jiggety jog

did anyone else'smom ever say that? "home again, home again, jiggetyjog"....my mom always said it upon arrival to the garage....

so here i am! i had a great trip home...no problems like i feared, every flight was on time, my bags arrived safely...no problem!

it's good to be home in my house, nice to be snuggling with my sweetie and my dog....

thanks everybody for reading my blog and writing me emails! i think i might continue blogging, so if you wanna keep reading, then please do!

see ya!
jo

leaving today

well, today i am leaving. i am a little sad, but my heart is racing with anticipation of returning home.

i also tend to have high anxiety about something going wrong at the airport. like my name not even being registered as a passenger or something, even though i have confirmed my flight twice. i have anxiety about being stuck in frankfurt, or munich, or my bags getting lost or something like that which guess is normal, but i hate feeling this way. oh, if my bags got lost i would be VERY UPSET. but i will put my name and address on them in fingernail polish (ha!) since they are black, and hope for the best.

so today i am meeting arnab for lunch and then i am doing some last minute present buying and then packing and eating. shower and taxi to airport and that is that.

so! in case anyone feels better knowing, i am flying lufthansa from delhi to frankfurt, frankfurt to munich, munich to charlotte. the last flight is LH #428. i have a sneaking suspicion this is going to change as i think i will be on US Air instead of LH. we'll see.

so, i'm hoping ot be up at barley's tuesday after work to see people and have a delicious firewater beer...and then perhaps opening of the bags that night??? you are welcome to join me! in fact, please do!

see ya in the USA! woo hoo!
jo

saturday

well,

today is my last full day here. i leave tomorrow night around 11:30pm to go to the airport. i am feeling a little sad. i was beginning to think i am not terribly excited about coming back to india. but then, i started reading this book called "shantaram" and my mind did a complete reverse. this is an excellent book, people, and for those of you who like a good story, you must get it.

this book is so good at describing the thing about india that i like the most. the author puts in in these terms...india is all about the heart, and indians are quick to love. this is so very true and wonderful and beautiful. and when i was reminded of this i looked around, and i felt it. despite the jerks on the train, despite the dirt everywhere, despite the absolute insanity...indians are all about the heart.

i ran into a friend of mine i amde on my last trip and i had chai with him. maybe i told you this in my last post...but after having chai, he told me i was now his best best BEST friend. this is what i mean by indians being quick to love. this is such a sweet notion for a 24 yr old man...in the US would this happen? no way!

i got som henna done yesterday on my hands and feet for my trip home. i love the feet but the hands are a little cheesy. i got black henna vs the natural red henna. then i bought some henna to bring home with me for a ladie's night henna party. i realized that the black henna is actually hair dye!! very funny...now i am feeling a little embarrassed byt this hair dye covering my hands. when indians see it, they are probably rolling their eyes and laughing at my naive tourist self.

i have been talking to some interesting foreigners here at the restaraunt in delhi. i met a black woman form nyc last nigh and it was really interesting to see her talking to indians. she is here buying stuff to sell at street fairs. hmm...maybe an idea for me?? anyway, i also chatted with an intersting british lady this AM and also and australian man who was having some trouble with a tour operator here who he was actually planning on SUING. i think he is wasting his energy, but whatever. in india, you must have the capability to just cut your losses sometimes or else you will drive yourself nuts. this is NOT the western world. and if you get caught in one of their money scams, you just lose money. i think you need to be smart enough to not get involved in the 1st place.

today i am going shopping. i have a list of gifts to buys and i am excited. then tomorrow i meet up with arnab, my indian friend from myspace. we talked on the phone yesterday and he had the most proper british english with the indian lilt, it was delightful. he and i are having lunch. i also will meet up with hema from the jewelry school to talk about what she might like to try to teach at penland. i am going to try and hook her up with a teaching job there sometime. either for traditional jewelry techniques or traditional embroidery techniques. i hope it works out and they want her to teach because then she can come visit and stay with me and i can show her around!!!!

so...that's the agenda. i'm feeling like my eyes need to drink everything in before i go. my mouth needs to eat delicious meals, and i need to relish the two days i have left. i am SO EXCITED to come home, though! so much fun things to do there....though i am also remembering all the busy work i have to take care of such as booking hotels for craft fairs, getting my booth in order, ordering electricty for the craft fairs, ordering materials to make jewelry, blah blah blah....i will put off those thoughts for a few more days, though.

namaste
jo

republic day

halloo!

well, today is "twenty-sixth jan".....republic day! everything in delhi is closed....so what to do?

there is a huge parade, closing off almost all the sity's major roads, impossible to get anywhere other than where you are. on the way to paharganj this morning from the train station we had to speed in order to make it through. we had to go through many police checkpoints, but they did not search us. i am safely here at the "yes sir!" guest house.

the train ride was...ummm...interesting, and NOT interesting, both. at first, i was all alone n my compartment area. except i had a friendly mouse that actually came up on the seat next to me, causing me to jump! i wish it would have crawled in my lap and snuggled, but i scared it off with ym scream. then at night came a group of 4 young women, each carring a type of cloth bag. they had some paint on their foreheads extending down to their noses. different than normal. i asked about the bags and was told they are "bead bags". hmm, still i was unsure. and THEN, they started clapping an dsinging together. it became apparen that they were HAre Krisna's...VERY interesting. they were on their way to a har krisna festival in pune. they had some intersting snacks, and i asked what they were. immediaitely, i had a plate of said snacks for myself to try. it was some roti's (flatbread), some papadam (crispy masala flat bread) and what looked like crisco. so, i dipped the roti in the crisco only to find it was exactly like cake icing, very sweet. the roti had some veggies in it and was absolutely delicious. i told them so, and one girl leaned over and said, "it tastes so good because it is an offering to krisna!" i raised my eyebrows and smiled. then they kept offering me more and more and i had to refuse!!!

i woke up to find new people in the compartment. i was sleeping n the top berth, so i climbed down and sat in the seat next to mine as some guy was sitting in my seat. i thought, no biggie, he's in my seat, i'll sit in his. the woman across from me gave me the MEANEST look, and her husband leaned over and said "someone is sitting there." i looked at the guy next to me and said "well, he is sitting in my seat." mind you, there was PLENTY of room on the bench for all of us. so i asked the guy, "where is your seat?" and he says "i have no seat". meaning, he is riding the train for free. so these jerks across from me were mad at me for sitting on the bench when this guy didn't even have a ticket! the whole rest of the trop (over 24 hours) these 2 people gave me mean looks, didn't talk to me, were rude...ugh!!! and the dude without a ticket...he STARED at me the whole time, i mean...the WHOLE time. i would be reading and inadvertently look up, and he'd be staring at me. i caught him trying to look up my skirt on the sly one time, prentending he was asleep. hope he liked looking at the pants i had on underneath my skirt. then another guy came and joined the group and he stared at me too! it was awful. these indians are like 12 yr olds when it comes to women...they are so immature it is ridiculous! finally after a sleepless night last night, around 3am i got up and moved all my stuff to a diferent place just to get away from the bad vibes.

but now i am here...not sure what to do today because of the holiday. i guess i will go see if i can see the parade, but you know how it is with parades, esp if you are short like i am. but on the tv, the announcer said this parade is unlike a parade the WORLD has ever seen. sounds tempting, doesn't it???

then tomorrow i will go shopping and please...lord help my gluttony tomorrow. i know it is sick, i know it.


ttfn
jo

finally

well, no worries, friends.

the blogger website has been causing me much frustration these past few days and i just couldn't dign on no matter what! SOOOOOOOO frustrating and annoying.

but all is fine. i am ready to come home. i actually tried to change my ticket but i couldn't. so...2 more days here, 2 days on the train, 2 days in delhi, then i am back. wow, i am REALLY looking forward to coming home!

the beach is fine. kora and i moved north up the coast to colva beach. there are tons of indian tourists here which makes for a nice change in flavor. they are very funny in their beach behavior. they will all hang out near the ocean, like 500+ of them, and be screaming with delight about he waves. them men all strip down to their brown underwear and the women (some) get in the water fully clothed. it is very intersting to see piles upon piles of shoes on the beach, guarded by some grand mother.

it has been good to connect with kora. we have had lots to talk about and it is really nice to be able to share observations with someone.

interstingly enough, at our hotel, someone scratched in the concrete walkway "lisa has big tits". we find this hilarious. who cares if lisa's tits are big? i would think it is more interesting if they are "nice" or "saggy" or something. plus, sis a foreigner do this, or did an indian? every time i walk over it i laugh.

kora was drying her long sleeve button shirt in varanasi out the hotel window. she went away to eat and came back to find that the monkeys had removed every single button from her shirt, including the cuffs! this also makes me laugh every time i think about it.

i am having trouble sleeping...for the last 5 days or so. waking up in the middle of the night totally redy to get up. this sucks.

i have been trying all kinds of fish dishes. last night i had red snapper, which is actually a fresh water fish. it was grilled wit lemon jouice, garlic and butter and was delicious. also very $$, about $10US. but it was my fancy dinner. i had some mackerel curry which was interesting, and a tuna fish sandwhich with the crusts cut off. other than that i have been sticking to my porridge. well, we did get an ice cream cone, the kind that comes prepackaged that we used to have when we were kids...the best thing was that at the bottom of the cone they had put a raisin to keep the ice cream from leaking out. what a good idea! and it tasted really good with the vanilla ice cream!

i am spending most of my time embroidering. it is turning out very nicely. i think today i am going to hunt down one of the rabari tribal women who sells stuff and see if someone can show me how to sew in the miroras like they do. i don't have a mirror with me, (i do in delhi), but i can use a shell or somethign for practice. i hope to find someone! i find i actually really enjoy this embroidery, and i am glad i have it for my 41 hour train ride coming up and also my 20-some-odd hours i will have flying home.

a pop-up ad keeps coming on my screen for indian arranged marriages. how interesting.

well, folks, that's about it for now. all is well, i am just anxious to gt home and back to real life and family, friends, and love!

hugs
jo

so...i've remembered a few things:

i saw a crow steal a fish from the beach today where the fish was laying out to dry...a big fish, and the crow flew FAST with this fish in his mouth. i liked it!

on my bus yesterday there was a sign delcaring "NO SPITING!" i was very glad to see this, as i believe that spite can be a very bad thing. and i didn't feel anyone being spiteful, so apparently the sign worked.

also i have learned that the saree can be worn in many different ways. poor worker women wear it tucked up in between their legs, with the tops part tucked in the back over their shoulder. then you can also wear it with the long part going over your shoulder in the front, or coming over your shoulder in the back. you can also wear it pleated at the waist many times, or wrapped around more for less pleats. i have been trying to pay attention to this sarre style...i wish i knew more about what each one meant, as certainly it all has meaning. i do know that red sarees are for marriage, white is for widow in mourning...

kora arrived this afternoon, just after i started worrying about her. we chatted and found we have been both having similar thoughts about traveling, how we want to travel, and what we are thinking about while traveling...interesting. i asked her to read the Alchemist and tell me what she thinks and i look forward to having a small book discussion. Jamie would now be calling me a REAL nerd! so be it. this is one of kora's photographs, she is a great photographer. check her out at www.kora.com this is a house burning out in fairview one time when she was home visiting. dern....

i've been shopping, of course, and feeling guilty about shopping here. i just like it so much! part of me thinks i should open some kind of small import store just so i can come to india and shop! the fabrics, the colors, the sparkles, the craft industry here are all so compelling...

i also had one of the most deliious meals of my trip today for lunch. it was called Chilli Calamari. Holy shit, this was good...it even had cooked green peppers in it whihc i usuallu do not like, but also had onions, calamari, tomatoes, whole green chilis (which i ate whole! no problem!) and a delightful rich brown sauce. i had two roti with it and a kingfisher beer. fantastic!!!!

ok, off to see what's for dinner! hard to beat that lunch, i might play it safe with the toasted cheese...
see ya!

wednesday

namaste!

well, things are settling down in my head. i have gotten to a place where i am not feeling antsy about doing nothing. this is unusual for me. every thing i do is an event: bathrrom, eating, laying in the sn, buying soap, reading, washing my hair...this is good. ths is the mental state i need to be in so that when i come hom i can hav eal this empty room in my head to organize everything that will be happening there. a fresh start, mentally...

today i was a bit sunburnt so i went to the capital of Goa, margao, about an hour away by bus. I was a little nervous because i have never takn a local public bus before. but it was realy easy and very enjoyable as i had a window seat and the breeze was delightful and the views were interesting. i went to margao spcifically to find embroidery thread, needle, cloth and round holder-thingy, so instead of reading i can try out some embroidery and see if i like it. s, i got off the bus in margao, found the market, and one of the 1st shops i found ws fo rembroidery. very pleasing. i bought 3 different colors of thread, and some blue cloth to sew on. i am happy. i just sat over my late lunch of cheese sandwich and drew a design i can follow. next i just will transfr the design and start and see what ahppens. i need some scissors though.

i saw some ows hanging out i th field with a bunch of egrets. the rice paddies are dry right now but they are still beautiful in that they are very organized looking. there is some lovely foliage here, som flowers suddenly pop out of nowhere and shock you with their elegance. others are small and you have to look for them but they are pleasing whn you discover them hiding. i saw that there is a rubber plantation and spice farm down the road a bit and i wonder if me and koa might not just go check it out.

kora has her motorcycle liscnse and you can rent motorcycles here. maybe we can take a ride down the road. would be nice. she comes tomorrow at some point in time. i will wait for her on the beach, i've given her directions on how to find me.

i'm eading this book about realizing your destiny. it is written very beautifully, but i am wondrng if the beautiful writing is tricking m nto thinking this book is really saying something. it is called "the alchemist" by paulo coelho. has anyone read it? what did you think? i am thinking this is for people who don't nkow what the hell they are doing in life. i am not very lost, if lost at all.

i met these russians yesterday who wer great. a guy and girlfriend we talked about america, how they cannot get a visa to come. maybe 3000 people apply and only 10 get visas. but they were describign the traffic rules in russia, sounds like the traffic here, meaning there are no rules...they said a friend of theirs was in the USA, rented a car and was driving down the highway. they missed their turn, so as one would do in russia, they simply put on their hazzard lights and began backing up down the highway. and suddenly, another car came up behind them, going in the proper direction...and WHAM! ran right into the russians. so the americans called the police to report the accident, told them that the russians were driving in reverse down the highway. then the polie came up to the russians' car, laughing, and said that those people who hit them were crazy! they said you were in reverse on the highway! and the russians got off for nothing. maybe this is not funny to you, but hearing this story from the russians i met was hilarious!

last night i had some difficulty going to sleep, but i learned that i am able to create my own movie for myself if i just lay there and relax long enough without frustration entering in. it was really nice. finally i drifted off and tehn the rude people who just moved in next to me came in about 1am (i was sleeping around 9:30) and were laughing and talking and shouting, drunk or stnoed i don;t know. i was so pissed. this beach is supposed to be laid back and chill, not frigging party central. i kept "sh-ing" them and i think this morign they laughed at me like i was a nerd, btu who cares? they probably woke up about 100 people around in the surroundng huts an dhosues, both indian and tourist, and i think it's rude. oh well.

i had all this big meanngful stuff to say that i've been thinking abut, and now it is gone. i'll have to start taking notes on my thoughts. my memory is shot...not fair! too early!

see ya!