All Eyes on Me

Before you read this next blog - please note that I'm sure my opinion doesn't hold true for all of India. Heck it may not even be true for the town I'm writing about or the time since I left. Rather, this was my personal experience and understanding at one town in India at this particular moment.

Anyone woman who says "turning heads" is a good thing has obviously never walked the streets in India. On my first morning out in Kolkata I put on a conservative outfit of loose fitting pants and a t-shirt, yet I felt like I had just stumbled into one of those dreams where you leave the house forgetting to wear pants. Almost every man I passed cranked their head around to watch me self consciously walk by. At first, I naively thought that maybe people of Kolkata don't see many westerners. Eventually, Jim and I came to the conclustion that my version of "conservative" didn't match Indian standards. Most women were dressed in a way that not only covered most of their skin, but totally hid the shape of their bodies. After adorning myself with a newly acquired scarf around my shoulders, the stares on the street were only half as bad as before.
Now, it's about 95 degrees outside, aren't women uncomfortable dressing this way? I couldn't believe that men drive women to do this - and that I was following suit. As the days in India passed, I slowly started to make sense of the hyper-conservative dress. After talking to many people about life in India we came up with a theory which may exlain why women cover up.

The teenage scene here is completely different from the US where boys and girls hang out in coed groups. Young men in India aren't allowed much contact with women before they are hitched - and most marraiges are arranged by parents. There is no reason for men to be considerate or try to win over a woman's affection. They only have to worry about courting their parents to persuade them to pick out an ideal wife. This lack of contact with the opposite sex can only lead males to gawk and act inappropriately at these mysterious and unobtainable beings walking down the street.

In smaller towns, I found wearing a scarf around my shoulders was not enough. We went to the town of Allahabad for Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. People joviantly come out in the streets on this holiday and throw colored water or powder on one another to celebrate the start of spring. Locals told us told us that men, who normally don't drink, hit the sauce hard on this day and women often get harassed and accosted. We took the safe road and played Holi with families and children (which was heaps of fun). At night, Jim and I bought sweets from the famous bakery a half block away from our hotel. We both felt quite unnerved by the intensity of stares that I recieved walking that short distance. So, I willingly wrapped a scarf around my head in an attempt to hide my face and hair. Surprisingly, this made me feel quite a bit safer.

It all clicked - I may be wrong, but I think women aren't "forced" to cover up - but it's done rather to make them feel comfortable and safe. In a way it's a self fulfilling prophecy too: women feel they have to cover up, so that even mild forms of provocative dress (capri pants for instance) stands out in a crowd. In a town where the newspaper's front page contains multiple articles on local rapes three days in a row - staying modest sounds like a smart survival tactic.

-Jenn

Love-ly Day

Did you know the Taj Mahal looks the same from all four sides? We didn't. Good to know.
Funny how you normally hear people say "the Taj is much bigger in person!" Well, after hearing so much of that, it was actually smaller then we expected. But still breathtaking!

Just arrived in Egypt

Jenn and I just arrived in Egypt (via the snazzy Abu Dhabi airport). No craziness just yet.... but our hostel does have wifi for the first time since maybe January. We'll be dumping a bunch of pictures and finding blog posts for upload.

We know that blogs are meant to be kept semi-real time, but neither of us ever seem to have the energy to retype the damn things when we get to internet cafes. Anyhow - just a heads up that we'll be over-updating for the next few days.

Holy Crap it's the Ganges!

Every day over 60,000 people take a dip in the Ganges River in Varanasi, India as part of a spiritual Hindu pilgrimage. We went there ourselves but somehow we weren't compelled to take the plunge. Why you ask? Well, call us germ freaks but....
The Ganges River in Varanasi contains 3,000 times more fecal material than recommended bathing water standards set by the World Health Organization.
Yet, the people of India call the river "Mother" and depend on her to sustain their physical and spiritual well being. At sunrise in Varanasi, the River is full of activity; men gather in groups to lather their tanned bodies, women bathe dressed in full saris and scrub laundry on the shore, people drink from the waters, and children can be seen walking down the bank with their latest catch. Everyday, over 60,000 people take a dip in the most polluted seven kilometers of the River in Varanasi, India.
India's mother is on her deathbed due to 32 large sewers dumping untreated waste into the sacred waters in Varanasi. In the holy city, cremations take place at burning ghats on the side of the river - but not before ceremonial dips in the waters. Garbage dumping and pollution coming into the river from rain runoff, wind and other means (non-point source pollution) also adds to the problem. What's even worse is that the diseased waters don't stop at Varanasi - innocent villages downstream also bear the burden.

The Ganges could get cleaned up by 2014, due to efforts by the Sankat Mochan Foundation. They want to install pipes along the river from a high elevation that would flow down to a holding pool where the water could be treated for waste. Various partners around the world are supporting this effort. The foundation is currently awaiting approval from the Indian Government - who attempted to implement a plan in the 1990s and failed. Their plan relied on electricity; not the brightest idea in a place plagued with frequent power outages.

Fecal samples from Varanasi collected by the Sankat Mochan Foundation

Gopal Pandley showed me around the foundation's lab

I can't help but wonder - how can these people survive their mother's disease? What has made locals immune to infected waters that would surely make any foreigner sick? The water has contaminated some locals with a disease that discolors their skin. But, this doesn't discourage those who drink these waters everyday. There are noticeable amounts of people with deformities in the streets - is the Ganges to blame? Or, perhaps this has to do with the number of poor families here that don't have access to prenatal care?
One man tells me the Ganges is his religion. I believe him. I look at his healthy appearance, clear skin and smile and think that's a miracle in itself.

-Jenn

Laos in a nutshell

China wore us out a bit - both because we killed ourselves traveling towards the end (something like 40 hours of buses and trains to make it to the border) and because the crowds can start to get to you. For whatever reason, getting to Laos felt instantly chill. We went from towns populated in the millions to towns with unpaved roads that had less than one thousand. Dirt roads, rice fields, and relaxed people was just what we needed after our time in the big red.

We loved Laos, from the pace to the people to the arts to the food. It doesn't really dazzle with history or culture, but it is a great place to see a quickly developing country on its way up. Next time we're in SE Asia we definitely want to make another stop. Anyway... Laos in a nutshell:

• Undeveloped. Laos goes from fairly developed at its capital and gets less and less so as you get further and further away. Vientiane (the capital) could be mistaken for any medium sized slow paced city in south east asia - cars, buses, paved streets, the works! Go just a few hours (less even) in any direction and your hard pressed to find a town with more than just a single main drag... and that won't generally won't be paved.
• Chill. I think the main thing that you notice when you are around most Laos people is that they take it easy. No one tries to give you a pressure sale for anything, no one ever seems to be in a hurry. If you order a meal each dish will come one when it's ready - it is quite common for one person to be completely done eating before anyone else gets even served. None of the locals are in a hurry... it seems like the idea has just never occurred to them. Maybe it hasn't. We were told that this attitude stems from the fact that most people are farmers, and there is generally just one harvest per year. Historically the people from the Laos area have busted their butts harvesting rice about 2 months per year and relaxed for the other 10 months. Chilling for 10 months per year for centuries has had a profound effect on the attitude of Laos people.
• French colony. Up until WW2 Laos was held by France. In some cities (Luang Prabang) you could actually think you were in France, others you can just notice by the food (baguettes). There is an interesting history between the French in Laos and their neighbors to the east and west. What I found most interesting is that the French couldn't find a way to make money off Laos. Their excuse? The Laos people are too lazy! The farmers were quite content to go right on producing food just as they had for ages - so there was no way for the French to turn a profit on their colony. Luckily the great depression thwarted French efforts to ship in enough Vietnamese to push the Laos off their lands. (Apparently the Vietnamese worked to the French standard).
• Landscape. Part of the reason the French failed in kicking the Laos people off their own lands is the wicked landscape. Plans for a railroad (to ship in the Vietnamese and ship out goods) failed because of the unrelenting hills and mountains. Make for some great views, hikes, and caves though.

• Thailand minus 20. Everyone in the know says that Laos today is just like Thailand 20 years ago. I can't really confirm or deny that, but you can sort of tell that tourism and becoming globally connected has made Thailand a bit pushy in some areas. As of now that is almost completely lacking in Laos - so much so that you feel really bad about haggling in Laos. The people are just so nice and innocent that you feel like sending a counter offer would hurt their feelings or something.
• Food. The food in Laos is all in all pretty simple, but very tasty. For the most part they will serve sticky rice (very sticky, think firm play-doh) and some sort of curry like dish. Chopped vegetables and maybe a few peppers. Meals are eaten family style generally without plates. There is just one large dish of each thing that has been prepared (for example - maybe a meat, a vegetable, a soup, and the rice). Each person just grabs a hunk of rice that will be used to grab or dip out of the community bowl. If there is a soup then there are fair odds that everyone will share the bowl. All of the foods were very simple, and always fresh.

• Coffee. If Laos were near a sea shipping lane I bet they would have world famous coffee. I especially like their method of using a coffee sock filter (not really a sock) over the disposable paper filters. Coffee prepared with this method seems just a bit grittier - I like it better than a french press.
• Poor. The people of Laos are extremely poor. It seems that the bulk of people live in tiny houses that rarely have more than a dirt floor. Bicycles are a luxury that many people can't afford. Refrigeration is rare even in businesses and restaurants. People still harvest crops by hand thrashing. I could go on and on noting the things they don't have.... but despite all this the people of Laos don't seem like they mind. They produce enough food for their families and some have a little extra each year. That seems to be enough for the people of Laos, they area quite happy and content with what they have. We run into far more beggars in the DC area on a daily basis than we did in Laos. They are poor but happy, and I think that is part of what gives the country its charm.
• Wildwhat? Apparently if a Laos person sees a wild animal they will drop everything and stop at nothing in attempt to catch it and eat it. If a snake crosses the road you better hold on tight because safety just got re-prioritized. Mission number one is now putting rubber on scales. From bats to frogs to monkeys - Laos people will eat it with gusto. The state of the local animal population shows it too.... the only time we saw an actual (non domesticated) animal in Laos, it was dead on a stick. We spent many days on end out doors without even hearing a bird or a monkey. Unfathomable in the rest of SE Asia.

• Spirits abound. This one irks me quite a bit. Every family in Laos seems to distill their own version of Laos-Laos (white alcohol made from rice). It is approximately as strong and as tasty as vodka. It is rude to refuse it and it is good luck to keep the bottle passing around until it is empty. Good luck and great fun. We did a trek into a village where there was a severe language barrier - luckily for us getting sloshed is a universal language. Kop Jai! The reason this irks me is that bushmen in the hills of Laos make and drink their own vodka, but we in the states aren't allowed. I call BS!
• Spirits abound. Laos people believe in spirits. The termite mound has spirits, the trees have spirits, houses have spirits, etc etc. If you hang out with someone from Laos you will eventually notice they do little quirky things that even they don't quite understand. Before any meal a Laos person will throw rice north, south, east, and west. They will always sleep with their head pointed towards the interior of a structure. They will put a leaf on top of a termite mound if they happen to pass one. All sorts of little odd things that are done to "keep the spirits happy" or something along those lines. It's not really a religion per se, but it is pervasive in both Laos and Thailand. It is so pervasive that it has melded into the formal religion of the area: Buddhism. If you look closely at Buddhist temples or ceremonies there will often be some sort of gift to a god or spirit - this is actually a remnant of some ancient religion or belief that I never could get a name for (if it even has one). It all boils down to there being many spirits, and they all need a little consideration to keep them happy. If you think about it - some of this is similar to the melding of Pagan and Christian holidays. People like the fun times of the old belief so they make a hybrid out of the hot new religion. Interesting to see anyway... even if it did really confuse me on Buddhism for a long while.
• Cheap. Not surprisingly, Laos is very cheap. You can get a (great) coffee and an incredible sandwich on the best French baguette you've ever eaten all for about $1. In most towns you can get a nice guest house for 2 people for less than $5 per night.
• Terrible roads. Jenn and I (along with 6 others) rented what amounts to a minivan to go from one provincial capital to the next. It was only 100 km away, so we thought they must have just been wrong when they said it would take 8 hours. Unpaved road doesn't even begin to describe this thing we drove on. I actually resorted to hanging onto the bottom of my seat very tightly in hopes that I might slow the rate of my head driving into the ceiling. We averaged 12 km/h (about 8 miles per hour). This wasn't back country towns either... we were on the only road between the only major towns in the area.

• National curfew. You don't notice much of a police presence, but if you actually end up in a town that has a business that stays open past 11 pm you will notice that around 11:30 or midnight that a couple of cops with guns will come around and remind everyone that it is national bed time. No one argues... the guns are quite large.

Laos has a lot to love - and very little to dislike. It is a very easy country to get around. There are enough tourists that the trails have been broken, but not so many that you'll start cursing them. (It's funny how people call tourists "them" when they themselves are a tourist... what are you gonna do?). Laos has some tribal art, it has a ton of natural wonders, and is all around interesting. It'll be neat to go back in a decade or two to see how much does change - even though I hope it doesn't change all that much.

Malaysia is for babies

We took a "vacation" from our travels and met our friends Laine and Mike in Malaysia. Our break turned out to be educational as we got to experience first hand what it's like to travel abroad with a 9 month old (super cute) baby. This trip is baby Skyler's first stamp on his passport (yes babies are required to get one). Malaysia is an ideal country to start with because it's a relatively easy country to travel in. This is a place where many people speak English, most places have air-con, and there are good roads (although the driving there is another story).

Skyler and his girlfriends at Penang Beach

Since Jim and I are planning on having kids in the future, we were thrilled to see that having a child doesn't necessarily mean our passports have to collect dust. Yes, it requires an extra bag of infant necessities and a few extra breaks on long car rides. And you have to shield your child against the masses that are moved to reach out and touch your baby. But, all in all, it's very doable.

Living it up at the Boh Tea Plantations in Cameron Highlands

And a baby brings you the added bonuses of endless entertainment, free weightlifting, excuses to sing girl scout songs (sorry Laine), and getting invited to the coolest parties because everyone wants one-on-one baby time.

Jim getting a mid-day workout

What was especially exciting is that we all stayed at Mike's mom's house in Kuala Lumpur during the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Tiger was kicked off right with the intense sport of eating. Did I mention Mike's mom is a chef for the British Consulate? Activities were planned around where we could get the best Kojack and Roti Tissue. As with any marathon, pace is crucial. We were invited to the hippest parties with the coolest people, which I suspect is because we were with the hot little tot.

Skyler and Nana

Mom and Auntie Jenn teaching Skyler how to eat properly - with your hands of course!

Chinese New Year - Check out Sky's authentic attire!!

A big thanks to our friends for adopting us into their family and spoiling us in Malaysia. We truly felt at home and loved spending time with you guys. Can't wait to see you soon!!!
With Love,
J2

But I don't want to leave.....

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Here are a few photos/video to give you a little glimpse of the amazing Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia....

We arrrived to watch the sun rise over the temples. None of our photos did it justice.

Jim made this using some of our photos and the Gimp photo editing software.

Unfortunately, many children here are forced to sell bracelets, postcards and other goods to tourists. They are smart, fluent in English and incredible salespeople - and are often used as the breadwinners for their families. The Green Gecko Project is working to empower these children with skills, education, care and support to enable them to break the begging cycle and live to their highest potential. We met a few volunteers from this non profit and were really inspired by their wonderful work.