What I listened to in 2015

Musically, 2015 was an asymmetrical year.   What it lacked in the beginning of the year, it more than made up for in the latter half.    Here are some notable songs from my musical year.  In chronological order, for the most part….

Tove Lo - Habits

College & Electric Youth - Real Hero

Joe Jack Talcum - Photograph  

Girlpool - Chinatown

Craig Finn - Newmyer's Roof

Cate Le Bon- Are you with me now?

The Twilight Singers - Teenage Wristband

Chromatics - Kill for Love

Courtney Barnett - Depreston

First Aid Kit - Emmylou (this video and dedication and Emmylou's reaction is the best!)

Gillian Welch - Look at Miss Ohio (saw these guys live this year, was one of my favorite shows of the year!  here is a live version, but not as good as the one at the Folly Theater!)

Ezra Furman - Take off your sunglasses 

Shaky Graves - If not for you

Esme Patterson feat. Nathaniel Rateliff

 

Benji Hughes - The Mummy

Murder by Death - Foxglove

Lady Lamb - Billions of Eyes

Twin Peaks - Making Breakfast

Harriet - I slept with all your mothers

Japandroids - The House the Heaven Built

Red House Painters - Have You Forgotten

Unknown Mortal Orchestra -  Unnecessary Evil 

Slothrust - 730 AM

Childbirth - Baby Bump

Destroyer- Time Square

Mac McCaughan - Box Batteries

What I listened to in 2010

Ok, not all these songs came out in 2010, but this is what i listened to this year and for me they will always be associated with these times.  For your convenience I also provided videos.


In chronological order of when I listened to them...




Ten Thousand Words- The Avett Brothers

Temazcal- Monsters of Folk

Frankie's Gun- the Felice Brothers

Wavin' Flag

(If you have the time, you should watch the whole Tiny Desk Concert.  If not, go to 9:20 to see my favorite version of said song)

Does Not Suffice- Joanna Newsome

Little Lion Man- Mumford & Sons

உடல் மண்ணுக்கு (Udal Mannukku)- AR Rahman

(This is a very patriotic Tamil song that I learned and sang for my office mates in India)

 

கண்ணைக் கட்டிக் கொள்தே (Kannaik Kattik Kolathe)- AR Rahman

(Another Tamil Song- I love this one, and the video is funny)

Friends of P. - the Rentals

Bleeding Heart Show- The New Pornographers

(This album became stuck in my car CD player mid-July, and remains there...)

Tighten Up- The Black Keys

(this video is awesome)

Prisoner Christmas- The Professor Brothers

(Not a real band, but a hilarious video nonetheless which spent lots of time in my head)

Dog Days Are Over- Florence and the Machines

My Backwards Walk- Frightened Rabbit

Boyfriend- Best Coast

Blood Buzz Ohio- the National

(I love this one even despite it's mention of the worst State ever!)

Hey Baby- J.J. Cale

New Partner- Palace Music

(This video that someone made is horrible, just close your eyes and listen to the song...)

Tell 'Em- Sleigh Bells

(This song sort of gives me a panic attack, but I love it)

Eat, Eat, Eat

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

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!

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.

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.

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.  

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.

Some things I forgot to mention....

• In Agartala, everyone (even policemen!) wears construction helmets while riding their motorbikes instead of regular helmets.  Everyone looks like architects!
• In India, street food is usually served on newspaper.  In Shillong it's served on children's homework from 2001!  Learn math and/or English with every meal!
• Shillong loooooves American Idol and every music/dance competition on TV.  We watched the American Idol final episode and people were genuinely upset that the boy won instead of the girl.  But they all sang along to all the Chicago and Hall and Oates songs, which was fun.
• I met a guy who can't believe that I'm American and I don't LOVE hotdogs and hamburgers
• The walls at my hotel are so thin I could hear the guy in the room next to me snoring and farting all night long

Suspicious Minds

Last night I went to dinner at someone's house and ended up staying there till 2am drinking whiskey, smoking cigarettes (pork AND cigarettes- what is Shillong doing to me?!) and singing and dancing to Elvis.  I would like to say I met Shillong's biggest Elvis fan, but, knowing this place, I'm probably wrong.  The amount of influence music has on this town is amazing.


But I haven't spent this whole time in Shillong itself.  With nothing else planned I decided to join GAPP and his friend Arpit for a side trip to Agartala, Tripura.  Our 16 hr overnight bus ride turned into a 21 hr bus ride due to heavy rains and landslides.  Agartala turned out to be kind of a bust.  It was hot and humid, we couldn't find a cheap place to stay and the things we had planned to see turned out to be a bit lame.  That night, while GAPP and I were on a fruitless search for ice cream (what kind of a place doesn't have any ice cream?!), we both decided it was best to just cut our losses and return to Shillong the following day.  Arpit was up for the plan so we booked our tickets on the 16 hr bus leaving the next day at noon.

There was one more thing GAPP really wanted to do in Agartala; see the Bangladesh border.  Since we had a bit of time that morning before our bus, we took a shared jeep out to the man made lake that borders Bangladesh.  On the way, our jeep picked up lots of passengers, at one point carrying 24 people (not counting the driver!), which we loved.  The border was funny and we chatted up the soldiers and took photos of ourselves next to the barbed wire.  GAPP had never seen a land border with another country so he was quite excited about it.  The soldiers, upon hearing that I was unmarried, commented to the boys (in Hindi of course) that my dad must be well off because he had enough money to send me traveling all over the place.  Ha!

We were having such fun we didn't realize how late it was getting and that we had to get back to town to catch our bus, FAST!  We found our jeep guy and got on the road.  Of course we had to stop a million times to pick up a million more passengers, and this time we were not as amused since we couldn't help thinking we were going to be stuck here in Agartala for another wasted day.  But, after an anxiety filled hour, we made it to the bus station at around 12:15pm and luckily the bus was running late.  This time, the 16 hr ride was extended by a 3 hr delay since our bus broke down some 4 hrs into the journey.  We sat on the side of the road and had endless pointless conversations.  But we did manage to find some ice cream.

We finally got back on the road after dark.  The roads between the two places are extremely curvy and the bus was driving as if it were a small sports car or something.  It was pitch black outside apart from the neon colored lights of the passing carrier trucks (all trucks in India are decked out with lots of colored lights and paintings!) and it felt just like I was on Space Mountain at Disney World- never knowing which way the bus was going to swerve or whether or not we were going to hit something.  Everyone on the bus was sleeping (except for the cockroaches) and, accompanied by my Arcade Fire soundtrack, I just couldn't help thinking, "what the f*#@ am I doing here?!"

Needless to say, I'm glad to be back safe in Shillong, even if it's pouring rain.  Tomorrow I'm headed out to Mawlynnong, which is supposedly the cleanest village in all of Asia!