India.... Land of the Forbidden Fruit.

Me scared.... no not really, BUT a bit nervous. I slept the whole way on the plane; I knew we had arrived safe and sound when the stewardess started to spray something in the cabin. What was that? I dunno.

Delhi by day had many intricate colors, browns, reds and oranges. People approaching us from the whole 360 degrees, begging for money; "they saw us as walking walets," as Elina quite eloquently stated. The aromas came in from all over too, good and bad. They lingered to our noses down to our stomachs that made one become nauseated; deep golden brown Marsala's, fresh garlic nann.... and cow shit mixed with the staggering air pollution made Yasemin and others wear face masks, including myself on a rickshaw drive. Footsteps and knocks from the service boys bringing Masala Tea to rooms, the daily loud honking of cars and spitting sounds of men trying to clear their throats made their way through the closed windows and thin walls of the hotel. Kelly was the smart one to bring ear plugs, while I slept with the light on because Yasemin was afraid of the dark. Early mornings to the train station to make sure our dirty, wrinkled tickets were correct. Alas! They are but pure good! The kids pack their bags and leave Chirs and I behind. Tonsilitis, you see. Poor man. Watching everyone jump on the 50 ruppee ride to the station made me feel sad to leave the group. Chris was babysitted and even got a footie massage, he learned some new tricks... and Chiye watch out! I came to realize that Cory forgot to leave me the 2nd groups' wrinkled dirty train tickets. Back to the station, we went again. An upgrade Chris and I got while the others barely made it on the train. Friends we made that I have forgotten. Men with machine guns and dirty uniforms patroling the walkways. Yellow coffee stains on white socks ruled the walkways. Stories you hear of drugs given to female passengers in their tea, to only later rape them. I don't drink the tea, or eat the food. 17 hours of fake sleep and tying to squat in a moving train with diarreah. Andy tries not to get dirty, so he takes off his pants and hopes his buttocks won't touch anything. A quick swerve, and he slams into the wall. Poor man. The pains of eating that delicious looking Marsala.
We say goodbye to the people we meet, with promises of writing or calling. I don't even remember their names. The one I managed to remember was Mike from South Africa that I met on the train to Xi'an, China. He's another story. We arrived when children were already on us to ask for money. We noticed the petite, dirty blond hair lady wearing a traditional Indian light blue outfit, holding on to her bags as tight as she could. Malati... finally, a familiar looking face in the mist of the beggin and onlooking crowd. My feelings' were inefable when I saw her. We jumped on another train... to Panskura. 90 minutes north of Kolcatta. The colors grew brighter but the poverty grew even stronger. The sun bounced off the colorful saris hanging outside the mud houses. I begin to wonder about my fathers' childhood, as he grew up in the typical mudhouse. The seats are hard, the roaches climb over Andy's shoes and Elina sits between two older Indian men, that keep staring at her. I have the perfect view, since I am at the end of the walkway. Dirty, rusted fans that most likely don't work sit up on top. The train stops at each stop for a mere 2 minutes. Women and men, throw their sacks of vegetables first, and they jump on next. Lucky enough to make it, there are no more seats, as 8 foreigners with their bags take up a lot of seats. A blind man plays the harmonica, as his conductor, or should I say wife leads him through the walkway asking for spare change. Kids Danyelle, Rebecca and Matthew's age, race up and down the walkway trying to sell oranges.

I did a project with the kids, they had to find the way to LAX from my house. I had the kids use the airplane and explain to me how to get from the house to the airport using, "On the corner of Rosemead and Garvey turn left." It was quite fun and they really enjoyed it. Especially because i got colored pictures from the internet of Target, McD's, K-Mart, Mobil Gas and put them on the poster board. They enjoyed looking at the kinds of stores we have back home.

I was too lazy to put away my christmas tree, so with Kerri's idea.... I made a Valentine Day Tree.

Who wants to see Bush make an ass of himself....AGAIN!

Trying to escape from reporter's questions in China, Bush tries to escape.....BUT... you have to click in the link to see what happens.

Do Your Parents Want to Eat the School Lunch?

Are you kidding me? My parents' eat the school lunch? Is this a trick question? Hmm, how should I answer? Yes, please. Can they have the crunchy fish eggs?
If I don't eat the school lunch, what makes you think they will too? Pig ears and crunchy fish eggs won't do the trick.

Ok, so the school lunches are not THAT bad. Ok, well they are on some days. Takaza-San always tells me what days I won't like the food, which is most days. Thanks for the offer, really...but I will bring my parents their lunch. My mom and dad will be joining me at school for 2 days doing interview games with the kids. God help them!

COWS!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the road leading up to Panskura School a little more up ahead. This picture was taken by Chris, but I've croped it a little. On the other side to the right was a dirty, dirty pond; I mean scum growning on scum but still you saw people washing their dishes and clothes.

The market taken by Becky. Look at all the wonderful colors!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Check out these stories......

1) BOGOTA, Colombia - A Colombian man accidentally shot his nephew to death while trying to cure his hiccups by pointing a revolver at him to scare him, police in the Caribbean port city of Barranquilla said on Tuesday.
After shooting 21-year-old university student David Galvan in the neck, his uncle, Rafael Vargas, 35, was so distraught he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide, police said.
The incident took place on Sunday night while the two were having drinks with neighbours.
Galvan started to hiccup and Vargas, who works as a security guard, said he would use the home remedy for hiccups of scaring him.

2) SEOUL - A rural province in South Korea plans to give financial aid to help lonely male farmers pay for mail-order brides from overseas.
South Kyongsang province plans to start a trial programme in which it will give 6 million won (3,500 pounds) to male farmers who marry foreign women, an official said on Tuesday.
South Korean farmers have been turning to brides from other parts of Asia in recent years after struggling to woo local women, who are often less than enthralled with the prospect of rural life.
"Young men in the countryside have a hard time finding brides and they started to look elsewhere,"
The local government estimates it costs about 12 million won (12,000 pounds) for a farmer to pay all the fees and travel required to find a bride overseas.

3) LA PAZ, Bolivia - Incense wafted through the streets of La Paz on Tuesday as witch doctors blessed the tiny trinkets ranging from toy cars to job contracts that Bolivians buy each year to make their dreams come true.
January 24 marks the festival of Alasita, meaning "buy me" in the local Aymara language, and a time when artisans sell miniature objects representing every possible wish.
If you want a man, you buy a rooster made of clay; for a new home, you get a model house. If money is desired, a stack of dollars or euros should be blessed by Ekeko, the dwarfish god of abundance.

4)PORTLAND, Oregon - An Oregon man hurled both of his prosthetic legs at a state trooper, striking him with one, after his son was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, police said on Monday. The trooper at first detained only the driver, Adam Kackstetter, 26, after he became aggressive. But then his father, Joel Kackstetter, 53, a passenger in the vehicle, grew hostile, a police spokesman said.
The senior Kackstetter charged at the arresting officer several times before the trooper knocked him to the ground, according to the police report.
"Passenger removed a prosthetic leg and threw it at trooper, hitting trooper in chest. Passenger removed second leg, threw it at trooper but missed," the report said.
The father and son face multiple charges including assault on a public safety officer.

Some More Pictures For You

In front of the little Christmas Tree.
Is that the same man?
Wouldn't I make a cute housewife someday?.....NOT!
Taj Mahal anyone?
Little Devil Babu

I've Really Done IT!

Stuck in the hospital before leaving for India

The Okinawan Indian Thespians!

Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world!

I love that Caramel Machiatto.. Decaf..Soy milk..whip no foam!

These are our squat toliets sitting positions!

So some pictures to entertain you. I hit a wrong button and changed my blog look. While doing this I lost my personal links and so forth. So give my time to fix it. Meanwhile here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Today is Tuesday

Today is Tuesday and it’s 11 42 am. No classes today, so I sit here at the computer desk to write. I get tired of studying Japanese so I decide to finish up the book I started to read earlier last week.

The irony of today is: Today is Tuesday and I finished the book called Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. The best book I have ever read. Tuesday. Today I feel like taking in all my thoughts and contemplate on them over coffee; what I want to do with my life, what things have I overlooked in life will the the topics in my head.....Today is Tuesday. Just like the book, Tuesdays reflected on life between Morrie, an older dying professor with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and Mitch, his student of many years ago. Life’s last lesson taught not in a classroom, but in the living　room filled with books and breathing machines。A true story that reflected on life, love, marriage, death, forgiveness and life in general that people often take for granted.

Maybe if everyone takes the time to read this book, we can stop living with selfishly and start living a better life.

Objective: To have fun with your body without the casual potential body cast. Fun with Bodies!!

So you may ask, "What is fun with bodies?" Ah yes, well. The tale goes back on a drunkin evening, created by Julie, aka Kitty and Kelly. The intention? To entertain the other drunkin people at Paul and Mikes. From there, Fun with Bodies has grown; to talent show madness and almost breaking your neck, this big phenomenon has grown all across Japan and rapidly spreading throughout the world, including India. As you can see... there we were.... we just happen to be walking through the Taj Mahal among other historical sites, when we decide to demonstrate Fun with Bodies for the locals. So.... needless to say it was great fun!

India's Toast

Here's to the glasses and the gasses
and the smiling orphan facesto
muddy river boat rides
and Mexican family ties.

To talk of maria and talk of maria
and talk of maria and talk of maria
to copious amounts of medicine pills
the dire smells and squat toilet spills.

To monkeys, camels, and bears oh my!
but no hash this time to make us high
to banana leaves and cross legged pain
to dahl and veggies oh god, not again.

To rickshaw rides that near claimed our lives
to the men who offered their daughters and wives
not one nor three not five but seven
days of diarrhea; that was John's heaven.


To the beggars we saw from rickshaw's too small
our favorite the man with one giant ball
to the orphans we gave Christmas cheer
but lost our money on Bunti's beer.

To dirty shoes and omiyage
the India blues and new words, eh?
to thai pants and smog, and the panskura mob
to the friends we made with no parents at all.

To the mainland JETs unknown at the start
who became by our trials okinawan in part
we came to India for a selfless cause
yet gained friendship that touched us all.

But where would we be without a dedication of sorts
to our mates, tomodachi, our beloved cohorts
to Elvira and Cory and Lauren and John
whose planning and strength we came to lean on.

To Alie and Blair, Thulani and Fro
Okinawa bound, I hope time will show
to Alicia and Marshall the south'ners from 'ginia
who gave the orphans soapstone and San'na.

To Sachiko, Caleb, and Dan who we saw
only in panskura, for a time too smal
lto Reyhan and Linda and Becky who came
as guests to our group, but part just the same.

To Kelly and Craig and Yasemin ﾇakmak
and Elina who taught us how to "beat off"
to Andy and Ben (both the small and the tall)
the former of who had a massage of their balls.

Myself I would simply just like to say
what an honor it's been each step of the way
so i raise this glass without fear of boast
to the best group of people I may ever toast.

Created by Chris with the help of Kelly and Ben