Happy Birthday to Me!

I am having a wonderful 28th birthday! I've been hanging out with Cate and I swear we were friends in a past life. It's like seeing an old friend after a few years. We just have a lot to catch up on. She is studying and working here to build peace in situations of religious conflict. I went to a Women's Lucky Jewelry meeting, a Muslim and Hindu handicraft business that creates and sells beautiful pearl jewelry. Cate is helping them create and grow their business through microfinancing. (If you're in Atlanta and interested in purchasing some of their jewelry, let me know.) It was so wonderful to meet the dedicated women and see how far they have come. Then Cate and I went to the lake to see the largest free-standing Buddha statue. Cate took me out to Paradise, where the Prime Minister eats when he comes to Hyderabad, and gave me my own pearl necklace and earrings. They are gorgeous! And this morning I had a piece of chocolate birthday cake:) My birthday has been filled with wonderful friendship, inspiration from women entrepeneurs, good Indian food, and jewelry. It's been a great way to start a new year!

Om

I enrolled in a 10 day vipassana meditation course in Hyderabad not know quite what to expect. There was no talking, no reading, no writing, not even any looking at anyone. And that was the easy part! The hard part was sitting on a cushion over 10 hours a day trying to tame the mind. My legs were killing me. Check out this schedule:
4:00 a.m. Wake up!
4:30-6:30 Meditate (2 hours)
6:30-8:00 Breakfast and break (When you're taking a morning nap at 7:15, you know things can't be good.)
8:00-11:00 Meditate (3 hours)
11:00-1:00 Lunch and break
1:00-5:00 Meditate (4 hours)
5:00-6:00 Snack and break (Notice how there's not any dinner.)
6:00-9:00 Meditate (3 hours)
9:00 Bedtime
It was grueling. And as if meditating 12 hours a day wasn't enough, they told to meditate even during the breaks, as we were walking, as we were washing clothes, as we were eating. Even the moments of comedic relief couldn't be shared. There were the loudest burps and farts coming from the men's side of the meditation hall. It would be completely silently (except for the woodpecker outside), and then someone would just let it rip. I wanted to bust out laughing and wished someone I knew was there to hear it too. Then there was the night a bird pooped on my head. I swear the bird had diarhhea. I busted out laughing on the inside, but on the outside I just quietly went to the bathroom to wash it off. There were no tissues, napkins, toilet paper, or paper cups. Not a single paper product for 10 days. Being there I realized how much paper we use in the US.
There were plenty of times I thought about leaving. My roommate left on day 7. I'm glad I stuck it out. At the end of it, I was sooooo happy. Not because I felt all peaceful inside but because I could talk and didn't have to meditate anymore. In fact, I wasn't sure at that point if I ever wanted to meditate again! But I have and I do feel much calmer and relaxed having finished the course.

Happy Valentine's to All

I arrived in Hyderabad on Valentines Day. I met up with Cate, a friend of a friend, who made me feel right at home. We shared a lovely evening eating dinner at Subway and watching Beowolf in 3D at the Imax. It was quite an experience. I hope you all had a happy, happy v-day!

Milk Snakes and Hello to the Quin

I left Goa to head to the hills. I met my new best friend, Stuart, on the way and we were pretty much inseperable the entire time. We spent our days

• being in pictures with locals and telling kids over and over again where we were from and what our good names were


• staying cool by eating Hello to the Quin (ice cream with cookie crumbs, chocolate syrup, and banana...yummy)


• climbing over massive boulders


• bike riding from temple to temple


• taking loads and loads of videos and pictures


• admiring Lakshmi the holy elephant be bathed, be made up with make-up, & give blessings


• getting lost and roaming around with the goats desparately trying to find a way to cross the river


• watching cows roam through the trash


• plotting how Stuart can drive a tuc-tuc back in England


• and drinking tea and enjoying big meals at Raju's Rooftop Restaurant.

It was such a relaxing week and it actually rained, the first rain I've seen in India! Last but not least I took my first yoga course which was the whole reason I came to India.

Carnaval Indian Style

At the dinner party on Friday night, I met a man who could not understand how I could not have a plan. He graciously called his friend living in Goa and asked him to make arrangements for me. I didn't realize Goa was such a popular destination for Carnaval. After an overnight train (perhaps the best sleep I've gotten in India so far), I landed in a house with a pool. It's beautiful! I don't know how I lucked out. I also arrived just in time for the last Carnaval parade. It was quite a scene, but I must say the crowd was really tame, not even heads were nodding to the beat.

Bombay

Mumbai is completely crazy with the traffic, tons of people, noise, smells, and colors but it's also very fun. I toured around Elephant Island on Friday and met a sweet British couple traveling for 6 weeks for their honeymoon. That night I hopped on another boat for a dinner and dance party with Kiran and her husband and friend. The food was delish, and it was fun to watch everyone try to balance themselves on the boat and dance at the same time.

The next day I joined a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, Phil, for some more site-seeing. I probably would have suggested walking around the city and a museum but he suggested seeing some caves and hiking to a fort in a small town 2 hours outside Mumbai. We went with that. It was definitely adventure, and I'd say we were more the attraction than anything else. There were groups of kids on field trips at the caves. They all wanted to take pictures with us. It was really cute. The caves were cool too. I can't tell you how the fort was because we never made it. Phil used to lead outdoor expeditions, so we opted for making our own trail up to the fort rather than following the road. Although it was a blast trailblazing up the mountain, we had to turn around to catch the last train back to Mumbai, well what the book said was the last train back to Mumbai.

Then Sunday was a day of extremes. First Phil and I went on a tour of a slum. It was tough but so interesting. The people who live there are such hardworkers. They recycle plastic, sew clothes, make laptop bags, make pottery, and bake bread for minimal wages (a dollar or two a day). A family may make $1200 a year. We saw their homes and went through the windy, crowded alley ways between houses. We visited one home for at least 5 people. It was about 6 feet by 20 feet. There was only room for a counter to cook, a dresser and some floor space to sleep, but it was so colorful, tidy and inviting. The money we paid for the tour went to support a center for children that teaches English. They have 50 students enrolled and 80 on the waiting list.

After the Reality Tour, I went to the see-and-be-seen Indian Dirby, like the Kentucky Dirby of India. I went with friends of friends from the states who are living in Bombay. I had a blast and it was so fun to have a peek in to the expat life. I only saw two sun hats but people were decked out. The weather was perfect which actually allowed for a good view of the city. Tomorrow I'm off to Goa, I think!