so my last few days in budapest were lovely...turned out the trains werent on strike, but i still stayed an extra day anyways...was staying at an awesome hostel (called thumbs up, how could it not be amazing?) and met some cool people. met an aussie girl and we spent a day together eating lots of yummy food and spending two hours trying to find a cave...even the information dude didnt know where it was. finally found it and it looked super lame so we didnt go in. went to the opera together (xerxes by handel) but it was surprise surprise in hungarian and had this really weird modernized vibe to it that just didnt work...we couldnt figure out the storyline as there were planes and cars and semi 'arab' slash hip hop dancing involved...but crazily enough the set had an apartment building with persian writing all over it....said something about love and shiraz and hafez and then on another side said iran on it...I was pretty surprised. we left at intermission and grabbed a yummy chocolate brownie dessert instead and didnt look back:) someone of my true kind.
won a beer off gabe the hostel owner as he said it was gonna rain, and i bet him that it wont. got it at 6 am this morning as i was on my way to vienna...anyone want some hungarian beer?? took a very quick and comfy train ride to vienna and spent the entire day roaming the streets. today is a bank holiday in europe and they had all these festivities going on the streets. started to rain a bit so I ran into the opera house just as fidelio was about to start...4€ for standing room ticket...boy was it a painful and hot few hours...was all in german so again had no idea what was going on...just read the bio on wiki and was surprised by the storyline...hehe...was like, woa that happened?! but I did understand some of the german stuff andits weird how some of my german from high school has come back a bit. albeit only a bit.
went to landtmans famous cafe and had a coffee and apple strudel this evening which was lovely...cant wait to try out some more lovely coffee places around town.
on a side note im in the internet cafe right by my hostel and the two guys right next to me got into a fight displaying their masculinity by an interesting display of english swear words...ended in the white german dude calling the arab a skinhead...interesting. for a sec i thought it was gonna escalate into a physical fight and i was getting ready to jump out of the way but thankfully it died down rather quick.
anyhoo, heres to more wunderbar coffees tomorrow...cheerio.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Budapest
few quick last things on Paris...crazy but one day I was walking around and some girl in front of me passed out and fell down...didnt see it but the people just in front of me did. her shopping bags were sprawled ont he groudn and she was breathing, but not conscious. it was creepy. ambulance came and took her away, not sure what happened but i think it was some weird neurological thing. anyhoo, one last comment on the difference bw france and iran....it was a big shock in the beiginning as the french girls were so down to earth and had natural tones...verz little makeup, natural tones and short unpainted nails with hair that was just in a pony tail or verz little done to it. in contrast, iranians have tons of bright usuallz makeup on, long painted nails fake looking eyebrows and done up hair. thez also always talk about how others look whereas in france it wasnt too often. not sure for the reason behind the differences but it was very noticeable...it was nice to cut my nails in france and just be myself without worrzng too much what I looked like.
anyhoo, budapest is amazing. very safe feeling and nice mix of beautiful old buildings and relativelz newer uglz as heck commi buildings. the foods not the healthiest and not the best...not enough spices for me...but thez use a lot of paprika which i love. got a gyro on te street the other day which was nice...yoghurt sauce was made with dill which was a very nice touch. went to the baths yesterdaz which were amazing...beautiful outside thermal heated pool with a gorgous building surrounding it. thez also had these pumps that would go on everzonce in awhile and the water would push zoou around in a circle which was prettz cool. it was so relaxing and the locals even plazed chess in the water. mmm, so budapest is actuallz two towns...buda on the left and pest on the right side of the danuble river. buda is hilly and green with the castle and such. pest is the commercial side and more busy. went to an amazing underground hospital today....started out a couple hundred zears ago as a bunch of cave cellars that people used to store wine and such to avoid taxes then thez were rediscovered in the 40s and joined together to be used as a safe hospital underground for the armz and aslo as a secret militarz meeting place with the germans. then in the 50s it was used as a nuke safe area and also a secret hospital. it has been kept a secret until onlz about 5 years ago and this cuople have been cleaning it and keeping it a secret for the last 40 years or so and doctors would go there everzonce in awhile to practice drills in case of nuclear attack. it was super cool and still had lots of original stuff from the 50s. verz neat. apparentlz used t be the state of the art surgery rooms and equipment which was cool to see as now it doesnt look like much, but thez even had an ekg and xray and autoclave. their own generator too and everthing hidden so no one would know it was there. at one point had 600 patients during the war. the guide told us a funnz storz about the different protocols if a nuclear attack occurred...the germans said that u should measure everzthing about it and give the info to zour superiors, and thanks for your service. the russians said u should lie on the ground with ur feet facing the explosion and ur soul would protect u from the attack. and the hungarians protocol called for u to wrap yourself in a wet blanket and try t omake it to the cemetary in time bc it would help clean up later:) lol it made me laugh a lot besides being a little creepz for official protocol.
anyhoo after walking around forever todaz (took me and this aussie girl about 2 hours to find the underground hospital as the signs here are nonexistent and horrible if existent) mz feet are killing me. sleep feels so good after a long days walk) off to the market and bumming around tomorrow then off to the opera at night and leaving for vienna on friday (apparentlz trains are on strike tomorrow so Ill be delayed a day). cheers from budapest!
anyhoo, budapest is amazing. very safe feeling and nice mix of beautiful old buildings and relativelz newer uglz as heck commi buildings. the foods not the healthiest and not the best...not enough spices for me...but thez use a lot of paprika which i love. got a gyro on te street the other day which was nice...yoghurt sauce was made with dill which was a very nice touch. went to the baths yesterdaz which were amazing...beautiful outside thermal heated pool with a gorgous building surrounding it. thez also had these pumps that would go on everzonce in awhile and the water would push zoou around in a circle which was prettz cool. it was so relaxing and the locals even plazed chess in the water. mmm, so budapest is actuallz two towns...buda on the left and pest on the right side of the danuble river. buda is hilly and green with the castle and such. pest is the commercial side and more busy. went to an amazing underground hospital today....started out a couple hundred zears ago as a bunch of cave cellars that people used to store wine and such to avoid taxes then thez were rediscovered in the 40s and joined together to be used as a safe hospital underground for the armz and aslo as a secret militarz meeting place with the germans. then in the 50s it was used as a nuke safe area and also a secret hospital. it has been kept a secret until onlz about 5 years ago and this cuople have been cleaning it and keeping it a secret for the last 40 years or so and doctors would go there everzonce in awhile to practice drills in case of nuclear attack. it was super cool and still had lots of original stuff from the 50s. verz neat. apparentlz used t be the state of the art surgery rooms and equipment which was cool to see as now it doesnt look like much, but thez even had an ekg and xray and autoclave. their own generator too and everthing hidden so no one would know it was there. at one point had 600 patients during the war. the guide told us a funnz storz about the different protocols if a nuclear attack occurred...the germans said that u should measure everzthing about it and give the info to zour superiors, and thanks for your service. the russians said u should lie on the ground with ur feet facing the explosion and ur soul would protect u from the attack. and the hungarians protocol called for u to wrap yourself in a wet blanket and try t omake it to the cemetary in time bc it would help clean up later:) lol it made me laugh a lot besides being a little creepz for official protocol.
anyhoo after walking around forever todaz (took me and this aussie girl about 2 hours to find the underground hospital as the signs here are nonexistent and horrible if existent) mz feet are killing me. sleep feels so good after a long days walk) off to the market and bumming around tomorrow then off to the opera at night and leaving for vienna on friday (apparentlz trains are on strike tomorrow so Ill be delayed a day). cheers from budapest!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Easter in France
I think I've fallen in love....with Paris =) I've been in France now for the past 2.5 weeks and it has been blissful. I've been surrounded by lovely people, excellent food, beautiful sites and amazing weather...what more could one ask for? ok, probably a million dollars, but I'm being realistic here;) I spent a lovely Easter with our good family friends, the Wimmers, and it was a very special time. We drove up to their summer house in Carnac, a cute town in Bretagne, NW France on the coast. We went for many bike rides and runs along the beach, and I even got taken out for a wonderful ride on a sail boat. We went to mass, which was my first time ever going for Easter and it was really incredible...to be sitting in an ancient cathedral from the 1500s with amazing architecture and beautiful stained glass windows/paintings was quite an atmosphere. Plus, the Easter night mass was exceptionally eventful. The candles that we all held and light during different stages of the ceremony let off so much smoke that the fire alarm went off...and continued for a good 10 min before it finally stopped. Then there was a drunk man who after everytime the priest said "Jesus is our lord" shouted out "yeah!" It was quite amusing as the place was quiet and it was quite a formal affair...but they finally showed him to the door. We proceeded to eat amazing food that day (like all the others) and I ate, for the first time, pate, which was excellent. It was a very relaxing time with lots of great company and good wine;)
The French is, well, coming along albeit slowly. My brain has been filled with Farsi and now it is making a very slow transition to French, but I still think of things in Farsi first and occasionally spit out some Persian words mid-sentence, which I only realize when I get a weird look from someone else and realize that that was the wrong language. But they have told me that my accent isn't too bad, and is not the horrid American accent, so there is hope yet:) I think I have to return during med school for a longer period so that I can really buckle down and concentrate on learning it...right now it is kinda (as our good Armenian friend has said) a "half-arse show." And return I must...Paris is such an amazing place with so many cute little neighborhoods, amazing shops (although if I keep wandering into them I think I may be broke very soon...the european clothes are just so much cuter than american ones;) and restaurants/cafes.
Spent the last week with Jamileh which was wonderful...she showed me some of her favorite places which were fantastic and brought me along to the most amazing (and cheap) creperie. It's in a really cute part of town by the Sorbonne where a lot of University professors live with a very harvard-type feel to it....lots of cafes/restaurants and a very intellectual feel to it...I was in heaven. I also got to check out her lab which was pretty cool. I wandered around lots of neighborhoods in Paris, but there are still many more places to go to. The other day though I wandered into a mosque, which was in Moroccan style, and it was beautiful...a little haven right in the middle of busy Paris. I was shocked to find it and pleasantly surprised when I went in. The guy at the door asked me for my ticket (u are supposed to pay on entrance), but I wasn't about to pay to go in so I said (surprising myself with my french:) "c'est une mosque, n'est-ce pas?"(it's a mosque, no?) to which he replied, "oui, bien sure"(yes, certainly) and I said, "mais je suis musulman" (but I'm muslim) and he immediately happily said, "allez-y madame, allez-y" (go on in) and he was quite amused and on my way out asked me if I saw everything. It was fun;) Spent my birthday with her and had a tasty pear-chocolate cake and a special dinner. I treated myself to a bit of a shopping spree for my bday, which was fun;) and to top stuff off, one of the girls working the cash register asked me if I wanted a discount card for the store and I told her I wasn't French...she then said, "Oh, Italian? German? Spanish?" and I was like no, American. Then she said excitedly, "Beyonce!" and I laughed. then we talked a bit more and she told me I had really good French, which was the perfect bday treat:) so I guess in some ways, money CAN buy happiness...hehe:) guess I just have to do some more shopping:)
Anne-Claire and I had a crepe party the other night and it was pretty cool...everyone brought something along for the crepes and it was quite a success. I'm in lovely Versailles now and it's such a relaxing place. The palace is not too far away and has lovely gardens. I found a cheap ticket to Budapest, Hungary, so I will be leaving Monday for a 12 day adventure...I'm going to go to Vienna and Prague as well, and possibly Bratislava. It should be exciting! I've booked my hostels and some of the train tickets and I'm ready to go explore some beautiful cities and drink some amazing coffee and hear wonderful music...ahh, it's going to be hard to go back to school now.
Anyhoo, hope you are all doing well. I got my return ticket and will be coming back stateside on June 5th, so hope you are all ready;)
The French is, well, coming along albeit slowly. My brain has been filled with Farsi and now it is making a very slow transition to French, but I still think of things in Farsi first and occasionally spit out some Persian words mid-sentence, which I only realize when I get a weird look from someone else and realize that that was the wrong language. But they have told me that my accent isn't too bad, and is not the horrid American accent, so there is hope yet:) I think I have to return during med school for a longer period so that I can really buckle down and concentrate on learning it...right now it is kinda (as our good Armenian friend has said) a "half-arse show." And return I must...Paris is such an amazing place with so many cute little neighborhoods, amazing shops (although if I keep wandering into them I think I may be broke very soon...the european clothes are just so much cuter than american ones;) and restaurants/cafes.
Spent the last week with Jamileh which was wonderful...she showed me some of her favorite places which were fantastic and brought me along to the most amazing (and cheap) creperie. It's in a really cute part of town by the Sorbonne where a lot of University professors live with a very harvard-type feel to it....lots of cafes/restaurants and a very intellectual feel to it...I was in heaven. I also got to check out her lab which was pretty cool. I wandered around lots of neighborhoods in Paris, but there are still many more places to go to. The other day though I wandered into a mosque, which was in Moroccan style, and it was beautiful...a little haven right in the middle of busy Paris. I was shocked to find it and pleasantly surprised when I went in. The guy at the door asked me for my ticket (u are supposed to pay on entrance), but I wasn't about to pay to go in so I said (surprising myself with my french:) "c'est une mosque, n'est-ce pas?"(it's a mosque, no?) to which he replied, "oui, bien sure"(yes, certainly) and I said, "mais je suis musulman" (but I'm muslim) and he immediately happily said, "allez-y madame, allez-y" (go on in) and he was quite amused and on my way out asked me if I saw everything. It was fun;) Spent my birthday with her and had a tasty pear-chocolate cake and a special dinner. I treated myself to a bit of a shopping spree for my bday, which was fun;) and to top stuff off, one of the girls working the cash register asked me if I wanted a discount card for the store and I told her I wasn't French...she then said, "Oh, Italian? German? Spanish?" and I was like no, American. Then she said excitedly, "Beyonce!" and I laughed. then we talked a bit more and she told me I had really good French, which was the perfect bday treat:) so I guess in some ways, money CAN buy happiness...hehe:) guess I just have to do some more shopping:)
Anne-Claire and I had a crepe party the other night and it was pretty cool...everyone brought something along for the crepes and it was quite a success. I'm in lovely Versailles now and it's such a relaxing place. The palace is not too far away and has lovely gardens. I found a cheap ticket to Budapest, Hungary, so I will be leaving Monday for a 12 day adventure...I'm going to go to Vienna and Prague as well, and possibly Bratislava. It should be exciting! I've booked my hostels and some of the train tickets and I'm ready to go explore some beautiful cities and drink some amazing coffee and hear wonderful music...ahh, it's going to be hard to go back to school now.
Anyhoo, hope you are all doing well. I got my return ticket and will be coming back stateside on June 5th, so hope you are all ready;)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Celebrating Nowruz in style...on the beautiful island of Kish;)
Well, I spent a lovely two weeks celebrating Nowruz on Kish with Khanom Moghimi and her lovely family;) I learned to wake up everyone morning saying "ammmuuuuuuu" in response to the "emmmmmaaaaannnnn" that came to me from amu Khosro at the breakfast table, which turned into our greeting everytime we saw each other and made everyone burst into laughter. My farsi improved drastically, as I spoke entirely in Farsi, and was always listening to some conversation or other. And the kids had a really good command of english vocabulary, so whenever I ran into difficulties, they had the persian word for me. I was cracking jokes left and right in farsi, that's how good I got. And I learned some very important words, such as zed zed or zan zalil, which basically means someone who's "whipped." It was a lot of fun.
So a little bit about persian new year, or nowruz. It lasts thirteen days and dates back to ancient times (for more details, check out wikipedia). Iranians set up a "halft seen" or table with at least seven things that start with the letter s (in persian) on it. These include:
In addition, this year I learned the tradition of making ashe reshte (a yummy thick noodle/green veggie soup) on the first day of nowruz. Everyone puts in the noodles, and while doing so you are supposed to say your wishes and hopes for the upcoming year. At the exact moment of the coming of the new year, Persians around the world (at the same time everywhere) gather around the halft seen together to celebrate. And, most importantly, parents give out new bills to the kids;)
As the signs everywhere made certain to reinforce, it is the "beautiful island of Kish." and with the lovely sandy beaches and crystal clear blue/green water, they are quite right. It is a beautiful island and if there weren't segregated beaches, tourists would probably flock there from all over. I had a blast with everyone...at one point, there were 17 people in house, 10 of which were kids around my age. and boy did we have a blast together. There was so much love and happiness, it had a quite healing affect and I really felt like I was back home with all of you around;) I made some really good friends and it's going to be very difficult to leave Iran now. Our days were on a very interesting schedule...woke up around 11 am, ate breakfast, if it was nice, we went to the beach for a few hours. went back home around 5 pm, cleaned up and had "lunch." Then we lounged around for a bit, sometimes watching lovely classic tv shows such as Kolah Germezi, and Marde 1001 Chehre, which were highly entertaining. Then around 9 pm we went to one of Kish's many shopping malls and walked around for awhile, sometimes doing a bit of shopping;) Then we either went back home around midnight to have dinner, or went to Mita Kish to eat some yummy pizza or cake/ice cream. Then around 3 am we would go for a run in their gated community, without a scarf and in t-shirt and capris. With the lovely breeze and cooler/rainy weather we got, it was quite lovely. Then we went to bed about 4 or 5 am and started over the next day. It was quite a relaxing time. I got quite used to waking up and seeing about 5 or 6 others sleeping next to me so that when I got back to Tehran and woke up alone, it was quite lonely.
The beach, as previously stated, was lovely. They even had masseurs from Thailand that gave cheap massages. They had huge blow up balls that you could get in and roll around in the water. I've never seen that many women (without any men) at a beach before. You can also go jet skiing or scuba diving in the persian gulf, but unfortunately the weather was a bit grey so we never got around to doing it. The island has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there, about 7 years ago. It is more developed and was quite busy for Nowruz, as everyone went to enjoy the weather. It didn't affect us much we were staying at their house, but it was evident when it came to the water and shopping malls. As they purify the water from the ocean and thus have a limited supply, and with all the people coming, we frequently ran out of water and had to be very frugal with our use. No one wanted to get stuck in the shower when the water cut, bc then they would have to finish off with a bottle of water stored in the bathroom. The shopping malls were packed at night, with everyone practically on the island there, walking around to be seen;) Our favorite shop was the candy store, where I got them hooked on gummy peach o's. One night we went and I got them some candies, and I asked them what they wanted. when I was going to also get some peach o's, they were like, "no, don't get those for us, unless you want them for yourself" and I decided to get them. As we walked out of the store, they tasted them and immediately fell in love. Every night after that, we went back in and got at least two small bags for us. The third time we went in, the shopkeeper, recognizing us, suggested that we buy a whole box to save money and the trip;) It was pretty funny, but didn't stop us from going back and getting more.
We also ate some delicious kabobs...probably some of the best I've ever eaten. The meat was so delicious and tender. We went to a few concerts (Reza Sadeghi, and Ehsun something) which were really fun, and notably, started at 12:30 am! I discovered polaki...a circular, thin, crispy sweet that is amazing with tea. We took a tour of the island's highlights on the "party bus" as we all fit in one huge van and were singing and dancing to the music between tourist sites.
also, now I can claim to have met some underground Persian musicians....two of the guys there were singers and let us listen to their music. funny enough, the other kids recognized some of the songs and didn't know that it was them. interesting what occurs under such governments...
After arriving back in tehran, I received an interesting text message...."hello, what is your name?" to which I replied, "what is yours?" Here's the response: "Amir, 25 years!" lol, I had a good laugh on that one, to which I replied, "Eman, 23 years" and needless to say, there was no further contact (Eman is a guys name in Iran:) I was tempted to reply with "what, you're not interested anymore?" but I refrained. Went to the relatively new and beautiful Azadi cinema and watched the movie Superstar....I was pleasantly surprised that I understood most of the movie (probably about 95%) compared to about 30% of the movie I saw in Iran last year at the cinema...I guess somethings working;)
Anyhoo, leaving tomorrow for France, so should be exciting;) hope yall are well.
So a little bit about persian new year, or nowruz. It lasts thirteen days and dates back to ancient times (for more details, check out wikipedia). Iranians set up a "halft seen" or table with at least seven things that start with the letter s (in persian) on it. These include:
- sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth
- samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence
- senjed - the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love
- sīr - garlic - symbolizing medicine
- sīb - apples - symbolizing beauty and health
- somaq - sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise
- serkeh - vinegar - symbolizing age and patience
- Sonbol - Hyacinth (plant)
- Sekkeh - Coins - representative of wealth
- traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan-nokhodchi
- Aajeel - dried nuts, berries and raisins
- lit candles (enlightenment and happiness)
- a mirror (symbolizing cleanness and honesty)
- decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility)
- a bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving)
- rosewater, believed to have magical cleansing powers
- the national colours, for a patriotic touch
- a holy book
In addition, this year I learned the tradition of making ashe reshte (a yummy thick noodle/green veggie soup) on the first day of nowruz. Everyone puts in the noodles, and while doing so you are supposed to say your wishes and hopes for the upcoming year. At the exact moment of the coming of the new year, Persians around the world (at the same time everywhere) gather around the halft seen together to celebrate. And, most importantly, parents give out new bills to the kids;)
As the signs everywhere made certain to reinforce, it is the "beautiful island of Kish." and with the lovely sandy beaches and crystal clear blue/green water, they are quite right. It is a beautiful island and if there weren't segregated beaches, tourists would probably flock there from all over. I had a blast with everyone...at one point, there were 17 people in house, 10 of which were kids around my age. and boy did we have a blast together. There was so much love and happiness, it had a quite healing affect and I really felt like I was back home with all of you around;) I made some really good friends and it's going to be very difficult to leave Iran now. Our days were on a very interesting schedule...woke up around 11 am, ate breakfast, if it was nice, we went to the beach for a few hours. went back home around 5 pm, cleaned up and had "lunch." Then we lounged around for a bit, sometimes watching lovely classic tv shows such as Kolah Germezi, and Marde 1001 Chehre, which were highly entertaining. Then around 9 pm we went to one of Kish's many shopping malls and walked around for awhile, sometimes doing a bit of shopping;) Then we either went back home around midnight to have dinner, or went to Mita Kish to eat some yummy pizza or cake/ice cream. Then around 3 am we would go for a run in their gated community, without a scarf and in t-shirt and capris. With the lovely breeze and cooler/rainy weather we got, it was quite lovely. Then we went to bed about 4 or 5 am and started over the next day. It was quite a relaxing time. I got quite used to waking up and seeing about 5 or 6 others sleeping next to me so that when I got back to Tehran and woke up alone, it was quite lonely.
The beach, as previously stated, was lovely. They even had masseurs from Thailand that gave cheap massages. They had huge blow up balls that you could get in and roll around in the water. I've never seen that many women (without any men) at a beach before. You can also go jet skiing or scuba diving in the persian gulf, but unfortunately the weather was a bit grey so we never got around to doing it. The island has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there, about 7 years ago. It is more developed and was quite busy for Nowruz, as everyone went to enjoy the weather. It didn't affect us much we were staying at their house, but it was evident when it came to the water and shopping malls. As they purify the water from the ocean and thus have a limited supply, and with all the people coming, we frequently ran out of water and had to be very frugal with our use. No one wanted to get stuck in the shower when the water cut, bc then they would have to finish off with a bottle of water stored in the bathroom. The shopping malls were packed at night, with everyone practically on the island there, walking around to be seen;) Our favorite shop was the candy store, where I got them hooked on gummy peach o's. One night we went and I got them some candies, and I asked them what they wanted. when I was going to also get some peach o's, they were like, "no, don't get those for us, unless you want them for yourself" and I decided to get them. As we walked out of the store, they tasted them and immediately fell in love. Every night after that, we went back in and got at least two small bags for us. The third time we went in, the shopkeeper, recognizing us, suggested that we buy a whole box to save money and the trip;) It was pretty funny, but didn't stop us from going back and getting more.
We also ate some delicious kabobs...probably some of the best I've ever eaten. The meat was so delicious and tender. We went to a few concerts (Reza Sadeghi, and Ehsun something) which were really fun, and notably, started at 12:30 am! I discovered polaki...a circular, thin, crispy sweet that is amazing with tea. We took a tour of the island's highlights on the "party bus" as we all fit in one huge van and were singing and dancing to the music between tourist sites.
also, now I can claim to have met some underground Persian musicians....two of the guys there were singers and let us listen to their music. funny enough, the other kids recognized some of the songs and didn't know that it was them. interesting what occurs under such governments...
After arriving back in tehran, I received an interesting text message...."hello, what is your name?" to which I replied, "what is yours?" Here's the response: "Amir, 25 years!" lol, I had a good laugh on that one, to which I replied, "Eman, 23 years" and needless to say, there was no further contact (Eman is a guys name in Iran:) I was tempted to reply with "what, you're not interested anymore?" but I refrained. Went to the relatively new and beautiful Azadi cinema and watched the movie Superstar....I was pleasantly surprised that I understood most of the movie (probably about 95%) compared to about 30% of the movie I saw in Iran last year at the cinema...I guess somethings working;)
Anyhoo, leaving tomorrow for France, so should be exciting;) hope yall are well.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Iran
Well I've been in Tehran now for about 2.5 weeks and things are going pretty well. I just realized the other day that in my two years off, I've spent 5.5 months in Iran...that's quite a bit of time. Tehran has started to attain that comfortable feeling of a home away from home for me. The streets have started to find a location in my brain and wandering around on my own or with taxis has gotten quite easy. Some of you might be thinking I'm a bit slow, but just to get a sense of the city, think New York big with the opposite of the lovely ny grid street system...the streets aren't exactly orderly here. Anyhoo, thankfully its easy to orient yourself here as it is often assisted by the slope of the hill. That said, Tehran is so spread out that I've probably really only become familiar with about a third of it (albeit the most interesting third;) One interesting improvement I've noticed since last year is the streets are much cleaner....I've been waking up to go to Park-e-Laleh early in the morning to run (the park is packed with people excercising early am...they even have this aerobics class that all these cute older people go to...and baba, just an fyi vali khodet hasti tuye un guru, vali daghighan nemidoonam aghe unjaham hasti baraye khoshgel factor ya na...schiad 10 sale dige;) Along the way the street cleaners are in full business, cleaning out the canals on the sides of the streets, using huge vacuums to clean the sidewalks and grooming the grass and plants in the park. It's quite a nice change, and very welcomed after India. I've seen some funny things along my walks. For one, there was a young boy in a car trying to turn right at a congested intersection....as he was trying to turn, people (and other cars turning left) were in the street making it difficult so all of a sudden he turned this sound like a police siren on, everyone moved out of the way and he easily turned, the siren went off and he went on his way. The kid next to me and I realized what he did and burst out laughing...it was pretty ingenious. There was also this amazing guy on the street demonstrating a veggie cutter which I watched for a good 10 minutes...in no time at all he cut all these veggies into really cool shapes and made little slinkies out of them. It was pretty sweet. I may have to get one one of these days. I also went to cafe naderi to get a yummy steak with creamy mushroom sauce and crispy fried potatoes...mmm, was so good. Met an armenian girl there who was quite nice. The cute older waiters working there (apparently ever since before the revolution) are entertaining and when I got the bill, he joked with me saying that the $15 on lunch was a common cost in the jomhuri-e-islami. But it is actually amazing that considering the vast differences in income, things like coffee and restaurants (except fastfood) are the same price as back home.
Walking around alone a lot lately I've started to have some interesting encounters with the other kind. It's never been creepy like in some of the other countries I've been to, thankfully. Usually the guys do it when no one else is around and then when they walk by you they say hello or some such thing (racy I know;) Two boys once asked me if I was waiting for them...and a group of suit-clad boys at a bus stop broke out singing for me as I walked by. was quite entertaining although I was a bit annoyed at the time. last year my cousin and I were trying to cross a big intersection and a car all of a sudden stopped for us...I was like woa, that's never happened before, I can't believe they actually stopped to let us walk across, and she informed me that that's what guys do to pick up random girls! hah! man I'm so naive. I've even managed to get some guys phone number of all things...happened in a handicraft shop of all places (persian handcrafts, unbiasedly of course, are hands down the most beautiful). started talking and when I was going to leave he was like my name's ali, come back, here's our card, oh wait, here's my cell number, the name's ali. lol, was pretty funny.
Met a nice anthropology professor and have been going to some of her classes and such with her lately. she told me about her experiences in mongolia and how she stayed for a few days out in the countryside with a tribe...they only ate meat and dairy products but had managed to make vodka out of yogurt! Pretty interesting to go to class and talk to the students. Some of the girls told me that they choose to wear a chador bc it tells boys that they aren't loose and such...they said that if you just wear a scarf and coat it shows that you have different beliefs and may be ok to flirting with boys and such. They said that if they went to the US, they wouldn't wear it and would just wear a scarf, because there it is the equivalent of a chador...was pretty interesting to talk to them about it. She brought me along to her yoga class at her friend's apartment which was cool to go to. mostly was meditation and was very relaxing...two hours of relaxation really helps you stay calm, which is particularly important in hectic Tehran.
Went yesterday to a friends presentation for finishing medical school...was cool to see although it was hard to understand most of it. An interesting tidbit I've noticed in Iran is the concept of the chai server...whatever school or company I go to, they have someone that comes around and gives tea and sweets to the workers everyonce in awhile. It's nice, although personally I like the distraction offered by getting up and grabbing your own coffee and chatting with a friend.
As familiar as I am with some parts of Persian culture, there are some things I don't think I'll ever be fully comfortable with, and there will always probably be things that I will learn about it. Persian culture is so complex, I don't think they even fully understand it. Something I'll never be comfortable with is seeing someone for the first time in awhile and having them immediately discuss whether you've become fatter or skinnier since the last time they saw you. They'll discuss this for awhile, kindly the entire time as if they're discussing the weather, and either way it's not bad. It's just...odd. I think coming from a culture where you generally steer clear of talking about your weight with others and then being in front of people that you don't know well and having them ask how many kilos you are, or discussing your weight in front of you is just uncomfortable. and no matter how much I try to tell myself that it's just their culture, it just comes off as extremely rude and awkward for me. I usually just shut my mouth and go into a zen mode until they get over it, but really inside I just want to be like, you know, it IS so good to see you again and how HAS your life been since I saw you last? but of course I don't.
another thing that's frustrating is ta'ruf. you know, I'm just not used to saying no the first 5 times and then saying yes. if someone asks me to do something and it sounds like fun, I just say yes. It's hard for me to realize that they usually just say stuff and expect you to say no. and they use such tactful language to show that they don't really mean what they say.....things like "if you don't have other plans" or "if you have permission to come" when they really mean that they are inviting you but not really inviting you bc if they truly wanted you to come they would be like "I'd be really happy if you came" or "we'd all really like to see you." I don't think they understand who they are talking to...to me, I take it all literally and if I don't have other plans and want to go, then I say yes. which I think I have unknowingly probably surprised many people and made them think I'm rude. I don't think they understand that 110% of my energy is going into trying to figure out what it is they've just said, and how I can say my response. I don't have the capability of deciphering hidden messages....nor perhaps most importantly, I don't have the mindset for thinking about hidden meanings. I'm a very straightforward person-I say what I mean and I mean what I say (for the most part) and I expect the same out of others. It's very hard for me to lie about things, and usually you can tell by my language because when caught between lying or saying something potentially rude or even slightly impolite, I usually defer to vague language like "yeah it's not bad" or in the case of rock climbing "I'd love to but unfortunately I have plans." ->that one's for you josh;) but usually, I don't even have a strong opinion and am good with going with the flow...as long as the flow is in a desirable direction;) anyhoo, it's tiring and I miss good old america;) I think it's important for people to live in other countries and experience different cultures because then you really get to see your own culture from a different angle and see what you like and don't like or at least get another view or be more understanding of others. (for example a somali girl in high school who had just came from somali once opened up to me and told me she hated the US...at the time, I took it as a personal affront and was a bit hurt-i mean, how could she not like my homeland??-but now I realize that it probably was exceedingly difficult for her to adjust to the new culture and surroundings, and plus, she was probably struggling with the right words to properly display her feelings and maybe she reached for one that wasn't quite right but the only one she thought of or knew at the time) language and words and gestures have so many connotations that we take for granted. I think in the last few years I've really realized the importance of communication and the affects it can have not only between individuals, but between countries. That's not to say I'm perfect at communicating...in fact, far from it. But it is amazing how much affect language can have and I for one need to try to concentrate more on it.
Last night I was at a friend's house and their young son asked me, "I'm not quite sure, are you Iranian or American?" The question took me a bit offguard and I wasn't sure how to answer it, especially in farsi;) at the time I basically answered it by saying the I am Iranian-American, and I still think that's basically true in some sense. I mean, I can speak some Farsi, know some about the culture and have pride for my origins. I like the sense of roots that it gives me...a sense of a history, an ancient culture, an artistically and intellectually rich culture. but upon further reflection, I think what I really am is American. and it's that fact that I am most proud of. I like being an individual, doing what I want, being responsible for my own actions and free to act on my own free will and not confined so strongly by a society. I like being able to voice my opinions and being surrounded by open-minded people (ok so obviously not all americans are, but I would venture more so than Iran...I mean, the more you are exposed to, the more open you tend to become and we certainly don't lack diversity in the us). I like having a more informal society where not so much effort is put into putting up a front. I like choosing my friends not by what they look like or wear or who their family is, but by their personality and goodness and heck, their interesting factor. Not that American culture is better than other cultures...just that it's this culture that I was brought up with, this culture that I understand and am comfortable in, and this culture I feel most like me. I think it's safe to say that a lot of americans have a second or third or fourth cultural influence. and for me, thats Iranian culture. but something I've realized is that I'm American first, with sprinkles of persian flavoring. and personally, I couldn't be more happy. ok enough sappiness...too bad it's not the fourth of july;) but really, I guess what I'm saying is I heart you america;0 I'm really thankful I was brought up in a country where the concept of freedom is for the most part, fully realized.
anyhoo, its chahar shambe suri here (just before persian new year, during which I'll be spending a lovely two weeks on kish, an island in the persian gulf;) traditionally people would jump over smal bonfires in the streets (apparently if they were sick it would heal them) but apparently in the recent past its taken a nasty turn where kids explode fireworks and such and has become exceedingly dangerous. lots of peole lose limbs or get burned from accidents. they showed a nasty show about it on tv last night and made me a little scared to step foot outside tonight...anyhoo, hope you all are enjoying some lovely spring weather!
Walking around alone a lot lately I've started to have some interesting encounters with the other kind. It's never been creepy like in some of the other countries I've been to, thankfully. Usually the guys do it when no one else is around and then when they walk by you they say hello or some such thing (racy I know;) Two boys once asked me if I was waiting for them...and a group of suit-clad boys at a bus stop broke out singing for me as I walked by. was quite entertaining although I was a bit annoyed at the time. last year my cousin and I were trying to cross a big intersection and a car all of a sudden stopped for us...I was like woa, that's never happened before, I can't believe they actually stopped to let us walk across, and she informed me that that's what guys do to pick up random girls! hah! man I'm so naive. I've even managed to get some guys phone number of all things...happened in a handicraft shop of all places (persian handcrafts, unbiasedly of course, are hands down the most beautiful). started talking and when I was going to leave he was like my name's ali, come back, here's our card, oh wait, here's my cell number, the name's ali. lol, was pretty funny.
Met a nice anthropology professor and have been going to some of her classes and such with her lately. she told me about her experiences in mongolia and how she stayed for a few days out in the countryside with a tribe...they only ate meat and dairy products but had managed to make vodka out of yogurt! Pretty interesting to go to class and talk to the students. Some of the girls told me that they choose to wear a chador bc it tells boys that they aren't loose and such...they said that if you just wear a scarf and coat it shows that you have different beliefs and may be ok to flirting with boys and such. They said that if they went to the US, they wouldn't wear it and would just wear a scarf, because there it is the equivalent of a chador...was pretty interesting to talk to them about it. She brought me along to her yoga class at her friend's apartment which was cool to go to. mostly was meditation and was very relaxing...two hours of relaxation really helps you stay calm, which is particularly important in hectic Tehran.
Went yesterday to a friends presentation for finishing medical school...was cool to see although it was hard to understand most of it. An interesting tidbit I've noticed in Iran is the concept of the chai server...whatever school or company I go to, they have someone that comes around and gives tea and sweets to the workers everyonce in awhile. It's nice, although personally I like the distraction offered by getting up and grabbing your own coffee and chatting with a friend.
As familiar as I am with some parts of Persian culture, there are some things I don't think I'll ever be fully comfortable with, and there will always probably be things that I will learn about it. Persian culture is so complex, I don't think they even fully understand it. Something I'll never be comfortable with is seeing someone for the first time in awhile and having them immediately discuss whether you've become fatter or skinnier since the last time they saw you. They'll discuss this for awhile, kindly the entire time as if they're discussing the weather, and either way it's not bad. It's just...odd. I think coming from a culture where you generally steer clear of talking about your weight with others and then being in front of people that you don't know well and having them ask how many kilos you are, or discussing your weight in front of you is just uncomfortable. and no matter how much I try to tell myself that it's just their culture, it just comes off as extremely rude and awkward for me. I usually just shut my mouth and go into a zen mode until they get over it, but really inside I just want to be like, you know, it IS so good to see you again and how HAS your life been since I saw you last? but of course I don't.
another thing that's frustrating is ta'ruf. you know, I'm just not used to saying no the first 5 times and then saying yes. if someone asks me to do something and it sounds like fun, I just say yes. It's hard for me to realize that they usually just say stuff and expect you to say no. and they use such tactful language to show that they don't really mean what they say.....things like "if you don't have other plans" or "if you have permission to come" when they really mean that they are inviting you but not really inviting you bc if they truly wanted you to come they would be like "I'd be really happy if you came" or "we'd all really like to see you." I don't think they understand who they are talking to...to me, I take it all literally and if I don't have other plans and want to go, then I say yes. which I think I have unknowingly probably surprised many people and made them think I'm rude. I don't think they understand that 110% of my energy is going into trying to figure out what it is they've just said, and how I can say my response. I don't have the capability of deciphering hidden messages....nor perhaps most importantly, I don't have the mindset for thinking about hidden meanings. I'm a very straightforward person-I say what I mean and I mean what I say (for the most part) and I expect the same out of others. It's very hard for me to lie about things, and usually you can tell by my language because when caught between lying or saying something potentially rude or even slightly impolite, I usually defer to vague language like "yeah it's not bad" or in the case of rock climbing "I'd love to but unfortunately I have plans." ->that one's for you josh;) but usually, I don't even have a strong opinion and am good with going with the flow...as long as the flow is in a desirable direction;) anyhoo, it's tiring and I miss good old america;) I think it's important for people to live in other countries and experience different cultures because then you really get to see your own culture from a different angle and see what you like and don't like or at least get another view or be more understanding of others. (for example a somali girl in high school who had just came from somali once opened up to me and told me she hated the US...at the time, I took it as a personal affront and was a bit hurt-i mean, how could she not like my homeland??-but now I realize that it probably was exceedingly difficult for her to adjust to the new culture and surroundings, and plus, she was probably struggling with the right words to properly display her feelings and maybe she reached for one that wasn't quite right but the only one she thought of or knew at the time) language and words and gestures have so many connotations that we take for granted. I think in the last few years I've really realized the importance of communication and the affects it can have not only between individuals, but between countries. That's not to say I'm perfect at communicating...in fact, far from it. But it is amazing how much affect language can have and I for one need to try to concentrate more on it.
Last night I was at a friend's house and their young son asked me, "I'm not quite sure, are you Iranian or American?" The question took me a bit offguard and I wasn't sure how to answer it, especially in farsi;) at the time I basically answered it by saying the I am Iranian-American, and I still think that's basically true in some sense. I mean, I can speak some Farsi, know some about the culture and have pride for my origins. I like the sense of roots that it gives me...a sense of a history, an ancient culture, an artistically and intellectually rich culture. but upon further reflection, I think what I really am is American. and it's that fact that I am most proud of. I like being an individual, doing what I want, being responsible for my own actions and free to act on my own free will and not confined so strongly by a society. I like being able to voice my opinions and being surrounded by open-minded people (ok so obviously not all americans are, but I would venture more so than Iran...I mean, the more you are exposed to, the more open you tend to become and we certainly don't lack diversity in the us). I like having a more informal society where not so much effort is put into putting up a front. I like choosing my friends not by what they look like or wear or who their family is, but by their personality and goodness and heck, their interesting factor. Not that American culture is better than other cultures...just that it's this culture that I was brought up with, this culture that I understand and am comfortable in, and this culture I feel most like me. I think it's safe to say that a lot of americans have a second or third or fourth cultural influence. and for me, thats Iranian culture. but something I've realized is that I'm American first, with sprinkles of persian flavoring. and personally, I couldn't be more happy. ok enough sappiness...too bad it's not the fourth of july;) but really, I guess what I'm saying is I heart you america;0 I'm really thankful I was brought up in a country where the concept of freedom is for the most part, fully realized.
anyhoo, its chahar shambe suri here (just before persian new year, during which I'll be spending a lovely two weeks on kish, an island in the persian gulf;) traditionally people would jump over smal bonfires in the streets (apparently if they were sick it would heal them) but apparently in the recent past its taken a nasty turn where kids explode fireworks and such and has become exceedingly dangerous. lots of peole lose limbs or get burned from accidents. they showed a nasty show about it on tv last night and made me a little scared to step foot outside tonight...anyhoo, hope you all are enjoying some lovely spring weather!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Bombay, Mumbai, a bay;)
Ali and I successfully survived a 24 hour bus ride from Diu to Mumbai. and boy was it nice to be there. it was rather warm, but the dry warm that is tolerable as opposed to the insufferable humidity. Still technically winter, being February and all, and temps were already in the 30s. I'm so glad we weren't there in the summer! The bus ride wasn't all that bad and Ali and I were actually pleasantly surprised with how quick the time flew by. We had a sleeper, which basically means we had a little box all to ourselves where we could lay down and shut out the craziness that is India. Stayed at the Salvation Army's place for a whopping $4 a night, breakfast included. It's kitty corner from the taj hotel, where all the crazy stuff went down a few months ago. Didn't even phase my mind until we went out to grab drinks with a few Brit girls at Leopold's, the famous foreignor hangout, and saw bullet holes in the windows. Then it hit me, why the whole front side of the Taj was boarded up and blocked off. I know, don't say it, she's a quick one mr. grinch;) anyhoo, mumbai was awesome...I totally could live there for a period of time. There was the feeling of India, but then the comforting presence of the modern world that I'm used to. The first thing that hit us was how clean the streets were! and how little pollution there was for such a large city...we could finally maneuver the streets and sidewalks without having to avoid feces and crap of some kind or other. Lots of modern buildings, interspersed with ones from the Brits, and then adjacent to slums. Kinda a crazy background. Went to see Slumdog Millionaire again, and it was amazing for the second time again. It was so cool to see it in the city it was filmed, and brilliant to be able to recognize where the scenes were filmed. heck, we had just walked by most of them. Had some funny experiences with some street sellers...one guy tried to get us into his shop by claiming he was selling "museum pieces." hah. got some balloons from another guy who was walking around with a GINORMOUS balloon. I got giddy like a kid in a candy shop and got some. imagine all the fun you could have with a balloon the size of a small person. anyhoo, ali decided to get some the next day, and right after she bought them, this guy came up to us and informed us that they had sold us small balloons! duh, we totally should have figured given the size of the balloons in the bag. He demonstrated how far they could get blown up, a decidedly wimpy size compared to the others, not that size matters or anything, but anyways, he was trying to get us to pay more for the bigger balloons that he had. we figure they are probably all in it together and make money off of suckers like us. meh, it was fun.
as far as the food goes, Mumbai warrants a trip all on its own. man was it good. tried some of their faloodeh, although Iran's is much better. they put milk in theirs, and the noodles were like glassy spaghetti noodles, too thick for me. but the ice cream was good. had melt-in-the-mouth chicken kebabs, vegetable raita, vegetable fry and naan at the olympia cafe, a parsi restaurant that served delicious food...the whole meal along with fresh sweet lemon juice cost ali and I together a whopping $2! another day we went to another delicious parsi restaurant called Ideal Corner, where I had some brown rice flavored with lots of spices and some mutton curry sauce that was just like a persian khoresht but spiced up a bit with Indian spices. so yummy!
anyhoo, Bombay was awesome. flew to Iran via Qatar a few days ago, and now I'm nicely settled in Tehran. Thankfully it's cooler here...about 22c or so. it's good to be back. my aunt told me something funny today...she came home and told me I shouldn't eat the sausage/kilbasa anymore. Apparently the cops stopped some truck driver and checked out the back of the truck and found it filled from top to bottom with dead cats...upon inquiring as to what the cats were for, the driver said he was bringing them to the meat factory to make sausage!!!! yuuucckkk! I couldn't help it, I just burst out laughing one of those uncomfortable laughs as I racked my brain tried to count the number of times I actually ate the sausage. thankfully I never was much of a fan so it was probably limited to only a few times. well, at least the meat's halal here...;) man, I still can't believe it. that's so gross. maybe I'll be a vegetarian for life...after all, India showed me that it wasn't that bad...in fact, I really didn't miss meat that much. meh, hope you guys are enjoying your sausage;)
as far as the food goes, Mumbai warrants a trip all on its own. man was it good. tried some of their faloodeh, although Iran's is much better. they put milk in theirs, and the noodles were like glassy spaghetti noodles, too thick for me. but the ice cream was good. had melt-in-the-mouth chicken kebabs, vegetable raita, vegetable fry and naan at the olympia cafe, a parsi restaurant that served delicious food...the whole meal along with fresh sweet lemon juice cost ali and I together a whopping $2! another day we went to another delicious parsi restaurant called Ideal Corner, where I had some brown rice flavored with lots of spices and some mutton curry sauce that was just like a persian khoresht but spiced up a bit with Indian spices. so yummy!
anyhoo, Bombay was awesome. flew to Iran via Qatar a few days ago, and now I'm nicely settled in Tehran. Thankfully it's cooler here...about 22c or so. it's good to be back. my aunt told me something funny today...she came home and told me I shouldn't eat the sausage/kilbasa anymore. Apparently the cops stopped some truck driver and checked out the back of the truck and found it filled from top to bottom with dead cats...upon inquiring as to what the cats were for, the driver said he was bringing them to the meat factory to make sausage!!!! yuuucckkk! I couldn't help it, I just burst out laughing one of those uncomfortable laughs as I racked my brain tried to count the number of times I actually ate the sausage. thankfully I never was much of a fan so it was probably limited to only a few times. well, at least the meat's halal here...;) man, I still can't believe it. that's so gross. maybe I'll be a vegetarian for life...after all, India showed me that it wasn't that bad...in fact, I really didn't miss meat that much. meh, hope you guys are enjoying your sausage;)
Monday, February 23, 2009
Diu
Diu..pronounced like the French word, meaning God. And for us, it has been a god send. Lying down on the sandy beach, with the sun beating down and a slight breeze with the ocean waves lapping near by has been the best relaxent (I don't think that's a word, but you know what I mean;) I think I know why meditation and yoga have come out of India...all you need to do is step into one of their busy cities and you'll understand the importance of meditation;) We actually went to a free yoga class one morning and it wasn't all that bad...not too much a fan of the spiritual aspect of it, but it was nice to do some stretching and relaxation things. In Jodhpur, we went to return some train tickets and spent nearly an hour and half in a "que" similar to those in Iran...so really just a mashpit in front of the window with everyone squished together pushing to get to the window first. Apparently there was some "order" to the "line" as they alternated between old men and women, but this was rather crude. After finally getting to the window, we discovered we had not filled out one section of the paper, and had to leave the line. Rather pissed (they had let an Indian man stand and fill it out, rather than lose his spot in line) we went near the front and as soon as the next person left, I sneaked my hand over the short Indian lady in front of me and threw my papers into the window saying politely "excuse me but are these correctly filled out now?" to which we were helped almost immediately. Ali was rather amused at my resourcefulness and the Indians around us were quite amused I think at my sneakiness, although they never complained a bit and seemed to think it was quite normal. If I hadn't been soo frustrated, I would have waited docilely another hour in the line. Anyhoo, back to the relaxing city of Diu. Our time has been spent waking up, taking a few hour breakfast with "cold coffee" (delish;) and talking to other travelers, then heading to the beach after a short walk into town and lying on the beach for the afternoon reading and swimming, then heading back to shower and grab dinner then spend the night by the fire talking to other travelers. There is a siesta "hour" here which really lasts from about 1-6 pm in reality. The restaurants don't even start serving dinner until 7 pm here. Many travellers get stuck here for awhile, and it is easy to see why. We've met some really cool people with amazing stories to tell. One, a Canadian, told us about how in Jaipur he got drugged by some food and woke up a day later in his hotel room with his money stolen and a gash on his head. Apparently he was found lying outside some hotel and they found his key and brought him back to his room...pretty scary. And there was a British couple he had met who had taken a rickshaw down from a fort on a hill...along the way they discovered the driver was high and ended up driving off the cliff...the driver is still in a coma, and the guy had broken his arm! we've been pretty lucky thus far...losing some money isn't anywhere near as bad as getting hurt. Last night we had an awesome conversation around the fire talking about travelling and other countries....we had all sorts of insights what from Britain, Canada, France, Denmark and Australia...the Aussie told us about when he went to Papua New Guinea...apparently it is like a fourth world country there, where they eat other people (mad cow disease is prevalent in people), AIDS is high...fastest growing in the world, and the tribes are constantly fighting each other. Some medical friends of his were trying to teach them to use condoms, and were demonstrating on broom handles. 3 years later, they went back to see how things were going and were shocked to find all the women on the island sweeping their houses with brooms with handles topped with condoms! and the men were also very resourceful, discovering that condoms are great for using as tackle for fishing! haha...well, really there is a much greater problem there than safe sex. I mean, really, teaching people to use condoms before they rape and pillage another tribe is rather irrelevant. It's hard to believe what a sheltered life we live back home...but also nice in a way to have such a great safe haven. Our problems are really very miniscule in comparison with some places in the world. Also met this amazing old German postman. He retired at age 53 and has been travelling the world ever since...he's been to India 11 times already. He has really inspired me to go to South America, and the Sputch couple to learn Spanish...so maybe that's what I'll be doing soon. It sounds like such an amazing continent. He went to the island just south of S. America and said it was very wild and untouched. mmm, beautiful countryside with small villages is so much more enjoyable compared to man made mashpits of congestion...hehe, no I'm really not that negative about India, although I think it comes out that I am much more than in reality. It's just that there are so many incredible things that happen here; I guess that's why they say Incredible India...Ali's motto is "impossible India" though, which is also true. Anyhoo, I realized today that I will actually be sad to leave a little...I have finally adapted and started to truly enjoy it, and it is so unlike any place I have been before...perhaps I'll come back during medical school. Sorry for the random babbling, there's just so many different things going on and my brain hasn't quite wrapped around them all yet and they just come pouring out;)
another tidbit about driving here....our driver told us that to drive in India, it is absolutely necessary to have 3 things: good brakes, a horn, and luck. so true. they use the horn incessantly, which is a huge form of noise pollution. you could be walking on the edge of a huge street with no one on it and a motorcycle will come by on the opposite side and honk the horn for 10 seconds while they pass you. I mean really, their use of the horn is absurd and overexcessive! but I have seen some instances where it is very beneficial.
Anyways...onto the really important stuff;)
Street food. man will I miss it. In Jodhpur we ran across a street vendor that took us into his little shop and we sat on little plastic stools as he gave us samples of everything he makes...potato chat (something like a potato cutlet with a bean curry and yoghurt, onions, tomatoes and spices added on top), veggie pakoda, spinach pakoda (fried spinach again with yoghurt and spicy sauces), pani puri (a crunchy empty ball filled with a spicy/sweet liquid...it fills-explodes rather-your mouth with this intense taste...some like it, I felt like puking, but then again, my small mouth can't handle overexpansion;), some yummy chai, and another sweet fried cheeseball with the yoghurt and spicy sauces on top..very interesting although can't say I'll miss the latter two too much. and then there are yummy samosas, and fried peppers with curried potato mix, and all sorts of sweets....ahhh, yes, they will be sorely missed. before coming to India, I was in love with curries...and now, I can't say it's my favorite Indian food. I think I've had my fill of them, although the homemade ones are soo much more tasty than in restaurants. The streetfood however, is to die for. There seem to be many good places to eat in Bombay (where we are headed next, after our 22 hour nonstop bus ride, starting tomorrow morning), and I'm getting excited. Apparently there is a large population of Parsis there (Persian Zoroastrians that left when the Arabs invaded) and they are supposed to have many good restaurants, so I'm excited to try them. I was excitedly talking about Bombay the other night, and Ali was like "but it's a lot farther south and it will be soo hot down there" to which I immediately replied "yeah, but we'll be eating the entire time anyways [in ac restaurants]"...she burst out laughing. For two food lovers, we've been known by the other tourists to be on the gourmet travelling trip across India. not too shabby of a reputation by any means;) Anyhoo, off to the beach now. we're trying to rent a moped to travel around the island...only $2 a day! so let's hope we survive safely;)
another tidbit about driving here....our driver told us that to drive in India, it is absolutely necessary to have 3 things: good brakes, a horn, and luck. so true. they use the horn incessantly, which is a huge form of noise pollution. you could be walking on the edge of a huge street with no one on it and a motorcycle will come by on the opposite side and honk the horn for 10 seconds while they pass you. I mean really, their use of the horn is absurd and overexcessive! but I have seen some instances where it is very beneficial.
Anyways...onto the really important stuff;)
Street food. man will I miss it. In Jodhpur we ran across a street vendor that took us into his little shop and we sat on little plastic stools as he gave us samples of everything he makes...potato chat (something like a potato cutlet with a bean curry and yoghurt, onions, tomatoes and spices added on top), veggie pakoda, spinach pakoda (fried spinach again with yoghurt and spicy sauces), pani puri (a crunchy empty ball filled with a spicy/sweet liquid...it fills-explodes rather-your mouth with this intense taste...some like it, I felt like puking, but then again, my small mouth can't handle overexpansion;), some yummy chai, and another sweet fried cheeseball with the yoghurt and spicy sauces on top..very interesting although can't say I'll miss the latter two too much. and then there are yummy samosas, and fried peppers with curried potato mix, and all sorts of sweets....ahhh, yes, they will be sorely missed. before coming to India, I was in love with curries...and now, I can't say it's my favorite Indian food. I think I've had my fill of them, although the homemade ones are soo much more tasty than in restaurants. The streetfood however, is to die for. There seem to be many good places to eat in Bombay (where we are headed next, after our 22 hour nonstop bus ride, starting tomorrow morning), and I'm getting excited. Apparently there is a large population of Parsis there (Persian Zoroastrians that left when the Arabs invaded) and they are supposed to have many good restaurants, so I'm excited to try them. I was excitedly talking about Bombay the other night, and Ali was like "but it's a lot farther south and it will be soo hot down there" to which I immediately replied "yeah, but we'll be eating the entire time anyways [in ac restaurants]"...she burst out laughing. For two food lovers, we've been known by the other tourists to be on the gourmet travelling trip across India. not too shabby of a reputation by any means;) Anyhoo, off to the beach now. we're trying to rent a moped to travel around the island...only $2 a day! so let's hope we survive safely;)
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