We are in Camp Bliss, a camp in the desert, which has tents with real beds, bathrooms with flushing toilets and hot water, live entertainment, wireless internet and the most amazing dining tent I have ever seen. This is camping like I have never seen before.
We arrived in Pushkar this afternoon, after having spent the morning having a lazy breakfast and then shopping in Jaipur. We found this great shop with beautiful clothes, where I spent a happy hour trying on all kinds of things, while the others paitently waited, and I managed to be more decisive than usual and actually bought some things.
We spent the day before also in Jaipur, wandering through Hawa Mahal (The Windy Palace) and shopping shopping shopping! Tom is looking for a bed spread, and we have seen many many many, but none quite right. It has been fun though, bargaining and wandering and managing not to buy too much.
In Jaipur we stayed at Alsisar Haveli, which is a self described oasis from the business of Pushkar, and this statement could not be truer!
Before Jaipur, I had two days in Delhi. I arrived at 3am Saturday, and got a few hours sleep, before heading to the Red Fort and, surprise surprise, a little retail therapy! A little dancing at an Indian nightclub was a trip down memory lane of bad eary nineties music and dancing with new friends.
Delhi day 2 was the cricket. Australia vs India, the last day of the test. My first day of test cricket, of International cricket live, and of cricket in India. You know that you're not at the cricket in Australia, when you have to go through two sets of doors, up the stair, around the corner and find a tiny bar, with bottled fosters as your only option...not that we were complaining!
Our current adventure is by car, we have a driver, which is fun and feels pretty luxurious, and allows us to sleep and chill out while we travel.
The weather is hot, there is a lot of dust around, but since we left Delhi, the sky is free from pollution. Dinner is always late, 8.30 is the earliest, and several nights I have eaten around 11pm. Smells abound, as do people who are ready to help our driver with directions, or just say hello and want a chat. It's hard not to feel like a celebrity sometimes, when people want to take my picture for no apparent reason, and we stick out and are stared at, even when there are other tourists around.
Incredible Indiaa it truly is.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Discipline
I went to Devonshire Street meeting in Sydney last Sunday. What I noticed (again), is how hard I find the hour of worship on a Sunday morning. Quite often by then end, I'm nearly in the right space and could stay for longer, but it takes me a long time to get there. For me, being a Quaker is less about going to meeting on Sunday, and more about living in the light, every day, in all that I do and all that I am. It's important for me to worship with my community, but it's so much less valuable than it could be when I don't have my own spiritual discipline going on throughout each day, and the whole week.
I keep noticing this and know that I need to act on it. At the moment, that's almost as far as I can go before I get stucka nd am not quite sure what to do next.
But I know, and sometimes I remember, that when I try to hold on to everything really tightly, it doesn't work. As scary as it is, when I let go, things are taken out of my control and I don't have to worry so much about 'what next', because the 'what next' is given to me and it's easier for me to be able to see it and do it.
So, here's to discipline and letting go and living in the light always.
I keep noticing this and know that I need to act on it. At the moment, that's almost as far as I can go before I get stucka nd am not quite sure what to do next.
But I know, and sometimes I remember, that when I try to hold on to everything really tightly, it doesn't work. As scary as it is, when I let go, things are taken out of my control and I don't have to worry so much about 'what next', because the 'what next' is given to me and it's easier for me to be able to see it and do it.
So, here's to discipline and letting go and living in the light always.
Hens
Last night I went to my second even hen's night, and the first one that was I old enough to drink at! I managed to arrive without any expectations, which meant that I was open to whatever it was going to be, and so I had a great night! We ate, drank, danced, bonded and flirted. It was a chance to get to know the women in the life of my dear friend who is getting married, and for us to celebrate and love her; and the relationships we all have with her. There was a mix of ages and of 'how we know hers', and it just worked.
It's powerful stuff when women get together, there's a different energy there. I mean, I guess maybe it's obvious, and I imagine something similar happens when men get together as well. But it was a real opportunity for me to revel in being a woman and to connect with some other amazing women at the same time.
It's powerful stuff when women get together, there's a different energy there. I mean, I guess maybe it's obvious, and I imagine something similar happens when men get together as well. But it was a real opportunity for me to revel in being a woman and to connect with some other amazing women at the same time.
Friday, March 28, 2008
This month I have left two Quaker gatherings, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. The local one was with my home meeting, and in New Zealand it was with kiwi young friends. As I sat in the airport and on the plane on Wednesday, making my way back to Australia, I found myself in a familiar place, familiar from the week before, and from many many times in the last 18 months in particular, but from longer ago than that too.
It's a 'happy-sad' place. Filled with joy and inspiration from the amazing people I have met, the things I have seen, done, said, sung, heard, played, wrestled, cooked and so on. Filled with the Spirit and with the knowledge of the presence and vitality of God and of the absolute value and necessity of community. Feeling sad at saying goodbye - again. Of not knowing when or where I will see my new friends. I trust, absolutely, that I will see them again, but sometimes the not knowing when is harder than others.
There's also a sadness of saying goodbye to living in community, while at times it's overwhelming, I love having people around me, and knowing that I am part of 'the group'. I think I find it even harder to say goodbye to that a the moment, because I still very much feel like I am trying to find that community here. My house is amazing, it's home, and I am so blessed to be living with the amazing housemates I am living with. And still I know that I need more. I yearn for that sticky, messy, being in each others lives and space and loving and playing and hurting and creating and...being. Together.
This was a blog that I set up for my overseas travel, and now, that i am home, it feels right to be writing again, as I travel in this place that, once again, I call home. A place that is at the same time familiar and foreign. A place where I continue to travel in the light and in search of the light.
Friday, October 19, 2007
3 more sleeps!
Today is my last day in Bhopal. Tonight we catch an overnight train to Mumbai. We will spend Saturday and Sunday in Mumbai, with all the thousands of people who will be there celebrating Duschera. We fly out of Mumbai round 9.3pm on Sunday and hopefully will be back home late afternoon Monday.
A few days ago I had an evening of Sari wearing lessons. I practiced and practiced, and yesterday I managed to get dressed in a sari all by myself, and wore it out to dinner, and it didn't fall down or look to disgraceful or anything!
I feel so much more comfortable walking around and catching auto rickshaws and buying things, using very siomle English and some of the important Hindi words I have learnt like, kithna (how much) bas (enough) achcha (good) danyawad (thank you)and ek, do, teen, baatch (1, 2, 3, 4). I am getting better at dealing with people staring at us and am much less freaked out by random people talking to us on the street than I was when we first arrived. My Australian training in 'stranger danger' has calmed down a bit, and I realise that people are just curious and want to be friendly.
It's hard to know how to descrie India. It is very dusty and dirty, and everywhere you go there are strong smells. All kinds of smells, some pleasant, some not-so-pleasant. It is festival time, so there is noise and music and lights and prayers being broadcast all day and late into the night. Yesterday we bought a pair of scissors, and , there is no quiet browsing and deciding on your own. Shoping is a very interactive process. We were shown about 5 different kinds of scissors, several of which we were assured were the 'latest model', and therefore clearly suprior, despite them all being the sae price. In all the chaos of the scissors we managed to both walk away with a pair, despite having only paid for one...they were surprised and pleased when I returned the pair I had accidently ah-hem, borrowed!
I a travelling with the Secretary of the Asia West Pacific Section of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (International Quaker organisation). Yesterday she wrote a thank you letter to all the people we have visited and met on this trip, and got photocopies made of the section newsletter to send with the letter. In a home or an office, this is not a big deal, and it wasn't really a big deal here, it just loked pretty different! We had the addresses merged and ready to print, but no labbels to print them onto, so we printed them onto paper, bought scissors, glue, envelopes and got the photocopies done.
While the photocopy man was compiling the newsletter (the machine was not one that could sort and staple), we sat on the front step of this shop, the shop was maybe 6 metres by 6 metres and the front is totally open, and Valerie cut and I glued the labels. When the photocopies were ready, they brought out a chair for Valerie and I sat on the step and she stuffed and I kept gluing (the envelopes were not the self-sealing variety). We only attracted a small audience in doing this, and the photocopy people didn't seem to think there was anything odd about us setting up camp in their shop (which I had not been at all convinced we should do, but luckily Valerie was feeling braver than me!). Stamps here are of the kind that need licking, and need quite a lot of licking, so we had another production line at the post office, needing to put two stamps on each of 40 envelopes.
We went outside to post the letters, and stood looking at the four boxes in front of us, they had plenty of instructions in Hindi but nothing helpful in English. After a miscommunication from someone walking past (which meant we put the letter to Thailand in the 'Bhopal only' box), someone who had been watching us and who spoke English came over and deciphered the Hindi for us. He pointed to the words and in a 'it's written there quite plainly' kind of a voice, told us what the different boxes were for. So hopefully we got it right after that.
So many more storieds to tell and some photos to share, but I think that they only partially convey the wonder of this country. All I can say is, visit India! Travel with a friend, someone that you can travel well with and who can be brave when you're not and vice versa; bring a torch; walk on the left side of the road; and stay for at least 3 weeks, I needed that much time to get used to being here and if I had left after a week I may never have come back.
A few days ago I had an evening of Sari wearing lessons. I practiced and practiced, and yesterday I managed to get dressed in a sari all by myself, and wore it out to dinner, and it didn't fall down or look to disgraceful or anything!
I feel so much more comfortable walking around and catching auto rickshaws and buying things, using very siomle English and some of the important Hindi words I have learnt like, kithna (how much) bas (enough) achcha (good) danyawad (thank you)and ek, do, teen, baatch (1, 2, 3, 4). I am getting better at dealing with people staring at us and am much less freaked out by random people talking to us on the street than I was when we first arrived. My Australian training in 'stranger danger' has calmed down a bit, and I realise that people are just curious and want to be friendly.
It's hard to know how to descrie India. It is very dusty and dirty, and everywhere you go there are strong smells. All kinds of smells, some pleasant, some not-so-pleasant. It is festival time, so there is noise and music and lights and prayers being broadcast all day and late into the night. Yesterday we bought a pair of scissors, and , there is no quiet browsing and deciding on your own. Shoping is a very interactive process. We were shown about 5 different kinds of scissors, several of which we were assured were the 'latest model', and therefore clearly suprior, despite them all being the sae price. In all the chaos of the scissors we managed to both walk away with a pair, despite having only paid for one...they were surprised and pleased when I returned the pair I had accidently ah-hem, borrowed!
I a travelling with the Secretary of the Asia West Pacific Section of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (International Quaker organisation). Yesterday she wrote a thank you letter to all the people we have visited and met on this trip, and got photocopies made of the section newsletter to send with the letter. In a home or an office, this is not a big deal, and it wasn't really a big deal here, it just loked pretty different! We had the addresses merged and ready to print, but no labbels to print them onto, so we printed them onto paper, bought scissors, glue, envelopes and got the photocopies done.
While the photocopy man was compiling the newsletter (the machine was not one that could sort and staple), we sat on the front step of this shop, the shop was maybe 6 metres by 6 metres and the front is totally open, and Valerie cut and I glued the labels. When the photocopies were ready, they brought out a chair for Valerie and I sat on the step and she stuffed and I kept gluing (the envelopes were not the self-sealing variety). We only attracted a small audience in doing this, and the photocopy people didn't seem to think there was anything odd about us setting up camp in their shop (which I had not been at all convinced we should do, but luckily Valerie was feeling braver than me!). Stamps here are of the kind that need licking, and need quite a lot of licking, so we had another production line at the post office, needing to put two stamps on each of 40 envelopes.
We went outside to post the letters, and stood looking at the four boxes in front of us, they had plenty of instructions in Hindi but nothing helpful in English. After a miscommunication from someone walking past (which meant we put the letter to Thailand in the 'Bhopal only' box), someone who had been watching us and who spoke English came over and deciphered the Hindi for us. He pointed to the words and in a 'it's written there quite plainly' kind of a voice, told us what the different boxes were for. So hopefully we got it right after that.
So many more storieds to tell and some photos to share, but I think that they only partially convey the wonder of this country. All I can say is, visit India! Travel with a friend, someone that you can travel well with and who can be brave when you're not and vice versa; bring a torch; walk on the left side of the road; and stay for at least 3 weeks, I needed that much time to get used to being here and if I had left after a week I may never have come back.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Electricity
I have been thinking today about the days we had black outs at the cafe, and what a pain it was. When the electricity goes out in Australia, we are crippled. Here in India, it seems to be fact of daily life. Today the power went out around 9.30 and was not back on until 3pm. Almost every day I have been here, in every place, there are portions of the day where it is known that there will be no power, and then soemtimes the power goes out at other times as well.
I am in Pachmarhi at the moment. We are staying with a friend who was at Pendle Hill last year, but who I had not met until I stepped off the train in Piparrya yesterday. We are staying in this very cute town, only 10 000, and while it is apparently a tourist destination, we have not been mobbed by shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers like we were in Kajuraho, which is the last tourist place we visited.
We caught our first regular passenger train yesterday which was great. Hard wooden seas, and more people on them that seems possible. Everybody staring at us, but also looking out for us, and giving us their seats, and making sure we got at the right station. We were taken to the station by an Indian, and loads of people came up to talk to him. The only things we understood that he said were 'Australia' and 'Piparrya', and he said those words many time. People are genuinely curious and friendly, and the Aussie training about stranger danger that I have had does not seem to apply here!
Before we were here, we spent two nights at Sohagphur Friends Girls School. They have a boarding hostel there, and we stayed with the woman who is in charge of the hostel. Our second night there, we played games with the girls. We taught the \m a few, then they taught us one. We were playing outside, and it was fairly dimly lit, but then the power went out, so there was no hope of continuing the game. Valerie and I sat down where we were, about 20 metres away from each other, and found ourselves mobbed by the girls, who all wanted to sit as close as they possibly could. They sang us some songs in Hindi and some in English. They asked me to sing, so reluctantly I taught them 'this littlt light if mine' and 'heads shoulders knees and toes'. Then were so excited to have us visit them and play with them. It was great for me to be able to play as well. Mostly we have been inpretty formal settings, even when we have visited schools. Sitting in the dirt and running around and laughing together, even though we often didn't understand the words others were using, it was real. The times in this trip, when we have got beyond the formalities and divisions, the biggest of which has been that of guest and host, have been magical times, where I have truly felt Spirit present and holding us all and reminding us that, we are one and we are the same.
I am in Pachmarhi at the moment. We are staying with a friend who was at Pendle Hill last year, but who I had not met until I stepped off the train in Piparrya yesterday. We are staying in this very cute town, only 10 000, and while it is apparently a tourist destination, we have not been mobbed by shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers like we were in Kajuraho, which is the last tourist place we visited.
We caught our first regular passenger train yesterday which was great. Hard wooden seas, and more people on them that seems possible. Everybody staring at us, but also looking out for us, and giving us their seats, and making sure we got at the right station. We were taken to the station by an Indian, and loads of people came up to talk to him. The only things we understood that he said were 'Australia' and 'Piparrya', and he said those words many time. People are genuinely curious and friendly, and the Aussie training about stranger danger that I have had does not seem to apply here!
Before we were here, we spent two nights at Sohagphur Friends Girls School. They have a boarding hostel there, and we stayed with the woman who is in charge of the hostel. Our second night there, we played games with the girls. We taught the \m a few, then they taught us one. We were playing outside, and it was fairly dimly lit, but then the power went out, so there was no hope of continuing the game. Valerie and I sat down where we were, about 20 metres away from each other, and found ourselves mobbed by the girls, who all wanted to sit as close as they possibly could. They sang us some songs in Hindi and some in English. They asked me to sing, so reluctantly I taught them 'this littlt light if mine' and 'heads shoulders knees and toes'. Then were so excited to have us visit them and play with them. It was great for me to be able to play as well. Mostly we have been inpretty formal settings, even when we have visited schools. Sitting in the dirt and running around and laughing together, even though we often didn't understand the words others were using, it was real. The times in this trip, when we have got beyond the formalities and divisions, the biggest of which has been that of guest and host, have been magical times, where I have truly felt Spirit present and holding us all and reminding us that, we are one and we are the same.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Chhaturpur
Two 'h's in Chhaturpur...who knew?
I am now in Bhopal, having had an amazing week in and around Chhaturpur. We were mamn (guests) and receied some amazing hopitality. We have met so many people and clocked up many hours in the car, and so have a bunch of the people who come to visit us. My Hindi dictionary is rapidly growing and I am already dreaming of 'next time', and I still have two weeks to go!
Yesterday we went to church and I met with some young friends. Today we are heading out to Sohagpur, a Quaker boarding school for girls.
Too many stories and not enough time at this internet place...but I am feeling blessed and held as I travel amongst Friends and meet so many amazing and generous people.
I am now in Bhopal, having had an amazing week in and around Chhaturpur. We were mamn (guests) and receied some amazing hopitality. We have met so many people and clocked up many hours in the car, and so have a bunch of the people who come to visit us. My Hindi dictionary is rapidly growing and I am already dreaming of 'next time', and I still have two weeks to go!
Yesterday we went to church and I met with some young friends. Today we are heading out to Sohagpur, a Quaker boarding school for girls.
Too many stories and not enough time at this internet place...but I am feeling blessed and held as I travel amongst Friends and meet so many amazing and generous people.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Chatturpur
I am pretty sure I have not spelt Chaturpur write either time I have just written...not sure how many 't's and 'r's are in it...oh dear!
I am in Chatturpur until Monday morning. We are being well looked after here. Most exciting is all the Indian food we are being given. We stop on the side of the road for Chai, from a place that in Australia would be considered totally dodgy and not somewhere to consume from...and we drink delicious chai out of sherry glasses. we are given Indian sweets (maithai), like Chenna (milk sweet) and gujia (kind of like baclava).
Today we went shopping in the market with two Indian young women. They wheeled and dealed like I have never even tried to do, and we came out laden with many goodies, and having tried panni pulli and maithai panni pulli, which are little pastry cases and the size and shape of profiteroles, but much thinner. They put this spicy clear soup in one, and some sweet things in the other. So tasty!
Ok, it's time to go home for dinner...there is so much more to say, other than the food...which, I am eating Indian style, ie without cutlery and using only my right hand. using roti to scoop things up...so good, cutlery is such a waste of time!
xoxo
I am in Chatturpur until Monday morning. We are being well looked after here. Most exciting is all the Indian food we are being given. We stop on the side of the road for Chai, from a place that in Australia would be considered totally dodgy and not somewhere to consume from...and we drink delicious chai out of sherry glasses. we are given Indian sweets (maithai), like Chenna (milk sweet) and gujia (kind of like baclava).
Today we went shopping in the market with two Indian young women. They wheeled and dealed like I have never even tried to do, and we came out laden with many goodies, and having tried panni pulli and maithai panni pulli, which are little pastry cases and the size and shape of profiteroles, but much thinner. They put this spicy clear soup in one, and some sweet things in the other. So tasty!
Ok, it's time to go home for dinner...there is so much more to say, other than the food...which, I am eating Indian style, ie without cutlery and using only my right hand. using roti to scoop things up...so good, cutlery is such a waste of time!
xoxo
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