Merry Christmas from the UK!

Happy Holidays, everyone! It's Boxing Day in the UK, which means another day of feasting, presents, and general good cheer. In local news, Prince Phillip was hospitalized with chest pains, Kate is smiling mysteriously while holding her hands over her stomach, and the Army Wives are constantly on the radio with their endearing but slightly off-key Christmas song. Not to mention the Christmas specials galore (Downton Abbey, anyone?).

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Ritchie's parents. On Christmas Eve, we had a traditional evening dinner and pints at the pub and then saw Puss in Boots 3D. The empty theater attested to the fact that most people who would usually be watching a children's movie were at home preparing for Santa Claus. It was fun, though a departure from my usual 'church and opening presents with the family' approach to Christmas Eve.

I woke up on Christmas morning overcome by the sads. I was homesick and missed my family back in Seattle. Merry Christmas, indeed! And then I was hit by more sads when I realized that I won't see them again for a further ten months. It was one of those moments that caused me to question why I've chosen to spend this year in Kyrgyzstan. In my emotional blur, however, a little voice niggled through to remind that all challenges must come with these moments. This was probably just the first of many.

I roused myself and went to Christmas Mass with Ritchie and his parents. Singing the carols and listening to the service made me feel closer to my family and less homesick somehow. From that point on, the day was cheery. We feasted on roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and then opened presents. I was also excited to get a Christmas care package from my brother and sister-in-law with goodies from Pike Place Market and an adorable picture magnet of my nephew to adorn my fridge in Bishkek. Today will also be family- and food-full as we're dining at Ritchie's eldest brother's house.

 The picture below is to prove to my Mom that I went to church on Christmas. Look, Mom! Crucified Jesus even popped in for our picture!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

God Bless Goa

No, literally. God must have blessed Goa or something because there are churches and shrines to the Virgin Mary EVERYWHERE. Hindus are allegedly in the majority in that state, but the Catholics must have a monopoly on advertisement.

We started our time in Goa with two days in Panjim (otherwise known as Panaji), the state capital and former  capital of the Portuguese colonists. We splurged on a heritage hotel which was a converted Portuguese mansion and had old wood furniture, elegant balconies, and a shady terrace. It was beautiful, and a far cry from our very modest lodgings in Mumbai. Also, the included breakfast was outstanding - always a plus.

Panjim itself is a mix of old Portuguese buildings - some crumbling, others lovingly preserved - and the typical trappings of urban India: motorbikes, exhaust, dust, and crowds. It makes for a very interesting combination. Old Goa, the original Portuguese capital of Goa, is nearby. The city was built in the 1600s and there are some large old cathedrals, one of which holds the relics of St. Francis Xavier. Quite honestly, I could have given Old Goa a miss. It was absurdly hot that day and I've seen old churches far grander than these, but I suppose that the tropical, Indian environment provides for an exotic contrast to the very European construction.

After two days in Panjim, we drove up the coast to a little beach town called Mandrem. I was anxious the entire way, having heard of crowded beaches, dust and all-night parties in many of the other beach towns. Really, Ritchie and I are not all-night party people (big surprise, right?) and don't particularly like crowds. Happily, my worrying was unnecessary. Mandrem was quiet, peaceful, and uncrowded. Our hotel, though basic, was clean and the beaches and swimming were plentiful. Another added benefit? Goa has very low alcohol taxes, so while a large beer might cost 150 rupees at restaurants in other states, in Goa the same beer at a restaurant is only 90 rupees. Ah, paradise.

What can I say about our time at the beach? We read for hours by the ocean, we swam, we rented motorbikes and sought out even more deserted beaches in southern Maharashtra (only an hour north from our hotel), and we . . . actually, that about sums it up. We didn't do much else, and it was divine. The only downfall was that a hippie staying in a hotel across the road from ours insisted on playing his didgeridoo (spelling?) for hours every day. Seriously, a didgeridoo?

Goa was probably the nicest beach vacation that I've had to date - even better than Belize. If it weren't so inconveniently located, I'd probably try to go more often. One elderly British couple that we met has been coming every winter for eleven years straight. Which reminds me of another nice thing about Goa - people on relaxing holidays are lovely to chat with. Everyone is in a good mood.

Now, we're laying over in the Mumbai airport (thanks airtel for the free computer and internet access) on our way to Delhi. I've been there before and we only have one day in the city, so I've charged Ritchie with identifying the sights that he most wants to see. He currently seems fixated on the Toilet Museum (yes, it exists), so that may be how we spend our day. Anyway, more to come later!

Namaste from Bombay!

We're in Bombay/Mumbai now and I've completely skipped over Udaipur, the wedding, and a bunch of other goodies. I'll come back to all of that when I have some more time and can upload a few pictures. What is a description of dancing in front of a blinging white stallion surrounded by a band without the pictures to prove that it really happened? Anyway, my mind is completed inundated with Bombay at the moment, so I'm in a better position to updated about my impressions of this city.

I don't know what I expected of Bombay, but it's not this. First of all, its hot and humid. Where Rajasthan was hot and dry during the day and cold at night, Bombay seems to be hot 24/7. Second, Bombay is green. There are lush trees everywhere, lining streets packed with old colonial buildings and surrounding modern apartment blocks. Parks abound. Third, Bombay is clean and beautiful - at least the parts of the city that we've visited.

My overwhelming impression of Bombay is one of a city developing at two different speeds. On one side are the laborers who are riding carts laden with goods around town on horse carts. On the other side are the young kids driving slick cars and eating at overpriced western-style restaurants (not to mention the billionaire who is building himself a tower as his family home).

We've done a fair bit of touristy stuff. Yesterday, we visited the famous Victoria Terminus and watched the comings-and-goings of seemingly hundreds of people within a 15 minute span. We wandered about the huge and stately Post Office where an elderly gentleman warned us off of touts and corrupt taxi drivers. We visited the Gate of India and saw the blockades, police, and security gates surrounding the Taj Mahal Hotel, where the terrorist attacks occurred in 2009. We took a boat to Elephanta Island - about one hour off the coast - where we saw sculptures of Krishna carved into caves by Hindu devotees a millennium ago. To top it off, we watched a bit of Gandhi in our hotel room. What visit to India is complete without watching Gandhi? Today, we toured the Gandhi Museum (the movie inspired us) and the history museum.

Obviously, there is a lot to do and see in Bombay that we didn't get around to, but I feel that we've done well in our two-day stopover. After the energetic city, I feel ready for a taste of the beaches of north Goa - and a break from touts and corrupt taxi drivers. 

Field Notes from Jaipur

Clearly I haven't been posting from India as frequently as I'd intended to, but it's been difficult to find the time and mental space to sit down and write. I'll try to broadly capture what we got up to in Jaipur, but will have to post pictures later. In the meantime, please be patient with this text-heavy blog post.

December 1-4: Jaipur
We arrived in Delhi via Air India on December 1. The airline wasn't as bad as everyone had made it out to be, though the movie selection was awful (the only English movies were Sex in the City I, Sex in the City II, and the Hangover). We made it through security without any troubles, and then went in search of the driver that we had hastily booked the day before to take us to Jaipur. After an hour of waiting, he was still nowhere to be found. Finally, after calling the cab booking company three times - and using up all of the credit on our UK SIM cards -  we found him and embarked on the five and a half hour drive to Jaipur. I can't say much about the journey, as I nodded in and out the entire time. However, Ritchie reported that it was an endless stream of small shops selling car parts and construction materials. He likened it to the Aurora Avenue of India.

We arrived at our guest house (austere, but clean) late in the evening and, due to jet lag, woke up at an ungodly hour. We set about exploring the city by foot and, true to form, did not use a guide but waited to stumble upon the sites. We were lucky the first day, taking in a museum, a palace, and the very dusty old town, all of which is hued the same shade of peach - hence the moniker, "the Pink City." We also stopped by the train station to book tickets to Udaipur, which was an interesting experience involving long lines, attempted hoppings of the queue by shady looking characters, and absolutely no available tickets in sleeper cars to Udaipur.

After the first day, we knew to expect no sidewalks, dust, animal crap, and other effluence on the streets and took tuk-tuks (three-wheeled motorized rickshaws) everywhere. Our first stop was the clothing bazaar, where I intended to buy cloth for a sari for the second night of the wedding. We spent some time wandering around, but I'm not a natural shopper and ended up buying some relatively pretty fabric in the first shop that we spent any real time in. The salesman then took us to see the "master stitcher" - a soft spoken gentleman with a pedal-run sewing machines in a tiny slot of a shop. He measured me as curious onlookers gawked and promised that my clothes would be ready the next day. We bought Ritchie a traditional korta and pajama, which he will almost certainly never wear again, but we figured was a critical part of the wedding experience. (The wedding was an experience in its own right, so I'll post about that separately - hopefully with pictures.)

On our third day in Jaipur, we had the opportunity to watch - and participate in - an elephant polo match. This was one of the highlights of our trip to Jaipur. As Ritchie described it, elephant polo is a game dreamed-up by a mad man. Who else would think that massive, slow-moving animals would be good sportsman? We sat on the back of elephants and held onto a rope with one hand and a very long - and heavy - polo stick with the other. The elephant driver sat in front and steered the beast by kicking it behind the ears. The elephants lumbered slowly from one end of the field to the other, while the players tried to hack at a soccer ball with the heavy polo sticks. Onlookers sat under a white tent sipping tea and eating little finger sandwiches while uniformed servers brought cold drinks - it all felt very colonial and something that I'll likely never do again. Unless, of course, anyone knows of any elephant polo leagues looking for players in Seattle.

On the fourth day, we rested. Sightseeing and weddings are exhausting work! The next day, though, we hired a tuk-tuk to take us to Amber Fort, which is a couple of miles outside of Jaipure. The site is the original seat of the Jaipur Maharajas and much of the palace has been restored. That evening, we caught a flight to Udaipur and so ended our five days in Jaipur.

Finally in the UK!

After several days of sad goodbyes to family and friends, we finally departed for the UK and arrived this morning. Unusually, the flight was pretty good! Without paying for an upgrade, I was able to claim five entire seats and sleep lying down. Ritchie had two seats and slept happily. Add a curry option for dinner and you have two very satisfied flyers. Anyway, boring airplane ride aside, we had a nice welcome at my in-laws house and got to visit with everyone for a few hours. (According to my mother-in-law, it wasn’t “dinner,” it was a “buffet.” I don’t know the difference). Ritchie and I only have two days in the UK before we leave for India; I fully plan on spending those two days relaxing, stuffing myself with pies and scotch eggs, and reading the Daily Mail while drinking tea. Please don't expect any interesting posts for the next few days - as exemplified by this post - as the real adventures have yet to start.

This is what packing for a year looks like.

Packing is a total nightmare. I like to think that I have a system to ensure that I pack everything I need. The system goes something like this:

1. A week before departure, throw every form of clothing that I own on the floor.
2. Arrange into sloppy piles.
3. Let sit for several days (but look at piles and feel stressed out every time I enter the bedroom).
4. Re-arrange piles into less sloppy forms; throw more clothes on the floor.
5. Hours before departure, stuff clothes into suitcases in a panic.
6. Once on airplane, remember important items that I have forgotten (probably somewhere on the floor).

This picture was taken with my phone which has a lame camera, but this gives you the general idea:

As I said, it's a nightmare. Yet, I have so many other things to do and I don't leave until Saturday! That leaves me at least a few hours on Saturday morning to haphazardly throw this crap into my collection of suitcases. Wish me luck!

Visas, Shmisas

Salam! I'm feeling excited about my future plans today, though a little apprehensive about all the pieces that need to fall into place before the Epic Journey can begin.

I'm submitting my paperwork for my Kyrgyz visa today. I'd heard that the Kyrgyz Consulate workers were not particularly friendly (or helpful) so I put on my most chipper phone voice when I called. It was true, the guy who answered sounded like he had somewhere better to be, possibly the chai room. With one-dimensional civility, he told me that they are no longer issuing one-year visas. The best I can hope for is three months, with multiple extensions. This seems like a ploy to get me to spend more money on the Kyrgyz Government, but I could be wrong (I'm not wrong). In addition to being grumpy and unhelpful, I'd heard that the Consulate is incredibly slow, even causing a friend to have to apply for a new passport the night before a flight because they never returned hers. So, I'm beginning early and hoping for the best.

After this biznass is all taken care of, I'll need to apply for an Indian visa, as well. But more to come on that later.  

Finally learning Russian - 10 years late

I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. At the age of near-thirty, I've finally decided to learn Russian. Of course, learning a language isn't as easy as it used to be for me. The complicated vowel and consonent clusters that sound so beautiful and elegant coming out of my tutor's mouth make me sound like a Wookiee. And I've only barely begun to study cases, which I'm told are the bane of any Russian student's existence. I need to get learning and I need to get learning fast. Kyrgyzstan is fast-approaching and I don't even know how to count past ten. How will I possibly interview people for my research? Better yet, how will I pay my rent?

Based on some rough calculations (four wasted years of university; one year studying Japanese; and two years of studying Uzbek), I could have spent SEVEN YEARS learning Russian and be near-fluent by now! Of course, as an undergraduate I never could have predicted that I'd want to spend months of my life eating mutton and drinking chai in Central Asia, but that is beside the point. I'm dedicated now, even if it may be ten years too late.

Which reminds me, it's time to hit the knigi.

Less Outdated Liberia Photos

I went to Liberia. I mentioned that I went to Liberia, right? I spent three months doing research on customary land rights, so the majority of my time was spent in far-flung villages without electricity, toilets, showers, etc. Despite some minor downfalls (such as being stung on the nose by a wasp and a few bouts of giardia), my time in Liberia was an amazing experience that allowed me to develop as both a professional and a person.

Also, I got to meet amazing people, climb mountains, and go to the beach. I'm so glad that this is my job!

Seriously Outdated Wedding Photos

No, seriously! I got married! And here are some photos to prove it:

Two Years Later

It's been about two years since my last blog post. To summarize what I've been doing since July 2009:

• I got married (woot-woot!);
• I got an actual job at an actual international nonprofit (and I love it);
• I went to Liberia for work (my first trip to Africa);
• I went on vacation;
• I ran a half-marathon (and started training for another);
• I started learning Russian; and,
• I got a Fulbright to Kyrgyzstan!

This last point is my main inspiration for jumping back into the blogosphere. Day to day life in Seattle is great, but not interesting enough to write about every day. Nor is it interesting enough to read about every day. In contrast, day to day life in Kyrgyzstan is very interesting. If you've been reading this blog for a long time (i.e. if you're my Mom or my sister), then you probably remember stories about almost getting trampled by young stallions bolting down the road. That doesn't happen here. Civil Unrest Fest? That also doesn't happen here.

What I'm trying to say is, after six years, I'm going back to Kyrgyzstan. And I'm pretty excited about it.

New volunteering gig

I met with the Country Director for Relief International yesterday. In Tajikistan, Relief International primarly sets-up internet centers in schools across the country to promote cultural understanding and education. As a volunteer, I'll be working at one of the internet centers - at a local school for the deaf. One of the deaf students is currently learning English with the hopes of studying in the US for a year and I'm going to help her.

I have experience teaching English, but not to deaf students. This will pose a new challenge. Also, I hadn't expected to be teaching English in Dushanbe, but I think this will be a new and interesting experience. Also, if this student does end up studying in the US, I'll have helped get her there.