Recently neglected but never forgotten, you are now 2 years old.
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I’m alive!
And by the way happy new year…
I know, I know, I’ve been quiet here. You’d think that living in India would inspire me to write more, but it really hasn’t. I brought a journal with me too and I haven’t written in there at all. Perhaps there’s too much to do that I don’t have time to update or perhaps there’s not enough so I end up not writing much but anyway, here I am…
And it is freezing! I am wearing two pairs of pants, and four layers of clothes on top. It is 4 degrees which is not so bad but considering that everything is concrete and there is no insulation, it is absolutely freezing and miserable at times.
How can people here do this? I told a couple of people I work with that if anything ever happens to the earth, India, more specifically the people living in Varanasi, will survive. People here are just so accustomed to fighting and surviving. It’s just second nature.
Apart from the cold (which is major for me because I love heat), things have been alright. I’ve had the chance to celebrate all major holidays, went on vacation 2x (first time to Pushkar, Rajasthan and second time to Dharamsala and Amritsar), met some new people, ate a lot of food, went on 4 boat rides and counting, took Kathak (traditional Indian dance) lessons, worked A LOT, celebrated birthdays India style, befriended stray dogs, and had many cups of chai. All in all, it has been theek (good).
For those who need visuals…
I realize that I need to post photos. I tried to a few weeks ago but they didn’t work out so well. Some people have borrowed this computer, however, so maybe they changed the settings. Anyway, here are a few photos from Varanasi. Will try to post more regularly from now on.
#1 Cleaning the columns at the Delhi airport at 3am. The workers are flossing them like teeth. We were at this airport for about 12 hours waiting for our connecting flight from Delhi to Varanasi.
#2 Office building. We work in the second floor but have access to all the floors including the roof. Our home is about 30 paces from work. Talk about no commute!
#3 Going to the market on a cycle rickshaw. A little bit of everthing in this photo. Before I leave here, I hope to try pedaling one myself!
#4 Ganges at dusk. This is the view from work. The little flecks in the picture are lit candles. Every night, there is a prayer that takes place. It’s called an Aarti. The water is high in this picture. About a month after this was taken the water rose to cover all of the steps.
#5 Herd of water buffaloes sharing the road with motorbikes, cars, and rickshaws. Water buffaloes are my second favourite street animal. They travel in packs and usually in the middle of the road. I love carabaos.
#6 Outside my room, the first day we arrived in Varanasi. I think this was the last time I wore socks here. We were greeted with a garland and a tilak (mark on the forhead using some sort of red paste).
And that’s all for now friends. These pics are pretty much from the first week or so of Varanasi so there is still much to share. Namaste! S.
Don’t worry, I’m still alive
So, you’d think that now that I’m in India I’d actually have something exciting to write about! I guess I do, but all those things are slowly becoming everyday life. The cows in the lane, the goats eating beside them, the neighbourhood game of cricket that takes place on most days after kids get off school. This is just life now and there are times when I can’t even imagine what November in Vancouver is like even though I’ve experienced it every year except those years when I was either in the Philippines or elsewhere. Varanasi has wiped it all away and replaced it with sweltering heat, salwar suits, aloo chaarts, and colourful and confusing festivals.
Varanasi, and maybe India in general, is a strange place. It’s a land of contradictions. There are times when it feels like there are no rules, yet when it comes to tradition and ritual, people are very strict. Some people fast every Monday, others wear their clothes a certain way, and many people hold on to a way of thinking that may have served a purpose at one point but seems detached from the realities of life now.
I’ve had an interesting time trying to find my place here. Sometimes I’m on the outside while other times I’m comfortable with my place and feel very much part of life here. I’m having a time here, neither good or bad, just is and I look forward to what the next 3 months have in store for me.
Varanasi, India: In a few words
Take the ruins of an ancient city like Macchu Pichu or Palenque or even Ankor Wat, have 3 million people from different centuries and their animals live in it, mix in remnants of colonialism, and you have Varanasi.
Toronto – It’s not THAT bad
Well, this is it. Three months gone by in a flash. As a generalization, people from Vancouver like to turn their noses at anything Toronto. Toronto is too hot, cold, smoggy. Toronto thinks it’s the centre of the universe. They don’t have mountains like we do. The criticisms are true, but it’s not all that bad. Here’s a short list of things I like about Toronto (the summers anyway):
1. Cheap produce and food in general. I don’t know what it is but there’s a lot of cheap food to be had in this city. 2 chicken shawarmas for $7.99? Check. Smokies for $3.00? Check. Vietnamese sub for $1.75? Oh yes, check.
2. There’s always something to do for free. In the time that I’ve been here, I’ve checked out the Pride Parade, Caribana, Feast of India, Taste of the Danforth, free concerts at Queen’s Park, Afrofest and other random events in and around the city all for free.
3. Things stay open later. I walked home at 1030pm on a Sunday and there were still tons of people out and about. I biked home around 2am on a Friday and people were on the street like it was 8pm. There are 24h diners and grocery stores, bakeries open til 11pm, people milling around all day and all night long.
4. It’s truly multicultural. Vancouver likes to think of itself as multicultural. But we’re really not in comparison. Sure we have restaurants serving different kinds of foods and fusions, have “multicultural” events, and like to talk about how multicultural we are but we just don’t have the same kind of diversity as Toronto because we simply don’t have as many people.
5. A bicycle is a mode of transportation, not a fashion accessory. Not that a bike can’t be a fashion accessory but in Toronto I feel like there’s no in-crowd, out-crowd associated with cycling. Most people have crappy mountain bikes here, they go at whatever pace, they wear whatever they want, and “coolness” is just not a factor. One complaint – people don’t wear helmets and I don’t know why.
Well, that’s it. Not to say that there’s nothing bad about Toronto. I just thought that I’d defend it a little 
Next stop, Varanasi.
Hot Hot Heat
It’s hot, and these people agree.
On most days an ice cream truck parks right across the street from our building. On those days, there are usually long line ups of men and women reconnecting with their childhoods.
Victoria’s Lochside Regional Trail
** I’m cleaning out my blog and found some unpublished posts. I’m not sure why this one wasn’t published. I’m guessing that I wanted to put more photos up. Will be putting a previously unpublished post once a week until I clean the whole thing out!**
May 19, 2010
Last weekend, M and I decided to go to Victoria on a whim. As neither of us had been to Victoria for quite some time, we were surprised to find out that taking a vehicle would cost $50 EACH WAY plus $14 per person! Not wanting to spend $128 just on transportation we decided to bike to Victoria instead! We took the bus out to the ferry terminal, took the ferry, and from the ferry, biked to Victoria. It took about 3 and a half hours which included a couple of breaks, some detours, and “where are we supposed to go” moments. On the way back, the total time was about 2 hours plus stops for lunch and some picture taking. All in all a good weekend. 
Hindi Lessons
As part of my preparation for India, I, along with my fellow India bound cohorts, started taking Hindi lessons twice a weeks for 2.5 hours each session. My teacher is this funny older Indian man from Bombay (older people tend to use colonial names). He makes silly jokes that are only somewhat funny but he laughs so hard at them that you can’t help but laugh yourself.
People tell me that Hindi is easy to learn, and it is… sort of. Like all other languages, it has a philosophy that says a lot about the culture. According to my Hindi teacher, possession as we know it in English does not exist in Hindi. For example, when you translate the English sentence “I have a banana” in Hindi, it is “Mere pas kela” which roughly means “I am near/with a banana.” Apparently, you never really “own” anything. Everything is with you only for a short period of time.
Apologies dear readers
Hello my handful of readers. Apologies for slacking on the posting. It’s either there’s too much stuff to do that I don’t have time to post or there’s just not much going on that’s worth posting. I believe my life is more of the latter.
Anyway, currently in Toronto. This upcoming week will be week 3. Things have been going ok at work (which is the reason why I’m here in the first place). Nothing too exciting is going on there. Coworkers are all nice and the work itself is manageable. By the way, this is my first 9-5 desk-type job. I can’t say I’m a fan. I’m used to switching tasks a lot and not just sitting at a desk doing work or reading. Oh well, it’s all experience.
One thing that I was very excited about when I started working was the space! I work in a loft office. It’s a converted tin factory. There’s tons of galleries, non profits, architectural firms, and artists in my building. It’s a pretty neat place to work in. One feature that is by far my favourite is this:
the rooftop garden!
On sunny days, we go up here and have lunch. Lots of benches, great view, and birds! There’s a section where the building managers keep budgies.
It’s a bit difficult to see but there are cages and hiding spots for the birds there. Neat eh?
Will take more pictures of the building and hopefully post it soon.
