In the last 3 days I've received generous donations from:
Jeremy Garcia
Allen Woo
Aldo & Lillian Jamorol
Candie Miron
Kitchie Samson
Dianne & Sean Seupersad
Charlene Matilla
My total so far in CDN funds is $288.50
I'm still hoping for more and am glad to receive whatever amount you can spare. I truly appreciate it, I honestly do. I also really appreciate those of you who have emailed me and just said "good job Dean!". That as well is a nice pick me up and also really means a lot to me. Its so nice to know that I have friends that are actually proud of me and supporting me in spirit.
In the last couple of days...
Papparazzi
Laura (the English girl who raised money from England) and I were at the local market close to the orphanage, picking up food for the kids. As we were about to leave we saw a camera crew filming a little Cambodian girl. Turned out that they were from England doing a story about a young girl with HIV and whose mother has died from AIDS. Cliff Richards (some famous singer from England) was also part of the story and was sitting close by in a van. The second we inquired about it, we both got that lightbulb in our heads of "please give the orphanage some media exposure as well!". We tried but of course was denied. However we did get a phone number of a man in Phnom Penh who works at an organization that might be able to help us out.
Afterwards, Cliff Richards came out of the van and was walking along the market with the small child. Laura hid in one of the stalls and took pictures of this semi-large icon. She was all giddy and excited.
On our Moto drive back we discussed that we should have pleaded and begged for them to help us somehow, put a twist on the story and have the little girl meet other orphaned children or something to that effect. We quickly went to the orphanage, dropped off the food and grabbed 2 of the cutest kids to go with us back to the market. What have we got to lose?
I kept thinking of what I'd say to them, I'd cry and plea if I had to. The second we got there, I saw them all standing, getting ready to leave. We got off our bikes with the kids embraced between our arms and....
I sheepishly said "We're on a desperate plea..." then I lost all my guts. Laura as well, wasn't as agressive as I thought she would be either. The man just kept saying, "we'd like to help but we can't". I totally understand, but I guess it was worth a shot. There was another person though, that was part of their entourage, that gave us a contact of a close by clinic that would also maybe to help us out with free treatment for the kids. It wasn't all in vain.
Long-term
We discovered by a foreigner that lives here and teaches enlgish, that the orphanage used to be run by this other man that sexually abused the kids for 2 years. He is now in jail. This teacher and her network of other English teachers have also offered to put in a bit of help and will go to the orphanage on a periodic basis to check to see if everything is doing ok. This gives me a bit of ease. It will be a steady eye on the orphans on a long term basis.
The other night the kids came to a guesthouse close by to where all us volunteers live. We were all watching them like proud parents, sitting in the front row. There's about 9 of them that do the traditional Khmer dancing, in order to earn money for the corrupt owner (we hope that the children see a bit of the money). Its amazing how well these kids looked in their clean costumes, combed hair and clean faces. In reality, only 1.5hrs prior they had old, torn, dirty clothes, raggedy hair and smudged faces. When the children were leaving, it was our turn to see them off and run down the street yelling "goodbye, goodbye, see you tomorrow, goodbye!!".
Poor Nee
Yesterday, I was one of the first volunteers to get to the orphanage. I actually went a littler earlier than normal. Upon arrival they all pointed to Nee (we have no idea how to spell the kids'names), who was on the bed (if you can call a wooden table a bed), with a high, high fever! Oh poor little guy, he's normally one of the rambuncious ones. I quickly did all that I was capable of and grabbed some cold water and a towel to help him cool down. Luckily 5 minutes later, Marie, a new volunteer and also a nurse, arrived with the medical supplies. Geez, if she didn't arrive, I probably would have brought him to the hospital, that's how hot he was. By the end of the day, he was a little cooler and at least sitting up and drinking some water. Today, he was moving around and feeling much better, but as we left I guess he threw up and had some diarhhea. Fortunatley, Michael (the Dr. who's been helping out for the last 10 days) was there and able to treat him before going home. Right now, I'm worried about him and will pray that when I get there tomorrow he's well.
Friday, January 30, 2004
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
This one's for the kids... (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Hello everyone,
I hope what I'm about to request isn't too far fetched for all of you. As stated in my last email, I've been volunteering for the "lighthouse organization" for the last 4 days. I've now planned to stay for about another 9 or 10 more days just so I can help out. I think that I've fallen in love with them, it doesn't take long.
A bit of history of this place...
- it was founded about 3 years ago
- it's run by this rich couple who don't really care about the kids, they just care about exploiting them and make a bit of money off of them, by doing children's concerts where the kids dance.
- The owners offered a homeless family to live there and take care of the now 28 kids in exchange for a salary. They haven't been paid once.
- Not many volunteers go there that often.
- only 7 out of the 28 kids are able to go to school, due to lack of uniforms
- none of them speak any english
- their clothes are old and ratty
- they only have a tiny, tiny little house (if you can call it that), about 7mX8m big, that has one room for all the kids to sleep in. The family and their infant child sleep on a wooden bed outside, underneath the house.
- they don't have a regular supply of drinking water
- they barely make it by with just rice each day and a few green vegetables that they've planted in the field.
- their teeth are rotting
In the past week....
- volunteers have come and put a lot of effort into this place.
- a doctor from England overheard a couple of the volunteers talking one night and has now been going to the orphanage every day since, he's been treating all the kids one at a time.
- about 7 or 8 of the kids have gotten their rotten teeth pulled out by a dentist
- us volunteers (Especially one named Laura, who's raised lots of money back home) have been buying food each day and giving them proper meals.
- myself and this Israeli guy found a water warehouse that is now going to deliver 3 large jugs of drinking water each day to the orphanage for the next month.
- we've gotten some english books, paper, crayons, etc for the kids to learn
- we're helping out with the cooking and hopefully soon the laundry
- we get to play and run around with the children all day long and make them SMILE and LAUGH! (To put this down in words, is literally bringing tears to my eyes)
- Now, 6 days after the doctor's been there, he's not so busy looking at ill patients all day. This means that their health is already improving!!! 6 days!
- The mother and father, who at first were very unhappy and didn't pay much attention to the orphans other than their own 3 kids are happy and showing affection to the other kids.
So now here comes your part. (I'm going to sound like Allen Thicke or Alex Trebeck on a Sunday morning Infomercial). Right now, we're off to a great start with these children that might actually have a chance of surviving in this 3rd world country. However, us volunteers are all travellers and cannot live here for the rest of our lives, nor can we keep buying food for them on a daily basis.
The one thing that we can hopefully carry on is getting new recruits, other travellers we meet in our journeys to volunteer as well. We hope that this word of mouth spreads quickly and doesn't die down in the monsoon season when the travellers start to become very sparse.
One of our jobs as volunteers is this.... to ask our friends and family to give some kind of donation. Money is one of the easiest things and probably one of the most useful things that can be given. The average income per year here in Cambodia is $286 US dollars!!!! Can you imagine that? Things are relatively cheap here, but not when there's 28 children to feed that don't have any money at all. Laura, the girl I spoke of earlier, was able to raise $900 in a matter of 2 weeks, it was all sent to her via internet banking and money wiring. Wow!!! We may think that this is lots of money, but the reality is that it's not a whole heck of a lot in the long run.
So, if you can even spare like $5.00 or $10.00 (even more if you'd like), please... Bring It On! If you have internet banking, all you need to do is provide my email adress and I'll receive it quickly. (Use the password ''LIGHTHOUSE", all capital letters) Don't worry about your money going astray, I'll make sure that the money is not given to the owners of the orphanage and that useful food or clothes are bought. Perhaps, you can even take up a donation plate at your work. C'mon you Chapters people, pull through for me on this one! Please remember that I'm only here for about 8 more days so this action needs to be quick. If I didn't have to catch a flight to Australia I'd stay longer.
Also, we've set up a P.O. box adress here for other types of donations to be sent. I'll email it off in a couple of days.
I appologize for asking you all for money, but it breaks my heart to think that these beautiful, beautiful kids will suffer. If only you could feel the love that they have. Normally when we leave for the day, the kids will always take about 5 or 10 minutes to say goodbye and they all want a hug or high-five or a kiss. Today, they all ran up to the gate of the house and baracaded it so we couldn't leave! (Again, I'm tearing) Or the last couple of days I've been working closely with 16 year old Chum-run with his English. You should see his face light up when he's able to pronouce a word correctly or he remembers a word I taught him. Its absolutley priceless.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all in advance for your kindness!!!
Dean.
I hope what I'm about to request isn't too far fetched for all of you. As stated in my last email, I've been volunteering for the "lighthouse organization" for the last 4 days. I've now planned to stay for about another 9 or 10 more days just so I can help out. I think that I've fallen in love with them, it doesn't take long.
A bit of history of this place...
- it was founded about 3 years ago
- it's run by this rich couple who don't really care about the kids, they just care about exploiting them and make a bit of money off of them, by doing children's concerts where the kids dance.
- The owners offered a homeless family to live there and take care of the now 28 kids in exchange for a salary. They haven't been paid once.
- Not many volunteers go there that often.
- only 7 out of the 28 kids are able to go to school, due to lack of uniforms
- none of them speak any english
- their clothes are old and ratty
- they only have a tiny, tiny little house (if you can call it that), about 7mX8m big, that has one room for all the kids to sleep in. The family and their infant child sleep on a wooden bed outside, underneath the house.
- they don't have a regular supply of drinking water
- they barely make it by with just rice each day and a few green vegetables that they've planted in the field.
- their teeth are rotting
In the past week....
- volunteers have come and put a lot of effort into this place.
- a doctor from England overheard a couple of the volunteers talking one night and has now been going to the orphanage every day since, he's been treating all the kids one at a time.
- about 7 or 8 of the kids have gotten their rotten teeth pulled out by a dentist
- us volunteers (Especially one named Laura, who's raised lots of money back home) have been buying food each day and giving them proper meals.
- myself and this Israeli guy found a water warehouse that is now going to deliver 3 large jugs of drinking water each day to the orphanage for the next month.
- we've gotten some english books, paper, crayons, etc for the kids to learn
- we're helping out with the cooking and hopefully soon the laundry
- we get to play and run around with the children all day long and make them SMILE and LAUGH! (To put this down in words, is literally bringing tears to my eyes)
- Now, 6 days after the doctor's been there, he's not so busy looking at ill patients all day. This means that their health is already improving!!! 6 days!
- The mother and father, who at first were very unhappy and didn't pay much attention to the orphans other than their own 3 kids are happy and showing affection to the other kids.
So now here comes your part. (I'm going to sound like Allen Thicke or Alex Trebeck on a Sunday morning Infomercial). Right now, we're off to a great start with these children that might actually have a chance of surviving in this 3rd world country. However, us volunteers are all travellers and cannot live here for the rest of our lives, nor can we keep buying food for them on a daily basis.
The one thing that we can hopefully carry on is getting new recruits, other travellers we meet in our journeys to volunteer as well. We hope that this word of mouth spreads quickly and doesn't die down in the monsoon season when the travellers start to become very sparse.
One of our jobs as volunteers is this.... to ask our friends and family to give some kind of donation. Money is one of the easiest things and probably one of the most useful things that can be given. The average income per year here in Cambodia is $286 US dollars!!!! Can you imagine that? Things are relatively cheap here, but not when there's 28 children to feed that don't have any money at all. Laura, the girl I spoke of earlier, was able to raise $900 in a matter of 2 weeks, it was all sent to her via internet banking and money wiring. Wow!!! We may think that this is lots of money, but the reality is that it's not a whole heck of a lot in the long run.
So, if you can even spare like $5.00 or $10.00 (even more if you'd like), please... Bring It On! If you have internet banking, all you need to do is provide my email adress and I'll receive it quickly. (Use the password ''LIGHTHOUSE", all capital letters) Don't worry about your money going astray, I'll make sure that the money is not given to the owners of the orphanage and that useful food or clothes are bought. Perhaps, you can even take up a donation plate at your work. C'mon you Chapters people, pull through for me on this one! Please remember that I'm only here for about 8 more days so this action needs to be quick. If I didn't have to catch a flight to Australia I'd stay longer.
Also, we've set up a P.O. box adress here for other types of donations to be sent. I'll email it off in a couple of days.
I appologize for asking you all for money, but it breaks my heart to think that these beautiful, beautiful kids will suffer. If only you could feel the love that they have. Normally when we leave for the day, the kids will always take about 5 or 10 minutes to say goodbye and they all want a hug or high-five or a kiss. Today, they all ran up to the gate of the house and baracaded it so we couldn't leave! (Again, I'm tearing) Or the last couple of days I've been working closely with 16 year old Chum-run with his English. You should see his face light up when he's able to pronouce a word correctly or he remembers a word I taught him. Its absolutley priceless.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all in advance for your kindness!!!
Dean.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Happy New Year! (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
More Filippinos!
Last night was a treat, I actually got to eat Filippino food at this Filippino restuarant! Ren, Nicklas and I were set out to see the town, we looked on our little handy map and found "Bamboo Fine Dining Filippino Restaurant". I ate Chicken Adobo, which is one of my favorite dishes. I was scared to get some horrible meal that didn't resemble anything like my Mother's cooking. This restaurant gave it justice, thank God. Ren and Nicklas had 'Lechon' which is basically fried pork with a lot of the skin still attached, I tried it and it was good as well. For desert we had some Leche Flan, similar to Creme Carmel. Yummy!
During our meal, there was a table of about 6 or 7 Pinoys sitting around and talking, it was cool to hear Tagalog being spoken in Cambodia, not to mention their loud, roaring laughs and cackles that Filippino women are infamous for. In the background they played traditional Filippino music. A lot of it I actually recognized from my days of doing cultural dances, including the "Pandango sa ilaw" and "Picking rice is never fun".
Afterwards, we were able to talk to one of the ladies and she told us about being Filippino in Cambodia. It turns out that there's about 1000 or so Flips living in Phnom Penh. She talked to us for a while and gave us some advice of what to do and see in Phnom Penh, including some bars to go to after dinner. I asked them if I could take their "litrato" (picture) and they all acted very bashful and shy about it, as most Filippinos normally do, but of course I took one anyway.
New Year's Eve
From Jan 22- 25th is the celebration of Chinese New Year. So the 3 of us went out to find a cool bar to hang out at. We ended up going to a couple different places and were able to do a bit of drinking and dancing. The first place was called "The Dark Room"or something which turned out to be a gay bar, that's the second one that Ren and I have stumbled upon. We stayed a while but didn't really enjoy the music so we sought out for this popular Martini bar, according to the bible... I mean Lonely Planet. That place was full of young Cambodian woman entertaining dirty old caucasion men. Gross. On our map there's actually an ad that says "Sex with Minors is a crime!", I know what they're referring to now. We stayed there for a while and danced a bit to the ok house music and finally left around 2am.
I was hoping that we'd hear a little more excitment about the New Year ringing in at midnight, but I only had a few Cambodians come up to me and give me the old phrase "Happy New Year!". Good enough I guess.
Tough Day
I think our night out on the town was well deserved. During the day, the 3 of us and 2 Aussi's went to tour the Kiling Fields and the S-21 Prison. These are 2 of the many, many places where Cambodians were tortured and murdered during the Khmer Rouge Reign. Its so disturbing to stand in front of thousands of skulls and bones that have been dug out of these large mass graves. You walk along and see a whole in the ground that's only like 6 square meters and realize that that's where hundreds of bodies were buried only 25-28 years ago. At the prison you can see the pictures of all the Cambodians that were so called 'prisoners' there, everyone from babies, young children, women and men that were not allowed to speak to each other, let alone spend time with their own family memebers. Then you see their chambers, a tiny little room about 1m by 2m in size, made out of brick with a chain in the wall for the ankle. Then there's the interrogation rooms with all these different torturing devices that were used. The more I went on my heart cried more for these innocent victims. God Bless their souls. Did you know that approx. 2 million, close to 20 percent of the Cambodian population were all killed during the Khmer Rouge period? That's a lot of people to be killed for nothing, just because they did not want to join the revolution basically. Not only were they killed, but they were tortured and beaten to death, bullets were not wasted on them. Below is a couple songs, one by Tevin Campbell and one by Stevie Wonder (sorry don't know the writers) and a prayer for the Cambodians who died...
Someday at Christmas
Someday at Christmas men won't be boys
Playing with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free
Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on earth
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmas time
Someday at Christmas we'll see a land
with no hungry children, no empty hands
One happy morning people will share
a world where people care
Someday at Christmas there'll be no tears
All men are equal and no man has fears
One shining moment, one prayer away
From our world today
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmas time
Someday at Christmas man will not fail
hate would be gone and love will prevail
Someday a new world that we can start
With hope in every heart
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmas time
Someday at Christmas time
One Song
If we all sing one song
One song of love
One song of peace
One song to make all our troubles cease
One hymn, one theme, one hope, one dream
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing one song
If we all learn the words
Just think how great the song would be
And since the song is in freedom's key
One voice you'd hear, so pure, so clear
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing one song
There's just one sun that warms our day
The same moon and stars light our way
This little ball whirling in space
It's our only home, our only place
If we all sing one song
One song of love
One song of peace
One song to make all our troubles cease
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing one song
If we all sing one song
One song of love
One song of peace
One song to make all our troubles cease
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
Just imagine what tomorrow would bring
Just imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing
If we all sing
One Song!
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tuae, Jesus.
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Ora pro nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria
Amen.
Last night was a treat, I actually got to eat Filippino food at this Filippino restuarant! Ren, Nicklas and I were set out to see the town, we looked on our little handy map and found "Bamboo Fine Dining Filippino Restaurant". I ate Chicken Adobo, which is one of my favorite dishes. I was scared to get some horrible meal that didn't resemble anything like my Mother's cooking. This restaurant gave it justice, thank God. Ren and Nicklas had 'Lechon' which is basically fried pork with a lot of the skin still attached, I tried it and it was good as well. For desert we had some Leche Flan, similar to Creme Carmel. Yummy!
During our meal, there was a table of about 6 or 7 Pinoys sitting around and talking, it was cool to hear Tagalog being spoken in Cambodia, not to mention their loud, roaring laughs and cackles that Filippino women are infamous for. In the background they played traditional Filippino music. A lot of it I actually recognized from my days of doing cultural dances, including the "Pandango sa ilaw" and "Picking rice is never fun".
Afterwards, we were able to talk to one of the ladies and she told us about being Filippino in Cambodia. It turns out that there's about 1000 or so Flips living in Phnom Penh. She talked to us for a while and gave us some advice of what to do and see in Phnom Penh, including some bars to go to after dinner. I asked them if I could take their "litrato" (picture) and they all acted very bashful and shy about it, as most Filippinos normally do, but of course I took one anyway.
New Year's Eve
From Jan 22- 25th is the celebration of Chinese New Year. So the 3 of us went out to find a cool bar to hang out at. We ended up going to a couple different places and were able to do a bit of drinking and dancing. The first place was called "The Dark Room"or something which turned out to be a gay bar, that's the second one that Ren and I have stumbled upon. We stayed a while but didn't really enjoy the music so we sought out for this popular Martini bar, according to the bible... I mean Lonely Planet. That place was full of young Cambodian woman entertaining dirty old caucasion men. Gross. On our map there's actually an ad that says "Sex with Minors is a crime!", I know what they're referring to now. We stayed there for a while and danced a bit to the ok house music and finally left around 2am.
I was hoping that we'd hear a little more excitment about the New Year ringing in at midnight, but I only had a few Cambodians come up to me and give me the old phrase "Happy New Year!". Good enough I guess.
Tough Day
I think our night out on the town was well deserved. During the day, the 3 of us and 2 Aussi's went to tour the Kiling Fields and the S-21 Prison. These are 2 of the many, many places where Cambodians were tortured and murdered during the Khmer Rouge Reign. Its so disturbing to stand in front of thousands of skulls and bones that have been dug out of these large mass graves. You walk along and see a whole in the ground that's only like 6 square meters and realize that that's where hundreds of bodies were buried only 25-28 years ago. At the prison you can see the pictures of all the Cambodians that were so called 'prisoners' there, everyone from babies, young children, women and men that were not allowed to speak to each other, let alone spend time with their own family memebers. Then you see their chambers, a tiny little room about 1m by 2m in size, made out of brick with a chain in the wall for the ankle. Then there's the interrogation rooms with all these different torturing devices that were used. The more I went on my heart cried more for these innocent victims. God Bless their souls. Did you know that approx. 2 million, close to 20 percent of the Cambodian population were all killed during the Khmer Rouge period? That's a lot of people to be killed for nothing, just because they did not want to join the revolution basically. Not only were they killed, but they were tortured and beaten to death, bullets were not wasted on them. Below is a couple songs, one by Tevin Campbell and one by Stevie Wonder (sorry don't know the writers) and a prayer for the Cambodians who died...
Someday at Christmas
Someday at Christmas men won't be boys
Playing with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free
Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on earth
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmas time
Someday at Christmas we'll see a land
with no hungry children, no empty hands
One happy morning people will share
a world where people care
Someday at Christmas there'll be no tears
All men are equal and no man has fears
One shining moment, one prayer away
From our world today
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmas time
Someday at Christmas man will not fail
hate would be gone and love will prevail
Someday a new world that we can start
With hope in every heart
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmas time
Someday at Christmas time
One Song
If we all sing one song
One song of love
One song of peace
One song to make all our troubles cease
One hymn, one theme, one hope, one dream
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing one song
If we all learn the words
Just think how great the song would be
And since the song is in freedom's key
One voice you'd hear, so pure, so clear
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing one song
There's just one sun that warms our day
The same moon and stars light our way
This little ball whirling in space
It's our only home, our only place
If we all sing one song
One song of love
One song of peace
One song to make all our troubles cease
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing one song
If we all sing one song
One song of love
One song of peace
One song to make all our troubles cease
Imagine what tomorrow would bring
Just imagine what tomorrow would bring
Just imagine what tomorrow would bring
If we all sing
If we all sing
One Song!
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tuae, Jesus.
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Ora pro nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria
Amen.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
What? (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
I just arrived here in Phnom Pehn, the capital of Cambodia. I took a boat from Siem Reap in order to avoid the bumpy roads. It was like triple the amount of money ($25 USD). We had to leave our guesthouse at 6am and were driven through a really poor neighborhood, where the people live in really small huts along the dirt road. I didn't even see it that bad in India. The boat was packed! The seats in the cabin were all full and so everyone else, which was like 2.5 times the amount of people inside, had to sit on the top of the boat, where there's no seats and the area was a rounded surface. It was an okay ride though. I'd like to say that I was on the Mekong river, but it wasn't, it was just a branch of it.
Current Currencies
I find it kind of expensive here, just because most of the places charge you in US dollars. Their own currency is called ''Riel" and its all in the thousands. On top of their own currency they all accept Thailand's "Baht". Sometimes you'll pay in usd and get a few us dollars back and then some riel as well. Or pay in baht and get only us dollars back. It gets really confusing after a while, trying to make 3 different conversions in your head, ensuring you're getting the correct change back. I think that some places also have a different exchange rate than other businesses and you get ripped off a little.
"Please buy from me?"
There's a lot of little kids that run around and try to sell you things. Lots of them don't go to school because they're too poor and just make a living from tourists'money. Supposedly.
Lots of them are really, really cute. Many Cambodians look a lot like Filippinos, so to me they resemble like little cousins or something. You gotta feel sorry for them, but of course you cannot give everyone money. Generally the way that it works is the second they see a bus or taxi full of tourists arrive, they run up and all start asking your name and your home country. They all know the capitals of different countries, impressive. Then they try and sell you some bracelets, postcards, scarves or books about Cambodia. It doesn't matter how many times you say no, they'll keep hassling you, but they're very nice about it... mostly.
There was this one girl that was trying to sell a book "The Killing Fields" for only 80 baht. Its a really good deal, but I just didn't want it, she even went down to 60 baht. I told her that she should try and ask some of the other people in our bus, but she was reluctant. I told her that I'd try for her, so I went around with the book raised above my head saying "80 baht for the killing fields, its a good deal, only 80 baht!" Surely, this one girl Sunny from Norway was interested and I brought over the little girl and she ended up paying the 80 baht for it. As we were leaving, the girl ran around and knocked on my window. She was so happy and grateful, she was like jumping up and down! It was nice to help her out. Once a bookseller, always a bookseller.... geez, I hope not.
At Angkor Wat, I ended up buying these postcards from these 2 little boys, all the girls ended up saying that I wasn't fair because I should have bought from 1 boy and 1 girl. They all ended up saying that I only like boys... ironic.
Another Wonder
I'm proud to say that I've now seen 2 wonders of the world in the last 3 months, including the Taj Mahal and now Angkor Wat. I'm not going to talk much about it, because its one of those things you should see for yourself.
I went one night to see the sunset and the next morning for the sunrise at 5:30am. Spectacular. I didn't know much about the whole city of old, ruined temples, but we (Ren, Nicklas and I) got a guide to explain some things. A lot of it goes back to the Hindu religion. There were so many little things that had a symbolic meaning, it was good to have "superman" (as the guide so called himself).
By the end of the day, after being in the 30+ heat, I was quite tired! Some people will spend 3 days exploring many of the temples, its possible to spend weeks there and not see them all. I only went to the major ones and felt satisfied, they all start to look the same after a while. All in all, its quite amazing to see these gigantic old Wats, still standing after 900 or so years.
Seeing Hands
Yesterday, I treated myself to a massage, by a blind person! There's actually quite a few different parlors in Siem Reap, all with blind maseusses. It was really relaxing, I'm glad that I went.
In the last few days, I've seen a lot of limbless women, men and children. A lot of them become beggars, but a lot of them learn some kind of trait. There are lots of re-hab centers within the city and many of them have prosthetic limbs. I don't know why there are so many blind people though, the limbless ones are from walking on the many landmines still leftover in the country. I don't understand why its up to the Cambodians to clean up the mess that the Americans left behind so many years ago?
Old Friends
Last night I was quite happy to meet up with my Austrian friend Marlene. If you remember, we traveled together from Singapore all the way up to Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. She's now at the end of her 11month trip and will be home in about 2 weeks. We arranged to meet in Siem Reap, unfortunatley we only got to spend the one night together.
It was nice to see a familiar face, someone who already knew my history and my personality. Often you spend a lot of time with other travellers trying to get to know each other. We were able to tell each other stories of our travels in the last 2 months and reminicse about our own travels together and laugh about some of our mishaps that we had.
Have a safe journey home Marlene! Cheers to ya!
Current Currencies
I find it kind of expensive here, just because most of the places charge you in US dollars. Their own currency is called ''Riel" and its all in the thousands. On top of their own currency they all accept Thailand's "Baht". Sometimes you'll pay in usd and get a few us dollars back and then some riel as well. Or pay in baht and get only us dollars back. It gets really confusing after a while, trying to make 3 different conversions in your head, ensuring you're getting the correct change back. I think that some places also have a different exchange rate than other businesses and you get ripped off a little.
"Please buy from me?"
There's a lot of little kids that run around and try to sell you things. Lots of them don't go to school because they're too poor and just make a living from tourists'money. Supposedly.
Lots of them are really, really cute. Many Cambodians look a lot like Filippinos, so to me they resemble like little cousins or something. You gotta feel sorry for them, but of course you cannot give everyone money. Generally the way that it works is the second they see a bus or taxi full of tourists arrive, they run up and all start asking your name and your home country. They all know the capitals of different countries, impressive. Then they try and sell you some bracelets, postcards, scarves or books about Cambodia. It doesn't matter how many times you say no, they'll keep hassling you, but they're very nice about it... mostly.
There was this one girl that was trying to sell a book "The Killing Fields" for only 80 baht. Its a really good deal, but I just didn't want it, she even went down to 60 baht. I told her that she should try and ask some of the other people in our bus, but she was reluctant. I told her that I'd try for her, so I went around with the book raised above my head saying "80 baht for the killing fields, its a good deal, only 80 baht!" Surely, this one girl Sunny from Norway was interested and I brought over the little girl and she ended up paying the 80 baht for it. As we were leaving, the girl ran around and knocked on my window. She was so happy and grateful, she was like jumping up and down! It was nice to help her out. Once a bookseller, always a bookseller.... geez, I hope not.
At Angkor Wat, I ended up buying these postcards from these 2 little boys, all the girls ended up saying that I wasn't fair because I should have bought from 1 boy and 1 girl. They all ended up saying that I only like boys... ironic.
Another Wonder
I'm proud to say that I've now seen 2 wonders of the world in the last 3 months, including the Taj Mahal and now Angkor Wat. I'm not going to talk much about it, because its one of those things you should see for yourself.
I went one night to see the sunset and the next morning for the sunrise at 5:30am. Spectacular. I didn't know much about the whole city of old, ruined temples, but we (Ren, Nicklas and I) got a guide to explain some things. A lot of it goes back to the Hindu religion. There were so many little things that had a symbolic meaning, it was good to have "superman" (as the guide so called himself).
By the end of the day, after being in the 30+ heat, I was quite tired! Some people will spend 3 days exploring many of the temples, its possible to spend weeks there and not see them all. I only went to the major ones and felt satisfied, they all start to look the same after a while. All in all, its quite amazing to see these gigantic old Wats, still standing after 900 or so years.
Seeing Hands
Yesterday, I treated myself to a massage, by a blind person! There's actually quite a few different parlors in Siem Reap, all with blind maseusses. It was really relaxing, I'm glad that I went.
In the last few days, I've seen a lot of limbless women, men and children. A lot of them become beggars, but a lot of them learn some kind of trait. There are lots of re-hab centers within the city and many of them have prosthetic limbs. I don't know why there are so many blind people though, the limbless ones are from walking on the many landmines still leftover in the country. I don't understand why its up to the Cambodians to clean up the mess that the Americans left behind so many years ago?
Old Friends
Last night I was quite happy to meet up with my Austrian friend Marlene. If you remember, we traveled together from Singapore all the way up to Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. She's now at the end of her 11month trip and will be home in about 2 weeks. We arranged to meet in Siem Reap, unfortunatley we only got to spend the one night together.
It was nice to see a familiar face, someone who already knew my history and my personality. Often you spend a lot of time with other travellers trying to get to know each other. We were able to tell each other stories of our travels in the last 2 months and reminicse about our own travels together and laugh about some of our mishaps that we had.
Have a safe journey home Marlene! Cheers to ya!
Friday, January 16, 2004
"PULLOVER, NOW!" (Siem Reap, Cambodia)
Well after a few days of rest and errands to be done in Bangkok I'm now here in Cambodia. It was nice to just hang out in Bangkok and feel at home, although I've only been there one time previous for 2 days, it was somewhere familiar to me.
Pinoys
The first night I got to Bangkok, I was at the "Hello Internet Cafe" and heard a girl speaking to the workers there. I thought I spotted a Filippino accent in her, low and behold it was! She's an actual Filippino, born and raised in Manila, name Janneth Bautista. Not only that, but she's a backpacker! Now that's the unusual part, ín the 3 months I've been gone, I've seen a Filippino (Pinoy or Flip) family/group of friends in Ayuthhaya, Thailand on vacation. I also met and hung out with Teresita, the Flip/American girl from New Orleans.
She's been in Bangkok now for a while and has made a lot of Thai friends. I think that she gets along better with the Asians than with the western tourists. Understandable. We hung out for a couple days and she helped me do some shopping and bargaining for me. We also tried to converse in Tagalog (Filippino language), she was yearning to speak her mother tongue, to someone, anyone. Unfortunatley, as my Mother always reminds me, my Tagalog is worthless, if not worse! She referred to me as not really being Filippino, not a real Pinoy. Just joking of course... kinda. She couldn't stop laughing at my choppy sentances that I tried to produce and would have to correct me.
Hmm... I can't wait to go to the actual Philippines in September and become a clown for everyone there! She says when I go that I can just talk English and no one will laugh at me... yeah right. We'll see about that.
Anyway, yesterday night we were in a book shop and this guy comes up to me and asks if I'm Filippino. I, being the ignorant fool that I am, thought that he worked at the book store! Ooops. I got that the other day too, as I was standing around at this internet cafe and someone asked how much it cost and which computer could they use. Duh... do I look Thai?? Well, I guess I do. So anyway, it turned out that this guy too was Filippino!! His name is Ren Saligumba, he lived in the Philippines till the age of 17 and moved to Toronto, he's now 29. He doesn't have an accent at all. Hopefully he'll be joining me here in Cambodia tomorrow and we can hang out and travel together for a bit.
So the 3 of us all hung out together for a while. Janneth and Ren were able to speak together in Tagalog as I listened and tried to put my 2 cents in. Of course they laughed... again. Ren's tagalog though is quite rusty for he's been away from home for 15 months travelling through Asia. Janneth also insisted that he is not a true Pinoy. Ren begged to differ.
Close Call
So, last night the 3 of us and Pin, a Thai friend of Janneth's, all went down to Pot Pong, the red light district and watched a boring Thai Girl show. Afterwards we ended up at this gay bar and had a drink. The gay scene in Bangkok is acutally quite big, its obviously quite different than Malaysia and India. A nice change. Last night though was pretty dead on this one strip we were on.
Anyway, afterwards I was able to make it back to my guesthouse right at 2am, the time of my curfew. If I'd been any later, I'd have been locked out until 5am, when the gate re-opens. A curfew, how annoying!
Its a good thing though that I was forced to come home, I had to wake up at 6am and get picked up by a bus to go to Cambodia at 7am. Earlier in the day I had emptied my backpack and used it to transport some stuff to the post office to send home a parcel. (2-3 months oversea/land)
I slept through my alarm, or it just didn't work. I luckily woke up at 6:54am! For a second I was convinced that I should forget about trying to catch my ride and go back to bed and re-book another ride for the next day. But then I said 'what the hell, why not at least try!'. I literally stuffed my backpack in about 3 minutes, wet my face, urinate, hand in my room key and made it outside by 7:06am. I had about 3 minutes waiting time until they arrived. It was enough time for me to brush my teeth on the side of the road. Wow! That was close!
Edmontonian... Bastard!
My ride was supposed to be a fancy 'micro bus' holds 38 people. Of course it wasn't, it ended up being a mini-bus or in my terms... a van. It held 12 people. I guess it was okay, a tiny bit cramped, but coming from India, no problem. Anyway, there was this obnoxious guy from Edmonton in the bus and he ended up having two different tantrums today. That's right, two! (For those of you who don't know, Edmonton is a city within my province 3 hours north of my city, beautiful Calgary). By the way, coincidently there was also a girl in the bus who lives in Calgary. Wow, 3 Canadians that all live in Alberta!
Anyway, at one point during the ride, the guy needed to pee. About 15-20 minutes before he'd asked the driver if there was going to be any stops soon and he had said yes. But he was willing to pull over so that he could pee on the side of the road if he wanted to. The guy (let's call him Bastard) said to keep driving. So anyway, out of no where, he was like "Pullover... pullover now! Stop the bus... stop it right here! Just pullover... right now!!! Smiling Cunt, doesn't even acknowledge me... Hey! I need you to stop the bus, PULLOVER..... NOW!!!! I SAID NOW!!!! FUCKING PULLOVER!!!" I don't know what the driver was thinking, but who cares, Bastard was being a... well a bastard! The driver started to slow down, but he knew there was a gas station really close by. He was aiming for the station. Bastard couldn't wait, there was his friend beside him that was by the door, he was telling him to open the door so that he could jump out. But his friend wouldn't open the door, because the bus was still moving, Bastard was getting really angry. Finally we pulled into the parking lot and he was like "PULL RIGHT UP TO THE DOOR, I'VE GOTTA PISS DUDE. FUCKING DUDE, I'VE GOTTA PISS, PULL UP TO THE DOOR!!! FUCK!" The driver stopped about 25 meters or so from the door. Good for him. Bastard had to run out with his legs tightly sqeezed together as he tried to make to the bathroom. Unfortunatley... he made it in time! It would have been a good laugh for us if Bastard would have peed his pants.
Later on, we were at this rest stop. To make a long story short, Bastard wasn't really going to Cambodia, he just wanted to extend his Thailand Visa and needed to cross the border. He got very impatient and started freaking out and slamming his hand on the table and swearing and saying that its taking way too long. "What the fuck are we still waiting here for!?! Let's get the fuck out of here, I don't have all fucking day dude!"
Shut up!
Bumpy Ride
So I've heard the roads are bad in Cambodia, but wow, they're really bad. Imagine driving down a road and not realizing there's a speedbump ahead and you drive over it really quickly. Now, imagine doing it over and over for about 8 hours! Try sleeping at the back of the bus, after only getting 4 hours of sleep the previous night. Try doing it when its about 30 degrees celcius outside and weak a/c. Not to mention the 3 previous hours to get from Bangkok to the Cambodian border. From now on, I intend to ride along the Mekong River to get from city to city. Plus that way, I'm sure I won't hit any landmines in the water! Ok, I'm exxagerating about being landmines on the roads that I was on, but I have to keep you entertained somehow.
Pinoys
The first night I got to Bangkok, I was at the "Hello Internet Cafe" and heard a girl speaking to the workers there. I thought I spotted a Filippino accent in her, low and behold it was! She's an actual Filippino, born and raised in Manila, name Janneth Bautista. Not only that, but she's a backpacker! Now that's the unusual part, ín the 3 months I've been gone, I've seen a Filippino (Pinoy or Flip) family/group of friends in Ayuthhaya, Thailand on vacation. I also met and hung out with Teresita, the Flip/American girl from New Orleans.
She's been in Bangkok now for a while and has made a lot of Thai friends. I think that she gets along better with the Asians than with the western tourists. Understandable. We hung out for a couple days and she helped me do some shopping and bargaining for me. We also tried to converse in Tagalog (Filippino language), she was yearning to speak her mother tongue, to someone, anyone. Unfortunatley, as my Mother always reminds me, my Tagalog is worthless, if not worse! She referred to me as not really being Filippino, not a real Pinoy. Just joking of course... kinda. She couldn't stop laughing at my choppy sentances that I tried to produce and would have to correct me.
Hmm... I can't wait to go to the actual Philippines in September and become a clown for everyone there! She says when I go that I can just talk English and no one will laugh at me... yeah right. We'll see about that.
Anyway, yesterday night we were in a book shop and this guy comes up to me and asks if I'm Filippino. I, being the ignorant fool that I am, thought that he worked at the book store! Ooops. I got that the other day too, as I was standing around at this internet cafe and someone asked how much it cost and which computer could they use. Duh... do I look Thai?? Well, I guess I do. So anyway, it turned out that this guy too was Filippino!! His name is Ren Saligumba, he lived in the Philippines till the age of 17 and moved to Toronto, he's now 29. He doesn't have an accent at all. Hopefully he'll be joining me here in Cambodia tomorrow and we can hang out and travel together for a bit.
So the 3 of us all hung out together for a while. Janneth and Ren were able to speak together in Tagalog as I listened and tried to put my 2 cents in. Of course they laughed... again. Ren's tagalog though is quite rusty for he's been away from home for 15 months travelling through Asia. Janneth also insisted that he is not a true Pinoy. Ren begged to differ.
Close Call
So, last night the 3 of us and Pin, a Thai friend of Janneth's, all went down to Pot Pong, the red light district and watched a boring Thai Girl show. Afterwards we ended up at this gay bar and had a drink. The gay scene in Bangkok is acutally quite big, its obviously quite different than Malaysia and India. A nice change. Last night though was pretty dead on this one strip we were on.
Anyway, afterwards I was able to make it back to my guesthouse right at 2am, the time of my curfew. If I'd been any later, I'd have been locked out until 5am, when the gate re-opens. A curfew, how annoying!
Its a good thing though that I was forced to come home, I had to wake up at 6am and get picked up by a bus to go to Cambodia at 7am. Earlier in the day I had emptied my backpack and used it to transport some stuff to the post office to send home a parcel. (2-3 months oversea/land)
I slept through my alarm, or it just didn't work. I luckily woke up at 6:54am! For a second I was convinced that I should forget about trying to catch my ride and go back to bed and re-book another ride for the next day. But then I said 'what the hell, why not at least try!'. I literally stuffed my backpack in about 3 minutes, wet my face, urinate, hand in my room key and made it outside by 7:06am. I had about 3 minutes waiting time until they arrived. It was enough time for me to brush my teeth on the side of the road. Wow! That was close!
Edmontonian... Bastard!
My ride was supposed to be a fancy 'micro bus' holds 38 people. Of course it wasn't, it ended up being a mini-bus or in my terms... a van. It held 12 people. I guess it was okay, a tiny bit cramped, but coming from India, no problem. Anyway, there was this obnoxious guy from Edmonton in the bus and he ended up having two different tantrums today. That's right, two! (For those of you who don't know, Edmonton is a city within my province 3 hours north of my city, beautiful Calgary). By the way, coincidently there was also a girl in the bus who lives in Calgary. Wow, 3 Canadians that all live in Alberta!
Anyway, at one point during the ride, the guy needed to pee. About 15-20 minutes before he'd asked the driver if there was going to be any stops soon and he had said yes. But he was willing to pull over so that he could pee on the side of the road if he wanted to. The guy (let's call him Bastard) said to keep driving. So anyway, out of no where, he was like "Pullover... pullover now! Stop the bus... stop it right here! Just pullover... right now!!! Smiling Cunt, doesn't even acknowledge me... Hey! I need you to stop the bus, PULLOVER..... NOW!!!! I SAID NOW!!!! FUCKING PULLOVER!!!" I don't know what the driver was thinking, but who cares, Bastard was being a... well a bastard! The driver started to slow down, but he knew there was a gas station really close by. He was aiming for the station. Bastard couldn't wait, there was his friend beside him that was by the door, he was telling him to open the door so that he could jump out. But his friend wouldn't open the door, because the bus was still moving, Bastard was getting really angry. Finally we pulled into the parking lot and he was like "PULL RIGHT UP TO THE DOOR, I'VE GOTTA PISS DUDE. FUCKING DUDE, I'VE GOTTA PISS, PULL UP TO THE DOOR!!! FUCK!" The driver stopped about 25 meters or so from the door. Good for him. Bastard had to run out with his legs tightly sqeezed together as he tried to make to the bathroom. Unfortunatley... he made it in time! It would have been a good laugh for us if Bastard would have peed his pants.
Later on, we were at this rest stop. To make a long story short, Bastard wasn't really going to Cambodia, he just wanted to extend his Thailand Visa and needed to cross the border. He got very impatient and started freaking out and slamming his hand on the table and swearing and saying that its taking way too long. "What the fuck are we still waiting here for!?! Let's get the fuck out of here, I don't have all fucking day dude!"
Shut up!
Bumpy Ride
So I've heard the roads are bad in Cambodia, but wow, they're really bad. Imagine driving down a road and not realizing there's a speedbump ahead and you drive over it really quickly. Now, imagine doing it over and over for about 8 hours! Try sleeping at the back of the bus, after only getting 4 hours of sleep the previous night. Try doing it when its about 30 degrees celcius outside and weak a/c. Not to mention the 3 previous hours to get from Bangkok to the Cambodian border. From now on, I intend to ride along the Mekong River to get from city to city. Plus that way, I'm sure I won't hit any landmines in the water! Ok, I'm exxagerating about being landmines on the roads that I was on, but I have to keep you entertained somehow.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Ode to India
I'm sad to say that this morning was my last day in the wonderful land called India. I'm now in Bangkok and I feel a bit of culture shock. I miss India in a weird sort of way. I am making a vow to one day return to India, it may not be until I'm 40 or older, but one day. Next time I plan to stay longer and volunteer for a while and see all the cities that I have not yet been blessed to see.
Below is a summary based on my own experiences that I've had in the last 2 months. By no means is it a true and factual description of India. I'm sure that for many of these things I write about there is a rhyme and reason to it all. Unfortunatley most of the Indians I've met here are in the Tourist, Restaurant, or Hotel Industry and they do not always represent the whole of Indian people or culture. Forgive my poetry skills!
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Indian Himalayas
to the dunes of the Thar desert
and the beaches on the Arabian sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
A land where the air is polluted,
and black boogers are the end result
Where cows are truly 'holy cows',
that produce 'holy shit!',
which, in turn become a means of fueling a fire,
to cook a meal on the street.
There is nothing holy about stepping in it!
India, a land where the cities are filled with NOISE
where bumper stickers on most vehicles read,
"'please sound horn!"
Crossing the street is a game of risk
that you always seem to win.
Though a bus may seem full,
to them it is not,
only once there's no more standing room,
let along breathing room,
is it considered full.
But yet, there's always more room
for at least 5 more and their baggage.
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Himalayas
to the dunes of the desert
and the beaches on the sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
A holy land is India
With Hindus a many
Ganesh, Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Hanuman
These are a few names of their many gods
Walk a long a street and you'll find
statued shrines decorated,
with marigolds and incense a plenty.
Sadhus walk the streets,
they pray all day,
and will eat all night
and beg for rupees along the way.
Where marriage means an arrangement
divorces a rarity.
children a plenty,
and mistresses are many!
Death as sad as it is,
women are not often at the funeral pyres
where bodies are cremated and
spread into a channel of the Ganges river.
Please reincarnate them into a higher caste,
in their next life.
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Himalayas
to the dunes of the desert
and the beaches on the sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
India, country full of languages
Hindi, regretfully to some, the international dialect
Lots will prefer to speak broken English.
Same, same.
No problem!
Your problem!
Possible
Not possible
Please come
Hello Madame!
Yes?
'Have a nice day'....
oops... I mean 'Namaste'
India, a land where body language is often enough,
where moving one's head side to side
is a gesture for 'yes' and 'thank-you'
Prayer hands are often a
'heartfelt greeting' or a genuine 'thank-you'
especially since thank-you's in any form
are not common at all.
A push is not a crime,
its an 'excuse me'
a brush against your butt,
or a hand rested on your leg,
is not a come on,
its being comfortable in a tight space
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Indian Himalayas
to the dunes of the Thar desert
and the beaches on the Arabian sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
A country where, for men to hold hands is okay,
but a huge rarity to be gay!
Where men take holidays with only other men
and women and men are hardly seen together.
Coolies (porters) walk the streets
with large and heavy items on their heads.
Gandhi's name is a street in each city and
his face graces us on each rupee note
Rickshaw drivers are always scandalous
and local children ask for 'one pen'.
A land where the electricity will
cut out at any given moment.
And the garbage bin is the street
and its the responsibility of one or two
old woman with short brooms to sweep it up.
Fires light the streets,
as smell of old rubbish and burnt plastic fill your nostrils
Where peeing and spitting or hoarking
on the walls is a normal sight to see.
Staining the walls with red betel juice
or leaving the scent of urine.
A country where day old
newspapers are a treasure
hand/foot towels,
napkins
bed sheets to sleep on the floor
disposable plates
wrappers for takeaway food
Indians know how to use their resources.
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Indian Himalayas
to the dunes of the Thar desert
and the beaches on the Arabian sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
Below is a summary based on my own experiences that I've had in the last 2 months. By no means is it a true and factual description of India. I'm sure that for many of these things I write about there is a rhyme and reason to it all. Unfortunatley most of the Indians I've met here are in the Tourist, Restaurant, or Hotel Industry and they do not always represent the whole of Indian people or culture. Forgive my poetry skills!
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Indian Himalayas
to the dunes of the Thar desert
and the beaches on the Arabian sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
A land where the air is polluted,
and black boogers are the end result
Where cows are truly 'holy cows',
that produce 'holy shit!',
which, in turn become a means of fueling a fire,
to cook a meal on the street.
There is nothing holy about stepping in it!
India, a land where the cities are filled with NOISE
where bumper stickers on most vehicles read,
"'please sound horn!"
Crossing the street is a game of risk
that you always seem to win.
Though a bus may seem full,
to them it is not,
only once there's no more standing room,
let along breathing room,
is it considered full.
But yet, there's always more room
for at least 5 more and their baggage.
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Himalayas
to the dunes of the desert
and the beaches on the sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
A holy land is India
With Hindus a many
Ganesh, Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Hanuman
These are a few names of their many gods
Walk a long a street and you'll find
statued shrines decorated,
with marigolds and incense a plenty.
Sadhus walk the streets,
they pray all day,
and will eat all night
and beg for rupees along the way.
Where marriage means an arrangement
divorces a rarity.
children a plenty,
and mistresses are many!
Death as sad as it is,
women are not often at the funeral pyres
where bodies are cremated and
spread into a channel of the Ganges river.
Please reincarnate them into a higher caste,
in their next life.
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Himalayas
to the dunes of the desert
and the beaches on the sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
India, country full of languages
Hindi, regretfully to some, the international dialect
Lots will prefer to speak broken English.
Same, same.
No problem!
Your problem!
Possible
Not possible
Please come
Hello Madame!
Yes?
'Have a nice day'....
oops... I mean 'Namaste'
India, a land where body language is often enough,
where moving one's head side to side
is a gesture for 'yes' and 'thank-you'
Prayer hands are often a
'heartfelt greeting' or a genuine 'thank-you'
especially since thank-you's in any form
are not common at all.
A push is not a crime,
its an 'excuse me'
a brush against your butt,
or a hand rested on your leg,
is not a come on,
its being comfortable in a tight space
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Indian Himalayas
to the dunes of the Thar desert
and the beaches on the Arabian sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
A country where, for men to hold hands is okay,
but a huge rarity to be gay!
Where men take holidays with only other men
and women and men are hardly seen together.
Coolies (porters) walk the streets
with large and heavy items on their heads.
Gandhi's name is a street in each city and
his face graces us on each rupee note
Rickshaw drivers are always scandalous
and local children ask for 'one pen'.
A land where the electricity will
cut out at any given moment.
And the garbage bin is the street
and its the responsibility of one or two
old woman with short brooms to sweep it up.
Fires light the streets,
as smell of old rubbish and burnt plastic fill your nostrils
Where peeing and spitting or hoarking
on the walls is a normal sight to see.
Staining the walls with red betel juice
or leaving the scent of urine.
A country where day old
newspapers are a treasure
hand/foot towels,
napkins
bed sheets to sleep on the floor
disposable plates
wrappers for takeaway food
Indians know how to use their resources.
Oh India!
Land of women in coloful sarees
and men in long longhis
From the Indian Himalayas
to the dunes of the Thar desert
and the beaches on the Arabian sea,
I thank the Hindu gods,
for sharing India with me.
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Western Flicks (Calcutta, India)
Welcome back Kotter
Well, I'm now back in Calcutta after...
- 1 6hr train ride from Bangalore to Chennai
- 1 6 hr stop over Chennai
- 1 32 hr train ride from Chennai to Calcutta
- 4 hrs of staring blankly at a wall
- 2 groups of Coolies (porters) praying, eating and preparing for a day's work
- many police officers passing me by with their rifles (I don't like guns)
- 6 samosas
- 1 veg sandwich
- 3 bottles of water
- 8 bananas
- one rice, veg and dahl dinner
- one packet of cashew biscuits
- one packet of 'good day fruit cake'
- one kit kat (a well deserved break indeed)
- 2 packs of this 'hot mix' (like trail mix, kinda)
- one Indian sweet dessert
- one chai tea
- the completion of my 80 page abridged Gandhi autobiography
- many chapters read in my "City of Joy" novel
- 6 Indians who could hardly speak english, trying to communicate with me
- 4 eyedrops into the eyes of this one man who wore sunglasses
- 1 water run for this old lady who was too scared to jump out of the train at a 5 min stop and do it herself
- 1 closing of the windows for the same lady, who just couldn't do it herself
- 5+ hrs listening to my discman
- 2 upper berth seatings
- 1 cold night
- a whole lot of sleeping!!!
- hours of watching the country side of India pass me by
- lots of self reflection
Its good to be back to a place where I've already been, a sense of familiarity. I feel more street wise and... tougher! I don't think that Calcutta's as scary as it was when I had first arrived here 2 months ago. Also, I think that its different now that I'm not walking down the streets with 2 white girls. No offence to Emilie and Melissa, but the matter of fact is that they brought a lot of attention to us. Consider it a compliment!
Bangalore
I just came from a city called Bangalore, its the 5th biggest city in India. I have tried to avoid all the major cities other than Calcutta, but I'd heard that Bangalore was really different and westernized. Well, that's correct. I was actually quite impressed with the city. The city's pretty well off because it's main industry is the computer world. Its really high tech there I guess and a lot of major companies reside there.
There was actually some organization to this place. The roads had lanes, like actual white and yellow lines on the street, that the drivers stayed within! There was even a meridian that seperated the traffic into 2 directions. A lot of the rickshaw drivers complained about it, saying that its a big hassle and that I should pay more because they have to go down one way roads. Luckily for me, they are forced to use the meters by the gov't, now there's a concept. However it was still really expensive, after 9pm the charge is an extra 50% of the meter rate.
I had a bunch of rickshaw drivers refuse to take me to the train station because it was all one ways and that it was really chaotic, they knew that the fare would only be RS10 because of the short distance, but insisted I pay RS20 for the hassle. I fought with them (they always team up on you) but no one would take me. I walked down the road a bit to see if anyone else would and I got quoted even hire rates and all refused to use the meter. I had no other choice but to go with the RS20. After the ride to the station, I understood why, it was pretty hellish to get there. I think the rickshaw drivers in Bangalore were actually nicer and a little more honest. I tipped one of them and he was a little surprised by it. I also offered another one of them my clientele if he only waited for me like 10 min, but he said, "that's okay, there's lots of other drivers here to take you." Normally they'd fight for your business, but it must be different in Bangalore.
I must admit that the whole place wasn't 100% organized. I went to the "City Market" and I honestly think that it was pure and utter chaos. This has got to be the most chaotic place I've been to in all of India. I couldn't stand being there, I only stayed for about 30 min and then I had to leave. This however, is actually how I imagined all of India to be like, fortunatley my misconception was merley just that.
Mahatma Gandhi
After a failed attempt at seeing the Gandhi Ashram, due to my tired state during my 5 hour stopover in Ahmedebad last month; I was able to suffice with a Gandhi Picture Gallery in Bangalore. I'm sure that going to an actual ashram that Gandhi had actually started and lived in would have been a greater experience, but when you're tired and light headed there's not much you can do. Oh well.
Inside the "Gandhi Bhavan" were lots of old framed pictures of him when he was young and old. As well, there were plaques all along the walls with Gandhi quotations. In the center of the room was a display of all these old letters (I'm sure lots of them were photocopies) written by Gandhi himself and by some of his colleagues and friends.
It was a really cool place to see, I don't know all that much about Gandhi, other than watching the Ben Kingsley movie titled... "Gandhi". Its a pity that this bhavan wasn't visited more regularly by tourists, my guide book said that you may have to wake up the attendant in the next room to unlock the untouristed gallery. I signed a guestbook there and browsed through it, there were hardly any entries.
In order for me to learn a little more about Gandhi, I bought a book a little book for RS 5, which is like 14 cents! As mentioned above I read it on my train ride. The ironic thing I learned while reading it, is that Gandhi hates the fact that he's an icon and that people have shrines and glorify him as "Mahatma". In almost every city/town I've been in there's a "M.G. road" aka "Mahatma Gandhi road". And oh yeah, his face is on every Rupee note. The bills are actually pretty cool because there's Gandhi's face on one side and the other end is blank, but if you hold it up to the light, his face appears. Its like magic! I guess that all heroes don't like to be classified as such.
Beverly Hills 9021INDIA
Speaking of MG Road, this is the place to be in Bangalore. All the cool and rich people hang out here, including Indian tourists and teen-aged locals. There's lots of high end shops like United Colors of Benneton, Samsung, Dockers, etc. As well, there was great food that I hadn't eaten in a long time, such as Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. To me it was like a paradise away from the India I've seen. I keep saying that and I guess I should just realize how diverse India really is. Who's to say what a typical India should be like?
Needless to say, that after being in India for close to 2 months, I'm getting a little sick of the food and the sight seeing of temples and such. Each day I came back to MG road and ate the yummy foods that remind me of home and shoppped in actual malls/arcades and retail stores. It was nice to walk into the stores and have a security counter where they take your backpack and store it for you. To them its a security feature, to me its a load off my back. Most places even had a guard to open the door for you and greet you.
The one thing that I can't stand about shopping in India, no matter where I've been, are the attendants who come up to you and assist/follow you the whole time you're there. They always start off with "Yes?". Yes what? I'd like to just say "No." one of these days and see what their response is. I've only been in the store for like 5 seconds literally and they come up to me with "yes?" like I'm already supposed to be interested in something I've seen in the previous 4 seconds I've been there. When I just say I'm browsing, they then start to offer you things of all sorts, shirts, pants, shorts, bags, kurtas, printed t-shirts (or quotation shirts as they call them), shawls, shoes, etc, etc. I often just want to LOOK AROUND BY MYSELF, but that's not possible in a country where anything is possible. Oh well, I can't go changing their culture now can I?
Bollywood
All along the road and ajacent to it, there are theatres that show American films. They're not the most recent ones, but to me they were all still new. In 3 days I watched 3 movies. 'Love Actually', 'Down with Love' and 'Once upon a time in Mexico'. Each theatre only has one screen, and each theatre charges a different entrance fee. Its weird because you have to pay for the section that you'd like to sit in. The balcony is most expensive, the ground floor to the back is second, and the front is of course the cheapest. In total for all 3 films, I paid RS 200 or $5.60 CAD. Please also note that in the 3 days I spent in Bangalore I didn't meet any other travellers and therefor was by myself the whole time. Watching movies was a way to waste some time. Up until tonight, I hadn't had a real conversation for about 5 days. It was nice to talk to these 2 Swedish girls at dinner.
I've met a lot of travellers that have gone to see a Bollywood film, just for the experience. Not me, no offence but I can tell just from the bilboards, the previews and the music videos that I wouldn't be a fan of it. They seem very over dramatic, quite like Filippino films, which I can't stand, not to mention, understand.
A Pinch of Jazz
One of the evenings I was there, I went to a little Jazz club called "A Pinch of Jazz". Oh what a treat it was! It was inside this really swanky hotel with dim lights and margarita glass candles. The menus were glued to old vinyl records and you were given 3 different ones, which included a variety of cocktails and a Cajun food selection. Cajun I'm assuming because they were trying to go for the New Orleans vibe. All along the walls were old black and white pictures of Jazz musicians, and different instruments were hung up everywhere beside them.
The band was a quartet that came from Chennai. I'm not a HUGE jazz fan, but I definitley know a little, in my opinion they were good. A few times a girl came up and sang with them, she had a really good voice. It amazes me that when foreigners sing American songs, their accent disappears. Not only am I speaking of Indians, but singers from all over the world.
What a great night it was to just sit and admire the band while sipping on my very, very strong coctail called "Monday Blues". So strong that I added some water to it and then later asked for some sugar to add as well. They ended up giving me honey instead, which just sank to the bottom and did not mix. Afterwards I went with a cocktail name I knew... a pinacolada.
Well, I'm now back in Calcutta after...
- 1 6hr train ride from Bangalore to Chennai
- 1 6 hr stop over Chennai
- 1 32 hr train ride from Chennai to Calcutta
- 4 hrs of staring blankly at a wall
- 2 groups of Coolies (porters) praying, eating and preparing for a day's work
- many police officers passing me by with their rifles (I don't like guns)
- 6 samosas
- 1 veg sandwich
- 3 bottles of water
- 8 bananas
- one rice, veg and dahl dinner
- one packet of cashew biscuits
- one packet of 'good day fruit cake'
- one kit kat (a well deserved break indeed)
- 2 packs of this 'hot mix' (like trail mix, kinda)
- one Indian sweet dessert
- one chai tea
- the completion of my 80 page abridged Gandhi autobiography
- many chapters read in my "City of Joy" novel
- 6 Indians who could hardly speak english, trying to communicate with me
- 4 eyedrops into the eyes of this one man who wore sunglasses
- 1 water run for this old lady who was too scared to jump out of the train at a 5 min stop and do it herself
- 1 closing of the windows for the same lady, who just couldn't do it herself
- 5+ hrs listening to my discman
- 2 upper berth seatings
- 1 cold night
- a whole lot of sleeping!!!
- hours of watching the country side of India pass me by
- lots of self reflection
Its good to be back to a place where I've already been, a sense of familiarity. I feel more street wise and... tougher! I don't think that Calcutta's as scary as it was when I had first arrived here 2 months ago. Also, I think that its different now that I'm not walking down the streets with 2 white girls. No offence to Emilie and Melissa, but the matter of fact is that they brought a lot of attention to us. Consider it a compliment!
Bangalore
I just came from a city called Bangalore, its the 5th biggest city in India. I have tried to avoid all the major cities other than Calcutta, but I'd heard that Bangalore was really different and westernized. Well, that's correct. I was actually quite impressed with the city. The city's pretty well off because it's main industry is the computer world. Its really high tech there I guess and a lot of major companies reside there.
There was actually some organization to this place. The roads had lanes, like actual white and yellow lines on the street, that the drivers stayed within! There was even a meridian that seperated the traffic into 2 directions. A lot of the rickshaw drivers complained about it, saying that its a big hassle and that I should pay more because they have to go down one way roads. Luckily for me, they are forced to use the meters by the gov't, now there's a concept. However it was still really expensive, after 9pm the charge is an extra 50% of the meter rate.
I had a bunch of rickshaw drivers refuse to take me to the train station because it was all one ways and that it was really chaotic, they knew that the fare would only be RS10 because of the short distance, but insisted I pay RS20 for the hassle. I fought with them (they always team up on you) but no one would take me. I walked down the road a bit to see if anyone else would and I got quoted even hire rates and all refused to use the meter. I had no other choice but to go with the RS20. After the ride to the station, I understood why, it was pretty hellish to get there. I think the rickshaw drivers in Bangalore were actually nicer and a little more honest. I tipped one of them and he was a little surprised by it. I also offered another one of them my clientele if he only waited for me like 10 min, but he said, "that's okay, there's lots of other drivers here to take you." Normally they'd fight for your business, but it must be different in Bangalore.
I must admit that the whole place wasn't 100% organized. I went to the "City Market" and I honestly think that it was pure and utter chaos. This has got to be the most chaotic place I've been to in all of India. I couldn't stand being there, I only stayed for about 30 min and then I had to leave. This however, is actually how I imagined all of India to be like, fortunatley my misconception was merley just that.
Mahatma Gandhi
After a failed attempt at seeing the Gandhi Ashram, due to my tired state during my 5 hour stopover in Ahmedebad last month; I was able to suffice with a Gandhi Picture Gallery in Bangalore. I'm sure that going to an actual ashram that Gandhi had actually started and lived in would have been a greater experience, but when you're tired and light headed there's not much you can do. Oh well.
Inside the "Gandhi Bhavan" were lots of old framed pictures of him when he was young and old. As well, there were plaques all along the walls with Gandhi quotations. In the center of the room was a display of all these old letters (I'm sure lots of them were photocopies) written by Gandhi himself and by some of his colleagues and friends.
It was a really cool place to see, I don't know all that much about Gandhi, other than watching the Ben Kingsley movie titled... "Gandhi". Its a pity that this bhavan wasn't visited more regularly by tourists, my guide book said that you may have to wake up the attendant in the next room to unlock the untouristed gallery. I signed a guestbook there and browsed through it, there were hardly any entries.
In order for me to learn a little more about Gandhi, I bought a book a little book for RS 5, which is like 14 cents! As mentioned above I read it on my train ride. The ironic thing I learned while reading it, is that Gandhi hates the fact that he's an icon and that people have shrines and glorify him as "Mahatma". In almost every city/town I've been in there's a "M.G. road" aka "Mahatma Gandhi road". And oh yeah, his face is on every Rupee note. The bills are actually pretty cool because there's Gandhi's face on one side and the other end is blank, but if you hold it up to the light, his face appears. Its like magic! I guess that all heroes don't like to be classified as such.
Beverly Hills 9021INDIA
Speaking of MG Road, this is the place to be in Bangalore. All the cool and rich people hang out here, including Indian tourists and teen-aged locals. There's lots of high end shops like United Colors of Benneton, Samsung, Dockers, etc. As well, there was great food that I hadn't eaten in a long time, such as Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. To me it was like a paradise away from the India I've seen. I keep saying that and I guess I should just realize how diverse India really is. Who's to say what a typical India should be like?
Needless to say, that after being in India for close to 2 months, I'm getting a little sick of the food and the sight seeing of temples and such. Each day I came back to MG road and ate the yummy foods that remind me of home and shoppped in actual malls/arcades and retail stores. It was nice to walk into the stores and have a security counter where they take your backpack and store it for you. To them its a security feature, to me its a load off my back. Most places even had a guard to open the door for you and greet you.
The one thing that I can't stand about shopping in India, no matter where I've been, are the attendants who come up to you and assist/follow you the whole time you're there. They always start off with "Yes?". Yes what? I'd like to just say "No." one of these days and see what their response is. I've only been in the store for like 5 seconds literally and they come up to me with "yes?" like I'm already supposed to be interested in something I've seen in the previous 4 seconds I've been there. When I just say I'm browsing, they then start to offer you things of all sorts, shirts, pants, shorts, bags, kurtas, printed t-shirts (or quotation shirts as they call them), shawls, shoes, etc, etc. I often just want to LOOK AROUND BY MYSELF, but that's not possible in a country where anything is possible. Oh well, I can't go changing their culture now can I?
Bollywood
All along the road and ajacent to it, there are theatres that show American films. They're not the most recent ones, but to me they were all still new. In 3 days I watched 3 movies. 'Love Actually', 'Down with Love' and 'Once upon a time in Mexico'. Each theatre only has one screen, and each theatre charges a different entrance fee. Its weird because you have to pay for the section that you'd like to sit in. The balcony is most expensive, the ground floor to the back is second, and the front is of course the cheapest. In total for all 3 films, I paid RS 200 or $5.60 CAD. Please also note that in the 3 days I spent in Bangalore I didn't meet any other travellers and therefor was by myself the whole time. Watching movies was a way to waste some time. Up until tonight, I hadn't had a real conversation for about 5 days. It was nice to talk to these 2 Swedish girls at dinner.
I've met a lot of travellers that have gone to see a Bollywood film, just for the experience. Not me, no offence but I can tell just from the bilboards, the previews and the music videos that I wouldn't be a fan of it. They seem very over dramatic, quite like Filippino films, which I can't stand, not to mention, understand.
A Pinch of Jazz
One of the evenings I was there, I went to a little Jazz club called "A Pinch of Jazz". Oh what a treat it was! It was inside this really swanky hotel with dim lights and margarita glass candles. The menus were glued to old vinyl records and you were given 3 different ones, which included a variety of cocktails and a Cajun food selection. Cajun I'm assuming because they were trying to go for the New Orleans vibe. All along the walls were old black and white pictures of Jazz musicians, and different instruments were hung up everywhere beside them.
The band was a quartet that came from Chennai. I'm not a HUGE jazz fan, but I definitley know a little, in my opinion they were good. A few times a girl came up and sang with them, she had a really good voice. It amazes me that when foreigners sing American songs, their accent disappears. Not only am I speaking of Indians, but singers from all over the world.
What a great night it was to just sit and admire the band while sipping on my very, very strong coctail called "Monday Blues". So strong that I added some water to it and then later asked for some sugar to add as well. They ended up giving me honey instead, which just sank to the bottom and did not mix. Afterwards I went with a cocktail name I knew... a pinacolada.
Sunday, January 04, 2004
Backwaters (Cochin, India)
Its much better down here
I'm in the state of Kerala right now and unfortunatley I'm leaving today as well. I only got to spend a few nights down here because I have to be back in Calcutta in 9 days.
Kerala is a communist gov't state and because of it the people are a little more well to do, the literacy rate is 90% and the place just seems more civilized and kinder. I couldn't believe when I first got here that there were like actually nice shopping stores, well westernized ones. There's even a few grocery/supermarkets. Now that's a treat, even though I don't need to buy food from them, its just a change to see it.
Not to mention, this place is beautiful. Much like Goa, there's palm trees everywhere and lots of greenery everywhere. The trees are enormous with these huge complex branches that span out like 20-25 metres. I'm still by the sea but there's not really any beaches here. But that's fine with me. Instead they're famous for these backwater tours that last hours.
Michael row your boat ashore
Nils and I went on a 8hr backwater tour. Its called backwaters because something like its from the tide of the sea that goes into the streams behind the coastline. Anyway, it was really relaxing and gorgeous to see. The first half of the day was spent in this little 8 man boat with 1 man standing on each end of the boat with this huge bamboo stick to push us along. The water's only like 2 metres deep. We went through these tiny canals that are beside these villages. All the families are really excited to see the tourists come around on the boats and all say hello and smile at us. I'm sure they do this every single day though, but they don't seem to tire of it. A long the way we were also pointed out various things growing on trees and in the water. Such as black pepper, coco, these things that make beer, pineapples, jackfruits, and lots of coconuts. We actually stopped off a couple times to see a coconut 'factory' and a rope making 'factory'. We each got our coconut cracked open and given a straw to drink the juice and then they split it in half so we could eat the actual coconut. When I say factory, don't think of like big machines and hundreds of people. Its more like 5-10 people working their asses off each and every day of their lives, much like every other Indian in the country.
After a traditional Indian lunch served on Banana leaves we then headed out onto a larger houseboat with comfortable wicker chairs. There was now about 20 of us on the boat and we all kinda mingled with each other. There were these 4 Italianos whom I loved to listen speak in their native tongue. Unfortunately they don't speak english though. Anyway, for the next couple hours we just sat and relaxed on this boat and watched the beautiful scenery in the more open waters, still very shallow though. Imagine it like a lake almost but branches out into different areas. All along the banks are just big, green and yellow palm trees. Wow.
I'm 9 years old again!
Yesterday Nils and I rented bicycles and just went riding through the city. It was so nice to just meander along the streets, many of them residential areas. I felt like a kid just out for the day, riding with my friends in my neighborhood. This was much more low-key than when Nils, Alex, Sanne and I rented scooters in Goa. That was exciting and adventurous, although we didn't make it to our destined Old Goa and Nils crashed into a tree after making a big smile at us and waving! That was funny!
We were able to see the sights of Cochin all mostly related to the Dutch, Portugese and the Jews that all once inhabited here. We went to the oldest church in India which is now a Protestant one, a Jewish Synagogue and a large and immaculate Catholic Basilica where I was able to attend half the mass.
A taste of Kerala
We also bought some spices in this one shop. I got Tea Masala spice and black tea. When I actually have a facility where I can boil my own water I'm going to make some nice chai tea and remind myself of India. Hopefully I can do this in Australia.
Last night we attended two cultural shows. One was a Kathakali show. Basically its like a play but with no words. Only a live musical soundtrack and facial/hand expressions. There's tonnes of make up involved and people have to study the art for 6 years before they can perform. Its a really big thing here. Afterwards we watched a dance, it was okay, but each dance (there was about 8 of them) were all very similiar and each song is like 7 or 8 minutes. I saw this one lady nodding off... it was funny.
Anyway, I'm now off to Ernaukulim, the city that's just across the waters. That's where I saw all the stores, I'm going to try and do some shopping and then I've got to take a 12 hr bus ride to my next city. I've only got 9 days left in India, I've got to make them count. 38 of those hours are going to be on a train to Calcutta... yikes! If there's one thing I've learned in this country, its patience.
I'm in the state of Kerala right now and unfortunatley I'm leaving today as well. I only got to spend a few nights down here because I have to be back in Calcutta in 9 days.
Kerala is a communist gov't state and because of it the people are a little more well to do, the literacy rate is 90% and the place just seems more civilized and kinder. I couldn't believe when I first got here that there were like actually nice shopping stores, well westernized ones. There's even a few grocery/supermarkets. Now that's a treat, even though I don't need to buy food from them, its just a change to see it.
Not to mention, this place is beautiful. Much like Goa, there's palm trees everywhere and lots of greenery everywhere. The trees are enormous with these huge complex branches that span out like 20-25 metres. I'm still by the sea but there's not really any beaches here. But that's fine with me. Instead they're famous for these backwater tours that last hours.
Michael row your boat ashore
Nils and I went on a 8hr backwater tour. Its called backwaters because something like its from the tide of the sea that goes into the streams behind the coastline. Anyway, it was really relaxing and gorgeous to see. The first half of the day was spent in this little 8 man boat with 1 man standing on each end of the boat with this huge bamboo stick to push us along. The water's only like 2 metres deep. We went through these tiny canals that are beside these villages. All the families are really excited to see the tourists come around on the boats and all say hello and smile at us. I'm sure they do this every single day though, but they don't seem to tire of it. A long the way we were also pointed out various things growing on trees and in the water. Such as black pepper, coco, these things that make beer, pineapples, jackfruits, and lots of coconuts. We actually stopped off a couple times to see a coconut 'factory' and a rope making 'factory'. We each got our coconut cracked open and given a straw to drink the juice and then they split it in half so we could eat the actual coconut. When I say factory, don't think of like big machines and hundreds of people. Its more like 5-10 people working their asses off each and every day of their lives, much like every other Indian in the country.
After a traditional Indian lunch served on Banana leaves we then headed out onto a larger houseboat with comfortable wicker chairs. There was now about 20 of us on the boat and we all kinda mingled with each other. There were these 4 Italianos whom I loved to listen speak in their native tongue. Unfortunately they don't speak english though. Anyway, for the next couple hours we just sat and relaxed on this boat and watched the beautiful scenery in the more open waters, still very shallow though. Imagine it like a lake almost but branches out into different areas. All along the banks are just big, green and yellow palm trees. Wow.
I'm 9 years old again!
Yesterday Nils and I rented bicycles and just went riding through the city. It was so nice to just meander along the streets, many of them residential areas. I felt like a kid just out for the day, riding with my friends in my neighborhood. This was much more low-key than when Nils, Alex, Sanne and I rented scooters in Goa. That was exciting and adventurous, although we didn't make it to our destined Old Goa and Nils crashed into a tree after making a big smile at us and waving! That was funny!
We were able to see the sights of Cochin all mostly related to the Dutch, Portugese and the Jews that all once inhabited here. We went to the oldest church in India which is now a Protestant one, a Jewish Synagogue and a large and immaculate Catholic Basilica where I was able to attend half the mass.
A taste of Kerala
We also bought some spices in this one shop. I got Tea Masala spice and black tea. When I actually have a facility where I can boil my own water I'm going to make some nice chai tea and remind myself of India. Hopefully I can do this in Australia.
Last night we attended two cultural shows. One was a Kathakali show. Basically its like a play but with no words. Only a live musical soundtrack and facial/hand expressions. There's tonnes of make up involved and people have to study the art for 6 years before they can perform. Its a really big thing here. Afterwards we watched a dance, it was okay, but each dance (there was about 8 of them) were all very similiar and each song is like 7 or 8 minutes. I saw this one lady nodding off... it was funny.
Anyway, I'm now off to Ernaukulim, the city that's just across the waters. That's where I saw all the stores, I'm going to try and do some shopping and then I've got to take a 12 hr bus ride to my next city. I've only got 9 days left in India, I've got to make them count. 38 of those hours are going to be on a train to Calcutta... yikes! If there's one thing I've learned in this country, its patience.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Off to a great start... revised Jan.3/04 (Gokarna, India)
When you're sliding into first and you feel a sudden burst....
Diahrea! Yep, that's right folks, I got it a couple days ago. But surprisingly its already gone, well cross your fingers for me that it doesn't return. I'm kinda glad to say that I got it because it wouldn't have been an authentic Indian trip if I hadn't. Instead of me playing baseball and getting a burst, I was running to the outdoor toilet hut at my beach hotel and just missed by 15 seconds! Lets just say that I had to throw my undies away. Oh well. My friend Gerry warned me about this and says that it happens to everyone and don't worry about it when it does. I remembered this advice as I squatted there in the toilet going "shit, what the hell am I going to do now?"
I Scream, You Scream
I think I may have gotten it from this homemade mango ice cream I had here in Gokarna. They're infamous for their ice-cream, how can you resist? Now that my bad belly's actually gone, I don't really regret having that yummy, yummy mango ice cream for only 5 rupees.
On top of me having this ailment, my eye has been bothering me the last couple days but has passed as well. Not to mention, since my immune system was down, I caught a small fever the other night. Man, in these huts that you stay in (this one was just a hut, a couple beach mats and a tiny, tiny, lumpy matress with no pillows or blankets and no electricity!), there's no airflow amazingly. They get bloody hot at night, due to that I think I got a little too hot and I ended up getting massive chills/shakes, which then ended up turning into an immense amount of sweating!
When you've got the chills you just want to wrap up in like 5 blankets, but of course there wasn't one other than my bed sheet I brought and all the clothing that was being used under my head as a pillow. I luckily had my shawl there too that I used but still didn't seem like enough.
Prior to midnight
So on the New Year's Eve, during the day I wasn't very excited, seeing as though this was the day I shit in my pants. I also tried to take a picture of the last sunset I'll see in 2003 and right when the flash went off my camera froze. I also had my zoom lens out all the way and so it was like my camera was on viagra for the next 24hrs until I was able to buy a new battery for it. I was unable to take any pictures of the evening, or the day for that matter as I sat in a restaurant all day and hung out with Nils and this Welsch guy named Russel. We played cards for a while and I slept in a hammock.
I was being careful of what I was eating in order to prepare for the big night. We had heard of two different parties, one at my hotel/restaurant and one at this other placed called "Namaste" (Hello, in Hindi, why would you call a hotel/restaurant Hello?"). So anyway I was hopeful that I would have an exciting night and party it up. I have still yet to really dance off my booty since I've left home. There was one night in Goa, but that doesn't meet my expectations.
All by myself
I keep hearing that song, its some dance remix... how annoying!
After having dinner at Namaste (a yummy pasta dish) I was so tired I just couldn't wait until midnight. I ended up going to my hut at 10:30pm and just rested and waited for midnight. I was going to take a nap and wake up at 11:45, but I couldn't sleep. There was a huge party outside of our place and there was no way I could sleep with all the drumming and fireworks going off. I was able to see a bit of the action before I retired. It was actually quite exciting, there was probably 150-200 people outside on the sand, around this big bonfire. There were 3 drummers just beating away these cool tribal songs and people danced around the fire. Lots of them were westerners trying to dance all ethnic, it seemed fun and I kinda had an urge to join in. But no.
I decided that if I'm going to be myself this year, I'm going to be doing what I love the most, well one of the things at least. I set up everything for myself in my hut, mainly got my sheets ready, brushed my teeth and changed clothes. Afterwards I got my CD's ready, I chose what songs I wanted to listen to before and after midnight. Then I propped up a picture of Jeremy next to my pillow.
Up until 12 I just lay in bed and listened to some of my favorite songs and sang out as loud as I wanted to. I'm sure that nobody could really hear me, but even so, who cares. At about 11:55 I brought my candle outside the hut, along with my discman and Jeremy's picture and watched some of the fireworks that had been going off sparatically for the last 2 or 3 hours. I waited and waited to hear the crowd roar, but it didn't happen until 12:10 according to my clock. I think that they didn't even really realize the time, they were too enthralled in their dancing. So at 12:03 on my clock I decided that it was the start of 2004 and I kissed Jeremy and I listened to Stevie Wonder's "Stay Gold", a song about seizing the moment.
I can honestly say that this was probably one of the best New Year's I've ever had. Normally I stress out about what to do and who to celebrate with and where to go and what will I wear and how much $ will it cost, etc, etc, etc. This year was simple, do what I want to do.
Resolutions
The main thing I've decided is that I'm going to do what I want to do, be true to myself. I already try to do that, but I'm going to do it on a more conscience level this year. Or at least strive to.
Ã?'m going to try and find a harmonica to buy and put some effort into learning how to play it.
I'm going to do a lot more writing in my journal, not only regular journal stuff, but I'd like to try and do some song-writing. I want to try and do some creative writing, like stories and character profiles of the people I meet in my travels.
OM
Om beach was really cool because the rocks in the sea formed the Om symbol. It's a beach just outside of Gokarna that we had to walk about an hour to get to in the mid day sun. On the way home we took a boat taxi which was almost just as bad. The boat went sideways along the waves and so we were rocking back and forth like crazy. I was scared of falling in, not because I can't swim but because I had my camera and discman.
There were tonnes of hippies there and felt really weird. When we first arrived it was kind of like the Twilight Zone. What's with all these travellers that turn into wasters and hippies, smoking pot all day with chilums and getting dreadlocks?
Happy Birthday Jesus
Sorry, I've got to backtrack a while. I've been slacking on my blogs lately.
For Christmas eve I was able to go to midnight mass with Paul (the guy from Vancouver) and some of women who lived at the house where our huts were. They were all dressed up to the nines. Lovely. We all began to walk to church which is like a 30min walk away in another town outside of Palolem. We were able to find a rickshaw though.
I ended up being the only guy sitting in the women's section of the church. I didn't realize until after the mass had begun, but oh well. I fit in in some ways. Everyone was all really nicely dressed and I tried to as well, but I only have so many clothes with me and only my nike runners.
It was really nice to attend the mass, the only problem was that it wasn't in english! I was able to understand some parts, but even the prayers were in 'konkan' so I didn't even know which prayers were being said. During the peace portion when you normally shake hands, they all just turn and bow with their hands together. Like the way Japanese people do, this is actually the way that all Indians greet and say thank-you to one another, but only when they really mean it, it seems. I already knew this from mass in Calcutta and bowed to the lady beside me, but she just kinda gave me an evil eye. I guess because I was a male in the female section perhaps. There were 2 occasions when we had to line up, each time the lady kept nudging me to go forward as if I didn't know to move. At one point she stood up and nudged me and then sat back down because she realized it wasn't our turn yet. I just kept standing and looked like a fool.
At the end of mass, the priest said in english "Merry Christmas to everybody..." and then started to talk konkan again. A birthday cake was brought out and we all sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus", this was english and so I was able to participate. After we all went up and touched the little baby Jesus statue they had in the nativity scene.
Outside there was chai tea and cake, (I had two slices of fruitcake...mmm) and the priest got up on this stage. He had a microphone and before I knew what was going on, everybody was grabbing bingo cards and the priest was yelling out numbers! That was a sight to see.
Paul and I ended up walking half the way back to Palolem because there were no vehicles available and Fatima and family had found a friend with a motorbike to go back with, we declined. The stars were shining brightly and I sang some carols. Paul borrowed some toilet paper and shat in the bushes and sang along with me as he squatted in the dark.
We were supposed to meet up with Alex, Sanne and Nils but couldn't find them. There was this huge rave going on, but they weren't there. I couldn't believe the rave, there were so many people dancing at this one secluded area of the beach and their was a big DJ set up and big boulders where people were dancing on. I would have liked to stay for a while and danced but was a little overwhelmed by the crowd and I didn't like the trance music.
Merrily on high
A few quick notes on my Christmas day.
I basically just hung out at the beach all day and had some fun activities. These included:
- snow angel making... in the sand
- one snowman with seashells for the facial parts with Kat ... in the sand (lots of people walked by and took pictures with good ol'frosty)
- boogie boarding
- a little black magic
- relaxing.
The evening was not what we really expected but was just as good. We were hoping for a real turkey dinner that we had paid RS 500 for. Well, all we got was turkey that had been cut up into these clumps and bbq'd. Most of it was burnt but I was able to get a good piece. I don't like turkey, never really have. The rest of the dinner was much like the same old Indian food I'd eaten previously. We decided the dinner was a rip off. We all bought a bottle of wine (each) and made some toasts. We sang carols, one of which I was forced to sing by myself but expressed the true meaning of Christmas in Sanne's eyes. It was Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas". We did crackers, read a story, told some jokes. In between courses we opened 2 gifts at a time from our gift exchange. I ended up being the last one to choose and could pick from any of the already opened presents or opening the last unwrapped one on the table. I stole these red fisherman pants and a water bottle holder away from Kat. The last one that was left was a 1.5hr massage for the next day. Oh well, I'm glad I got the pants, they're really comfortable and I've been thinking about getting some. Sanne actually chose them with intentions for me.
At the end of our meal, we wanted to go and party but it turned out that there were no raves on Christmas, let alone any kind of party at all. Oh well.
Diahrea! Yep, that's right folks, I got it a couple days ago. But surprisingly its already gone, well cross your fingers for me that it doesn't return. I'm kinda glad to say that I got it because it wouldn't have been an authentic Indian trip if I hadn't. Instead of me playing baseball and getting a burst, I was running to the outdoor toilet hut at my beach hotel and just missed by 15 seconds! Lets just say that I had to throw my undies away. Oh well. My friend Gerry warned me about this and says that it happens to everyone and don't worry about it when it does. I remembered this advice as I squatted there in the toilet going "shit, what the hell am I going to do now?"
I Scream, You Scream
I think I may have gotten it from this homemade mango ice cream I had here in Gokarna. They're infamous for their ice-cream, how can you resist? Now that my bad belly's actually gone, I don't really regret having that yummy, yummy mango ice cream for only 5 rupees.
On top of me having this ailment, my eye has been bothering me the last couple days but has passed as well. Not to mention, since my immune system was down, I caught a small fever the other night. Man, in these huts that you stay in (this one was just a hut, a couple beach mats and a tiny, tiny, lumpy matress with no pillows or blankets and no electricity!), there's no airflow amazingly. They get bloody hot at night, due to that I think I got a little too hot and I ended up getting massive chills/shakes, which then ended up turning into an immense amount of sweating!
When you've got the chills you just want to wrap up in like 5 blankets, but of course there wasn't one other than my bed sheet I brought and all the clothing that was being used under my head as a pillow. I luckily had my shawl there too that I used but still didn't seem like enough.
Prior to midnight
So on the New Year's Eve, during the day I wasn't very excited, seeing as though this was the day I shit in my pants. I also tried to take a picture of the last sunset I'll see in 2003 and right when the flash went off my camera froze. I also had my zoom lens out all the way and so it was like my camera was on viagra for the next 24hrs until I was able to buy a new battery for it. I was unable to take any pictures of the evening, or the day for that matter as I sat in a restaurant all day and hung out with Nils and this Welsch guy named Russel. We played cards for a while and I slept in a hammock.
I was being careful of what I was eating in order to prepare for the big night. We had heard of two different parties, one at my hotel/restaurant and one at this other placed called "Namaste" (Hello, in Hindi, why would you call a hotel/restaurant Hello?"). So anyway I was hopeful that I would have an exciting night and party it up. I have still yet to really dance off my booty since I've left home. There was one night in Goa, but that doesn't meet my expectations.
All by myself
I keep hearing that song, its some dance remix... how annoying!
After having dinner at Namaste (a yummy pasta dish) I was so tired I just couldn't wait until midnight. I ended up going to my hut at 10:30pm and just rested and waited for midnight. I was going to take a nap and wake up at 11:45, but I couldn't sleep. There was a huge party outside of our place and there was no way I could sleep with all the drumming and fireworks going off. I was able to see a bit of the action before I retired. It was actually quite exciting, there was probably 150-200 people outside on the sand, around this big bonfire. There were 3 drummers just beating away these cool tribal songs and people danced around the fire. Lots of them were westerners trying to dance all ethnic, it seemed fun and I kinda had an urge to join in. But no.
I decided that if I'm going to be myself this year, I'm going to be doing what I love the most, well one of the things at least. I set up everything for myself in my hut, mainly got my sheets ready, brushed my teeth and changed clothes. Afterwards I got my CD's ready, I chose what songs I wanted to listen to before and after midnight. Then I propped up a picture of Jeremy next to my pillow.
Up until 12 I just lay in bed and listened to some of my favorite songs and sang out as loud as I wanted to. I'm sure that nobody could really hear me, but even so, who cares. At about 11:55 I brought my candle outside the hut, along with my discman and Jeremy's picture and watched some of the fireworks that had been going off sparatically for the last 2 or 3 hours. I waited and waited to hear the crowd roar, but it didn't happen until 12:10 according to my clock. I think that they didn't even really realize the time, they were too enthralled in their dancing. So at 12:03 on my clock I decided that it was the start of 2004 and I kissed Jeremy and I listened to Stevie Wonder's "Stay Gold", a song about seizing the moment.
I can honestly say that this was probably one of the best New Year's I've ever had. Normally I stress out about what to do and who to celebrate with and where to go and what will I wear and how much $ will it cost, etc, etc, etc. This year was simple, do what I want to do.
Resolutions
The main thing I've decided is that I'm going to do what I want to do, be true to myself. I already try to do that, but I'm going to do it on a more conscience level this year. Or at least strive to.
Ã?'m going to try and find a harmonica to buy and put some effort into learning how to play it.
I'm going to do a lot more writing in my journal, not only regular journal stuff, but I'd like to try and do some song-writing. I want to try and do some creative writing, like stories and character profiles of the people I meet in my travels.
OM
Om beach was really cool because the rocks in the sea formed the Om symbol. It's a beach just outside of Gokarna that we had to walk about an hour to get to in the mid day sun. On the way home we took a boat taxi which was almost just as bad. The boat went sideways along the waves and so we were rocking back and forth like crazy. I was scared of falling in, not because I can't swim but because I had my camera and discman.
There were tonnes of hippies there and felt really weird. When we first arrived it was kind of like the Twilight Zone. What's with all these travellers that turn into wasters and hippies, smoking pot all day with chilums and getting dreadlocks?
Happy Birthday Jesus
Sorry, I've got to backtrack a while. I've been slacking on my blogs lately.
For Christmas eve I was able to go to midnight mass with Paul (the guy from Vancouver) and some of women who lived at the house where our huts were. They were all dressed up to the nines. Lovely. We all began to walk to church which is like a 30min walk away in another town outside of Palolem. We were able to find a rickshaw though.
I ended up being the only guy sitting in the women's section of the church. I didn't realize until after the mass had begun, but oh well. I fit in in some ways. Everyone was all really nicely dressed and I tried to as well, but I only have so many clothes with me and only my nike runners.
It was really nice to attend the mass, the only problem was that it wasn't in english! I was able to understand some parts, but even the prayers were in 'konkan' so I didn't even know which prayers were being said. During the peace portion when you normally shake hands, they all just turn and bow with their hands together. Like the way Japanese people do, this is actually the way that all Indians greet and say thank-you to one another, but only when they really mean it, it seems. I already knew this from mass in Calcutta and bowed to the lady beside me, but she just kinda gave me an evil eye. I guess because I was a male in the female section perhaps. There were 2 occasions when we had to line up, each time the lady kept nudging me to go forward as if I didn't know to move. At one point she stood up and nudged me and then sat back down because she realized it wasn't our turn yet. I just kept standing and looked like a fool.
At the end of mass, the priest said in english "Merry Christmas to everybody..." and then started to talk konkan again. A birthday cake was brought out and we all sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus", this was english and so I was able to participate. After we all went up and touched the little baby Jesus statue they had in the nativity scene.
Outside there was chai tea and cake, (I had two slices of fruitcake...mmm) and the priest got up on this stage. He had a microphone and before I knew what was going on, everybody was grabbing bingo cards and the priest was yelling out numbers! That was a sight to see.
Paul and I ended up walking half the way back to Palolem because there were no vehicles available and Fatima and family had found a friend with a motorbike to go back with, we declined. The stars were shining brightly and I sang some carols. Paul borrowed some toilet paper and shat in the bushes and sang along with me as he squatted in the dark.
We were supposed to meet up with Alex, Sanne and Nils but couldn't find them. There was this huge rave going on, but they weren't there. I couldn't believe the rave, there were so many people dancing at this one secluded area of the beach and their was a big DJ set up and big boulders where people were dancing on. I would have liked to stay for a while and danced but was a little overwhelmed by the crowd and I didn't like the trance music.
Merrily on high
A few quick notes on my Christmas day.
I basically just hung out at the beach all day and had some fun activities. These included:
- snow angel making... in the sand
- one snowman with seashells for the facial parts with Kat ... in the sand (lots of people walked by and took pictures with good ol'frosty)
- boogie boarding
- a little black magic
- relaxing.
The evening was not what we really expected but was just as good. We were hoping for a real turkey dinner that we had paid RS 500 for. Well, all we got was turkey that had been cut up into these clumps and bbq'd. Most of it was burnt but I was able to get a good piece. I don't like turkey, never really have. The rest of the dinner was much like the same old Indian food I'd eaten previously. We decided the dinner was a rip off. We all bought a bottle of wine (each) and made some toasts. We sang carols, one of which I was forced to sing by myself but expressed the true meaning of Christmas in Sanne's eyes. It was Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas". We did crackers, read a story, told some jokes. In between courses we opened 2 gifts at a time from our gift exchange. I ended up being the last one to choose and could pick from any of the already opened presents or opening the last unwrapped one on the table. I stole these red fisherman pants and a water bottle holder away from Kat. The last one that was left was a 1.5hr massage for the next day. Oh well, I'm glad I got the pants, they're really comfortable and I've been thinking about getting some. Sanne actually chose them with intentions for me.
At the end of our meal, we wanted to go and party but it turned out that there were no raves on Christmas, let alone any kind of party at all. Oh well.
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