The Book Factor

This is the most stressful dimension of packing; books, magazines, entertainment. In fact, I'm sitting here right now momentarily putting off the task. Sorting through the stacks of literature possibilities is the last step before I walk out the door and don't come back (for a little while at least)!

eep!

Big T is Back (in Black?)

After demands from my large readership base ( ;) ) I have decided to update my blog on a more regular basis. 

So here's the plan, as is currently stands.

December 30, 2008: Fly out of Detroit

December 31, 2008, 11 P.M: Arrive in Delhi

March 28: Meet my little sister Allix in Paris

April 12: Allix and I fly into Detroit just in time for Easter baskets!

There are an assortment of variables that could affect these plans including but not limited to, and in no particular order:

• general health
• money
• future job
• happiness in India levels
• how much I miss food (cheese, chocolate, Kombucha)
• how much I miss you!
• if sales are going well for the Lotus Odyssey and I am busy with production

In my last week in Grand Rapids I am trying to finish up my college applications so I can maybe get into a fancy grad school - I am applying for two in New York and one in D.C. If I don't get into any this year I won't be traumatized. The plan will still be to move to New York with Puneet and get situated.

love,

T

Taking stock of the memories

Change of Plans

American Airlines

293
DELHI
SAT 06SEP12:15 AM
CHICAGO OHARE
5:10 AM
FF#: 123DWP6

American Airlines
3977
CHICAGO OHARE
SAT 06SEP6:45 AM
GRAND RAPIDS MI
8:30 AM

today

Yesterday Punnu and I went to his work party. Feeling really overwhelmed by the heat I declined even a sip of alcohol, drinking 5 glasses of water instead. Even so, I woke up this morning with my entire body, toes to finger-tips bone-aching, head screaming, rash forming on skin hot like black tar in summer. Not a hang-over so...

1. malaria: -
2. dengue fever: -

After generally uncomfortable hospital misadventures, blood tests etc, it's just good ol' fashioned heat exhaustion that's to blame.

Instead of singing and dancing and putting on mehndi at the wedding ceremony I was supposed to attend this evening I am periodically putting frozen things on my head and hiding out in dark cold rooms until my body readjusts. Also watching Kar Wai Wong's, "My Blueberry Nights," with Norah Jones, Jude Law etc. Did you know Nora Jones is half Indian?! Her father is the famous sitarist Ravi Shankar. Her whole same is Gheetali Norah Jones Shankar. !

Anyway.

This one time I graduated from college

1. victorious

2. ????

Spoiled Rotten

September 15 - 24
Barcelona (Gaudi), Paris (fancy Francian pastries), Bologna (carbohydrates with fatty tomato sauce) etc.

Uske baad, home and all of those lovely things

August 19, 2008

Today I went to Delhi-Network coffee hour at the Hyatt in South Delhi. I've never seen so many blonde-haired wealthy women in my life, save maybe when I was in Finland a couple months ago. It was all very strange, ladies-who-lunch style. There was a short lecture on Dengue fever and how to best manage protecting your children (Citronella patches? Where can they be found? Spray/lotion? Candles? Fog? Do you spray yourself or have it done professionally? What if your children lick their skin? Rub their eyes? Isn't DEET bad for you? AHHH). One naturally spoken statement included, "Make sure your servants close the windows when..." The nice South African lady I spoke with had only taken a rickshaw once in her many many months in Delhi. After speaking with her I suddenly felt very rugged, tough, and brave. And knowledgeable too. I will start volunteering at their office this Thursday, helping newcomers to Delhi get settled and learn more about the city. :)

Right now I am doing what I do often, which is research and compare prices for products I'll use in my Lotus Odyssey line, and work on the in-progress web-site. Thus far I've settled on a beautiful white merino wool scarf hand-knitted by Panchachuli Women Weaver's, a bright silk/cotton summer scarf hand-woven by Dastkar, and organic body products from another environmentally sustaianble organization. Now I'm collecting names of funky botiques around the globs who sell similar products so I can send them a catalog. If you can think of any let me know!

I'm feeling a constant, weepy home-sickness these days. I think 3 months away is enough. I want clean refreshing Michigan wind, the sound of waves, to pet my aunt and uncle's dog Nelson and the farm cat George, to cook food at home, and talk for hours with everyone I know and love.

Besides my moping, which Puneet doesn't let me flounder in for long, I'm being generally productive. Actually, time is running out and I've got a ton to do for the Lotus Odyssey (my biz name!). Other than that I'm making plans for the fall which should include a Spain/France/Italy trip with my dad is mid-September, taking the GRE in October, and heading to Mexico in November.

I'm so lucky. :)

Love, T

Dharamshala

Almora, Uttaranchal, India, Eastern Hemisphere, Globe

left to right: Me, the so-called, "mother of Panchachuli," and my lovely Kavita Aunty in Almora. We spent the day running around to different villages, chatting it up with the local ladies.

More pics and stories to come...

Almora, Uttaranchal

It's really quite unbelievable. My breath in Delhi, thickened by dirt, dust, and grim, to this nourishing, pure mountain fresh wonder.


Happy T

Mumbai

constantly quietly freaking out about what to do with the rest of my life.
rubbing shoulders with Czech models and men involved with your favorite Hollywood flicks.
sun-burnt from arch to tattoo, minus white bum.


craving home.

There are three girls, and 1 bed, and temper, and misunderstandings, and sweet domestic beer, and bad internet connections, and worse local cigarettes rolled in itty-bitty leaves. There is clothing scattered and drying on racks, a lovely Indian vegetarian dinner waiting at home for us every night, and a generator to fuel our AC and offer a refuge from the heat when the electricity goes out. There are street children that sell fragrant strings of jasmine flowers and smile gently, and others that grab at your hands and wrists, invasive and unrelenting.

There are elephants weighted with what must be a field of greenery, tied to their backs, and new Mercedes Benz's parading the streets with hired drivers together.

It's all very confusing. Not to mention our project. We're scrambling to pull of the financial resources to produce our film. We just fired our director. And I'm freaking out. I've got faith, but none of us have worked with film before, save for the one time I dressed up as a man and danced with men dressed as women wearing neon and glow-lights in my friend's class project.

Tonight heading to Mumbai (Bombay) with Puneet and my friend/project partner Sara. We'll come back Thursday and promptly head off for the mountains: see panchachuli.com for more insight into the organization we'll be working with.

Needless to say, I'm learning. And I think, really, that's the point.

Another photo by Punnu. My friend Lainie and I are cracking up. It's so silly, but I am frequently asked to be in photos with strangers- this family must have been doing touristy things in Dharamshala (location of the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile as well as his monastery) and thought the white people were just another part of the scenery....


>big fatty resigned sigh<
T


ps. UNCLE BILL YOU'RE THE BEST EVER AND I THINK YOU MIGHT BE MY ONLY ACTIVE READER. THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE MTARF :) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO. COME VISIT AND HIKE WITH ME IN THE HIMALAYAS SOON PLEASEEEEE. :) GIVE NELSON AND AUNT NIKKY A BIG SNUGGLE FOR ME AND SAVE ME A SPOT ON THE BOAT! :)

Anger Issues

I frequently find myself cursing lots of people (though mostly in English so who knows if anyone even gets it). The auto-rickshaw drivers are enough in themselves to evoke violence from a homeostatically peaceful person. And of course, then there’s me. Whether they are telling me their meter is broken and thus must charge me quadruple what normal Indians pay, pretending they don’t have change, or overtly staring at me in their mirror, they are not an easy bunch to get along with.

My white skin gets me out of trouble and into comfortable seats at most restaurants, but it also means I’m overcharged everywhere else. In addition to all over the other stereotypes, related to nationality, my skin signals money. And I guess that’s fair. In my worst moods I think YOU, Mr. Auto-rickshaw driver, should pay ME to deal with this dirty disgusting place.

I know I’m in a bad mood but the cows and the sewage and the heat and the smog and the gross men and the bad covers of my favorite oldies and the shady guy who sold me a magic wireless cards that doesn’t work and everything else are just getting to me.

with love, T

Boring Post

1. I am ok! No more sickness!
2. Went to the beautiful Taj Mahal last weekend, for the second time. (thanks Punnu for pics of Lainie and me!)
3. Going to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple this weekend
4. Meeting with documentary director tonight to make a plan
5. Am happy because my lovely friend Lainie from Michigan is here now too!
6. Trying to scheme more money because our budget is seriously tight - if anyone wants silk/cotton scarves - individual or bulk orders - let me know!
7. Feeling more confident in my ability to navigate Delhi
8. Am sad I missed my lovely sister Allix's birthday: >MUAH<>

love टी

YAY LOOK I CAN WRITE IN HINDI WOO HOO!

हिन्दी में :

में भारत में हूँ!

हर दिन में हिन्दी पृढ़ रही हूँ

आज कल हम दिरेक्टोर मिल रहे हैं

Delhi, India

They say bad health is one of the constant plagues of the poor. If you're not well you can't make money. If you don't have money you can't eat, much less pay for the doctor or her prescriptions. So in India, with so many poor, that's a lot of sick people.

Luckily for me I'm not poor, but I have been sick as hell since arrival relying on Puneet's care, doctor's reccommendations, and medications whose names I can't remember, packaging lacking the little side-effects sheet that comes with prescriptions in the US. I'm at home today in the hopes that the tried and true "fluids and rest" thing will actually work. Puneet knows I love coconut water- so he got me a bunch of coconuts from the local market. Cutting off the top, making a small incision, and sticking a straw in - the most refreshing, light, naturally sweet pleasure. This, coupled with avoiding the manic commute to and from Hindi class, as well as the scorching sun, should help. I hope.

Delhi, India

Casablanca, Morocco

Helsinki, Finland

Madrid, Spain

Marrakesh, Morocco