange soda.

In Japan I was always the one teaching, with others watching! Now, I’m the one sitting in the back observing. I decided against taking notes since it was my first visit and I really am in learning mode. There were about 25-30 students in both classrooms of various ages. They were pretty eager to participate. They stood up and spoke when asked. They played pass the parcel. They identified corresponding flashcards. And they practiced introducing themselves. Interesting overall!

Finally we watched a focus lesson, which was similar to the first but with the audio component included. After the sugar high of the Mirinda and seeing a similar lesson for the 3rd time, I almost passed out. The ‘ladies compartment’ of the train coming back was packed and we stood most of the way. It was fun to watch the female venders get on and off with all their goods—selling to everyone in the car. The most popular item on this particular trip were the banana stems and flowers, they were going like hotcakes.

Urban Visit:
One of my co-workers teaches a focus class at a local government primary school in the same neighborhood as our office. I asked to observe her lesson to learn more about her approach, the kids, the school and what might or might not work in the Indian classroom setting. She has been teaching phonics everyday afterschool for 1-hour to a group of 4th standard students. And what a group they are. I’ve never seen anything like it…except for one of my classes in Japan that was highlighted on national TV for its misbehaving: throwing chairs, sleeping, swearing, hitting, yelling, etc. The class that I observed here brought back the horrors of teaching that group of students in Japan. The children in this class were throwing water bottles, pencils, pens, and even each other. They were hitting, kicking, punching, and pulling hair. They were talking, yelling, screaming and so engaged with other activities I couldn’t hear the teacher at the front in a small classroom. I lost count of how many times my co-worker had to go and fetch the head mistress, their homeroom teacher or another teacher to quiet them down. In each case, they brought a stick or ruler with them and hit whoever was acting up on the hand, arm, shoulder, back, head or leg. The kids would wince and quiet down for a second, but as soon as the teacher left the room, they would be back at it again. I never saw a student cry from the pain of being hit, apparently they are used to it. Shockingly, my co-worker uses the same method although had even less authority over the students.

Knowing that my presence alone was probably contributing to their acting up even more, I dared not say or do anything. I just had to sit by and watch it happen over and over again. It was both brutal to watch and legitimate brutality toward the children. Honestly, I would want to drop out too if my teachers treated me like that. Given that most of the kids come from impoverished families probably living in slums and have life experience beyond their age, their need for appropriate attention is critical. But the schools are understaffed and corporeal punishment is seen as the only way of managing the problem, creating a cycle of abuse, neglect and acting out.

I had grand ideas of teaching myself. But this has made me think twice about it. Let’s see what happens. But maybe staying in the office isn’t such a bad thing.

Food, toilets, clothing norms, bugs, etc. aside, these are the real issues that make living and working in another cultural context difficult.

A room with a view

2008-09-19T00:45:00.006+09:00

(Window picture taken in Tibet, 2007)

Orientation in Delhi was exciting, overwhelming, exhilarating and exhausting. It was too much information that left us with lots of questions. It was meeting engaging speakers and getting to know the very dynamic group of AIF fellows. It was boiled eggs everyday for breakfast and sitting on plastic chairs for 6 hours. It was two fancy dinners out with an open bar at Delhi’s most exclusive restaurants. And it was two weeks of constructing and reconstructing expectations of the coming months while being told not to have any expectations.

But is it really possible to expect nothing? I thought I was a blank slate of zero expectations. But apparently I wasn’t. At expecting ‘nothing’, I’ve failed. That doesn’t mean I’m disappointed with my experience thus far, I’m just adjusting to it and readjusting my expectations without creating too many more future expectations that may be unrealistic.

I expected to move into my flat immediately and set up house. It’s been almost a week, and I’m staying with my roommate’s family. The hospitality and the food are fabulous, it is so comfortable here, but I was hoping to have my own place by now. I expected my flat to have windows, air, light, a view of something—anything green, but it doesn’t. But I can (if I were staying there) walk to the Bay of Bengal in 15 minutes. I expected it to have running water all the time, but it doesn’t. I expected it to be clean, but there is garbage on the floor, moldy sheets in the corner, and stained pillows. Maybe the new fridge, stove and utensils were supposed to make up for what it was lacking. But honestly, my heart sank when I walked in and saw my new ‘home’.

The most frustrating part of the housing situation is being caught in the middle, trying to negotiate between all the different players, all who have their own opinions and ideas and don’t want to consider the alternatives. Local family members say the flat is unsafe and unhygienic (looks like we might have to pump corporation water), my NGO is convinced it is VERY safe, and I’m worried I’ll have a mental breakdown if I don’t have any light or air for 10 months. And to top it off, AIF wants proof of these things…intuition and our observation apparently aren’t enough.

I think the biggest adjustment of moving to India this time has been trying to manage my expectations, and adjust to scenarios I could not have expected. I’m trying to be okay with living in a dark hole, but ultimately it makes me really sad. Maybe posters, plants, and a few extra lamps will help. But I’m hoping we can pull out of the lease and find a brighter, cleaner and safer place—fingers crossed!

All that being said, I’m slowly feeling my way around my NGO. I can almost taste the project proposal and I’m excited about it. And while I know I’ll be busy in the coming year, the office is very laid back and flexible, but oddly enough, my office doesn’t have any windows either.

Looking for a room with a view--any view!

A Visual Corpus of my MA dissertation

2008-09-17T19:59:00.008+09:00

For anyone who is vaguely curious as to what I spent the last few months locked up in my parents house writing about, below is a visual representation of my MA dissertation. It is much more interesting presented this way. And saves several hours of reading. Plus, the fact that I took the time to do this proves exactly how nerdy I can be! Gotta love academia and linguistics.

(grammatical lexis not included).

Created using http://wordle.net/

Salvador Molly's Friends & Family Night

2008-09-17T13:30:00.007+09:00

SAVE the DATE!!

Monday, Sept 22nd!

Come...Dine 'for' us - the kids at 'SEED' (tutoring) centers in southern India!

Come to Salvador Molly's - Monday, September 22nd!
For directions, click here.

Salvador Molly's has generously offered to donate 20% of their sales that evening to support education for slum children in Madurai, India through Asha, a non-profit agency. Click here to make an online donation. Please specify that the money is "FOR SEED - Madurai (Adams)".

See you there!!

சென்னை சென்னை சென்னை

2008-09-12T23:28:00.004+09:00

I'm moving into my new apartment in Chennai tomorrow! Since my last post I've been to India, finished my MA dissertation, flown back to India, attended a 12 day AIF Service Corps orientation, met amazing people and am about to leave for my site! I've been on the move for over a year, and I'm really ready to settle in and unpack my bags. I want a 'home' for 10 months!

Pictures, stories and more about life in Chennai coming soon!

July in South India

2008-06-29T08:22:00.008+09:00

I have this long blog story all written out in my notebook about my experience on Greyhound in May--worthy of a long long blog entry, believe you me!! Unfortunately, I haven't had anytime to post it. Someday.

From July 3rd-27th, I'll be in South India with SAGE: Studies Abroad for Global Education. I'm co-leading the Arts & Religion program and taking 11 teens from around the US! It promises to be an exciting adventure! I won't be posting anything here, but we have a trip blog. Check it out if you are interested in our Indian adventures!

This blog will remain inactive through September while I finish my MA dissertation and prepare to go back to India as an AIF Service Corps Fellow. However, once I am settled in my new home in Chennai, Tamil Nadu working for AID India, I'll start posting again.

Coming to a state near you

2008-04-29T02:17:00.001+09:00

My round the world post-JET tour is coming to a close. I'll be leaving the sunny British Isles tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I'll be unpacking the bags and calling it quits for good! I'm coming 'home' (a.k.a. Portland, OR) and will settle in, but will have the bag by the door ready to travel most of the summer. Here is a list of places I'll be headed from May-August, if I happen to be passing through your neck of the woods, maybe we can meet for coffee or a meal.

New York City
Washington, D.C.
Birmingham, AL
Minneapolis, MN

The Quad Cities, IA & IL

Fargo, ND
Fort Collins, CO
South India
Vancouver, B.C.
Seattle, WA

And hopefully there will be a hike, a few camping trips, and a weekend or two at the beach in there as well. But oh...I can't forget, I still have a bloody dissertation to write! Frick!

As soon as the dissertation is sent off and submitted, I'm officially headed back to India from September-June as an AIF Service Corps Fellow! Exciting news!!

So much to be thankful for these days!

Another 4,000 written, only 12,000 words to go!

2008-04-28T17:50:00.004+09:00

That's it folks! I've finished my 6th module or assessment essay for my MA course. Feels good to have that out of the way. Just have to run to the library and print it and submit it and I'm done!

This one was about the global spread of English, otherwise known as 'englishization' which I might add is not in any dictionary or referenced by hardly anyone other than academics (and mostly linguists at that)! So, in my mind it doesn't even really exist as a word, at least not in mainstream media yet. So, if you haven't heard of it...don't worry, neither has anyone else!

Time to pack up, say good-bye, fly home and start the dissertation! Eeps!

In Memory of my Great Uncle Vern

2008-04-13T21:18:00.004+09:00

My love, hugs, thoughts, and condolences to family as they celebrate Vern's long and full life. I am reflecting on and remembering all the wonderful visits my family has had to the lake cabin. We always enjoyed our visits and always looked forward to seeing Vern's latest gadget, gizmo, creation, or garden. Of course one of my favorite times was helping collect the tree sap and watching it being boiled down to the most delicious maple syrup I've ever tasted. Making it was fun, but enjoying it on pancakes was always a treat!! As we sat and ate, we listened to his stories which was always a highlight of each visit. In his last week, he was able to get out and watch the guys boiling down the syrup for this year's batch. He also enjoyed sitting in his chair overlooking the lake, enjoying the view and making plans for his next project.

In honor and celebration of Vern's life I made a big pancake breakfast with REAL maple syrup in his honor. It's not the liquid gold he is famous for, but it's the best I could find here! I think my sister and parents are doing the same in their respective corners of the globe. Thinking and remembering Vern's life! He is missed and will always be remembered!

Snow from Tibet

2008-04-11T01:43:00.003+09:00

This week protesters have stood in support of Tibet and Tibetans at the Olympic Torch Relays in London, Paris, San Francisco and will stand again in Buenos Aires on Friday.

When I woke up Sunday morning (April 6th), for the first time all year, there was several inches of snow on the ground! It was like waking up in the Himalayas of Dharamsala or the plateaus of Tibet. It was a beautiful scene and it felt like the snow Gods of Tibet were watching over the UK that day. It continued to snow on my 3 hour bus journey to London and off and on throughout the protest. I arrived at the 3rd of the protest meeting points along the torch relay route. It was a very large and active demonstration, probably 2000-3000 people at the point I saw. As I stood there chanting with the crowds slogans of "Free Tibet", "China Out" and booing as the Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola drove by, I also watched several people jump the security fence and be taken down by the police. As the torch came closer, the crowd grew louder, the police more nervous and the tension was high. It was impossible to see the runner, only the top of the flame go by because there were so many of the 'blue men' or Chinese paramilitary running around the torch as well as the police surrounding it on all sides. It was only when I stood up on a wall that I could see the expanse of the crowd. It was an endless sea of of Tibetan flags, banners, and signs with messages of 'Free Tibet', 'Stop the Killing', 'Save Burma', etc. And an endless sea of police trying to keep the peace. But in the end over 30 people were arrested.

It was striking to see the diversity of people standing together for Tibet. There were families who held signs together. A father with his young daughter stood on a high wall and chanted together, even when the crowd stopped. Teenagers wore hand-painted T-shirts and had painted there faces with the Tibetan flag. Couples held each other with the Tibetan flag wrapped around the shoulders to stay warm. A group of Buddhists sat on the steps to a building in silent meditation. And while everyone was chanting in English, you could hear different languages throughout the crowd.

Later at the rally, several politicians from the British government, an actress, musicians and Free Tibet organizers spoke in support of Tibet. The Tibetan Freedom torch was lit and will follow the official Olympic torch on it's course around the world. I hope that the protests continue and that they continue to gain the attention of the media, governments and citizens around the world. But I also hope that it continues to be peaceful.

I'm not a professional photographer, but here is the link to all the photos I took in London: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94801434@N00/sets/72157604459296337/

Peace to you, your families and for Tibet!

Another 4,000 written, only 16,000 to go

2008-04-04T20:51:00.003+09:00

Finished one more assessment for the MA. This one was the most boring of them all. It was a critical analysis of two articles from the Journal of Intercultural Communication. Blah!

Only one more essay and then I can start the dissertation. And if I write the next paper the way I want to, it will be the lit review and background for the dissertation! Ah hah!!

Diversity Exploring Part II

2008-03-22T22:28:00.005+09:00

A Few Residents from Asbury Overseas House

(Countries Represented include: India, Venezuela, China, Italy, UK, USA,

Congo, Egypt, Vietnam, Korea, Norway)

Since I’ve moved in, my Sri Lankan, Ghanaian, Russian, Korean and French floor mates have moved out and been replaced by an female Egyptian doctor, a Christian Egyptian, a Parisian man originally from Togo, his girlfriend from Gabon and a British woman who lives in the Ukraine.

The Egyptian doctor helped me find the local GP when I was sick. She also brought me a plate of veggies with mayo one night. She studies cardiovascular disease.

I’ve had several interesting conversations about ‘liberalism’ with the Christian Egyptian in our wireless internet room which prompted me to put stickers of Hindu gods and “save Tibet’ on my laptop which prompted him to give me a few interesting looks the next time.

I met an Indian family from Madurai living in my house. And another family that used to live in Chennai.

My sticker of Lord Muruga on my computer sparks lots of conversation among the Indian children when I’m checking Internet in the common room.

During a house potluck dinner I complimented the woman from Madurai on her delicious payasam in Tamil.

Several weeks ago my German classmate invited several of us over to her flat to watch the Eurovision Decision-England. As usual I was the only native speaker among Polish, Spanish, and Korean women.

On the bus to London I sat next to a Muslim Tamil-speaking man from Sri Lanka.

On the bus coming back from London I sat next to a man from Nigeria.

I went to a birthday party for a woman from Iran. She showed us pictures from her wedding and taught us Persian dancing.

Several days later she came to my birthday dinner and brought her Persian music—more dancing with women from Germany, Spain, South Korea, the US and Iran.

While my mom was visiting, several people stopped us in stores to comment on our ‘cute’ American accent. One woman had diamond and gold studs embedded into her teeth.

In the course of my moms four-day visit we ate pub grub, Bangladeshi curry, Persian chicken with tea for two, a Full English, and enjoyed a New York family restaurant.

I gave a presentation on “English as a Global Language” with a classmate who moved here from Algeria when she was in middle school and didn’t speak ANY English. She is now studying to become an Arabic-English translator.

This same friend from Algeria invited me to her house and baked me sponge cake, biscotti, and jam cookies. While I was enjoying tea and cake, we heard the call to prayer and she went in another room and prayed.

I was invited to an Iranian New Years dinner with students from Mexico, Indonesia, Spain, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, the US and of course, Iran.

The next night I went out drinking with the above Iranians. At the table there were Americans and Iranians drinking beer, vodka, and whiskey while comparing international gestures of offense. If only the US President Bush and the Iranian President Ahmadinejad could have a similar light-hearted conversation.

I have had lots of great conversations about fundamentalist Christians with the American on my floor who is studying theology. We were kindly handed Easter ‘booklets’ by our British floor mate.

I attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the city center with the above mentioned American. In addition to the dance troops, bag pipers, and every other person with painted green faces, there was a Sikh drumming group and an African music group in the parade.

The rich international community and experiences I’m having in Birmingham continue to surprise me! It is unlike anything I have experienced anywhere in the world. The only sad thing is, I don’t feel like I have many British friends as part of THIS experience. Although I know lots of Brits from my three years in Japan so I don’t feel as if I’m missing out too much! If I had the money I could spend my days traveling the UK visiting them all…alas the funds have quickly disappeared and I’ll be living out my last weeks in Birmingham enjoying the diversity and multi-culturalism.

Save Tibet

2008-03-22T00:05:00.005+09:00

The emails from my Tibetan friends continue. The latest round has included some video and photos. I'll post the link to the video below, as I think it tells a powerful story. I'm still deciding what to do about the photos...they are very disturbing images of bodies beaten, shot and tortured. Part of me wants to post them to show people the extent of the violence that is occurring. And part of me doesn't want to even look at them a moment longer because they are so horrific.

Please visit Beijing Wide Open to read about a Tibetan activist speaking out about the Olympics. This woman took the video that I've embedded below. The monk in the video was a student of my dad's and became a good friend. He has a powerful story to tell. Please watch.

If you are wondering what you can do to help please visit the International Campaign for Tibet website. There are links provided to send messages to the White House and your member of congress. Please support Tibet!

Save Tibet

2008-03-17T00:35:00.008+09:00

In the last week my family and I have been receiving emails from the Tibetan monks and lay people we met, taught and became good friends with last November/December in Dharamsala, India.

I thought I would share some of their communications (anonymously) for people who are interested and want to hear more of the Tibetan perspective and voice in response to the recent violence in Tibet. They are eager to share their message with the outside world, and I am happy to help in any way I can.

______________________________________

Date March 15th

Here we are very busy at the moment. We are regarding this year a right or unique year for Tibetans living both inside and outside of Tibet. It is because this year Olympic is going to take place in China. Therefore, since the 49th uprising day of Tibetans, which was held on the 10th of this month, we are witnessing big protest going in every country where we have Tibetans living in it.

In particular, this time since this 10th March many protest are going in many part of Tibet, which we are seeing from our news mediums and specially from BBC, CNN and other renowned TV channells. These broad casting brings courage and confidence in the hearts of Tibetans to organize further activities. In Tibet, one of my monk friend also took part in protest and he tried to attempt suicide. He is badly injured and now he is in hospital under chinese arrest.

All in all every Tibetans are regarding these on going events as a door for a big change for Tibet and Tibetans and also for other small countries which are under chinese rule like our Tibet.Here in Dharamsala, we are organizing protest, hunger strike and candle light march almost everyday. I am also sincerely taking part in these moves. All the Tibetans taking part in this on going protest against china in both inside and out side of Tibet, we are demanding freedom for our national and return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama into Tibet.

This protest will go on until the end of the up coming Olympic in China. With this i am requesting you and your close ones to stand for Tibet and take part in Tibetan protest against China going inside your country.

Thanking you!

One Dream, One World, Free Tibet! And Long Live HHDL.

With a big request, Your Friend.

______________________________________________

Written in response to the above email by my father:

To: My Excellent and Wise Student,

We are listening to the news each day and are very sad to hear about the problems in Tibet and in Dharamsala. I have a sign on the back of my car that says, "Support Tibet." We think of all of you and of all of your families and friends. We hope you are all well and that you stay healthy.

However, - - you know, that China is a very powerful country and there will be no immediate change in how they recognize Tibet. The things that you and all Tibetans do to make the world aware of the injustice is good. Everyone must know and remember the injustice. We should never forget and we should not let China lie to the world. The things that you do to keep the world aware are important and will result in change - - someday, - - but NOT today!

You are wise and you know that change will NOT be soon. Many people and many countries support Tibet, but you must know that no one will rise up in support of Tibet against China - - today. Many people in China are also very unhappy about the injustice, - - but they too will not rise up - - today.

As you and your friends help us remember, please, do not do anything foolish. I was a soldier and I fought in a war in Viet Nam. I learned that it is too easy for people to die for an idea. Many foolish people and many cowards can do that. It is much more difficult to learn how to live for an idea and to make it grow. I believe this is the wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well! The MOST IMPORTANT THINGS that you and other Tibetans do for Tibet are to WORK, LEARN and TEACH. It takes more wisdom and more courage to work for an idea in the long term than to die for an idea today.

Tibet is so very important! It must live and survive and be a part of a better understanding of all people in the world. But, Tibet IS NOT earth, mountains, buildings, and borders. Tibet is a people with a language and a history and a philosophy that is unique and valuable to the whole world. You say to me "Free Tibet." I ask you to free yourself from small ideas that tie Tibet to a place and to borders that China has violated. Tibet is not a place. Tibet is a people. Tibet is not a problem to be corrected. Tibet is a possibility of peace and love.

For Tibet to survive, Tibetans must be engaged in the world to help us all learn about whom we are and who we can become. For Tibet to survive, it must be as a people with a culture that is compelling and shared. For Tibet to survive, it may not be as a place, even if that beautiful place is sometime recovered in the future for Tibetans. For Tibet to survive, it will be because the beautiful wise people of Tibet see beyond the impermanence of place to possibilities for their people. As you help us all remember the Tibet of the past and the injustice of China, I urge you and your friends to stay focused on the Tibet of the future. We must all WORK and LEARN and TEACH. Tibet is so much more than a place. Tibet is an idea that we must celebrate and bring to the world. Please, help us all focus on this future.

I thank you for bringing Tibetan culture to my life. Your changes & growth can help us achieve "one world."

With regard, your teacher and your student

____________________________________________

Date: March 19th

Hello fd

this is what happening in my mathre land in Tibet.

Recent urgent Tibetan public peace protest against China in Amdo Ngawa on the 16th and 17th Morning of March, 2008

1) In this big protest whole of Amdo Ngawa rose up against china, which includes, Kirti monastery, Gomang monastery, Segon monastery, Mami nunnery, Suwa monastery, Tsen-Nyi Monastery Trotsik monastery, Adue monastery, Dogay monastery, Togden monastery, Dongri monastery and public of Amdo Ngawa, upper Ngawa, lower Ngawa, Trotsik and other left parts of Ngawa, Meruma,Chojyama, Charuwa and other nomadic areas and the Secondary Tibetan School of Amdo Ngawa. All in all around 13000 Tibetans took part in this big Tibetan public peace protest.

2) So far we have known around 20 death casualties including monks, nuns, students and laymen killed in this big protest. Our other sources states around 40 Tibetans got killed. Large number of Tibetans went lost in the protest and their whereabouts are still not known. The some known protesters who sacrificed their lives in the protest are: lhundup tso9student), Atisha(age 23), tsezin(age 33), Tashi(age 23), Gejyam, Lobtse.

3) Many were put behind the bars and when the Tibetans went to demand for their release from the prison, Chinese authorities didn’t listen to them and in return Tibetans turned violent and started breaking the premises of the police custody. Likewise, few other Chinese offices were destroyed by Tibetan protesters.

4) This recent peace protest in Amdo Ngawa, becomes one of the largest peace protest took place in Tibet excluding the protest in Lhasa. It becomes the largest number of Tibetan people took part in the peace protest and one of the biggest peace protest against China in which largest number of Tibetans got killed by the brutal Chinese policemen and the troops.Following slogans are of the recent peace protest taken place in Amdo Ngawa:

a) Long live Dalai Lama
b) Free Tibet
c) Stop torturing in Tibet
d) Release the Tibetan political prisoners
e) Release Panchen Lama
The three main reasons responsible for the outburst of this recent big public peace protest in Amdo Ngawa are:
Firstly, Tibetans have strong wish to see their spiritual and temporal
leader, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Secondly, Chinese government has
been always keeping silence about the peaceful dialogue between Tibet and
China. Thirdly, Chinese government is continuously applying harsh mechanisms
to control the Tibetans inside Tibet.

_____________________________________________

Date: March 19th 2008

its the time is very bad as from in the Tibet can start up to need freedom .so chine's police killed lots of the tibetan people .this is very much suffer . in the tibetan people told that we will get peace of the freedom and also democracies . if you want to look it the situation . you watching the BBC NEWS and also you search in the BBC ok i hope you now more than me

____________________________________________

Date: March 19th, 2008

ya.... more than 100 people were died in tibet and here in india.. total 80
people were arrested by the indian police and nepal so much voilence there.

____________________________________________

Date: March 18th, 2008

My resepct teacher i have some bad news. Did you see in B.B.C? Tibetans were protested Chinese everywhere in Tibet frome 10th of March until now. Many Tibetans were killed by Chinese. Yesterday i saw in T.V some dead bodies of Tibetan. That was very terrible. I am deeply sad and worried for my poor country and my family. I don't know anything my family's situation. I don't call to my family if the Chinese know whose are relationship with Tibetan from India they are must arrest. I am only know my uncle was arrested by Chinese he lives in Lhasa. Now i am realized i have no country and home i don't know what i have to do actually i want to go back in Tibet now it is became very diffuclt. Teacher please you give me imformetiom what i have to do. How are you and what are you doing now? Do you still in England? Take care beyyy

Ann...on the loose!

2008-03-17T00:26:00.003+09:00

Until I have the time to write and post some pictures, there is a great update on my mom's blog, Ann...on the loose! about her whirlwind visit to Birmingham, my 30th b-day and all the adventurous in-between! It was a fabulous visit!!!

Another 4,000 written, 20,000 to go

2008-03-14T04:01:00.002+09:00

Well, I've made it through another 4,000 word essay. They do seem to be getting much much easier. Or maybe I'm getting lazier. Since I'm on-campus I was forced into giving a power point about my topic several weeks ago. So it was much easier to write up after having organized all the information for a presentation! I have six weeks to complete 8,000 more words and then it's on to the last 12,000--the mighty dissertation!

For all you interested EFL/ESL nerds out there...for this essay I designed a teacher education course for volunteers in India. Maybe someday I'll actually get to use it!

A long long long time ago...

2008-03-05T07:20:00.005+09:00

Well, it's finally happened. I've reached another age milestone in my life. And with each major milestone is the need to look back and see just how far I've come. Here are some pics from the baby album that my mom just sent to me. She'll be here in just a few hours to celebrate the big day with me--exciting! But hopefully she hasn't packed the whole album! :)

I still haven't learned to pack a bag and I still carry way too much STUFF!

Thanks for the pics and the first few years! Here's to many many more!

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

2008-02-19T23:29:00.008+09:00

Some of you may remember my post last fall:
Remembering My Dear Aunt Mary



In her honor, my Aunt Debby is trying to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by walking in a 1/2marathon this coming spring.
Below is the letter she has sent to family and friends.  I'm posting it here to try and encourage more people to donate, not just in memory of
my Aunt Mary, but in memory of all aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters who have died of cancer.  I don't think there is a single person who has not seen cancer impact someone in their life.  Please consider donating money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

To the family and Loved ones of Mary E. Milne --

In the 5 months since Mary died from complications of chemotherapy, I
have sought to honor her and do something meaningful in her memory.
The day after Mary's memorial service I agreed to participate in the
Mayor's Walk here in Portland, a 10-K walk held in conjunction with
the Portland Marathon. While going through the various booths in the
registration area, I stopped at the Team In Training booth and
learned that this organization fundraises for the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society. Mary had designated this charity as one which she asked people
to support in her behalf. I knew then that I should get involved.

Now I am asking you to help by supporting me and donating in Mary's
honor. I will be walking the 1/2 Marathon Race for the Roses on
April 6th, 2008. Please be as generous as you can and make a contribution
either on my website or send your check to me made out to the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society:

Deborah Anderson
940 Rosa Parks Way
Portland, OR 97211 USA

Each donation helps accelerate cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma
and brings hope to the patients and families who are on the front
lines of the battle against these diseases.

Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly and securely.
You will receive a confirmation by email of your donation and I will
be notified as soon as you make your donation.

You can learn more about my efforts and make a donation by visiting
my Web site:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntor/tntorDAnders

Thank you for your generosity -- I know Mary would thank you as well.

Love to all of you, Debby Anderson

Diversity Exploring

2008-01-24T18:36:00.000+09:00

A Nigerian man helped me with the laundry machine yesterday.

A Pakistani man showed me how to use the bus and brought me to his neighborhood, a predominately Pakistani neighborhood.

In this Pakistani neighborhood we ate at Lahore’s Kebab & Pizza House run by Kashmiris from India.

I’m the only native speaking English student in Intercultural Communication.

I’m one of two native speaking female students in the department, but the only American.

I’m one of four native speakers in the entire department, two are American.

My department has students from Korea, Taiwan, China, Brunei, Vietnam, Spain, Algeria, Germany, Pakistan, the UK, the US, Japan and Iran.

I went shopping with my Ghanaian neighbor and we met his Nigerian friend in the city center last week.

I hear Arabic, Spanish and French on the bus.

A Chinese woman asked me for advice.

I’m working on a project with a woman from Iran.

My Sri Lankan neighbor advises me as I attempt to make dahl. She tasted my dahl and approved.

I share my fridge with a man from Korea. He told me where I can buy Japanese udon and miso.

There is an American down the hall who lived in Arden Hills, MN and went to college in Iowa. So did I.

The Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood all advertise “Fish & Chips”.

The “Fish & Chips” shop in my neighborhood sells chicken tikka and naan.

In high school ‘diversity’ was across town.

In college we talked about ‘diversity’ in our seminars, we looked for it on our campus but we didn’t see it.

In my professional experiences, diversity has been limited to interacting with 1-2 different culture groups at once.

In the last three weeks, I have interacted with more people from different cultures, religions and countries than in my entire life.

Sometimes you don’t need to travel to find the world, you just need to know where in the world to go.

Exploring old Brum

2008-01-06T04:14:00.000+09:00

The Japan to India 2007 tour is officially over. And here I am, in Birmingham, England about to start classes. After hours and hours of worrying about visas and procedures and documents, I made it into the country without even a skeptical glance. It was almost disappointing considering all the documents I had printed, ordered, requested and copied to prove my legitimate status as a student for the coming four months. But I'm here. I arrived in good 'ole Brum (as it's apparently known) two days after arriving in the UK. I spent the first day recuperating from travel with relatives in Sussex. I spent the second day with a friend's family eating gourmet food in Swindon. And now, I'm here.

I woke up to sunny skies today! A miracle! To keep myself occupied and to soak up that precious Vitamin D, I layered on the coats and jumped on the train to explore the city center. It is an active downtown full of people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities, religions, and cultural backgrounds. There were Sikhs driving buses and eating hot dogs, Indians shopping at the Chinese grocery store, and hordes and hordes of people from all walks of life looking for the best bargains in the open markets! On one street corner there was a kilt wearing man playing the bagpipes and across the street their were Hare Krishna's playing instruments and chanting. The obvious diversity of the city after traveling (and living in) very homogeneous cultures is a pleasant change.

At the library I picked up all the brochures I could find about lovely ole Brum. There seems to be a lot going on and if I have the time (and money) I can take in museums and theater galore. Not to mention explore places like Stratford-Upon-Avon, Coventry, and Warwick. My schedule could get pretty busy in the next four months and that's without classes!

I tried to take in the sights and sounds of this new town. And how best to do that than by eating food from a cart--the local greasy stuff. I got chips 'n curry. This really translates to a slightly curry flavored sauce smothering a plate of french fries. It was ok, but for $3, it was about the cheapest food on the street. After standing on the street and stuffing my face with grease, I needed a different kind of cultural experience. So I ordered a latte and sat at Starbucks people watching! But I won't be doing that very often. A tall latte is about $6US! Eek!

My new humble abode for the next four months. I am only onw of about 80 people (including 20+ children) from 25+ countries living here. I have a small room with a shared bathroom and shared kitchen. My very friendly and helpful neighbor is from Sri Lanka. Others I've met on my floor are from France, China and the Congo. But my fridge buddy is a kimchee lovin' Korean--fridge stinks!! The trials and tribulations of international living!

New Years Transitions

2008-01-05T18:47:00.000+09:00

This year I spent my New Years holiday in Mamallapuram, India, on a British Airways flight and in Sussex, England. Here's what it looked like:

New Years Eve--Our last family meal together poolside at Ideal Beach Resort. The buffet dinner came complete with a choice of continental, Chinese, tandoori, S.Indian, N.Indian, or Sri Lankan cuisine. While eating dinner we were entertained with classical music, classical dance, a folk performance and comedy sketches by the staff. It was a very festive meal in a beautiful resort in Southern India--a day of good-byes to people and places!

New Years Day--Just hours later, I was walking around the countryside of Sussex with my aunt and uncle. I saw beautiful tree lined lanes, old churches, sheep and horses grazing and it was significantly COLDER!

New Years Day Dinner--chicken, beans & mushrooms and cous cous! A delicious reintroduction to western cuisine with family I haven't seen in years! It was a very warm welcome to a new and very chilly country!

Christmas in Madurai, India

2008-01-04T17:55:00.000+09:00

Christmas of 2007 will go down in the family history book as unique and special. As a family we made a conscious decision to celebrate this year with as little of the traditional materialistic fanfare as possible. On Christmas Day there were no stockings, no cinnamon rolls, no tree and no presents from Santa. As much as I love all of those traditions, it was refreshing to wake up and acknowledge the day as most any other day. Instead of focusing on unwrapping unneeded items for hours with obligatory 'ooh' and 'ahh' or 'i've always wanted....' (but not really meaning much of it), we headed off for a day of fun and celebration with some truly amazing kids and volunteers!

Instead of cinnamon rolls and coffee we ate masala dosai, onion othappum and idli at our favorite local restaurant, Meenakshi Bhavan. We took one of the SEED Plan volunteers and her mother out with us to celebrate the Christmas morning! We only found out later that it was the FIRST time her mother had eaten in a restaurant. At the risk of sounding colonial, it was fun to be able to give her an experience she had not had before. It wasn't a fancy restaurant, it wasn't extravagant by any stretch of the imagination, but her life situation has never given her that opportunity to be served. She has always served others.

After breakfast we convened at the SEED center with all the volunteers and other visitors and got into two vans headed for the other two SEED centers in Sambakudi and Thathenary. Each center was decked out in decorations, drawings and the students at each center had dances, songs and speeches prepared to celebrate the day!

Our very small contribution to the festivities was cake for each of the centers. In the US cake is purchased by size, in India you purchase it by weight. So in total, we purchased over 9kgs (20lbs) of cake for the 3 centers! It was ALL happily devoured! We also sang with each of the groups. It wasn't very elaborate, but we also sang some pretty enthusiastic rounds of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". I didn't know it could be so much fun (or loud)!

After visiting the two outlying centers, we returned to Madurai and went back to Meenakshi Bhavan for meals! All the volunteers and visitors crammed into the restaurant and gorged on rice, sambar, rasam, vegetables, papads, curd and sweets. Again, this was the first time some of these volunteers had eaten a 'South Indian meal' as such!

After lunch we had one more event at the main SEED Center in Karumpalai. Two of the kids were dressed as Ms. & Mr. Claus! They must have been cooking under that outfit, but they didn't seem bothered and played the part for the festivities! At one point they did a dance and gave out presents from their little bags. It was all very very cute!

No function or event at the SEED Centers is complete without lots of singing and dancing!!! It is what they do best! It is always great fun to see their amazing choreography and new cinema dance moves!

It was a very very Merry Christmas!! It wasn't traditional, but it was very memorable--spending time with amazing kids and volunteers, being together as a family, sharing and celebrating with so many people in a different country! And there were no presents to return, no decorations to put away, no tree to dismantle, and no after Christmas sales to bother with!! I think this is the kind of Christmas I'd like to recreate in the future!

A New Year - Purposeful Reflection

2007-12-30T15:27:00.001+09:00

A 'year' is a measure bounded by time, defined by calendars, and followed by billions. We use it to measure life cycles, births and deaths. We use it to remember and record historical events and natural disasters. We use past years to reflect on where we came from and future years to plan where we are going. With each passing year, I find myself in different countries, attempting to speak different languages and negotiating different cultures. So as another year comes to pass, I too reflect on what I've accomplished and the places I've been.

A year ago, I found myself ringing in the New Year with my parents, aunts and friends on Mt. Hood--snowboarding, watching movies, cooking and eating delicious food and playing games. This year I'll be ringing in the New Year with my family on a beach on the Bay of Bengal in South India--swimming in the pool, lounging in a hammock, dipping my fingers into a spicy curry and packing my bags because just hours after the clock strikes midnight, I'll be on a plane bound for London.

In the last year I've completed a year of my MA studies, finished a 3 year term in Japan and said good-bye to many friends there. I've traveled through Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal and India. I've traveled by trains, ferries, buses, planes and jeeps, sometimes for days at a time. I've swam in Lake Baikal in Siberia, puked Peking Duck in Beijing, argued with a Chinese imposter monk at Ganden Monastery in Tibet, climbed to 18,000ft in the Annapurnas of Nepal, made friends with Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, visited old friends and family in Madurai, planted research seeds in Chennai and soaked up the sun at Ideal Beach (again). Looking back on the year--time seemingly passed quickly from one event and location to the next. But a review of the year reminds me about how much can be accomplished, seen and experienced in a year. Not to mention how many new friends can be made, how many different foods can be tried and how many different cities can be visited! I'm thankful for the last year and the adventures and experiences I've been fortunate to have. A year is a long time and should not be wasted or taken for granted! And perhaps doesn't need to be marked as such because time continues, life continues regardless of the date on the calendar.

I don't know what the next year will bring for me or my family, but I foresee more great adventures and therefore endless learning experiences! By visiting new places, meeting new people and challenging my own beliefs and values I feel real growth and learning takes place!

However, if a 'year' marks a time or phase in one's life, I'm not sure how relevant it is to me. People often ask me "When will you settle down?" or "When will you come back to the US?" But my life isn't marked by phases of international travel--my life incorporates travel, different cultures, meeting new people and exploring new places! The 'New Year' holiday does allow us all time for reflection and marks a change in the date...I'll be marking that date change by leaving one continent and arriving in another. However, ultimately our lives continue, the pause for reflection is but a brief moment...the adventure keeps going.

May your New Year holiday be both a time of reflection as well as a purposeful movement towards accomplishing and living out your life goals!

Spending Time with Students

2007-12-06T20:12:00.000+09:00

The highlight of spending 5 weeks in Dharamsala was getting to know so many wonderful people, especially the students I was fortunate to teach! I'm not sure how much I taught them, but they taught me a lot! Here are a few pictures of fun moments with students:

My one-on-one made me Tibetan thukpa, a noodle vegetable soup. Delicious! This was one of several meals made for me by MALE students! ha ha ha! Unconvinced that men can cook, I like to tease them into cooking for me to prove that they really know how to cook! It worked! I was fed well!

One of my parents students, a monk, had to leave before the end of the term to return to his monastery to prepare for the Dalai Lama's visit in January! We saw him off at the bus. I almost didn't recognize him because he travels in lay clothes! :)

After a few weeks, it was impossible to walk around McLeod Ganj without meeting lots of students on the street. Sometimes in just 5 minutes, I would see 5+ students!! This monk was one of my parents many favorites. He was nicknamed "Kris Krinkle" because of the way his nose crinkles up when he smiles.

Two of my students practicing the 'Pronunciation Poem' in class before the big demonstration!

A two-minute impromtu speaking activity! Inevitably, every day all the monks would sit on one side of the room and all the lay people on the other. I tried to get them to mix and mingle as much as possible!!

Monkeys in the Garbage

2007-12-06T20:06:00.001+09:00

Everyday was a new adventure in McLeod Ganj--where to eat, where to check email, meeting friends on the street, shopping, planning lessons, etc. But regardless of our daily schedules and teaching life at Tibet Charity, there was always one constant--the monkeys!! They came through our neighborhood at least twice a day, sometimes they never really left. They would run up and down the paths, climb all over the houses, play in the trees, and try to steal food from anyone or anywhere they could. On two occassions my parents left the door to their apartment open and without fail, a clever monkey ran in and grabbed something. The first time my dad caught it and it got scared, dropped the item and ran out. The second time, it jumped up to the 3rd shelf grabbed the open package of spaghetti and made a quick getaway. Everyday we were blessed with many monkeys in all directions. One day we walked to the nearest dump to throw our trash. There were monkeys, cows and dogs picking through it all. But the monkeys are the fastest and they get to the best stuff first! At least the good stuff doesn't go to waste!

Making Tsampa

2007-12-06T19:54:00.000+09:00

Tsampa, roasted barley flour, is one of the staple foods in a Tibetan diet. It is eaten several times a day in Tibet usually with butter tea and/or meat. While barley isn't a traditional food in India, the Tibetans continue their tradition by growing and roasting it. The family we rented an apartment from roasts their own, to ensure a pure rock-free quality. Here are a few pictures from their rooftop roasting operation:

The barley grain is put in a wok of sand. The hot sand becomes the roaster!

After a few minutes of heating the sand, the barley needs to be mixed in order to roast all of it. It sounds a little like popcorn popping.

After the barley is roasted, the sand is sifted out and reused to roast the next batch. The roasted barley then needs to be cleaned (de-shafted) and taken to a mill to be ground. It is a labor intensive process, but an absolute necessity for many of the Tibetans living in Dharamsala.

Visiting Nobalinka

2007-11-24T19:35:00.001+09:00

The Dalai Lama's summer home is on the roof of the temple.

A few weeks ago, my one-on-one student invited me to Norbalinka. It is located about 1 hour from McLeod Ganj by a jeep, bus and taxi combo. In India, Norbalinka is a cultural preservation center and houses many Tibetan artists workshops. It is also the Dalai Lama’s summer home, when he has the time to come home in the summer. Similarly, in Tibet, the Dalai Lama used to spend his summers at Norbalinka. The Indian version has been built as a replica. The Indian version is made up of beautiful gardens, streams and ponds. At the center is the temple and summer home. Luckily, my student has a friend who works in the Tibetan history research office at Norbalinka. He was able to leave his office for awhile and show us the different artists’ workshops as well as take us up into the Dalai Lama’s apartment-his office, his living quarters and even his bathroom! Pretty nice bathroom too! He has a western toilet, and there was even a shower curtain on the tub-the first one I’ve seen in India!

Standing outside the Dalai Lama's living quarters

After visiting the artists shops we went to his friend’s house for lunch of Tibetan noodle soup. After taking a post-lunch rest, we headed to the Karmapa’s Monastery down the road. The Karmapa Lama is probably the second most important lama in Tibetan Buddhism. He came from China less than 10 years ago and is heavily politicized because the Chinese also recognize him as an important lama. Unfortunately, the Karmapa Lama was out of town, but we were able to see the monastery and its grounds.

The Guyto Monastery, home of the Karmapa Lama

On the way back up the hill to McLeod Ganj, we stopped at the Tibetan Library which is housed on the grounds of the Tibetan Government in Exile. The library houses many old Tibetan texts as well as an English library on Tibetan Buddhism. It also houses a small museum of cultural relics refugees were able to bring from Tibet. Another one of my student’s friends showed us around.

Riding in style!

It has been interesting and eye-opening to live among one of the largest Tibetan refugee communities in the world for several weeks. I’ve heard many stories of people sneaking across the Himalayas trying to avoid the Chinese guards to have a chance at an education, to be able to study Buddhism freely and to see the Dalai Lama in person. They leave behind family, friends, relationships and often leave knowing they will never be able to return. Many of the more recent arrivals, young students seeking an education, hope to one day return either legally by obtaining permission from the Chinese government, or illegally, by crossing the mountains again. Yet, even through all their hardships and struggles, they are some of the most genuinely kind and compassionate people I’ve spent time with. I can see why it is easy to become a believer in Buddhism, the people I’ve met here, really do practice what they preach. And it has been an honor to spend time with them and learn more about their religion as well as their lives.

This afternoon I found myself sitting in a one room apartment furnished with two beds, a gas can for cooking, a few books, and a few photos of the Dalai Lama. The shared bathroom and cold shower is down the hall. My one-on-one student who invited me there, doesn't actually live in this room, he just stays here because he doesn't have a place of his own. He cooked and served me a huge bowl of thukpa, Tibetan noodle soup, and turned to me, smiled and said, "This is the life of a refugee."

Becoming Tibetan

2007-11-24T19:20:00.001+09:00

There isn't much time for writing these days...lesson prep, one-on-one lessons, drinking tea with students, eating out, studying Tibetan, and planning for the next leg of the journey. But several weeks ago, our good friend and my mom's one-on-one student, invited us over for "fashion day". She dressed us up in her chupas, or Tibetan dresses. They are so comfortable and I think they are very attractive looking--of course not so attractive on foreigners. But the Tibetan women look so classy around town in their dresses with their multi- colored aprons. Tibetan traditions says only married women can wear the aprons. But for one day... I was allowed the honor! Perhaps there is a Tibetan guy out there for me? One that can throat sing, perhaps?

A Tibetan Thanksgiving in India

2007-11-24T19:03:00.000+09:00

Boom Boom and Me in front of the lyrics for Johnny Appleseed

We couldn't let Thanksgiving go by without celebrating it in some way. Being that 4 of the current Tibet Charity teachers are American, we decided to have a little party for all the students. All the teachers made announcements in their classes and we coordinated with the cook and staff and asked them to prepare tea for about 50 people. My family ordered 4 pans of the best American brownies in town from Jimmy's Italian Restaurant. And the other American teacher was supposed to bring fruit. Unfortunately, there was a death in town on the day of Thanksgiving and in remembrance, all the shops and fruit stalls were shut down for the entire day. Not able to find ANY fruit in town, she bought 50 juice boxes! Similarly, all the photocopy centers were closed. I spent the afternoon running around, finally finding a copy center and made copies of a song called "Thank Someone", a Thanksgiving word search, and Thanksgiving bingo cards. At 3:30 we filled the main hall to capacity. It was standing room only!! We didn't do an official count, but there were probably over 70 people there! What a success! After my dad gave a brief explanation of Thanksgiving, we sang a few rounds of "Johnny Appleseed", taught them "Thank Someone", gave prizes to the top 10 who finished the word search, and played a round of Bingo with Thanksgiving words! It was a success and everyone seemed to really enjoy it!! At the end all the teachers served the students brownies and tea! I'm not sure any of them had eaten a brownie before, but there were NONE left at the end of the party!! It was lots of fun to share the spirit of Thanksgiving with the wonderful people we have met here at Tibet Charity. They are all so giving, friendly, and compassionate that I'm happy we were able to say "Thank you!"

Here are a few pictures from the event:

Students singing "Thank Someone" at the Thanksgiving Party

About 70 students attended our American Thanksgiving Day party. We weren't able to feed them a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but we did sing songs, play games, and serve brownies and milk tea.

Some of the super eager students!

After our party at Tibet Charity, the English teachers headed to Lhamo's Restaurant for a set Thanksgiving Dinner. They served pumpkin soup, spinach salad, mashed potato momos, vegetable momos, carrot or lemon cake and tea. It was a delicious meal and a delightful evening with colleagues.

Triund Trek

2007-11-24T18:43:00.000+09:00

McLeod Ganj (1750m) - Triund (2850m) – McLeod Ganj (1750km)

9:15am to 1pm to 5:30pm

18 km

“The entire trek is most charming, enjoyable, and challenging.”
--Dharamshala Trekking Itineraries Booklet

After my first lesson with my intermediate class, a very serious looking monk approached me and invited me to go hiking. Happily surprised by the immediate invitation to do something, we briefly planned something for the following weekend, the weekend after the Dalai Lama was giving a two-day teaching. So, after class on Friday he followed me to the teachers’ room and asked me what he needed to go hiking. Apparently this was to be his first hike—EVER! So we went over the list: food, water, comfortable shoes and sun protection. Oh…and he said he would change out of his monk robs because they weren’t suitable for hiking. Yesterday we agreed to meet at 8:15am in the main bazaar of McLeod Ganj. After waiting an hour, I was about to give up, just when he walked up the road wearing jeans, a button down shirt and a baseball cap—no monk robs!

We had both promised to do some research before the big day. I had purchased an atrocious local map with some trekking itineraries and he, well, he showed up. I had a general idea of a direction we should walk, so off we went-up the hill to Dharamkot. After reaching that little village, we turned off and followed a trail through another little village and up to a temple called Galu. At Galu we turned off onto the real trail—surrounded by rhododendron, cedar and oak trees. Clear skies up above and a great view of McLeod Ganj and the Kangra Valley down below—the views were stunning!

And the conversations were interesting too! My student and new hiking partner is a student at the Tibet Medical College, as well as a monk. So, I learned a little about Tibet medicine and he pointed out some useful herbs as we were walking. I also learned more about Buddhism and the general Tibet situation.

About 1 ½ hours from the top, we stopped for tea, a much needed dose of liquids, sugar and caffeine to keep the body moving! From there it was a steep and rocky climb of switchbacks to the top. But the top was well worth the climb! It was a long flat boulder strewn grassy meadow. From this meadow ridge, you could see the Dhauladhar Mountain range with Mt. Indrahara (4320m) straight ahead. We sat on the grassy lawn in front of a rock painted with "Free Tibet" and exchanged lunches. I shared my peanut butter-banana-honey and peanut butter-jam sandwiches with him and he gave me his sen, a Tibetan grain porridge. He also shared his salty tea and fruit. It was a feast!

After a relaxing lunch in the sun, we headed back down. Going down is always the killer on my knees. We decided to take an alternate route down. It ended up taking much longer than our morning short cut, but in the end we ended up in the right place and said good-bye at TIPA (Tibet Institute for Performing Arts). Overall a fun little outdoor adventure with a monk!

I have plans to take two more of my students up there next weekend! All of a sudden I’m becoming the local trekking guide! Ha ha ha!

Delhi to Dharamsala

2007-11-14T15:55:00.000+09:00

Trying to avoid immediate lung cancer, my mom wore a medical mask whenever she left the hotel in Delhi.

What can one really say about Delhi? My advice: avoid it if and when you ever travel to India. Fly to any other major city, just don’t bother with Delhi. It is one of the most polluted and congested cities in the world. It’s miserable. One day of ‘sight-seeing’, if you can see through the smog, will leave the laundry water black when you rinse your clothes. If anyone wants to compare China and India, all they have to do is visit Beijing and Delhi to see the major differences. China is years ahead of India in mass-transportation and traffic control alone. The levels of infrastructure are so vastly different. India, as much as I love it, still has a long ways to go and maybe that is the difference between the world’s largest democracy and China—a communist state lacking in many personal freedoms. Anyway, the point is, we all couldn’t wait to get OUT of Delhi as soon as possible.

Don't let the spectacular buildings deceive you--Delhi is dirty and has filthy air!

Unfortunately, the journey from Delhi to Dharamsala requires a 12 hour bus ride. We bought tickets on the overnight semi-sleeper luxury VOLVO bus. But even then, we had to listen to a Hindi movie blaring over the bus speakers for over three hours, had to navigate Delhi’s horrendous traffic, and then had to climb into the foothills of the Himalayas on Indian roads. Even after taking 1 ½ Benadryl, my ear plus in, my seat leaned back, and my head resting on my feather pillow (courtesy of Malaysian Airlines) I couldn’t sleep much. Which means my parents didn’t sleep a wink!!

Luckily, arriving in Upper Dharamsala (aka McLeod Ganj) was a breath of fresh air—literally!! It is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and without many roads, it drastically reduces traffic. There are some taxis, buses and rickshaws, but almost no private cars in town, except for the Dalai Lama’s entourage of course.

We have been here just over a week. We have settled into an apartment owned by a very generous and kind Tibetan family. We have the two rooms on the floor above their apartment. My parents are in one apartment with a kitchen, refrigerator, TV w/cable, and bathroom. My little apartment with a bathroom is next door and has room for a kitchen but nothing is hooked up. We are located a little above the main town. Well, 133 steps from the road to be exact. But all the roads are hills around here. That means my commute to school is 15 minutes downhill, probably 200-300meter descent and my commute home is 20 minutes of walking UP! It is good for me after the trek, but my parents are struggling a bit with the hills and steps. ‘Slowly slowly’, as the Nepali guides would say.

Enjoying Fresh Lime Sodas on one of the many rooftop cafes

Dharamsala, seems very safe so far. I have walked home alone after dark a few times and never been worried or felt afraid. The biggest nuisances are the large troops of monkeys that roam about and pass by our apartment balcony 2-3 times a day. This is also mating season and the males are especially vicious right now. But other than the wildlife, the town is pretty quiet. Walking around the main bazaar you see the same 10-15 beggars that sit in the same places everyday. However, none of these beggars are Tibetan, they are all Indian, and I heard a rumor that they are all South Indian. The first few days in town trying to negotiate and decide how to treat them were difficult. They see a foreigner and start whining for money. I don’t mean to sound heartless, but I don’t give to beggars. If I have food, I will sometimes give it, especially to children. But we were warned by some other teachers that many of these beggars will sell back food you buy them for money. And one woman who is missing all her fingers, probably due to leprosy, makes enough money to support her daughter through college. Great, good for her, but I refuse to support begging. So, instead of blatantly ignoring their greetings and pleas, my parents and I have started greeting them as we would anyone else. I say ‘hello’ or ‘namaste’ and ask them how they are and smile at them. They all recognize us now and know we won’t give money, but also know we will acknowledge them as humans. Most people don’t even do that much. I realize I’m not a saint, I’m no Mother Theresa, I pick my causes and like to give where I know it is going to a worthy cause. But everyone deserves to be treated as a human being and smiling never hurt anyone.

Tibet Charity, Dharamsala

My parents and I all started teaching at the Tibet Charity’s Multi-Education Center last week. I have an intermediate class for 90 minutes M-F. The class has about 15 regular students comprised of Tibetan monks, nuns and lay people. Many of the students have stories about escaping from the Chinese controlled Tibet (walking days in the mountains, being shot at by border guards, and leaving family & friends) so that they can get an education in India, where the Tibet Government in Exile resides. The school offers them free English, Hindi, and computer classes. There are also drop-in conversation classes they can attend. It is hard not to be overwhelmed by their stories and their desire for a Free Tibet. Yesterday one of my students, a young monk, gave a 2 minute speech entitled “Why I study hard”. He explained that he hopes to fight the Chinese someday, that the Tibetans HAVE TO fight the Chinese. But he doesn’t want to use guns or violence, he wants to use intellect. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for all the young Tibetans to get an education and study hard. Only if Tibetans are educated can they outwit the Chinese someday! So everyday he attends English classes, science classes and his Buddhist studies class. He isn’t unusual, some students take 4-5 English classes a day and cheered when I asked them if they wanted me to give them homework!

All the students are extremely eager to learn, ask questions, answer questions, and participate. After teaching in Japan, it is shocking to see how motivated students can be. It seems the main difference is that Tibetans are learning English to save their country and culture. The Japanese view English as destroying their country and culture. And the Chinese seem to view English as the means to becoming the next major empire. As I travel and learn more about the motivations for learning English in different areas of the world, it makes me think harder about where I want to teach and who I want to teach. For example, I could never feel good about teaching in China, especially after living and teaching in a Tibetan refugee community. And while Japan pays the bills, I wonder if teaching innovation and research isn’t wasted on a community that is only learning English to function, not survive in the world. Unfortunately, teaching Tibetans or disadvantaged populations, the most rewarding teaching, isn’t sustainable for teachers unless they are supported by a large trust fund. Where is the middle ground? And how does my dream of teaching in the middle east factor into this?

The view from our balcony at 7:30AM

“Madam, what country is suffering because you’re here?”

2007-11-14T15:50:00.000+09:00

We had planned 8 days roundtrip for the ABC trek. We were back in Pokhara after 6 ½ days. We tried to extend it as long as we could, but the trail finally came to an end and before we knew it we were back on a bus heading for Pokhara. Luckily, because we had an extra day there, we were able to do some laundry, although it came back smelling like all our dirty socks. On our free day we hired a boat to take us across the lake so we could climb to the top of a small hill and see the Peace Pagoda. The climb is supposed to take 45min-1hr. Even in our newly purchased hippy skirts (our clothes were being washed) and our flip-flops we did it in 30minutes! The view of the Pokhara valley was nice, but the pagoda was disappointing. We had tea and walked around up on top before heading back down to the boat. That night, as we were walking to the Punjabi Dhaba for dinner, we passed by one of 100s of Kashmiri shops that line the main tourist drag near the lake. The Kashmiri shopkeepers have a reputation for being sweet talkers and very persistent in their sales pitch. But one particular shopkeeper got our immediate attention when he said “Madam, what country is suffering because you’re here?” as we walked by. We all busted up laughing at his great command of a unique pick-up line! But we didn’t stop to buy anything! Although we promised another sweet talker that we would be back next year for a cup of tea. Ladies, have you bought your ticket yet?

The next day we were up early with our over stuffed packs and on a bus to Kathmandu. It was pouring and our bags were on the top. We had our rain covers on and there was a tarp over all the bags, with any luck our stuff would arrive only damp, not soaked! The bus ride is supposed to take 8 hours, but because of accidents, the rain and bad traffic before the big Nepali Daishan Festival, it took about 10 hours. Gyanu escorted us to our hotel and we agreed to meet the next day for our last DBT meal!

We had one day of sight-seeing and shopping before our last DBT meal together with Gyanu. He took us to a local Nepali restaurant and we sat and talked for about 2 hours eating snacks (chili chicken boneless, fried peanuts and momos) before we ordered dinner. We also drank a lot of beer which helped us all loosen up and ask questions we hesitated to ask before. Several of his friends came as well as his brother. It was fun to see him in his element and see part of his life.

The next day we had our final breakfast bakery meal together at the Brezel Bakery in Thamel. They took their last walk around our little neighborhood and said good-bye to Kathmandu.

It was surreal to see A&E off at the airport for our final good-bye. It is really hard to comprehend a month long adventure coming to an end. It’s hard to let it go and say good-bye to everything that had become our life:

the heavy packs

pumping water

porridge

DBT meals

cold group showers

mint tea

snickers bars

curling up in our sleeping bags at 7pm every night

sleeping 10-12 hours a night

trekking 5-8 hours every day

sucking on the group teat (water bag)

hand-washing all our clothes

backpackers laundry line (underwear hanging from our bags)

applying the 70 SPF sun cream

daily vitamin dose

cringing at the sight of suspension bridges

traffic jams of goats, donkeys and cows

‘namaste sweet’

‘namaste one rupee’

‘namaste pen’

Twenty-four hours after seeing off A&E at the airport, I was back at the airport to meet my mom. She had been traveling for 48 hours when she got off the plane and had spent 12 of those waiting at the Delhi airport overnight. Needless to say, she was thrilled to finally see a familiar face and settle in at the hotel. And it was great to see her after 10 months! She is a very eager listener and wanted to hear all about the trek and our adventures…perfect debriefing time for me!

We spent several days exploring Kathmandu: the monkey temple, Durbar Square, Thamel, Bhaktapur, and Patan. We hired Gyanu to ‘guide’ us around several of the places. It is so much better to be able to ask questions to a local then just wander around looking at things aimlessly. And of course it always helps to have a Nepali speaker negotiate taxis.

Sorry, couldn't flip it around. But check it out. Gyanu is carrying my mom's bag around Bhaktapur. He also hekped her up and down steep stairs and made sure to keep a close eye on her in traffic! He is the BEST GUIDE EVER!!

But after a few days in the capital, we packed up a small bag and got on the bus going to The Last Resort, located 14km from the Tibetan border. It is famed for having one of the highest bungee jumps in the world, about 160 meters. The bridge was enough to put me in a state of panic. There was no way I was even going to consider jumping off of it.

The Last Resort is a little oasis for adventure travelers. The land was originally rice terraces, like all the land that surrounds the resort. But after business break-up at The Borderlands down the road, one of the business partners, a world famous kayaker, opened The Last Resort and converted all the land to a beautifully landscaped resort. Another co-owner owns a rafting company in Japan. It was at his hostel in Hokkaido that I first heard about The Last Resort and promised to make a visit. Lucky for me and my mom, I kept my promise.

At The Last Resort all the guests sleep in safari tents and there are shared toilets and hot showers. There is a large open-air dining room/bar area where all the meals are served buffet style. There is a massage house run by a different company that only trains and employs untouchables. And of course, there are many activities to choose from: bungee, canyon swing, canyoning, rafting, kayaking, trekking, etc. We had planned a few days of relaxing and then a two day rafting trip down the Bhote Khosi, one of Nepal’s best white water rivers! But that wasn’t all that was in store for us. After we arrived, the adventure coordinator asked us if we would be interested in canyoning and sent the canyoning guide over to talk to my mom. The issue wasn’t if I wanted to go, it was if SHE wanted to go!

After an hour of explaining what canyoning involved, abseiling down waterfalls, my mom was almost convinced! It wasn’t that the guide was trying to sell her on an activity, he was trying to boost her confidence and explained all the risks as well as the safety measures they take. It was easy to tell that he was very experienced and trustworthy! And it was easy to feel comfortable knowing we would be putting our lives in his hands!

So the next morning, the sun was shining, and we met with our canyoning guide at about 10:30 to suite up. We wore a wet suite, a fleece, a spray jacket, a helmet, a harness and shoes of our choice. I only had my chakos with tread that is well-worn. Three of us, my mom and I joined by a solo Israeli traveler, set out with two Nepali guides. The stream and the 7 waterfalls were a 15 minute walk from the resort through a small village and rice terraces. The first waterfall was easy, the guide repelled us down. But after that it was up to us, we had to abseil—control the rope ourselves. The longest waterfall was something like 45meters. The biggest challenge was keeping my feet from slipping of the wet mossy covered rock face. Otherwise it was a lot of fun, even my mom thought so! It was something neither one of us thought we would do, but glad we did! I would totally do it again if the chance presented itself!

Our rafting guide, Sam, standing with my mom and Pat, the co-owner of The Last Resort and owner of Hokkaido Outdoor Adventure in Japan

The next big adventure: RAFTING! This was something my mom and I had really been looking forward to. As a family we all love rafting, and are always looking for a good river. When we travel, we like to find a good raft trip to coordinate our other plans with. So, since Nepal is one of the best places in the world for rafting, we had to get a good few days in. AND WE DID!! But perhaps we got a little more than we bargained for, or at least my mom did. The first day was fun but not overly crazy. There were some good floats in-between the class 3+ rapids. It was a good warm-up for the second day which we had been warned would be much more continuous and much more strenuous, was a little crazy. It was only the second post-monsoon raft trip to brave the river because the water was still really high. The first raft trip had flipped a boat in the first 10 seconds on the river! So we were in for some good rapids and good fun! It was everything everyone promised it would be…lots of big continuous white water. And at one point we hit a rock that titled the boat in such a way that my mom popped out. She tried to hold onto the boat, but the water was so strong she let go. Another guide threw her a lifeline, but with all the white water crashing in front of her face she didn’t see it just inches away from her. Luckily, the safety kayakers are great at their jobs and one came to the rescue. She grabbed on and he paddled her to shore. It took her some time to catch her breath and recover from the trauma of being in a serious rapid for about 20-30 seconds. But she jumped right back in another raft (we were on the other side of the river) and rode with them until we called it a day about 20 minutes later. I’m not sure if my mom will go rafting again, but she has a great story to tell and it is even more exotic because it happened in Nepal, a country most of her friends wouldn’t step foot, let alone go rafting or canyoning!

My mom with her safety kayaker and lifesaver!

We spent our last few days doing some more sight-seeing with Gyanu in Kathmandu and we went to Nagarkot for one night—hoping to see a Himalayan view. The real blessing in Nagarkot was the clear air and lack of traffic. The sunrise view was minimal. It was possible to see the outline of distant mountains, but the real view of the Himalayas was from our airplane window as we flew to Delhi where we met my dad and departed for our Dharamsala adventure!

The temples of Patan!

The view from Daramkot--can you see the spectacular Himalayas in the background??

Annapurna Base Camp Day #4

2007-11-11T18:58:00.000+09:00

ABC Day 4 (Oct. 11)

Machupuchre Base Camp (3700m) - Annapurna Base Camp (4130m) - Bamboo (2335m)

15km

6:45am to 4:30pm

We did it!! We made it to ABC and we saw fabulous mountain views. It wasn’t super clear but enough to see almost all the peaks. Stunning! At the top we drank mint tea, ate a snickers and bounty bar and snapped photos of the 360degree view of snow capped mountains. But not just any mountains—the Himalayas! We were all a little worried leaving M.B.C this morning because there was a thick cloud cover and it has rained during the night. But luckily after our 90min walk up, it started to burn off. Our new Korean friend, Lion, was up there. He took some great group photos of us. We got one while picking up Gyanu, similar to the photo we got with JP at Poon Hill. I think that surprised him!

I love getting reactions out of him. He is so funny! Glad we hired him as our guide! He has been invaluable! On the way back to M.B.C. we were asking him about his family. His family lives in a village in the Himalayan foothills. They have lots of animals-buffalo, goats, chickens, cows, etc. And they grow most of their own food—millet, rice, buckwheat, veggies, and fruit. Very cool! But it sounds like a difficult life. And now it is just his parents and one younger sister living on the farm. His other siblings, there are 6 total, are living in Kathmandu or with their husbands. He might go back in December to help with the harvesting.

--Water pump break—

We kicked ass today!! Not only did we go to A.B.C this morning (two days earlier than expected), but we cruised it back down. We had plans to stop and stay in Dovan for the night. But when we arrived there, all the rooms, in all the hotels (about 4) were full. It seems the trekking season has JUST started! There was one room available, but it was in a tin shed behind a hotel. It had 4 beds and no windows. One of the pillow cases had a big blood stain and cigarette burns. Gyanu had seen it and reported back to us “no” and when I went to confirm, I whole heartedly agreed! So, the decision was made to keep moving! It had started raining about 45 minutes before we got to Dovan. We pulled out our rain gear, put our packs back on and started walking. But with our sights set on Bamboo we really started running. Gyanu said it would take us 90 minutes, we said we could do it in 60 minutes. We arrived in Bamboo in 40 minutes. We were all shocked. We were booking it, even in the rain and on the muddy trail! Nice work team—high 5s all around!

We got a room at the first hotel and it came complete with a gas powered hot shower—delicious! We’ve got out act together now. We have managed to filter and treat our water BEFORE dinner—an accomplishment! So now we are sitting in the dining hall waiting for our DBT (dal bhat thakali) and drinking tea. Gyanu is sufficiently impressed with our speed, and so are we! If we keep this pace we could be done in two days! But I think we will take an alternate route from Chomrong which will make it last longer. Plus there is another hot spring on that alternate route—fabulous! So far the knee is ok going down, but we haven’t hit the severe steps yet. Tomorrow is a mix of UP/DOWN. Great! The ALL down days are the killer! I prefer going up!

Today’s highlight: the amazing views at A.B.C and informing a group on their way to Dovan that it was full—shocked faces all around! Low light: Seeing our only option in Dovan, a bloody pillow in a windowless room.

Oh, and let’s not forget the delicious Dearoli DBT. We had it on the way up to A.B.C and we stopped at the same hotel on the way down. It is the best DBT we have had on the trail! I wonder how tonight’s DBT delicacy will compare?

Go DBT team go! Let’s keep trekking forever!

Annapurna Base Camp Day #1

2007-11-11T18:56:00.000+09:00

ABC Day 1 (Oct. 8) Birethanti (1025m) - Khimrong Khola (1780m)

16km

7:15am to 4:30pm

The dynamics have changed! We waved good-bye to JP yesterday and rode off with Gyanu in a taxi to the bus stand. So now it is 3 women and our guide. We decided to travel to the start point in the late afternoon so we could sleep there and start on the trail early. The guidebook recommends taking the bus in the AM and starting the trail mid-day. But given the heat at the low altitude…and after having the circuit behind us, we knew better than to start late in the day.

Our porridge was served at 6:30am and we hit the trail about 7:15. We signed back into the Annapurna Conservation books and headed up the hill. The night at the Moonlight Hotel was uneventful except for some coughing fits in the middle of the night. We now sleep in a triple so my coughing wakes up 2, not 1. But without the husband around anymore we got to have some good girl gossip time…well needed after 18 days on the circuit! J

The morning walk started out hot but pretty flat. Then we hit a section of stairs-UP UP UP! And for lunch we made it to Ghandruk. I has stayed there 4 years ago when I did the Poon Hill circuit. It is a big town with lots of hotels. Our guide book suggests it as the first days stop. But since we had gotten an early start, we were there by 11:30am, much too early for stopping. Although never too early for eating! This is officially the International ABC Dal Bhat Tour. We are eating porridge for breakfast, and dal bhat for lunch and dinner!! It doesn’t get much better than that!

Gyanu taught us a new card game while we were waiting for lunch. It is pretty easy and a fun game—a good one to remember and teach other people. I gotta get the name of it again (Dunbull).

It has changed everything having a guide with us! I think it is motivating us so far. We were going pretty hard this morning. But we did stop for tea twice today! Great! The PM stop was another ‘get out of the rain’ stop! It was perfect timing too cause it started POURING as soon as we sat down and ordered tea. We drank more mint tea and played more cards! Then the decision was made to go DOWN to the next town. This trail has much more UP & DOWN then the circuit which was mostly UP and after we crossed the pass was all DOWN. So that means tomorrow morning we will have a long UP climb to get out of the valley…but better to push on now incase we need to slow down later.

A view of Machupuchre (Fish Tail) from the trail.

My left knee is starting to hurt again. Maybe I’ll never make it out at all. They might have to leave me in here to fend for myself. But we are ahead of schedule and ahead of the guide book, which is always good! Especially since the guidebook seems to give suggestions for days that are totally unreasonable.

Everyone else we met on the trail today 1) had guides & PORTERS and 2) didn’t make it this far! We aren’t walking fast, but seeing as we just finished an 18 day trek on the circuit, we are doing well! This town has 1 hotel and we are the only ones here. We are getting in just before the real trekking season starts! Time for a cold cold shower and dal bhat!

Annapurna Circuit Day #17

2007-11-11T18:55:00.000+09:00

Day 17 (Oct. 4) Tatopani (1200m) - Ghorepani (2870m)

15km

6:50am to 3:15pm

The view from our rooftop restaurant in Tatopani!

Exhausted! Today was UP UP UP! And I woke up super congested. The cold has moved to my lungs and turned into a cough. Surprise surprise. It always moves south. That made today extra hard. I tried to focus on my breathing and keeping it controlled so I wouldn’t have a coughing fit. It mostly worked but when I stopped I would start coughing a bit. It’s not horrible but it slowed me down a lot. I was mostly last all day. E slowed down again towards the end of the day, but JP and A were super speedy. I don’t know why but we skipped lunch today. We stopped at about 10:30 and got corn bread with honey and tea. And then we just didn’t stop again! I ate a snickers to get me up the last few hours to Ghorepani. A & E also chowed one. No idea what JP did to make it up.

Today’s ascent was mostly stair climbing. That is both good and bad. In some ways it is easier than climbing steep dirt tracks. Once you get into a groove and find your rhythm climbing endless hours of stairs isn’t too bad. BUT after a few hours it feels like your legs just won’t go anymore. Today was also the first day we walked without knowing anyone on the trail. We have no friends to keep us going. And no friends to stop and rest with. No guides to tell us where to eat or stay. We said good-bye to most of our friends yesterday. They moved on and we took an extra rest day in Tatopani—low altitude town with hot springs and great food! So today we were out of our element and we made the mistake of pushing on without a real meal. Stupid!! Our breakfast at the Old Kamala Hotel was at 6:15am—oat porridge with apple. It’s the best, but it isn’t meant to last all day, especially on a day we are ascending 1670m.

Eating a lot of food on our rest day in Tatopani: cinnamon rolls, coffee, chocolate cake, apple pie and carrot cake. And that was just our post-breakfast dessert!

We said good-bye to T & C this morning at breakfast. They are taking the hike out option from Tatopani. We took the UP UP UP option to the Ghorepani/Poon Hill view point before we walk out. A little crazy—yes! But we weren’t ready to be done yet either. Even with all the pain and exhaustion…it feels good! It is addicting. And I don’t want it to end. I want to keep going.

Hopefully we will run into T & C, the Spaniards, their guides, and our Israeli friends in Pokhara. It would be fun to do a big dinner, maybe at the Everest Steak House, to celebrate finishing the circuit. Depending on what we decide tomorrow, it would be our last day. In which case we would arrive in Pokhara the same day as the Spaniards…so that is one motivation to walk out tomorrow. Even though my feet are killing me and my back hurts, I kind of want to extend this out as long as possible. Let’s see how the group feels!

The view of our walk up to Ghorepani!

It is nice to be up high again—good views and cool temps. We are staying at The Sunny Hotel. Currently, I am sitting in the dining hall overlooking Dhaulgiri, one of the big Himalayan mountains. But it has a lot of clouds covering most of it, so it is hard to see it very clearly. Hopefully the morning view from Poon Hill will be clear and we will be able to see all the mountains we missed on most of the trek because of all the rain and snow!

On the way into town we met a Japanese couple. They seemed nice and it was fun to practice a little nihongo with them. I miss speaking and hearing Japanese all the time. I want to practice it more…I need to find more Japanese tourists to make friends with.

This morning at breakfast I got a bad back spasm. JP gave me a back massage and tried to work it out at our snack stop, but it is still really tight. I need more!

We just at our umpteenth dal bhat meal. We chowed down dinner after not eating lunch. We ate a pre-dessert and a post-dessert. We ordered two pieces of apple pie before dinner because we were so hungry. And JP ran out to get Nepali snacks before dinner. The best thing about dal bhat is they keep bringing more until you are sufficiently full. We ate our fill and then ordered more dessert, but after JP went to bed! Ha ha ha! We ate chocolate pudding with apple AND rice pudding after dinner. Delicious!!

The worst part of this hotel…besides the hordes of Chinese tourists with large cameras, are the Western toilets. They suck for having to take a shit. It is so hard to try and hover over the toilet bowl without touching the seat and try to push it all out. I want a squat toilet! It falls out much more naturally.

Tomorrow is up at 4:30 and off to Poon Hill (300m ascent) for a spectacular view! Yahoo! Time for bed!

We made it to Poon Hill, but the view was mediocre at best. I also got a bad bout of AMS because of my cold and almost fainted. But we got some pictures of the mountains, it was the start of our last day on the trek!

Annapurna Circuit Day #11

2007-11-11T18:53:00.001+09:00

Day 11 (Sept 28)

High Camp (4800m) - Thorung La Pass (5416m) - Muktinath (3800m)

14km

5:15am to 9am to 3:30pm

I was so exhausted when we arrived in Muktinath I barely had enough energy to shower and eat dinner (pizza at Bob Marley Hotel). So, I’m writing this on the 29^th after a good nights sleep. Yesterday was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. The ascent to the pass was miserable. I couldn’t breathe at all. I was gasping and it was so slow going. Plus it had continued snowing the night before and at high camp the trail was covered with about 8inn of new snow.

We woke up at 3:45am and went into the dining hall to confer with others about whether to go or not. Our two favorite guides, Lama and Gyanu, were set on leaving as was T & C’s porter. Other porters and guides were saying that if we waited a day it might be too dangerous so we should go over today or we might get stuck on this side. With all that said and with only mild headaches, we packed up our stuff, put on all our layers and ate our porridge with apple.

For the climb to the pass, I wore almost all the layers I owned. I had 3 layers on my legs: silk long underwear, my quick dry fake Lowe Alpine trekking pants, and my rain paints. On top I wore my two semi-quick dry shirts (long and short sleeve), and my black windproof pullover plus my orange fake windstopper Mamut jacket and my raincoat. It kept me mostly warm and dry. But after 10 hours of snow and rain, we were all a little wet. And even at lower altitude, it continues to pour!

After eating our porridge we were on the trail by 5:15am. The experienced guides went in front to find and make the trail since it was covered in snow. About 20-25 of us set out at the same time. It looked like a big mountain expedition…and we kinda were. Going up to 5416m is no small task. And perhaps sleeping (or laying awake all night) at High Camp wasn’t very wise but it saved us an hour of intense steep climbing. I’m glad we did it the day before and not the morning of the pass. We had enough to think about getting over the trail as it was.

The trail to the pass wasn’t that steep, but with all the snow it was difficult and slippery in places. Plus we had to ascend 600m or about 2,000ft—significant altitude gain when the oxygen is already thin.

Actually, within the first 30 minutes I thought I might have to turn back. I couldn’t catch my breath at all. And I got a side cramp. Gyanu, one of our favorite guides, was super kind and agreed to walk last to make sure we made it up. I’m not sure why he agreed to stay with us but he did. His client, one of the Spanish guys, was at the front of the line making the trail with his ice climbing boots!! So, when I was having problems breathing he waited for me and let others pass. It didn’t take long before I was the last in line. But soon A & E dropped back too. JP was in a groove with a group closer to the front and seemed to be doing well there.

After the mid-point tea break, we didn’t see JP again until the top. And the three of us were struggling to keep the others in sight. A started feeling really sick. I’m not sure if it was the Diamox or AMS, but she lost feeling in her legs. And she tasted blood in her mouth probably from a bloody nose, but we weren’t sure. She was struggling and we were all getting a little scared. Gyanu took her bag and carried it on top of his pack of similar size and weight, doubling the amount he was carrying. But she instantly started to feel better. He also gave her pure glucose which really helped her. It was a lifesaver. But she still didn’t feel good and we were wondering if we should keep going. Luckily, a couple passed that had a GPS unit. They told her it was only another 100m to the top. Therefore, it was much wiser to keep climbing, get over the pass and start descending immediately. The town on the other side (1600m descent) was low enough that AMS symptoms should go away. That gave her and all of us the confidence to get to the top!

A tea break at the top with our Spanish friend, Pablo.

We made it to the top at 9am. I started crying. I was so happy to be up there but I felt horrible for putting all my friends through that. I gave A & E a big hug. It was so frickn’ cold and windy up there we couldn’t stand outside long. But we stood outside long enough to take our bags off and go inside the tea house for a celebratory snickers. But at that altitude I had to force it down. We shared one cup of milk tea for 90 rps. And then we ran outside to take a photo before loading back up and starting the descent.

I’m not sure which was worse for me…the ascent or the descent. Actually, going up was harder because I couldn’t breath. But going down was hard because at first the snow was really deep. And as we started descending, it stopped snowing, but it turned into pouring rain. And it went on for hours and hours. We left the pass after freezing ourselves while attempting some photos at 9:30am. We walked down and down and down. I think a little after 1pm we arrived at a tiny town with a few little restaurants. We ordered mint tea (E’s stomach wasn’t feeling good) and ate our chapattis and boiled eggs we pre-ordered at High Camp. I’m not sure which was worse: walking in the rain and staying mildly warm or resting and letting the wet and cold seep in. Anyway, we needed the break. Only 1-2 hours to Muktinath. But it was the longest 2 hours ever. I think we arrived close to 4pm and it was still raining.

The walk down--cold, wet and exhausted!

As we walked into town we passed the famous Hindu pilgrimage site, the Muktinath Temple Complex. It is famous for its holy spring water that pours out of the earth. Hindus from all over India and the world visit it every year. The poor ones walk in with minimal supplies, sleeping by the side of the road/trail and cooking their meals over a fire. The rich ones fly to Pokhara and then hire a helicopter to fly them into Muktinath. There are two helipads within a few meters of the temple entrance so the wealthy don’t have to strain themselves too much.

After walking passed the temple and into town, we found a few hotels. We decided against the Bob Marley hotel and stayed next door at the Mona Lisa. We got a dorm room with 4 beds for 80 rps, or was it 120 rps? They had a REAL hot shower—it was amazing after the day we had had. They didn’t request we eat all our meals there so we went to the Rasta Restaurant to meet all our Israeli friends. We should have known better, because the general rule on the trail is you eat wherever you sleep. But we were hoping that in this bigger town, we might be exempt from that. Apparently not. After a lovely dinner of pizza, calzones, coke, a heated table, JPs celebratory cigar and apple pie with chocolate pudding, we returned to the Mona Lisa, and a very angry owner. JP dealt with it very politely but sternly.

So after a VERY long day, we were trying to be social and celebratory with our friends but we were really too exhausted to do either. We left the restaurant and returned to be yelled at. We were all in bed well before 8pm totally exhausted. We exchanged some shoulder massages before climbing into our sleeping bags. I think my shoulders hurt worse after the pass than any other day. I think the impact of the downhill slope plus my big pack was too hard on them. Ouch! But JP gave us all a good steamroll before we fell asleep. Nothing like a good steamroll before bed!

Annapurna Circuit Day # 10

2007-11-11T18:50:00.000+09:00

Day 10 (Sept. 27) Letdar (4200m) - High Camp (4850m)

7km

8am to 2:30pm

I’m sitting in the dining hall at High Camp with my feet under a heated table drinking hot chocolate. And it is snowing outside. You can’t see anything beyond the few buildings that make up the camp. And it is COLD.

The dining hall is packed with people trying to stay warm and stay out of the snow. We are also all trying to decide if we should attempt the pass tomorrow or wait another day. All of us are braving the extra 100+m altitude gain in the hopes of saving 1-2 hours in getting to the pass in the morning. The last hour to High Camp was hellish—straight up on switch backs in the snow. But I’d rather do it in the afternoon with the light of the sun than at 4am with my headlamp.

Last night in our little guest house in Letdar, we sat around a yak shit stove to warm up. All the guides joined us around the fire and we talked about Nepali ethnic groups and how they can tell each other apart. We stayed at the same guest house as the Spanish guys. Their guides are really funny and super cute! We have been following them since the 2^nd day. They give us lots of great advice about where to go or where to stay. But their Maya Hotel recommendation in Lower Pisang was totally off the mark. The older guide, “Lama” is full of life, is always making jokes and wears a coat that says “HELP” on the back of it. The younger one (still don’t know his name) is a little more quiet and serious but very friendly.

The yak shit warmed us for awhile but then it died down and we got super cold and went to our sleeping bags to warm up. Last night was really chilly and I woke up gasping for air a few times. Amy reported it like I was snorting for air, but I’m sure it was much more dignified than that. Whether you are sleeping, eating, sitting, or walking with an overloaded pack…it is very hard to breath at this altitude.

A & J both had headaches when we arrived so we all took a Diamox—the anti-altitude sickness wonder drug. It is supposed to last 12 hours. So, if the symptoms don’t go away by the time we wake up to depart in the morning, we will know to stay another day or go back down to Thorong Phedi and acclimatize another day. The perfect scenario: we all feel great in the AM and clear sunny skies. Wishful thinking?

Oh shit…the Diamox is starting to set in. My teeth are tingling. And I feel like I’m sinking into the bench. Ugh!! These side effects are worse than altitude sickness. Oh no, the tingling has moved up to my nasal cavity. This sucks!

The worst part of the trail today was the landslip area and the climb from Thorong Phedi to High Camp. Apparently on the 500m length of trail that is very prone to landslides, a rock nearly missed my head. I didn’t see it, but that’s the story JP told after I crossed it.

Before braving the landslides, we were able to power up at a tea house. We drank mint tea and ate chocolate biscuits. Those tea house breaks are essential. It is getting pretty pricey with the altitude gain, but it gives a local family a business and everyone seems to stop at the higher elevation. We ALL NEED the calories and the hydration.

We stopped for lunch at Thorong Phedi after trudging through some pretty deep snow on the trail. We all ate pasta, a cinnamon roll, and garlic toast. It is the last water station before Muktinath on the other side of the pass, so we also filled up all our bottles using our Buy 1 Litre, Get 1 Litre free coupon because it is the most expensive water station on the trail (60rps/Litre).

Sweet…just got a Nepali lesson from the younger guide and found out his name is Gyanu. He wrote the Nepali alphabet in my journal and wrote out some key phrases for us to remember. We also had a great discussion about religion, reincarnation, God, and anthropology.

It’s 7pm! Time to fill our water bottles with hot water (keep us warm at night and for drinking tomorrow) and attempt to go to sleep. We have to get up at about 3:45am to decide if we are going to brave the pass. If everyone else is going, we’ll go with them. It’s better to go over in a group, especially if the snow continues and we need to break a new trail. Oh my…what have we done??

This was our bare bones room at High Camp! Mud walls, one small light bulb, no heat and no indoor plumbing. It was also snowing outside!!

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