My mother sometimes tells me that I am spoiled. I'm not sure why that is. I mean yeah, I won't take a boring job, I'm 26 and have never bought a car, and I expect to one day live in a majestic tower with a cheerful yellow labrador retriever (named "Dude") for a companian. Oh, and I've been travelling for 7 months non-stop.
On the other hand, I've had the honor of hand-feeding a silverback gorilla, have always said a heartfelt "Thank you" for every vehicle I've been given and, if someone has to make a tower feel like it has a purposeful existence, it might as well be me!
The irony of the situation is that Mum is the one who actually instilled in me the notion that the only thing between a person and their dreams is the path they choose to take. Maybe that is why I find myself drawn to people with a "can-do" mentality, people like Matthias (who, when asked if something can be done, often replies with, "Sure!"). And now that I am getting to know Melli even better, I am happy to see that she shares his enthusiasm for the possibilities of life.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Like settling into a warm bath
I'm home!
Well, not my home but still it feels that way. I've been here with M & M for over a week now, at their cozy Nurnberg apartment. They live just inside of the old city wall, so close that you could hit it with a kitchen sink. In so doing, you would be giving the sink a bird's eye view of the city's northeast tower 50 metres away at the end of the narrow cobblestone lane. Having had such high expectations for my time here in Germany, I am delighted to find myself so satisfied.
Matthias and Melli are wonderful. They have gone far beyond the obligations set forth by friendship, and have made me feel right at home with them and in the city. Matthias even took the week off to act as a guide and chauffer me to heaps of interesting places in nearby villages. Each of these sleepy little villages gives the impression of having been transported straight from the16th century, with their fachwerk architecture and ancient castles perched atop overhanging cliffs. We've seen two-thousand year old Celtic walls, gothic cathedrals rendered in breathtaking detail, and crystal-clear streams meandering through forests a vibrant shade of green which only the spring season can produce. I've also been happily stuffing my face with oodles of scrumptious Bavarian food. Most of it is meat in one delicious form or another, which is an interesting change of pace after a month of eating almost exlusively vegetarian Indian food. Though much of what I've experienced in the time I've been in Germany has been new and interesting to me (I ordered dries 3 im vegler on my second day!), the generosity that M & M have shown me has made this time nothing but exceedingly pleasant.
They made the mistake of telling me that I can stay as long as I like!
Well, not my home but still it feels that way. I've been here with M & M for over a week now, at their cozy Nurnberg apartment. They live just inside of the old city wall, so close that you could hit it with a kitchen sink. In so doing, you would be giving the sink a bird's eye view of the city's northeast tower 50 metres away at the end of the narrow cobblestone lane. Having had such high expectations for my time here in Germany, I am delighted to find myself so satisfied.
Matthias and Melli are wonderful. They have gone far beyond the obligations set forth by friendship, and have made me feel right at home with them and in the city. Matthias even took the week off to act as a guide and chauffer me to heaps of interesting places in nearby villages. Each of these sleepy little villages gives the impression of having been transported straight from the16th century, with their fachwerk architecture and ancient castles perched atop overhanging cliffs. We've seen two-thousand year old Celtic walls, gothic cathedrals rendered in breathtaking detail, and crystal-clear streams meandering through forests a vibrant shade of green which only the spring season can produce. I've also been happily stuffing my face with oodles of scrumptious Bavarian food. Most of it is meat in one delicious form or another, which is an interesting change of pace after a month of eating almost exlusively vegetarian Indian food. Though much of what I've experienced in the time I've been in Germany has been new and interesting to me (I ordered dries 3 im vegler on my second day!), the generosity that M & M have shown me has made this time nothing but exceedingly pleasant.
They made the mistake of telling me that I can stay as long as I like!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Stopover
I am en route to Frankfurt, and have a noteable stopover in Doha, Qatar. Two hours ago I couldn't have told you the difference between Doha and a donut, such is my naivete. Here's my summary of the place:
Doha is-
whoops, there's my boarding call...
Doha is-
whoops, there's my boarding call...
See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya
(Written April 11)
The chances are minimal that I'm ever coming back to India. In the last month (though it might be difficult to tell from my previous entries), I have spent a significant portion of every day wavering between being frustrated by my dealings with rude Indians and outright pissed off. I try to treat others with the same level of respect that I'd appreciate, and in doing so here I've been lied to, cheated, misdirected, coerced, conned, and generally disrespected on the whole. There are many wonderful things to see (Taj Mahal though...well, it looks just like the postcards), but none that I saw (with the possible exception of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur) was worth the effort it took to experience it.
Though I am frustrated with how things have gone this last month, I am even more disappointed that I wasn't able to find a way to bridge the gap between myself and the locals. Many travellers that I spoke to love it here. How is it that I was able to get along just fine in Thailand, Laos, and even Cambodia with locals who spoke my language as poorly as I spoke theirs, yet here in India I had to restrain myself from karate chopping nearly everyone I talked to? In one month, I met exactly three people who I feel are decent human beings, and one of them is a Nepalese monk!
It saddens me greatly that I had such wonderful expectations for my time in India, but in the end what I will remember most is how much I looked forward to going back to my guesthouse every day and avoiding talking to any Indians. Clearly the fault lies with me: I just didn't figure out how to garner their respect.
I take some consolation from a conversation I had this evening with a young englishman who has voluntarily elected to spend much of his life here in India. He struck me as the sort that doesn't try to earn anyone's friendship, but rather says what he thinks, and means what he says. His views often come out sounding rather harsh. After talking with him awhile, he had a diagnosis for my problem: "You're too nice". He says that the only way to deal with Indians is to be as rude, self-centered, and relentless as they are. "Then", he said, "you'll get on just fine".
I think maybe that I'd prefer to be frustrated.
Tomorrow I fly to Frankfurt, Germany to visit Matthias and Melli (M & M). I'm so excited! It's been about one year since I last saw him, and four (has it been that long?) since seeing her. This time, I know I'm in for pleasant adventures!
The chances are minimal that I'm ever coming back to India. In the last month (though it might be difficult to tell from my previous entries), I have spent a significant portion of every day wavering between being frustrated by my dealings with rude Indians and outright pissed off. I try to treat others with the same level of respect that I'd appreciate, and in doing so here I've been lied to, cheated, misdirected, coerced, conned, and generally disrespected on the whole. There are many wonderful things to see (Taj Mahal though...well, it looks just like the postcards), but none that I saw (with the possible exception of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur) was worth the effort it took to experience it.
Though I am frustrated with how things have gone this last month, I am even more disappointed that I wasn't able to find a way to bridge the gap between myself and the locals. Many travellers that I spoke to love it here. How is it that I was able to get along just fine in Thailand, Laos, and even Cambodia with locals who spoke my language as poorly as I spoke theirs, yet here in India I had to restrain myself from karate chopping nearly everyone I talked to? In one month, I met exactly three people who I feel are decent human beings, and one of them is a Nepalese monk!
It saddens me greatly that I had such wonderful expectations for my time in India, but in the end what I will remember most is how much I looked forward to going back to my guesthouse every day and avoiding talking to any Indians. Clearly the fault lies with me: I just didn't figure out how to garner their respect.
I take some consolation from a conversation I had this evening with a young englishman who has voluntarily elected to spend much of his life here in India. He struck me as the sort that doesn't try to earn anyone's friendship, but rather says what he thinks, and means what he says. His views often come out sounding rather harsh. After talking with him awhile, he had a diagnosis for my problem: "You're too nice". He says that the only way to deal with Indians is to be as rude, self-centered, and relentless as they are. "Then", he said, "you'll get on just fine".
I think maybe that I'd prefer to be frustrated.
Tomorrow I fly to Frankfurt, Germany to visit Matthias and Melli (M & M). I'm so excited! It's been about one year since I last saw him, and four (has it been that long?) since seeing her. This time, I know I'm in for pleasant adventures!
It never ends
(Written April 7)
In just the one hour between leaving my guesthouse to arriving at the bus station (to go back to Jodhpur), I've had to deal with four despicable people trying to scam me with all their might. First, the guy from the guesthouse who had gotten into a fight to get my business tried to get me to buy a bus ticket from his friend for 200 rupees when I know it's only 100. I told him what I thought of his shameful attempt to pass himself off as a friend in order to proft in a scam, and sent him on his way. I then went across the road to a small restaurant where I was the only customer, and the kid working the place asked me for my watch and then tried to overcharge my meal ("Oh, that's right. It's 40 rupees, not 60. So sorry!". Meanwhile, the guy collecting money for the bus is just a random Joe sitting in a chair, and I had to fight him tooth and nail just to get a price of 120 rupees. Finally, I thought I'd grab a bag of oranges for the ride and, once again, had to really haggle hard to get a bag of oranges for 10 rupees more than they're worth.
There's no point in trying to take your business elsewhere when you encounter these jerks, because the next guy is a jerk too! Even the people who don't stand to make any profit from deceiving you will get in on the act. Ask a random stranger where the newspaper stand is and he's as likely to tell you to "go left" as he is "go right", even if there is only one stand in the whole city!
In just the one hour between leaving my guesthouse to arriving at the bus station (to go back to Jodhpur), I've had to deal with four despicable people trying to scam me with all their might. First, the guy from the guesthouse who had gotten into a fight to get my business tried to get me to buy a bus ticket from his friend for 200 rupees when I know it's only 100. I told him what I thought of his shameful attempt to pass himself off as a friend in order to proft in a scam, and sent him on his way. I then went across the road to a small restaurant where I was the only customer, and the kid working the place asked me for my watch and then tried to overcharge my meal ("Oh, that's right. It's 40 rupees, not 60. So sorry!". Meanwhile, the guy collecting money for the bus is just a random Joe sitting in a chair, and I had to fight him tooth and nail just to get a price of 120 rupees. Finally, I thought I'd grab a bag of oranges for the ride and, once again, had to really haggle hard to get a bag of oranges for 10 rupees more than they're worth.
There's no point in trying to take your business elsewhere when you encounter these jerks, because the next guy is a jerk too! Even the people who don't stand to make any profit from deceiving you will get in on the act. Ask a random stranger where the newspaper stand is and he's as likely to tell you to "go left" as he is "go right", even if there is only one stand in the whole city!
Biting beetles and camel sex
(Written April 6)
Today was the third and final day of a three-day, two-night camel safari in the Thar Desert. Each day's itinerary went something like this: wake up around 7 and have some breakfast (chai tea, chapati, some vegetable dish which greatly resembles lunch and dinner), saddle and load gear onto camels, ride for three hours, eat lunch and nap in shade between 11am and 4pm (too hot to move), then camp someplace and eat dinner. Noteable additions to this schedule (at no additional charge) included witnessing the intricit ballet of two growling, biting camels mating in the sand, and being kept awake all night by the misplaced bites of wayward dung beetles.
One of our two guides, 13 year old Aman, had a charming way of answering most questions with, "Why not? Everything possible". My kind of guy!
Now I am back in Jaisalmer. As in every other Indian town and city I've visited, the locals seem only to be motivated by the acquisition of money. Thus, once again, there's no real possibility to have an insightful dialogue on culture. It's maddening how rude these people can be!
Today was the third and final day of a three-day, two-night camel safari in the Thar Desert. Each day's itinerary went something like this: wake up around 7 and have some breakfast (chai tea, chapati, some vegetable dish which greatly resembles lunch and dinner), saddle and load gear onto camels, ride for three hours, eat lunch and nap in shade between 11am and 4pm (too hot to move), then camp someplace and eat dinner. Noteable additions to this schedule (at no additional charge) included witnessing the intricit ballet of two growling, biting camels mating in the sand, and being kept awake all night by the misplaced bites of wayward dung beetles.
One of our two guides, 13 year old Aman, had a charming way of answering most questions with, "Why not? Everything possible". My kind of guy!
Now I am back in Jaisalmer. As in every other Indian town and city I've visited, the locals seem only to be motivated by the acquisition of money. Thus, once again, there's no real possibility to have an insightful dialogue on culture. It's maddening how rude these people can be!
Monday, April 02, 2007
The Great Blue City
Hewn from ancient blocks of red-colored sandstone, Mehrangarh fort rises above the great blue city of Jodhpur like a colossal mother hen overlooking her clutch. Though built in the 15th century, the formidable stronghold still looks capable of withstanding nearly any assault. With a battery of cannons aimed in all directions from atop the towering walls, attacking forces would have had to face a barrage of cannon-fire long before they had a chance to inflict any damage on the fort. It has never been conquered.
Now though, Mehrangarh serves a very different purpose. With unobstructed views in a 360 degree range, it is an ideal place to watch the sun rise or set in tranquility. What makes this spot so memorable though is that it provides spectacular views of the sea of hundreds year-old houses painted blue in the tradition of Jodhpur. Many of these old houses have been converted to funky guesthouses, each with rooftop restaurants nearly a stone's throw from the fort walls. It is quite an impressive town, and finally gives me a reason to be excited about coming to India.
Now though, Mehrangarh serves a very different purpose. With unobstructed views in a 360 degree range, it is an ideal place to watch the sun rise or set in tranquility. What makes this spot so memorable though is that it provides spectacular views of the sea of hundreds year-old houses painted blue in the tradition of Jodhpur. Many of these old houses have been converted to funky guesthouses, each with rooftop restaurants nearly a stone's throw from the fort walls. It is quite an impressive town, and finally gives me a reason to be excited about coming to India.
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