Blogs from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 13

Wieder ein liebes Hallo an die Lieben zu Hause! Jodhpur: Sind im Hotel Ajit Mansion angekommen und haben die Schnauze vom Sightseeing gestrichen voll. Permanente Abzocke geht uns auch schon auf den Keks. Rajasthan is wirklich ein hartes Pflaster und die Inder sehen in uns ein lebendiges Sparschweinchen. Wartezeit beim Dinner 1.5 Stunden. Dafuer gabs Entertainment auf der Strasse - sprich indische Hochzeiten werden richtig gefeiert... ...kriechen auf allen 4 in unser Zimmer. Sind nicht allein... Eine Ameisenkolonie der Extraklasse besiedelt und besudelt unseren Boden. Affen stehlen uns, die fuer uns noch immer undefinierbaren Fruechte, vom Balkon. Kathis 2. Besuch beim Doktor wegen ihrer allergischen Reaktion auf die Cholera-Impfung endet wie folgt: Der Dr. empfiehlt uns einen Ashram, weil er spuert, dass wir auf der Suche nach FRIEDEN und RUHE sind?! Haben die Staet... read more

Camel trek. Done. Sleeping in the sand dunes. Done. Mat waking me up (whilst in the desert) at 4am, screaming. Done. Quick side notes and then I will explain all! After we last blogged in Jodhpur (where we are back again tonight) we went out for a beautiful meal at a restaurant called Indique, we were five storeys high and surrounding us was the fort, the clock tower and a lake. During our meal, the streets below broke out in song and dance (we had wondered why there were so many women and children out and about.) It was to celebrate the God Ganesha and it was a truly mesmorising scene. We didn't have the camera with us so we can't share it with you all when we upload our pictures but this makes that moment ... read more

From Dharamsala I got the night bus back to Delhi. Urgghh. 12 hours twisting and turning down from the mountains, thrown from my seat every time the bus swung round a corner. Didn't sleep much. During the obligatory midnight chai break I made friends with a nice Canadian girl and an Indian hippy from Goa. This was lucky. When we got to Delhi, Indian Hippy kindly allowed me and Canadian girl use of his hostel room to shower, nap and dump our bags, since we were both only in Delhi for a 12 hour stopover before moving on in the evening. I wasn't looking forward to a sweaty, sleep deprived day lugging all my bags around Delhi. Indian Hippy was really nice but had an annoying habit of trying to ascertain things about my personality based ... read more

This is my last day at Sambhali, and it feels like time to recollect all I’ve gained and contributed during my two months here. There have been many challenging and heartbreaking moments, and I will never forget these lessons. The harsher memories are softened by neighboring images of determination, of sacrifice, of respect, and of love from the strong community of Sambhali Trust. Once immersed in the swift flow of the NGO, I marveled at the smoothness and speed in which things were accomplished. Walls and completely new rooms were built in mere days at the office; the Sambhali store was opened with only a few delays (shocking for Jodhpur); meetings were conducted bimonthly without fail, successfully bring the entire team together to share our work and thoughts. I learned a lot about what a ... read more

A warning to my dear friends, If you see a boy run into the street at night amidst an Indian wedding party, place something on the concrete, light it, and run, then it will probably explode in your face. In a terrifying moment, I was momentarily deafened and blinded. Amidst the singing and music accompanying the mounted bridegroom, a flash of light filled my vision, quickly replaced with pitch blackness; my hearing was assaulted by a roar, and then an eerie silence of aftershock. This slowly faded into a harsh ringing as my eyes slowly regained their sight, but my heart continued pounding. It only lasted a few seconds, and my fear was so great that I couldn’t process what I was afraid of (blindness? Death?) until I’d already begun to recover. The following explosions were ... read more