Fruit, Weather, and the Airports

I was elated yesterday to walk by a fruit stand and see that queen of fruits making her appearance on the scene, Her Majesty the Mango.  The vendor said they were from the state of Kerala, which I hope is true, because that means a steady supply from now until they come into season here in May.  I will henceforth begin my 1-Mango-a-Day (minimum) diet, and am very glad I recently purchased a blender for mango lassis, thanks for the push, Abba!  If you look at this picture there is also another fruit that resembles a golden tomato in size and color, but is a fruit with a sweet/sour taste that they call a raspberry or a gooseberry, depending on who you ask.  It tastes like neither to me, but does taste a little like a fruit I had in Peru that was wonderful, which they called a lúcuma, I believe.  [Inscrutable Panda, is that correct?] It’s always fun to try a new tropical fruit.  

The weather has been just gorgeous here, like a great late-May week in Iowa without the tornadoes or rain, but  rain and hailstorms are predicted in the next 48 hours, which is rare here, but not a big deal to me.  Or so I thought.  A news article mentioned this is the time the mango blossoms are coming on the trees, and they were in danger.  I thought I could escape the worry of nature ruining my favorite fruits when I left the late-spring freeze of Iowa tormenting the apple orchards, but no, here we are again in the cruel, fickle grips of nature.  Speaking of which, this morning I was awoken with a rumbling sound and then a shaking.  I thought it was my bedmate shaking his leg for some reason, but then I heard some of the furniture shaking and moving.  It was an earthquake, and it was over quickly.  I was just reading a travel magazine’s alluring article about San Francisco and it’s incredible food scene, and fantasizing living there for a while, but then thinking we would be at the mercy of the earthquake gods.  I guess I don’t need to go that far to experience the shaking.

Finally, there is a phenomena here which bears describing, and it regards the security at the airports.  There are several, not one, security checks, where you are patted down quite thoroughly, as you enter. Quite thoroughly. But, you run the gauntlet and then they let you get on the plane.  However, if you should want to LEAVE the airport, now that’s another matter.  I have had occasion to want to leave the airport for various reasons the last couple of weeks, (not the least of which is to escape the quibbling of the airlines on who should have to pay for our rebooking because of a delay) and I’m here to tell you it’s harder to get OUT of an airport than get IN.  You must show a print out of your ticket, which they call an e-ticket, to get in, and they can’t imagine why anyone would want to leave their airport once they are granted admission.  I was stopped by several people when I wanted to leave the airport, and with my nonexistent Hindi skills, I had to try to find someone who could help the people understand I wasn’t a terrorist. Maybe I should have just said I wasn't carrying any bombs?  Maybe not. I wanted to tell them they might want to consider checking people’s admission a little closer, because I wasn’t supposed to be let IN the airport on a couple of those occasions.  I restrained myself.  Airport security is looney everywhere in the world for different reasons, and the recent bombings in Hyderabad won’t help lessen the security in India, so be forewarned:  once you’re in the airport, they like you to stay, whether you want to or not.

The View from the Plane

 For about 1 hour as we flew from Kathmandu back to Delhi, we were treated with this view from our airplane window.  It was good karma to store, because when we hit Delhi (2 hours late because of some unexplained delay in Kathmandu) all hell broke loose in our attempts to get rebooked to Jodphur.  But that fiasco is the subject of another blog; suffice it to say we fought the Indian airline bureacracy and lost and are now back in Jaipur instead of on our way to the once yearly Jaislamer Desert Festival.  Oh well, Nepal was a good time.  

Udaipur & Valentine's Day: Backtrack

First of all, a belated shout out to all my blog readers who are officially my valentines on Valentine's Day:  I missed being in a school with wee ones on this day.  We had a meeting of all the English Language Fellows in the area, and each of us had to give a presentation.  As luck would have it, mine was scheduled for Valentine's, so I brought candy (never a bad idea for a presentation) and this was my first slide:
First things first, after all.  They were surprised to remember it was a holiday.  My priorities are right anyway.

Second:  Udaipur:  The acclaimed Rajasthani city of Romance.  When I got my camera back from the shop, I remembered I had pictures from our recent trip there a couple of weeks ago, so here is the link to some pictures that will explain how Udaipur got its name.  There is a huge lake around which many old havelis are built, and our hotel was one such restored haveli.  It was a beautiful city day and night, the food was great, and the sights were unending.  For all you who are having nasty winter weather, here is a chance to see how the sun is shining in my part of the world.  Sorry about that.  It also gets unbearably hot in a couple of months, so check back to see how that's going.  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjE4gbqr

Dateline Nepal: The Rooftop of the World

I’ve been absent from my blog because (1) my camera broke on an outing to the beautiful city of Udaipur, (2) I’ve been at meetings and a conference in Nepal, and (3) before Nepal we were entertaining Steve’s sister and husband in Jaipur when I wasn’t scampering at work to be gone for a couple of weeks, so I was busy having fun or working.  It was great fun for us to have such easy, delightful company, and to take some time to visit the highlights of our hometown as well as some of the lesser-known cool haunts that Abba dug up from a very different, interesting guidebook titled Love, Jaipur.  I now have my camera back, but now lack a computer camera cable where I am, so the pictures will have to wait for another day.  UPDATE:  Here's the link to some photos from Nepal:  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjE4ytoN   Got a new cable!

Currently S and I are on a short sightseeing tour that includes Nepal and then back to India, to our state of Rajasthan, for quick trips to Jodphur, then Jaislamer for the annual Desert Festival before we head back home.

Last night we arrived in Nagarkot, Nepal yesterday from Kathmandu. It was cold and windy and the clouds were covering the reason we came, the spectacular views of the Himalayas. There was no heat nor hot water in our room, which we thought was about maybe 40 degrees, so when the front desk gave us hot water bottles, S and I went to bed at 6:00 p.m. to stay warm! It’s as close as I want to come to camping.

However, this morning we were not disappointed as we awoke to one of the most spectacular sights the Earth has to offer right out our room’s window, the Himalayas in full glory.  We began our day with a 3-hour hike, and it was pretty cool at the beginning, but given the steep climbs and fit guide we were soon sweating and opening shawls and jackets.  We walked through what they called a jungle, which was to us a forest of pines that were very fragrant.  We traversed to a couple of different look-out points, which we kept circling in order to take it all in.  There were gorgeous terraces of rice down in the valley, and corn and wheat higher up.  There were mountains covered in trees in front of the Himalayas.  It’s a bad blog to write without the aide of the pictures.

While in Kathmandu Abba and I visited Bhaktapur,  a quintessentially Nawari city that makes you feel like you have stepped back a couple of centuries  in time with its herringbone brick paths, and pagoda roofs atop highly ornamental edifices made of local brick and the intensely decorated woodcarvings everywhere possible on the temples. There are lots of narrow alley ways to get lost in that lead to woodworking shops and metal smiths who specialize in lots of copper around the city, but also do lots of work in bronze and silver.  There are signs that the tourism is leaving its mark, but most of the villagers seem to be carrying out a typical day in spite of us. 

In general Nepal impressed the 3 Greenleafs that visited.  We saw much less trash in the streets than in Jaipur, heard much less horn honking, and enjoyed a general vibe of laid back,  friendly citizens, although I find the Indian people very friendly as well.  Nepal has recently (about 6 years ago) just gone through a revolution, so there are still scars and veiled or not so veiled allusions in speeches to the unpopular ruling party, and today saw a general strike in the country, so no transportation was working from sun up to sun down.  Not sure what the strike was supposed to accomplish, but it does effectively shut down the country for the day.  We saw kids walking to school at the beginning of our hike who were walking back 3 hours later because the teachers couldn’t come because none of the buses were running.  The inscrutable Panda should leave some explanatory notes on labor strikes as a form of protest, because I can’t see how it really shows much more than their ability to run a strike and make citizens fearful of not obeying the order for a strike. I’m sure there’s more that I don’t understand.  

6 Long Days, and Salvation

Ok, maybe the title is a little dramatic, but consider that you’ve lost the power cord to your MacBook Air and the computer is out of juice and no one in your city has a replacement….Or DO they?  The day before we left for a long weekend trip I did just that, and for 6 days I not only didn’t have the support of my electronic BFF, but I spent several frustrating hours trying to figure out who had a replacement and how I could get it.  It was a test in patience and I got an F, a red F.  Abba quietly reminds me these are first world problems, but that’s the problem with transplanting a First World Gal to a not-first world setting; I still have expectations that are hard to shake.

There is a saga I won’t recount, but suffice it to say I was able to purchase (for a large wad of rupees) said power cord and the Maglite attachment needed to bring life back to my silver wonder.  And where did I find it?   Oh, at the same place where I originally went 6 days previous, only they didn’t know they had what I needed.  ARGGGGGGG. That took several calls to Delhi, and around Jaipur, until I got someone who was the store manager in another Jaipur Apple Reseller who was really in Delhi (don’t ask) who I could tell from the first sentence not only understood my pain but cared, and he was competent to boot.  Thank you, voice from Delhi, my delight in having the world at my fingertips again knows no limit.  While we’re at it, a shout out to Drop Box, without which I would have been at a work stand still.  If you are reading this and you don’t back up your files, rethink your wayward ways and repent by signing up now for Dropbox.

So how does one celebrate having your own computer back, especially as fun a toy as a MacBook Air?   For me, there is a special delight in a walk through the iTunes Store to hear what’s new and interesting. I indulged until the small hours this morning, and have a whole new playlist as a reward.  After watching the latest 2 GLEE episodes, both which were packed with great beats, I knew it was time for a late-night raid.  Actually raid is the wrong word, because the iTunes folks are only too happy to relieve you of some cash, and very quickly.  However, they are crafty geniuses, because they are slow in sending you the bill for purchases, and they spread them out so each one received delivers just a small pain, if any. Well played, Apple. 

Here are some tune recs for you in case you’re interested in a hunt yourself.  It’s so fun to start listening and see where it (or actually the software at the iTunes Store!) takes you.  I usually end up somewhere very different, and it’s always interesting.  A great way to spend an evening.

1.   “Tell Him”, by the Exciters:  If you haven’t seen the dance Brittany and that new girl did to this tune on a recent GLEE episode, you owe yourself a treat.  It’s hard to stay seated.  However, buy the original of this one, it’s so 50’s, and the arrangement is so right.

2.  “Everybody Talks”, Neon Trees:  I always love pop songs that are rowdy and have a heavy, driving beat.  They work well for workouts.

3.   “Girl on Fire”, Alicia Keys:  This gal’s talent is always on fire as far as I can tell, but I’m not a Nicki Minaj fan, so next time, stick to either JayZ or Solo, please.

4.   Bruno Mars, Bruno Mars, you have such talent and versatility….Last night I purchased “When I Was Your Man”, “Marry You”, “Count on Me”, and “Locked Out of Heaven”.  I will probably have to go back and get both of his albums.  It’s always an unexpected pleasure to hear a pop star who has a nice set of pipes and can deliver a song with the colors and nuance he can.  Bravo.

5.  FUN:  They are just that.   “Carry On” and “Some Nights” were last night’s bags.

6.  GLEE CAST VERSIONS of Hits:  “Blow Me One Last Kiss”, the better version for me.  This is a jump-up-and-down kind of tune, so get on your sneakers.  Also “Holding Out for a Hero”.  Love it; also a great workout piece.  Finally, “Let Me Love You”, which is sung by the beautiful creation Jake on GLEE.  Some people do really have the triple threat of musical comedy: the man can dance, sing, and is gorgeous.  Some people think the 3^rd thing is acting ability, but you watch his guy on screen and tell me if you care if he can act or not.

7.  A.R. Rahman’s Greatest Hits:  The most prolific, talented composer to write for Bollywood movies ever.  He’s like an overachieving John Williams.  I love his songs, and every time a new Bollywood movie is released, every Friday, you hear the latest hit from the movie everywhere.  The mall, the gym, via the loudspeaker from the Shantytown next to our rooms. I would personally recommend the soundtrack from this year’s hit movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and if you are a Bangra dance fan, you need to purchase his rightly famous “Rang de Basanti”.  Keep the sneakers close.   If there were a Wii for Bollywood dances, I might have to purchase it.  I would miss dancing and singing with my Weber posse, though, but I could practice and perhaps impress them with my moves when next we click heels…..