New Blog
For those of you still paying attention over here, I have started a new blog with a different focus... point your browsers to Quitting Mitzrayim for a peek. It's a work-in-progress, but it's where I'll be writing...
India follow-up
Our plans for a trip wrap-up keep getting postponed by life. Sorry! See a piece we co-wrote for the upcoming Beyt Tikkun newsletter on Shabbat in India.
Love you!
August 26, 2006
April 28, 2006
Quick Fix
Well, we're back in San Francisco! Amberly has posted some of the missing pieces from the last few weeks, so give it a whirl, since I probably won't be retreading that ground. We are planning on putting up an after-the-fact itinerary with a map you can orient yourselves with, but we need to get used to this strange country we're in first. It's so empty! We're going through a bit of reverse culture shock, alongside a wicked time change of 11.5 (or 12.5, depending on which one of us you ask) hours. They combine into a bit of a weird waking dream.
On top of it all, I've had a mean case of the runs, developed on the plane ride back from Delhi. I've decided to call the bug Shiva, the destroyer. We’re getting on alright here, Amberly, Shiva and I. Shiva is still dictating the solidity of things, but at least I’ve wrested the clock from his grasp. The antibiotics are helping.
That's all for now. School's out, and the kids are taking over the cafe... Oh, yeah--I put up a few photos of our last sightseeing in Delhi, as well as some lovely flowers around the neighborhood of our temporary sublet.
On top of it all, I've had a mean case of the runs, developed on the plane ride back from Delhi. I've decided to call the bug Shiva, the destroyer. We’re getting on alright here, Amberly, Shiva and I. Shiva is still dictating the solidity of things, but at least I’ve wrested the clock from his grasp. The antibiotics are helping.
That's all for now. School's out, and the kids are taking over the cafe... Oh, yeah--I put up a few photos of our last sightseeing in Delhi, as well as some lovely flowers around the neighborhood of our temporary sublet.
April 22, 2006
Dreaming of Kashmir
(Sorry for the long absence. We’ve been trying to cram as much as we can into our last ten days, and haven’t stopped for a breather in a bit!)
Photos of our last leg are up, but they’re not exactly representative of the experiences. There are times when I wished I had a really powerful zoom to capture some wildlife, a far-off detail or an interesting character. There are other times when the scenery was so overwhelming, a picture couldn’t capture it adequately. In these moments, more often than not, we put the camera away…
Ahh…Kashmir, we hardly knew ya! A week ago, we looked at the calendar and saw that it was now or never. One of the “must see” places on our India itinerary had always been Kashmir. We had heard so many stories of this “Heaven on Earth” to pass up the opportunity to go, yet the clock was ticking. We could no longer afford the luxury (if a 24-hour bus ride can be called such) of getting there overland so we decided to bite bullet once again and fly to Srinigar, summer capital of the Indian state Bill Clinton once called “the most dangerous place on Earth.”
The extra time that flight bought us was worth the trip, to be sure, but offered only a tease of what this splendid valley has to offer. Today, upon returning, we chanced upon a Srinigar native who runs a shop outside our hotel. “Once you have been to Kashmir,” he said, “there is life before Kashmir and life after.” His words ring true, even if we weren’t able to experience the full measure of that truth. We stayed on a houseboat in the middle of Srinigar’s picturesque Daal Lake. The city itself is in the middle of the valley of Kashmir, nestled in between the Himalayas to the east and north and the Pir Panjal Range to the south and west, and it really is a little slice of heaven.
We took a day trip to the Gulmarg valley, which is just getting on the radar for the adventure skiing/snowboarding types. The top of the ridge we looked up at has views of Pakistan on the other side. The valley was overrun with Indian families on summer break (it’s stinking hot in most of the country right now) and is meant to have a beautiful array of wildflowers blooming in a few weeks’ time.
But this was a trip that was less about the details and more about the awe. We didn’t see a tenth of it, but I know it holds limitless possibilities. Sigh. Next time.
With that, our journey comes to a close. We are in Delhi yet again, making last minute purchases and giving ourselves some luxuries long-denied, such as a fancy hotel room tomorrow night and a splash meal our last evening. The days have grown contemplative even as I race to finish my last “vacation book” before going home. There is much to write on that subject, but it’s still percolating. Perhaps I’ll post again before our late flight on Monday night, but I’ll put out this thought in case I don’t.
In the end, I travel to meet myself. It’s always me at the end of the journey, waiting to plop onto a comfy bed, kick off my shoes and take a deep breath. The pictures and small details will fade, but it’s still me.
I am glad and deeply thankful for all the people and experiences along the way. Because we are all one, they help me take a better look at myself, and by extension, the world around me. And this is the crux of the matter! The preceding paragraph is not an egotistical or narcissistic statement. Quite the opposite. If we are all part of one great existence, one amazing, awe-inspiring world, then getting to know oneself is an act of getting to know the other, both as means to the end and the end itself. I know that’s a big one to think on. I’ll leave you with it and look forward to your responses when I return.
Photos of our last leg are up, but they’re not exactly representative of the experiences. There are times when I wished I had a really powerful zoom to capture some wildlife, a far-off detail or an interesting character. There are other times when the scenery was so overwhelming, a picture couldn’t capture it adequately. In these moments, more often than not, we put the camera away…
But this was a trip that was less about the details and more about the awe. We didn’t see a tenth of it, but I know it holds limitless possibilities. Sigh. Next time.
With that, our journey comes to a close. We are in Delhi yet again, making last minute purchases and giving ourselves some luxuries long-denied, such as a fancy hotel room tomorrow night and a splash meal our last evening. The days have grown contemplative even as I race to finish my last “vacation book” before going home. There is much to write on that subject, but it’s still percolating. Perhaps I’ll post again before our late flight on Monday night, but I’ll put out this thought in case I don’t.
In the end, I travel to meet myself. It’s always me at the end of the journey, waiting to plop onto a comfy bed, kick off my shoes and take a deep breath. The pictures and small details will fade, but it’s still me.
I am glad and deeply thankful for all the people and experiences along the way. Because we are all one, they help me take a better look at myself, and by extension, the world around me. And this is the crux of the matter! The preceding paragraph is not an egotistical or narcissistic statement. Quite the opposite. If we are all part of one great existence, one amazing, awe-inspiring world, then getting to know oneself is an act of getting to know the other, both as means to the end and the end itself. I know that’s a big one to think on. I’ll leave you with it and look forward to your responses when I return.
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