It is the little things

It is the little things that remind me I'm in Delhi. The way each week the dogs outside my neighbor's gate seem to have a slightly fancier place to rest - the most recent addition being some shade provided by a rainbow striped umbrella. How driving back from the airport this afternoon we passed approximately 20 men dressed in white and orange riding camels. The slightly crazy mural painted on the wall of the water department which includes a giant octopus with a third eye. The yellow and green tuktuks trolling the streets for passengers. These are just a few of the things that remind me I'm in Delhi. After all where else you could see this all within one car ride?

On safari in Sri Lanka

Another of the stops that we made was a short visit to Yala National Park in the Southeastern corner of Sri Lanka. One good thing about jet lag is that it sure makes it easy to wake up for a 5:00 safari - didn't even require an alarm clock. We headed to Yala because it has the world's (?) largest concentration of leopards. Not that that means that leopards are easy to find. Other animals are much more common…we saw a plethora of water buffalo, several jackals, wild boar, mongoose, spotted deer, peacocks a plenty, crocodiles, an eagle, monitor lizards, lots of colorful birds - including the national bird of Sri Lanka, and finally….as we were getting close to having to leave the park, all but hidden back in the trees a leopard. Or was it a pair? Hard to tell, but at one point I thought that maybe I saw two waving tails. My pictures - poor as they are - are still a better view of it then I had with my eye (its all about the zoom!). At least I was able to leave satisfied, knowing I had "seen" a leopard even if we didn't manage to see an elephant despite being told they sometimes roam through the hotel grounds.

Tea, tea, as far as you can see

The last week of my vacation I headed to Sri Lanka. With just a week there we decided to do an overview of some of what the country had to offer…namely tea plantations, national parks and the beach. I've been to tea areas before. After all Turkey has a vibrant tea culture with tea grown in the Rize area and India proudly boasts its Darjeeling tea. However I ended up being overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the land dedicated to growing tea in Sri Lanka. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the tea plantations that seem to be endless to my eyes account for just 4% of the land mass of Sri Lanka. I then got more curious - turns out that tea only counts for 2% of GDP but totals in at 15% of exports. It might be 15% of Sri Lankan exports but it accounts for up to 23% of the world tea market (ranking number one or two - Kenya is a close competitor).

As we drove through the tea country and I watched women working in fields to pick the tips off the plants, often on hillsides that I couldn't even imagine balancing on; I was struck by just how labor intensive this crop is. Employing over a million people, the tea sector employs at least 5% of the country's population. Many of those the men that care for the plants and spray pesticides from a container on their back and the women who strap a bag onto the back to place tea leaves in before accumulating them in a wicker basket earning around 500 rupees a day (according to our driver), approximately $3.80. And yet the smiles on their faces are big. They chat as they go. They leave their houses in the early morning to walk to the current field they are working on, taking a break mid morning for breakfast. They lay a wooden stick on top of already picked plants as a guide for how far down to pick the next ones. They take a break for lunch. They pick all afternoon. Then they get up and do it all over again the next day. Think about that the next time you drink a cup of Ceylon tea.

A new year's resolution

The start of the new year has been a bit crazy for me - travel will often do that. I've only got a three hour turn around time before I have to head back to the airport for my flight to Sri Lanka, but I thought I'd just share with you a project that my best friend and I are doing. Our new year's resolution is to take a photo a day (based off of themes we picked while I was home for Christmas) and to post our photos side by side on a weekly basis. So, if you would enjoy a look at the differences that 8,343 miles bring to our pictures you might want to check out our blog. (You can get new posts delivered to your inbox by submitting your e-mail in the box that says "follow by email" and then following up to verify you really want to receive them). 

Diwali in Orchha

There was a small part of me that was hoping that going to Orchha for Diwali break would bring an opportunity to experience a true Diwali celebration. After all the last two years I've been in a desert camp and in Catholic Goa. But Orchha, Orchha is a Hindu town. So I thought that perhaps I'd get a truly local experience. At first it seemed like Diwali might be restricted to people painting their houses, adding a new layer of color to brighten up the town. Don't get me wrong, I loved the bright blue, pink and yellow houses! But I was hoping for more...of course it is hard to know what to expect when you can't even identify which day is the proper Diwali...not that I'm any closer to being able to identify that. The second day we were there, it seemed that the number of people pouring into town had doubled or tripled. Almost all of them were making their way on foot to the large temple in the middle of the town dressed in their finest clothes, many of them waving peacock feathers in their hands. That seemed a bit more like a celebration, but not quite what I was expecting, after all Diwali is known as the festival of lights. I never did see many lights, but the the electricity only seemed to run from about 7-11 pm. However, the last morning we were there, we were awoken by the sound of drums. A peak over the balcony to the riverside revealed trucks coming in with the trailer full of men (all men). As they arrived the guys climbed down and began to get dressed...get dressed up in costumes of "women" (which often just meant tight short shorts, a skirt made out of flowers or some other type of adornment - never mind that women dress quite conservatively here). From what we could figure out on the particular holiday in this particular region of the country, villagers meet up and the men dance as the women are not allowed to. Most of the dances occur along the water front to the beat of the drums. Some groups of men strike sticks as they spin and jump. Others focus more on a jumping aspect. I'm not quite sure I can tell you what the meaning of the dances are, I would assume for good luck/food/fortune but that would be pure speculation. It was a bit uncomfortable being out on the road during that time as there really weren't any woman out and about. But of course I couldn't resist a small wander to take pictures and soak up the unexpected celebration I had landed in the middle of.

Christmas traditions

As I got ready to head home for Christmas this year my mom and my sister were full of questions about what needed to/could happen for the holiday. It really made me sit down and think about what were important traditions for me to experience if I was going to  feel like I had had a true Christmas. There are many things that I don't feel strongly about, after all three years ago I spend two hours in an internet cafe in Kampot, Cambodia skyping with my family and then went out for a peppercorn crab meal on the banks of the river by myself. So what is it that makes a Christmas at home Christmas? It is mass on Christmas Eve (turns out I don't care about which church since the priest I grew up with has been moved). Driving through Leisurewoods to enjoy the Christmas lights and the luminaries. Christmas Eve at my mom's house - opening presents and snacking on tamales, cheese, fresh rolls and fruit. Spending time with family. The lights on a Christmas tree. A nice family meal on Christmas Day with plenty of veggies (also turns out I don't have strong feelings about the main dish - lasagna this year). If possible going to visit the Zilker tree and trail of lights. Crisp weather many of you would think of as fall (but no snow!). Home made Christmas cookies. My mother's pumpkin bread (do I need to point out we have a lot of food traditions in our family?). Throwing sparkly puffs at my mother that turn into a fake snowball fight until we are both laughing too hard on the floor to continue. Seeing the wonder in my nieces' eyes at the magic of Christmas. All with a low refrain of religious Christmas carols in the background. 

Orchha

Back in October we had a long weekend (otherwise known as a travel opportunity!) that found me in the small town of Orchha over the Diwali weekend. I and a couple of friends had gone on the recommendation of a couple of people in my department, and before showing up about all I knew was that it was a fairly small town that was full of old constructions. Located about a 6 1/2 hour train ride south of Delhi it is one of the rare 15th century towns that got built around instead of torn down and repurposed. I believe we saw at least 15 16th century structures before it began to feel like they were all starting to blend together. Okay, maybe they blended together before that, but I wasn't willing to give up the freedom of walking everywhere until then. There is the large Raj Mahal (fort) sitting just in front of the Jahangir Mahal (palace?) with its elephant supports inside. Up on a hill overlooking the town is Lakshminarayan Madir, a temple that still contains some of its original hand drawn decoration. One of my favorite places was the Chaturbhuja Temple which was constructed to house a Hindu idol but was never used for its intended purpose as the idol refused to be moved and so a new temple had to be build around it. Instead we were able to climb all over this open building following a sadhu with his flashing green light up immense stairs to great views of the town. I also enjoyed the cluster of eleven cenotaphs that were a mere five minute walk from our hotel, old tombs situated on the banks of the river; I could have done without the vultures - although there is something a bit fitting about them being perched on the tops of the tombs.