With the release of the Julia Roberts movie, Eat, Pray, Love just around the corner, it seems fitting that I'm here in Ubud (where the Love part of the story takes place). Here, the book of the same name that is the inspiration for the film is only known as "That Damn Book". I tried to think of some clever way to title this blog entry accordingly, but I just couldn't seem to fit any Praying or Loving into the post itself- only eating!
What Ubud lacks in street food (I only manged to eat it once, and it was mystery meat on a stick), it makes up for in expat hippie organic bakeries, coffee shops and cafes. I have been eating salads, pasta, pecan pie, salads (!!), milkshakes, sandwiches, banana pancakes, soups, french fries, cakes, and my new fav thing to eat, gado-gado (steamed green beans, cabbage, bean sprouts, tofu, tempe all smothered in peanut sauce). It's like we are just passing time until we can eat again. I love it. Now, barring Buddy's pizza and coney island tuna greek salads, there's no culinary reason for me to come home! But I'll still come home, don't worry.
Of note, I did eat suckling pig, which I didn't really enjoy but had to try to finish anyways so as not to be rude. I ate the meat and the skin and something else quite chewy but drew the line at what I knew was the intestines! Wait to you see the pics!
I've been making friends left and right. But the best people I met, and probably why I've been having so much fun for the last few days, are Hayley and Dom, an English couple who are 10 months into their year abroad in Southeast Asia. Hayley possibly likes to eat more than me (but it's close!) and the most stressful part of our day is deciding where to eat dinner and then what to order. Egging each other on, we've managed to throw our budgets out the window! Oh, this is definitely no MakeTheTrip! They're a lot of fun and they know and love India too, so we have that in common as well.
I've been watching the World Cup which has been fun since there are so many foreigners here. That call on the third goal in the US Slovenia game was bullshit and we all know it! Incidentally, Ubud has it's own football tourney going on as well (where I had the mystery meat on stick) which has caused quite some commotion around town. I'm looking forward to watching the US Algeria match Stateside on Weds morning!!
I fly out tonight at 120am- see you soon!!!
PS- Happy Father's Day, Dad!!! Miss you xoxoxoxox
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes..
So, I show up on the small small island of Nusa Penida looking for the teacher/artist, Sue, I met in the coffee shop in Ubud. I took the 530am public boat from pricey Nusa Lembongan, where I stayed the night before. Once again, I was back to being the only white person. I found the diving place where Sue told me to go, but she was no where in site and no one knew anything about her arrival. I hung around, had breakfast, took a nap, and generally tried not to get in anyone's way.
Eventually, Sue, and her Balinese friend Yusi, hoped onto the island and met me at the warung where I was eating lunch. After chatting and eating, we headed over to the after school library the two of them run (funded by the diving shop next store). Sue and Yusi have a great partnership. Yusi, the most bold, outspoken Balinese woman I've ever seen, had the idea and local connections and ambition to start up the library, but doesn't really like kids! Sue, a strong passionate teacher/artist with a huge smile, loves teaching kids and definitely has a way with them. This session was kind of last minute, so we just reviewed colors, body parts, days of the week and animal names and noises with the kids (in Bali, a rooster doesn't say "cock-a-doodle-doo" but "co-ca-ro-ko"). And we sang head, shoulders, knees and toes (HSKT)...over and over.
I stayed the night in the volunteer housing (room with bunk beds) provided by the dive shop with Sue and Yusi. The next day we took the boat back to Lembongan (Yusi drove this time- kind of) where we went to another, more organized, afterschool program. Here, we not only sang HSKT, we also did the hokey pokey and played a kind of chirades! Overall, it was great fun but surpirsingly tiring! Kudos to anyone who seriously works with kids. After watching the sunset and enjoying a fresh caught grilled fish dinner with some more new friends, I realized I still needed more relaxing time in Bali and decided to catch the morning boat back to the mainland.
I'm so glad to have met these strong inspiring women and have such a rewarding experience so late in my trip. But I'm also very happy to be back in easy breezy Ubud, soaking up sun next to the gorgeous pool!
Eventually, Sue, and her Balinese friend Yusi, hoped onto the island and met me at the warung where I was eating lunch. After chatting and eating, we headed over to the after school library the two of them run (funded by the diving shop next store). Sue and Yusi have a great partnership. Yusi, the most bold, outspoken Balinese woman I've ever seen, had the idea and local connections and ambition to start up the library, but doesn't really like kids! Sue, a strong passionate teacher/artist with a huge smile, loves teaching kids and definitely has a way with them. This session was kind of last minute, so we just reviewed colors, body parts, days of the week and animal names and noises with the kids (in Bali, a rooster doesn't say "cock-a-doodle-doo" but "co-ca-ro-ko"). And we sang head, shoulders, knees and toes (HSKT)...over and over.
I stayed the night in the volunteer housing (room with bunk beds) provided by the dive shop with Sue and Yusi. The next day we took the boat back to Lembongan (Yusi drove this time- kind of) where we went to another, more organized, afterschool program. Here, we not only sang HSKT, we also did the hokey pokey and played a kind of chirades! Overall, it was great fun but surpirsingly tiring! Kudos to anyone who seriously works with kids. After watching the sunset and enjoying a fresh caught grilled fish dinner with some more new friends, I realized I still needed more relaxing time in Bali and decided to catch the morning boat back to the mainland.
I'm so glad to have met these strong inspiring women and have such a rewarding experience so late in my trip. But I'm also very happy to be back in easy breezy Ubud, soaking up sun next to the gorgeous pool!
Monday, June 14, 2010
I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair!!
That was my plan here in Bali (the "man" in question being India itself, sorry girls). But said man, like the days worth of sweat, dirt, and god knows what else had been building up in my hair, was far more difficult to wash out than expected. I'm in Ubud, and it's beautiful, but for the first few days I felt nothing. I couldn't see any beauty, wasn't happy and missed India and everything about it. I tried shifting to a nicer hotel with a swimming pool and my own balcony facing the rice fields, but it was no better. I thought of heading to the beach, or maybe to hike up the volcano, or even taking some sort of art class, but I couldn't seem to get it up about doing anything. It was that familiar indifference of depression all over again. Damn the stubborn heart!!
But I met a nice French girl, and we went on a lovely walk through the rice fields, and I've had some really nice food (loads of steamed veggies and peanut sauce and pastries!!!) and started reading Tom Robbins again (Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates) so things are getting better.
Yesterday, while sitting in a sweet organic coffee shop that makes it's own frozen yogurt, I met a crazy English artist who came to Bali for a few weeks, but that was three years ago! I'm guessing she's in her 50's or 60s and looks like a stereotypical hippy artist, but we got to chatting and I came to learn that she's been volunteering at a community school for little kids on a small small island that is rarely visited by tourists, Nusa Penida. She invited me to go with her this time around, saying that the kids would love someone who is younger and American. So she gave me instructions on how to get to the island (bus to a coastal town, then a boat to another island, and yet another boat to Penida) and how to find her (ask around for Suzy, I'm the only white woman there) if I decided to go. There's no internet there, she says, so I'd have to just show up.
Then, today, at yet another sweet organic coffee shop, I met an Australian scientist/wildlife researcher/humanitarian/journalist/novelist who also has a background in pharmacology (yikes!) and had quite a long chat where twice I almost cried. He's currently writing something about empathy, and I think it shows. Either way, once he learned I was a pharmacist, he told me about a project he was involved in during a recent earthquake in Indonesia where he was able to acquire a warehouse full of medications and had the local know-how to get them to the people before any of the much needed foreign aid arrived. He said he wished there had been a pharmacist there to sort through the drugs and make sense of it all. This happens to be close to what I always imagined myself doing (pharmacy related international disaster relief type stuff) but haven't really found an organization by which to do so. He gave me some contact people and said that it would be easy for me to start something up. Just what I need, I thought, another reason to stay abroad.
I have met too many expats here and I fear that I will become one of them. What if I can't readjust to life in the States?! I was so worried when I fist came about being unable to handle India and now I'm worried about being unable to handle the US! Jeez, I'm going to be a mess when I get home! My hair is getting dirtier and dirtier by the minute and I am going to need lots of help to wash all this nonsense out!
In the meantime, I will leave tomorrow morning to attempt to find the crazy lady and help out with the kids. I guess one can never visit too many foreign schools, no? Don't worry, I will make it home safe and, if I'm not too much of a mental case, I'll try to write about when I get back to Bali.
But I met a nice French girl, and we went on a lovely walk through the rice fields, and I've had some really nice food (loads of steamed veggies and peanut sauce and pastries!!!) and started reading Tom Robbins again (Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates) so things are getting better.
Yesterday, while sitting in a sweet organic coffee shop that makes it's own frozen yogurt, I met a crazy English artist who came to Bali for a few weeks, but that was three years ago! I'm guessing she's in her 50's or 60s and looks like a stereotypical hippy artist, but we got to chatting and I came to learn that she's been volunteering at a community school for little kids on a small small island that is rarely visited by tourists, Nusa Penida. She invited me to go with her this time around, saying that the kids would love someone who is younger and American. So she gave me instructions on how to get to the island (bus to a coastal town, then a boat to another island, and yet another boat to Penida) and how to find her (ask around for Suzy, I'm the only white woman there) if I decided to go. There's no internet there, she says, so I'd have to just show up.
Then, today, at yet another sweet organic coffee shop, I met an Australian scientist/wildlife researcher/humanitarian/journalist/novelist who also has a background in pharmacology (yikes!) and had quite a long chat where twice I almost cried. He's currently writing something about empathy, and I think it shows. Either way, once he learned I was a pharmacist, he told me about a project he was involved in during a recent earthquake in Indonesia where he was able to acquire a warehouse full of medications and had the local know-how to get them to the people before any of the much needed foreign aid arrived. He said he wished there had been a pharmacist there to sort through the drugs and make sense of it all. This happens to be close to what I always imagined myself doing (pharmacy related international disaster relief type stuff) but haven't really found an organization by which to do so. He gave me some contact people and said that it would be easy for me to start something up. Just what I need, I thought, another reason to stay abroad.
I have met too many expats here and I fear that I will become one of them. What if I can't readjust to life in the States?! I was so worried when I fist came about being unable to handle India and now I'm worried about being unable to handle the US! Jeez, I'm going to be a mess when I get home! My hair is getting dirtier and dirtier by the minute and I am going to need lots of help to wash all this nonsense out!
In the meantime, I will leave tomorrow morning to attempt to find the crazy lady and help out with the kids. I guess one can never visit too many foreign schools, no? Don't worry, I will make it home safe and, if I'm not too much of a mental case, I'll try to write about when I get back to Bali.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Bowling and Beers in Bangalore
Since I was ditched by my unreliable friend, Sathish, I found myself spending the day with the Indian relatives of my American friend, Shruthi. Thinking I'd hook up with Sathish sometime in the day, I just tagged along with the family to their Sunday activities. After breakfast, I went with Shruthi's cousin Shwetha and her 2 young kids to see the progress of their new restaurant they are opening in a few weeks. I had the pleasure of meeting Shruthi's dad, who arrived in town yesterday from Pittsburgh, as well as the rest of the extended family!
Then we headed over to a recreational cricket tournament hosted by a social organization which reminded me of an adult Indian BBYO. We were only going to pick up Shwetha's husband Raj and go home, but since his team won their match, they were still in the tournament. As a rule, each team has to have 2 female players. They were happy when we showed up because Raj's team was short one girl. Shwetha was all set to play but then, despite playing with me all last night and this morning, neither of the kids would sit with me without crying. I could tell what the solution was going to be, but kept quiet, hoping the kids would snap out of it and I'd be saved. But no, my fears were realized when everyone decided that best solution was to have the unathletic foreign girl play!!
I tried my best, but I was no Dhoni! The rules were a bit different (not that I'm all that familiar with the rules), and I think I was too encouraging as I kept bowling (pitching) so that the other girls could hit the ball! To my chagrin, we won anyways, meaning we were into the semi-finals. The break allowed me to down a few more beers and have some ice cream and gulab jamun (those gulab jamun were off the hook!). For the next game we faced the only team with uniforms, they were hardcore! I was the first bowler. The beers must have heightened my cricket playing abilities because the other team's score was only -3 after my over (rules are very different, usually no negative scores in cricket). I was spared the batting portion but Shwetha turned out to be way worse than me and the team was wishing I was at bat again, which made me feel a lot better. We lost the game, which I was secretly relieved about. But I guess it was good that I got to play cricket since I spent so much time here in India!
Since Sathish was still MIA at 9pm, I decided to spend another night at Shruthi's aunt's house and I'm so lucky that they were so hospitable and friendly!!!
I finally met up with Sathish Monday afternoon. Yesterday, while Sathish was at work, I walked all over Bangalore without getting lost and the weather was lovely! Bangalore is quite cosmopolitan and reminds me of Argentina in that it feels really similar to the US but it's cheaper and nicer. I could walk the streets wearing jeans and listening to my ipod, two things I haven't done in ages, and no one starred at me any more than usual. It was nice. Despite all this, I think I still prefer Chennai. The people in Chennai are so nice and modest. It feels more like a huge village than a big city.
Last night I met up with Sathish, GAPP, and Amol at Pico's for beer and food. It was nice to spend my last night in India with those guys and I was happy to hear that Amol shares my opinion about Chennai over Bangalore. I seem to have developed quite an attachment to that place. Hopefully I'll be able to make it back there one day.
Then we headed over to a recreational cricket tournament hosted by a social organization which reminded me of an adult Indian BBYO. We were only going to pick up Shwetha's husband Raj and go home, but since his team won their match, they were still in the tournament. As a rule, each team has to have 2 female players. They were happy when we showed up because Raj's team was short one girl. Shwetha was all set to play but then, despite playing with me all last night and this morning, neither of the kids would sit with me without crying. I could tell what the solution was going to be, but kept quiet, hoping the kids would snap out of it and I'd be saved. But no, my fears were realized when everyone decided that best solution was to have the unathletic foreign girl play!!
I tried my best, but I was no Dhoni! The rules were a bit different (not that I'm all that familiar with the rules), and I think I was too encouraging as I kept bowling (pitching) so that the other girls could hit the ball! To my chagrin, we won anyways, meaning we were into the semi-finals. The break allowed me to down a few more beers and have some ice cream and gulab jamun (those gulab jamun were off the hook!). For the next game we faced the only team with uniforms, they were hardcore! I was the first bowler. The beers must have heightened my cricket playing abilities because the other team's score was only -3 after my over (rules are very different, usually no negative scores in cricket). I was spared the batting portion but Shwetha turned out to be way worse than me and the team was wishing I was at bat again, which made me feel a lot better. We lost the game, which I was secretly relieved about. But I guess it was good that I got to play cricket since I spent so much time here in India!
Since Sathish was still MIA at 9pm, I decided to spend another night at Shruthi's aunt's house and I'm so lucky that they were so hospitable and friendly!!!
I finally met up with Sathish Monday afternoon. Yesterday, while Sathish was at work, I walked all over Bangalore without getting lost and the weather was lovely! Bangalore is quite cosmopolitan and reminds me of Argentina in that it feels really similar to the US but it's cheaper and nicer. I could walk the streets wearing jeans and listening to my ipod, two things I haven't done in ages, and no one starred at me any more than usual. It was nice. Despite all this, I think I still prefer Chennai. The people in Chennai are so nice and modest. It feels more like a huge village than a big city.
Last night I met up with Sathish, GAPP, and Amol at Pico's for beer and food. It was nice to spend my last night in India with those guys and I was happy to hear that Amol shares my opinion about Chennai over Bangalore. I seem to have developed quite an attachment to that place. Hopefully I'll be able to make it back there one day.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Home again, home again
Jiggity Jig! You know that feeling you get at the end of vacation when you're plane is landing and you're just glad to be home? That's how I felt flying into Chennai. Despite the horrible heat and humidity, It felt good to be back. It was comforting to be in a place where I could speak a bit of the language, recognize where I was and knew how things work and how much they should cost. After all that time spent with strangers turned new friends, it was good to see a familiar face (Jacob), even if it had grown a new mustache!
As much as I'm excited to get back to my real home, I'm not looking forward to getting back to my real life. I dread having to find a job, find a place to live, sort out my life and move on. Even unpacking and packing and cleaning up my room in my parents house seems overwhelming. I know that after a few days of being home, I will be longing for India and the simple happy life I've been living here. Despite all it's flaws (GAPP can talk for hours on end about this subject!), I'm definitely going to miss Chennai and I will be very sad to leave this place.
I still didn't get to visit anyone in the office or my old neighborhood, but here are some pics from my office, taken throughout my stay here in Chennai.
As much as I'm excited to get back to my real home, I'm not looking forward to getting back to my real life. I dread having to find a job, find a place to live, sort out my life and move on. Even unpacking and packing and cleaning up my room in my parents house seems overwhelming. I know that after a few days of being home, I will be longing for India and the simple happy life I've been living here. Despite all it's flaws (GAPP can talk for hours on end about this subject!), I'm definitely going to miss Chennai and I will be very sad to leave this place.
I still didn't get to visit anyone in the office or my old neighborhood, but here are some pics from my office, taken throughout my stay here in Chennai.
Mawlynnong
I had spent a lot of time in Shillong and as much as I loved it, I was getting a little antsy to move on. So I was so happy when Fiona asked if I was interested in going to the small village of Mawlynnong, also known as The Cleanest Village in Asia. It is a small village (470 people) in the Kasi hills that is about 4 hrs away from Shillong. There is no public transport to this village so we had to take a shared sumo to anothern village (Pynursla) and then another shared sumo from there. the ride was a bit much, but as soon as we got there we were both soooo happy we came!
Fiona was born in Shillong but has been living in Mumbai for almost 20 years. She can speak the local tribal language, Kasi, but because she looks like a city girl, it would really knock the socks off the villagers to hear her speak! The village itself is just gorgeous, and even with the rains it was so calming to be there. There is one guest house but it turns out you have to reserve it from Shillong before you arrive, so we asked around and found that we could stay with a family (in fact, the head chief's family!) who owns the only restaurant in the village.
We spoke with the secretary of the village, Richard, who hooked us up with a boy, little Richard, to take us to see some local sites. We saw a living root bridge, which is actually a bridge made of tree roots. It was hard to explain but it did feel like we were in Lord of the Rings!
The next morning we went to check out the small small village school. It was a little one room building, with a few different classes and 3 teachers inside. The kids were sweet and we sat with them and read a little bit of English. We also visited some neighboring villages and saw some interesting tree houses and views of Bangladesh. But, due to the rain, we spent most of our time sipping tea and chatting with the Kasi woman who owns a little tea stall in the village. Fiona and I thought that this was the perfect place for a honeymoon, now we just need to find us some husbands!!
To check out pics of the village as well as other pics from my North East trip click here.
Fiona was born in Shillong but has been living in Mumbai for almost 20 years. She can speak the local tribal language, Kasi, but because she looks like a city girl, it would really knock the socks off the villagers to hear her speak! The village itself is just gorgeous, and even with the rains it was so calming to be there. There is one guest house but it turns out you have to reserve it from Shillong before you arrive, so we asked around and found that we could stay with a family (in fact, the head chief's family!) who owns the only restaurant in the village.
We spoke with the secretary of the village, Richard, who hooked us up with a boy, little Richard, to take us to see some local sites. We saw a living root bridge, which is actually a bridge made of tree roots. It was hard to explain but it did feel like we were in Lord of the Rings!
The next morning we went to check out the small small village school. It was a little one room building, with a few different classes and 3 teachers inside. The kids were sweet and we sat with them and read a little bit of English. We also visited some neighboring villages and saw some interesting tree houses and views of Bangladesh. But, due to the rain, we spent most of our time sipping tea and chatting with the Kasi woman who owns a little tea stall in the village. Fiona and I thought that this was the perfect place for a honeymoon, now we just need to find us some husbands!!
To check out pics of the village as well as other pics from my North East trip click here.
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