We finally have a moment to breathe and are taking the afternoon to relax in Jaipur and load some pictures, send some emails, take a nap...
We spent the morning touring the palaces and forts of Jaipur - what beautiful architecture and sculpture work! We have also been doing some shopping at the local markets and working on our bargaining skills. Jaipur is known as the "pink city" because all the buildings in the old, original part of town, are painted pink. Everything was painted pink about a hundred years ago when the king wanted to welcome the Prince of Wales to the city - pink is the color of hospitality - and the color stuck.
I'm keeping the post short today and am going to work on posting pictures instead.... Just click on the mini-slideshow to the right and it will take you to an online album. The internet is a bit slow, so there aren't tons of pictures, but we'll keep posting as we go...
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
An Average Day with Eric
March 14
The temperature reached 100 degrees today, which led me to wonder: what's the hot season like?
Lets do some math. 9,000 people a day visit the Taj Mahal. Figure that they take 20 photos each. The Taj Mahal is open to the public approximately 300 days a year. That's 60,000,000 photos every year. Not for lack of talent or trying, but not one will capture the beauty of the place. Kipling, who had a way with words, wrote that words could not describe the Taj Mahal. You just have to be there.
Mungo Jerry's 1970 hit song "In the Summer Time" has always been the go-to song in my head when I am daydreaming, getting chewed out by a boss or being lectured by Leslie. A line in the song goes like this..." when the sun goes down we can make it, make it good in a lay bye". I never knew what it meant until today. A lay bye is a truck reststop. I guess I have to thank India for that insight.
They drive like madmen here. Or, it seems that way. If it truly was however, you would see accidents or the signs of previous accidents in the form of dented fenders, broken headlights and so on. But you don't. Why?
In economics, a moral hazard is a situation in which a person will take unreasonable risks because they think they will be bailed out of their troubles by insurance, by lawyers, by their moms and dads. In India, those safety nets can be safely assumed to be non-existent. And so while their seemingly madman-like behavior appears to be unsafe, they may actually be some of the safest drivers on the planet. I will take my chances on the roads of India than on the streets of New York any day.
Left to their own, without silly breeding by humans for silly characteristics, I have learned that all dogs basically end up looking the same: short hair, 40 lb range, shepherd-like snout, droopy ears. A no-frills smart as heck creature. And it makes me wonder. If humans ended up loving and having offspring without regard for their mate's skin color, ethnicity or social rank, what look would we tend towards? Your ideas are welcome.
The temperature reached 100 degrees today, which led me to wonder: what's the hot season like?
Lets do some math. 9,000 people a day visit the Taj Mahal. Figure that they take 20 photos each. The Taj Mahal is open to the public approximately 300 days a year. That's 60,000,000 photos every year. Not for lack of talent or trying, but not one will capture the beauty of the place. Kipling, who had a way with words, wrote that words could not describe the Taj Mahal. You just have to be there.
Mungo Jerry's 1970 hit song "In the Summer Time" has always been the go-to song in my head when I am daydreaming, getting chewed out by a boss or being lectured by Leslie. A line in the song goes like this..." when the sun goes down we can make it, make it good in a lay bye". I never knew what it meant until today. A lay bye is a truck reststop. I guess I have to thank India for that insight.
They drive like madmen here. Or, it seems that way. If it truly was however, you would see accidents or the signs of previous accidents in the form of dented fenders, broken headlights and so on. But you don't. Why?
In economics, a moral hazard is a situation in which a person will take unreasonable risks because they think they will be bailed out of their troubles by insurance, by lawyers, by their moms and dads. In India, those safety nets can be safely assumed to be non-existent. And so while their seemingly madman-like behavior appears to be unsafe, they may actually be some of the safest drivers on the planet. I will take my chances on the roads of India than on the streets of New York any day.
Left to their own, without silly breeding by humans for silly characteristics, I have learned that all dogs basically end up looking the same: short hair, 40 lb range, shepherd-like snout, droopy ears. A no-frills smart as heck creature. And it makes me wonder. If humans ended up loving and having offspring without regard for their mate's skin color, ethnicity or social rank, what look would we tend towards? Your ideas are welcome.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
kerala, the land of coconuts
The slow life of Kerala is coming to an end. This morning we joined the naturalist who took us on a bird watching expedition. The kingfisher is one of more magnificent birds I've ever seen. Take a moment and google it to see a picture. we saw at least 3 varieties. The 28 different birds that we saw were all beautiful so it was a lovely morning.
We leave again, (5 hotels in 5 nights) to go to Cochin...a real city with lots of people. We will be coastal for one more night. I believe Eric has already got the name of a music shop for us to visit....here in Kerala the smell of coconut is everywhere. we wear it, we eat it, we drink it, you name it they do it. Did we tell you that Sarah and I had a massage which was basically a coconut oil bath...
time to check out...i promise I'll get sarah to post some pictures since I Know you want to see what its all about.
We leave again, (5 hotels in 5 nights) to go to Cochin...a real city with lots of people. We will be coastal for one more night. I believe Eric has already got the name of a music shop for us to visit....here in Kerala the smell of coconut is everywhere. we wear it, we eat it, we drink it, you name it they do it. Did we tell you that Sarah and I had a massage which was basically a coconut oil bath...
time to check out...i promise I'll get sarah to post some pictures since I Know you want to see what its all about.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
still in backwaters
march 10th. we're back on land but continue to be surrounded by water. We've just watched another incredible sunset wondering whatever happened to eric. Last thing we knew he was playing the tabla and getting a lesson. We imagined that he went home with the instructor. But that's just us having fun. Actually he went out on a sunset cruise with the Tabla teacher. Meanwhile Sarah, travis and I went down the path along the canal and went back to the home to get our fabric fitted. Let me explain...earlier in the day on a similar walk down the path, we said hi to everyone and talked to a few. One woman was cleaning her fish and happy to talk with us. Next thing we knew we were invited into her house. We were seated, given fresh coconuts to drink and learned about her life. All the while she continued to cook and care for her 3 year old son. She excused herself for a moment to take a bath in the canal since her husband (by arranged marriage) would be home shortly to go off to temple. After her bath, she dressed herself in a beautiful outfit which we of course, complimented. And then came the offer to buy us fabric in town and her friend could sew us an outfit tonight. So we went for our fitting and tomorrow we'll get the finished goods by 9am. At first she said come back at 10 but then remembered that she had to be in the fields working at 10am. so after a sunrise birdwatching expedition we'll go back to her house and get our outfits. meanwhile Eric will be taking another tabla lesson.
To back up just a drop...we had 24 hours on a houseboat through the backwaters of Kerala. These are people who live among the rice paddies. this is considered a rice bowl of india. And I agree with the locals that these are the friendliest people. We have slowed our pace considerably...yes, this is true for even me.
I can't post any pictures at this moment...but stayed tuned we'll get to it a bit later.
To back up just a drop...we had 24 hours on a houseboat through the backwaters of Kerala. These are people who live among the rice paddies. this is considered a rice bowl of india. And I agree with the locals that these are the friendliest people. We have slowed our pace considerably...yes, this is true for even me.
I can't post any pictures at this moment...but stayed tuned we'll get to it a bit later.
Monday, March 8, 2010
First Days in India!
Well, we made it! We entered the totally new and incredible land of India last Sunday and have been loving every minute of it.
After days of flying, including a layover in London where the flight information system had failed, we finally arrived in Bangalore, India early Sunday morning. We were lucky enough to meet up with our new friend Raju, who has helped us to plan the details of our trip over the last few months.
After a few hours in Bangalore, we boarded another flight to Kochi. At the Kochi airport, we met up with our driver for the week, Bijou. He took us to our first destination, a homestay in the country. It was a beautiful house with a lovely family.
After too little time at the homestay, we got back in the car with Bijou and headed to the "small town" of Allepey. This bustling city has been great to explore for the last 24 hours and we are staying right next to the Arabian Sea - beautiful and so warm! We spent a couple hours on the beach last night and met some great new friends who are striving to break the world record for frisbee - for speed and distance throwing.
I am frantically typing as we have to go pack up and head to our next adventure: a 20 hour houseboat ride down the backwaters of Kerala (the southern area we are in now), which is one of the top 100 places to see before you die.
More details and pictures to come, but we are posting a few now....
After a few hours in Bangalore, we boarded another flight to Kochi. At the Kochi airport, we met up with our driver for the week, Bijou. He took us to our first destination, a homestay in the country. It was a beautiful house with a lovely family.
I am frantically typing as we have to go pack up and head to our next adventure: a 20 hour houseboat ride down the backwaters of Kerala (the southern area we are in now), which is one of the top 100 places to see before you die.
More details and pictures to come, but we are posting a few now....
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Pictures!
New pictures have been posted and a text update is coming soon! Travis and I have arrived back in CT safely and are frantically unpacking, laundering, repacking, and doing last minute errands in an effort to get ready for India (our flight leaves in less than 48 hours!) We promise to try and keep the blog updated as we travel and love that you all are out there reading it!
Friday, February 5, 2010
An Update... Finally!
Our apologies to everyone who is following our blog, we know it's been way too long since we've given you an update! On the bright side, we have lots of new pictures and events to share with you.
Remember, you can click on the picture slideshow to the right and see all of the pictures in a more viewable
size. We've posted lots of new and great ones!
Since it's been awhile, we are just going to post some highlights about recent events:
Travis has been moved up to Grouse Mountain and has been working very hard up there each day. He is helping with the set up of lights, cameras, and all the cables that go with them. For those of you who don't know, the Today Show will be filming at Grouse Mountain each morning once we get going out here. Travis can also be seen in the background of a local news clip: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/TV_Shows/The_National/ID=1402238546. The small room full of equipment is our transmission room. Then we see Travis is the background taping up his finger while our friend Van is hard at work coiling cable. The red tram they show footage of is what Travis rides up to work each day and what we will all be taking up each night when we start filming live. I am still based at the IBC (International Broadcasting Center) in downtown Vancouver and am keeping very busy with airport pick ups, general errands, and segment research for the producers and production managers.
We've been eating at lots of great restaurants around town and have definitely found some delicious and cheap local places to go. These include a fantastic Japanese Ramen House, the JappaDog hot dog stand (hot dogs with toppings like bento flakes and nori strips), and a yummy greek wrap place. We're also enjoying the newly expanded menu at the IBC commissary - free food for us NBC employees and it's pretty good too!
I got a chance to go up to Whistler last week and it was beautiful! I also got to see the official bobsledding/luge/skeleton course. It's so big and icy! I can't post those pictures yet (they are very strict about what we can post and write during our time of employment) but one day... Whistler has plenty of snow and the events should be great! The medal ceremony stage is still under construction but it is going to be beautiful!
We are both definitely getting into the flow of work and feeling adjusted to Vancouver. Of course, starting next week, we are going to switch schedules and begin the crazy shifts (probably 2pm to 2am or 10pm to 10am) so we're trying to get lots of sleep and prepare ourselves for that.
Not much exploring happening anymore because we are too busy. Our days generally consist of waking up, getting ready for and going to work, having dinner in the commissary, coming home, going to sleep. So nothing too exciting to share. But the captions on the newly posted pictures will give you a bit more info.
We love you all and are thinking of you often, xoxo
Remember, you can click on the picture slideshow to the right and see all of the pictures in a more viewable
size. We've posted lots of new and great ones!
Since it's been awhile, we are just going to post some highlights about recent events:
Travis has been moved up to Grouse Mountain and has been working very hard up there each day. He is helping with the set up of lights, cameras, and all the cables that go with them. For those of you who don't know, the Today Show will be filming at Grouse Mountain each morning once we get going out here. Travis can also be seen in the background of a local news clip: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/TV_Shows/The_National/ID=1402238546. The small room full of equipment is our transmission room. Then we see Travis is the background taping up his finger while our friend Van is hard at work coiling cable. The red tram they show footage of is what Travis rides up to work each day and what we will all be taking up each night when we start filming live. I am still based at the IBC (International Broadcasting Center) in downtown Vancouver and am keeping very busy with airport pick ups, general errands, and segment research for the producers and production managers.
We've been eating at lots of great restaurants around town and have definitely found some delicious and cheap local places to go. These include a fantastic Japanese Ramen House, the JappaDog hot dog stand (hot dogs with toppings like bento flakes and nori strips), and a yummy greek wrap place. We're also enjoying the newly expanded menu at the IBC commissary - free food for us NBC employees and it's pretty good too!
I got a chance to go up to Whistler last week and it was beautiful! I also got to see the official bobsledding/luge/skeleton course. It's so big and icy! I can't post those pictures yet (they are very strict about what we can post and write during our time of employment) but one day... Whistler has plenty of snow and the events should be great! The medal ceremony stage is still under construction but it is going to be beautiful!
We are both definitely getting into the flow of work and feeling adjusted to Vancouver. Of course, starting next week, we are going to switch schedules and begin the crazy shifts (probably 2pm to 2am or 10pm to 10am) so we're trying to get lots of sleep and prepare ourselves for that.
Not much exploring happening anymore because we are too busy. Our days generally consist of waking up, getting ready for and going to work, having dinner in the commissary, coming home, going to sleep. So nothing too exciting to share. But the captions on the newly posted pictures will give you a bit more info.
We love you all and are thinking of you often, xoxo
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