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!  

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!

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!)

(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)

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!

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.           

(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...

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...