the adventures of poke and toke

2009-11-16T07:53:00.003-06:00

so, when you hear a gunshot in the middle of the night, and its not a gang fight cuz there are no gangs... then you hear lots of laughing the next day and look out the window and see the guys scaring the dogs with the dead caracal... then you know you live in the bush!

baby triplets, getting love!

this is what you do for halloween when there is no pupmkin! (plus when your sis sends a felt your own barack!)

two days in a row!!!

2009-10-16T02:40:00.002-05:00

can you believe it? i was a little distracted yesterday writing the post, but i will try to make up for it. these are pics of our swearing in ceremony, wearing traditional swazi wear! that was on august 28th i think, so its been almost 2 months now! dang! some back ground. we live with the Myeni family in Nsubane which is near the south african border in south eastern swaziland. at our homestead there is our host mom and dad (make and babe) our brother and his wife and 5 kids. we have tons of cows, chickens and goats! including our lovely orphaned goats, annabelle and oliver. i love them, they are like our pets! we are getting close to the end of integration and will be able to do more "real work" soon. we are doing pretty well, there are definately ups and downs, but its becoming like home. ourcommunity is super rural... as in you walk for an hour and a half to catch the bus, and on the way you maybe see a person or two. not many people speak english, so we are practicing siswati quite a bit. we love hearing from all of you and miss you a lot! hope you enjoy the pics, love you! peace

hello all

2009-10-15T03:05:00.004-05:00

ok, so it has been a long long time, but i thought i would just through up a few pics for you all to see. we are doing well, still in integration, which means we are staying busy (aka not busy) meeting people, going to the school, and doing a lot a lot of walking! we love our family so much! they are the most wonderful people i have ever met. the other day it was chilly and raining and i just sat for a few hours in the cooking hut around th fire with them. we chatted, ate a big lunch of corn meal porridge (lipolishi) and beans and Make just kept saying how happy she was that i wasnt full yet and hot fat i was getting (a compliment). we love you so much, sorry its been so long, i will try to update again soon.

tomorrow, tomorrow

2009-06-21T15:50:00.002-05:00

on the fourth day til leaving, america gave to me...
moving all our stuff over
dinner at sujees with lots of friends and yummy indian food!

on the third day til leaving, america gave to me...
coffee and breakfast with christiane
doing laundry with christiane
cleaning the house
lunch at the wedge (yummy)
and a going away party!

on the second day til leaving, america gave to me...
breakfast at classen grill with my mom and david
lunch at grams with the whole family!
packing our bags for the final and best time with the help of christiane!
a wonderful dinner and cake made by lindsay eaten with tyler, staci, josh, lindsay and chris and me!

on the last day til leaving, america gave to me...
goodbyes
the last load to the kramers
lunch at 501 with maggie, little maggie. gram and dad for fathers day
errands
dinner with the kramers
and more goodbyes!

we love you all and will miss you dearly!

heres our address

2009-06-18T14:16:00.001-05:00

Susanne Kramer/Chris Kramer PCV
PO BOX2797
Mbabane H100, Swaziland

on the ....

2009-06-17T16:47:00.008-05:00

on the eleventh day til leaving, america gave to me....

packing and still more pack
ing
and yummy qeusadillas

on the tenth day til leaving, america gave to me...
a pedicure
crepe myrtle
a trip to lawrence
and zen zero
a documentary on crazy amish teens
hanging out with sicky alyson

on the ninth day til leaving, america gave to me....
walking around down town lawrence
lindsay getting new birks
dinner at free state brewery with rachel

on the eighth day til leaving, america gave to me...
naps
a new camera

on the seventh day til leaving, america gave to me...
still more packing
moving
dosas with sujee, lindsay's friend from the library

on the sixth day til leaving, america gave to me...
fixing chris's camera bag
helping chris pack
dinner with elyse and lindsay at galileos
kate spent the night
repacked my bag

on the fifth day til leaving, america gave to me...
my last breakfast and soy cappucinos with gram
a jin shin tara session
lunch at cafe 501
swimming at the kramers

the twelve day til leaving (for swaziland)

2009-06-10T09:47:00.004-05:00

on the twelfth day til leaving, america gave to me....
making a hat with nora for my sister
coffee with gram
PACKING OUR STUFF

stay tuned for the last eleven days...

pug pug squishy face

2009-04-27T19:00:00.002-05:00

oh the fun you can have with a pug! how we will miss you and your face!

okc memorial marathon

2009-04-27T18:56:00.004-05:00

the runners (and walker)
the whole fam

team kramer krew we came in around 45th for the family division relay!

so the kramers went out for a run (and walk) some of us did the relay, and some the half marathon, but it was a great day, followed by some arts festival corn and ice cream and then the lion king musical.

camera update

2009-02-24T21:12:00.002-06:00

so (cross you fingers)

after visiting 2 different camera shops, passing through the skillful and not so skillful hands of the employees (including mr eperson himself) ruining 2 rolls of film.... i think i got it loaded and working!!!!

yippee

also, we went to the OU/KU basketball game last night with chris' parents, it was an awesome game! they started out behind, hooped it up to 20 points ahead, almost lost their lead, but luckily (and sadly) all the OU fans left the stadium with 2 minutes left, during the almost comeback, but won in the end!!!

ok, so its been a while

2009-02-21T20:12:00.003-06:00

but i think i will try to keep up a little better...

some exciting things...

1. i bought a grain mill attachment for my kitchen aid mixer

2. i got the world's cutest camera (but haven't figured out how to load it yet)

3. i am going to see my sister in 2 weeks! and am taking a reiki training there
4. i made black bean soup and corn bread for dinner since it is cold
5. we went to the flea market today and i choked while having a mouthful of coffee and spit it everywhere
6. we drove around some alternate universe streets in okc, saw a big brick mailbox with extensions making it into a cross plus other crazy stuff
7. i like ugly betty
8. lindsay and josh have been digging garden beds in the back yard, so it looks like 4 dead bodies in the back yard

hopefully more to come...

coming to the end

2008-11-28T09:55:00.001-06:00

we just finished our last yoga class and went out to dinner to celebrate birthdays, thanksgiving and going home. we will be home wednesday night after a long day of travel! we can't wait to see you all! love and peace

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T04:13:00.001-06:00

so, while all of your turkeys are roasted and sitting on the table about to be eaten, ours are out playing at the park!
now thats a HAPPY TURKEY day!

we miss you all and wish we could celebrate the harvest with you! see you in a week!

Atma Vikasa

2008-11-15T06:31:00.002-06:00

so, i keep meaning to add pictures, but if you want to see our teacher, you can click on the link (the title).

so a little about our time here in Mysore...
we wake up at 4:45, and greet the sun with asana class for an hour and a half,
then we all go get chai and juice and chat for a while,
then at 8:45 we have pranayama which is breathing excercizes for 45 minutes, it is also like meditation and our teacher gives a little talk at the end
then we are supposed to think about our class for atleast 10 minutes, so chris and i usually write in our journals
then we go to the coconut stand and get our first 'fix' of the day, and sometimes treat ourselves to one of the best dosas known to man (an indian savory crepe type thing filled with spiced potatoes)
then we have sutra class, studying about the philosophy of yoga (10:15-11)
then we get lunch, made by our teachers mother
yay for rest! free time until 5, we read and cook and nap
at 5 we have our very intense back-bending class, really pushing us to the edge of our abilities and making our minds stronger!
then our reward of another trip to the coconut stand (usually we get 2 at this time after so much hard work and sweat, we need to replenish our loss of electrolytes with some coconut water... straight outa the coconut)
then 30 minutes of bajhan, spiritual songs/chants
then dinner and sleep!

this is our daily schedule monday-friday, keeps us pretty busy
today we went to a bird sancuary and we got to see huge bats and crocodiles! pics to come...

just 2 1/2 weeks and we'll be home!!! crazy crazy!

peace and love!

pictures

2008-11-10T03:41:00.003-06:00

sus rockin it on the scooter in goa!
stairway to heaven (hampi)

too bad this was chris' bike! (hampi)

the puppy friend we made (we miss you sooner, ninnah and abbey, you too schnooze)

beautiful sunset over a temple

more to come!!!

mysore: a blue state for sure

2008-11-06T04:31:00.003-06:00

so, along with our fellow american yogis, we decided we needed to have a symbolic vote of our own, on november 4th, then send over the good vibrations! looks like it worked! congratulations america and the universe!

standing in line at the polls

a landslide victory! unanimous!

watch party!!!

some fruit and fruitcakes for obama!

sivananda yoga vedanta dhanwanthari ashram

2008-10-28T10:54:00.003-05:00

so, i wanted to share a little bit about my time at the ashram...
it started off just feeling like a group of tourists, or like summer camp, but with some rituals that i had no idea about or what they meant. it took a while for me to be able to break away some of the layers and soften my heart and be open to God and spirituality fully again. i feel like all the craziness of india (even though it is supposed to be a spiritual place) had caused anxiety in me and made me harden. as my body opened up and felt the benefits of 4 hours of yoga asana and pranayama (breathing excercizes) and my mind settled down, i was able to turn to God more fully. i met a girl from seattle named Michelle and we talked a lot about intuition and energy in the body and spirit, which are both God-given and both things i want to learn more about. she and i were almost instantly comfortable and it felt like we had been friends for a long time, and will continue to be. i learned about and felt the energy and vibrations that different things can bring to your body and spirit, like food and music and chants. i not only learned about the chakras, but felt mine being stimulated and opened... a crazy energy radiating from my forehead. i knew it was God showing me more about the intuition he had given me to be able to follow him and love others better. as the time went on, everyone seemed to open up and become more comfortable with themselves and each other. we had 2 special pujas (ceremonies), one in a temple, where we chanted a lot and offered flowers and the other was a purification ceremony for the whole ashram and everyone in it. there was a special priest there who was cleansing the space there and all of us. we had a chance to make an offering to the fire of something in our lives that we wanted to give up to God and to be purified. the atmosphere of the room changed from somber to very light and free when it was all over. we all truely knew that we had been cleansed. i went from being very skeptical of the chants and rituals and feeling like "my religion" was too different to realizing that if you are worshiping God in your own heart, He knows and that is all that matters. some of the things we did, like the fire offering, were both symbolic, yet so real and powerful. I found that through chanting i can really open my heart and mind and become more intune with the Lord. i also realized how important it is to quiet your mind each day to be able to listen. i feel like i have woken up once again to life and to God. when we have so much blocking our heart and weighing it down, it truely is impossible to love and be open to others, yourself or God. There is so much i am ready to explore and learn about for my future, i feel like i have been recharged and am ready to push myself and be challenged and grow and love, and all the while depend on God and follow his guidance in my life.

2008-10-24T03:06:00.002-05:00

A good NYtimes Editorial on their pick for the election.

HERE

We've been chanting and mediating for world peace the past week.

Jaya Obama Jaya Obama
Om Namo Narayanaya

the past few weeks (abridged and unillustrated)

2008-10-17T03:17:00.002-05:00

from Murud to Panaji...
Panaji= the cutest little indian Lisbon in the world, we walked around, saw some super cute old portuguese houses. saw an awesome hanuman temple, at seafood and got news from the peace corps that we aren't going to north africa or the middle east... but where? to be continued

Panaji to Arambol
Arambol=a little beach town with nice laid back people and hippies. we rented a scooter and scooted around the area (very slowly) (i dont think we went about 30 km/hour) (and that felt like we were flying!) we hung out on the beach, played in the water and caught huge hermit crabs, but didnt kill them, only made them pinch eachothers shells!

Arambol to Hampi...(another bus ride of hell) so we think we are on a "delux sleeper bus" and actually when the bus comes to pick us up it is very nice, way nicer than we were expecting, we have a nice spot, double size bed... then they stop, pretty much in the middle of the highway median, tell us all to get out to go to our other bus.. note, the bus is full of unhappy israelies... and they speak their mind, sooo... the other bus is where? where? "oh just cross that street(highway) and walk a few hundred meters" yeah.. into an alleyway behind the bus company and get on a horrificly old and nasty bus... but when we get our seats we think, not so bad, we arent in the very back, but lo and behold and hour or so passes and the bus guy wakes us up (from our benadryl induced sleep) to kick us to the back back row into broken seats that don't latch to lay flat or to sit up, so every bump you get catapolted! hello whip lash... anyway, we made it.... alive and only a little stiff

Hampi=an amazing little town set among even more amazing ruins and boulders and rice paddies and banana plantations. oh it was wonderful. we walked and climbed and bouldered and explored and made friends with a dog (we miss you sooner and abbey and ninnah!) and rented bicycles and rode ourselves to death almost and crossed a river in a big upside down thatch saucer with like 10 people, 2 bicycles... and 2 motorcycles... thats right. and we found out that we are now going to sub-saharan africa and leaving in june

Hampi to Bangalore
spent the day in Bangalore, went to a cricket game...for chris' early bday present. it was fun!

Bangalore to Cochin
cochin was fun and cute, but chris got strep throat, so we rested a lot. its a very western feeling town on the water, lots of cool shops and restaurants

now we are at Sivananda Ashram in southern Kerala. we wake up at 6 for meditation and chanting, then do yoga , then have a yummy brunch, then have a lecture, more yoga dinner and end the day with more meditation and chanting. its pretty cool so far, but its only been 2 days, but it is very nice to be back into doing yoga... we have to get ready for our month long course in mysore! chris is still sick, but got some meds, so should be feeling better soon.

we love you guys, and we miss all of you very much.

Murud:

2008-10-13T08:56:00.002-05:00

so after a few weeks in the big city, we decided we needed a bit of a beach holiday. we in one day took 2 taxis (one thru calcutta, one thru mumbai) 2 buses an airplane and a ferry! we made it to Murud (just south of mumbai) just in time for the sun to go down. we stayed at a cute little place on the beach with hammocks and palm trees. we used our time to relax and plan the second half of our trip. the beach was long and shallow, so when the tide went out you could find hermit crabs and clams!
the infamous beach cows of murud! what a life!
so we decided to go exploring ever these rock and around a little island, and got the great idea of trying to catch our dinner... i didn't really think i could do it, but i threw a rock at this poor little crab and killed it! he was too tiny and i felt so bad. i am sorry little guy, but i am sure he made a nice little snack for a puppy or something else!
this is one of the main attractions in Murud... Janjira Fort, built on an island, so it looks like it emerges straight from the sea! walkin' on water!

Kolkatta: City of Joy

2008-10-08T07:43:00.007-05:00

Kolkatta is called the 'City of Joy', what a misnomer, right? The streets are not just streets, they are beds too. a gray light seems to be everywhere stealing color from your sight, but walk around some more you might be thinking, 'hey this place has a nice vibe' see all the community activity in the neighborhood streets, "it's like new york city" you might say, "a dingy new york city" but if you keep walking more not joy things come into view. so many beggars, even for india, some grab you, some women 'rent' babies from the villages to have on their shoulder as begging props, and those are just the ones that work the tourist circuit, the poverty is very difficult to wrap your head around. But there is an intangible that makes Kolkatta, they city of joy, maybe the weirdness of it's history, the weird combinations that make up it's culture, it seems unique to India and very Indian at the same time. there were times when i was knee deep in street water (from constant rain) dodging traffic getting drenched losing my hearing to massively loud car horns, being shouted at,grabbed, having to pee so bad but there is no place because every little piece of the streets and alleys is seems to be someone's house and i was thinking this is city of headaches. but the next morning i might 've had the best 6 rupee breakfast in the city, laughing with kids, seeing all the weird buildings and only in kolkatta experiences and i might think 'okay, okay, city of joy. for now"

a little slice in pictures..

traffic = crazy, and while we were there it rained a lot.. alot alot. the most common sight on the street ...yellow taxi's. a million of them. i think the official figure is 2 taxis for every person living in the city. second most common sight, kolkattas buses. also special to the city.. they look as if they are made out of coke can tin and have gotten a squeeze from a giant's hand, but are painted something fierce, they fly up and down and don't seem to stop for passengers only slow down some. Both of these vehicles spray out the nasty black smoke that gives kolkatta's air it's metallic flavour.

victoria memorial is a weird sight, here is the queen's statue in front...nice place to walk around but strange... nearby is a flowery park area, called the maiden , also nice to walk, we saw some of our first Indian PDA here. way to go, kolkatta.

singing in the rain

sus worked at the mother theresa founded motherhouse, here is a sister of charity during mass.

sus worked one on one with this boy, shubasheesh, at daya dan, a home for mentally and physically handicapped kids.
it was a great experience for her to be able to spend some time there and be a part of mother teresa's work since she has been a big influence on sus's life and worldview.

varanasse: mother ganga

2008-09-26T09:09:00.002-05:00

sunrise over the sacred ganga river.
we took a sunrise boat ride our last day there, it was incredibly beautiful
there was always a lot going on down by the ghats (the steps leading into the river) people come to varanassi from all over india to wash their sins away in the river and to cremate their loved ones. the pink building is the ma ganga temple, full of people constantly singing hari krishna hari rama.
this is our boat wallah, he was cool! the water may look beautiful, but it is septic, there are barely fish that can live in it, yet people bathe in it everyday, including using it to brush their teeth!
i just liked this pic, these are some dudes heading to do their pujas (prayers) in the river

a saddhu (holy man) doing a ritual. didn't he pick the best spot to do it?

Kajuraho: Kama Sutra Temples

2008-09-25T01:00:00.002-05:00

here we are infront of one of the temples... trying to learn some things... j.k
one of the lesser dirty carvings! so legend has it that they built the temples here because there was a certain "power" in the land if you know what i mean!
from across the park... it was actually a pretty quaint town, we rented bikes and rode around, spent some time chatting on the porch at our hotel, talking to other travellers and to the yogi!
this is a freaky little chipmunk that chased me for a really long time, at first i was like oh cute i'll take a pic... then it would not leave me alone and i was afraid it had rabies or something!

home sweet 'homa

2008-09-18T00:32:00.002-05:00

first of all, i have been kind of homesick the past few days, the pollution in calcutta is getting to chris and me. so, feeling under-the-weather and hearing about the bombs in delhi just kind of made me miss being home.

so, yesterday, i got to go to a volunteer meeting with the missionaries of charity, the mother teresa mission. not only did i set up times to volunteer while we are in calcutta, but also got to hang out with some babies, sweet cute and wonderful indian babies! this helped me snap out of being homesick! but anyway, here are some things i miss from home

1. our wonderful family and friends!!!
2. cooking
3. having a place to live all the time!
4. salads!!!
5. clean clothes
6. being able to run errands easily and knowing what to do and where to go
7. chips and salsa
8. ninnah
9. sewing
10. good coffee/ soy lattes!

things i love about india
1. the scenery
2. the colors
3. fresh pommagranite juice for 20 rupees!
4. cute kids!
5. good food almost anywhere you look
6. the fact that they dont try to hide the bad parts of life
7. learning to be tough
8. the phrase "sorry sir it is not possible" used about 1 million times a day here!
9. all the different varieties of the indian head tilt/waggle
10. the availability of cheap homoepathic medicine/doctors

so, we are trying to rest up, so we can have stong immune systems against the pollution, b/c we want to stay in calcutta for atleast a week, but won't if we dont start feeling better. this city is really interesting though. really we feel like it is identical to NYC or Paris, and the main commercial street is the champ elysee or 5th avenue, but really we may have just been in india too long. but its amazing, there are street signs, side walks, stop lights, parks!!!

we love you all very much!
too bad the rest of the world cant help us vote for president, b/c everyone we talk to is in love with obama as much as we are!!!

bus wreck!

2008-09-17T04:24:00.002-05:00

so... after being told that our bus driver was "very fast" and when we asked "safe too" they said "oh yeah!" as in "yeah right!!!" we waited on the bus at the nasty bus station for about 4 hours, then headed out... about 30 minutes into the ride we hit a tractor pulling a trailor, and it took a huge chunck out of the bus, the driver got out yelled ot the other driver for a bit, then got back on and kept driving, totally unphased! that's india!

orchha: the hidden place part 2

2008-09-17T04:08:00.002-05:00

orchha is full of old tamples, palaces and ruins. it was soo cute! this is the sunset he first night we were there, we climbed up into a huge gate and watched from there!
this is from inside the palace, looking out at one of the tamples. all the buildings were a mix of hindu and muslim styles. the palace had sich cool windows, designs cut out!
heres on one of the balconies looking out... he's the cutest huh?

also we saw a ginormous bee hive... maybe pics on the next post, it was like out of a sci-fi movie!

we miss you all terribly! can't wait to see you. today it has been 7 weeks! can you believe it?

peace and love!!! s & c

orchha

2008-09-15T06:43:00.002-05:00

this computer is taking a super long time to upload... thanks lonely planet again for a faulty description of something... it reads "i-way- spacious, with super-fast connections and high powered AC." spacious=CRAMPED super-fast=SUPER-SLOW and ok about the AC.

so we are in Kolkatta now, we arrived this morning. it seems like a cool city so far. we miss you all a lot. love and peace

agra: taj mahal part 2

2008-09-15T05:51:00.004-05:00

here are some selected pics from chris!

the beautiful taj through the gate
everyone waiting for the perfect photo op.
a super cute umbrella... its a good idea since it is so hot!!!

Agra: the Taj Mahal

2008-09-12T22:45:00.002-05:00

oh everybody has a water buffalo mine is fast but yours is slow, where did we get them i dont know but everybody has a water buffaloooooooooo! took my buffalo to the Taj...
this is some of the arabic script from the Koran that is inlaid into the Taj, so beautiful!!!

and at sunset

just like we stepped into a post card huh?

hemis national park: homestay trek

2008-09-12T00:41:00.002-05:00

this is at 4900 meters, its the highest i have ever been i think, we all could barely breathe, let alone hike!!! from the left it is laura, jim (both from montreal), tomas (holland), me and chris!
here's chris and i also on the pass, but looking out at where we go down. it ws really windy and cold! it looks like mars huh?
this is one night with the family we stayed with, they played music and we danced for while, the litle boy in the front was so funny, i think one of the best dancers i have ever seen!!
chilling in a valley before starting our day, its was so beautiful there!!!!

chris's favorite past time... builing rock bridges and hopping across them!!!! this time he made it.. others he came out with wet shoes!

this is at shanti (peace) stupa ... built for world peace, so we went, it was on another mt above Leh.

we love you guys a lot, i am trying to catch up on posts

posts to come: agra: taj mahal

orchha: the hidden place

kajuraho: kamasutra

stay tuned!!!!

Leh: land of high passes

2008-09-12T00:18:00.002-05:00

here is the veiw from our guest house! it was a really nice place run by a family of Ladakhis! the older women was so cute, she said tome one day while we were cooking lunch
"you president obama?"
i said "no not yet, but hopefully"
"he good man, he look ladakhi, dark skin!"
"yeah hes a very good man"
then she sang "obama obama obama" i knew i liked her!
this is on the top of one of the mountains above Leh, there is a monastary and all the tibetan prayer flags to take all the bad out of the city!

bus ride: drain damage

2008-09-06T07:59:00.001-05:00

so, this is to illustrate how bumpy it was... just imagine you are on an old roller coaster that is broken for 20 hours, and you are trying to sleep... i can't even do sudokus any more, b/c i hit my head too many times!!!
but... it was really beautiful!!! this was at like 6 am where we stopped for breakfast of yummy spicey chai and parantha, fried bread!
this is sometime in the afternoon, that is the river in the valley and the road we drove up. (it is basically a one lane dirt road that has massive rocks in it and huge pot holes!!

this is close to the end of our journey, after leaving the "highest truck stop in the world" it was crazy, just driving thru the valley, much better that on the side of a mountain! our driver drove straight through too! he smoked about 10000 cigarettes! but we made it to leh nice and safe. more updates to come, sorry its been so long, the himalayas dont get wifi!!! we are now in orcha. we love you all and miss you very much.

Cam, i hope your b-day was great!
mom, i hope you b-day/anniversary/trip is going well
polly, happy b-day in a week!!!

peace and love

manali: hippieville

2008-08-17T02:42:00.003-05:00

this is the reinactment of when i bit it!!! i was looking very intently for the post office and fell off that ledge into the gutter and hit my knee... dont worry i am ok and no one saw, chris just heard the huge thud!
here's where we ate breakfast one day, bythe river.
this is the veiw from our hotel room, it you cant tell, there are some water falls on that hill, very beautifu!

so, we are now in manali, we werent planning on staying so long, but needed some good rest and some good western food. we are surrounded by israeli hippies! they definately outnumber the population of this town! we leave tonight for leh. it will be a 16 hour jeep trip. ay ay ay. not much news. it rains here so much, we had to stock up on warm clothes for our truip up to the himalayas! leh is at 3500 meters! everyone we have talkedto says its beautiful! we miss everyone so much! we love you, sent us updated of what is going on in oklahoma!

mandi...market or parking garage?

2008-08-17T02:21:00.002-05:00

you say parking garage... i say its a market!

with a temple in the center!

well, that's that, we only stayed there a night, but it was pretty cool. we ate some awesoe chinese chili cheese stir fry... it had chucks of cheese in it that were all covered in this super tastey spicey sauce!

Tattapani: hot springs and a wedding

2008-08-13T09:05:00.004-05:00

Tattapani sits on a river and also has sulphur hot springs, we stayed at a place that gave ayruvedic massages. we took a stroll down the river bank, it was very pretty

foggy foggy veiw from the bus... like fairy tale land!

Dear Gram, if i didnt have to carry it for 3 1/2 more months, i would bring this rock home to you!

so we were headed out of our hotel sunday night and saw some people dancing and walking down the street. we went to watch and were told it was a wedding. they said we could join in and dance and then invited us into the party (like the rehearsal dinner) we got necklaces and red dot on our heads, we danced more, ate some wonderful dahl and rice and drank chai! and... they invited us for day 2 of the wedding, begining at 7 am
they dressed the groom and we all loaded up, drove up the hill about an hour and walked 30 minutes to go "get the bride"
here they carrying Naresh, the groom up the hill to the brides house
this is the ceremony of wedding the two, their faces are covered since they haven't met. there are family, friends, religious men all around the circle

here Naresh and Sarla are walking around the fire 7 times, to signefy the 7 lives that they will be married.

we were so lucky to get to join them, everyone was very nice to us. we felt like part of the family after the 8 hour ceremony but we were pooped! so we rested once we got back home and went to say bye to them later that night, there was still one more day of the wedding, but we had to move on!

shimla

2008-08-13T02:51:00.003-05:00

so shimla is a beautiful little india/english town up in the hills. its rainy and chlly and foggy and there are monkeys around everywhere, along with lazy dogs!

here is a pile of dogs that laid in this same spot for hours, nothing seemed to bother them, not people, cars, other dogs!
heres a pic of the people strolling on the street, there are no cars in central shimla and everyone just walks around and chats and looks in stores and such, its really cute.
see the fog? the buildings were also so cute, hybrids of english cottages and indian cement buildings.

loooook who india loves!!! me too obama beast!pretty sunset over the hills!

chandigarh: monsoon

2008-08-07T07:40:00.005-05:00

this is around our hotel. Chandigarh was set up by a modernist name le corbusier, its all rectangles! it was a weird town, but pretty cool.

here's chris at the Nek Chand Fantasy Rock garden. its all recycled building materials and more turned into sculptures and art. it was cool!

my new outfit (the top half) at the rock garden too. this is right before it started POURING!

here's us in our cycle rickshaw, in the monsoon, our rider had to stop because it was raining so hard, he was super nice, and since it didnt ever stop he rode us home in it, )we would have walked or taken a auto, but we had already made a deal with him and we couldn't get out in the rain b/c we had the camera!!

it was seriously the hardest i have ever seen it rain, and it was flooding too. we rode home in about a foot of water, getting splashed by cars and the like, but we all had fun and we made a friend with our rider!

now we are in shimla, pics to come, it takes way too long to upload!

tomorrow we are off to Tattapani to some hot spings and aruvedic treatments!

its cold up here and foggy and rainy!

Old Dehli

2008-08-03T10:50:00.005-05:00

we have spent the last couple days exploring the wonders of old dehli, with the wonderful smells, spices, paper stores, children, the largest mosque in India an much more. we ate some amazing naan and dahl, had some fresh pomegranite juice, and some other tasty treats. the city life is a little criazy for us, so we are definately ready to board our 5:50 am train up to Chandigarh. after that to Shimla.

this is at the top of the mineret in the mosque, theres the city below, smog and all. really a very beautiful view.

this is part of the mosque, made of sandstone and marble, we spent the morning here people watching and relaxing, then our feet got too hot (you have to remove your shoes before entering) so we headed back on the caotic streets.

hereès a glimpse of a not-so-busy-dehli-street. lots of scooters, cycle-rickshas, cars and people, oh dont let me forget- cows, oxen, goats, carts, all sorts of things.

also, i got a whole new outfit today, pretty exciting.

we love you all very much, sus and chris

dehli

2008-08-01T10:31:00.002-05:00

hello everyone, we made it safely to dehli last night, found a hotel and got some sleep. today we have just been orienting ourselves with the new city and country. we are happy to be here and ready for an adventure! we have already had some good food... banana dosas, sweet lime, and mango juice! we will update more soon. love and peace from around the world!

trip to the northwest : red wood forest

2008-07-29T13:42:00.003-05:00

well, just kidding, no pics from the red woods, they are already off the computer to be stored, so heres some other tasty treats!
ninnah, the love of our lives

not a red wood tree, but its cure

super pug! look at her go!

but we did a 9 mile hike through the red wood forest and it was beautiful and huge!
then we went to portland and had some good beer, coffee and asian food.
love and peace til next time

trip to the northwest: crater lake

2008-07-29T11:53:00.003-05:00

here we are at the public library in seattle, it is a very cool building

josh, lindsay, chris and sus at crater lake in oregon

this is josh's back covered in mosquitos!

lin and josh and crater lake

us, after we jumped in! very cold, like 38 degrees cold!

welcome to our new blog

2008-07-25T23:22:00.001-05:00

we are going to document our travels through india for the next few months, join us on our journey!