Monday, November 23, 2009
just in case
I neglected to write a good final post. I think everyone who reads this blog knows me, but I've heard rumors that there are folks in Fairbanks following the Jaki's summer adventures and therefore my summer and fall adventures. So for the potential strangers, just wanted to let you all know that I'm home. This month in Carrboro has been strange and wonderful and I'm finally feeling settled back into life here. India creeps its way back into my thoughts daily, and there's still a lot to digest from the experience. I think I'll be back. It's good to be home. Love to all.
Friday, October 9, 2009
vacation
I am here! On this cliff! It's beautiful!
The address of my hotel is "Cliff, Varkala." On Sunday, I'm going to Trivandrum to pick up my mama and then we're going to lounge here for a few days before going back to Sarang.
This is by far the most touristy place I've been in India. On one hand it's nice to indulge in smoothies and to feel comfortable lounging on the beach with my shoulders and knees exposed. But I've been so concious of being modest here that it's hard to join in the fun of stripping down to my bikini and renting a boogie board with everyone else. Which I really really wanna do because there are perfect waves here. I'll give my shoulders some sun, then see how it goes.
Also, I accidentally watched the live streaming of the moon crash. Then Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. That's the first TV I've watched in months. It was confusing.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
lessons in google
Hi Friends,
Each night after dinner, we have general body meetings, where the kids share their journals, review the day and plan for the next. Recently they've started trying to translate their journal entries for me, rather than have Anu or Gauthum do so. Everyone tends to contribute a word or two, until they have the makings of a sentence. Once they get a sentence constructed they all say it together a few times to lock it in.
So as part of the kids computer class, where they are learning photoshop, Gauthum asked them to each make an advertisement. He warned them that when you google image search things, you don't always get exactly what you are looking for. Uni learned this the hard way, when she did a google search for "girl," and "girl advertisement" and then "malayalam girl advertisement" while trying to find a Keralan movie star to use for her advertisement. I was sitting in the corner of the room while she was doing this, and could tell things were not going as planned, but in the spirit of experiential learning, assumed she'd figure it out eventually.
Anyway, last night when she read her journal there was a lot of laughter and the kids quickly figure out a translation, which they sung to me as a chorus (you really have to imagine the chorus of voices and faces hoping I'll understand them for this to have full effect):
"Today. Uniarcha. Googled. Girl. She. Found. Bad. Pictures."
Here they paused while I took it in and then erupted in laughter at my 'oh noooo' face. They continued,
"Then. She. Googled. Girl. Advertisement. She. Still. Got. Bad. Pictures. She. Is. Still. Searching. For. A. Good. Picture."
So, photoshop pros, but still working on the googling skills.
Each night after dinner, we have general body meetings, where the kids share their journals, review the day and plan for the next. Recently they've started trying to translate their journal entries for me, rather than have Anu or Gauthum do so. Everyone tends to contribute a word or two, until they have the makings of a sentence. Once they get a sentence constructed they all say it together a few times to lock it in.
So as part of the kids computer class, where they are learning photoshop, Gauthum asked them to each make an advertisement. He warned them that when you google image search things, you don't always get exactly what you are looking for. Uni learned this the hard way, when she did a google search for "girl," and "girl advertisement" and then "malayalam girl advertisement" while trying to find a Keralan movie star to use for her advertisement. I was sitting in the corner of the room while she was doing this, and could tell things were not going as planned, but in the spirit of experiential learning, assumed she'd figure it out eventually.
Anyway, last night when she read her journal there was a lot of laughter and the kids quickly figure out a translation, which they sung to me as a chorus (you really have to imagine the chorus of voices and faces hoping I'll understand them for this to have full effect):
"Today. Uniarcha. Googled. Girl. She. Found. Bad. Pictures."
Here they paused while I took it in and then erupted in laughter at my 'oh noooo' face. They continued,
"Then. She. Googled. Girl. Advertisement. She. Still. Got. Bad. Pictures. She. Is. Still. Searching. For. A. Good. Picture."
So, photoshop pros, but still working on the googling skills.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
clarification
Alright just so everyone knows, I am not staying in this country until January! Rumors. My bank account, parents, love of Christmas, thesis, and most importantly my visa, will simply not allow it. I'll be home for Thanksgiving.
In other news, Monday was the day in the Malayalam calendar when classes traditionally start. Although the public school system no longer recognizes this day, most of the music and art teachers still do. So, there was a lot of music, excitement, poojas and dakshinas (offerings to new teachers) round these parts. My "guitar students" gave me dakshinas, which I accepted but don't feel like I deserve because I will probably be out of chords to teach them in like a week.
My days are full of yoga, drumming, mutual tiny language lessons, chai, and a kitchen I still don't understand. And books. Many many books. I read when I get tired of not understanding anything. And I'm trying to hold on tightly to my quickly fading English skills.
Love you all!
In other news, Monday was the day in the Malayalam calendar when classes traditionally start. Although the public school system no longer recognizes this day, most of the music and art teachers still do. So, there was a lot of music, excitement, poojas and dakshinas (offerings to new teachers) round these parts. My "guitar students" gave me dakshinas, which I accepted but don't feel like I deserve because I will probably be out of chords to teach them in like a week.
My days are full of yoga, drumming, mutual tiny language lessons, chai, and a kitchen I still don't understand. And books. Many many books. I read when I get tired of not understanding anything. And I'm trying to hold on tightly to my quickly fading English skills.
Love you all!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
in their natural state
One thing Jaki and I talked about a lot this summer was our utter ignorance about how many many things come to be. Like pineapples and peanuts and tea. I mean, I had a mental image of a tea leaf and hills of the western ghats covered in plantations, but not until I saw them in June did I GET it. Same with pineapples. Same with nutmeg. Everyone talks about how much you learn about culture and people when you travel but no one ever mentions how much you learn about FOOD!
So, I've been in the kitchen this week. They make their own everything; powders from chili and nutmeg and coriander, butter, coconut oil, etc. You name it, they've made it from step one. I have to embrace my relative ignorance in everything about the kitchen and the food, and ask what everything is all the time. Because cooking is one of the students' subjects here, they are quick in the kitchen and quick to point out when i slice a carrot too thickly or put a pinch too much ground coconut in a dish. It's really intimidating when we're all sitting around at meal time and everyone starts eating and I hear "EmilyCheche" followed by the name of the dish I've made. Sometimes giggles, sometimes thumbs up and (still ambiguous) head bobbles. With the exception of some overcooked yam slices in my aviel, I'm apparently doing okay. Phew. But y'all, Thanksgiving. Just you wait.
But I've also realized why Indian restaurants in the states are expensive.
1) These ingredients are largley things I have never seen in the whole of United States. But again I know nothing about things in their natural state. Maybe all of this grows in Kentucky.
2) This takes TIME. It's no spaghetti or burrito.
It's nice to know these things. In other news, My mom will be here in a little over two weeks! We are going to the beach! This country will make me leave in a little over eight weeks! How does it move so fast??
So, I've been in the kitchen this week. They make their own everything; powders from chili and nutmeg and coriander, butter, coconut oil, etc. You name it, they've made it from step one. I have to embrace my relative ignorance in everything about the kitchen and the food, and ask what everything is all the time. Because cooking is one of the students' subjects here, they are quick in the kitchen and quick to point out when i slice a carrot too thickly or put a pinch too much ground coconut in a dish. It's really intimidating when we're all sitting around at meal time and everyone starts eating and I hear "EmilyCheche" followed by the name of the dish I've made. Sometimes giggles, sometimes thumbs up and (still ambiguous) head bobbles. With the exception of some overcooked yam slices in my aviel, I'm apparently doing okay. Phew. But y'all, Thanksgiving. Just you wait.
But I've also realized why Indian restaurants in the states are expensive.
1) These ingredients are largley things I have never seen in the whole of United States. But again I know nothing about things in their natural state. Maybe all of this grows in Kentucky.
2) This takes TIME. It's no spaghetti or burrito.
It's nice to know these things. In other news, My mom will be here in a little over two weeks! We are going to the beach! This country will make me leave in a little over eight weeks! How does it move so fast??
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
week 20
You guys i have been away from home for 20 weeks. That's creeping up on half a year. No WONDER I miss you all so much.
Yesterday a few of the students took me to a farm where we climbed trees and picked (more like swatted) nutmegs! If you have never seen the inside of a nutmeg, do some google research. I have never seen nature make such a rich red.
The kids have a show on October 9th, so practices of all kinds have started. They are singing and drumming and planning. Today they started practicing their Kalari, which is the traiditional martial art of Kerala,. It the flexibility and strength of yoga plus the cardiovascular strength of a triathlon. That was my one day experience with it in June, anyway. But these guys are rockstars, so, no problem.
I'm being devoured by mosquitoes I have to leave this computer!
Yesterday a few of the students took me to a farm where we climbed trees and picked (more like swatted) nutmegs! If you have never seen the inside of a nutmeg, do some google research. I have never seen nature make such a rich red.
The kids have a show on October 9th, so practices of all kinds have started. They are singing and drumming and planning. Today they started practicing their Kalari, which is the traiditional martial art of Kerala,. It the flexibility and strength of yoga plus the cardiovascular strength of a triathlon. That was my one day experience with it in June, anyway. But these guys are rockstars, so, no problem.
I'm being devoured by mosquitoes I have to leave this computer!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
reimagining
Now that I have more regular internet-age, I think I'll post more often so you all don't have to read a novel every month or so.
So, today, things about Sarang that I like:
I have not thrown anything away since I've been here. Only compost. Check plus.
I thought I might become unaddicted to coffee while here, until the kids learned that I like coffee and now it appears in front of me a few times a day with someone saying "EmilyCheche? Coffee?" (Cheche = elder sister)
My music classes won't start up again until next Monday, so I'm spending this week in the kitchen learning the art of this delicious delicious cuisine.
Everyone does yoga together in the mornings.
Adi, the youngest boy, likes our encounters to be a constant trading of English and Malayalam words. He'll just run up to me with some new object and say "Malayalam, ____. English word?" Thus my language immersion begins.
These kids know how to do everything.
They also have a constant craving to learn more.
So, today, things about Sarang that I like:
I have not thrown anything away since I've been here. Only compost. Check plus.
I thought I might become unaddicted to coffee while here, until the kids learned that I like coffee and now it appears in front of me a few times a day with someone saying "EmilyCheche? Coffee?" (Cheche = elder sister)
My music classes won't start up again until next Monday, so I'm spending this week in the kitchen learning the art of this delicious delicious cuisine.
Everyone does yoga together in the mornings.
Adi, the youngest boy, likes our encounters to be a constant trading of English and Malayalam words. He'll just run up to me with some new object and say "Malayalam, ____. English word?" Thus my language immersion begins.
These kids know how to do everything.
They also have a constant craving to learn more.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Oh man guys. I'm not sure where to start.
Three weeks into India round two, and I've finally made it back to where I was in June, Aranmula. But first, a quick run down of where I've been:
Chennai - skippable city.
Mamallapuram - take all the attention you get for being a woman traveling alone in India, plus all the attention you get at a seedy beach town, and you get Mamallapuram. I left pretty quickly after spending an evening with a kid in the Bob Marley Cafe having homosexuality and murder explained to me in terms of sin and cos.
Auroville - Auroville. What the hell. This is a crazytown people. It is LOST meets Carrboro in India. It's a "universal city in the making," started by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, a famous philospher and poet from Tamil Nadu. I spent a week there just trying to figure out what was going on, and in the process met some of the most amazing people I've ever met. ONE OF WHOM, was a french guy in his sixties who was, I kid you not John Locke. He even used is pocket knife at meal time. Also they drive around cars that look like the Dharma Initiative cars that say "The Auroville Project" Anyawy, I think it's a really special place doing some very important research for humanity, and not somewhere I can be yet. Someday perhaps.
Trichy and Maudrai - saw some big beautiful inspiring temples.
Kodaikanal - got out of big cities to see some MOUNTAINS. had the most exquisite view from my hostel. Went on a nine hour hike down the mountains and couldn't really move the next day. Oh and I was COLD for four days for the first time in SO LONG.
AND 20 hours and six buses later....Aranmula!
I think I've told most of you about what I am doing, but just in case: I am living with a family that runs an alternative boarding school out of their home. Trying to democratize learning and the family structure, they have set up a really amazing place where these kids are becoming responsible, kind and articulate people. They have two campuses: One is on their farm a few hours east of here, where they are teaching and learning through experiments in organic farming and reforestation. They other campus is here in Aranmula, where the kids are able to take arts classes with the teachers from VKV. There are ten kids between 8 and 21, the parents, and Gauthum and Anu, their first son and his wife who are in their mid twenties. So there are 15 of us in this big ole house and there is constant music and laughter and cooking. Yesterday we spent about 22 hours traveling to a city where the kids have a regular radio program. Tomorrow we are trekking into the woods to learn about butterflies and dragonflies. The father is in the process of adapting their most recent radio drama (which they wrote) into a street performance. Am I in heaven?
Ok, all for now. Love you all.
Three weeks into India round two, and I've finally made it back to where I was in June, Aranmula. But first, a quick run down of where I've been:
Chennai - skippable city.
Mamallapuram - take all the attention you get for being a woman traveling alone in India, plus all the attention you get at a seedy beach town, and you get Mamallapuram. I left pretty quickly after spending an evening with a kid in the Bob Marley Cafe having homosexuality and murder explained to me in terms of sin and cos.
Auroville - Auroville. What the hell. This is a crazytown people. It is LOST meets Carrboro in India. It's a "universal city in the making," started by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, a famous philospher and poet from Tamil Nadu. I spent a week there just trying to figure out what was going on, and in the process met some of the most amazing people I've ever met. ONE OF WHOM, was a french guy in his sixties who was, I kid you not John Locke. He even used is pocket knife at meal time. Also they drive around cars that look like the Dharma Initiative cars that say "The Auroville Project" Anyawy, I think it's a really special place doing some very important research for humanity, and not somewhere I can be yet. Someday perhaps.
Trichy and Maudrai - saw some big beautiful inspiring temples.
Kodaikanal - got out of big cities to see some MOUNTAINS. had the most exquisite view from my hostel. Went on a nine hour hike down the mountains and couldn't really move the next day. Oh and I was COLD for four days for the first time in SO LONG.
AND 20 hours and six buses later....Aranmula!
I think I've told most of you about what I am doing, but just in case: I am living with a family that runs an alternative boarding school out of their home. Trying to democratize learning and the family structure, they have set up a really amazing place where these kids are becoming responsible, kind and articulate people. They have two campuses: One is on their farm a few hours east of here, where they are teaching and learning through experiments in organic farming and reforestation. They other campus is here in Aranmula, where the kids are able to take arts classes with the teachers from VKV. There are ten kids between 8 and 21, the parents, and Gauthum and Anu, their first son and his wife who are in their mid twenties. So there are 15 of us in this big ole house and there is constant music and laughter and cooking. Yesterday we spent about 22 hours traveling to a city where the kids have a regular radio program. Tomorrow we are trekking into the woods to learn about butterflies and dragonflies. The father is in the process of adapting their most recent radio drama (which they wrote) into a street performance. Am I in heaven?
Ok, all for now. Love you all.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
superlatives and lists!! ((long overdue))
i know this is so late, but i've been busy ya'll!
after a 53 hour commute (yes, 53, yes, count 'em, 53 hours to get to charlotte from kuala lumpur), i have been keeping busy with long-lost things like peaches and bathtubs and bookshelves.
BUT before all that, emily and i compiled a list of the best and worst of southeast asia, either as helpful travel advice to anyone planning a trip in the future or just because it was really fun.
here we go:
Best smart-traveler move:
Winner: taking a $3, local overnight bus from Jakarta to Solo. 16 hours as the main attraction on a bus crammed with people, vendors selling giant stuffed animals, band-aids and everything else imaginable. some unpleasant knee-groping from the creep across the seat, a pretty constant paranoia of being robbed, and a completely sleepless night, but a true traveling experience. and we saved like $20.
Best surprise:
Winner: Tadlo, Laos, a picture-perfect, not-yet-discovered by Lonely Planet, town with cheap bungalows huge waterfalls really great people and good food.
Runner-up: finding a amusement park, complete with rollarcoasters, popcorn and bumper cars (we got schooled by an Indonesian kid btw), in the small town of Solo, Indonesia.
Biggest 'should-have-listened-to-Lonely-Planet' moment:
Winner: taking the lovingly-dubbed 'scam bus' from Si Phan Don into Cambodia. It started as an uncomfortable bus ride, escalated into a border crossing where the guard (named Ouch Mean. for real guys.) piled on 'extra fees' and took literally all of our dollars, and climaxed with having to pay an extra $6 to sit in a minivan listening to a Eurotrashy hipster talking about having sex with underage prostitutes in Bangkok. pass.
Biggest 'skip it' place:
Winner: Jakarta. seriously fuck Jakarta. We spent two days sitting in traffic, seeing nothing nice or pretty, and feeling generally sketched out and unwelcome. This was about a week after the bombing, so maybe we caught it on a rough week but our overall impression was don't bother with Jakarta.
Runner-up: Pulau Perhentian. beautiful islands off the coast of malaysia, which sounds like a no-brainer until you realize you're about to see many easier-to-access, cheaper, more beautiful islands. also, there was a tsunami warning while we were there. downer.
Best example of globalization:
Winner: talking with a group of young monks in Luang Prabang about the death of Michael Jackson.
Most enigmatic injuries:
Winner(s): Emily's month-long Cipro-resistant dysentary and Jaki's persistent 2-month-long sprained ankle. we don't know what kept emily sick or how jaki sprained her ankle. weird right?
((ps my ankle is STILL swollen. wtf ligaments))
Most kickass, generous foreigner:
Winner(s): TIE between Vincent, who hooked us up with every theatre in KL and saved Jaki from a lot of fulbright redtape, and Yasmina, who let us live in her perfect Bali apartment for 3 weeks for freeee.
Best faux-celebrity moment:
Winner: relaxing on the beautiful beach in sanur, taking off our sarongs only to be ambushed by 10+ (fully-clothed) balinese teenagers who insisted on being photographed a minimum of 25 times with our bikini-clad white-skinned selves.
Best pretrip purchase:
Winner: steripen. despite jaki using it incorrectly for a solid 2 weeks, it saved us many a time from the sickness that only took us down once.
Worst food:
Winner: DURIEN DURIEN A THOUSAND TIMES DURIEN. there's no way to describe how awful this 'king of fruits' is, despite its hyper-popularity in all of seasia. it's like rotten melon and cheese and garlic and mostly, hot garbage. there's a popular saying about durien, that it 'smells like hell, tastes like paradise' because it really smells like garbage and everyone realizes it, but what they're not admitting is that actually it smells like hell and tastes just as bad.
Runnerup: cuttlefish. i'd take a cricket to that nasty crinkly dried sealife any day.
Best food:
Winner: everything else. special shoutouts to seasian fruit (mangosteen, mangos, rose apples, lychee, rambutans, pineapples that will spoil u.s. pineapples forever), and the amazing indian food in KL.
Things we wish we'd known:
1) If you go to Indonesia, learn some Indonesian because everyone expects you to speak it
2) That Emily is both number-dyslexic (chica can't handle the 00's ya'll) and has a zero-tolerance policy for being hassled, catcalled, or anything of the sort.
3) Most importantly: that having white skin makes you a lot of things. It makes you mostly really funny to everyone, it also makes you interesting and intrinsically sexy to a lot of people so get ready to be talked to by everyone, and have your picture taken, and stared at ALL THE TIME. really
Special section: Catcalls, best of 2009, Southeast Asian edition
1) setting: drinking guinness in jakarta with a bunch of futbol players from cameroon (right, wtf?)
the line(to em): 'Is it possible to love you?'
the line(to jaki): 'I have a house near Bali, will you come away with me?'
response(from both): 'No.'
2) setting: zooming at 60 km on our beloved motorbike nusa dua, a man holding a baby and riding with his friend swerve up and drive next to us
the line(to jaki): 'How is it that you are so beautiful?'
response: confusion.
the line: 'Are you available?'
response: glance at baby, 'Are you?'
3) setting: walking to the beach
the line(to em): 'hey sexy'
em(simultaneous with his line): NOT OK!
4) setting: walking through some insane mall
the line(to jaki): (said very earnestly btw) 'I UNDERSTAND YOU.'
response: 'you do? i mean...i've been looking for a guy who understands me but who would have thunk i'd find him here!!'
ok guys, that concludes our best of seasia volume one, i've got to go watch madmen with my housemates (seriously, i am so acclimated)
seasia is so fun. you should all go. we should go back.
em's going to keep this blog because, while i'm over here illegally downloading music and wearing earrings, she is still in India!!! so keep reading.
lovejaki
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
BLOGATOGE
seriously guys, i just have to tell you how horrifically the trip ended.* i mean, i don't even want to get into it. let's just say jaki was really really terrible to me for the nine weeks we spent seeing the world. now we're not talking. it's shocking i know. we fought fought fought and eventually we just stopped talking. c'est la vie. did she make it home safely? boy i hope so. kind of. **
*jk it was awesome
**this blog entry will be replaced by a real post telling you guys about my adventures in India if darling jaki ever posts our final blog we've prepared. to get you all excited, we've got superlatives.
[love you jax.]
*jk it was awesome
**this blog entry will be replaced by a real post telling you guys about my adventures in India if darling jaki ever posts our final blog we've prepared. to get you all excited, we've got superlatives.
[love you jax.]
Friday, August 14, 2009
A Day in the Life
Hello. We had a dream that Bali would be nothing but doing yoga and eating well and sleeping and reading in hammocks. Did ya'll know dreams come true? And maybe even more than true? Proof:
7:30 - Emily wakes up, reads in the hammock
9:00 - Jaki wakes up, reads in the hammock
Breakfast happens. It's either oatmeal we make at the bungalow or fruit salad and yogurt from the villas next door.
.....some hours disappear. maybe we go to the beach on our motorbike, maybe we read more and write and talk about dumb things like trying to remember the phrases "motorcade" and "intellectual property law"
sometimes emily has to go on the computer and do homework. but mostly that means typing up pages from her journal. and blogging.
4:00 - we go to yoga for 90 - 105 minutes at the yoga barn. it's really funny. we try not to giggle, but people take this stuff SERIOUSLY. so seriously. we are trying to be zen, and strong, and flexible, but as we watch teachers in training behind us chanting om shanti shanti shanti om while they propel themselves into the air on like three fingertips, it's hard to feel like we are any of those things. also, the place looks like pictures you see of yoga studios that the yoga studios never actually look like. we are in a loft that smells like heaven looking at a statue of ganesha who is covered in plumerias and hybiscus which overlooks rice fields where kids fly kites. and the people there look like the just stepped out of "eat pray love" the movie. so that's yoga. it's nice.
6:00 - dinner, usually at Bali Buddha. It is full of western cuisine, which is kind of the only thing our stomachs can handle at the moment (we might have dysentary, ya'll. don't worry, parents.) But also Bali Buddha is just delicious. Like tomato soup and bagels and things you wouldn't think you'd miss but oh how we've missed.
8:00 - ride on home. up the hill. we have playing cards and fancy cigarettes and invites to bars that should probably be used during this hour, but they haven't yet. we usually read and get snacks and then...
9:00 - bedtime for jaki. reading time for emily. we're not sure why jaki is sleeping so much. it might be a power nap before coming home or it might be her body catching up after a few months of insomnia. or maybe she's just turning into a slug. who knows. so, emily reads and misses jaki's presence. eventually she sleeps too.
Tomorrow, we're taking a "vacation" to the beach for emily's birthday. 21 yall! 2009 best year o my life!
xoxoxo
7:30 - Emily wakes up, reads in the hammock
9:00 - Jaki wakes up, reads in the hammock
Breakfast happens. It's either oatmeal we make at the bungalow or fruit salad and yogurt from the villas next door.
.....some hours disappear. maybe we go to the beach on our motorbike, maybe we read more and write and talk about dumb things like trying to remember the phrases "motorcade" and "intellectual property law"
sometimes emily has to go on the computer and do homework. but mostly that means typing up pages from her journal. and blogging.
4:00 - we go to yoga for 90 - 105 minutes at the yoga barn. it's really funny. we try not to giggle, but people take this stuff SERIOUSLY. so seriously. we are trying to be zen, and strong, and flexible, but as we watch teachers in training behind us chanting om shanti shanti shanti om while they propel themselves into the air on like three fingertips, it's hard to feel like we are any of those things. also, the place looks like pictures you see of yoga studios that the yoga studios never actually look like. we are in a loft that smells like heaven looking at a statue of ganesha who is covered in plumerias and hybiscus which overlooks rice fields where kids fly kites. and the people there look like the just stepped out of "eat pray love" the movie. so that's yoga. it's nice.
6:00 - dinner, usually at Bali Buddha. It is full of western cuisine, which is kind of the only thing our stomachs can handle at the moment (we might have dysentary, ya'll. don't worry, parents.) But also Bali Buddha is just delicious. Like tomato soup and bagels and things you wouldn't think you'd miss but oh how we've missed.
8:00 - ride on home. up the hill. we have playing cards and fancy cigarettes and invites to bars that should probably be used during this hour, but they haven't yet. we usually read and get snacks and then...
9:00 - bedtime for jaki. reading time for emily. we're not sure why jaki is sleeping so much. it might be a power nap before coming home or it might be her body catching up after a few months of insomnia. or maybe she's just turning into a slug. who knows. so, emily reads and misses jaki's presence. eventually she sleeps too.
Tomorrow, we're taking a "vacation" to the beach for emily's birthday. 21 yall! 2009 best year o my life!
xoxoxo
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Hi Folks,
We made it to Indonesia.
First there was the airport. We didn't really know so many obligatory lines could exist in one building. But they did, and we almost missed our flight, until we found out that our flight was delayed so we had time to get a doughnut. AND right next door to doughnuts was a huge candy shop full of free samples. So, feeling adrenal from the airport sprints and with sugar high from the free samples, we boarded our two hour flight to Jakarta, in airplane with the word AMAZING plastered across it.
Jakarta is pretty much everything you imagine. Hot, crowded, chaotic, essentially the least charming place we've ever been. We pretty much sat in traffic in tuc-tucs and drank iced coffee the whole time we were there. OH and we went to the biggest night club in Jakarta called Stadium, which is what a nightclub at Hogwarts would probably look like. It was magical. Emily wore a yellow onesie. Jaki was actually cute. Then we boarded an economy train to Solo. 12 hours in economy. Any time we told someone where were going there would be a lot of snickering and we could hear the word "economy", so we knew we were in fo something.
[By the way, if you need an ego boost/want to feel like a comic genius, just go to Southeast Asia. The fact that you are white is SO FUNNY. Someone says hello to you, and whether you respond or smile or ignore them, you will be laughed at. This is mostly funny, only sometimes a little obnoxious. Emily would be a really bad celebrity. Jaki might do a little better, she's more tolerant. ]
Back to the train - just getting on this train was the most "oh-yea-i'm-traveling-through-seasia" feeling possible. There were confrences of people trying to get us where we needed to go, jumping from one car to another with our luggage, turning around, jumping off (losing my darling Sigg in the process), and then eventually realizing that we were supposed to be in different cars - but one sweet security man(boy?) made sure we sat together. At first we were pleasently surprised by how empty it was, but by 1 a.m. there were people sitting on every square inch of the train.
We arrived sleepless in Solo with swollen ankles and empty bellies at 8am, and man, has it taken care of us. We are staying in Mama's Homestay, with an overexcited and incomprehensible host, a huge room, and delicious breakfasts and tea. As far as we can tell after a day here, it has a very lively arts scene - with festivals and performances in public squares advertised everywhere. Last night we went to see a wayang-orang (dance-drama) performance. The theatre is attached to an amusment park. I'm talkin bumper cars and rollercoasters and corn on the cob. Can we live here please?
Tomorrow we are going on a bike tour, then going on to Yogakarta before heading to Bali!
We miss and love you all!
We made it to Indonesia.
First there was the airport. We didn't really know so many obligatory lines could exist in one building. But they did, and we almost missed our flight, until we found out that our flight was delayed so we had time to get a doughnut. AND right next door to doughnuts was a huge candy shop full of free samples. So, feeling adrenal from the airport sprints and with sugar high from the free samples, we boarded our two hour flight to Jakarta, in airplane with the word AMAZING plastered across it.
Jakarta is pretty much everything you imagine. Hot, crowded, chaotic, essentially the least charming place we've ever been. We pretty much sat in traffic in tuc-tucs and drank iced coffee the whole time we were there. OH and we went to the biggest night club in Jakarta called Stadium, which is what a nightclub at Hogwarts would probably look like. It was magical. Emily wore a yellow onesie. Jaki was actually cute. Then we boarded an economy train to Solo. 12 hours in economy. Any time we told someone where were going there would be a lot of snickering and we could hear the word "economy", so we knew we were in fo something.
[By the way, if you need an ego boost/want to feel like a comic genius, just go to Southeast Asia. The fact that you are white is SO FUNNY. Someone says hello to you, and whether you respond or smile or ignore them, you will be laughed at. This is mostly funny, only sometimes a little obnoxious. Emily would be a really bad celebrity. Jaki might do a little better, she's more tolerant. ]
Back to the train - just getting on this train was the most "oh-yea-i'm-traveling-through-seasia" feeling possible. There were confrences of people trying to get us where we needed to go, jumping from one car to another with our luggage, turning around, jumping off (losing my darling Sigg in the process), and then eventually realizing that we were supposed to be in different cars - but one sweet security man(boy?) made sure we sat together. At first we were pleasently surprised by how empty it was, but by 1 a.m. there were people sitting on every square inch of the train.
We arrived sleepless in Solo with swollen ankles and empty bellies at 8am, and man, has it taken care of us. We are staying in Mama's Homestay, with an overexcited and incomprehensible host, a huge room, and delicious breakfasts and tea. As far as we can tell after a day here, it has a very lively arts scene - with festivals and performances in public squares advertised everywhere. Last night we went to see a wayang-orang (dance-drama) performance. The theatre is attached to an amusment park. I'm talkin bumper cars and rollercoasters and corn on the cob. Can we live here please?
Tomorrow we are going on a bike tour, then going on to Yogakarta before heading to Bali!
We miss and love you all!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR CUT A GIRL SOME SLACK
hiya
we're in the capital of malaysia, kuala lumpur, right now. the city is amazing, so diverse and not in a buzzword way but in an actual, no-one-looks-the-same way.
you walk down the street past a woman in a full black burka then a chinese girl in white face powder and a miniskirt then past indian women with bindis and white guys in tennis shoes.
we saw a dancedrama performance and 1) it was AMAZING, 20x cooler than 90% of the stuff we've seen in the states 2) the people working on it were unreally nice and talked to us forever afterwards giving us the scoop on KL's happening arts scene 3) a bunch of people took our picture afterwards and we're pretty sure we're in the newspaper's art section now.
so, we're basically spending our days dreaming up ways to get the fulbright to give jaki a bunch of money so we can come back here and study theatre.
also KL is IMPOSSIBLE to navigate. all the roads are crooked, its an 'anti-grid' infrastructure. you can't walk 2 blocks without getting lost. honestly.
and it isn't just farangs who have this problem. we tried to get a taxi driver to take us to the tourism centre, a huge building, to see a show, and he drove us to a ditch next to an abandoned volvo dealership. REALLY?
to illustrate, here are google maps directions of how to get from chinatown, where we're staying, to Aswara, an arts academy:
1.Head northwest on Jalan Petaling toward Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock
2.Slight right at Jalan Tun H S Lee
3.Turn left at Leboh Pasar Besar
4.Turn right at Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan
5.Turn left to stay on Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan
6.Turn right at Jalan Raja
7.Turn right to stay on Jalan Raja
8.At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Jalan Parlimen
9.Turn right toward Jalan Sultan Salahhudin
10.Continue straight onto Jalan Sultan Salahhudin
11.Slight right to stay on Jalan Sultan Salahhudin
12.Turn left toward Jalan Tunku
13.Turn right toward Jalan Tunku
14.Slight left at Jalan Tunku
15.Turn left at Pesiaran Carruthers
16.Turn right at Jalan Tunku Putra
17.Turn right at Jalan Nusa
18.Turn left to stay on Jalan Nusa
19.Turn right at Lorong Nusa Satu
20.Turn left at Lorong Nusa
21.Slight right at Persiaran Duta
22.Persiaran Duta turns left and becomes Jalan Khidmat Usaha
23.Turn right to stay on Jalan Khidmat Usaha
24.Turn left at Jalan Ibadah
25.Turn right
26.Turn left
27.Turn left
Destination will be on the right
27 STEPS?! ok great thanks google we'll do that.
in a couple days, we're flying to jakarta (decided to skip singapore because its mad expensive and it takes a 40+ hour ferry to get to indonesia from there) then we'll be making our way through java and onto BALI! the plan is to stay in bali for about 2 1/2 weeks at a friend-of-a-friends apartment and take balinese dance classes and go to the beach and feel stupidgood.
also, in case you didn't get the email, there are some big logistical changes.
jaki's flight is all fucked/shes having fun so she's probably not coming home the 10,12,15,20, whenever-you-thought-she-might-be, but instead hopefully the 24th, or maybe the 27th.
emily's also delayed. until january. because she's going back to india and not returning to ch for the fall. instead shes going to live at alternative arts-based boarding school in kerala and help a friend on a rural ecotourism project in tamilnadu. CRAZYWORLD.
loveyouall
we're in the capital of malaysia, kuala lumpur, right now. the city is amazing, so diverse and not in a buzzword way but in an actual, no-one-looks-the-same way.
you walk down the street past a woman in a full black burka then a chinese girl in white face powder and a miniskirt then past indian women with bindis and white guys in tennis shoes.
we saw a dancedrama performance and 1) it was AMAZING, 20x cooler than 90% of the stuff we've seen in the states 2) the people working on it were unreally nice and talked to us forever afterwards giving us the scoop on KL's happening arts scene 3) a bunch of people took our picture afterwards and we're pretty sure we're in the newspaper's art section now.
so, we're basically spending our days dreaming up ways to get the fulbright to give jaki a bunch of money so we can come back here and study theatre.
also KL is IMPOSSIBLE to navigate. all the roads are crooked, its an 'anti-grid' infrastructure. you can't walk 2 blocks without getting lost. honestly.
and it isn't just farangs who have this problem. we tried to get a taxi driver to take us to the tourism centre, a huge building, to see a show, and he drove us to a ditch next to an abandoned volvo dealership. REALLY?
to illustrate, here are google maps directions of how to get from chinatown, where we're staying, to Aswara, an arts academy:
1.Head northwest on Jalan Petaling toward Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock
2.Slight right at Jalan Tun H S Lee
3.Turn left at Leboh Pasar Besar
4.Turn right at Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan
5.Turn left to stay on Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan
6.Turn right at Jalan Raja
7.Turn right to stay on Jalan Raja
8.At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Jalan Parlimen
9.Turn right toward Jalan Sultan Salahhudin
10.Continue straight onto Jalan Sultan Salahhudin
11.Slight right to stay on Jalan Sultan Salahhudin
12.Turn left toward Jalan Tunku
13.Turn right toward Jalan Tunku
14.Slight left at Jalan Tunku
15.Turn left at Pesiaran Carruthers
16.Turn right at Jalan Tunku Putra
17.Turn right at Jalan Nusa
18.Turn left to stay on Jalan Nusa
19.Turn right at Lorong Nusa Satu
20.Turn left at Lorong Nusa
21.Slight right at Persiaran Duta
22.Persiaran Duta turns left and becomes Jalan Khidmat Usaha
23.Turn right to stay on Jalan Khidmat Usaha
24.Turn left at Jalan Ibadah
25.Turn right
26.Turn left
27.Turn left
Destination will be on the right
27 STEPS?! ok great thanks google we'll do that.
in a couple days, we're flying to jakarta (decided to skip singapore because its mad expensive and it takes a 40+ hour ferry to get to indonesia from there) then we'll be making our way through java and onto BALI! the plan is to stay in bali for about 2 1/2 weeks at a friend-of-a-friends apartment and take balinese dance classes and go to the beach and feel stupidgood.
also, in case you didn't get the email, there are some big logistical changes.
jaki's flight is all fucked/shes having fun so she's probably not coming home the 10,12,15,20, whenever-you-thought-she-might-be, but instead hopefully the 24th, or maybe the 27th.
emily's also delayed. until january. because she's going back to india and not returning to ch for the fall. instead shes going to live at alternative arts-based boarding school in kerala and help a friend on a rural ecotourism project in tamilnadu. CRAZYWORLD.
loveyouall
Saturday, July 18, 2009
mania
We traveled overland from Phnom Penh to Kota Bharu. If you look at a map you can see how ridiculous this is. This rounded off Jaki's 270th hour of travel thus far. Emily hasn't counted, but hers is gonna be big too.
This is what happened (shout out to Clare and Will, thanks for the word game--its stringing phrases together and you read it out loud and it makes sense)
Evergreenback to the futuramamamia, greece is the word to your motherlandminer league baseball's in your qquart of ice cream of the crop circle of death metal of honorary members only jacket up in dis club foot the bill clinton of brick by ben folds five alive and wellwater under the bridge to nowhere's waldoe eyesenhower you doing today show us your tits just a matter of time is of the essential elementary schoolhouse rock and roly polead the way to your hearts over atlantis the seasonal allergeez loweezer's blue album leggo my eggoing to the countrybaked hamburger and freye of the stormy days ahead of the gameboy meets world peace of mind your own business cardnial gibbons highway robbereese's pieces of april showers bring may god be with ulysees s grant my wish you were here of cornflake placid, ego, superego dog gogo dancer in the dark dark house of leave me alone shark week on discovering america the beautifull of shit happenstants on a log into myspacadetta jamestown, virginia madison square garden of eden of foxy brownnosing a song of sixpence none the richard the third eye blind as a batboy the musical number the star trekky recordless phoney baloney high sock it to me myself and isosceles triangullah gullah island hopping-pongo and perdettough as nail salontrow row your boatmeals on whels on the busstop in the name of loveseat your vegetable and cane sugar rush hour traffic jambalayajah wood you be my valentine's dazed and confusebox of chocolates get out of hereing aids epidemicahbod crane wifi networkingclass ring around the rose petalpusure things fall apart of your worldwide web of lies
this is probably the best way to articulate the fact that we are going INSANE over here in seasia.
loveyouall
This is what happened (shout out to Clare and Will, thanks for the word game--its stringing phrases together and you read it out loud and it makes sense)
Evergreenback to the futuramamamia, greece is the word to your motherlandminer league baseball's in your qquart of ice cream of the crop circle of death metal of honorary members only jacket up in dis club foot the bill clinton of brick by ben folds five alive and wellwater under the bridge to nowhere's waldoe eyesenhower you doing today show us your tits just a matter of time is of the essential elementary schoolhouse rock and roly polead the way to your hearts over atlantis the seasonal allergeez loweezer's blue album leggo my eggoing to the countrybaked hamburger and freye of the stormy days ahead of the gameboy meets world peace of mind your own business cardnial gibbons highway robbereese's pieces of april showers bring may god be with ulysees s grant my wish you were here of cornflake placid, ego, superego dog gogo dancer in the dark dark house of leave me alone shark week on discovering america the beautifull of shit happenstants on a log into myspacadetta jamestown, virginia madison square garden of eden of foxy brownnosing a song of sixpence none the richard the third eye blind as a batboy the musical number the star trekky recordless phoney baloney high sock it to me myself and isosceles triangullah gullah island hopping-pongo and perdettough as nail salontrow row your boatmeals on whels on the busstop in the name of loveseat your vegetable and cane sugar rush hour traffic jambalayajah wood you be my valentine's dazed and confusebox of chocolates get out of hereing aids epidemicahbod crane wifi networkingclass ring around the rose petalpusure things fall apart of your worldwide web of lies
this is probably the best way to articulate the fact that we are going INSANE over here in seasia.
loveyouall
Things that happened in Cambodia:
At Angkor Wat, there is a constant swarm of people trying to sell you everything in the world. A common tactic is to ask your name, and then say "Oh ok i remember you you buy from me later!"... One time Jaki introduced herself to "Chicken" who was trying to sell her water. On the way back from the temple, two hours later, Chicken approached Jaki and said "you remember me you buy from me?!" And Jaki said, "No, sorry, I still have my water, thanks" And Chicken yelled to Jaki as we walked briskly away: "SORRY DOES NOT BUY MY WATER! YOU TELL ME LIIEEES JAKI!"
Emily got propositioned by a deaf, male prostitute.
We discovered a park where there a bunch of superhip, breakdancing six-year-olds, thousands of inflatable toys, and groups of about a hundred people doing group aerobics.
We met people named: Ouch Mean and Say Something, two border guards, and Coy Sneakily, a bank teller. What?
All in all, Cambodia is beautiful and sad and hard and fun. Now Malaysia.
At Angkor Wat, there is a constant swarm of people trying to sell you everything in the world. A common tactic is to ask your name, and then say "Oh ok i remember you you buy from me later!"... One time Jaki introduced herself to "Chicken" who was trying to sell her water. On the way back from the temple, two hours later, Chicken approached Jaki and said "you remember me you buy from me?!" And Jaki said, "No, sorry, I still have my water, thanks" And Chicken yelled to Jaki as we walked briskly away: "SORRY DOES NOT BUY MY WATER! YOU TELL ME LIIEEES JAKI!"
Emily got propositioned by a deaf, male prostitute.
We discovered a park where there a bunch of superhip, breakdancing six-year-olds, thousands of inflatable toys, and groups of about a hundred people doing group aerobics.
We met people named: Ouch Mean and Say Something, two border guards, and Coy Sneakily, a bank teller. What?
All in all, Cambodia is beautiful and sad and hard and fun. Now Malaysia.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
our country tis of thee
last week we ditched our packs and rented motorbikes and biked all around the blovean plateau
!
and we didnt crash. well not really. and no one got hurt. actually, thats a lie. more on that later
BUT
first we spent the night in a place called tadlo that was complete travel-fantasy perfect: a small town, surrounded by waterfalls with thatched-wall bungalows and hammocks and a lot of livestock.
we wandered, hiked, climbed down a broken 20foot bamboo ladder and stumbled on a huge waterfall, tucked away surrounded by jungle-forest-perfection. jumping in screaming "we are the luckiest girrrrllls i cant believe this is reallllllllll this is utopiaaaaaa," we did what any four 20-something, free-spirited girls would do: we took our clothes off, went skinnydipping.
this was a great idea...until (as emily climbed on a bunch of rocks to get to her stuff) , our bungalow-mate wandered up to our same "deserted" waterfall.
failblog. so we all laughed hysterically and he eventually got the hint, and disappeared back into the bush.
crisis averted.
then we look up.
and see a village, ages 5-80, gathered on the top of the waterfall to stare at the buttnaked whiteskinned farangs...
FAILBLOG.
((also, somewhere in this tadlo trip, emily acquired a cold, emily got a sicknasty gangrenous-looking spider bite, and jaki sprained her ankle. like in a major way. but fear not moms, the spider bite has gone down, emilys taking zicam, and i guess we'll take jaki to the doctor if the massive yellow-purple bruising and inability to walk doesnt go away?))
we also spent the 4th of july on the plateau, in a town called pakxong. we tried to celebrate 'merica but had some pretty poor substitutes. it was too high an altitude for watermelon, theyre not really into fireworks, and baked goods or barbeques aint happening.
so we drank beerlao, lit a white glow stick, ate pineapple and marble-cake-from-a-bag, and made an american flag on an old bus ticket.
now, after a 18-hour travel disaster, we're in cambodia, at angkor wat.
lets just say when you read in lonely planet that a border is corrupt, and it will be scammy and a total pain in the ass and you will be miserable---theyre not lying. take their word for it.
also angkor wats the most beautiful thing either of us has ever seen.
love you all; think/talk/want to talk/dream of you all the time.
!
and we didnt crash. well not really. and no one got hurt. actually, thats a lie. more on that later
BUT
first we spent the night in a place called tadlo that was complete travel-fantasy perfect: a small town, surrounded by waterfalls with thatched-wall bungalows and hammocks and a lot of livestock.
we wandered, hiked, climbed down a broken 20foot bamboo ladder and stumbled on a huge waterfall, tucked away surrounded by jungle-forest-perfection. jumping in screaming "we are the luckiest girrrrllls i cant believe this is reallllllllll this is utopiaaaaaa," we did what any four 20-something, free-spirited girls would do: we took our clothes off, went skinnydipping.
this was a great idea...until (as emily climbed on a bunch of rocks to get to her stuff) , our bungalow-mate wandered up to our same "deserted" waterfall.
failblog. so we all laughed hysterically and he eventually got the hint, and disappeared back into the bush.
crisis averted.
then we look up.
and see a village, ages 5-80, gathered on the top of the waterfall to stare at the buttnaked whiteskinned farangs...
FAILBLOG.
((also, somewhere in this tadlo trip, emily acquired a cold, emily got a sicknasty gangrenous-looking spider bite, and jaki sprained her ankle. like in a major way. but fear not moms, the spider bite has gone down, emilys taking zicam, and i guess we'll take jaki to the doctor if the massive yellow-purple bruising and inability to walk doesnt go away?))
we also spent the 4th of july on the plateau, in a town called pakxong. we tried to celebrate 'merica but had some pretty poor substitutes. it was too high an altitude for watermelon, theyre not really into fireworks, and baked goods or barbeques aint happening.
so we drank beerlao, lit a white glow stick, ate pineapple and marble-cake-from-a-bag, and made an american flag on an old bus ticket.
now, after a 18-hour travel disaster, we're in cambodia, at angkor wat.
lets just say when you read in lonely planet that a border is corrupt, and it will be scammy and a total pain in the ass and you will be miserable---theyre not lying. take their word for it.
also angkor wats the most beautiful thing either of us has ever seen.
love you all; think/talk/want to talk/dream of you all the time.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
We were on a bus with:
a monkey
a monk
a Laos girl who vomited on Jaki (like a few times?)
another Laos girl who also vomited a lot.
the song "apple bottom jeans"
intense energy drinks called m150 that we downed and then talked about the WHOLE WORLD.
now we are in vientiene. there are lots of sweet vats here. and french things.
tonight we are getting on a hopefully less dramatic but longer bus. going to southern laos. riding around on motorbikes. we are the happiest girls. we love you all.
a monkey
a monk
a Laos girl who vomited on Jaki (like a few times?)
another Laos girl who also vomited a lot.
the song "apple bottom jeans"
intense energy drinks called m150 that we downed and then talked about the WHOLE WORLD.
now we are in vientiene. there are lots of sweet vats here. and french things.
tonight we are getting on a hopefully less dramatic but longer bus. going to southern laos. riding around on motorbikes. we are the happiest girls. we love you all.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
puhzone
ok since were only in laos for a couple weeks, em and i will probably just share a sim card
SO to reach us
the country code is 856 (wtf right?)
annnd the number is 84404023
sooo you should be able to dial
8568440423
(maybe you have to put a + at the front i dono)
if anyone tries it, will you post and let me know if it doesnt work? i dont really have any way of knowing if these things are functional
LOVEYOUALLLLLL
SO to reach us
the country code is 856 (wtf right?)
annnd the number is 84404023
sooo you should be able to dial
8568440423
(maybe you have to put a + at the front i dono)
if anyone tries it, will you post and let me know if it doesnt work? i dont really have any way of knowing if these things are functional
LOVEYOUALLLLLL
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