I come back, everyone is leaving

When I came back to my home city in December I found out two good friends had already left while I was in India, with more soon to be flying away to other exciting exotic lands.

Dreaming for a day where it's 0c..

It seems everyone who grows up here leaves eventually. I'm not sure if its because all my friends are very internationally focused (AIESEC anyone?) or because the weather here is terrible. Yes, it is true, the weather in Saskatoon reached a low of -43C yesterday. I remember talking to children in southern India who didn't believe me that it can get colder than freezing (0c), oh how I wish that were true..

Another friend I've known since high-school left this week on his own adventure to Holland!  I'm quire envious and would like to wish him the best of luck, may he find whatever it is he is, or isn't, looking for.

For those of you who have been reading this blog and are now traveling, I would love it if you were willing to share your own travel blog. Feel free to email me the link or add it in the comments section.

I've been compiling a small list of questions I've been asked which I will answer in a upcoming post. If you have anything you are curious about (whether it be on India, traveling solo, on a budget, or without planning) please email me and I'll be sure to answer it! If it's a 'bigger' question I may even commit an entire post towards answering it.

Cheers,

Catchy sayings and thoughts

It's been a few weeks now since I arrived back in Canada but I can't stop thinking about India, traveling, and the people I met. I just wanted to share a couple things I heard while traveling that have stuck in my head.

During your first couple weeks in India the country will be an acronym.

..India as an acronym..

I was able to meet a variety of backpackers while in India. A good number of these people, usually the fresh arrivals, absolutely hated the country. The culture shock and different feelings for the country had caused fights between many couples and often caused others to arrange onward flights as soon as possible (for those who were doing an 'around-the-world' trip).

The key to enjoying India? 
     Lower your standards and keep an open mind!


Another saying I heard from someone in the group I traveled with for just over a month is still one of my favorites. He told me "It takes a brave man to fart in India". At first I didn't understand what he meant. Was it culturally insensitive to fart here? How could that be when there is, burning, garbage everywhere with people defecating in the middle of the street?

It took a while but I figured out what he meant.. Diarrhea! Oh yes, the famous 'delhi belly' that attacks so many travelers. The saying "It takes a brave man to fart in India" is a reminder that you don't always know if that fart is actually a fart.. I have seen the face of a man who thought he had a fart but got more than he was expecting. It was a look of fright, worry, and slight disgust. In Canada we call this little surprise the 'Shart'.

So remember this every time you want fart in India... 'Is it really worth the risk'?

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, wherever you may be. I'd also like to thank my friends for all their, sometimes drunk, text messages and phone calls from around the world.  Giving holiday wishes and kind reminders that they are still traveling some exotic lands while I'm back home in the freezing Canadian prairies..

It will be just over a week until I'm back in my home city again and I have a post that will have to wait till then. I will be looking into my half unpacked bags to see what actually made it through the entire trip with me, what items I would never have survived without and which I would never take with me again.

Till then happy holidays!

Remember to eat, drink, and be jolly!

You've got mail!

I received a notice in my mail yesterday that a parcel had arrived. I thought it may be the one I sent home just over a month ago but didn't want to get my hopes up.

I went to the post office this afternoon and after searching around for a couple minutes they presented me with a dirty and beaten parcel from Neyyerdam Thiruvananthapuram, India! When I picked it up with my hands I could tell that there was no structure left to the parcel as it had a long and rough trip across the ocean. The only thing holding to together was the, originally, white cloth sewn around it. Eager to see what made it back home in reasonable condition I raced home to open what could be considered my Christmas present to myself as I had forgotten what I packed inside almost two months earlier.


The contents:

• My custom made-to-fit yoga pants (x2)
• Some white women's yoga pants (there was lack of guys & therefor guy clothing at the ashram)
• Hand panted t-shirts
• Shirts from the ashram
• Tons of book (religion, meditation, yoga, and various other topics)
• CDs (yoga and meditation)
• Chakra poster
• Ties, cufflinks, and handkerchiefs (I knew I'd have to 'suit up' again eventually)
• A gift for someone
• Various other things I bought for no apparent reason

Out of the entire package there was only one thing that I bought for someone else, but I suppose I have the right to be greedy with space when shipping costs so much!

Culture Shock (Reversed)

It's been a few days now since I arrived home. Not too many people know this, but every time I fly through airports I like to play little games with other people to keep myself entertained without spending any money. During my flight to India back in September I decided that people don't smile enough and set out to make as many strangers smile during my 5 hour layover in Minneapolis and 6 hour layover in Amsterdam. I ended up loosing track of how many people smiled back at me after only a couple hours but I'll consider that a good thing. Not only did it keep me entertained without spending money but I'm hoping it made someones day a little better when I was able to put a smile on their face.

On the way back from India, seeing as how I was constantly getting searched and questioned by security on my flights to India in September, I thought I'd dress as someone who fits the typical stereotype of a possible threat to airport security. I wanted to see how dressing in a foreign cultures clothing and having my ungroomed beard would play into the 'random' security checks and the racism of airport authorities. When I was in India, towards the end of the trip, everyone asked me if I was Muslim so that's the look I went for on my flight home as I was sure it would cause problems when going through the USA. I was quite surprised with the results of my little game.  I got through security at Amsterdam quicker then I had before and absolutely flew through the USA's security check, faster than any of the other people in my line. Sure I got a lot of stares as I waited for planes during my layovers, but it was nothing in comparision to the stares you get in India. Actually, I'm pretty certain that India took more pictures of me than I took of it.

Back home, my dog and a lot of snow.

Now that I am back home in Canada I'm facing some (reverse) culture shock similar to my first week in India. The structure to everything, the absolute quietness, and the way people isolate themselves from others is chipping away at my nerves. I'm not really sleeping yet. Wide awake every night until well into the next day, it's taking a long time to get my body back to its original time zone. Driving on the icy Canadian roads is stressful, I'd take an Indian road over an icy road any day. I'm glad to see family, old friends, and familiar faces once again. I have just over one week to prepare for a conference I'm facilitating and after three months of no responsibilities getting down to work has proven difficult.

I'm hoping that this is all just the effects of reverse culture shock but it almost feels like I don't belong here, I'm already looking forward to my future travels.