Adventures of Maz and Ruth!

Happy Holidays

2006-12-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

Greetings friends and family! Here's hoping that you are having a great holiday season. Everything is continuing at a quick and exciting pace here. Just recently, I did something that not many hair stylists will EVER get to do.

Two weeks ago, I had a 4 day working vacation away from McMurdo. Due south I went and beautified the Admundsen-Scott SOUTH POLE STATION!!!! Normally, the McMurdo stylist makes one or two trips to the Pole. Last season I never made it down which makes this season even more exciting. Hopefully, I will be there for round two sometime in February to give the winter-overs their final professional cut before the 8 month winter season begins.

The trip began with rock star seating in the front of a C-130. Seeing that I am the stylist for the Air National Guard here at McMurdo, the flight crew took great care of me. While wearing a headset, I was able to hear just what goes on while taking off and watch the plane lift off the ground.
The photo opportunities were amazing while in flight as we coasted over the untouched terrain.

One of the challenges that I faced was being at an altitude over 10,000 Ft while staying at Pole. Extreme cold, thin air, and zero humidity makes it quite difficult to adjust. Over the past few weeks, there have been around 10 people that have been medivaced for altitude problems. To help ease my transition I decided to take an altitude medication and only suffered with a slight headache and fatigue. It was quite strange getting out of breath from walking up only one flight of stairs.

The new station was completed this year and made for a comfortable stay. The tiny room I called home for a few days was 6x11 Ft in size and was separated by partitions from the surrounding rooms. Not the most ideal housing for an extended period of time. Everything one could need was in the new station. I worked in the art and crafts room just down the hall from the green house. During winter, a staff of about 50 is housed in the building. The summer season puts the station at it max capacity and houses a staff of 250. As far as scenery goes, Pole is flat and white and makes McMurdo seem so much prettier.

Most of my time was spent working. I was able to see the station during my lunch breaks. I of course had my photo taken at the pole and ventured into the old dome. The buildings used to be housed in the dome before the new station was built. Currently the dome is used for food storage.

One of the perks of cutting everyone's hair is getting the chance to tour work centers of the different clients. One client took me on a tour of the ice tunnels which are 40 feet below the ground and average a temperature of -60 degrees. The tunnels link the buildings and deal with removal of waste and retrieval of water. I am not quite sure how the system works. At any rate, it was awesome.

The trip seemed to be over before I was ready and I found myself headed back to McMurdo. On a whole, the trip was fantastic. The station has a unique community of people that know how to work hard and play hard. The was truly a once in a lifetime experience.
Here are a few extra photos from my stay.

hydroponic greenhouse veggies
James Brown,chef extraordinair, hard at work in the galley
The galley sitting area and Sunday craft fair in the back ground
Me hard at work
Bone chilling ice tunnels
ice crystals hanging from the ceiling
Pole shots
The top of the old dome

In the Thick of It

2006-11-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

As November 26th fast approaches, I will have hit the halfway point of my season. I truly believe that time moves a bit faster down here with each day melting into the next. With a positive attitude still intact, I am most definitely enjoying myself.

The variety of after work options is phenomenal and one can hardly fit in all one wants to do. Currently, the after work options include:

SWING DANCING
TAP DANCING
SALSA DANCING
CLASSICAL INDIAN DANCE CLASS WITH LIVE DRUMMER (COMPLIMENTS OF MYSELF AND CRAIGE)
KUM DO SWORD FIGHTING
YOGA CLASSES
BODY PUMP (A WEIGHT LIFTING KICK YOUR BUTT CLASS)
GUTS AND BUTTS (SELF EXPLANATORY
CRAFT ROOM CONCOCTIONS AND CERAMICS ROOM
WEIGHT ROOM AND CARDIO GYM
LIBRARY
MOVIE NIGHTS IN THE COFFEE HOUSE

The classes tend to change throughout the season, and the community makes it possible by volunteering through the recreation department. Pretty remarkable, isn't it? Every season has a new color and flair that is solely dependent on who is here.

For Halloween, the recreation department put on party with a costume contest. I was part of "FLUNCH!" or a flight lunch. I am the apple, and Craige is the sandwich (veggie, of course!) The two of us with some good friends worked on this for a couple of weeks, and it was quite the project. Resources are somewhat limited which encourages some extra creativity. Basically, we were in it to win it, and WE WON!!!

The prize is a trip to the Adelie Penguin rookery at Cape Royds. Unfortunately, we were supposed to head out today but inclement weather cancelled the trip. I continue to look forward to seeing the penguins that nest in the area (there is a great chance of seeing an emperor penguin, the ice edge (maybe!!fingers crossed), and one of Shackleton's huts.

This past weekend recreation put on an event called Freak Train, a variety show consisting of improv, music, stand-up comedy, a bearded bellydancer(yours truly), speed drinkers, hand walkers, and much more. All while the famous European filmmaker Werner Herzog was preying his camera upon everyone who took the stage. Werner is here on a grant to make a couple of films and joined in on the festivities.

One of his lastest known films is "Grizzly Man" which is about an Alaskan man who was killed by a bear in a grizzly wildlife preserve. You should check it out. Anyway, I did a small dance performance, and Craige with a group of friends and a great big tuba captured the audience with song. The night was full of life, creativety and a bit a madness! If you were wondering, yes, my beard is real.

As far as work is concerned, it can be fairly interesting at times.The most recent experience, maybe I should call it TRAUMATIC experience, involved the removal of a MASSIVE dreadlock. This particular individual had let things go a little to far, and I got the "opportunity" to set him straight. Lets just say that with the few naturally made dreadlocked heads I have worked with as of lately, I DO NOT recommend getting them. Yes, they are pretty much skin and hair matted together.

I know these last few sentences could potentially offend some readers especially those with dreadlocks. PLEASE TAKE NO OFFENSE. This is only my opinion and ultimately one can decide what is best for themselves. This visual aid I have given for you is able to stand (literally) on it's own as one great big hair ball.

Ok, enough on that topic!!! And remember, my intentions are not to offend, but only to give a little light on my life here. Despite this incident, work is going much better. The work load is much "easier" with a whopping 20 to 21 clients per day. This is what my schedule looks like for the day.

Science is going full force at the moment which is keeping Craige busy with IT work at Crary Lab (the science building). Currently, Andrill, a science group that is studying core samples, is the largest with a team of 58 people.

They are just one of many. These particular photos were taken by one of the divers doing research in the area. If you would like to know more, check out the online Antarctic Sun newspaper. Every week there is a new edition that shares anything and everything that is going on in the community and around different parts of the continant.

www.antarcticsun.usap.gov

Aside from these events, everything kind of blurs together. The photos that are just above are of the wildlife around town this season. The ice edge is 75 miles closer to town then it was last season which is contributing to the higher numbers of visits from the special guests in the area.

Two days ago, there were 6 emperor penguins on the sea ice runway. The fire department had to come corral them away. I unfortunately missed them and had to borrow this photo. The seal pup and other little adelie penguin were near the runway as well.

I am so very thankful to be here with Craige. Our "home" life is going well.
We have a really sweet setup. I sent MANY packages full of comforts, and it has truly paid off. As you can see, we scored a loft bed which has given us so much extra space. We both are able to practice yoga in the mornings without being cramped. Instead of a couch, we have pillows which are super comfortable to lounge on. When I worked parttime in laundry over winfly (the season between August and early October), I was able to acquire them.

That just about sums up the first half of my second season.
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving. I would love to hear from you.

Once again

2006-09-10T00:39:00.000-07:00

As I sit here at the McMurdo Station computer kiosk for my second season, I have the strange sensation of never leaving. The feeling of familiarity is actually quite comforting. These next 6 months will be the most stable I have been since my original trip down here.

On the way down, I got to see Craige for 2 days while I did orientation in Denver. He had just finished his 2 month contract sailing through the Drake Passage on the NBP ice breaker doing IT work.
For the next 6 weeks Craige will visit friends and family in the Big Apple and San Francisco. That's right...Ruth travels alone to McMurdo. The next time we will see each other won't be until Craige comes down in the beginning of October.

Christchurch, NZ was as lovely as always. Last minute shopping was a must. It included trips to the grocery for fresh fruits and veggies to take down on the plane, shopping for new shoes, a last meal of sushi, and a run through the park. Some local artist decided to be creative by spearing apples and placing them by the river. This is a great photo for those times when I am missing trees and fresh food. Bad news on the food this year, there will be a quarter less fresh food then they had last season. Geez louise, I thought I suffered last year. I suppose it's kinda of like living in Seattle....you learn to REALLY appreciate the sun!

The C-17 ride was uneventful except for when we reached McMurdo one of the pilots informed us not to be alarmed if we touch down and then take off again or quite possibly even turn around and fly back to Christchurch! The 5 hr flight could have become a 10 hour flight. This is called 'boomeranging' which is basically a C-17 spinning right around due to lousy weather conditions. Fortunately, we made it to the ground. However, the conditions were nasty, and I later heard the gossip around town that no one could believe that they actually landed the plane. I am thankful the plane doesn't have windows...what you don't know, can't hurt you. As you can see, the weather conditions here are quite aggressive. Today was freezing...literally! The wind was blowing so hard that walking was a challenge. Thankfully, I live at the "Bed and Breakfast". 155 is my building for dining, work, and home. I never have to step out of the building and can even sport my slippers to the galley and computer kiosk. Quite the luxury.

Overall, I am enjoying my second season so much more then the first. Sure, it's alot of work, but it's the people who make it great. I have awesome returning clients. As a stylist, I can boast a 100 percent client retention...pretty easy considering I'm the only stylist! I've been busy watching movies, going to the gym, hanging out at the coffee house, playing dice games, and making the best of my time here. The weather, however, keeps me from doing any outdoor excursions.

I wish that I had some awesome pictures of my own to share with you, but until then I will borrow these from someone else's camera. We just had the full moon, and it was spectacular. However, the sunset situation is not like they said in the "brochure" for coming down here. Due to the tempermental weather conditions, we have been completely clouded over for most of the last two weeks. And seeing that I am in the "Bed and Breakfast", I miss out on the rare moments the sky appears. When Craige arrives, we will have a new room together, and we will have a window. Oh yeah, right now my work space and bedroom don't have windows. Kind of a bummer.

This coming Wednesday, I have a working boondoggle (a boondoggle is an special excursion kind of like a field trip). I will have the pleasure of helping to set up flags for the route out to Cape Evans. Currently, I don't know all the details of the area, but I do know it's the way to Shackleton's Hut. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather is warmer and not windy. It should be a great experience and one that calls for more pictures!

Photorama - take one...

2006-04-21T04:27:00.000-07:00

Publishing photos from India has been quite the challenge. There are a number of photos intended to go up on this page but after two hours of struggling with the connection, we'll have to settle for this glimpse. Enjoy!

This was the last day of the week-long Holi Festival where for some esoteric and probably well misunderstood reasons color is thrown, splashed or slapped on every inch of body, vehicle and camel. It can be quite the challenge for foreigners who venture out into the streets. Mazur was standing on the roof of the Old Rangi Temple for this shot, attempting to stay out of the choas...but a powdered color bomb was launched from below and landed on the left side of his head.

An intricate, little insect that Mazur spotted outside of one of our favorite places to eat.

Aaron, the dice teacher and fellow drumming student, sitting on the balcony of our guest house in Dharamkot. This double headed barrel drum, is the classical instrument Mazur has been studying and what I dance to. It is the grandfather of the tabla and is over 2000 years old. What an amazing instrument. It's me sitting and waiting for delicious fruit, muesli and curd.
Chai Square. A central location in the Pushkar Market where one can enjoy the local chai walla's tea, dodge crazy bikers, have gypsies try to empty your pockets, purchase delicious fruits and vegetables, watch for massive Brahma bulls that could knock you over with a shake of the head, and basically just sit and take in the magic.
These next three shots were taken from the patio of Lotus Guest house in Pushkar. The water in the background is the holy Pushkar lake with the several hundred year old temples surrounding it. Thousands and possibly millions of people take pigramage to this place every year to make pujas and offerings. We had some very active monkeys that lived right next to our guest house in on of the temples. In the morning time, they would come over and wreck havoc on the furniture. You had to be careful with your food as you ate. If you weren't careful they would try and snatch it from you. Very clever little creatures.

India's street cleaners!
Holy Festival survivor. A wild festival that we stayed out of. If one plays holy, you will find yourself covered from head to toe in colored powder. The "victims" sported their color stains for a week after the festival.....stained hair, skin, and clothing. This is one of the few times that Indian men are able to touch women who they are not acquainted with. Apparantly, they take it too far. We were told that two female travelers had their clothing ripped off of them during the frenzy.
Saturday night gypsy dance at Sai Baba restuarant. The dancer on the left is Patricia, a fellow odissi student. Patricia is from Brazil and was an huge inspiration for me. An extremely talented dancer. Every saturday night, the gypsies would have a dance performance. Great entertainment and tons of color.

Monkey, monkey, and more monkeys.

Natu Nagari. Here is Rajasthan's famous Nagari player. This is Mazur's drum teacher in Pushkar. He studied with Natu before he began learning Pakawoj. Every evening at sunset, one can hear Natu playing on the ghats. The music echos across the water and adds to the spirit of the holy city.

Farewell Lovely Pushkar

2006-04-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

It actually wasn't so lovely when we left. I was beat down by a blistering hot sun. The temperature averaged 38-40 degrees. I was living in a dry heat sauna and attempting to dance 3-4 hours a day. The water poured out of my body and literally I was becoming Ruth jerky. It's amazing how wrinkles come out when there is no moisture in your skin. This actually proved to be a serious problem. I suffered from heat exhaustion and had to take a trip to the local free government hospital. SCARY!!!!! I am not the most computer savvy and will have to ask Craige to get the pictures up for your enjoyment. I survived and managed to do ok with the IV drip that contained numerous antibiotics for things that I didn't need treatment for.

This experience, however, contained an act of kindness that I never would have expected. To make a long story relatively short...a seemingly standard Indian young man (age 27) came to my rescue. He at first seemed to want to harass me. When I told him of my problems, he took action to get me to a doctor. He got me to the local pharmacy, and from there I was told to get an IV. How does one go about that?!! Sampote, the hero for the day, gets me on his motor bike and takes me to the local gov. hospital. Everything that I needed to get done was taken care of by Sampote. India's medical care is quite strange. You have to purchase all of your supplies at some places: needles, iv fluid, iv medications, cotton balls, bandaids, and whatever supply they need to complete your checkup. The hospital was complete with ripped sheets, stained sheets, super scary toilet, people bleeding on the floor with no one coming to help them or clean it up, incredibly dirty bathroom, and basically no cleanliness. Yes, the is the free hospital and not a normal one. I later went to a very nice place that helped me find out the problem....parasites.

Sampote sat with me for awhile and made sure that I was ok. After the hospital visit was over, I was given a ride home. I had way to many judgments about the people, and after this experience I was reminded to look deeper into each person I meet. You are probably asking where Craige was through all of this. He wasn't with me that day, and I had to get something done. Due to being sick, my body was quite sour....so was my personality. Lucky Craige got to be the bearer of my 'fabulous' moods. No matter how grouchy I got....he remained my friend. This is an official 'Thank you' to Craige. So, now all of you friends and family of Craige who are reading this should give him a pat on the back for being so patient with me!

So much has happened in the last few weeks. To keep things easy and fun to read.....here is a list of the most memorable Pushkar moments:
(with out any particular order)

1. Dancing in the temple and learning my first dance item

2. Playing chess with the fantastic Shan-nu (she is a dance mate and super good chess player)

3. Meeting Swami Shivender who gave teachings on the Bhagavad Gita. He showed how it is applicable in everyday life. Strengthen one's intellect over the mind.

4. Taking food with the group that came with him. I met some very interesting people from Delhi that were very kind and had much to share.

5. Eating spinach salads with falafel and hummus....now you see where I probably got those parasites! I have eaten lots of fresh foods...maybe to much. Currently, I am sticking closer to the cooked things, but sometimes I just can't help myself. There are so many wonderful tastes in this country.

6. THIS IS THE MOST SPECTACULAR!! This didn't happen in Pushkar, but I have to tell you now before I forget. While leaving Delhi to get to Bhagsunat near Dharamsala, we drove past the trash dump of Delhi! Holy cow..What a smell! Anyway, imagine this....a glorious sunset covered in smog so thick that you can look directly at it, the landscape being highlighted is a steamy trash heap with pigs the size of water buffalos grazing peacefully through the mounds of rubbish. Just below that dust and more dust falling onto the people that walked on paths that surround the trash. Trucks and cars zooming round with the nonstop sound of horns beeping. Feel the serenity! What a photo opportunity...Alas, Craige will have to show you this.

7. Seeing the beautiful sari covered women. Color, color and more color.

8. The many parades and wedding processions. They know how to live it up in Rajasthan. Women completely decked out in the most amazing clothing, camels covered in bells, jewelry, and intricately designed covers, and a marching band projecting music that jubilantly lead the people throught the crazy market streets.

9. Chai!

10. The beautiful textiles and shopping that is available....getting haggled and learning how to haggle back. These people like it when you argue back! If you ever hear two Indian's speaking together you find that arguing is the norm.

11. Walking on the Ghats and seeing all of the spiritual/religious offerings.

12. The juice stand with some of the tastiest creations imaginable. My favorite is a papaya and pineapple lassi or the lemon mint water.

13. LEAVING PUSHKAR! Unfortunately, I had over stayed my time there. The heat pushed me out. The optimal time to leave is at the end of February. However, I learned that my desire of one day living in the Southwest of America is not something that would be advisable for me to do.

These thirteen things are just a few out of many. Hopefully, this has given you a little flavor of my time here. Next stop...Dharamsala.

Pushkar 101

2006-04-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

Pushkar is in the northwest state of Rajasthan. The centerpiece of town is the most sacred lake in Hindu Mythology, Pushkar Lake. As a result, many hundreds - if not thousands - of Hindus make their pilgrim way here each day. Many of the poorer people have saved their rupies for years just to come make puja (prayer) along the lake's ghats (temple steps leading to the lake water).

Why is this lake so sacred? According to myth, Lord Brahma, creator of the universe, was on his way to search for a suitable place to perform a yajna (roughly translated - a sacrifice for the Devas.) While contemplating, a lotus fell from his hand onto the earth and lakes sprouted from three places. Pushkar was one of those places, the chosen place for Brahma's yajna.

While there are thousands of Krishna, Shiva, and many other dieties' temples, there is only one Brahma temple in the world, located in Pushkar.

There are 52 ghats along the lake and over 300 temples in town including a new and gorgeous Sikh temple with amazing marble tiled floors (adorned with pigeon droppings all over the outer floor spaces which are surely cleaned each day).

It's quite beautiful and peaceful here once you get off the main bazaar street. People are very friendly, often too friendly especially when you just want some alone time). The water here is fantastic to drink; it's deep well water and tastes delicious. Most of the time we have been filtering tap water but are feeling more and more comfortable drinking without the filter. Besides, whenever you get a juice, they most always put local water in it. Thankfully we have heard of no water-born illnesses in town.

The town's architecture brings Disney Maharaja fairy tales to life. Some of the structures are hundreds of years old, painted white and bleached bone white from the desert sun. Many structures are quite dilapidated but thanks to the influx of tourist dollars, many buildings and temples have been or are under renovation. Though town is more crowded since I was here in 1998, renovations and new construction which is consistent with ancient aesthetics have improved the town's overall beauty.

Temple complex under renovation - this is where Ruth's dance classes are held.

Pushkar is also home to the largest camel fair in the world...and probably the largest & longest mustache contest in the world...

Many locals greet each other and us foreigners with:

Ram-Ram!

Craige

Gypsies of Rajasthan

2006-04-05T05:04:00.000-07:00

The gypsies are a special breed, many centuries in the making. The women often approach travelers with wild, dark eyes, making direct and hypnotic contact with men and women alike. The women also extend a warm, left hand and an exceptionally serpentesque sounding, "Namaste, hello friend."

Faux pas number 1: Eye contact from adult Indian females is highly out of the ordinary; the vast majority of a few hundred million Indian women maintain a cultural norm which seems to discourage eye contact with strangers - especially men.

Faux pas number 2: Unless you're meeting a very modern, urbanized Indian woman, there is never a hand shake involved.

Faux pas number 3: While toilet paper is available in India, it is typically a tourist attraction. The left hand is used for hygiene, the right is for eating and shaking hands.

Walking through Pushkar's narraw, bazaar streets, we travelers are targets of the many Gypsies. The women seduce everyone with their vixen ways, quickly drawing child-like henna designs on our palms, inviting us to take their pictures, inviting us to buy them chai tea. They will take as much advantage of you as they can, digging into your subconscious and exposing the most vulnerable places you might have never visited. When you sit to talk to them, they are quite kind and eager to tell you tidbits about their culture, art and family. They will invite you to their Gypsy Camp and will surely cook you a simple meal, play music, and dance for you. (This we have yet to do, but will probably go before we depart Pushkar.) Just before your chai date is complete, the sad stories begin. These people are truly poor and have very little, if any formal education. But the sad story stuff....I don't know what to believe and kindly asked not to hear the story as this part of the conversation leads to one place - my wallet. They are professionals at finding the holes in your boundaries.

Unfortunately the men don't have it quite as easy, they are not eye-candy as the women are. They play traditional Rajasthani folk music on hand-made, desert instruments. Their musicianship is fantastic and they will gladly serenade your stroll. And once they strike a note with your step, you have unofficially agreed to pay a nominal fee for their song.

The gypsies are a special and beautiful part of Indian folk culture. This is a mere sliver of a view at one of the many mysterious components of this eastern land. It would be impossible to dig very deep into Gypsy life at this point as I barely understand anything about them. But at least now you know they are amongst us.

Namaste!
Craige

Dancing away in India

2006-03-21T23:33:00.000-08:00

Namaste my friends! The passage to India is now complete. I (Ruth) have never been anywhere like this in my whole life. Delhi was quite shocking to my senses. I chose the seediest area in all of Delhi for our first stop, Paharganj. Cows roaming around freely in the street, cows "patties" that spotted the ground and scented the "fresh" early morning air, dirt everywhere, the constant staring eyes of Indian men (no offense to anyone of Indian descent, it is just the reality of the culture here), bars on windows, soot covered buildings, beggars, a few monkeys, our cab driver that tried to haggle us as soon as we got in the cab, and then when we were out of the cab, everyone knew just what we needed. The people here know when you are "green" which invites them to move in for the kill.

After the cab driver dropped us off, we decided to hire a rikshaw and relocate to a better neighborhood. We stayed at the YMCA near Connaught Circle (Craige and I recommend this for a stay over in Delhi). The mission for the day was to get train tickets to Pushkar, Rajasthan where I am currently studying Odissi, a style of classical Indian dance from the state of Orissa, and Craige is here for his second time studying Nagara, a Rajasthani folkloric drum. The mission to get the train tickets was successful, with a few minor hitches. It took several tries to get to the correct place to buy our tickets at the train station. Everyone was sending us in the wrong direction. Men lined the streets waiting to send you to their travel office or their friend's travel office to get more rupees out of you. I know this isn't a pretty picture of the people, but unfortunately that's how it seemed to be.

Delhi was thankfully over in just one day. The train ride to Ajmer was smooth sailing. We were provided with lots of tea and food that made the cheapest airline food look pretty darn tasty. Our window had a yellow tint that gave my first impression of Indian country side a dreamy quality. Everything looked like the makings of an old timey movie. Seeing everyone using the bathroom on the train tracks or right near them for most of our 5 hour journey can't be a reality, and yet, it was. Litter lined the streets, delapadated housing, hungry looking animals, men in turbans, woman in beautiful colored saris, dry scraggly trees, more and more of the long staring eyes ...these are some of the images I noticed from my stained window. We arrived in Ajmer and arranged a taxi ride for the 11km journey to Pushkar. And yes, the negotiation for this taxi should have a paragraph all to itself. I will spare you the details.

Pushkar! The white city, holy city, home of lovely Pushkar lake where hundreds of pujas (rituals) are performed daily, gypsies roaming the streets , sadhus ( spiritual seekers), beautiful temples that have been the place for devotion for hundreds of years, more and more cows, monkees of all shapes and sizes trying to steal your fresh fruit, the smell of beautiful night blooming flowers, camels, wonderful bazaar shopping (one must be careful if one is a belly dancer...how easily the wallet can open!) much music, dance, and celebration, delicious food, chai on every corner, Hello to the Queen (our favorite dessert, icecream sitting on warm chocolate covered graham cracker crumbles and caramalized bananas), .....this is what one can find in Pushkar.

The main reason for my stay is dance. I am studing Odissi, a classical Indian dance, for one month. The third week begins tomorrow! It will be over before I know it. The dance is so beautiful and ancient. It involves every part of your physical, spiritual, and mental body. The dance tells a story about Indian mythology, history, and culture through sanskrit which is communicated by hand mudras while one dances. Each mudra has several different meanings depending on how you use it when you dance. The positioning of the entire body helps to tell the stories as well. Acting is a requirement...so many facial expressions for each piece. I could go on and on explaining.

This dance is my yoga in motion. I am so thankful to have passion for dance again. I will be continuing the course for another month in Dharamsala with the same teacher. Sydney, a friend I have mentioned about in the New Zealand post, will be joining me for the second course. Woo hoo, a traveling dance companion!!

I am enjoying India more and more. The country is very intense and challenges a traveler to have much inner strength. Interactions with locals cause me to stand my ground and learn how to create boundaries. The trick is to remain calm and try to keep true to yourself. Being a woman in India is very different then being a woman in America. This is the first time I have experienced feeling alienated for my gender. I find that I have a hard time trusting people here which makes me sad. Having faith that people have good intentions and that each person is innately good is how I normally like to look at the world. Here in India, I have to dig very deep to still feel this belief about others inside myself. However, despite these challenges, there are many beautiful, open, and honest Indian people that I have connected with, and I believe that there will be more.

Photos will be on the way, there are still some technical difficulties!

Koh Tao

2006-03-03T04:51:00.000-08:00

Our first few nights on Koh Tao had us nestling into a bungalow situated amongst tropical greenery with a very convenient view of the water and setting sun. The friendly staff at our bungalow tantalized our tastebuds with delicious Thai food. One of the well known dishes...Som Tam...green papaya salads was one of our first dishes. Unfortunately, we mistakenly ordered it "Thai" spicy. As a result, Craige found himself spewing from the major orifices of his body later on in the evening. The following morning looked bleak...food poisoning...at least that is what we thought. Ruth had to cancel the day's planned diving when she found out that there was actually a virus going round the island. In a couple of days, Craige was back to his normal health.

After the rocky start, we relocated to Rocky Resort in Shark bay. This bungalow was slightly more laid back and only had the one resort on the beach. Our new room was large enough for both of us to practice yoga, had little to no mosquitoes, another great view of the ocean, but unfortunately there was some strange infestation of some other type of flying insect that swarmed outside our front door...think Lord of the flies.

We started diving. Big Bubble hooked us up with dive master extraordinare (and only non-German employee), Chill from Grimsby, England. His passion for diving was infectious which made learning fun. We had signed up for the advanced open water divers course which consisted five dives: deep water dive, peak performance buoyancy, navigation, naturalist, and a night dive. We enjoyed diving so much that we did some extra "fun" dives. The night dives take the trophy for most unique diving experiences. It's like flying through a massive cave with strange, often glowing animals such as the blue spotted sting ray, angel fish, damsels, star feathers, barracuda, and sea urchins that double in size with nightfall and hang out on the tops and corners of coral trying to stick you. On our night dives, the ocean was without current which made for amazingly calm, quiet experiences.

When we weren't diving, we roamed around the island by means of motorbike. Noting the great number of Thai tattoos on foreigner legs (burns and scrapes from scooter wipeouts on sandy pavement and extremely treacherous dirt roads), we considered ourselves quite lucky to remain unmarked. However, one afternoon, just 60 seconds after discussing what to do in the event of a wipeout.......our scooter fell over at -1 mph while attempting a loose sand ascent up a steep hill. Thankfully, there was little to no damage done to our bodies or bike.

In closing, here are other favorite highlights of Koh Tao: banana chocolate shakes, Abdul the best mobile pancake maker in the world from Bangladesh, fresh curry coconut barracuda and marlin, swimming in the ocean together everyday, sleeping every night with the door open allowing the sounds of the ocean to lull us to sleep, waking up with sunrise and gazing out at ocean, giving a haircut to a fellow traveler and receiving a drawing as payment (check out his amazing self portraits www.ianingram.com ), morning yoga in the bungalow, food glorious Thai food...

Tonight the Thailand chapter closes and next stop...Delhi, India.

More photos to come...we're having technical difficulties with the computers in this town.

Sawasdee!

Thailandia!

2006-02-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

We've made it to Thailand. Southeast Asia has definately advanced in the past few years, yet one is always welcomed and amused by signs in english.

As usual, Bangkok overwhelms the senses with tuk-tuk, smog-smog, same-sames, Koh San Rd - the S.E. Asian Mecca - All asian travel roads pass thru Koh San. Within one block, all needs are met: International cuisine, guest houses, travel arrangements include airplane-bus-train tickets, visa service to any embassy, custom clothes, gifts, chachkas, camping supplies, shorts, shirts, skirts, cameras, email, international phone calls, laundry service, shoe repair, eye care, pharmacy, dentistry, silver smiths, drugs, knives, tattoos, piercings, pirated movies-music-software, journals, fabrics, plates, bowls, thai massage, thai "escorts", look hard enough or ask the right person you can surely purchase a 14 year old eunich...all on Koh San Rd.

The stay in Bangkok was short and sweet. We took a long-tail boat, water taxi journey up to Bang Yai. This is a provence within the city along canal systems with beautiful houses on stilts, quiet life on the water, great views of elaborate Buddhist temples, many well manicured porches and gardens. This is a view to the old Bangkok where the primary form of social and commercial life takes place on the water.

That same day we rode a Tuk-Tuk (three-wheeled, powered rickshaw) to Chatachuck Market. It's Bangkok's largest weekend market. Picture SE Asia's Walmart with 100x more goods sprawled in this outdoor labrynth of shopping ecstacy. You can find anything in this market including the mother of pearl stick-shift handle which excitedly rests in Craige's backpack for the unveiling in June.

With some time to kill while we wait for our Indian visas, we jumped on an overnight bus southward (adorned with air brushings of praying Thai children) for the island of Koh Tao. The final leg of this trip includes a beautiful morning ferry ride from Chumporn. During the ferry we swiftly arranged our diving adventures with a local Thai "representative" named Guy. Once we arrived in Koh Tao, Guy led us to the office of Big Bubble Dive Shop. Weary from having only a few hours of broken sleep after the bus and ferry, we were suddenly bombarded by the GERMANS!

"I know you don't want to talk about this now, but...
What are you needs? What type of dive are you looking for? We will arrange accomodation for you...but if you don't dive with us, you have to leave!
Give us your money...."

Koh Tao felt like big business rather than the original dreamy thoughts we had of relaxing on the beach. We kept our cool and went with the flow. As part of this system, we will leave Koh Tao as PADI certified Advanced Open Water Divers.

Coming out...

2006-02-19T00:16:00.000-08:00

Freedom alas! The icy adventure has ended, northern thawing adventures began a week ago when we arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 9th. Fresh, warm, moist air greeted us at the airport followed by greener pastures, organic foods, foreign faces free of crusty-dry Antarctic skin, and the bliss of feeling anonymous again. The New Zealand chapter came and went last week, so instead of long-winded details, here's the fragments and feelings of 8 days in New Zealand:

Windsor B&B, double bed, fluffy terry-cloth robes, Winnie the weiner dog gets extra pettings; Magical Botanical Garden fun scaling the garden's walls after hours; S-U-S-H-I!!!; organic groceries replaces cryogenically frozen, mysterious, expired McMurdo meals;
6 Days and Nights advertising New Zealand patriotism - camper-van painted in Gollum and Gandolf; Japanese hot-springs for a deep thaw; New Brighton beach (which, by the way...offers "free" camp-ground space after 9:30pm as long as you depart around sunrise);

Craige does not have a broken neck or brain tumor...MRI revealed by Dr. Bow-Tie Neurosurgery Guy says, "slipped disc between Cerical Spine 4-5 -- no surfing for 3-6 months...boo hisss!; Ruth's clean bill-o-health;

Met up with Portland's permaculture/NZ woofing/tribal bellydance sister/friend of Ruth Sydney; Surprise Valentine sunrise on the beach; Full moon rising over the Pacific; Misinformed decision to rent the NZ patriot van...man says, "Christchurch -> Auckland is only 10 hour drive. OK you take van with agreement to drive, cheap cheap for you!". Reality...17 hours driving, 3 hour ferry from south to north island, plus 4 hours of "scenic" route (aka - wrong turn into volcanic national park roadway at night...too bad all we saw were curves in the road!); Just in time arrival to Auckland Airport en route to Bankok.

Commercial Announcement: Fly the Friendly Skies of Emirates Airlines featuring the latest technological advancements in passenger comforts and entertainment. With over 500 channels at your disposal, you'll have no problem staying awake for the 14 hour journey ahead: Movies, Music, Television shows, Video games, Camera views of the front and underside of the aircraft during take-off and flight, and much much more...at the touch of your fingers! Plus complimentary spirits throughout the journey!

ps - you can click the images on these pages for a better view!