Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas - Food is good!


To family in MN - Merry Christmas!  LOL (Lots of Love:) 

Here's how I spent my Christmas - make the most of yours!
I stayed up until the first minutes of Christmas Day.  I was up reading Sophie’s World, fueled on a sugar high from the treasures we purchased on our 11:00pm binge run.  After a more than filling dinner I was telling Greg how I've been coping with homesickness by eating.  Then he mentioned his craving for a fruit and nut chocolate bar... we went out to the clock tower - sure enough there were a few people gathered around the omelet stand and a general store.  

Greg asked me how many bars I wanted, "one" I said without thinking much of it.  Then he kind of gave me look encouraging me to indulge...  "Ok two".  I got some pops and we went over to the omelet stand, yes an omelet stand at 11pm - and tried some of the hard boiled eggs. They were spiced to perfection.  Then we went back to the room and continued our binge.  I ate my bars as quick as I could without throwing up my last meal and a half.  Merry Christmas indeed.

I slept like a baby, but woke up dry as a desert – then I remembered I’m in a desert.  We had breakfast before 11am consisting of more sugar with some fruit - banana chocolate pancake and muesli (similar to granola), yogurt & fruit.  Before, leaving for Jaswant Thada, we stopped for some hard boiled eggs at the omelet stand :)

A highlight from the day is certainly the boys and girls greeting us - "ha-low" and "your name?".  What fun to watch them enjoy their day off from school, playing cricket in the streets.  We saw a good deal of these children as we meandered to Jaswant Thada, the tomb where the royalty are memorialized.  We did not really know exactly how to get there, but the locals kind of pointed us in the right direction.  We took a different route back and walked through even smaller alleyways and paths.  What a great way to see the city. 

Then, it was back to the Shivam Paying Guest House for a little siesta before we go to the palace and get dinner.  Somehow, Greg and I started singing “Can you paint with all the colors of the rainbow” while resting for the afternoon. 

Dinner was great!  We had lamb – one dish could almost burn your tongue off, the other was milder with a wonderful flavor, can’t go wrong with cashews in the curry! 

 
A few memories from the beginning of my tour – in New Delhi.
12-18-10 Great food today.  lunch at The Big Chill (named after some movie or TV show my parents enjoyed), which serves American & Italian cuisine.  I enjoyed the chocolate Belgian chocolate milk shake.  

We got an auto rickshaw to M. Gandhi's memorial/museum.  He was 90 years old, wow.  There was not much about Gandhi himself; there was more on the Mutiny/National War of Independence/Uprising.  It was the "nationalistic history" which leaves out some key points that make Indians or look bad.  My favorite part was taking off my sandals and walking into the little temple where Gandhi prayed.  

I remember the first learning about Gandhi and non-violence while in Mr Ruhland's religious education class at Holy Angels.  With subject matter such as Gandhi's non-violence, how can you go wrong?

In/around Bikaner, our next stop, I had the opportunity to take my sandals off at the Hindu temple devoted to rats.  Yeah, I did not misspeak, it is a temple which houses thousands of rats so people can come and worship/pay homage to them.  That was a certainly a first.


Rajasthan Photos

Bikaner, Rajasthan - 12-20-10

This is Junagarh Fort.  One of the many forts I've seen in Rajasthan, "land of kings".   
  Greg Miller (below) He's been a teacher at Woodstock for 2+ years and grew up in the Twin Cities.  We're traveling together until the end of January. 
 The sun is bright in the desert :)



 
All the architecture, design, and decor is ornate... that is an understatement. 

Anyone who knows me is aware that I sometimes neglect to take many photos - or even turn my camera on - while traveling.  I promise, I have been using my camera, I have not found a place where the internet is quick enough to load them onto the blog... patience please :)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Dorm Party!

End of the semester means many things - one of them is a dorm party/dinner.  Here are all of the Hostel's residents waiting for their feast of take out food from Kalsangs - their favorite Chinese/Tibetan restaurant in the Bazaar.  
 

These are a few of the boys from 3rd Floor. 10 seconds before this photo they were seated and sane.  Then things went a little insane when they saw the camera out.  Fun evening.

Winter break - 12/16/2010 to 12/27/2011.  I am going to get my itinerary posted soon... didn't get around to it today because I was busy filling out my ballot for the best 89 songs of 2010 for 89.3 The Current.  Stay tuned for the itinerary ... its pretty exciting.  

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Top Tibba

December 6th (Happy Independence Day Finland)

At 9:15 am, I set out to climb Top Tibba, a 8500ft peak about 10kl from school.  

Here is a link to see most of my path on google maps:  Point B Suakholi, maybe .5kl west of the peak.

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=The+Mall+Rd&daddr=Unknown+road&geocode=FW2v0AEdcbinBA%3BFQyQ0AEdLqeoBA&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=15&sll=30.447823,78.167038&sspn=0.013023,0.026908&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=30.449044,78.134336&spn=0.026046,0.086517&z=14


There is also a video I took at the top too :)

I went on a hike yesterday.  Let me tell you about it. Excited to explore new areas and climb new heights, I was moving along at a pretty good pace.  I walked past the little town of Kaphlani and was approaching Suakholi when I was passed by a sporty white car with thumping base.  Most passing cars are full of passengers or trucks hauling loads.  I stopped to check this one out and turned in time to watch the driver flick me off as he cruised past.

Later on, I saw the same car at a wayside rest.  A couple from the city, dancing to the thumping sound system as they took a little break from the road.  I walked by and he gave me a thumbs up this time... I'm new to India, I was confused.  

No more than 5 minutes later, I was more confused when the same couple eventually passed me the second time.  They slowed down and the female in the passenger seat asked me if I wanted a lift.  I didn't have too far to go, so I said I'd take a ride to Suakohli.  

They were now friendly and hospitable.  In less than five minutes we were on the balcony of a little restaurant having omelets and tea.  It was a fun and educational cultural exchange.  They were confused to see someone walking for the sake of walking.  They told me the Hindi word is "frenga" or something.  It is similar to "gringo" in Spanish :)

I thanked them for the lift, food and company, and proceeIded to walk from there.   It wasn't 15 minutes more before I was at Top Tibba's trail head.  It took about 1.5 hours to reach the top.  I approached the top tired and out of breath.  Even though I was only 1000ft above the top of the hill I live on, the thin air was noticeable.  Tired and alone,  the 6 vultures watching me ascend were slightly ominous.  Once I reached the top, it was a celebration!  I took a few pictures and found a good place for lunch. 

Unlike the barren, grass covered hillside I climbed, the north facing ridge was densely forested.  Seeking shade while I snacked on my lunch, I walked into the woods and heard branches snapping and caught the flash of a barking deer.  Cool, thats a first - no photo though.

I finished my candy bar, peanuts, almonds, orange and was completely satisfied.  Good hike indeed.  

Now I'm working until Saturday - "Going Down Day" - when the kiddos go down to Delhi to leave on a jet plane.  Next post, hopefully I'll fill you in until fill y'all in on my vacation plans for break.  

Friday, December 3, 2010

Spectacular Views


This is a shot looking north from the top of the hill.  While I took the photo from the foothills of the Himalaya, the white capped mountains in the back are the Himalaya.  The road at the top of the hill makes a figure of 8.  Its called the Chakkar.  

Its perfect for a quick, picturesque run!






I hiked up to the hill on the far left earlier this week, about 7480 ft.  On the top, I enjoyed some dry corn flakes and chocolate candy, studied my Hindi flash cards, then went down.  I took this roadside photo on the way up to the mountain.  By the time I got up there, the clouds were thick and visibility was not great.



The boys had their first day of final exams today.  Crazy exam schedule = Friday, Dec 3 - Thursday, Dec 10th (including parts of Saturday and Sunday).  Thankfully I don't have any to take :)

Christmas is in the air on the hillside.  The Woodstock Christmas chapel service was last Sunday.  The service was composed of bible readings and Christmas songs.  The student band and orchestra, cute little kiddy choir, high school choir, and staff choirs all performed.  It reminded me of Concordia Christmas Concerts.  Merry Christmas indeed.