Trekking!

After climbing back up the mountain to retrieve my camera I was stokin' on life!

Today was a national strike and everything was closed... fancy that :D Tomorrow things look like they will be opening up so I'm off to go trekking. I've got to catch a 9 hour bus ride that covers 120 KM... I'm used to buses that move as fast as I can jog so it's ok.
The itinerary it stands is to hop on a bus tomorrow at 6 AM bus it out to a place called Dunche almost directly north of Kathmandu on the edge of Langtang national park. I'll do the popular "Langtang Trek," then the idea is to connect via a 14,000 foot pass to another area known as the Helambu and walk back to Kathmandu. This should take me about 14 days give or take a few. I'll be out of contact entirely until I get back. This kind of trekking is known as "tea house" trekking. There are lodges and tea houses along the more popular sections. I have a tarp with me and we'll see how realistic it is for me to camp as much as possible. Wood can't be used for fires in these areas because they are heavily traveled and I'm not going to bother with a stove so I'll be eating out while wandering around mountains. It's quite a new concept to me, I'm used to just going out and fending for myself. I'm excited to do what "70% of all tourists who come to Nepal want to do." Haha.
Some highlights of volunteering on the farm were spending time with Ramu's older brother's son, who is two and a half and at the age when he's curious about everything. One night, when we had electricity, and all the geckos we're eating insects that flew around the light I was lifting him up so he could try and grab them. It was a repeated, "Lizard" and then me hoisting him up as high as I could so he could try and grab one. He came very close.
Another moment that is making me smile is learning and singing Kirtan (Devotional songs) with "Ama" (Ramu's mother, and another one of my many adopted mothers :) We were working out in the field side by side and she was slowly teaching me the songs of Lord Krishna (One of the manifestations of Vishnu and known for his flute playing, his naughty nature as a child, stealing milk and cream from the milkmaids) We sang together as the sun was setting and it gave me energy after a long day's work in the sun. it was so much fun to sing as the parrots flew back to their roosts in large flocks and the sun turned red, setting over India.
While I was sick I had a couple brief moments of literary inspiration, here's a poem that I wrote.

I long to find the end of the earth
Take the leap into the unknown.

Falling with giddy glee
and a smile on my face
I will plummet into stormy clouds.

Amongst these ethereal giants
I will have tea with my fears
Dance with my joys
Hug my sorrows,
and paint them all with my dreams.

When I am hungry I will eat chubby cumulus clouds
and suck the cirrus clouds dry.

I will learn to speak with the wind,
Learning ancient secrets
from the her eons of wandering,
whispered into my eager ears.

I will make friends with the sun and moon
Share with them my heart
and chase them in circles around the globe.

When the cloud has tired of it's burden,
and spits me upon the earth
as a human hailstone.
I'll look up and smile because it was all worthwhile.

It's quite crude but the sentiment is there. I remember the inspiration of this. Everyday almost clouds would roll in and we'd get thunder, lightning and sometimes full on tropical storms. I've never seen a hailstone so big. They were seriously the diameter of quarters. They came with 40-50 mile an hour winds which knocked down trees and ripped off the neighbors roof. Quarter sized hailstones coming almost horizontal is quite scary, take it from me.

New pictures are up on flicker, sadly it's taking forever to load so only about 150 new ones are up and they're quite old. I'll be sure to keep my camera handy wandering about in the mountains.

Namaste

Over a month...

and so much to say.
I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Kathmandu Nepal situated across the street from my "Didi's" house. Didi is the Nepali (and Hindi) word for older sister. My ideas when came to Nepal were to get out of the cities and make it into the mountains and find out what big mountains really mean. I completed one of the requirements and I plan to leave for trekking in 2 days! I worked on a farm for about a month in a small village called Megauli in the Chitwan district of Nepal. Megauli's claim to fame is that it hosts the elephant polo championships every December! It is a rural area bordering Chitwan National Park in lowland Nepal.
I crossed the border without any difficulties (I walked across without getting my Indian visa stamped without even realizing it) and went to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. Through the website workaway.info I was in email contact with a man named Bishnu who has a volunteer organization out of Kathmandu, he saw my profile and said, "I have a place for you." From Lumbini, i hopped on local transportation and with a little difficulty arrived in Megauli and met Ramu. Ramu is a second generation farmer (There has been a little unrest in Kathmandu lately, strikes and such, a march is walking by the cafe at the moment...) His family migrated to the fertile lowlands, known as the Terai, from the mountains after DDT was used to eradicate Malaria in the 1950's and 60's. Southern Nepal is under 1,000 feet elevation on the Gangetic plain. This area has much of the arable land and almost all of the industry. It is also hot. It was between 80 and 100 degrees with almost 100% humidity.
Ramu and his family took me in without any questions, Bishnu asked Ramu if I could come only 3 days before, and we got to work on the farm. I joined in the daily ritual of: wake up at 5:30, out in the fields by 6 or 6:30, depending on whether we had tea or not. Work until about 9 or 10 when the sun was scorching and then breakfast of "Dal Baat Tarkari." Lentils Rice and Curried veggies. We ate entirely food that was grown on the farm! Then we'd do odd jobs near the house, feeding the cows, etc. or rest until about 4 PM when we'd go back out in the field until dark. Then we'd eat Dal Baat again, or roti's and then sleep. It was a wonderful and wholesome routine.
During my stay I attempted to reach an internet connection in Narangarh (24 kilometers and almost 2 hours by bus...) there wasn't electricity and I got heat stroke, which proceeded to become a fever and diarrhea, I was knocked out cold for a couple of days. My immune system was out of whack big time, consequently I got 2 staff infections on one foot. This put me down for another week. Luckily there's a rural clinic no more that 200 meters down the "road" from Ramu's house. I became a regular there for about a week and a half. For the infections I got shots of local anesthesia and then they popped the suckers like giant mutant zits and packed the holes with iodine soaked bandages. I spent a week with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and hope that there was electricity so that the fan would run. I survived the ordeal and it's just another lesson of how important our bodies are and how much I take my healthy body for granted.
While I was bed ridden Ramu's older sister came to visit and she told me that when I come to Kathmandu to come and stay with her. So that's how I'm living like the locals again. I am so astounded at how open people have been to me, inviting me into their lives. Ramu's family has become my Nepali family. Bishnu's husband works as a chef and she's a stay at home mom until she can find work as a teacher. I've been helping her three year old son practice his ABC's, walk him and the neighbor's daughter to school and cooking dinner. My Hindi has morphed into a Hindi/Nepali mix that allows me to communicate adequately here. I plan to leave for trekking in two days! I'm determined to get some mountain time!
Excuse the scatteredness, it's reflecting my state of mind, trying to organize everything for trekking and opening up the cyber world after a month of not looking at it has sent my mind spinning.
Love to everyone and sorry if anyone was worried :D

Life is...

an adventure, wild, stupendous, interesting, magical, school, challenging, epic.
Tomorrow I leave India for Nepal... there is so much to be said at this point. But life has taken me and won't let me even go to the internet, it's dragging me along and I have to run to keep from being pulled off my feet.
I'm different, I can feel it, almost six months in the famous subcontinent and I've grown a little bit more. The Alex staring into the screen is a different Alex who sat and wrote this last October:

Many people have asked me, "Why India?" To be honest, I have answered this question a hundred different ways. But, I have boiled it all down to a few reasons.

1. Why not!? My goal is to go on the wildest adventure possible, and well India is pretty wild if all the tales hold true.

2. After taking Tom Ward's Permaculture Course I want to go to a place that needs it most. India has been devastated by the use of agrochemicals and much of their water is dependent on snow melt from the Himalayas. With climate change, depletion of their aquifers and loss of topsoil combined with one of the fastest growing populations India is in need of another agricultural revolution.

3. I've decided that I want to be a an Adventurer as my profession. So this will be my introduction into a new way of living :D

4. My knowledge of India is extremely polarized. I know of the Taj Mahal, and I also know about the slums, it is also a place that I is romanticized in my mind. I am going there to make my own conclusions and see the world in a totally new light.

Really, when I wrote this I had no Idea why I chose India, my rational mind was looking for an answer to satisfy it and all the people who had asked me. The truth, as I remember it came randomly one night in Permaculture class. Larry Korn was giving a presentation and I just decided that I had to go to India. I had been looking all over the world and India was one of the options but that night it hit me that India was where I was gong to go. Once I set my mind to it there was no stopping me, even after I crashed my parents car and had to pay $1,500 to get it fixed. Now, I know why I came to India, because only India could have taught me these lessons. I haven't been to many places in the world, but I'm pretty sure that there is no place like this in the world.
The lessons have been numerous, and too many to count, but they've been coming in all forms and they have been shaping me as I traveled through India. I changed with the journey
I left Ashland, exhuberant, without any expectations and totally naive to the reality of India. I arrived without my stuff, I spent a week in Goa, 5 of the days without my bag. I tried to enjoy the beach, sun, parties and travelers with a mindset for partying and sleeping the day away on the sand. I was in a very unhappy place, my girlfriend and I broke up, my grandmother passed on and I was alone in the most densely populated country in the world.
Then I got the invite from Chris Boone, a fellow permaculture student, to head to the deserts of Rajastan and go to the Pushkar Mela (most dense concentration of camels in the world... haha), we city hopped for two weeks, surviving horrible bus rides and paying way to much for everything. I was able to cruise around at top speed and get the feel for "traveling" by many people's descriptions, (Staying on the well trodden footpath, touristy parts of cities, going and looking at sights, etc.) Chris left to meet up with his girlfriend who was in a two week yoga course, and I packed my bags, not sure what to do next. Somehow I met Tara who invited me to live in his home. I was stoked, excited for the opportunity to experience Indian life, but still totally naive, I am a foreigner and I=$$$$, sadly money became an issue, I left after two weeks with Tara not talking to me and wondering what the hell happened? While I was there I had amazing experiences though, like eating lizard, a real desert wedding and acting in a French film as a British Soldier (It almost got me killed, but it's a story for when I get back) I got on the next bus to Amritstar, everyone was heading South to Goa and Karnataka for Christmas, but I was determined to get off the tourist circuit.
Amritstar, the Golden Temple gave me hope, it filled me up in a way that I didn't know that was empty. Here was an example of Humanity working entirely for one another and succeeding. What was the glue? Faith, in Guru Nanak, the Sikh Guru, most importantly in the Universe and God. I stayed for three days and in a passionate joy I volunteered non-stop in as many parts of the things that make the place work as possible. All the will lifting my head to a Golden plated Temple, nestled withing a lake ringed by a white marble walkway and buildings. Here was Religion in the most tangible positive form I've ever seen. Run entirely by volunteers. I left, the three day stay limit pushed me onward.
I went to McLeod Ganj, the Tibetan lifebloods stronghold, nestled on the first slopes of the Himalaya. I spent over a week helping in conversation classes at two different volunteer centers. I went to hear some ancient Tibetan Lama teach on Tibetan Buddism, in the course met Laura Haley and Ana. They told me about the Dalai Lama's teaching and invited me along. I had a bizarre Christmas night there, climbed the mountains with a monk, and spent the Solstice in a lodge on one of the ridges over the town.
I went to Rishikesh next, or I planned too, but I met a couple on the bus there who convinced me to go to Navdana, Vandana Shiva's seed saving projects volunteer farm, there was no work and I was recovering from Giardia so I rested for three days and had an equally unique New Years. When I got to Rishikesh I stayed in an Ashram and practiced yoga everyday. I took my first dip in the Holy Ganges, and hiked around the hills.
Laura, Haley and I went through all the misery's of the world ( Tibetan concept, basically hell), to get to the Dalai Lama's teachings, at least that is how we justified our carelessness in missing our train and the amazingly difficult 22 hour train ride in general class, it also included my second ( or reocurrent) bout of Giardia.
Saranath was amazing, Ana had gone ahead and gotten one of the coveted houses to rent in Saranath for the week, with her big heart she couldn't say no to the monks and lama who were looking for a room as well. 2 rooms and one bathroom slept 13, 7 foreigners and 6 monks, we slept 7 on the bead, head to toe, longways on the bed. I was really cold and it was like making a puzzle with our bodies but we managed to make it work. We all cooked together and I learned to make the fatty and warming foods of the Tibetans. The teaching we're powerful, if not extremely hard to stay attentive, so much information was being given and I'm still unearthing what was taught. His teachings were basically on Shantideva's book "The Bodisatva Way of Life." Directly after the teachings I walked out into the country side using my minimal Hindi to find one of the many Vipassana Meditation Centers that are aparently all over the world but especially in India. In Rishikesh I flipped a coin to decide whether or not to go I did a 10 day silent Meditation course, needless to say I spent 90% of the time thinking. One thought that did come to mind was that my place is to wander and learn from the world, not to go back to the U.S. When out of curiosity I still flipped the coin to try leaving it up to chance it fell into my rolled up pant leg vertically.
One of the other meditators, Joakim from Sweden, told me that he was going to Varanassi to learn Hindi from an amazing teacher. I was all ears, I tried in Rishikesh and really wanted to learn as my wander continued. I landed in Munna house, as unique as the city it belongs too and started taking Hindi classes every day. I would walk to and from my classes talking to as many of the friendly, curious, bothersome, and of course expert sales men that would stop talking long enough to allow me to throw in a few Hindi words. Slowly my wanders expanded and the track two and from class made me a regular. Both made me many friends who I would get to repeat the same questions and answers to all day and every day, I tried to give myself and extra half hour to an hour to get there. I practiced Hindi everyday, I tried to volunteer, it was a bust, but I spent two fruitless weeks struggling to move a boulder uphill and in the dark. Finally I relented and learned another lesson from the City of Light and Knowledge. I finished my mindblowing time here with another leap into the unknown, the Panchkroshi Yatra. A pilgrimage of 75-88 Kilometers, started at midnight on March first (Started writing it twice, and twice pooja's computer crashed to an all time low that it had to be entirely reconfigured and all the information was lost), it is done barefoot, it took me about 13 hours to complete, the physical journey is only the silhouette of what went on inside during the walk. It's an adventure for the books, the wildest thing I've done in India.
Then I went back to Dehradun to try my first workaway experience, it was amazing, I spent the first two weeks going up and down the mountain every day, in the evenings I managed to finally finish my Teaching English as a Second Language course, which put my mind at ease when the kids called me "sir." Holy was a maelstrom of color and food. Then I moved up to the village for the two weeks of intense preparation for the first Annual function. It was stupendous (I'm having fun with the adjectives :D), the other volunteers and I painted the classroom, and assisted in everything involved as much as we can. We spent the evenings dancing around fires and I would run off on my own to hike up the mountains and lose my camera. I stayed up at the village an extra day, the villagers killed a deer, which I recieved a little and cooked up for the last meal on the mountains, as well as Aloo Gobi and Kashmiri Pulou that Temuz made. Vinod one of the local teachers told me, a foreigner, that I liked my food spicy, I was ecstatic, it was the best compliment I've ever received about my cooking! (I outspiced an Indian! haha)
I spent the day saying goodbye to everyone and drinking enough chai to have my stomach explode, I promised half the village that I'd come back. There's a piece of my heart there. Temuz and I got to see a local ceremony done for Kali (The divine feminine in her dark form), it was totally unexpected and new.
I left Derhadun after spending a say with Pooja and the family, she's my Indian mother, I'll admit to having at least 3 if not many more ;) Then I went to Rishikesh, a week back practicing Yoga and swimming in the Ganges. I left a day early, nothing planned, but wielding a new tool, Hindi. I breezed through travel like never before. The day was amazing from start to finish, Hanuman's birthday, and I received his blessing. A monkey stole my fruit, then I traded my too large of a backpack for a smaller one, a yoga mat and croc shoes (my third pair since the start), I had some real luck that day. I went to Hardiwar, enjoyed the festival, bathed in the Ganges and got the train at Midight for Varanassi, I was no worse for the ware on my repeat of my first experience. This time I was able to sleep in every contorted position possible, almost as comfortably as the indians that shared the crowded compartment, I slept on the luggage rack.
Varanasssi, round two, here I am again, another level of the city has been opened to mee since I've left. Language is the key to the culture, I've just begun to crack the door open and see the beauty that lies beneath the shit, dirt and trash. I'm now a chela of a Baba on the Ghat's basically I'm part of the Temple family who takes care of the Baba, who doesn't deal in money. I've cooked, washed the temple and shopped for food. Last night he called me his chela for the first time, it basically means student, but with many underlying connotations and culture attached, I can't wait till I can sit and really talk to him about some real stuff, now my language is limited to everyday life. I have fallen in love with this city, there is a power here that runs deep through every layer of this place. Haunted in history, faith and magic. A little bit of my soul will still be here, wandering, when I leave. Tomorrow I leave for Nepal, my Indian visa expires on the 25th, if all goes as I imagine, I'll be crossing the border that very day.

Wow, not quite sure how I got here, I hope it makes sense. I didn't know where that was going to lead. I'm off to do my rounds see, my Hindi Guru and Baba Jee as I call them before going to listen and probably sleep at the Indian music concert that started yesterday. The concerts go all night, I had wonderful sleep to classical Indian music last night. The best acts don't start until 3 or so in the morning.

Thank you India, thank you everyone who has been supporting me with their love and thoughts through my journey here. I really would not have been able to do this if I didn't know that I was being fully supported by my parents, family, friends and community. I am so blessed.
One Chapter is coming to a close, now only the Universe knows what is going to be written in this "choose-your-own-adventure" novel next :D

Kush Raho (Be happy)

Exhausted...

I'm exhausted, I really shouldn't be writing. I've got nothing else to do while I wait to bord my train back to Varanassi, I'm pushing down the memories of my last journey, 22 hours of being ver sick on a very crowded train :D This time I'm on the superfast train. Although I'm back in General class, which means I'm going to be human cattle! I read Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography and he used to travel entirely on third class. It's a quarter of the price as sleeper class, with accordingly as little space. I hope to get a luggage rack and claim it as my own. Bedtime has been early lately so that I can wake up for yoga at 6:00 or 7:00 AM. I was practicing with a 103 year old Swami that was teaching free classes, pretty awesome in my opinion. So many stories to tell... Gaah!
Today was pretty special, in case you didn't know it's Hanuman's birthday! He's the monkey god who swore his allegiance to Rama, Krishna's earthly embodyment, and helped him rescue his wife from the demon king Ravana, anyways Hanuman represents duty, strength, humility and service. He's a very special god, there isn't a Rickshaw walla without his little orange hanuman.
The day began with a monkey getting into my room at the Ashram where I was in Rishikesh (the same one I stayed in before) and stealing my bananas and oranges. I was in the bathroom, and when I came out a friend down the hall calmly told me that a monkey was in my room. He said, "It's OK though, 'cause it's Hanuman's birthday." I went into the the room and the monkey had only taken the fruit and left. No damage done! i was happy to have fed the monkey :D
Ok, I'm getting off, I'm going to fall face first into the keyboard and I'm going to need my energy for my train in an hour. More to come when I get to Varanassi!

1 month in 10 minutes

Me, danielle (U.S.A), Sandeep (India/Nepal), Tamuz (Israel), Jessi (U.S.A)

To say the least this last month has been amazing. I'm leaving in an hour or so for Rishikesh, to do yoga and sit on the fact that I let the plane that was supposed to take me back to the U.S. take off with an empty seat. Now my adventure has no planned end just to keep on learning and exploring these far off wonderous places of the world.
I've been out of contact for a little while because I was living up at the village. There was so much work to be done because Pooja's first annual function for her school was on April 8th. I committed when I arrived here to stay until the completion of it. We worked so hard, especially Pooja, she has devoted all of her energies to her school it is amazing and inspiring. She has treated me so well and I've felt so at home in her home and with her family. in fact she's because my "Indian mother" and I'm her "brat!" This experience here has been one of the most rewarding of everything that I've done in India, so much has happened, here's a quick recap.
I got lice and shaved all of my long floppy hair off, the hairdresser actually did it all by hand with a pair of scissors, totally impressive, especially for only 50 cents.
My camera had another adventure, it spent the night on another mountain top. I went on a hike and after taking photos I forgot it on my way back down. The next day I climbed back up and found it perched at the peak in it's same old flashless beat up condition.
3 new volunteers arrived. Two from the U.S. and one from Israel, we had so much fun dancing around fires and repainting the school to ocean, dinosaur, space and other themes. We were all a great help at a crucial time to Pooja, I was unsure why exactly she was inviting three more volunteers when we were in such a crunch, but when they arrived it was pure magic. Everyone had something to bring and we worked hard for the week leading up to the program. I've uploaded some of Jessi's photos onto flickr, check them out!
The function was amazing. Every kid had their own costume and got up on stage. They did wonderfully, the kids loved it, the parents loved it, and we were all so happy and proud. I had been helping for a month and seen all the kids practice countless times, when they got up on stage my heart started racing. I felt like I was the one getting up there. The preformed better than I've ever seen them, even though they'd only had one rehearsal on the stage and in costumes. I even received comments on my narration of Snow White, Pooja has given me the disc so maybe I'll be able to use it again at another school.
There is so much to write about, I'm antsy to get going off on another adventure, back to traveling. I've got 2 weeks left on my visa in India, I'm heading towards Nepal! New adventures await.
Pooja, Tamuz, Jessi, Danielle, Pooja's family, Town school staff and all the villagers have given me so much positive energy, I'm practically floating. I'm sad to be leaving yet another wonderful place. But I've promised everyone that I'll return. When I do I can't wait to see the changes that Pooja, the villagers, town school staff and all the volunteers will be making. Wohooo!

My heart is in the mountains

Some Students, Pooja and I the last class before Holi

My first workaway experience is going great! It's getting near the end of the first school year here. The kids are all taking their exams and preparing for their first annual function. The kids will be preforming two dances, one a traditional Garwali dance, the locals in the mountains traditionally speak Garwali, and a Punjabi Bangra. Bangra is a traditional/modern fusion from Punjab. During Holi the bangra songs often got people moving more than any other type of music. Bangra dance is also a fusion of traditional moves and breakdance. The boys that are doing the dance stand on each others shoulders, do cartweels and breakdance. I've helped a little with the choreagraphy. There are also two short plays, one is a traditional story and another is an 8 minute adapted Snow white, in english. The kids doing that play don't speak their roles, instead, I went to a recording studio with Pooja and read the script. So they act to my narration! haha, it's funny to hear my voice mixed in with background music and sound affects. Because the kids are taking there tests and preparing for the annual function I'm only teaching for about 40 minutes a day, although that's enough. It is fun and challenging to teach. I recently finished an online TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course, technically I can teach now! But of course the proof is in the pudding, it's been fun to try different angles of approach and seeing the reactions in the kids. Of course it's best if I can get them up and moving. I asked an older student to give me feedback and he told me that I was doing a good job, yay! It's a learning experience for both them and me though. Pooja, who has been teaching for years say that I'm doing well and the kids respect me. In Varanassi where I was previously volunteering the students didn't respect me at all, it wasn't personal, they've just been taught that any foreigner who walks through the doors is basically a jungle gym. Here, the students address me as sir and ask before getting up out of their seat. Quite a change, I've been trying to teach the students the basic uses of verbs. A surprise came yesterday when I asked the students to raise their hands and tell me as many english verbs as they know, while I wrote them on the board. One student said, bowling, and then in a flurry of hands they said, keeping, fielding and batting. It's the Cricket World Cup! Everyone in India knows about Cricket, sadly I know nothing, even though the rules have been explained to me multiple times. Right now is an intense time for everyone in India not only because everyone I meet is an avid fan but the games are being played right here in India! India beat Australia a few days ago and is set to play Pakistan next, I think. It was great to see the kids enthusiasm about their favorite sport.
After class on Thursday I said I was going on a hike. I had my eyes set on a rocky peak above the school. It was wonderful to wander through the fields that turned to managed forest. The women, who do almost all the work, climb the oaks and gather the leaves for fodder. Almost all the oaks look like odd stunted cacti with leaves growing right from the trunk. I followed trails until I came to the highest house and then it was a scramble up the slope. The people here are amazing, the land has all been terraced so they can grow crops on the steep mountainside. The higher I went the drier it became until I was climbing on all fours. A couple of months ago I bought some Chako knockoffs for about $10, they do fine in the everyday adventure, but I dearly needed shoes with some sort of grip. Then I had to climb up the knife like ridge of rock clambering up boulders and such. It took me three hours to gain maybe 2,000 feet. When I got to the top, I wrote this:

My heart is here in the mountains. I'm sitting on a rock, perched on an un-named peak. The wind is blowing cumulus clouds in from the east, a change in weather is coming. A Great Bustard is dancing with the wind ripping over the knife like ridge from the adjacent valley. It is spring, and I am home. At least it feels that way, the metamorphic rock is even similar. I know, I got a close look as I scrambled my way up here. It was better than trying to go up the slope of dry dead grass that my shoes don't have any grip on.
I'm in the foothills of the Himalaya, on the other side of the world and yet it couldn't feel more similar to home. The same uplifting of tectonic plates has created the geography, the same types of plants, animals, even the dry earth has the same smell as home.
To commend myself for getting out, mentally and physically I have a banana and an orange. I was getting desperate, I've been in the cities too long. I am a man of the mountains. They are my home. I can even name the genus of many plants that I see, some are even the same as Ashland. On my way up I caught a small movement out of the corner of my eye, it was a flightless praying mantis, with three dark stripes down it's back and a swagger to mimic the play of the wind on the dry grass stalks. I was lucky to see it. In my scramble up the rocks I also cam across two different lizards, one was about a foot long. Not to mention springs flowers, cherry blossoms, daisies and wildflowers in the heights of the mountain.
This is the first time that I've been alone in a long time, what a joy it has been to walk, crawl and climb my way up here. I wouldn't mind having my adventurous friends along, but they are on their own journeys.
The weather front is cruising in, I'm going to start my descent so I can do it in the warm rays of the sun.
It took me almost 6 hours to get back. When I got to the school, Pooja was on the roof with binoculars in her hands. For the past hour she and another teacher had been looking for my bright smiley face hat. They were a little worried but I explained to them that it was normal for me. If I go out and I'm not back by dark, then there's a problem, otherwise don't worry. It didn't help that everyone in the village who learned about my adventure personally told me not to go alone because of the Tigers, Leopards and Bears. I also told them that in our mountains we have bears and leopards. It explained why everyone gave me a weird look when I told them what I was doing. Tigers and Leopards actually kill people here. Although the chances of that happening are much less than an accident in the cliff side drive from Dehradun to the school.

A not so holy Holi!

Pooja, Manish, Chakori and I, after a colrful day!

The 20th was Holi, the Hindu festival of good vanquishing evil and the coming of spring. But of course it's not that boring:

Pooja told me that for Holi we were going to have a small party at the house. 20 to 30 people she told me, she made it sound almost mellow. So, the day before she had some people come and set up a big tent and brought 20 or so plastic chairs. We also rented a couple of speakers and set them up in the yard. The day before Holi Pooja's sister and her husband arrived to celebrate with us.
I woke up and everything began normally. We had breakfast together and everyone put on some old clothes. Manish gave me one of his old shirts to wear since I ahve only three. We ate breakfast and then around 8:30 we "Happy Holi'd" each other: We smeared scented colors on each others face. The colors represent different aspects of life and well, it means we all get healthy dosings of each. By putting the colors on each other we are wishing for those attributes to come in that persons life during the next year. After we preformed the Holi rites within the family it was time to do the family rounds. I live in a community of upper class Indians called Kewal Vihar, Manish's family all live in the community or on the street across the way. Really, every house on that street is family! Manish told me that's 105 people, it's a big family, needless to say I've forgotten all of their names and fall back on "uncle" and "aunt."
We went across the main road to the street that's all family and began the rounds of "Happy Holing" the whole extended family. Every house we went to it was the same ritual "HAPPY HOLI," we'd shout and then take turns smearing colors on everyone's faces and embrace. After that the hosts of house that we were visiting would offer us food to which everyone in our party would flat out refuse. Me being the double guest, guest of the guest, would have to eat something. I would try to get away with a grape or something small. By now I've figured out how to battle Indian hospitality, refuse everything at first otherwise they'll pile food on you like you won't believe. We went to all the houses repeating the same ritual. At this point Holi was pretty mellow. At one house Manish asked for beer and we drank up. Beer for breakfast! Then things began to get interesting because the cousins showed up, squirt guns and water balloons in hand. The fun began, we continued the rounds, but now the game became a little bit more savage. People on rooftops were shooting colored water from the Indian version of dipsticks. I duked it out with the cousins, buckets of water became the ultimate weapon. We finished "Happy Holing" the family and returned to the house. I was at the wet stage now.
Across the street lives another relative, we went there, it was a real party. There is a girls hostel next door to my house, the girls are from different parts of India living there and studying in Dehradun's many high schools. They were there, as well as more family. The speakers were on full blast from the house, they were dancing and cousins were running about dousing each other with water. As soon as I arrived Manish's aunt, who was an absolute doll when I met her, slowly got up out of her chair, gave me another dose of color along with a hug and proffered more food.
When I went and met her the first time she told me that I looked just like Jesus, when I had a beard I can kinda understand the resemblance, because of my blue eyes. She told me that she doesn't like meeting people anymore because she is always gets attached and gets sad when they leave. She used to be a teacher at one of the most prestigious schools here and has had many foreign friends. When I told her that Lassi is my favorite food she promised me that next time I come she'll make me a Lassi! She's a really sweet lady.
Holi started to get savage, I was getting attacked from all angles by the cousins so I took extreme measures, I wrenched a bucket from the hands of a cousin and put myself right in the middle of the water feature. A small pool with a waterfall. I doused everyone who came within bucket striking distance for about 5 minutes. The cousins were helpless with my superior firepower. I ruled the scene until another bucket was found and people got smart and started filling up at the other pond. I gave up my post in the pool and dumped a bucket of water on Manish's head.
It was dancing time! I danced with Chakori (Pooja's daughter), cousins and the hostel girls. All was great until and uncle came up behind me and grabbed me, this was the beginning of the end. Cousins started jumping on me, even as I wiggles and squirmed they pushed me into the lake of mud that the lawn had become. I held off the onslaught for a few moments, but in the end it's hard to beat 20 something happy Indians determined to shove you into the mud. I went face first, I tried to keep my head up but they splashed muddy water in my face an stood on my back... haha... not. I got up, grabbed my uncle and tossed him into the mud, and a cousin before and aunt told me to stop... doesn't seem fair does it? I took a bucket of water on the head to get the muck off, one of my earings were missing. I checked the muck with no avail, I still have one though :D I went back to my house and quickly made another out of bamboo, it was a good idea because now it's stained purple.
Back at the festivities the same uncle who tossed me into the muck handed me a glass of something. I get handed glasses of something all the time, you have to be careful with drinks here unless you like drinking odd, salty, different masala flavored drinks. I love the Indian spices, just not so much in water, it's a real aquired taste. For Holi they make a salty, masala flavored carrot drink that has herbs in it to aid in digestion. I knew it was safe though because I've gotten my colors down, it was flavored with makhania, a super yummy spice, and sweet. I drank it thinking to myself, finally something cold and refreshing, that didn't have carrots floating in it. I poured my second glass and was drinking it when a cousin ran over to me and said, "Stop! It's bhang!" Great, so the yummy drink has marijuana in it. Thanks for telling me uncle!
I hopped from one side of the street to the next, helping on our side and dancing at the other. At some point the party shifted and we got to bump our speakers full blast as everyone was dancing to bollywood hits.I had a dance off with Chakori to a song, she beat me with all music video moves. The hostel girls were all milling around the snack table not dancing, and having learned from the best, I walked over and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Kao, Kao, Pio, Pio!" Which is the the command, "eat, eat, drink, drink!" Needless to say, with one of the hosts bellowing at them they did just that. I went to Pooja and told her what I did, we laughed because I'm always making fun of her for telling me and everyone else to eat. I played Indian host to the best of my abilities!
There was still a party on the other side of the street I made the fatal mistake of going over, only to meet some more cousins who earlier had been so nice and formal with me, they decided that the perfect way to introduce me to holi was by taking mud and shoving it directly in my face and then throwing me into the mud puddle, and of course making sure that I stayed there for some time. I managed to get up with a smile on my face, "Don't worry, it's Holi," running through my head. I went to get them back and one by one drop them in the mud, but my aunt stopped me for a second time... really!?
At some point the party died, the girls went next door and all the family exited. Pooja, Manish, Chakori, my aunt and uncle, and I were left standing alone in the trashed yard. We quickly talked it out and decided that we weren't done, plans had changed, we had to party hop. A couple quick calls and we located where the party was! It was a block party! Manish and I walked and everyone else drove the distance, we arrived when they were exiting the car... The party was still going on but at this point almost every time someone got a bucket on their head someone else would shout, "Would you stop already!" The water and colors slowly wound down as people were getting hungry. Pooja signaled to me it was time to set up for lunch. I jogged back to the house with a cousin to help. We set everything up just in time for the hungry family to devour the monsterous pot of rice, some bright yellow and totally yummy Holi curry and Goat.
It was a feast, I ate tons while chatting with different people. I asked a family friend directly why they spoke in English rather than Hindi, she told me that English was no longer "English" and was a universal language, thus it binds nations and India together because not all Indians speak Hindi. She also told me that she personally spoke English around me so that I wouldn't feel left out! I asked her if we could speak in Hindi and we did. People slowly trickled away and a few latecomers arrived. Each time we repeated the "Happy Holi" with everyone who came. At about 3 PM our last guest left and everyone went upstairs to sleep I helped clean up a little bit and then went outside to sit.
Sitting, the first thing I noticed was how quiet everything was, I couldn't hear a single human sound. It was like the whole city was in the midst of a huge sigh of joy for a day spent to the fullest. It was the quietest I've ever heard India, really everything was silent. All the festivities had ended and everyone was home, sleeping off their bursting bellies and hangovers. It didn't take long for me to find out what made this day so special, everyone had a good time. Bar none everybody let go of their worries for a little while and just had a blast. I received more hugs in one day then I've gotten in all of India, I'm hug deficient. The barriers that exist between the sexes, ages and social positions were broken. India never ceases to amaze, I had a block party with my adopted family! All the formalities that we go through every time we've met before were thrown out the window, what I thought would be a relatively mild Holi turned out to be a full on block party that included the whole city! We stayed within our bubble of family and friends, but all over the same thing was happening. Woohoo! It was a day for the books!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this post is worth a picture or two.
You can see all my pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexlandt/