So I didn’t exactly blog while I was gone…
Hey guys,
I’m back from my El Salvador trip (but weren’t you suppose to come back late Wednesday night?, why yes, yes I was). It’s strange to be back, especially since I’m suppose to be overlooking a volcano right now. And because I had a blast. Anyways, I’ll start from the beginning.
Getting to El Salvador was a bit of a hassle because Houston had a huge thunderstorm and the airport was shut down. My flight from Boston to Houston was delayed over 5 hours! But so was my flight to El Salvador so it all worked out just fine. Apparently about half the people from the trip got shifted into my flight so we all hung out at the airport which is when I lost my credit card. Anyway, we got into El Salvador after midnight without my bag.
On Sunday we woke up, ate some breakfast and got on a bus to San Vicente. Once everyone (with bags) unpacked, we headed out to some hot springs at the base of a ‘dormant’ volcano. There are a few pics on facebook. The steam coming out was a little intense. We then got dropped off at the grocery store where we bought enough beer for half the night (whoops). This would be quickly and excessively remedied the next evening. We also had an introductory dinner where we got to meet the families whose houses we would be building. I thankfully was with a family that spoke some English. And my bag showed up!
So when we showed up to the build site on Monday it was basically a very steep and rocky hill. There was not a lot of variety to the work. We were either pickaxing and clearing away earth to make level home sites, pick axing and digging trenches on the leveled home sites for footer placement, mixing concrete or hauling its components, or you were working on the rock retaining wall. I think the first two days I just leveled sites out and then Wednesday I made concrete and moved rocks. Thursday was a bit of everything and Friday was spent learning the zen art of moving rocks with little effort from Denis. I was a little tired by then. According to those crazy Canadians the temp was 39C+, which is over 100F for those who needed to look at a conversion chart or something (which of course was not me. Cough).
So the work was hot and hard. I’ve got some blisters that are healing. But the company was fantastic. I have new bffs that can’t be because they live far, far away. And the youth group will be road tripping it this summer if we manage to actually plan anything. On breaks (and not on breaks) I threw rocks at things for target practice, tried to laso a tree with a rubber tube, hit coconuts off a hill with a bent metal bar, and had lots of fun, witty dialogue. It was fantastic. I also tried and failed to ride a wave, wave crashed, goofed off in the pool at the R+R retreat and learned how to play Dutch Blitz, which will be coming in the mail from Amazon later in the week and which I will make people play with me. Fair warning.
And as with every trip, at the end I had to throw away my misconceptions and reevaluate how I see the world, the people around me and myself. Which is the best part of all these trips really. May I never stop growing, never stop learning, never give up on a better tomorrow and learn to live in the moment as much as I can. Till next time! There are pics up on facebook!
I’m leaving for El Salvador soon
As many of you have heard I’ll be going to El Salvador next Saturday for my second Habitat Global Village trip. And I still haven’t learned any Spanish! Oh well. I’ll be in San Vincente for 10 days. So I’ll be blogging again. Hopefully.
I’m back home
I know, I stopped blogging halfway through my trip. Things didn’t go very well after Kevin left for the thrills of Richikesh and the hopes of ‘reconnecting’ with some of the people we had met in Leh. So I thought I would not comment on it in an attempt to remain optimistic. Which didn’t really make bad things stop happening. Sigh.
After Varanasi I went to Johdpur. The overnight train from Delhi to Johdpur was very nice as I was sharing my section of the train with an entire extended family. The father was encouraging his very polite and shy children to speak to me, which was very nice, interesting and cute. They were lovely. Johdpur, however, was not. Men were following me down the streets and some of them making rather inappropriate sexual comments. I was sitting down checking my e-mails and when I was done I looked up to see I had an audience of about 6 young males staring at me through the window. And while I was trying something on in one of the stores I was inappropriately fondled. There might have been some shouting on my part. I also got headbutted rather hard by two cows. With horns. Yeah. That was a great day.
Jaiselmer was slightly better. The men didn’t follow me around, and someone actually pushed me out of the way of a cow that was heading in my direction from across the street. However I got taken in for the first time on my trip. I arrived to Jaiselmer rather late and the office for the camel safari I had gotten multiple recommendations for was closed. So on the suggestion of one of my fellow guest house guests I took my safari with the guest house. Big mistake (I should have just gone to the original place early in the AM and things would have been better). I was lied to about multiple things, including the fact that 5 other people would be on the trip with me. It was just me. Which I was lied to about until I was an hour out of the city and by myself with my camel driver. I spent the night out in the desert by myself and my camera got sand in it, so there are no digital pictures after this trip. When I got back from the ‘safari’ (which it was not), my hotel manager tried to convince me that I had to double book my sleeper bus spot if I wanted to sleep by myself. There might have been some more yelling on my part. And writing of letters to various guidebooks. I ended up getting my ticket from the people I had originally planned on getting my safari through, and he had me drink Chai and talked with me for a while because he could tell I was upset. He was done selling me things and was just being kind, which was much needed at that moment. I also was exploring the fort there and heard my name being called! It was the family from the train. That really cheered me up 
The bus ride was rather nice as I finally was with tourists who spoke English! And the girl I shared my sleeper bed with was very lovely and had also had a bad safari experience. She let me take a nap and shower in her guest room when we got to Udiper. And Udiper was gorgeous. The lake was low, but it was still beautiful. Octopussy filmed here and all of the guest houses have ‘Octopussy’ showings. I wish I could have spent more than 12 hrs there, but I had to take the train to Delhi so I could catch my flight. I did buy a disposable camera so hopefully there will be some pictures developed within the next year or so.
That is not to say that it was all bad. I had felt rather dragged down before and I got to see so many things on the last part of this trip. I have the life stories of so many different people tucked away in the back of my brain right now. Most of the people who tried chatting with me were trying to sell me something, but every once and a while they were just bored and curious and those conversations were great. I also was able to explore to my hearts content, though the pushy sales people made this difficult at times.
All in all it was nice, I just have to push some of the more unfortunate events from the end out of my head. And I barely saw any of India so who knows when I will go back to explore the south. I have to decide where to take my next trip! I definitely want to return to South America in the spring and do another Habitat build, as well as Machu Picchu. And after that I’m not sure. By then I will be hopefully traveling across America.
Anyway, here is a link to my pictures. Enjoy!
On I go (inside my brain)
So I’m not doing a good job at keeping up on the travel blog. From Agra I went to Varanasi where I took no pictures! I was there for three days too. I think it is a place that is too large to be photographed well by the likes of me. There are autorickshaws zooming about everywhere, except the old city where they are not alowed because the streets are too narrow. Here people zip around in motorcycles which often requires jumping out of the way (hopefully not into the cow dung that is everywhere). So far the hawkers were the worst in Varanasi, especially when I would wonder around without Kevin. Though poor Kevin was being offered all sorts of lovely drugs anytime I was not near (and sometimes even when I was). I’ve been turned off by the market scene. You have to expell a lot of energy to bargain for decent prices, and it is hard to know what a good price is to aim for. So sorry to everyone who wanted a souvenier.
Kevin and I went our seperate ways yesterday morning. I took a plane and a train to get to Jodhpur. And during that commute I read Three Cups of Tea. I honestly think it is the best book I’ve ever read. Not for the writing, but what the book represents. My mind has been turning around the same ideas over war and what is happening in Afganistan and Iraq for many years now. But it always seemed like the problem was too big. That the best I could do was cast my vote and campaign hard for the next president. But this is a story of how one person can do so much. And he is doing exactly what I think needs to be done.
I’m not so idealistic to think that war no longer has a place in modern society. Though I think that many times war could be avoided if people took the time and money to prevent it nonviolently. Look at poor Afganistan. We came in as heroes and disposed of their government and then left them. We left a country we had helped rip apart with no training, military backup, healthcare, homes, or roads. And so the Taliban came into power. And so again we go back in ripping the country apart. And again we are leaving them, having done nothing to help them restore roads, hospitals, homes or schools. How are they suppose to rebuild themselves if we have taken everything? Do we really think that is a good idea? Do we really need to learn the same lesson twice? Yes, all these things cost money, but war costs so much more. And until we as Americans go back to being the generous nation of the world there will be no solution to the growing animosity towards us. We use to be known across the world for our humanitarian efforts. And now we are seen as selfish bullies and murderers.
What I think really needs to happen to secure the future and safety of the USA does not involve building up the military. The military should not be in charge of rebuilding the countries it tears apart. Too often the money that is ‘earmarked’ for rebuilding is taken away to buy more bombs, more guns, given to warlords who then ‘lose’ it. They do not understand how to do this. We need a Department of Peace. For every town we bomb where innocent civilians are killed, there needs to be a seperate group that comes in setting up hospitals, training civilians to rebuild, practice basic medicine and supplying food. This should not be based on the whims and biases of the populous or the president. It should always happen. And it should be done by people who are trained to help make rebuilding happen and work, not shoot missiles. Greg Mortensen who is the ‘hero’ in Three Cups of Tea, is trying to help rebuild nations on his own. And so for the first time I feel like someone in America is doing what needs to be done. And I want to help him somehow. So I thought I’d start by telling everyone to go read his book. If you don’t want to buy a copy get one from the library or let me know and I’ll send you a copy. I’m adding him to my list of charities. And for now I’m not sure past that what I can do presently. But I don’t want to forget that one person really can make a difference. That past all of this political tormoil, there are people who are beyond it making things happen.
Pictures!
So I didn’t bring the cord for my camera. But Kevin did. His pictures are here. I’ve only been to the Ladack and Agra sections of his trip. Enjoy! I will post my pictures when I get home.
Out of Leh, onto Agra!
So we finally left Leh. After hearing about how the road might be open “in a day or two” for 5 days and after reading this article about all of the landslides we finally bought airplane tickets. The last rumor we heard was that it might be another five days till they clear the road so I’m pretty happy with the choice.
One great thing about the road being closed is that we made a lot of new friends. Leh is a pretty small place and as it was way after the tourist season, you tended to see the same people over and over again. My last two nights in Leh consisted of interesting conversations, a little bit of beer and a lot of yummy food. It made waiting around pretty nice. Plus I might meet up with of of these fellow travelors in Rahjistan since Kevin already went there for some reason and we will be parting ways.
Today was a day of travel. I flew out of Leh at 7:20 am, while Kevin chose the cheeper route of taking a 12 hr overnight jeep ride to Shrinegar and flying out of there this morning. Once Kevin and I found each other again, we headed to the train station and rode general class on the train to Agra. I’ve never had so many people staring at me for so long in my life. It was a little disconcerting and when Kevin leaves for Nepal at the end of the week, I think I’ll be traveling in the ‘ladies only’ section of the train. There were a lot of questions about Kevin’s ‘wife’ (haha, I know. I almost laughed out loud at that) and anytime I looked up from my book it was to find 6 or 7 pairs of eyes staring at me. We were sitting up on the luggage rack so at least we got to sit for the 4 or 5 hours (though people kept poking at me through the grill >( ). I guess I was a bit of a novelity.
Tomorrow we are going to hopefully see the Red Fort (as the Taj is closed on Fridays!) and then the Taj on Saturday and then a overnight train to Veranasi. We have abandoned our original plans not only because of the delay in leaving Leh, but the amazing amount of natural disasters in the areas we were planning on going to. The Spiti valley had an unexpected and early snow fall, which required the Dalai Lama’s second to be airlifted out of the area. The Leh/Manali area is suffereing from landslides that have resulted in at least 6 known deaths (though people are still stranded on the roads so this will most likely go up). And Shimla has had major flooding and over 40 deaths. It’s pretty crazy! But no worries, Kevin and I have been perfectly safe, if not a little stir-crazy stuck up in the mountains.
So that is all for now. In case you cared, I’ve read the following books since I came last week: The Left Hand of Darkness, Seven Years in Tibet, Fearless Fourteen, and The Fifth Mountain. I’m starting A 1,000 Splendid Suns tonight. I imagine with all the train rides this list will get pretty long!
Leh, Leh, silly Leh
We are stuck in Leh. The rainy day I mentioned in the prior post caused a snow storm up at the pass out and the road sort of got swept away or something (that is the rumor). We have been chilling, waiting for the pass to reopen and debating on whether to go north to Kashmir (yes, I know) and then south to Delhi via armed escort (yes, I really, really know) which is the only other way out. Right now we are opting for waiting. Airfare of course went way up and isn’t available until the 26th anyway, so that is not a real choice at this point. So there will be lots and lots of pictures of Leh when all is said and done.
Yesterday it did not rain but it was very cold and Kevin and I finally spent some of our money on winter clothing. We hiked up to the monastery and palace that overlooks the city for some amazing views. Funny Beckyism: So I was taking pictures with my camera, but whenever I turned it sideways to get a longer frame, the screen went really dark and I couldn’t see what I was taking a picture of. I thought maybe I had broken it or Kevin had hit some mysterious button when he was fiddling with all the settings earlier. And then Kevin pointed out that I was wearing polarized sunglasses. Yes, I am that stupid.
Today the weather was awesome! It only rained a little and the temperature did not require the winter clothes we bought. We took a bus out to Thiskey monastary and finally got to see the real people of this area. It was nice to get away from all the tourists and the hawkers in the main street here. The whole area is basically a dessert and the river that runs through the valley is irrigated into the surrounding fields. So basically you have a rather green strip running through what is otherwise a dessert valley with snowcapped mountains trapping it in.
Donkeys and cows make a lot of noise. And it really, really carries. It is strange to be startled by a donkey heehawing when you are on the roof of a monastery that is on a mountain way up from the field where the donkey is. And it is really nice to find soft serve icecream in town when you climbed a gazillion steps earlier in the afternoon to get to said monastery. That is it. Not very exciting I know, but hopefully we will get out of the valley soon and move on to slightly less cold places.
It’s cold, it’s raining and I am acclimating
I’m in Leh, India. When Kevin and I arrived here yesterday we were told not to do much because we needed to get use to the altitude. Leh is more than 11,000 feet above sea level! I’m not sure if Kevin really believed this acclimating business until we climbed the stairs to our room and we both had pounding headaches and were breathing heavily from the exertion. So we have been tooling around, drinking lots of water and tea. And since it is very cold and rainy today we decided to find an internet cafe. Since there is only so much browsing I can do in a day, I decided to sign up for a wordpress blog (which is what Kevin is working on right now). Only to discover that I had in fact signed up in March (which I have absolutely no memory of doing. Sigh). So here is my new blog. Ta-da!
So far my trip has mostly been in transit. My flight involved 15-16 hours of screaming, grumpy children and pushy older people. We got into Leh around 6:30 am yesterday and then took a nice long nap. Kevin has been ill and was quizing me on whether he needed to take his antibiotics or not. I said no and then yes because there were some white patches on the back of his throat. Have I ever mentioned how glad I am not to be a doctor? So needless to say with all the traveling and acclimating and Kevin being ill we have been taking it easy. It’s kind of nice. I’ve already finished my first book. There was talk of renting a motorcycle if it is sunny tomorrow and going to some of the monastaries in the area. I’ll let you know how that goes.
