Sunday, July 10, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Istanbul to London to Reykjavik
This is gonna be really long, so have patience and bear with me!
It has been too long since I last updated the good old blog, I think because I've been so busy having so much fun, that and my uncontrollable allergies which have given me a bad case of the cranky pants! But alas, I am now on the plane to good old Reykjavik to spend three days before touching down on Canadian soil for the first time in six months Friday evening. Too bad I missed Wills and Kate by mere days! Oh well, I have other exciting celebrity spottings in London to talk about.
But first, I must dish all about Istanbul. Me and Istanbul didn't get off to the greatest of starts, although I ended up loving it. As you may recall, last time I wrote I was just about to get off a 13 hour bus trip from Cappadoccia to Istanbul. When I arrived, this nice older British couple took me under their wing and let me tag along in their taxi to the tourist sector of Istanbul called Sultanahamet. Their Turkish friend even escorted me all the way to my hostel, which was very kind and so helpful, because when you first get to Istanbul, it is all very overwhelming what with the 18 million residents and the cobbled streets with no street signs. In retrospect I sort of wish their friend hadn't been able to find the hostel (the big apple) because I had a pretty crap experience there. Part of that experience I'll call "fanny pack."
Being at the end of my trip I have been trying to be as thrifty as possible (in some respects at least) and so I booked a dorm bed in a 14 bed room. This was a mistake. I was the only girl among smelly snoring guys in a dirty room. Then I had to deal with "fanny pack" guy, a former hostel guest and current lunatic who wandered in and out of my hostel room rocking a two inch ass crack hanging out of his pants and asking me for sips of my water bottle. This guy was clearly a few bricks short of a load. Remember this fact. The guy at reception didn't want to deal with this guy so I slept with one eye open- the one eye that would still fully open.
The next morning off I went in search of the English speaking German hospital to get some medical advice about my infected stink eye. I took the tram and then the slanted metro across the golden horn body of water and arrived in an area called Taksim square. After arriving at the supposed English speaking German hospital it became evident that no one spoke English or did much of anything. All of the admin people were busy on their cell phones and occupying themselves by staring at their large hairstyles in the mirror. After a frustrating communication breakdown I sort of lost it which made two older Turkish men in the waiting room laugh hysterically. That was a big mistake on their part as I launched into my loco mode and screamed in the hospital that I was so glad that they found my sickness so funny and that they were horrible people. Over reaction? Maybe. 160 Turkish lira later an eye doctor confirmed what I already knew and prescribed some eye drops and sent me off on my way.
On my way back I grabbed a much desired Starbucks and tried to get myself together. I decided to get off the tram before the Galata bridge which crosses the golden horn and walk the rest of the way back to sultanahamet in order to take in some sights. The bridge is cool and the surroundings cooler. There are tons of men fishing off of it and you can see more thousand year old mosques than you can shake a stick at. The bridge also has an underneath section that you can walk on with loads of restaurants and cafes. While walking, a restaurant owner told me he would give me a free drink if I could solve his math problem. Clearly being a math nerd I accepted the challenge. Unfortunately I couldn't quite figure it out, but he still gave me a free Turkish tea and some sight seeing advice.
I decided to take a ferry Cruise on the bospherous which is the channel of water that connects the sea of Marmara to the black sea and divides continental Europe from Asia. I had a bit of time to kill before the boat left so I walked around and stumbled upon the infamous spice bazaar. I have never seen so much Turkish delight anywhere or smelt so many intoxicating smells. I wandered into one spice shop and was accosted by this crazy character who calls himself "the short guy." Now he is what I would call a natural born salesman. Before i knew it he had me smelling things and tasting things and repeatedly told me that "short was gorgeous" and because we were both short, this definitely bonded us. He was a real riot! I knew I was going to have to encounter him again.
The ferry ride was nice, except for this bratty little two year old whose behaviour was outrageous. He was with his mum, grandma, and aunt and kept punching his aunt as hard as he could and spitting in her face. Apparently none of the women thought this behaviour needed to be corrected as Turkish boys are treated like kings, but I didn't let this fly. I grabbed the kid by the overall straps and disciplined him myself. Appropriate? Probably not, but his mum didn't seem to mind, and the grandma removed him from the scene which suited me fine. Honestly, if I ever had a kid that acted that way, I'd probably throw them overboard.
Gulhane park, the palace grounds of Topkapi palace, which are amazing. The palace is huge and was the residence of many Ottoman sultans between 1453 and 1839. There is even a whole part of the palace that was strictly for concubines, the sultans harem. The park reminded me quite a bit of Canada because there were both birch trees and maples and it was just a really chilled out scene with people sitting on the grass and jogging etc. It reminded me of Stanley park in Vancouver or mt. Pleasant park in Halifax. I eventually made it back to my hostel and tried to orchestrate switching rooms but the guy at reception was a total asshole and ended up swearing at me, so after a third rage attack of the day, I grabbed my bag and got the hell out of there. I must have looked like a pretty big mess walking down the restaurant lined cobbled main street in Sultanahamet because some waiters at a restaurant came to my aid and told me to sit down and have some apple tea while I figured it all out. That's the crazy thing about Turks-they're either insane and obnoxious or literally the kindest most helpful people in the world. Not much of a middle ground.
After a lot of walking around in circles I eventually found the little hostel I was looking for and this is when everything turned around for me and Istanbul. If you ever go there, stay at Piya. It's great and I met amazing people (mostly Canadians) that made my trip awesome.
In my room were two Canadian sisters from Vancouver and this awesome Australian girl named Kate. We all ended up going out for dinner together to this cafe called Dervish where they have live musicians play and a whirling dervish dance. After dinner we went to a shisha bar for a much needed drink after the day's escapades. We noticed a Canadian guy walking by and so clearly I called out to him and then the aggressive Turkish waiter practically forced him to sit down with us. He declined, fair enough, and rushed off to "meet a friend." The funny thing is that when we made it back to our hostel, he was staying there too so we were able to call him out on his lie to avoid sitting with us! It turned out that Rick (that's his name) had been through quite an ordeal of being dragged into some Turkish carpet shop for over an hour, so we forgave him. Rick is also from Vancouver.
My second full day in Istanbul started by being woken by a bizarre conversation outside my window which I thought I dreamt. The conversation was real however and I later found out that it was our friend Rob being dropped off by Moustapha, the private driver of a big black American ex-football player who is now a textiles buyer in Berlin named Bosshog. I only wish that that whole shenanigan had happened to me! The girls and I went to the Blue mosque which is one of the most famous sites in Istanbul. It was built in the early 1600s to rival the beauty of the Aya Sofya (the church of divine wisdom) across from it and built 1500 years ago in 537 ad. Honestly, it is so nuts being in a place where you can explore buildings that are ten times older than your own country!
After the mosque we headed to the underground basilica cistern which is definitely one of the cooler things I've seen on this trip. It was built in 532 and and was used to store water for the Topkapi palace and other buildings. It was rediscovered in 1545 and has been restored a few times. It's basically a huge underground holding tank for water supported by hundreds of columns. There are also big fish (carp maybe?) that swim around in the remaining water. You can walk around the whole place on raised wooden platforms and it is so cool!
After grabbing some lunch, Kate and I headed back to meet Rick at our hostel and explore the grand bizarre, a huge market that you could spend days in. This is when we met Rob, a fellow Canadian from Vancouver, and heard all about Bosshog! The bazaar was a great time. We all bought Turkish bracelets and stopped at a cafe in the market for Turkish coffee (thick and strong enough to stand on) and glorious sweet baklava. I'm not sure if there is anything better in the world than baklava! The four of us then weaved our way through the back alleys of shop keepers selling everything you could possibly imagine-think poofy polyester wedding gowns along with what they like to call "Turkish Viagra." We eventually made it back to the spice bazaar and I had the pleasure of introducing them to the short guy! Boy was he ever happy to see me again, and happy that I had brought him customers. Kate, Rick, and Rob all bought amazing teas that we sampled after the short guy made hilarious cracks about putting the two guys in the shrink wrap machine for Kate and I (both Rob and Rick are about 6'3"). We then made our way to the palace grounds again and stopped for a 22 lira pot of tea in the tea garden there-stupid expensive because the cafe has an incredible view of Istanbul.
Later than night, the four of us went for dinner and then to a rooftop bar to meet up with two American guys, Russ and Andrew, that Rick had met somewhere else in Eastern Europe. On our way up to the bar, I was telling Kate and the guys about my experience with fanny pack, and lo and behold, guess who the first person we saw at the rooftop bar was? I could NOT believe it was him. Neither could they! He was clearly still rocking the fanny pack, and I think the two inch ass crack too, although I was careful to avoid all eye contact. After a few cheap Turkish beers, it was off to another shisha bar and then back to our hostel for a pot of love tea and good conversation. I didn't end up making it to bed until about 4:30am but it was fun as hell!
The next morning was a bit rough, but regardless Kate, rob, the American guys, and myself trekked over to Taksim square and walked down the long pedestrian walk lined with fantastic shops all the way back to the galata bridge. I gave into my weakness and bought a dress at a cute little boutique. We again walked through the palace grounds on our way back to our hostel. Arriving back at Piya was quite the experience as all the neighbourhood kids had set up shop outside and we involved in s serious jump rope showdown. Being the fantastic skipper I am, clearly I got involved and it was so much fun. I think one of the things I loved most about staying at Piya was that it was a little bit off the tourist trap, even though it was in Sultanhamet, and that it was in a proper Turkish neighbourhood with kids and families and cats galore. One of the teenage girls who I was skipping with loved Rob so much and despite not being able to speak English, was still hitting on him! It was so funny!
Later that night, all of us made the trek over to the Asian side of Istanbul to take part in a real Turkish experience-the hamam (Turkish bath). Unfortunately by the time we made it there the woman's part was closed, so Kate and I wandered off and explored the area while the guys went in and had a rub down scrub down. They all looked so funny afterwards! Other than telling us that what happens in a hamam stays in a hamam, they were all so clean looking with puffy hair! I thought they looked like baby animals! We made it back to sultanahamet on the ferry and got caught in the rain but soothed our dampness with a few rounds of apple tea back at Piya.
The next morning we said goodbye to Kate because her parents had just flown in and she was heading off to live the luxurious life a backpacker can lead when you meet up with parents who can pay for things (exactly what I've been doing for the past week! Thanks mum!) Rob and I decided to go to the Princes islands to see if we could get a little beach/swimming time. This attempt proved to be futile and the whole experience was a bit of a disaster as we spent the whole day on ferries going back and forth between the islands we didn't want to go to. At least we had good company though and we met this nice American family from California with three kids, the youngest one being the most precocious little 8 year old girl I've ever met. Oh my god was she ever hilarious with the questions she had for rob and I. We met Rick to go for dinner and some beers and he invited two other guys from our hostel. Vincent was a really nice Quebecois journalist from Montreal, but nick was a really obnoxious American guy who works on wall street. The only way I know how to describe him would be as a competitive conversationalist, a one upper if you will. Anyway, my anxiety level was hitting the roof, so rob and I managed to ditch out and went to the corner store to buy some beers and drink them in the park between the blue mosque and aya sofya which is probably one of the most sacrilegious things I've ever done. We were blatantly being judged by many people walking by, but it was fun, especially considering how beautiful the blue mosque looks at night all light up and with birds circling the minarets.
So, that's Istanbul for you. An amazing city that I would love to go back to. The next morning it was off to the airport and off to London which is where I have spent the past week checking out the sights and living the good life with none other than Susie Mrk. We have had such a great time in London and I am happy to report that I have three celebrity sightings to talk about!
Celeb sighting number 1: after spending a morning in beautiful Hampstead Heath, a 320 hectare park, and exploring the neoclassical mansion kenwood house across from where they were setting up the stage for Liza Minnelli's show in the park, my cousin took my mum and I through the posh neighbourhood of hampstead where we took the bus with none other than JK Rowling (Harry potter fans rejoice).
Celeb sighting number 2: on Canada day, my cousin took us for lunch at the amazing Covent garden hotel where we sat at the table next to none other than rock legend Patti Smith. My cousin David was going through inner turmoil bc he loves her and has had a number of Patti spottings over the past few months. In trying to tell me who was sitting behind me in a clenched whisper I thought he said "Betty Smith" who I clearly didn't know (because they don't exist) and he freaked out at me for not knowing and got the dinning room manager to print out the 11 page Wikipedia article on her. We eventually got the mix up sorted so he didn't have to disown me from the family and when the bill came our cocktails had already been paid for. This means that patti smith either bought us a round or the staff loved our ridiculousness. I'm happy with either option.
Celeb sighting number 3: on Saturday morning, we went to my Mecca-portobello market- which is a place that if you have no money, which I don't, and you love fashion, which I do, you should never go to. Ahhh! Stella McCartney and vintage labels galore. We had an amazing Palestinian breakfast too! Anyway, on walking though the shopping obsessed crowds I spotted Kelly Osborne and a few of her friends. She is so skinny now! Dancing with the stars did wonders for her I guess!
London is fantastic. Definitely one of my favourite cities and a place I could live an incredible and bankrupt existence. My cousin lives in the most amazing neighbourhood, W6 with some pretty cool movers and shakers. The night I arrived, the vegetarian restaurant down the street that I love was closed because Beyonce was giving a private show for celebrity friends after Glastonbury. Crazy! There are a lot of people in the fashion and music world in the area, and if I can just brag/drool for a moment, my cousin has had beers with lady gaga. Uh, yeah. GAGA.
I book ended my week in London by eating at the best restaurant I've ever been to in my life called The Gate with a ridiculously hot south African waiter. As a vegetarian, I've never been to an up market gourmet restaurant where I wanted and could eat everything on the menu. My mum and I also squeezed in visits to the Tate, Tate modern, national gallery, national portrait gallery, Victoria and Albert museum, architect John Soane's house, the amazing Kew gardens, and Shakespeare's globe theatre among other places. We saw an incredible play called Realism at the soho theatre that I would recommend if you're going to be in London.
One more thing: my cousin has the most amazing dog Cheever who outweighs me by 40 pounds. He's a Newfoundland dog and if you're tired you could mistake him for a gorilla or small black bear.
I'm now hanging in Reykjavik which is incredible and unlike anywhere else I've been. I know I've said that a lot on this trip, but it's been true each time! I forgot that because Iceland is so far north it gets pretty much 24 hours of daylight in the summer. Right now it's 9pm and the sun is still high in the sky. I love it!
Tomorrow mum and I are going on a ten hour smorgasbord tour of some of the natural sights around Reykjavik and the next day I've convinced her to go horseback riding! Friday before we leave we're going to hit up the blue lagoon which is the famous spa with all the different warm pools. And then it'll be back to Canada! I can't believe it! Six months on the road and I'm finally going home! I've had an incredible time and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to do and see the things I have, but I'm aching for home! I'd like to keep the blog going in some way, shape, or form, but haven't figured all that out yet, so keep checking back, and thanks for reading and following my travels. I think the blog has kept me from going off the deep end! See you soon! Xoxo
P.s. Will post pictures when I'm home!
It has been too long since I last updated the good old blog, I think because I've been so busy having so much fun, that and my uncontrollable allergies which have given me a bad case of the cranky pants! But alas, I am now on the plane to good old Reykjavik to spend three days before touching down on Canadian soil for the first time in six months Friday evening. Too bad I missed Wills and Kate by mere days! Oh well, I have other exciting celebrity spottings in London to talk about.
But first, I must dish all about Istanbul. Me and Istanbul didn't get off to the greatest of starts, although I ended up loving it. As you may recall, last time I wrote I was just about to get off a 13 hour bus trip from Cappadoccia to Istanbul. When I arrived, this nice older British couple took me under their wing and let me tag along in their taxi to the tourist sector of Istanbul called Sultanahamet. Their Turkish friend even escorted me all the way to my hostel, which was very kind and so helpful, because when you first get to Istanbul, it is all very overwhelming what with the 18 million residents and the cobbled streets with no street signs. In retrospect I sort of wish their friend hadn't been able to find the hostel (the big apple) because I had a pretty crap experience there. Part of that experience I'll call "fanny pack."
Being at the end of my trip I have been trying to be as thrifty as possible (in some respects at least) and so I booked a dorm bed in a 14 bed room. This was a mistake. I was the only girl among smelly snoring guys in a dirty room. Then I had to deal with "fanny pack" guy, a former hostel guest and current lunatic who wandered in and out of my hostel room rocking a two inch ass crack hanging out of his pants and asking me for sips of my water bottle. This guy was clearly a few bricks short of a load. Remember this fact. The guy at reception didn't want to deal with this guy so I slept with one eye open- the one eye that would still fully open.
The next morning off I went in search of the English speaking German hospital to get some medical advice about my infected stink eye. I took the tram and then the slanted metro across the golden horn body of water and arrived in an area called Taksim square. After arriving at the supposed English speaking German hospital it became evident that no one spoke English or did much of anything. All of the admin people were busy on their cell phones and occupying themselves by staring at their large hairstyles in the mirror. After a frustrating communication breakdown I sort of lost it which made two older Turkish men in the waiting room laugh hysterically. That was a big mistake on their part as I launched into my loco mode and screamed in the hospital that I was so glad that they found my sickness so funny and that they were horrible people. Over reaction? Maybe. 160 Turkish lira later an eye doctor confirmed what I already knew and prescribed some eye drops and sent me off on my way.
On my way back I grabbed a much desired Starbucks and tried to get myself together. I decided to get off the tram before the Galata bridge which crosses the golden horn and walk the rest of the way back to sultanahamet in order to take in some sights. The bridge is cool and the surroundings cooler. There are tons of men fishing off of it and you can see more thousand year old mosques than you can shake a stick at. The bridge also has an underneath section that you can walk on with loads of restaurants and cafes. While walking, a restaurant owner told me he would give me a free drink if I could solve his math problem. Clearly being a math nerd I accepted the challenge. Unfortunately I couldn't quite figure it out, but he still gave me a free Turkish tea and some sight seeing advice.
I decided to take a ferry Cruise on the bospherous which is the channel of water that connects the sea of Marmara to the black sea and divides continental Europe from Asia. I had a bit of time to kill before the boat left so I walked around and stumbled upon the infamous spice bazaar. I have never seen so much Turkish delight anywhere or smelt so many intoxicating smells. I wandered into one spice shop and was accosted by this crazy character who calls himself "the short guy." Now he is what I would call a natural born salesman. Before i knew it he had me smelling things and tasting things and repeatedly told me that "short was gorgeous" and because we were both short, this definitely bonded us. He was a real riot! I knew I was going to have to encounter him again.
The ferry ride was nice, except for this bratty little two year old whose behaviour was outrageous. He was with his mum, grandma, and aunt and kept punching his aunt as hard as he could and spitting in her face. Apparently none of the women thought this behaviour needed to be corrected as Turkish boys are treated like kings, but I didn't let this fly. I grabbed the kid by the overall straps and disciplined him myself. Appropriate? Probably not, but his mum didn't seem to mind, and the grandma removed him from the scene which suited me fine. Honestly, if I ever had a kid that acted that way, I'd probably throw them overboard.
Gulhane park, the palace grounds of Topkapi palace, which are amazing. The palace is huge and was the residence of many Ottoman sultans between 1453 and 1839. There is even a whole part of the palace that was strictly for concubines, the sultans harem. The park reminded me quite a bit of Canada because there were both birch trees and maples and it was just a really chilled out scene with people sitting on the grass and jogging etc. It reminded me of Stanley park in Vancouver or mt. Pleasant park in Halifax. I eventually made it back to my hostel and tried to orchestrate switching rooms but the guy at reception was a total asshole and ended up swearing at me, so after a third rage attack of the day, I grabbed my bag and got the hell out of there. I must have looked like a pretty big mess walking down the restaurant lined cobbled main street in Sultanahamet because some waiters at a restaurant came to my aid and told me to sit down and have some apple tea while I figured it all out. That's the crazy thing about Turks-they're either insane and obnoxious or literally the kindest most helpful people in the world. Not much of a middle ground.
After a lot of walking around in circles I eventually found the little hostel I was looking for and this is when everything turned around for me and Istanbul. If you ever go there, stay at Piya. It's great and I met amazing people (mostly Canadians) that made my trip awesome.
In my room were two Canadian sisters from Vancouver and this awesome Australian girl named Kate. We all ended up going out for dinner together to this cafe called Dervish where they have live musicians play and a whirling dervish dance. After dinner we went to a shisha bar for a much needed drink after the day's escapades. We noticed a Canadian guy walking by and so clearly I called out to him and then the aggressive Turkish waiter practically forced him to sit down with us. He declined, fair enough, and rushed off to "meet a friend." The funny thing is that when we made it back to our hostel, he was staying there too so we were able to call him out on his lie to avoid sitting with us! It turned out that Rick (that's his name) had been through quite an ordeal of being dragged into some Turkish carpet shop for over an hour, so we forgave him. Rick is also from Vancouver.
My second full day in Istanbul started by being woken by a bizarre conversation outside my window which I thought I dreamt. The conversation was real however and I later found out that it was our friend Rob being dropped off by Moustapha, the private driver of a big black American ex-football player who is now a textiles buyer in Berlin named Bosshog. I only wish that that whole shenanigan had happened to me! The girls and I went to the Blue mosque which is one of the most famous sites in Istanbul. It was built in the early 1600s to rival the beauty of the Aya Sofya (the church of divine wisdom) across from it and built 1500 years ago in 537 ad. Honestly, it is so nuts being in a place where you can explore buildings that are ten times older than your own country!
After the mosque we headed to the underground basilica cistern which is definitely one of the cooler things I've seen on this trip. It was built in 532 and and was used to store water for the Topkapi palace and other buildings. It was rediscovered in 1545 and has been restored a few times. It's basically a huge underground holding tank for water supported by hundreds of columns. There are also big fish (carp maybe?) that swim around in the remaining water. You can walk around the whole place on raised wooden platforms and it is so cool!
After grabbing some lunch, Kate and I headed back to meet Rick at our hostel and explore the grand bizarre, a huge market that you could spend days in. This is when we met Rob, a fellow Canadian from Vancouver, and heard all about Bosshog! The bazaar was a great time. We all bought Turkish bracelets and stopped at a cafe in the market for Turkish coffee (thick and strong enough to stand on) and glorious sweet baklava. I'm not sure if there is anything better in the world than baklava! The four of us then weaved our way through the back alleys of shop keepers selling everything you could possibly imagine-think poofy polyester wedding gowns along with what they like to call "Turkish Viagra." We eventually made it back to the spice bazaar and I had the pleasure of introducing them to the short guy! Boy was he ever happy to see me again, and happy that I had brought him customers. Kate, Rick, and Rob all bought amazing teas that we sampled after the short guy made hilarious cracks about putting the two guys in the shrink wrap machine for Kate and I (both Rob and Rick are about 6'3"). We then made our way to the palace grounds again and stopped for a 22 lira pot of tea in the tea garden there-stupid expensive because the cafe has an incredible view of Istanbul.
Later than night, the four of us went for dinner and then to a rooftop bar to meet up with two American guys, Russ and Andrew, that Rick had met somewhere else in Eastern Europe. On our way up to the bar, I was telling Kate and the guys about my experience with fanny pack, and lo and behold, guess who the first person we saw at the rooftop bar was? I could NOT believe it was him. Neither could they! He was clearly still rocking the fanny pack, and I think the two inch ass crack too, although I was careful to avoid all eye contact. After a few cheap Turkish beers, it was off to another shisha bar and then back to our hostel for a pot of love tea and good conversation. I didn't end up making it to bed until about 4:30am but it was fun as hell!
The next morning was a bit rough, but regardless Kate, rob, the American guys, and myself trekked over to Taksim square and walked down the long pedestrian walk lined with fantastic shops all the way back to the galata bridge. I gave into my weakness and bought a dress at a cute little boutique. We again walked through the palace grounds on our way back to our hostel. Arriving back at Piya was quite the experience as all the neighbourhood kids had set up shop outside and we involved in s serious jump rope showdown. Being the fantastic skipper I am, clearly I got involved and it was so much fun. I think one of the things I loved most about staying at Piya was that it was a little bit off the tourist trap, even though it was in Sultanhamet, and that it was in a proper Turkish neighbourhood with kids and families and cats galore. One of the teenage girls who I was skipping with loved Rob so much and despite not being able to speak English, was still hitting on him! It was so funny!
Later that night, all of us made the trek over to the Asian side of Istanbul to take part in a real Turkish experience-the hamam (Turkish bath). Unfortunately by the time we made it there the woman's part was closed, so Kate and I wandered off and explored the area while the guys went in and had a rub down scrub down. They all looked so funny afterwards! Other than telling us that what happens in a hamam stays in a hamam, they were all so clean looking with puffy hair! I thought they looked like baby animals! We made it back to sultanahamet on the ferry and got caught in the rain but soothed our dampness with a few rounds of apple tea back at Piya.
The next morning we said goodbye to Kate because her parents had just flown in and she was heading off to live the luxurious life a backpacker can lead when you meet up with parents who can pay for things (exactly what I've been doing for the past week! Thanks mum!) Rob and I decided to go to the Princes islands to see if we could get a little beach/swimming time. This attempt proved to be futile and the whole experience was a bit of a disaster as we spent the whole day on ferries going back and forth between the islands we didn't want to go to. At least we had good company though and we met this nice American family from California with three kids, the youngest one being the most precocious little 8 year old girl I've ever met. Oh my god was she ever hilarious with the questions she had for rob and I. We met Rick to go for dinner and some beers and he invited two other guys from our hostel. Vincent was a really nice Quebecois journalist from Montreal, but nick was a really obnoxious American guy who works on wall street. The only way I know how to describe him would be as a competitive conversationalist, a one upper if you will. Anyway, my anxiety level was hitting the roof, so rob and I managed to ditch out and went to the corner store to buy some beers and drink them in the park between the blue mosque and aya sofya which is probably one of the most sacrilegious things I've ever done. We were blatantly being judged by many people walking by, but it was fun, especially considering how beautiful the blue mosque looks at night all light up and with birds circling the minarets.
So, that's Istanbul for you. An amazing city that I would love to go back to. The next morning it was off to the airport and off to London which is where I have spent the past week checking out the sights and living the good life with none other than Susie Mrk. We have had such a great time in London and I am happy to report that I have three celebrity sightings to talk about!
Celeb sighting number 1: after spending a morning in beautiful Hampstead Heath, a 320 hectare park, and exploring the neoclassical mansion kenwood house across from where they were setting up the stage for Liza Minnelli's show in the park, my cousin took my mum and I through the posh neighbourhood of hampstead where we took the bus with none other than JK Rowling (Harry potter fans rejoice).
Celeb sighting number 2: on Canada day, my cousin took us for lunch at the amazing Covent garden hotel where we sat at the table next to none other than rock legend Patti Smith. My cousin David was going through inner turmoil bc he loves her and has had a number of Patti spottings over the past few months. In trying to tell me who was sitting behind me in a clenched whisper I thought he said "Betty Smith" who I clearly didn't know (because they don't exist) and he freaked out at me for not knowing and got the dinning room manager to print out the 11 page Wikipedia article on her. We eventually got the mix up sorted so he didn't have to disown me from the family and when the bill came our cocktails had already been paid for. This means that patti smith either bought us a round or the staff loved our ridiculousness. I'm happy with either option.
Celeb sighting number 3: on Saturday morning, we went to my Mecca-portobello market- which is a place that if you have no money, which I don't, and you love fashion, which I do, you should never go to. Ahhh! Stella McCartney and vintage labels galore. We had an amazing Palestinian breakfast too! Anyway, on walking though the shopping obsessed crowds I spotted Kelly Osborne and a few of her friends. She is so skinny now! Dancing with the stars did wonders for her I guess!
London is fantastic. Definitely one of my favourite cities and a place I could live an incredible and bankrupt existence. My cousin lives in the most amazing neighbourhood, W6 with some pretty cool movers and shakers. The night I arrived, the vegetarian restaurant down the street that I love was closed because Beyonce was giving a private show for celebrity friends after Glastonbury. Crazy! There are a lot of people in the fashion and music world in the area, and if I can just brag/drool for a moment, my cousin has had beers with lady gaga. Uh, yeah. GAGA.
I book ended my week in London by eating at the best restaurant I've ever been to in my life called The Gate with a ridiculously hot south African waiter. As a vegetarian, I've never been to an up market gourmet restaurant where I wanted and could eat everything on the menu. My mum and I also squeezed in visits to the Tate, Tate modern, national gallery, national portrait gallery, Victoria and Albert museum, architect John Soane's house, the amazing Kew gardens, and Shakespeare's globe theatre among other places. We saw an incredible play called Realism at the soho theatre that I would recommend if you're going to be in London.
One more thing: my cousin has the most amazing dog Cheever who outweighs me by 40 pounds. He's a Newfoundland dog and if you're tired you could mistake him for a gorilla or small black bear.
I'm now hanging in Reykjavik which is incredible and unlike anywhere else I've been. I know I've said that a lot on this trip, but it's been true each time! I forgot that because Iceland is so far north it gets pretty much 24 hours of daylight in the summer. Right now it's 9pm and the sun is still high in the sky. I love it!
Tomorrow mum and I are going on a ten hour smorgasbord tour of some of the natural sights around Reykjavik and the next day I've convinced her to go horseback riding! Friday before we leave we're going to hit up the blue lagoon which is the famous spa with all the different warm pools. And then it'll be back to Canada! I can't believe it! Six months on the road and I'm finally going home! I've had an incredible time and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to do and see the things I have, but I'm aching for home! I'd like to keep the blog going in some way, shape, or form, but haven't figured all that out yet, so keep checking back, and thanks for reading and following my travels. I think the blog has kept me from going off the deep end! See you soon! Xoxo
P.s. Will post pictures when I'm home!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Cappadoccia etc.
I've just spent the past four days in the Cappadoccia region in central Turkey, based in a small town called Goreme. It has been very interesting to say the least...I am now on a 12 hour (groan!) bus to Istanbul with my left eye practically swollen shut. As my brother Soren said on the phone last night, the medical ailments I've suffered on this trip are biblical. He thinks it's the world and my battered body telling me to go home. I can't really disagree with him at this point as currently I would classify myself as a hot mess. I'm encroaching on Lohan territory!
First, let me finish my thoughts on Tarsus. The week I spent with Oriana and Matt was great. Not only was it awesome to get to spend so much time with them but it was nice feeling like a normal person again with all the creature comforts of home. I reaquainted myself with my internet addiction by watching lonely island videos on YouTube (Oriana helped me rediscover the hilarity that is "mother lover" and it has been running through my head non stop for days, which is needless to say outrageously innapropriate!) Much time was also spent obsessing over their two cats-gracie and ghengis (as in khan)-and the twenty or so other cats that live in their complex. Where they live is really a cat colony because a woman who also lives there and is even more cat obsessed than I am brings strays from all over Tarsus to live on campus. It's ridiculous but amazing. I think all the Turks around there were amused by my constant singing of meows to the cats. Turkey has also helped re-ignite my love affair with caffeine. And bread. And cheese. At this point I think it's inevitable that I'm coming home a little bit fat!
Another interesting experience I had in Tarsus was my Turkish haircut. I am now fully rocking a Turkish mullet. The haidresser was hillarious and aggressively washed, chopped, blewdry, and hairsprayed me all for about 15bucks (sure beats the 80 bucks I pay in Toronto!) To top it all off, I got to observe the absurd hairstyling requested by a middle aged women. Do you know what I mean when I say hair that is circa 1980's Tiffany's "I think we're alone now?" Let me set the scene: bleach blonde hair with black roots that has been permed and hairsprayed so that it is crusty, accompanied by poofy bangs that have been teased into a waterfall like formation. It was amazing. At first Oriana and I maybe thought it was a joke but it was serious, dead serious. She topped this look off with some thickly applied blueish eyeshadow and painted nails and was off!
All this Turkish pampering was in preparation for Oriana's Grade 8 grad ceremony that she was emceeing. I think it's safe to say that grade 8s in any country or culture are a little bit horrible. The parents at the grad were a little bit horible too! Dressed to the nines in hooker heels and skin tight short dresses. This is a look Oriana calls "nouveau riche." You know what I always say: money can't buy taste!
Oriana took me to old town in Tarsus which is beautiful. This is apparently where all Turkish movies are filmed because everything looks like it could be pre WWI. On the way we passed "the road to Rome" which is part of an old stone road built over a thousand years ago. It's crazy how much antiquity there is around here, and it's all displayed so casually as if it's no big deal. It's like "oh there's the bridge where Antony and Cleopatra met. Yawn."
My last day in Tarsus, Oriana and I took the train into Adana for the day to take in some sights and visit the big mosque they have there. It's called Sabanci Merle Cami and was built by the richest man in Turkey. The mosque was incredible. It can fit 20000 worshippers inside. Some say it's even better than the famous blue mosque in Istanbul but I'll have to wait and judge for myself. While there, a Turkish woman striked up a conversation with us, and while Oriana's Turkish is pretty decent, neither if us really had a clue what she was saying. Her solution to us not understanding? Moving closer to my face and talking louder. It seems Turks love to "close talk."
We finished off our day in Adana by meeting Matt and having dinner at a Chinese restaurant along with ghengis the cat in his little cat carrier who had just been shaved! Poor guy, he was feeling a bit ashamed of his new look so we were careful not to acknowledge it too much-you know how sensitive cats' egos are!
Sataurday I took the bus to Goreme. The drive from Tarsus to the Capadoccia region was beautiful.
Sunflowers are in bloom now and there were thousands and thousands of them along the road. I love sunflowers so much, mostly because they remind me of my dad. They were his favourite flower and he always used to grow them in our front garden. They often grew taller than him and we would pose beside them to get our pictures taken. Some of the landscape along the way was more like what I picture
Switzerland to be like, what with mountains and evergreens etc.
Pulling into Goreme is an experience hard to describe. The landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen before. And after exploring the area for the past few days I can definitely say I put it up there with Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Plains of Jars in Laos, and Hampi in southern India. It's like a fairy tale with all of these rock formations called fairy chimneys. The fairy chimneys are huge phallic-like rock columns and pyramids that were formed when a volcano erupted thousands of years ago. What makes them even more awesome is that during the Byzantine era the rocks were cut and carved to make houses and churhes. I can definitely understand why Oriana and Matt chose to get married there because the surroundings are so incredibly romantic, with all the hotels and hostels placed inside the caves. Other than Paris, it's probably the most romantic place I've been.
My first night there I discovered a cute Turkish cafe called Nazar Borek. I immediately bonded over a beautiful dog named Snoopy with two German women and admired an Asian American couple with a very precocious 2 year old doing math problems with the sugar cubes on the table. I then made fast friends with the owner Refik, who speaks every language you can imagine, and who gave me amazing traveling advice for the area. I ended up going back there everyday for the good company and good coffee. Advice from locals is invaluable!
My second day I went to the open air museum which houses a whole bunch of cave/rock churches with religious frescos from over a thousand years ago. Afterwards I attempted to walk to one of the valleys for a hike but ended up getting a little sidetracked. More than a little actually. A man with a broken foot, a pitbull, and his cousin rolled by me in a cart and horse and asked where I was headed. They told me to hop in and that they would drop me there. I normally wouldn't agree to something like this, but as I wrote in an earlier blog, I no longer have any concept of what's appropriate or not. So...much I'm sure to my mothers dismay, I got in the cart. They ended up showing me their village Ortahisar and taking me for lunch before then taking me to this amazing church out in the Pancarlik valley. After I explored the church and took photos I watched as they chain smoked, ate watermellon and downed two bottles of local wine with some village friends all while we listened to Turkish music. It was one of those "where the hell am I and what am I doing?" moments of my trip. It's all part of the experience I suppose and for the record I never felt unsafe as there were a few other tourists around. On our way back to their little town it started pouring rain though and the man wanted to show me more sites on horseback, with both him and I on the same horse. This is where I drew the line. There is no way I wanted to cozy up to a random Turkish man on horesback. I lost my patience a bit and told him I was just going to head back to my hostel. So, I hopped in a taxi and took an expensive ride the couple of km's back to Goreme. Thank god for taxis! I went back to Refik's cafe and we drank coffee while I vented.
My third day I headed south to explore one of the many underground cities, Kaymakli. Being down in the tunnels was a little claustrophobic, although not quite as bad as the army tunnels in southern Vietnam. The layout and design of the underground cities is really complex, so I was glad for once that there were plenty of tourists around so I couldn't lose my way. I can't really imagine many things scarier then getting lost down there. There were diferent kinds of rooms-kitchen, food storage, living quarters, air shafts, and wineries. Apparently the depth of the tunnels is perfect for making wine. Although some think the cities are 4000 years old, historians definitely know that Christians used and lived in them during the 6th and 7th century when the Persian and Arabic armies were trying to off them. Crazy stuff!
On my way back to Goreme, I got dropped off in Uchisar, the town before, in order to walk through the pigeon valley. Again, the valley was unbelievably beautiful with so much greenery and flowers in bloom. Luckily, at the beginning of the walk I came across a Turkish guy named Moustafa who walks the valley everyday so I could follow his lead because there are no signs whatsoever and lots of turn offs. The walk was a good two hour hike up and down and I did it in flip flops and short shorts which I wouldn't recomend to anyone, but I managed.
My last day I ended up doing an even crazier hike (again in flip flops!) from Goreme through the red and rose valleys to the next town over, Cavusin. This walk too was incredible because it's the best place to see all types of fairy chimneys and you climb high up to many different look out points where you can see all of the surrounding valleys. Just incredible. Once I have access to a computer I will post some pictures, although I'm not sure that photos really do the place justice. I think I hiked for about four hours, but half of it I did with a nice Italian woman named Renata which I'm happy about because for the first while I didn't see another soul and I was having day dreams that I was going to end up like the guy James Franco played in 127 hours!
Now I am half way through my 12 hour stint to Istanbul. At the half way point I almost had a meltdown as everyone got off the bus and I didn't know what was going on or what to do as absolutely NO ONE speaks a word of English here. Not one word. In the 21 countries I've been to in my life I have never been anywhere where no one speaks a word of English. Oh well, I figured it out (kinda) eventually.
Now I'm sitting here half watching a Turkish dating game show, which is only marginally better than Turkish Idol which was on at my hostel last night. My eye is killing me, but aparently Istanbul has really good (and expensive) eye doctors, so I'll try and get sorted there. 5 nights in Istanbul and then it's off to London for my reunion with my Mum! Which also means I'll be two more flights from home! Hurrah!
First, let me finish my thoughts on Tarsus. The week I spent with Oriana and Matt was great. Not only was it awesome to get to spend so much time with them but it was nice feeling like a normal person again with all the creature comforts of home. I reaquainted myself with my internet addiction by watching lonely island videos on YouTube (Oriana helped me rediscover the hilarity that is "mother lover" and it has been running through my head non stop for days, which is needless to say outrageously innapropriate!) Much time was also spent obsessing over their two cats-gracie and ghengis (as in khan)-and the twenty or so other cats that live in their complex. Where they live is really a cat colony because a woman who also lives there and is even more cat obsessed than I am brings strays from all over Tarsus to live on campus. It's ridiculous but amazing. I think all the Turks around there were amused by my constant singing of meows to the cats. Turkey has also helped re-ignite my love affair with caffeine. And bread. And cheese. At this point I think it's inevitable that I'm coming home a little bit fat!
Another interesting experience I had in Tarsus was my Turkish haircut. I am now fully rocking a Turkish mullet. The haidresser was hillarious and aggressively washed, chopped, blewdry, and hairsprayed me all for about 15bucks (sure beats the 80 bucks I pay in Toronto!) To top it all off, I got to observe the absurd hairstyling requested by a middle aged women. Do you know what I mean when I say hair that is circa 1980's Tiffany's "I think we're alone now?" Let me set the scene: bleach blonde hair with black roots that has been permed and hairsprayed so that it is crusty, accompanied by poofy bangs that have been teased into a waterfall like formation. It was amazing. At first Oriana and I maybe thought it was a joke but it was serious, dead serious. She topped this look off with some thickly applied blueish eyeshadow and painted nails and was off!
All this Turkish pampering was in preparation for Oriana's Grade 8 grad ceremony that she was emceeing. I think it's safe to say that grade 8s in any country or culture are a little bit horrible. The parents at the grad were a little bit horible too! Dressed to the nines in hooker heels and skin tight short dresses. This is a look Oriana calls "nouveau riche." You know what I always say: money can't buy taste!
Oriana took me to old town in Tarsus which is beautiful. This is apparently where all Turkish movies are filmed because everything looks like it could be pre WWI. On the way we passed "the road to Rome" which is part of an old stone road built over a thousand years ago. It's crazy how much antiquity there is around here, and it's all displayed so casually as if it's no big deal. It's like "oh there's the bridge where Antony and Cleopatra met. Yawn."
My last day in Tarsus, Oriana and I took the train into Adana for the day to take in some sights and visit the big mosque they have there. It's called Sabanci Merle Cami and was built by the richest man in Turkey. The mosque was incredible. It can fit 20000 worshippers inside. Some say it's even better than the famous blue mosque in Istanbul but I'll have to wait and judge for myself. While there, a Turkish woman striked up a conversation with us, and while Oriana's Turkish is pretty decent, neither if us really had a clue what she was saying. Her solution to us not understanding? Moving closer to my face and talking louder. It seems Turks love to "close talk."
We finished off our day in Adana by meeting Matt and having dinner at a Chinese restaurant along with ghengis the cat in his little cat carrier who had just been shaved! Poor guy, he was feeling a bit ashamed of his new look so we were careful not to acknowledge it too much-you know how sensitive cats' egos are!
Sataurday I took the bus to Goreme. The drive from Tarsus to the Capadoccia region was beautiful.
Sunflowers are in bloom now and there were thousands and thousands of them along the road. I love sunflowers so much, mostly because they remind me of my dad. They were his favourite flower and he always used to grow them in our front garden. They often grew taller than him and we would pose beside them to get our pictures taken. Some of the landscape along the way was more like what I picture
Switzerland to be like, what with mountains and evergreens etc.
Pulling into Goreme is an experience hard to describe. The landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen before. And after exploring the area for the past few days I can definitely say I put it up there with Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Plains of Jars in Laos, and Hampi in southern India. It's like a fairy tale with all of these rock formations called fairy chimneys. The fairy chimneys are huge phallic-like rock columns and pyramids that were formed when a volcano erupted thousands of years ago. What makes them even more awesome is that during the Byzantine era the rocks were cut and carved to make houses and churhes. I can definitely understand why Oriana and Matt chose to get married there because the surroundings are so incredibly romantic, with all the hotels and hostels placed inside the caves. Other than Paris, it's probably the most romantic place I've been.
My first night there I discovered a cute Turkish cafe called Nazar Borek. I immediately bonded over a beautiful dog named Snoopy with two German women and admired an Asian American couple with a very precocious 2 year old doing math problems with the sugar cubes on the table. I then made fast friends with the owner Refik, who speaks every language you can imagine, and who gave me amazing traveling advice for the area. I ended up going back there everyday for the good company and good coffee. Advice from locals is invaluable!
My second day I went to the open air museum which houses a whole bunch of cave/rock churches with religious frescos from over a thousand years ago. Afterwards I attempted to walk to one of the valleys for a hike but ended up getting a little sidetracked. More than a little actually. A man with a broken foot, a pitbull, and his cousin rolled by me in a cart and horse and asked where I was headed. They told me to hop in and that they would drop me there. I normally wouldn't agree to something like this, but as I wrote in an earlier blog, I no longer have any concept of what's appropriate or not. So...much I'm sure to my mothers dismay, I got in the cart. They ended up showing me their village Ortahisar and taking me for lunch before then taking me to this amazing church out in the Pancarlik valley. After I explored the church and took photos I watched as they chain smoked, ate watermellon and downed two bottles of local wine with some village friends all while we listened to Turkish music. It was one of those "where the hell am I and what am I doing?" moments of my trip. It's all part of the experience I suppose and for the record I never felt unsafe as there were a few other tourists around. On our way back to their little town it started pouring rain though and the man wanted to show me more sites on horseback, with both him and I on the same horse. This is where I drew the line. There is no way I wanted to cozy up to a random Turkish man on horesback. I lost my patience a bit and told him I was just going to head back to my hostel. So, I hopped in a taxi and took an expensive ride the couple of km's back to Goreme. Thank god for taxis! I went back to Refik's cafe and we drank coffee while I vented.
My third day I headed south to explore one of the many underground cities, Kaymakli. Being down in the tunnels was a little claustrophobic, although not quite as bad as the army tunnels in southern Vietnam. The layout and design of the underground cities is really complex, so I was glad for once that there were plenty of tourists around so I couldn't lose my way. I can't really imagine many things scarier then getting lost down there. There were diferent kinds of rooms-kitchen, food storage, living quarters, air shafts, and wineries. Apparently the depth of the tunnels is perfect for making wine. Although some think the cities are 4000 years old, historians definitely know that Christians used and lived in them during the 6th and 7th century when the Persian and Arabic armies were trying to off them. Crazy stuff!
On my way back to Goreme, I got dropped off in Uchisar, the town before, in order to walk through the pigeon valley. Again, the valley was unbelievably beautiful with so much greenery and flowers in bloom. Luckily, at the beginning of the walk I came across a Turkish guy named Moustafa who walks the valley everyday so I could follow his lead because there are no signs whatsoever and lots of turn offs. The walk was a good two hour hike up and down and I did it in flip flops and short shorts which I wouldn't recomend to anyone, but I managed.
My last day I ended up doing an even crazier hike (again in flip flops!) from Goreme through the red and rose valleys to the next town over, Cavusin. This walk too was incredible because it's the best place to see all types of fairy chimneys and you climb high up to many different look out points where you can see all of the surrounding valleys. Just incredible. Once I have access to a computer I will post some pictures, although I'm not sure that photos really do the place justice. I think I hiked for about four hours, but half of it I did with a nice Italian woman named Renata which I'm happy about because for the first while I didn't see another soul and I was having day dreams that I was going to end up like the guy James Franco played in 127 hours!
Now I am half way through my 12 hour stint to Istanbul. At the half way point I almost had a meltdown as everyone got off the bus and I didn't know what was going on or what to do as absolutely NO ONE speaks a word of English here. Not one word. In the 21 countries I've been to in my life I have never been anywhere where no one speaks a word of English. Oh well, I figured it out (kinda) eventually.
Now I'm sitting here half watching a Turkish dating game show, which is only marginally better than Turkish Idol which was on at my hostel last night. My eye is killing me, but aparently Istanbul has really good (and expensive) eye doctors, so I'll try and get sorted there. 5 nights in Istanbul and then it's off to London for my reunion with my Mum! Which also means I'll be two more flights from home! Hurrah!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Turk-a-lurk-y!
Goodbye Africa, hello Eastern Europe/Middle East (I'll let you decide where to put Turkey.)
Unfortunately, Mombasa was not quite as nice weather wise as I was hoping it to be. It rained all four days that I was there so instead of working on my tan and frolicking in the sea, I think I gained about ten lbs on account of the hotel buffet (it's the cheapness in me-"might as well get my moneys worth!") and watched the most random selection of movies on Kenyan tv ever-think Zack Efron Disney films, Canadian documentaries about serial killer Willie Picton and just about everything in between.
Observing the couples at my hotel proved to be rather interesting, for lack of a better word. 80% of them were comprised of 65 year old white men with 25 year old Kenyan women and the other 20% were 55 year old white women with 30 year old Kenyan men. Then there was me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that.
One thing I am quite happy to leave back in Kenya is Celine Dion. The obsession Kenyans have with her is outta control. If I never hear "my heart will go on" or "the power of love" ever again, it'll be too soon. I thought I had escaped it after leaving the piped in music at my hotel, but then my seat mate on my 9 hour "deluxe" bus ride back to Nairobi had "cause I'm your laaaaddddyyyyy, and you are my maaaannn" as her ringtone. Wowza.
My last order of business in Nairobi was a final meal at java house, a trip to Nakumatt for Kenyan coffee and tubs of vaseline (20 shillings a pop!) and a viewing of the hangover part 2 which was pretty funny. I really can't get enough of zack galifinaskis. Check him out on the cover of rolling stone this month. Priceless.
As a Canadian whose done my fair share of flying, I thought that there was no airline in the world that could rival the awfulness that is Air Canada. And then I flew Egypt Air. Hooo boy. The sexism displayed by the staff was almost shocking and the breakfast of a boiled hot dog and cup of chocolate pudding left something to be desired. Think about how fast you know I eat (any meal can be conquered in 4 minutes) and then think about the flight attendant pretty much tapping his toe in the aisle waiting to collect my tray! It was however the first flight of my life where I actually passed out unconscious and slept for a bit. I didn't even wake up when we touched down on the runway. I guess that says how tired I am.
I experienced a little pang of disapointment while flying through Cairo. I know I made the right decision canceling my week in Egypt but feeling that amazing dry heat hit me and seeing the sand on the runway made me a bit sad. Oh well. I will make it back there on another trip in the future.
After five months as a dirtbag vagabond making my way through too many cultures to count, I no longer possess any awareness in regards to social graces and what is and isn't inapropriate in public. For instance, I told a Kenyan "beach boy" who wouldn't stop harrassing me that I wished he would go into the ocean and drown, among other things I'm too ashamed to repeat in polite company. And while at the Cairo airport I spent a good 15 minutes applying different lotions to each part of my battered body-feet, legs, hands, arms, shoulders, face-in an environment where every woman is in a hajib and all the men are praying on little carpets in the airport corridors. Appropriate? Probably not. But I am way too worn out at this point to observe cultural sensitivities. Maybe that makes me a shitty traveller, but come on! I've put up with a lot haven't I? (here is where I remind you that I was vomitted on on a bus in India).
After flying into Istanbul and catching a local plane to Adana, Oriana and Matt picked me up at the airport and drove me back to where they live in Tarsis which is a smallish town close to the Mediterranean in the south eastern part of turkey. Oriana teaches at the American school here and Matt works at the American military base. They have a really nice set up here, living in a nice apartment on campus and managed to get me my own apartment while I stay with them, so life is very good! This is the first time on this trip where I really feel like I'm on holiday and not traveling, if you'll allow me to separate the two.
My first morning, Matt, Oriana, and their friend Christy took me out to the beach in a place called Kizkalesi which means childrens castle in Turkish. It's called this because there is an amazing ruined castle out in the middle of the sea. The story goes that some king built the castle out on the sea for his daughter in order to protect her from her doomed fate. The castle is 450 meters off the beach and we swam out to it to explore which was quite the mission considering the horrible shape I'm in an the strength of the current.
This was the first time I'd been to the Mediterranean sea in almost exactly ten years. My first time was when I was 18 and went to visit my brother Soren in Spain and we swam in Malaga. The sea is wonderful and refreshing but unfortunately had a lot more garbage in it then one would like! The drive back was cool as there are ancient ruins strewn all over the place and along the side of the highway. We stopped and checked out an old ampitheatre which was just uncovered not that long ago and is from the time of Marcus Orilius, the roman emporor. Pretty crazy stuff.
The Turkish presidential elections were on Sunday and their president got re-elected. There is a major divide in Turkey regarding religion. The population here is 98% Muslim but a huge portion of them believe stongly in having a secular democracy which means not allowing women to wear headscarves in the public sector. Many others however, as I'm sure you can imagine, disagree. It's an interesting issue.
Yesterday Oriana had the day off work so we tool the train into a bigger city called Mersin and went to the mall all day which was hillarious. I haven't been in a proper mall in months and months. It was strange seeing starbucks and la senza and a lot of other western stores (but awesome to buy European brands for much cheaper!) The women here are serious about fashion and are all very glamorous. I'm sure it'll only get better once I'm in Istanbul. (I'm so excited for the shopping possibilities there despite not having any money!)
The food has been really good. They have this kind if gelato-esque ice cream here which is to die for. And the hummus. Oh my god. I've never tasted something so good!
So far I really like Turkey. It's a funny mix of modernity with very old fashioned and conservative(borderline insane) values. People are friendly and are really proud of their country. They keep asking me what I think about it here and what I like about their country. The men aren't too hard to deal with either. I definitely get stared at but everyone has been very respectful. As for Turkey's attempt to get into the EU, I don't think that will ever happen. Despite the changes they've made to become more democratic, they still deny the large minority of Kurds who live here any rights whatsoever, and there is no freedom of the press (you are not allowed to speak badly about Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey post WW1).
Sometime on the weekend I'm going to head north and check out an area called Cappadoccia which is where Oriana and Matt got married. It looks absolutely beautiful so I'm very excited. After that I'm going to head into Istanbul and spend the rest of my time there which I think will be incredible. I've only ever heard amazing things about that city, so I'm pumped. Less than two weeks now until I rendezvous with my mum in London! Until next time.
p.s. For those not on facebook, here is the link to my Kenya photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.998369727037.2490712.13604583&l=c4870dc864
Unfortunately, Mombasa was not quite as nice weather wise as I was hoping it to be. It rained all four days that I was there so instead of working on my tan and frolicking in the sea, I think I gained about ten lbs on account of the hotel buffet (it's the cheapness in me-"might as well get my moneys worth!") and watched the most random selection of movies on Kenyan tv ever-think Zack Efron Disney films, Canadian documentaries about serial killer Willie Picton and just about everything in between.
Observing the couples at my hotel proved to be rather interesting, for lack of a better word. 80% of them were comprised of 65 year old white men with 25 year old Kenyan women and the other 20% were 55 year old white women with 30 year old Kenyan men. Then there was me. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that.
One thing I am quite happy to leave back in Kenya is Celine Dion. The obsession Kenyans have with her is outta control. If I never hear "my heart will go on" or "the power of love" ever again, it'll be too soon. I thought I had escaped it after leaving the piped in music at my hotel, but then my seat mate on my 9 hour "deluxe" bus ride back to Nairobi had "cause I'm your laaaaddddyyyyy, and you are my maaaannn" as her ringtone. Wowza.
My last order of business in Nairobi was a final meal at java house, a trip to Nakumatt for Kenyan coffee and tubs of vaseline (20 shillings a pop!) and a viewing of the hangover part 2 which was pretty funny. I really can't get enough of zack galifinaskis. Check him out on the cover of rolling stone this month. Priceless.
As a Canadian whose done my fair share of flying, I thought that there was no airline in the world that could rival the awfulness that is Air Canada. And then I flew Egypt Air. Hooo boy. The sexism displayed by the staff was almost shocking and the breakfast of a boiled hot dog and cup of chocolate pudding left something to be desired. Think about how fast you know I eat (any meal can be conquered in 4 minutes) and then think about the flight attendant pretty much tapping his toe in the aisle waiting to collect my tray! It was however the first flight of my life where I actually passed out unconscious and slept for a bit. I didn't even wake up when we touched down on the runway. I guess that says how tired I am.
I experienced a little pang of disapointment while flying through Cairo. I know I made the right decision canceling my week in Egypt but feeling that amazing dry heat hit me and seeing the sand on the runway made me a bit sad. Oh well. I will make it back there on another trip in the future.
After five months as a dirtbag vagabond making my way through too many cultures to count, I no longer possess any awareness in regards to social graces and what is and isn't inapropriate in public. For instance, I told a Kenyan "beach boy" who wouldn't stop harrassing me that I wished he would go into the ocean and drown, among other things I'm too ashamed to repeat in polite company. And while at the Cairo airport I spent a good 15 minutes applying different lotions to each part of my battered body-feet, legs, hands, arms, shoulders, face-in an environment where every woman is in a hajib and all the men are praying on little carpets in the airport corridors. Appropriate? Probably not. But I am way too worn out at this point to observe cultural sensitivities. Maybe that makes me a shitty traveller, but come on! I've put up with a lot haven't I? (here is where I remind you that I was vomitted on on a bus in India).
After flying into Istanbul and catching a local plane to Adana, Oriana and Matt picked me up at the airport and drove me back to where they live in Tarsis which is a smallish town close to the Mediterranean in the south eastern part of turkey. Oriana teaches at the American school here and Matt works at the American military base. They have a really nice set up here, living in a nice apartment on campus and managed to get me my own apartment while I stay with them, so life is very good! This is the first time on this trip where I really feel like I'm on holiday and not traveling, if you'll allow me to separate the two.
My first morning, Matt, Oriana, and their friend Christy took me out to the beach in a place called Kizkalesi which means childrens castle in Turkish. It's called this because there is an amazing ruined castle out in the middle of the sea. The story goes that some king built the castle out on the sea for his daughter in order to protect her from her doomed fate. The castle is 450 meters off the beach and we swam out to it to explore which was quite the mission considering the horrible shape I'm in an the strength of the current.
This was the first time I'd been to the Mediterranean sea in almost exactly ten years. My first time was when I was 18 and went to visit my brother Soren in Spain and we swam in Malaga. The sea is wonderful and refreshing but unfortunately had a lot more garbage in it then one would like! The drive back was cool as there are ancient ruins strewn all over the place and along the side of the highway. We stopped and checked out an old ampitheatre which was just uncovered not that long ago and is from the time of Marcus Orilius, the roman emporor. Pretty crazy stuff.
The Turkish presidential elections were on Sunday and their president got re-elected. There is a major divide in Turkey regarding religion. The population here is 98% Muslim but a huge portion of them believe stongly in having a secular democracy which means not allowing women to wear headscarves in the public sector. Many others however, as I'm sure you can imagine, disagree. It's an interesting issue.
Yesterday Oriana had the day off work so we tool the train into a bigger city called Mersin and went to the mall all day which was hillarious. I haven't been in a proper mall in months and months. It was strange seeing starbucks and la senza and a lot of other western stores (but awesome to buy European brands for much cheaper!) The women here are serious about fashion and are all very glamorous. I'm sure it'll only get better once I'm in Istanbul. (I'm so excited for the shopping possibilities there despite not having any money!)
The food has been really good. They have this kind if gelato-esque ice cream here which is to die for. And the hummus. Oh my god. I've never tasted something so good!
So far I really like Turkey. It's a funny mix of modernity with very old fashioned and conservative(borderline insane) values. People are friendly and are really proud of their country. They keep asking me what I think about it here and what I like about their country. The men aren't too hard to deal with either. I definitely get stared at but everyone has been very respectful. As for Turkey's attempt to get into the EU, I don't think that will ever happen. Despite the changes they've made to become more democratic, they still deny the large minority of Kurds who live here any rights whatsoever, and there is no freedom of the press (you are not allowed to speak badly about Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey post WW1).
Sometime on the weekend I'm going to head north and check out an area called Cappadoccia which is where Oriana and Matt got married. It looks absolutely beautiful so I'm very excited. After that I'm going to head into Istanbul and spend the rest of my time there which I think will be incredible. I've only ever heard amazing things about that city, so I'm pumped. Less than two weeks now until I rendezvous with my mum in London! Until next time.
p.s. For those not on facebook, here is the link to my Kenya photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.998369727037.2490712.13604583&l=c4870dc864
Sunday, June 5, 2011
African allergies and Mombasa
Well well. Less than a week to go until I trade this continent in for yet another. The past two weeks have been interesting and have had their ups and downs. I always forget that this is a place of extremes and that if you aren't on top of the world, you're usually totally miserable. So Let's get the miserable part out of the way first: it seems as though I have become allergic to Kenya, or at least to something in Peter and Anne's house because two weeks ago I developed a batch of brutal hives that have made me want to rip my skin off my body. I feel like a diseased circus freak, but I'm hoping that it'll all be made better by the powers of the indian ocean which is where I'm headed today for my last five days. Seriously, the ocean soothes the soul, so why not debilitating allergic reactions too?
Despite my unwavering love for Kenya, it hasn't been all that I hoped for this time around because of some unexpected stress and issues I didn't ever imagine having to deal with. But those are things that should be left for real conversations and not the blog. So let's move on shall we?
Now for the good stuff. When I haven't been scratching at my skin or watching the first three seasons of Dexter which I bought for three bucks from a Nakuru bootlegger, I've spent my time at the two schools, the two children's homes, and at home with Anne doing "women's work." Last weekend I took 8 of the kids from the old children's home to town and out for a luxurious lunch at gilanis, the Indian supermarket restaurant, which was so much fun. Those kids know how to eat!
Two days ago was my last day in kirengero and the nakuru area and I spent it out at mission in action children's home. The new building is almost ready and the kids from nyota have already moved in. Tess has a job there for the summer doing laundry and another "kid" from the old home, Simon, is teaching at the mission school. I cant tell you how amazing it is to see these kids that Ive known for five years grow into responsible young adults. They are amazing. I also got to say goodbye to joseph who just broke his arm playing football! I hate saying goodbye but the smile on that kids face when he sees me makes it all better.
My Last night in the village I cooked a big dinner for peter, Anne, and the four kids. I made spaghetti with tomato primavera sauce. Kim, their nephew who is living with them, said it was a meal he would never forget! We finished off the meal with a little cake I bought and some hot chocolate that they all had to add more sugar to to make drinkable! Kenyans and their crazy sweet tooth!
I'm happy to say that during my time with Anne, I learnt how to make ugali all by myself (ugali, or as I like to call it "uugs," is the staple food in Kenya and is made from boiling maize flour with water and stirring it until it becomes hard as a rock. I despise it.) I was in charge of the four dogs-Rooney, Drogba, Julie, and Chiko-who became my best friends on account of me giving them treats whenever I could. When I left yesterday morning, Rooney followed me out to the highway which broke my heart. I love that puppy!
The ride to Nairobi yesterday was actually enjoyable, as I saw zebras and baboons roaming on the side of the highway. Sometimes the beauty of this country is so overwhelming it knocks you on your ass. I spent last night in my favourite budget hotel in Nairobi, The Terminal, and am happy to report that the guys at the front desk remembered me. I'm not so happy though that I forgot it was karaoke night at the restaurant across the street as I had to listen to bad renditions of Mariah Carey's "Hero" and the early 90s classic "it must have been love" for hours. Actually I didn't mind so much, it's all part of nbo's charm, something which I took full advantage of yesterday (ie: hot shower, java house, bartering at the outdoor market for earrings and of course nakumatt).
Currently I'm sitting on the 8 hour "deluxe" bus ride to Mombasa, deluxe because you get a soda, some cookies, and they play Shania twain and Celine Dion music videos as well as straight to DVD action films. My bum is going numb and I just told an Indian teenager in front of me that I didn't pay 1600 shilling to watch him grope his girlfriend all day. The road is brutal but the ride is cheap and since the hotel I'm going to stay at is expensive, I guess it will all be worth it.
Hopefully by the time I post this, I'll be by the ocean. I'll update once I get to turkey on Friday. I'll be there for two and a half weeks and am super pumped. The first week I'm spending out east in Adana with my dear old friend Oriana and her husband Matt. I missed their wedding in April so I'm hoping this reunion will make up for it. The rest of the time I'm not sure what I'm going to do other than explore Istanbul and go somewhere on the Mediterranean. Then it'll be off to London to meet my mum which I am so excited about I can barely contain myself. It will have been 5 and a half months since we've seen each other and being the true mamas girl that I am, the reunion will be so sweet! Until next time!
P.S. Scroll down to see some photos I just posted!
Despite my unwavering love for Kenya, it hasn't been all that I hoped for this time around because of some unexpected stress and issues I didn't ever imagine having to deal with. But those are things that should be left for real conversations and not the blog. So let's move on shall we?
Now for the good stuff. When I haven't been scratching at my skin or watching the first three seasons of Dexter which I bought for three bucks from a Nakuru bootlegger, I've spent my time at the two schools, the two children's homes, and at home with Anne doing "women's work." Last weekend I took 8 of the kids from the old children's home to town and out for a luxurious lunch at gilanis, the Indian supermarket restaurant, which was so much fun. Those kids know how to eat!
Two days ago was my last day in kirengero and the nakuru area and I spent it out at mission in action children's home. The new building is almost ready and the kids from nyota have already moved in. Tess has a job there for the summer doing laundry and another "kid" from the old home, Simon, is teaching at the mission school. I cant tell you how amazing it is to see these kids that Ive known for five years grow into responsible young adults. They are amazing. I also got to say goodbye to joseph who just broke his arm playing football! I hate saying goodbye but the smile on that kids face when he sees me makes it all better.
My Last night in the village I cooked a big dinner for peter, Anne, and the four kids. I made spaghetti with tomato primavera sauce. Kim, their nephew who is living with them, said it was a meal he would never forget! We finished off the meal with a little cake I bought and some hot chocolate that they all had to add more sugar to to make drinkable! Kenyans and their crazy sweet tooth!
I'm happy to say that during my time with Anne, I learnt how to make ugali all by myself (ugali, or as I like to call it "uugs," is the staple food in Kenya and is made from boiling maize flour with water and stirring it until it becomes hard as a rock. I despise it.) I was in charge of the four dogs-Rooney, Drogba, Julie, and Chiko-who became my best friends on account of me giving them treats whenever I could. When I left yesterday morning, Rooney followed me out to the highway which broke my heart. I love that puppy!
The ride to Nairobi yesterday was actually enjoyable, as I saw zebras and baboons roaming on the side of the highway. Sometimes the beauty of this country is so overwhelming it knocks you on your ass. I spent last night in my favourite budget hotel in Nairobi, The Terminal, and am happy to report that the guys at the front desk remembered me. I'm not so happy though that I forgot it was karaoke night at the restaurant across the street as I had to listen to bad renditions of Mariah Carey's "Hero" and the early 90s classic "it must have been love" for hours. Actually I didn't mind so much, it's all part of nbo's charm, something which I took full advantage of yesterday (ie: hot shower, java house, bartering at the outdoor market for earrings and of course nakumatt).
Currently I'm sitting on the 8 hour "deluxe" bus ride to Mombasa, deluxe because you get a soda, some cookies, and they play Shania twain and Celine Dion music videos as well as straight to DVD action films. My bum is going numb and I just told an Indian teenager in front of me that I didn't pay 1600 shilling to watch him grope his girlfriend all day. The road is brutal but the ride is cheap and since the hotel I'm going to stay at is expensive, I guess it will all be worth it.
Hopefully by the time I post this, I'll be by the ocean. I'll update once I get to turkey on Friday. I'll be there for two and a half weeks and am super pumped. The first week I'm spending out east in Adana with my dear old friend Oriana and her husband Matt. I missed their wedding in April so I'm hoping this reunion will make up for it. The rest of the time I'm not sure what I'm going to do other than explore Istanbul and go somewhere on the Mediterranean. Then it'll be off to London to meet my mum which I am so excited about I can barely contain myself. It will have been 5 and a half months since we've seen each other and being the true mamas girl that I am, the reunion will be so sweet! Until next time!
P.S. Scroll down to see some photos I just posted!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Matatu madness and mama spike
This is gonna be a long one...
I have now been back in central province for a number of days after spending 4 nights further west in kakamega and bondo. Wow. Nime choka (I am tired). I picked up a cold or the flu or something (probably riding on over crowded matatus with kids coughing down my throat) so the past few days have been a bit rough what with the coughing and feverish night sweats! Only I could manage to come to sub Saharan Africa and get a friggen cold! Classic! (Actually it is the cold and rainy season now so i guess it makes sense.)
It was quite the process arriving in kakamega last Sunday night. I had heard rumours that the road between Nakuru and kisumu had improved, and parts of it were better, but I'd say the majority of it was actually worse which I didn't think was possible! The roads in kenya are worse than anything you could imagine-Think pot holes the size of rhinos! When i Finally arrived in kisumu, I got into another matatu to kakamega which ended up being the matatu ride from hell. Now, most foreigners in Kenya would say that every matatu ride is hellish, but having ridden on thousands and thousands of them I can confidently say that some are way better than others (I'm on one right now and think it might be bad-there is a really offensive smell happening, more so than just the usual body odor smell, and my window won't open-arg!)
The matatu tout in kisumu kept trying to pile more and more people in the vehicle even though we were stuffed to the gills and he kept stopping to talk to people on the side of the road. This is when I switched gears into mzungu mogoroki mode and was screaming at him that this wasn't a tea time social and he was wasting all of our times! Then, when we were half way to kakamega, he announced that the vehicle was now going to eldoret so I had to get off and start the whole process over again! It took 2 hours to get to kakamega when it only takes 40 minutes in a car and it cost 200 shilling when it used to cost 80! The petrol prices here have become outrageous and are only getting worse!
It was dark by the time I arrived in kakamega town and I was exhausted but thankfully my good friend Susan and her friend Kennedy came to pick me up in his truck and we went back to this god awful bar where they were watching the last games of English premier league footy which is pretty much the religion around here. Almost every matatu you ride has either man u or arsenal written on the side of it. Kenyan bars are so incredible in terms of tackiness and their ability to give you a pounding headache. They blare 90s rnb music so loud that it becomes distorted and you can't even tell what KC and jojo are singing about!
Seeing Susan, even though it was a short visit, was great. She lives in Whitehorse for half the year and in Kenya the other half running a training program for fish farmers. She does really great work and has helped a lot of people in the kakamega area. Check out her website to learn more:
www.fish4kenya.com
Susan and i met each other in 2007/2008 at ACCES and she's probably the only reason that I didn't murder my corrupt evil boss when he locked me out of the gated compound of our work while there was gun fire behind me during the civil conflict. I went to visit her in the Yukon in the summer of 2008 and it was amazing! I hope I can make it back there again sometime. At Susan's apartment I managed to cook my first meal since i was in new Zealand and take my first hot shower in over two and a half months which was beyond glorious! I wish that our visit had been longer, but she was headed back to Canada last Wednesday.
I also went to ACCES to visit some of my former coworkers and get an update on the changes they've made to the organization since I left. Things seem to be a lot better than when I was there. The insane and awful executive director in Canada, Rick, was asked to leave shortly after I left and so was Enock, the disgusting corrupt program director in Kenya. The new ED fired most people and put my friend Lucy in charge. They disbanded LIFA (literacy for all) the part of acces that I worked for and fired Joseph, the weasel that was in charge of the nfe schools. In response, he destroyed all the paperwork and tried to shut down the schools. Imagine how petty and awful a person you have to be in order to want to destroy free schools for the most disadvantaged children in the area just because you lost your job?!? What a pathetic man. Anyway, Lucy managed to save the schools and they are still running and doing well which makes me so happy and relieved because those kids at the non formal schools were my heart and soul when I was living here.
I also got to see Harriet who was my closest friend in kakamega. Last time we saw each other, she was five months pregnant. Now, her daughter Blessing is turning 3! And boy oh boy is Blessing cheeky! I showed her pictures of Spike and she loved him. Later on in the night we were watching a nature program on tv and saw a leopard. Blessing pointed at it and said Spike. It was so cute. And because she found my name hard to say we decided to just call me Mama spike (in Kenya, women are often called by the name of their oldest child). All of my old coworkers know that Spike is like my baby and they think it's so funny. When I tell them he sleeps on my bed they laugh and laugh because nothing is more absurd here then letting an animal come in your house.
After staying with Harriet, i headed back into kisumu so that I could get a matatu out to a town called bondo where my very good friend James lives with his family. The ride into kisumu is always interesting as I think it is the only place in the world where you can buy caskets and tombstones on the side of the road. The matatu park in kisumu is pretty legendary as well on account of the street vendors and hawkers trying to sell you everything and anything. And I really mean anything- mens undershirts (singlets), kitchen knives, combs, r n b compilation CDs etc.
The ride out to bondo was crazy as expected and for most of the ride I had a big fat mama sitting on me. Getting there and seeing James though was amazing! Me and James worked together everyday at LIFA and would go out into the field together and visit the schools and laugh and dance and talk shit about enock and Joseph. It was great.
I got to bondo too late in the day to visit James' school where he teaches, so he and I, his coworker Philip and his wife headed back to his house to have dinner. James and his wife have an adorable 4 year old son who is very shy. When I met him when he was 1, he was terrified of me, and I can say that three years later, not much has changed! Not even the chocolate bar I brought him greased the wheels! Although he did cry when I left, but maybe that was out of relief! Its funny that in India i felt like a freak and here sometimes i feel like a monster! Anyway dinner was great and talking with James was even better. We always have such interesting conversations. He is always interested in knowing more about Canada and how it compares to Kenya. I also told him lots about India which was an interesting conversation to say the least.
The next morning I went to James' school with him to say hi to all the students. He teaches at a small secondary school that is still growing. There are only 200 students. It was fun being in a Kenyan school again and greeting all the students. James told all the female students that I could act as a role model for them for being so young and very educated. It was really sweet!
Saying goodbye was sad. I wish that I had stayed in bondo longer to hang with James but I'm still rocking this cold/flu whatever it is so I felt like I should get back to the Nakuru area. It was a long day heading back on the matatus. A word of advice for the future: don't listen to Ray Lamontange on repeat when you're overtired and have been traveling alone for 4 months and are on a matatu unless you want to convince yourself you're going to die alone!
Am now back in kirengero and trying to help Anne with household duties because she sprained her ankle and can't get around too well. Her and her girls like laughing at me trying to do domestic things because they think that I don't know how to do anything and that I have machines do everything for me which is only half true. Me doing my laundry in a basin outside the other day was a laugh riot. I abandoned the chore half way through and decided to just leave the clothes out in the rain and let them get clean that way!
Both Anne and Peter are trying to fatten me up which I am trying to resist but with the fatty food they eat here it's becoming hard. The running joke is that I'm going to go on the Kenyan tv show called "slimpossible" which is the Kenyan version of the biggest loser. Ugh, there is nothing worse than leaving Africa fatter than you arrived and trying to explain that to people. Trust me, I've done it.
Being in this village is the closest thing I'll ever know to being a celebrity or rock star. Everyone is so happy to see me and greet me. Little kids are beside themselves when I say hi to them. It's so funny to me because something like this would never happen in Canada. But if it makes people happy that I am here, then that makes me happy too.
The other day I went into Nakuru and to the hospital to visit one of the kids who used to live at the orphanage, Eliud. He was hit by a motorbike and broke his leg and needed surgery in order to put a metal rod into his calf. He's been in the hospital for over three weeks, not because his injury was so severe but because they wanted to be sure he had enough money to pay for the operation before they did it. He hasn't been able to leave the hospital yet because he still owes money so they won't discharge him. I met with his guardian yesterday to help her with the rest of the fees but it turns out its a lot more than i thought it would be so we're going to have to do some brainstorming. The hospital was a really sad experience. It's a government hospital which means it's cheaper than most, and it was packed with really sick people. Usually I try to keep my emotions in check when I'm here, because if you don't you get too overwhelmed with the amount of sadness around you, and that's what happened to me at the hospital. So many people dying of AIDS and nothing you can do to help. It's shocking how much more devastating it is when it's right in front of you.
Two days ago, I went to visit the wife of a friend of mine, Wilson, who died of AIDS almost two years ago. Wilson was an exceptional person who despite his situation was one of the most positive people I've ever met. He encouraged people living with AIDS to come out to their families and communities and to join support groups, which is beyond brave because the disease is still so stigmatized here. He's also the person I dedicated my dare for the Stephen Lewis foundation for (I raised $1000 by giving up swearing for 1 week-it was hard!) Seeing his wife and two of his kids was so nice. They are doing okay despite their circumstances (she is also HIV positive) and she is working hard to be positive and live each day for her kids. I will try and visit her again before I leave.
Yesterday I went to Peters school, Kieni primary, and taught a grade 8 math class. I am both happy and depressed to say that the students did better than most of the kids I taught at college in Toronto. Simple interest and complex fractions were a breeze! It's so nice being in the schools here and seeing how much the kids want to learn. They are desperate and hungry for education. This I think is part of the reason I quit my teaching job in Canada. I just don't have the patience for the kids I was teaching who've graduated high school without learning anything or working hard and who let their parents pay for them to come to college and do the same. If only they could all spend a year, or a month, or even a week here, realizing what a gift education is. Our society would be much better for it.
I saw two of the kids from the old home at kieni, another Eliud and John. They are helping out at the school waiting to get enough money so they can go on to college courses. I really wish I had the money to send everyone I know here to school. But you can only do as much a your bank account allows and unfortunately after 4 months on the road, I don't have much left.
I also stopped by the secondary school to pull a few students out of class to give them big hugs! Mary Norman is one of my favourite girls ever and I had actually ran into her grandmother the other day in the village. I guess her grandmother told her that she saw me, but Mary didn't believe her. Not until I dragged her out of history class that is! I also got to see Hannah, Boneface, Naomi, Murugi, and Peter who we used to call fupi (it means short) on account of him being so short. He is now about a foot taller than I am so calling him fupi has a nice ironic spin on it now.
So, 2 and a half weeks left in Kenya and then 2 weeks in Turkey and then ten days in London and Reykjavik with my mum before heading back to Canada. As amazing as all this traveling has been, I am looking forward to being home and seeing spike (and others too!)
Until next time...think of me freezing my ass off in Africa! I'd be better off being in the Canadian spring!
I have now been back in central province for a number of days after spending 4 nights further west in kakamega and bondo. Wow. Nime choka (I am tired). I picked up a cold or the flu or something (probably riding on over crowded matatus with kids coughing down my throat) so the past few days have been a bit rough what with the coughing and feverish night sweats! Only I could manage to come to sub Saharan Africa and get a friggen cold! Classic! (Actually it is the cold and rainy season now so i guess it makes sense.)
It was quite the process arriving in kakamega last Sunday night. I had heard rumours that the road between Nakuru and kisumu had improved, and parts of it were better, but I'd say the majority of it was actually worse which I didn't think was possible! The roads in kenya are worse than anything you could imagine-Think pot holes the size of rhinos! When i Finally arrived in kisumu, I got into another matatu to kakamega which ended up being the matatu ride from hell. Now, most foreigners in Kenya would say that every matatu ride is hellish, but having ridden on thousands and thousands of them I can confidently say that some are way better than others (I'm on one right now and think it might be bad-there is a really offensive smell happening, more so than just the usual body odor smell, and my window won't open-arg!)
The matatu tout in kisumu kept trying to pile more and more people in the vehicle even though we were stuffed to the gills and he kept stopping to talk to people on the side of the road. This is when I switched gears into mzungu mogoroki mode and was screaming at him that this wasn't a tea time social and he was wasting all of our times! Then, when we were half way to kakamega, he announced that the vehicle was now going to eldoret so I had to get off and start the whole process over again! It took 2 hours to get to kakamega when it only takes 40 minutes in a car and it cost 200 shilling when it used to cost 80! The petrol prices here have become outrageous and are only getting worse!
It was dark by the time I arrived in kakamega town and I was exhausted but thankfully my good friend Susan and her friend Kennedy came to pick me up in his truck and we went back to this god awful bar where they were watching the last games of English premier league footy which is pretty much the religion around here. Almost every matatu you ride has either man u or arsenal written on the side of it. Kenyan bars are so incredible in terms of tackiness and their ability to give you a pounding headache. They blare 90s rnb music so loud that it becomes distorted and you can't even tell what KC and jojo are singing about!
Seeing Susan, even though it was a short visit, was great. She lives in Whitehorse for half the year and in Kenya the other half running a training program for fish farmers. She does really great work and has helped a lot of people in the kakamega area. Check out her website to learn more:
www.fish4kenya.com
Susan and i met each other in 2007/2008 at ACCES and she's probably the only reason that I didn't murder my corrupt evil boss when he locked me out of the gated compound of our work while there was gun fire behind me during the civil conflict. I went to visit her in the Yukon in the summer of 2008 and it was amazing! I hope I can make it back there again sometime. At Susan's apartment I managed to cook my first meal since i was in new Zealand and take my first hot shower in over two and a half months which was beyond glorious! I wish that our visit had been longer, but she was headed back to Canada last Wednesday.
I also went to ACCES to visit some of my former coworkers and get an update on the changes they've made to the organization since I left. Things seem to be a lot better than when I was there. The insane and awful executive director in Canada, Rick, was asked to leave shortly after I left and so was Enock, the disgusting corrupt program director in Kenya. The new ED fired most people and put my friend Lucy in charge. They disbanded LIFA (literacy for all) the part of acces that I worked for and fired Joseph, the weasel that was in charge of the nfe schools. In response, he destroyed all the paperwork and tried to shut down the schools. Imagine how petty and awful a person you have to be in order to want to destroy free schools for the most disadvantaged children in the area just because you lost your job?!? What a pathetic man. Anyway, Lucy managed to save the schools and they are still running and doing well which makes me so happy and relieved because those kids at the non formal schools were my heart and soul when I was living here.
I also got to see Harriet who was my closest friend in kakamega. Last time we saw each other, she was five months pregnant. Now, her daughter Blessing is turning 3! And boy oh boy is Blessing cheeky! I showed her pictures of Spike and she loved him. Later on in the night we were watching a nature program on tv and saw a leopard. Blessing pointed at it and said Spike. It was so cute. And because she found my name hard to say we decided to just call me Mama spike (in Kenya, women are often called by the name of their oldest child). All of my old coworkers know that Spike is like my baby and they think it's so funny. When I tell them he sleeps on my bed they laugh and laugh because nothing is more absurd here then letting an animal come in your house.
After staying with Harriet, i headed back into kisumu so that I could get a matatu out to a town called bondo where my very good friend James lives with his family. The ride into kisumu is always interesting as I think it is the only place in the world where you can buy caskets and tombstones on the side of the road. The matatu park in kisumu is pretty legendary as well on account of the street vendors and hawkers trying to sell you everything and anything. And I really mean anything- mens undershirts (singlets), kitchen knives, combs, r n b compilation CDs etc.
The ride out to bondo was crazy as expected and for most of the ride I had a big fat mama sitting on me. Getting there and seeing James though was amazing! Me and James worked together everyday at LIFA and would go out into the field together and visit the schools and laugh and dance and talk shit about enock and Joseph. It was great.
I got to bondo too late in the day to visit James' school where he teaches, so he and I, his coworker Philip and his wife headed back to his house to have dinner. James and his wife have an adorable 4 year old son who is very shy. When I met him when he was 1, he was terrified of me, and I can say that three years later, not much has changed! Not even the chocolate bar I brought him greased the wheels! Although he did cry when I left, but maybe that was out of relief! Its funny that in India i felt like a freak and here sometimes i feel like a monster! Anyway dinner was great and talking with James was even better. We always have such interesting conversations. He is always interested in knowing more about Canada and how it compares to Kenya. I also told him lots about India which was an interesting conversation to say the least.
The next morning I went to James' school with him to say hi to all the students. He teaches at a small secondary school that is still growing. There are only 200 students. It was fun being in a Kenyan school again and greeting all the students. James told all the female students that I could act as a role model for them for being so young and very educated. It was really sweet!
Saying goodbye was sad. I wish that I had stayed in bondo longer to hang with James but I'm still rocking this cold/flu whatever it is so I felt like I should get back to the Nakuru area. It was a long day heading back on the matatus. A word of advice for the future: don't listen to Ray Lamontange on repeat when you're overtired and have been traveling alone for 4 months and are on a matatu unless you want to convince yourself you're going to die alone!
Am now back in kirengero and trying to help Anne with household duties because she sprained her ankle and can't get around too well. Her and her girls like laughing at me trying to do domestic things because they think that I don't know how to do anything and that I have machines do everything for me which is only half true. Me doing my laundry in a basin outside the other day was a laugh riot. I abandoned the chore half way through and decided to just leave the clothes out in the rain and let them get clean that way!
Both Anne and Peter are trying to fatten me up which I am trying to resist but with the fatty food they eat here it's becoming hard. The running joke is that I'm going to go on the Kenyan tv show called "slimpossible" which is the Kenyan version of the biggest loser. Ugh, there is nothing worse than leaving Africa fatter than you arrived and trying to explain that to people. Trust me, I've done it.
Being in this village is the closest thing I'll ever know to being a celebrity or rock star. Everyone is so happy to see me and greet me. Little kids are beside themselves when I say hi to them. It's so funny to me because something like this would never happen in Canada. But if it makes people happy that I am here, then that makes me happy too.
The other day I went into Nakuru and to the hospital to visit one of the kids who used to live at the orphanage, Eliud. He was hit by a motorbike and broke his leg and needed surgery in order to put a metal rod into his calf. He's been in the hospital for over three weeks, not because his injury was so severe but because they wanted to be sure he had enough money to pay for the operation before they did it. He hasn't been able to leave the hospital yet because he still owes money so they won't discharge him. I met with his guardian yesterday to help her with the rest of the fees but it turns out its a lot more than i thought it would be so we're going to have to do some brainstorming. The hospital was a really sad experience. It's a government hospital which means it's cheaper than most, and it was packed with really sick people. Usually I try to keep my emotions in check when I'm here, because if you don't you get too overwhelmed with the amount of sadness around you, and that's what happened to me at the hospital. So many people dying of AIDS and nothing you can do to help. It's shocking how much more devastating it is when it's right in front of you.
Two days ago, I went to visit the wife of a friend of mine, Wilson, who died of AIDS almost two years ago. Wilson was an exceptional person who despite his situation was one of the most positive people I've ever met. He encouraged people living with AIDS to come out to their families and communities and to join support groups, which is beyond brave because the disease is still so stigmatized here. He's also the person I dedicated my dare for the Stephen Lewis foundation for (I raised $1000 by giving up swearing for 1 week-it was hard!) Seeing his wife and two of his kids was so nice. They are doing okay despite their circumstances (she is also HIV positive) and she is working hard to be positive and live each day for her kids. I will try and visit her again before I leave.
Yesterday I went to Peters school, Kieni primary, and taught a grade 8 math class. I am both happy and depressed to say that the students did better than most of the kids I taught at college in Toronto. Simple interest and complex fractions were a breeze! It's so nice being in the schools here and seeing how much the kids want to learn. They are desperate and hungry for education. This I think is part of the reason I quit my teaching job in Canada. I just don't have the patience for the kids I was teaching who've graduated high school without learning anything or working hard and who let their parents pay for them to come to college and do the same. If only they could all spend a year, or a month, or even a week here, realizing what a gift education is. Our society would be much better for it.
I saw two of the kids from the old home at kieni, another Eliud and John. They are helping out at the school waiting to get enough money so they can go on to college courses. I really wish I had the money to send everyone I know here to school. But you can only do as much a your bank account allows and unfortunately after 4 months on the road, I don't have much left.
I also stopped by the secondary school to pull a few students out of class to give them big hugs! Mary Norman is one of my favourite girls ever and I had actually ran into her grandmother the other day in the village. I guess her grandmother told her that she saw me, but Mary didn't believe her. Not until I dragged her out of history class that is! I also got to see Hannah, Boneface, Naomi, Murugi, and Peter who we used to call fupi (it means short) on account of him being so short. He is now about a foot taller than I am so calling him fupi has a nice ironic spin on it now.
So, 2 and a half weeks left in Kenya and then 2 weeks in Turkey and then ten days in London and Reykjavik with my mum before heading back to Canada. As amazing as all this traveling has been, I am looking forward to being home and seeing spike (and others too!)
Until next time...think of me freezing my ass off in Africa! I'd be better off being in the Canadian spring!
Monday, May 16, 2011
more photos and Kenyan info
Well, I wrote a blog entry the first day I got to Kenya with my Kenyan mobile number and some other stuff, but that entry has seemed to disappear. So I will post it again. If you want to chat or text, you can get me at:
011 254 704 316 297
Also, I finally (and painstakingly I might add) have uploaded the rest of my Indian photos to facebook. Ugh. It was a process and a half! One thing I'm looking forward to in Canada is fast and reliable internet! Anyway, for those of you not on facebook, you can check out the pictures at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.983235256637.2485139.13604583&l=841a3f8ca7
Am now in Kakamega and staying with my friend Susan before she heads back to Canada on Wednesday. I went and visited ACCES (where I worked in 2007/2008) today and will go back tomorrow for tea time to get more info on what has changed etc. It is certainly a real trip to be back in this crazy place!
011 254 704 316 297
Also, I finally (and painstakingly I might add) have uploaded the rest of my Indian photos to facebook. Ugh. It was a process and a half! One thing I'm looking forward to in Canada is fast and reliable internet! Anyway, for those of you not on facebook, you can check out the pictures at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.983235256637.2485139.13604583&l=841a3f8ca7
Am now in Kakamega and staying with my friend Susan before she heads back to Canada on Wednesday. I went and visited ACCES (where I worked in 2007/2008) today and will go back tomorrow for tea time to get more info on what has changed etc. It is certainly a real trip to be back in this crazy place!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Mzungu Mogoroki
It honestly feels like I never even left Kenya despite it being 3 years since I've been here. The happiness and joy that I am feeling being back here in a place where I feel so at home is overwhelming. It is so nice to be back. I keep walking around with a dumb smile on my face at all the little absurdities of this country and its people that I had temporarily forgotten about. For instance, the fact that if you are taking a long distance matatu (14 passenger Nissan van that usually holds 25 people and takes Africans everywhere they want to go) they will stop and conduct a "police search" of the passengers, meaning that some lady cop will pat you down and glance in your purse. If there is no lady cop available, they usually ask one of the female passengers to pat down all of her fellow female passengers which is so ridiculous! My goal for while I'm here is to be asked to step in for the lady cop! They use broken glass as paper weights on the street when selling newspapers. To get someone's attention, you hiss at them ("ksssssk"). Everyone shakes hands when they meet. Tea time is all the time. There are so many other little idiosyncrasies that I love about this place-I could go on forever!
My nickname given to me by the kids at the orphanage where I stayed during my first visit 5 years ago and now adopted by my close friend Peter and his family is mogoroki, which is the Kikuyu word for crazy. Everyone else calls me mzungu which means white person in Kiswahili, so pretty much everywhere I go, I am the mzungu mogoroki (crazy white lady).
The past few days have been great, getting back into the swing of things in Kenya. I am staying with Peter and his family in the village (including 2 dogs and 2 puppies which I am clearly obsessed with!)
Nyota has now joined forces with another children's home in the area called Mission in Action which was started in 2004 by a wonderful Australian couple named Ivan and Mary. Nyota will now move into a brand new building at the same site as Mission in Action. I spent some time there yesterday, and it is incredible. It is the best run and most honest and legitimate children's home I've ever seen. Please check out the website and think about donating if you can: http://missioninaction.com.au/
The best part of yesterday though was seeing Joseph, who is another kid who I originally met in 2006 at the children's home. He is the sweetest boy in the world and just one of my favourite kids ever. We had a very tearful goodbye in 2008 when I left Kenya, but since then, with Lynda's help, he moved to Mission in Action and has been doing wonderfully! We both burst into tears when we saw each other yesterday. It was amazing! I gave him a tshirt I got in NZ and have been carrying around with me for a few months and he really liked it. I'm definitely planning on going back to visit him and the rest of the kids there soon.
Today I am heading back to my old stomping grounds in Western Province, Kakamega (the big shit!) to visit with a Canadian friend Susan and see all my friends that I used to work with at ACCES in 2007/2008. I'm not looking forward to the long matatu ride ahead of me, but it will be fun to see all those familiar faces!
It feels great to be back here. I know I said that in India I felt like the worst version of myself. Well here, I feel like the best version of myself. I know I will get super emotional here though, because it brings back a lot of painful memories from when I was here during the civil conflict surrounding the presidential election in 2007/2008 and all the things that I've had to watch these children go through over the years and being unable to fully help. That stuff never stops. Reading the paper the day I got here, there was an article about charging a group of men with crimes against humanity for burning down a church with 60 people inside it in Eldoret while I was living in Kakamega.That was one of the worst things I've ever been through, hearing about that happening so close to where I lived. I don't think the men will end up getting any prison time b/c they are well connected. The corruption here, it never stops. Anyway, gotta look on the bright side of all the good things that are happening, and try and shut out all the ridiculous stuff that is still going on between the 2 warring tribes/political parties.
I will write again after my trip to Kakamega! Tata!
My nickname given to me by the kids at the orphanage where I stayed during my first visit 5 years ago and now adopted by my close friend Peter and his family is mogoroki, which is the Kikuyu word for crazy. Everyone else calls me mzungu which means white person in Kiswahili, so pretty much everywhere I go, I am the mzungu mogoroki (crazy white lady).
The past few days have been great, getting back into the swing of things in Kenya. I am staying with Peter and his family in the village (including 2 dogs and 2 puppies which I am clearly obsessed with!)
(the embroidered wall hanging I bought Peter and Anne in India)
(Rooney, one of the puppies. I love him!)
I was able to meet my friend Tess, who is one of the children who was at the children's home in Kirengero (that home was burnt down on purpose by the crazy man who started it b/c he no longer wanted to take care of the kids...don't get me started on the subject of James Njagaa-ARGGGG!). Tess is now helping the small children at Nyota Children's home which was started by a woman I met 5 years ago named Lynda, a fellow Canadian who has been involved with Kenyan children ever since she came her. Check out the website: http://nyotahome.com/
(Tess outside Nyota)
Nyota has now joined forces with another children's home in the area called Mission in Action which was started in 2004 by a wonderful Australian couple named Ivan and Mary. Nyota will now move into a brand new building at the same site as Mission in Action. I spent some time there yesterday, and it is incredible. It is the best run and most honest and legitimate children's home I've ever seen. Please check out the website and think about donating if you can: http://missioninaction.com.au/
(me and Mary with some of the Mission In Action Kids in front of the brand new home that is almost finished. Joseph is 2nd from right and Tess is 5th from right...can you see me? haha)
The best part of yesterday though was seeing Joseph, who is another kid who I originally met in 2006 at the children's home. He is the sweetest boy in the world and just one of my favourite kids ever. We had a very tearful goodbye in 2008 when I left Kenya, but since then, with Lynda's help, he moved to Mission in Action and has been doing wonderfully! We both burst into tears when we saw each other yesterday. It was amazing! I gave him a tshirt I got in NZ and have been carrying around with me for a few months and he really liked it. I'm definitely planning on going back to visit him and the rest of the kids there soon.
(me and Joseph, in his new tshirt from NZ)
It feels great to be back here. I know I said that in India I felt like the worst version of myself. Well here, I feel like the best version of myself. I know I will get super emotional here though, because it brings back a lot of painful memories from when I was here during the civil conflict surrounding the presidential election in 2007/2008 and all the things that I've had to watch these children go through over the years and being unable to fully help. That stuff never stops. Reading the paper the day I got here, there was an article about charging a group of men with crimes against humanity for burning down a church with 60 people inside it in Eldoret while I was living in Kakamega.That was one of the worst things I've ever been through, hearing about that happening so close to where I lived. I don't think the men will end up getting any prison time b/c they are well connected. The corruption here, it never stops. Anyway, gotta look on the bright side of all the good things that are happening, and try and shut out all the ridiculous stuff that is still going on between the 2 warring tribes/political parties.
I will write again after my trip to Kakamega! Tata!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
From Kerala to Kenya and life in a religious cult.
What a last week it's been! I am happy to report that I am leaving India without absolutely hating it. Yes, its true there have been times where I've hated this country with every fibre in my being, but I'm leaving here satisfied that I really gave it all I got and with the knowledge that I will probably never ever come here again. It certainly has been a real test of strength and not a "holiday" like the Indians like to call it. And I am so happy and relieved that in a matter of hours I will be leaving this sub continent for perhaps an even crazier continent, but hey, the crazy you know is so much easier than the crazy you don't know! I think if I had to do it all over again, I would skip everywhere I went before Nepal (Delhi Agra Varanasi) and either spent that time in northern India or spent more time down south in Kerala.
Kerala is absolutely the most beautiful part of India and seems like an entirely different country. It is so lush and green. It looks nothing like what india looked like in my head before I came here. It prides itself on the fact that it is both the wealthiest and most educated state in the country. I suspect this has something to do with the long legacy of communism over the past 50 odd years (see world, socialism=good). This also means that women have more autonomy and you actually see them out and about working jobs and running for office. This was such a breath of fresh air compared to the male dominated ass backwards situations everywhere else I've been where the absense of women in all realms of society was staggering. Even being back in Mumbai today, which I absolutely love, is just a sea of men. I can't wait to get back to those women run villages of Kenya!
Fort Cochin was a darling little town and probably the most relaxing place I've been here. The people in Kerala are so genuinely friendly and relaxed, not to mention that the food I ate was amazing. I went to this legendary restaurant called Dal Roti and had the best indian meal of my life. I tried going back there twice afterwards but both times it was closed and I now forever have this longing inside of me for that meal again. Sigh.
My second day in Cochin, I went on a backwaters cruise on an old wooden boat which is the thing to do in central Kerala. The backwaters are basically a system of rivers and lakes that run north south in Kerala just in off the coastline. Normally, it's pretty expensive to do and you get sardined into a boat with many other tourists but because of the heat and pending monsoon, it's low tourist season which means that it was cheap and there was only me and one other guy on the boat.
My boat companion was an American guy named Forrest who works in theatre and lives in Brooklyn. We got along swell and it was so nice to have sintilating conversation about north American politics etc (I was still raging over the stuffed sausage being re-elected). Our drive out to the waters from town was rather amusing as we had a lunatic driver who was hillarious. I love it when you can totally bond with someone and laugh hysterically despite not being able to speak a word of each others languages. We stopped at a road side cafe for chai and Forrest and I bought our driver a cup. He then pocketed our change without a second thought. The boat we were on was fantastic. Very old school with two guys paddeling the boat with long smoothed poles Venice gondola style. It was a serene and relaxing day. I don't know the exact meaning of a "bayou" but I feel like this was it. The plant and bird life were really interesting as well. Lotus flowers and Lilly pads, cranes and kingfishers, and tons of spices which reminded me of the amazing spice tour my mum and I went on in Zanzibar. The people living in the area are mostly fishermen but they produce other things as well like rope made from twisted coconut fibre. They also harvest sand which seems kind of insane but apparently fairly lucrative. We had an amazing banana leaf Thali lunch and stuffed ourselves to the gills before finishing our boat trip in some man made canals made for harvesting banana and mango trees.
After Getting back to town, I ran into this handicapped guy I'd seen around town a few times and he asked if I would have dinner with him. His name is machu (he introduces himself as machu pichu) and he spends his time drawing despite his serious dissability of twisted arms and little legs that he can't walk on. It was a bit of a process to go out for dinner with him because he can't walk and has to be lifted in and out of rickshaws, up and down stairs, and on and off of chairs. To be honest, I wasn't totally thrilled about having dinner with him at first (which I now feel totally guilty about) but he turned out to be a really sweet guy with a very kind heart. Last night, my last night in Cochin, I met him again for dinner and he gave me a picture that he drew for me. He's a very nice man and I feel sad for him that he is lonely a lot of the time because of the stigmatization he encounters here.
The day after the backwaters trip I decided to head further south and go to Amma's ashram. Before I left however, I decided to hit up that cafe for another round of French toast and met a nice Canadian guy in the process. So nice to talk to a fellow Canadian! I don't think I've met any in India. Chris lives in toronto and studies Tibetan studies. He was also reading the same book as me-shantaram-which I am obsessed with. Honestly, pick up a copy of this book. You won't regret it. Chris told me an interesting tid bit about indian men that I had actually heard before. Indian men only know 4 types of women: wives, daughters, widows, and prostitutes. When they see western women, they know they don't fit into the first three categories (at least for them) so they slot us into the fourth. Right. I won't go into a diatribe about how retarded this is, even for someone who is uneducated (like why would rich white women fly to India to be hookers??) but at least now you have a sense of what I've been dealing with for the past 7 weeks.
The other thing I had to do before heading to the ashram was get rabies shot number 3-hurrah! Let me tell you, the ernakulum general hospital was an experience and a half. It was probably 40 degrees that day and there were hundreds and hundreds of people lined up outside of these numerous out patient windows for different categories of ailments. Thankfully I got out of there fairly fast.
Now. The ashram. Where to begin? I know a number of people, some of my closest friends really, who have spent extended periods of time in ashrams in India and had really positive experiences. This was not the same as that. This place was certifiably insane. As in, I didn't really know if the people could possibly be serious and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was in one of those spoof episodes that the simpsons or south park does on crazy Mormons and scientologists. This is not to say however that Amma, the hugging mother guru, is not an amazing person, because she absolutely is. She has done so much for India and for humanitarian efforts around the globe. She is really special. But those who consider themselves her devotees are out of their god damned minds.
First if all, the whole place has a terrible vibe. No one smiles and no one seems happy. People aren't outwardly rude (actually some were) but there is this attitude they have that I can't describe in words. They are not normal in any case. There are people there who have been there for over 20 years without leaving and they make that possible for people by having everything you would ever need right there in the ashram. The most disturbing thing was the mothers that were there with their young children. So strange and so illegal in any other country. I actually don't even understand how these women were able to leave their countries with their daughters? The kids should be in school and with other kids. Not surrounded by people in white robes worshipping a guru. The saddest thing I saw was the two young girls dancing alon to the prayer songs. You could tell that part if them just wanted to be kids and dance but the other part so desperately wanted their wacko mothers to approve. If you've seen the documentary Jesus Camp, it was basically a scene straight out of that.
There was one British man in his 50s with his wife who actually believed we, meaning the human race, were from Venus. There were others who walked around hugging a little doll representation of Amma. And the absolute craziest was when Amma came back from being on tour the night before I left. It was honestly like being at a Michael Jackson concert in japan in the 90s. A stampede of people running after her van hoping to get a glimpse if her before she went into her house, and when they didn't see her, they lay down on the dirt where she walked and kissed the ground.
Right.
There is much more buy my fragile brain still hasn't procesed it all so that's the best I can do.
After fleeing the ashram I indulged in a bit of a shallow day back in Cochin. I paid to lie by a hotel pool and tan, I had many a fresh ice tea, and sprung for a hotel room with a tv so I could watch Dexter (my new obsession).
This morning I flew to Mumbai and managed to navigate my way into the city via local bus and train which cost me a total of 16 rupees instead of 500 which is what a taxi cost. I walked around and ate some good indian food before drinking a kingfisher beer at leopolds cafe which is an infamous place in colaba where a lot of my book I'm reading takes place. I managed to make my way back to the airport without too many hitches, although trying to push your way on and off of a ladies only car on the train is a real experience. Indian women don't mess around when it comes to the train. They will push and punch and do whatever it takes to get on and off. Whew.
I'm now waiting at the airport for my 3am flight which is killing me a little bit and am struggling with the wifi which requires you to text and indian mobile from an indian mobile-arg! I've already had a few showdowns with airport employees so I really think it's best if I just get out of here as soon as possible. I'm so excited for Kenya. I can't believe it's been 3 yeas since I was last there. Time flies. I'll write once I'm there and settled. Trying not to obsess too much about Cannes. The brange will be there. Eek. Makes me excited for the TIFF. Tata.
Kerala is absolutely the most beautiful part of India and seems like an entirely different country. It is so lush and green. It looks nothing like what india looked like in my head before I came here. It prides itself on the fact that it is both the wealthiest and most educated state in the country. I suspect this has something to do with the long legacy of communism over the past 50 odd years (see world, socialism=good). This also means that women have more autonomy and you actually see them out and about working jobs and running for office. This was such a breath of fresh air compared to the male dominated ass backwards situations everywhere else I've been where the absense of women in all realms of society was staggering. Even being back in Mumbai today, which I absolutely love, is just a sea of men. I can't wait to get back to those women run villages of Kenya!
Fort Cochin was a darling little town and probably the most relaxing place I've been here. The people in Kerala are so genuinely friendly and relaxed, not to mention that the food I ate was amazing. I went to this legendary restaurant called Dal Roti and had the best indian meal of my life. I tried going back there twice afterwards but both times it was closed and I now forever have this longing inside of me for that meal again. Sigh.
My second day in Cochin, I went on a backwaters cruise on an old wooden boat which is the thing to do in central Kerala. The backwaters are basically a system of rivers and lakes that run north south in Kerala just in off the coastline. Normally, it's pretty expensive to do and you get sardined into a boat with many other tourists but because of the heat and pending monsoon, it's low tourist season which means that it was cheap and there was only me and one other guy on the boat.
My boat companion was an American guy named Forrest who works in theatre and lives in Brooklyn. We got along swell and it was so nice to have sintilating conversation about north American politics etc (I was still raging over the stuffed sausage being re-elected). Our drive out to the waters from town was rather amusing as we had a lunatic driver who was hillarious. I love it when you can totally bond with someone and laugh hysterically despite not being able to speak a word of each others languages. We stopped at a road side cafe for chai and Forrest and I bought our driver a cup. He then pocketed our change without a second thought. The boat we were on was fantastic. Very old school with two guys paddeling the boat with long smoothed poles Venice gondola style. It was a serene and relaxing day. I don't know the exact meaning of a "bayou" but I feel like this was it. The plant and bird life were really interesting as well. Lotus flowers and Lilly pads, cranes and kingfishers, and tons of spices which reminded me of the amazing spice tour my mum and I went on in Zanzibar. The people living in the area are mostly fishermen but they produce other things as well like rope made from twisted coconut fibre. They also harvest sand which seems kind of insane but apparently fairly lucrative. We had an amazing banana leaf Thali lunch and stuffed ourselves to the gills before finishing our boat trip in some man made canals made for harvesting banana and mango trees.
After Getting back to town, I ran into this handicapped guy I'd seen around town a few times and he asked if I would have dinner with him. His name is machu (he introduces himself as machu pichu) and he spends his time drawing despite his serious dissability of twisted arms and little legs that he can't walk on. It was a bit of a process to go out for dinner with him because he can't walk and has to be lifted in and out of rickshaws, up and down stairs, and on and off of chairs. To be honest, I wasn't totally thrilled about having dinner with him at first (which I now feel totally guilty about) but he turned out to be a really sweet guy with a very kind heart. Last night, my last night in Cochin, I met him again for dinner and he gave me a picture that he drew for me. He's a very nice man and I feel sad for him that he is lonely a lot of the time because of the stigmatization he encounters here.
The day after the backwaters trip I decided to head further south and go to Amma's ashram. Before I left however, I decided to hit up that cafe for another round of French toast and met a nice Canadian guy in the process. So nice to talk to a fellow Canadian! I don't think I've met any in India. Chris lives in toronto and studies Tibetan studies. He was also reading the same book as me-shantaram-which I am obsessed with. Honestly, pick up a copy of this book. You won't regret it. Chris told me an interesting tid bit about indian men that I had actually heard before. Indian men only know 4 types of women: wives, daughters, widows, and prostitutes. When they see western women, they know they don't fit into the first three categories (at least for them) so they slot us into the fourth. Right. I won't go into a diatribe about how retarded this is, even for someone who is uneducated (like why would rich white women fly to India to be hookers??) but at least now you have a sense of what I've been dealing with for the past 7 weeks.
The other thing I had to do before heading to the ashram was get rabies shot number 3-hurrah! Let me tell you, the ernakulum general hospital was an experience and a half. It was probably 40 degrees that day and there were hundreds and hundreds of people lined up outside of these numerous out patient windows for different categories of ailments. Thankfully I got out of there fairly fast.
Now. The ashram. Where to begin? I know a number of people, some of my closest friends really, who have spent extended periods of time in ashrams in India and had really positive experiences. This was not the same as that. This place was certifiably insane. As in, I didn't really know if the people could possibly be serious and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was in one of those spoof episodes that the simpsons or south park does on crazy Mormons and scientologists. This is not to say however that Amma, the hugging mother guru, is not an amazing person, because she absolutely is. She has done so much for India and for humanitarian efforts around the globe. She is really special. But those who consider themselves her devotees are out of their god damned minds.
First if all, the whole place has a terrible vibe. No one smiles and no one seems happy. People aren't outwardly rude (actually some were) but there is this attitude they have that I can't describe in words. They are not normal in any case. There are people there who have been there for over 20 years without leaving and they make that possible for people by having everything you would ever need right there in the ashram. The most disturbing thing was the mothers that were there with their young children. So strange and so illegal in any other country. I actually don't even understand how these women were able to leave their countries with their daughters? The kids should be in school and with other kids. Not surrounded by people in white robes worshipping a guru. The saddest thing I saw was the two young girls dancing alon to the prayer songs. You could tell that part if them just wanted to be kids and dance but the other part so desperately wanted their wacko mothers to approve. If you've seen the documentary Jesus Camp, it was basically a scene straight out of that.
There was one British man in his 50s with his wife who actually believed we, meaning the human race, were from Venus. There were others who walked around hugging a little doll representation of Amma. And the absolute craziest was when Amma came back from being on tour the night before I left. It was honestly like being at a Michael Jackson concert in japan in the 90s. A stampede of people running after her van hoping to get a glimpse if her before she went into her house, and when they didn't see her, they lay down on the dirt where she walked and kissed the ground.
Right.
There is much more buy my fragile brain still hasn't procesed it all so that's the best I can do.
After fleeing the ashram I indulged in a bit of a shallow day back in Cochin. I paid to lie by a hotel pool and tan, I had many a fresh ice tea, and sprung for a hotel room with a tv so I could watch Dexter (my new obsession).
This morning I flew to Mumbai and managed to navigate my way into the city via local bus and train which cost me a total of 16 rupees instead of 500 which is what a taxi cost. I walked around and ate some good indian food before drinking a kingfisher beer at leopolds cafe which is an infamous place in colaba where a lot of my book I'm reading takes place. I managed to make my way back to the airport without too many hitches, although trying to push your way on and off of a ladies only car on the train is a real experience. Indian women don't mess around when it comes to the train. They will push and punch and do whatever it takes to get on and off. Whew.
I'm now waiting at the airport for my 3am flight which is killing me a little bit and am struggling with the wifi which requires you to text and indian mobile from an indian mobile-arg! I've already had a few showdowns with airport employees so I really think it's best if I just get out of here as soon as possible. I'm so excited for Kenya. I can't believe it's been 3 yeas since I was last there. Time flies. I'll write once I'm there and settled. Trying not to obsess too much about Cannes. The brange will be there. Eek. Makes me excited for the TIFF. Tata.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
(some) India pictures
Currently back in Cochin after a CRAZY stint at the Ashram. Don't have time to write about it now, but I will tomorrow night at the airport while I wait for my flight to Kenya!!!!!
Until then, for those of you not on facebook, I finally managed to upload pictures from the first half of my India trip. Check them out at the link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.971273987117.2484209.13604583&l=67d74737c9
Tomorrow I'm off to spend my last day in India in Mumbai, probably my favourite place in India.
Until tomorrow, tata...
Until then, for those of you not on facebook, I finally managed to upload pictures from the first half of my India trip. Check them out at the link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.971273987117.2484209.13604583&l=67d74737c9
Tomorrow I'm off to spend my last day in India in Mumbai, probably my favourite place in India.
Until tomorrow, tata...
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
bitten (hand), broken (camera), bummed (heart), and Bangalore
Well. Where to start? I'm not sure if I can comment on the election right now. I'm too angry, depressed and frustrated. So, lets talk about something else shall we?
Unfortunately, I hit some bad luck on my last two days in Goa. While playing with a puppy on the beach, she nipped my hand which just broke the skin and sent me into a panic about dying of rabies (googleing "dog bites India" is so not reassuring!) So, now I'm on a 5 needle rabies shots regimen for the next month which should be rather interesting. Thank god my Mum bought me Travel Insurance. I also, while trying to take a picture of myself with a wicked tan, managed to break my new(ish) camera by dropping it-serves me right for being vain I suppose. Honestly, I have the worst luck in the world when it comes to cameras! I believe this is digital camera number 5. Thankfully though, yesterday while in big city Bangalore, the fine people at Canon got her fixed and ready to shoot again for less than 20 bucks Cdn.
I did watch the royal wedding, 4 hours of it in fact, which made me irrationally happy and sentimental. It sent me into a "I want to get married and be a princess and wear Alexander McQueen" frenzie, but I think I'm over it now (quick: someone propose to me to see). I would just like to say that Kate Middleton's dress (both dresses) were so incredible. I read the details about them on the Royal Wedding website and am just so impressed. Check it out: http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/blog/2011/April/29/The-Wedding-Dress--Bridesmaids--Dresses-and-Pages--Uniforms
Fashion at its best. Pippa Middleton too, such a beauty. Sarah Ferguson's daughter's on the other hand? Ghastly. Proves that Money cannot buy taste! Oh, just one more thing: did you know that Kate did her own makeup? Impressive.
I left Palolem at 5:30am on the back of a motorcycle and took a local train from Canacona to Margao. On the train I met this smug Norwegian guy who had just been traveling in Bhutan and Mongolia which sounded amazing. He was crazy though, bragging about Norway being the most beautiful country in the world and saying that all Asian countries are the same, and luckily when I boarded the other longer train to take me Hospet, we "lost" each other. Taking the train inland through the province of Karnata was amazing. The landscape was incredibly and looked more like NZ than anywhere I'd been in India. I also experienced a few firsts on the train: an accordion player and a group of transvestites. Interesting stuff. Finally arriving in Hospet, I took a rickshaw to Hampi with 2 other single girl travelers: Lula from London and Kasha from Warsaw. We all made quick friends and stayed together at this cute guesthouse across the river for 1 dollar a night.
Hampi is incredible and by far the most beautiful place I've been in India. It feels like a different planet. Sort of like you've stepped onto the set of a Flintstones movie, or an old episode of Star Trek, with huge rock boulders and temple ruins all around. Its amazing. After getting there, I was so sad that I was only spending 1 day and night because it is most definitely the kind of place that you could hang out and relax for a week. While heading across the river to get accommodation, I ran into Goeran, the German guy I stayed with in Mumbai-such a small world!-and we met him later for dinner at the one restaurant open and all watched "The Bodyguard" on HBO (yes, very bizarre). The next morning, after going to a local doctor in a nearby village for my second rabies shot (all the children watched in amazement as he gave me the needle) I went to meet the girls for breakfast and sightseeing. As we were leaving the restaurant, I heard Pres. Obama's voice on a tv in the background and figured if they were showing him on Indian news early in the morning, something major must be happening, and as you all know, it was something major. I think its always so interesting to be in a foreign country when huge international events happen. Reading all about Bin Laden's capture/death in the Indian newspapers yesterday was pretty fascinating. India loves that he was caught in Pakistan because now they feel justified in their opinion that Pakistan harbours terrorists.
Anyway, the sightseeing was great. The main temple we went to had the elephant goddess of fortune named Lakshmi, and if you gave her 2 rupees she would bless you by swiping her trunk over your head. Except, that is, if you're white. Then it cost you 10 rupees! I couldn't believe that they had trained an elephant to be racist! I gave her 3 rupees, but was never blessed! Regardless, we shared a little love and I was happy with that because as I'm sure you know, I LOVE elephants. We also trekked out to some other ruined temples that reminded me a lot of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, very similar set up and structures, although not as old. It was pretty incredible to be wandering the ruins because we were the only people there as it is low tourist season because of the heat and the approaching monsoons.
Later in the day, something heartbreaking happened. I found a little puppy all by herself who was injured. She had something wrong with one of her back legs, I think maybe it had been run over, and had been abandoned by her mother. Obviously, this destroyed me. I tried everything to get this puppy help, but there wasn't much I could do as no one really wanted to help me. I did end up bringing her to a restaurant and gave her a bath and some milk, but then had to leave her where I found her. I almost took her with me on the train to Bangalore, but decided against it. It was heartbreaking. Such a helpless innocent little creature, and there was nothing I could do for her. It's like a lot of India-just nothing you can do to help. I cried and cried when I left her and made this random Indian guy on the road promise me that he would check on her tomorrow. I know there are millions of dogs in India, but this one just got to me. I couldn't bare the thought of her dying. Whew. Deep breath.
I boarded the train in Hospet and arrived in Bangalore, the silicone valley of India, and where the inventor of Hotmail comes from. This is where I found out the election results. Again, no comment, other than, the thought of returning to both Rob "fat fuck" Ford and Stephen "stuffed sausage" Harper makes me want to stay in India, and if you've been reading my blog, you know that I don't exactly love it here.
My cousin David has a friend, Pragati, who lives in Bangalore, so I met up with her and we hung out for the day which was awesome. It is so different navigating a city with an Indian. Pragati is an artist and she is preparing for a show at a gallery in Mumbai. It's too bad that the timing is off, and I won't be here for it! She just got married to her boyfriend of five years and when I asked her about the wedding, she told me they had 950 guests and it lasted for a whole weekend. OMG! Can you imagine greeting 950 people? Wild! I think it would be so fun to attend an Indian wedding. We ended up seeing a movie at the mall, "Source Code" which was actually pretty good, and then went through a "scary house" (ie haunted house) for 40 rupees which was hilarious. I didn't do any sightseeing which was actually fun, because it felt like I was just a normal person for a day, instead of a "tourist."
Last night I took what I think will be my last overnight train in India and am now in Cochin, Kerala, which is the southern most state in India (on the west side). I decided to risk it and ate dinner on the train (curry and chapati) and so far, I'm fine (knock on wood for no more Delhi Belly). I arrived at 5:30am this morning to pouring rain, a sure sign that the monsoons will arrive here soon. I had a bit of a meltdown on the street which I'm not proud of and will not share all the details of. There is something about being overtired in the early morning of this country that turns me into a hissy-fit throwing, crazy lunatic. After a bit of a cry, a very nice rickshaw driver took me to a homestay place for free and I had a much needed nap.
I just had an amazing meal at this little artist's cafe. French toast, iced coffee and fruit, including hands down the best mango I have ever tasted in my life. Un-real. It melted in my mouth. I think I will just walk around for the rest of the day and take in some of the sites. I am staying in Fort Cochin which is a really old area with a mix of different cultures, including an area with a synagogue that they call "Jew town" (awkward much?)
I think tomorrow I will get on a boat and cruise down the famous backwaters and go to an ashram for a few days-lord knows I could use a lifetime of meditation! I am headed back to Mumbai on a flight from Cochin a week from now (fingers crossed that it isn't cancelled b/c Air India pilots are striking, ugh) and will spend my last day in India perhaps taking in a Bollywood film before boarding a plane at 3am to go back to my second home, Kenya. Words cannot describe the excitement I have to touch down in Nairobi, take a cab to Java House for breakfast, and then hop on a matatu (14 passenger Nissan van) for a couple of hours to Nakuru and then finally to the small village of Kirengaro to see my close friend Peter, his family, and some of the children I met almost five years ago now.
I have cancelled my flight to Egypt (decided I don't need to put myself or my mother's nerves through another civil conflict) and am trying to figure out what to do with that extra week. I may stay in Kenya for longer, go to Turkey early, or catch a flight to Venice, Italy and visit my dear friend Anika who I met in NZ. I will keep you all posted. For those of you in Canada, keep your chins up about the sad and pathetic election results. Maybe one day, once I'm a lawyer, I can defeat the whole mess of a system and become Prime Minister? (Mandatory vegetarianism, free post secondary education, sterilization of the masses?) just a thought...
Unfortunately, I hit some bad luck on my last two days in Goa. While playing with a puppy on the beach, she nipped my hand which just broke the skin and sent me into a panic about dying of rabies (googleing "dog bites India" is so not reassuring!) So, now I'm on a 5 needle rabies shots regimen for the next month which should be rather interesting. Thank god my Mum bought me Travel Insurance. I also, while trying to take a picture of myself with a wicked tan, managed to break my new(ish) camera by dropping it-serves me right for being vain I suppose. Honestly, I have the worst luck in the world when it comes to cameras! I believe this is digital camera number 5. Thankfully though, yesterday while in big city Bangalore, the fine people at Canon got her fixed and ready to shoot again for less than 20 bucks Cdn.
I did watch the royal wedding, 4 hours of it in fact, which made me irrationally happy and sentimental. It sent me into a "I want to get married and be a princess and wear Alexander McQueen" frenzie, but I think I'm over it now (quick: someone propose to me to see). I would just like to say that Kate Middleton's dress (both dresses) were so incredible. I read the details about them on the Royal Wedding website and am just so impressed. Check it out: http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/blog/2011/April/29/The-Wedding-Dress--Bridesmaids--Dresses-and-Pages--Uniforms
Fashion at its best. Pippa Middleton too, such a beauty. Sarah Ferguson's daughter's on the other hand? Ghastly. Proves that Money cannot buy taste! Oh, just one more thing: did you know that Kate did her own makeup? Impressive.
I left Palolem at 5:30am on the back of a motorcycle and took a local train from Canacona to Margao. On the train I met this smug Norwegian guy who had just been traveling in Bhutan and Mongolia which sounded amazing. He was crazy though, bragging about Norway being the most beautiful country in the world and saying that all Asian countries are the same, and luckily when I boarded the other longer train to take me Hospet, we "lost" each other. Taking the train inland through the province of Karnata was amazing. The landscape was incredibly and looked more like NZ than anywhere I'd been in India. I also experienced a few firsts on the train: an accordion player and a group of transvestites. Interesting stuff. Finally arriving in Hospet, I took a rickshaw to Hampi with 2 other single girl travelers: Lula from London and Kasha from Warsaw. We all made quick friends and stayed together at this cute guesthouse across the river for 1 dollar a night.
Hampi is incredible and by far the most beautiful place I've been in India. It feels like a different planet. Sort of like you've stepped onto the set of a Flintstones movie, or an old episode of Star Trek, with huge rock boulders and temple ruins all around. Its amazing. After getting there, I was so sad that I was only spending 1 day and night because it is most definitely the kind of place that you could hang out and relax for a week. While heading across the river to get accommodation, I ran into Goeran, the German guy I stayed with in Mumbai-such a small world!-and we met him later for dinner at the one restaurant open and all watched "The Bodyguard" on HBO (yes, very bizarre). The next morning, after going to a local doctor in a nearby village for my second rabies shot (all the children watched in amazement as he gave me the needle) I went to meet the girls for breakfast and sightseeing. As we were leaving the restaurant, I heard Pres. Obama's voice on a tv in the background and figured if they were showing him on Indian news early in the morning, something major must be happening, and as you all know, it was something major. I think its always so interesting to be in a foreign country when huge international events happen. Reading all about Bin Laden's capture/death in the Indian newspapers yesterday was pretty fascinating. India loves that he was caught in Pakistan because now they feel justified in their opinion that Pakistan harbours terrorists.
Anyway, the sightseeing was great. The main temple we went to had the elephant goddess of fortune named Lakshmi, and if you gave her 2 rupees she would bless you by swiping her trunk over your head. Except, that is, if you're white. Then it cost you 10 rupees! I couldn't believe that they had trained an elephant to be racist! I gave her 3 rupees, but was never blessed! Regardless, we shared a little love and I was happy with that because as I'm sure you know, I LOVE elephants. We also trekked out to some other ruined temples that reminded me a lot of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, very similar set up and structures, although not as old. It was pretty incredible to be wandering the ruins because we were the only people there as it is low tourist season because of the heat and the approaching monsoons.
Later in the day, something heartbreaking happened. I found a little puppy all by herself who was injured. She had something wrong with one of her back legs, I think maybe it had been run over, and had been abandoned by her mother. Obviously, this destroyed me. I tried everything to get this puppy help, but there wasn't much I could do as no one really wanted to help me. I did end up bringing her to a restaurant and gave her a bath and some milk, but then had to leave her where I found her. I almost took her with me on the train to Bangalore, but decided against it. It was heartbreaking. Such a helpless innocent little creature, and there was nothing I could do for her. It's like a lot of India-just nothing you can do to help. I cried and cried when I left her and made this random Indian guy on the road promise me that he would check on her tomorrow. I know there are millions of dogs in India, but this one just got to me. I couldn't bare the thought of her dying. Whew. Deep breath.
I boarded the train in Hospet and arrived in Bangalore, the silicone valley of India, and where the inventor of Hotmail comes from. This is where I found out the election results. Again, no comment, other than, the thought of returning to both Rob "fat fuck" Ford and Stephen "stuffed sausage" Harper makes me want to stay in India, and if you've been reading my blog, you know that I don't exactly love it here.
My cousin David has a friend, Pragati, who lives in Bangalore, so I met up with her and we hung out for the day which was awesome. It is so different navigating a city with an Indian. Pragati is an artist and she is preparing for a show at a gallery in Mumbai. It's too bad that the timing is off, and I won't be here for it! She just got married to her boyfriend of five years and when I asked her about the wedding, she told me they had 950 guests and it lasted for a whole weekend. OMG! Can you imagine greeting 950 people? Wild! I think it would be so fun to attend an Indian wedding. We ended up seeing a movie at the mall, "Source Code" which was actually pretty good, and then went through a "scary house" (ie haunted house) for 40 rupees which was hilarious. I didn't do any sightseeing which was actually fun, because it felt like I was just a normal person for a day, instead of a "tourist."
Last night I took what I think will be my last overnight train in India and am now in Cochin, Kerala, which is the southern most state in India (on the west side). I decided to risk it and ate dinner on the train (curry and chapati) and so far, I'm fine (knock on wood for no more Delhi Belly). I arrived at 5:30am this morning to pouring rain, a sure sign that the monsoons will arrive here soon. I had a bit of a meltdown on the street which I'm not proud of and will not share all the details of. There is something about being overtired in the early morning of this country that turns me into a hissy-fit throwing, crazy lunatic. After a bit of a cry, a very nice rickshaw driver took me to a homestay place for free and I had a much needed nap.
I just had an amazing meal at this little artist's cafe. French toast, iced coffee and fruit, including hands down the best mango I have ever tasted in my life. Un-real. It melted in my mouth. I think I will just walk around for the rest of the day and take in some of the sites. I am staying in Fort Cochin which is a really old area with a mix of different cultures, including an area with a synagogue that they call "Jew town" (awkward much?)
I think tomorrow I will get on a boat and cruise down the famous backwaters and go to an ashram for a few days-lord knows I could use a lifetime of meditation! I am headed back to Mumbai on a flight from Cochin a week from now (fingers crossed that it isn't cancelled b/c Air India pilots are striking, ugh) and will spend my last day in India perhaps taking in a Bollywood film before boarding a plane at 3am to go back to my second home, Kenya. Words cannot describe the excitement I have to touch down in Nairobi, take a cab to Java House for breakfast, and then hop on a matatu (14 passenger Nissan van) for a couple of hours to Nakuru and then finally to the small village of Kirengaro to see my close friend Peter, his family, and some of the children I met almost five years ago now.
I have cancelled my flight to Egypt (decided I don't need to put myself or my mother's nerves through another civil conflict) and am trying to figure out what to do with that extra week. I may stay in Kenya for longer, go to Turkey early, or catch a flight to Venice, Italy and visit my dear friend Anika who I met in NZ. I will keep you all posted. For those of you in Canada, keep your chins up about the sad and pathetic election results. Maybe one day, once I'm a lawyer, I can defeat the whole mess of a system and become Prime Minister? (Mandatory vegetarianism, free post secondary education, sterilization of the masses?) just a thought...
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