Kites, Cameras, Camping!

Uttarayan - The Kite Festival in Ahmedabad, India was a soaring success! Another big Thanks goes out to Ravi for convincing me to take that 39 hour (versus 40+ as I had expected. SO much better) train ride west - it was more than worth it!

Upon arrival in Ahmed, I took a quick bucket shower (although I needed a little more ;) and joined a group of locals and two Russian girls, Nastia and Sveta, on a small trip into town. They, like me, had been coaxed into coming west by Ravi and we quickly became friends. The next day, the three of us took an audio guided tour around town, visiting some of the major sites and markets. Small streets teemed with people not only buying their usual items, but also searching for the sharpest string (who would have thought string should ever be sharp?), multicolored and neatly spun, the freshest snacks of toasted and roasted goodies and of course the best kites, precisely shaped. That evening, we attended Alpesh's Birthday, which in proper Indian style, had a DJ, plenty of dancing and delicious home cooked food (and Gujarati dishes became one of my favorite Indian foods)!

On day one of the festival, the three of us foreigners arrived at the house around 11am, much much too late for the serious kite flyers of Ahmedabad, some of whom started as early as 4am! Friends and family sat around the living room stringing hundreds of kites (which is an art we learned) and soon enough we were up on the rooftop with millions of others ready to take to the skies. We all tried our hand at kite flying - kite fighting is quite a bit more advanced for a beginner like me and I am sad to say I lost every time! I was simply in awe of the scene and could barely put my camera down! After a brief lunch break, the flying resumed.

Every telephone and electrical wire were decorated in brightly colored tissue tatters and shards of wicker. Tens of thousands of fluttering rainbow manta rays, hopes and joys, slicing through the air, rising and falling, battling for space, for supremacy, rooftops suddenly bursting into raucous cheers of victory, bonding of generations, of neighbors and even of cultures - everyone wanted a chance to teach us! Kites littered the roof, patiently waiting their turn to soar. As the day progressed, food and freshly brewed chai appeared, music intensified and came from more and more directions, fervor grew and above all the cacophony, the city's huge smile could be heard.

The sun set slowly, relishing the sight of the polka-dotted sky and before the last rays dropped below the horizon, the fireworks began. Again, unlike regular fireworks displays, there was no one focus point. All around us, bursts of light and sound and color echoed the excitement of the day and the whole city partied into the night. And the BEST thing about the festival? We got to do it all over again the next day!! Day two brought even more serious kite-fights, everyone using up the rest of their kites in friendly competition. I was determined to get mine up and away on my own and somewhat managed that goal before another swooped in and cut me. I even conducted a little salsa lesson in the afternoon! The locals we met, besides opening their homes, serving us tasty food and teaching us about everything, were just the most friendly and fun people to spend the day with! My heartfelt thanks goes to Alpesh, Anshu, Dhara, Hiral, Kushal, Veeral, and all the rest of the gang for making us feel so welcome!

The next day, we did a little more sight-seeing including a visit to Ghandi's Ashram and ate the best thali (Gujarati) that I have ever had. In the evening, Anshu and Alpesh (professional photographers), gave me the honor of a photoshoot in Indian traditional dress! I love photography and I love dressing up so what more could I ask for!! I had a lot of fun, but I also learned a couple of things: 1) I am not a natural model and much more comfortable behind the camera! 2) As much as I would like to believe otherwise, when it takes nearly an hour to make the sari look right on you (including taping jewelry to your ears since you are the only female in India without piercings), I doubt I have a drop of Indian blood in me! :)

Early the next morning, about 20 of us met to go camping. Most were on motorbikes as we sped off to the countryside, away from the noise and pollution of the city. I watched the swish and swoops of skirts and saris pass by as if the gods looked down upon the dull greys, greens and browns, cement and bricks and grabbed a paintbrush to say "Let there be life. Let there be color!" We reached the peaceful Polo Retreat with 15th century ruins, a quiet river and a couple small hills to climb in time for lunch from an open flame. During the course of the day, we cooled off in a pond, played catch and frisbee, (the foreigners) signed autographs for a group of sweet school children, very excited for the chance to practice their english and then came the campfire!

Who of us has not stared into a fire and become lost in flickering thought? I certainly appreciate that aspect of American culture - the good ol' camp-fire (unfortunately no s'mores out here)! We did however procure a couple bottles of inebriant, once again I find myself embroiled in illegal activity, for Gujarat is a dry state and mostly vegetarian. We played a form of charades, shared fireside banter and later in the night even listened to a few hindi limericks and sang our favorite Bollywood tunes! A fantastic day all together, we savored the last bits of warmth, before settling into sleep. Morning called us to the top of a hill for a 5 hour hike - something else I have really missed lately and then we were back on the bikes heading south.

I decided at the last minute to continue on to Mumbai from there, so my friends helped me get on the right bus and I was off! I've been here over a week now and had quite a few adventures - that update to come soon (hopefully)!

An epic journey ahead

2009 has begun just as I would like it to - flights, buses, rickshaws, cars and motorbikes! Tonight, I can add trains to that list since I will be on the looongest ride of my life - 40+ hours!! I have been convinced by a new friend of mine, Ravi, to attend a huge Kite Festival in Ahmedabad which is on the opposite side of the country. He has promised crowded skies of swooping and slicing kites with glass lines, kids chasing in the streets and every rooftop full of celebrants, good food and music... how could I resist?? Plus a big group is going camping afterwards near some old Mughal ruins - bonus! :)

My layover in Dhaka was once again eventful,

but this time, instead of chatting with two strangers, I got to see one of my favorite people in the whole world - Alisa! We spent a ridiculously short 24hours catching up, musing, analyzing, laughing, exploring, shopping and thankful for this incredible opportunity to see eachother in Bangladesh of all places! Alisa even got so excited, she decided to play an impromptu game of hide-n-seek :) Ahh, that's my Lis! I hope for many many more random meet-ups like this!

Wish me luck with this grand journey (on the rails/in life :) and I will try to update you all after the festival!

**As per Ravi's comment, Yes, once I arrived, I realized the ruins were actually beautiful temples and cenotaphs ruined not built by the Mughals!

Year in Review (and what a year!)

Back in Bangkok for my first flight of 2009 and I thought I'd write a little summary of 2008 in recognition of what was one of the best years of my life!

2008 started off in the company of my dear Kodak Kids in Sunny California during the Rose Parade. We rang in the new year properly with champagne, good food and dancing and then all got up early for a long days work. Little did we know, that our upcoming 'month off' would actually set us free of Kodak Inspiration and on a hunt for the next. I spent half of January with my wonderful friends Kev, Keith, Crafton, Rhi, and new friends Sarah, Pat and Lu on the snowy slopes of Eagle and Vale, Colorado facing below freezing temperatures, snowboarding crystal powders and tromping up to lakes of ice on snowshoes. The hottub and spiked hot chocolate are also not to be forgotten!

The second half of the month and into February, I had the luxury of adding 3 new countries to my list and reuniting with more wonderful people. First, I met me Mom in Ireland (said with an Irish accent ;) and we toured around the cold, grey, but still bonnie green countryside. We also did a wee bit of site-seeing in England including stonehenge and London and munching on our first authentic 'fish-n-chips'. Next stop was the Netherlands, picked up by my dear friend Sebastiaan who took his job of official Dutch tour guide seriously. One week was hardly enough, but I saw more than I could have expected, including the famed windmills, Gouda, Amsterdam and his lovely parents (who make the best pancakes in Holland). I even got in some club dancing with his friends and a night of salsa as well! Finally, I flew back to the UK for a crazy mixed-up pick-up by my buddies Fergus and Kev. I spent one splendid week in their company, bowling, museuming, running, dancing, eating, staying up past midnight to watch THE game (the SuperBowl for my non-American readers ;) and learning more than necessary about Rugby. A truly disheartening farewell with wishes given in pence and revolving door goodbyes sent me on my return to the states to figure out what next.

One insane string of flights (London-Frankfurt-Atlanta-Daytona-Atlanta-LA-Seattle) brought me safely back into WA to see my parents and I even had time for a Tuesday Pot-Luck Dinner with some of my favorite people in Seattle (shout out to Craig, Neils and Brandon!) before my luck held true and a friend of mine hired me for a job beginning the following week. I barely had time to repack my bags before I was on my way to the Big Easy, New Orleans, Louisiana! I worked as a guide for Rustic Pathways assisting HS Students in their quest to volunteer their spring break helping residents and victims of Hurricane Katrina. We built houses, restored wetlands, cleaned neighborhoods and gave our time to the foodbank. It was a fantastic experience and the absolutely incredible music scene of NOLA was the icing on the cake! A HUGE Thank you is owed to my friend Mike and my sbrpnola08 girls, Lauren and Deanna! The three of us had a brilliant time once the work was over road-tripping parts of LA, AL, MS and FL!

During the 6 weeks in N'awlins, I applied and got a position with Rustic in India, which I had wanted to see for years. The month of May was a month of reunions seeing long lost friends in Seattle, Arlington, Portland, Hillsboro and good ol' Salt Lake city. The best part was seeing 3 new arrivals (I think I had about 6 or 7 births announced this year!), the little ones of my friends are just the cutest babies in the whole world!! :)

Half way through the year on June 1st, I landed half way around the world in New Delhi, India. Met by two of my newest friends and co-workers, Scott and Shira, I ventured into the country I would spend most of the next 10 months of my life. The rest of the Rustic Staff, Kalsang, Eric, Tina, Braden and Dalas trained hard in Mcleod Ganj (home of the Dalai lama) before being joined by our darling students for weeks of volunteer work with Tibetan refugees (building a basketball court, english conversation, road repair, tree planting and cultural experiences). It was wonderful working with these kids and learning alongside them. Dealing with sickness abroad is not easy when it comes to yourself, but looking after 18 ducklings is much more difficult! Time flew and before I knew it, the yoga and mud-digging and meditaion and momo making and Tibetan dance parties were over and I was off on my backpacking India adventure!

Tina joined me on an epic trip to Amritsar and the Pakistan border before we parted ways and I journeyed up north. In summary, Manali was a calm little mountain town but ladakh/kashmir (not to mention the 20-24 hour bus trip there and back) was strikingly beautiful! I have never been someplace where the sky is so blue and the people so warm. My birthday adventure of bike riding down from the worlds highest motorable pass was brilliant with two new travel-buddies Emma and Ange and the monasteries and stupas some of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen!

Emma and I returned to a normal elevation for a true backpacking schedule of Manali-Shimla-Chandigar-Haridwar-Rishikesh where she stopped off for some yoga and beetles nostalgia whereas I met up with Austrian friends of mine that I had known in Athens, but now live in Delhi. I cleaned up, relaxed and hit the road again with Tina and Shira to Jaipur, one last fling before we parted ways (yet another sad farewell) and I continued on a tour of Rajasthan, one of Indias most colorful states.

Its hard to summarize Rajasthan, but Jaipur (beautiful fort and palaces), Jodhpur (another impressive fort and my first Indian wedding), Jaisalmer (camel jockeying and desert fireworks), Mt. Abu (cool lake and ice cream), Chittorgarh (Asias largest fort at 700 acres and royal hospitality), Pushkar (2 weeks of swimming, learning Hindi, hiking to temples and good friends) and finally Bundi (perhaps my favorite place in India, spending 3 weeks with my adoptive Indian family, dressing up in a sari and even being on the 9pm news!).

A second reunion with my dear friend Sebastiaan, followed by a month through Agra (the majestic Taj Mahal), Orchha (a secret Indian garden), Kajuraho (Kama Sutra Temples), Varanassi (Indias most sacred city for Diwali, Indias most popular festival) and into Nepal for Himalayan trekking and site-seeing! Sebas and I left eachothers side from Darjeeling and I had just over a week to spend in Calcutta before I flew to Thailand (with an eventful 25hour layover in Dhaka).

Next up was a family reunion with my parents, a little island hopping in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, a reunion with Ange and meeting some of her great friends in Bangkok. Finally, I spontaneously flew up to Chiang Mai and happened to meet a couple fantastic Indian/Nepalis that I spent my Christmas and New Years with... Without saying too much, there is possible romance ahead in 2009 - yes, this coming from the perpetually single and on-the-move-Jessie. Only time can tell!

2008 saw me in 9 new countries (31 total now with Bangladesh to be 32), 10 states, 31 flights, 4 road-trips, reuniting with a couple dozen of the most fantastic friends a girl could have and more memories than I could possibly keep straight if it wasnt for my camera, journal, blog and facebook ;). My love goes out to all those that read this (and onto those who dont as well :) and my only wish is that 2009 is even better for us all (which will be quite the feat)!!!