Fall Fiesta

Yesterday was the Fall Fiesta. The one big fund raiser that the high schoolers at AES do. Almost a service project in and of itself. It is a 4 hour undertaking which has just about every student in the high school hoping from booth to booth to work to provide a Halloween carnival for the lower and middle school students. For the price of one wristband, a child can play endlessly at any of the booths that have been set up with home grown games. Some of my favorites this year were the Whack-a-mole booth where students donned helmets, stuck their heads through some circles cut in a sheet and let the kids hammer their heads with an inflatable helmet, the face paint booth for the littlest kids is always a big hit, there was a hoola-hooping station this year, a paper plane flying booth, and not one but two angry birds throwing balls destruction games. There are a couple of things that are always present at Fall Fiesta: bouncy castles (I put in an hour of corralling kids there, but I'm only willing to work the first hour when it is the smallest children after that it is just volunteering for a head ache), the dunk tank by the swim team, the beat the keeper game by the soccer team, the haunted house put on by the theater program, and of course a raffle. I'm always kind of impressed with what our students are able to put together. It has a definite home made feel to it, but I kind of appreciate that. Most of all, though, I appreciate that I won't be asked for money every week during the school year to help fund a variety of activities our students are doing. No, part of putting this on, is that this provides all of the funding for the activities our students do - community service, athletics, theater, etc; no extra fund raising is allowed. Making this an activity our entire school can get behind.

Dusshera in Udaipur

A low drumbeat seeped into my room, a subtle heartbeat of the city invading my sleep, welcoming me to a new beginning, imploring me to take advantage of what the day will offer. So I slowly got up, taking my time to enjoy the fact I was on vacation and made my way up to the roof top terrace of the hotel. Where better to take breakfast then with a view over the lake, sparkling as the sun touched it after rising past the buildings, reflections of windows and the exclusive white palace floating in the middle adding an extra dimension. I could have sat there for hours appreciating the sight, but there was more that Udaipur had to offer. After enjoying a stuffed parantha and a cheese omelette I headed out to the streets. Despite the drumming that woke me Udaipur doesn't move very fast in the morning; as we walked the road to the City Palace vendors were just starting to open up shop; making sure that their wares were beautifully displayed, a riot of leather, glass and color. We had to pause for a stop under the sparkling tinsel canopy to climb the stairs up to Jagdish temple, rising above the city streets in the heart of the old city. Remove our shoes and then wander around the intricately carved temple. Layers of designs covering the facade of the building that towered above. Elephants here then a level of horses, people farther up, some flower designs; on and on it stretched, no inch left unadorned. Then back down to the street to continue on to the City Palace, a twisting turning maze of rooms that it takes a couple of hours to wind through. A trip that takes you past a variety of rooms and colors, amazing windows, carved details and open spaces. 

No visit to Udaipur is complete without a boat ride around the lake. A twenty minute journey where you can't decide it you want to look towards the shore and the old constructions that line the water's edge or if you'd rather stare at the smattering of constructions that seem to have been built on nothing in the water, conveying a mixed sense of floating and sinking. Did I want the faded light of sunset or the clarity a day trip would bring? Rather than trying to make that decision I settled on both. Each time I completed a circuit I noticed new things, took a few more pictures, and appreciated this special piece of Udaipur a little bit more. So much so that I decided I needed to get a birds eye view of the lake, and so went off to experience a very Indian segment of Udaipur's tourist offerings: the rope way - a cable car/gondola trip up the hillside that offered views over the city in every direction. The string of lakes making it clear just how different Udaipur is from other cities in India.

Word portrait: bicycle passenger

Young man with your curls gelled into place over your forehead; 

Rocking out to the music from your phone as you hitch a ride from a friend,

Perched on the luggage rack of his bicycle

Your flip flop shod feet centimeters from dragging on the ground

As the light changes, away you go

To some place I can't even imagine

Mini escape

There is no denying that I live in a big city, although I must admit that Delhi is a lot greener than I expected before I arrived. After a few weeks back though I'm always reminded that I grew up (sort of) in the country. At least with a lot of green space around me and with a ton of time spent outdoors. I start to miss it....a lot. Luckily for me I have a mini escape just two blocks from my house. The Aravalli Biodiversity Park is a reclaimed space that used to be mined for morrum and clay. A fact that is still obvious when you look past the edge of the main trail to find a variety of pits cut into this spur of the Aravalli mountain range. I stick to the main path, approximately a three mile round trip, which takes me along a red dirt path, past fields, a set of greenhouses and a couple of small Hindu shrines. The way is well delineated with both stick and wire fences, the occasional over sized wooden gates letting you know you shouldn't follow that fascinating looking side path. One of my favorite things about walking or running the path is that abundance of bird life, and my particular favorite - peacocks. I don't think that I've ever gone out without chasing a peacock for at least a short way down the path. Today I was pleased (but not quick enough with the camera) when some dogs surprised a group of them out of the bushes and they came flying overhead. Of course you can't ever forget that you are still in the city, and if by chance you had, the planes flying low overhead or the glimpse of an informal settlement off to one side will quickly remind you that this is really just a mini escape. But then my attention is captured again and I have to wonder why is there a pile of old bricks in the middle of the path? What is the point of the old rail road ties that they planted upright on the side? How do you just lose a sole?