Chai-coos ("Ch" prounounced like in Channukah)

Koture
"Here, meet my good friend
Exalted Brick Millionaire"
Trying not to laugh.

Rocks tied by wire
Connecting electric lines
when we have power

Come see USA!
Stay with me and family
Oh...you like Vegas.

Please respect the brain!
Red Slash between foreign eyes.
Now it is OK.

Wine
Eyes closed wine tasting
Return to Hudson Valley
Swirl the glass like time.

Mmmm, delicious red,
Grungy foreigners giggle.
How do we compare?

Annoying Guy on the Bus
Trying to watch moon,
"Tell me, free sex and lesbos?"
Ask no more questions!

Keep list of Haikus
So I don't forget to write
Annoying guy twice.

Aurangabad
I used to love cats
little guy wants some dinner
please stop meowing

Hotel arranged tour.
Rocks, towers, canyons. OK.
Surprise! There are bats!

Unconquered hill fort
seven fortified stone walls
turtles in the moat

Blocked in by two doors
One death. And the other - death
Matter of defense

Hunger strikes again!
Near monkeys, don't eat biscuits.
You will be attacked.

The haikus build, stack
I swear I'm not that lazy.
There's too much to see.

Caves! (And Jake gets attacked by monkey)

We've spent these past two days in Aurangabad, which is a good base to stay in for the Ellora and Ajanta caves. There is so much to say (and so many pictures to post!) but I'll try my best to keep this short. Basically, the Ajanta and Ellora caves are named for the small towns in which the caves are located. They are slabs of rock that have been carved into intricate Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples. They're gorgeous, they're insane, they're impossible, they're incredibly old. Some of the Ajanta caves date back to 2nd Century BC. It is difficult to explain how it feels to be standing in the presence of something that majestic and that old. So what did we do? Initially we were on a tour with a guide. At the first cave, Jake was trying to draw and I was exploring and the guide came and yelled at us because we were taking so long. The bus was honking for us, and we had to leave. After that, we promptly left the tour and did out own thing. What was that? We danced a lot. We sang Amazing Grace (the echos of it were just fantastic, even though we can't sing well). We climbed up on top of the Ellora caves and got in trouble with a security guard. We posed for pictures with a Buddhist Thai tour group and listened to them chant in one of the more impressive Buddhist caves at Ellora. We sat and meditated in the sun. Jake did a headstand.

Jake also got attacked/chased/frightened by a monkey. It was scary until the torch man chased the monkey away, and then it was HYSTERICAL. Don't worry, he really didn't get attacked. It is slightly scary to have a monkey charge at you though, even if just for a moment. Just ask Jake.

Something that has been new (and fun) about Aurangabad is meeting other travelers. Since we've been CSing, we haven't met too many travelers (I'm not complaining either way, it's great to CS and it's great to hostel). Yesterday we shared a jeep with a couple from Chicago and Belgium on an around the world tour (along with 18 other Indians.. Oh my goodness it was packed!), and we shared wine and hookah with an Estonian graphic designer. Today, due to a miscommunication within the hotel we ended up in a cab to Ajanta with an Austrailian couple, but it was a good miscommunication because we had a lovely day with them! We just finished dinner together, and it truly is wonderful to meet other folks on the road.

However, we're itching for some Couchsurfing, so tomorrow we depart at 6am for a bus ride down to a farm right outside of Pune, a city south of Mumbai. We'll be helping to build a meditation resort for about a week, and then it's off to a classical Indian music fest in the city of Pune. Will hope to get some pictures from the caves up soon because they're just astounding.

Today I missed American blues music and the sound of my friend Pete singing "Lonesome Road". But today I also saw white lotus flowers painted on the ceiling of a cave that is over 2000 years old. Things balance out.

What is marathi for, "WEBSTER! Come here Webby!"

Boy have we been having some incredible conversations with the land. On Sunday morning we left the incredible Barves family on their farm... It was a most beautiful 5 days we spent having incredible conversations, eating the most amazing home-cooked food, watching sunsets, playing volleyball (well, just Jake.. I cheered though), and just relaxing. Oh! Here's a recipe or two. The ingredients we ate were the freshest of fresh so everything was incredible, but I feel like these are two good recipes for every day use:









Garlic infused peanut oil:
1) Boil peanut oil (or any oil will work)
2) Add mustard seeds, fresh pieces of garlic, hing (an Indian spice that can be found in any Indian grocery store), and small amount of chillis (opt)

Peanut chutney!
1) toss ground roasted peanuts, garlic, and chillis into a blender
2) ENJOY on everything

From the farm we traveled back to Nasik (a surprisingly okay standing only bus trip.) where we went to the Sula Vineyards. Nasik is famous for being the new Indian wine country, and of course we had to go check it out! (Google Sula Vineyards for pictures.. It's gorgeous! Also, I'll be posting pictures very soon) We went from the farm to the bourgeoise boho wine tasting room. Amid well dressed middle-aged Indian folk, these two young, slightly disheveled backpacking kids strolled in to the gorgeous facilities and started drinking. We learned a little bit about the wine.. For example it's 14% alcohol by volume. We also learned that after tasting 5 wines, including the famous Shiraz (mmm TA4 knows how good it is!), we learned that we could get a little tipsy. So what else would we do but settle down in front of the beautiful vista to enjoy some cheese and crackers and more wine? There was jazz music and Dylan playing, so of course we danced a little... All in all, it was a really strange break from the day to day in India, complete with western toilets and all.

From the vineyard (armed with 2 local bottles of wine), we set off for Aurangabad, where we are staying currently. It's strange to be in a hotel, our first so far! Today we visited the Ellora Caves and tomorrow we visit Ajanta, and I'll post about the glories of those two sites sometime in the future. Words won't do it justice, so look out for photos and more of Jake's haikus for better descriptions.. Blessings!!

UVPUI Told Me It's OK

Mom,
Don't worry, I'll always have a job in India.
Love,
United Valet Parkers Union of India

Hikups and fotoes

We have posted photos with most of the posts now. So go back and check starting with the first post about the parade in Bandra.

11/21 and 11/22

Ball as hard as stone
Indian Night Volleyball
I'm the goofy kid

Older Brother says:
"Try this Indian Chocolate"
Only Sugar and Milk

Poor Sara Weston
Even Indian men Laugh
She can't eat mangoes

Freshly squeezed cows milk
Drank only an hour after
skim never again

Sweet organic pride
Hey, eat your heart out Whole Foods
Free Zucchinni Scrub

Ask "Where's it made?"
Oh, it must be from China
All the brothers say

Sara's sad weakness
"It's made with mango" they jest
They'll eat her chocolate.

Today we met Sir Paunch
"US agriculture good?"
Like here, subsidized

Obviously bros
The same mustaches and eyes
and the hearty laugh

Temple basement stairs
hiddden, like old newspapers
dusty and sacred

Motorcycle Ride
Mom, please don't read this haiku
we dodged bulls and rocks

So much history
7th generation house
hope it continues

one more thing

I'm looking at the posts I've been writing and it looks like I'm writing a ton. If I were reading this, I'd see the length of my posts and say 'forget it!' However, I can't even begin to sum up what this trip has been so far. The posts are long, but the haikus almost say it better because it's all about the little moments here... I could write hundreds of pages about what we've been doing, but I have been so overwhelmed by sights, smells, sounds, people, things, places, that I have barely been able to absorb what's actually been going on. Sometimes I call it wax paper mode. Everything beads up on me, but nothing fully penetrates through. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and I'm having a fantastic time, but for obvious reasons, I can't fully express, nor can I fully understand everything going on around me. For those who know me well, I'm always wanting to express, understand, create, see, live, and love, with so much passion and intensity. I feel a bit turned down here, but maybe that's because everything around me is turned up so high and is so newNewNEW! Just a passing thought...

"This won't kick you"

Before I write about where we are right now, I'd like to just write a quick note about the fantastic hosts we've encountered so far. Our first host was Ravi, a friend of Ritchie Yanowitz (a family friend of mine), who lives in Bombay. Ravi was so kind to set us up with an apartment for our first two evenings, take us out to dinner, and provide us with a driver (the fantastic Maruti who could navigate the insane Bombay traffic with ease and a thousand horns). I am still overwhelmed by his generosity, but I'm realizing that in India, it is not so unique to be this generous! From there, we stayed with Aparna, our first couchsurfing host who was so passionate, lively, energetic, and welcoming!! If you have a chance to couchsurf with Aparna in Bombay, you must do it.. She's the epitome of couchsurfing philosophy..

Yesterday morning at 5am, we left Aparna's beautiful apartment in Bandra, a suburb of Bombay, and took a train called the Gitanjali Express to Nasik, a small city about 3 hours north of Bombay. From Nasik, we jumped on a bus at the Thakkar station to Niphad. Right around Niphad, I started realizing that the only thing written in English were the signs for Coca Cola. There was no way to tell where we were going had it not been for the amazing people in the town. It's crazy.. We knew we had to go from Niphad to the village of Kothure by auto ("auto" is a three-wheeled rickshaw run by an engine), but we didn't know where to get the auto or even how to pronounce Kothure! It doesn't help being two blonde-ish, white, foreigners with gigantic backpacks and bags. Once one person would stop to help us, about 30 more would gather around. Finally, someone knew where we needed to go, and took us to his auto where we climbed in with a small family. The trip was short, but enough to realize that we were not in Bombay anymore. Straw huts, clay houses, and tent cities were scattered all over the landscape, along with cows and goats. The air felt so much cooler. The traffic was still crazy! But not as crazy... Finally we made it to the house. The auto driver knew who we were staying with, so he drove us directly to the door. We stepped out, and realized that we were getting more than just the change of scene we needed from Bombay; we were getting a 180 degree shift.

Since yesterday we have been staying in the house of Dr. Barve, a man I met on hospitalityclub.org. Dr. Barve is a retired engineering professor, who lives in the village of Kothure in a GORGEOUS house with 2 of his brothers. The house has been in their family for SEVEN generations. The whole family has traveled a great deal, and they all seem to be somewhat involved in academia, and it makes converation really lively and interesting... First we atelunch which was the most local meal I think I've ever had. Nearly everything they eat comes from their farm which is a mile and half up the road. The milk comes from their cow (and it's boiled) and we've been drinking water from a double-osmosis filter (made in USA). I'm still kind of in shock... Dr. Barve took us on a tour of the farm (about 7 acres) and showed us all different kinds of fruits, herbs, and vegetables.

*Side note! You know those rough sponge-y scrubbers that are sold in Whole Foods for about 20 bucks? They're actually dried out zucchini! If you properly dry out a zucchini (or let it sit on the root in the sun) and crack it open, it is the same material as those scrubbers!

We walked back to his house to the setting sun and I actually thought of my own haiku (Jake is rubbing off on me):

Candy apple sun
drips gooey threads down the sky
coiling into dusk

Photos don't do it justice... Upon arriving home, we ate an incredible meal prepared by Dr. Barve's younger brother's wife. The food is so delicious, I feel bad I can't eat more. Jake and I have our own room (with internet), which is surreal in a house where the electricity goes out every day from 9am to 2pm, we wash with a bucket (and pump our own hot water!!), and there are cows and chickens and goats everywhere. We didnt have internet in Mumbai, but we have it here!

Today we woke up to a wonderful yoga class in Prana (breathing technique), delicious breakfast, and a visit with Sir Paunch, who governs the town. We drank sweet coffee and talked about the differences and similarities between India and USA. We are also trying to learn some Marathi, which is the state language of Maharashtra, which is where we are now. We're learning a few words, and everyone smiles and laughs when we great them by saying "RamRam" or "Nameshkar".

A funny thing... Everyone here thinks I'm Dr. Barve's daughter! He is married to a Russian woman and they have a daughter in her thirties, so everybody thinks that I am her!!! Some people are surprised I don't recognize them, and everyone kept asking him or his brother if I was the daughter. Hey, if it means I can inherit the farm, I'll say yes to that!

This afternoon, we rode on motor bikes (my first time on the back of bike, YAY!!) to the river and saw the Hindu temples in town. Everything here is just so colorful and gorgeous. Jake is writing some pretty gorgeous haikus about our time here, so I'll let him 'exact the moment' so I don't ramble too much.

I still can't get over how amazing our hosts have been... We're eating such good food, having amazing conversations, and they've told us to feel at home, which we are doing happily. Bombay was a lot of fun, and we had a spectacular time with Aparna and her friends, but the city was very chaotic. This place is a breath of the freshest air, and on American Thanksgiving, I really couldn't be more grateful...

High Koos

11/19

Your sari's colors

flying just like superman.

Are you all heroes?

They want to say so much,

Fruit Graffiti on walls,

but nowhere to write.

(after seeing an apple and a banana spraypainted on a wall)

Eyes fixated down.

Eyes on charcoal and cashews,

there must be a spark.

Tightrope sidewalk dance,

should I walk with or against?

Just don't get runover!

Silk, Linen, Cotton.

Sara tried to buy "Cahton".

He don't speak Jersey.

11/20

Amet (the following three are related)

A post office guide

Beaucracy at its peak

You should stamp your stamps!

A Jain once told me:

Eating Garlic kills the plant,

not preserving life.

100 Rupees.

Who knew it would make a friend,

not out of pity.

Time to contact home

Cyber cafe waiting room

at least there's AC.

Honk honk honk honk honk,

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep!

Sounds of India.

Our Phone Number

We have a mobile! Our number is 9320732898 (country code is 91) Please call us if you can as most of our phone calls are from telemarketers.

Free Hugs & CrazyTrain

We went to a couchsurf meet up in Bandra where we held up signs for free hugs in a very bustling part of the promenade. It's exactly what it sounds like (and if you want to laugh and call us hippies... well, yeah okay, it's true). There were about 10-15 Couchsurfer's (including Aparna, our host, who organized the event), 1 woman from Zurich, and us. We hugged men, women, children, and dogs! My favorite were these tiny boys who just kept running up to us, hugging us, laughing, and pushing their friends up to us. There was also a young woman who pushed her mother towards me, this beautiful older woman dressed in an incredible white sari, and she hugged me and we posed for a picture for her daughter. A lot of people just smiled and walked by, a few avoided all eye contact and sped past, but most people were really happy and gave us hugs! Reminded me of the free flower handout in Union Square earlier this month. Why not give out some old fashionedlove and kindness in the city?

Also rode the train for the first time today. I was the only woman in the car (as most, or possibly all women ride the female cart). It was incredibly crowded, and kind of surreal. Even worse than NJ transit or the 6 train at Rush hour. But at Rs. 6 for the hour long trip from Bandra to Churchgate (that's with an exchange rate of about Rs. 44 to US$1), it's okay I suppose.

Funny thing about chain stores... There's a Gold's Gym, lots of McDonalds, KFC, & TCBY in Mumbai... Apparently people go to the Gold's Gym to get "spotted" by talent scouts as that is where all of the Bollywood stars go. I'm ready to get out of Mumbai. Next up is a farm in Nasik, a town that's about 4 hours north of here.

Finally: The world is so small I can't stand it. My wonderful father is in China right now for a three week trip with our friend Doug. Before leaving I asked him to buy a backpacker a drink or some dinner sometime during his vacation. He didn't think he'd find many backpackers, but he just wrote me to tell me he did meet one on the Great Wall, and ended up buying him a beer. Thing is, the backpacker he bought a drink for is Gil Wasserman from Vassar who is studying abroad in Beijing right now. Are you kidding me?! Small, small world.

TRAVELLERS! Check out this website

Just learned about helpx.net, which is a great way for people to volunteer while traveling. Hostels, farms, schools, and NGOs post on this site and give room and board in exchange for help. Kind of like WWOOFing, but with more options besides farms. Hopefully we'll be working with a Tribal Art Cooperation in the next week!

Indian Haikus

Ok. I know India didn't invent Haikus. But it's a good way to keep the descriptions simple and not rambling (cough ....sara....end cough). I kid. This is more like the accompanying wine to go with a scrumptious meal. Robust, full bodied, and filled with terroir.

11/15
Indian airplane,
how does all this food compare
to the world below?

11/16
Breakfast

Handed a menu
You. "What do Indians eat?"
Me. "Eat a sandwich."

"Hey let me get that"
No idea. Just grab my ear.
A whole lotta wax.

11/17

Bandra festival
capoeira dancers sing
first time couchsurfing

Toto's Kingfisher,
You remind me of Dirty Jerz
Indians and Drunk.

Capoeira peeps,
We sang along to rock songs.
Did we ever leave?

11/18

"Buy this hankerchief!"
Addressed as sir or maddam.
Bazzar meets polite.

Craziness and Capoeira

Most of these entries won't be this long, I swear... We're here, we're here! We arrived after a fantastic flight with Jet Airways (highly recommended, cheap, wonderful service, awesome food), and we were met by Maruti, our driver for the next two days. Maruti took us to an apartment in West Thane, right by Bombay, which was perfect and comfortable for us as we had been traveling for 24 hours (see first two pictures)... All of this was possible because of our kind and incredible host Ravi, who is a friend of Ritchie, a family friend of mine. The generosity and hospitality here is insane.. It's going to take some getting used to (and I don't mean that in a bad way).

So far we've seen Colaba, which is home to the Gateway of India, Hanging Gardens, the Taj Hotel (NOT Taj Mahal), and lots of tourists and craziness. We posed for pictures with about 4-5 Indian families, which I was told would happen, but was still surprised when it did. Jake got ambushed by a guy who wanted to clean his ears, which was a bit uncomfortable (moreso for him, of course), but kind of hysterical in retrospect. We also took in some calm by the water at Nariman point, and ate the finest lamb in a beautiful restaurant.

Yesterday we arrived in Bandra, a cosmopolitan suburb of Mumbai (new name for Bombay, which I find myself using interchangably), where we met up with our first couchsurfing host, Aparna. It's been fantastic! We went out for a lovely lunch with Aparna and a couchsurfer from Amsterdam. (Quick note: for those who don't know, couchsurfing is a networking site (couchsurfing.com or hospitalityclub.org) that allows people to open up their homes or find homes to stay in for short periods of time during their travels. It's an incredible way to meet people and to really get into a culture and the typical day to day activities of a place. Check it out, it's great!) Aparna is so energetic and happy and she lives with her husband Roy in a really sweet flat. She whisked us away to the Celebrate Bandra parade (festivities are happening all week, who knew?) where she was marching and performing with her capoeria group (the first in INdia!) We got to march, clap, and sing, which was kind of surreal, and then we got interviewed for what we were told was "the biggest television news network in the world!". We'll see.. There were children dressed as flowers, cheerleaders, men in drag, a few floats, and lots of sparkles! The colors here are so beautiful.. Even the trucks are beautifully painted. We sat in four hours of traffic on our first night and I didn't get bored once.

From there, we went out to a bar with the Capoeira group and I swear (we both swear) we could have been in New Jersey (only with a lot of Indian people). We drank pitchers of Kingfisher (yummy Indian beer) and listened and sang along to American 90s rock (when Bon Jovi came on we BELTED Livin' on a Prayer). It was so crowded! Then we all went back to Aparna's where Jake and I passed out in her living room. Woke up today to tea and amazing aloo paratha served to us by Aparna's cook that comes over every day. This place is strange because some things are so close to home but then there are these crazy differences that remind me I'm across the world. Bandra is really laid back and we can wear whatever we want, but then we had to remember not to take ice in our sangria, or people would talk about catching malaria like it's the chicken pox.

Today we're exploring Bandra, and we'll be heading over to a Free Hugs couchsurfing meet up later tonight. More news later! Check out Jake's haikus!

addendum

Premise c: Jake and Sara have a plan (to ease the minds of parents and friends and family members) but will find that so many insane and beautiful things arise during their journey- things that open up new doors, old doors, and mystery doors with bigbrass doorknobs- that they leave said plan behind in a crumpled ball somewhere in new jersey.

Farther than Socrates

Beyond the east coast. Beyond eastern Europe. There lies, rests, frolics, and bounces an even ginormouser East. Folks, that's with a capital "E". India. We have shoes and souls, and maybe a couple pairs of socks too.

Using logic, heres the situation.

Premise a. Sara and Jake have a plan.
Premise b. Sara and Jake don't have a plan.
______________________________
Therefore: They are going to have an amazing journey.