Happy Holidays from Africa

We want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for family and friends. Love and best wishes to you all for a joyous Holiday Season.

(Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

The Toughest Month We Ever Loved

"The toughest month we ever loved,” to borrow from the Peace Corps slogan (“the toughest job you’ll ever love”). That was our month of November, which we spent at a 30-day meditation retreat at the Vipassana International Academy in Igatpuri, India (http://www.dhamma.org/). Vipassana is the meditation that was practiced and taught by the Buddha. It’s remarkably simple (focus your attention on the breath or on sensations on the body), very difficult (the mind doesn’t want to settle down and focus for long periods), and profoundly rewarding. The clarity, insights, and peace of mind we gained were incredible. It was a wonderful way to start our six-month journey and we were grateful for the time to be there.

During the retreat, a cyclone that blew in from the Indian Ocean grazed the area. Winds over 60 mph blew down about 100 trees at the meditation center. It was frightening at times, but fortunately, there was no serious damage and the retreat proceeded uninterrupted.

After the retreat we decided to spend two days in the town of Igatpuri to relax and get reacquainted after going through such a powerful meditation experience. It was a welcome breather before returning to the intensity of Mumbai. Igatpuri is a small but vibrant town about 80 miles from Mumbai. We took time to relax, eat good Indian food, get a haircut (Scott), and check out the various vendors, including one selling a Michael Jackson t-shirt.

We returned to the steamy, busy streets of downtown Bombay before flying to Kenya . The hectic street life and traffic were daunting after the peace and quiet we had enjoyed at the retreat. Nonetheless, Mumbai is a fascinating place, with all of the remarkable sights, sounds, and smells of India. New office buildings, fancy cars, and people in western garb are interspersed with women in saris, street people, decaying buildings, slums, and aging taxis and trucks.

The taxi driver who took us to the airport for our flight to Kenya doubled as a tour guide. He pointed out the various types of regional dress that identify where a woman is from and her position in life. For example, a woman who drapes the top part of her sari on her right shoulder is from the state of Gujurat, and a woman who drapes the sari on her left shoulder is from Maharashtra (Mumbai’s state). A woman with a salwar khamis (tunic and loose drawstring pants) is from Pakistan and dresses more modestly. The sari of a fisher woman is also of a particular style. With the westernization that has taken place in India, a man’s dress is no longer a reliable indicator of where he is from. As globalization takes hold, the loss of heritage and traditions is sad, although freedoms and opportunities probably go with it. (For more information on wrapping a sari, go to www.utsavsarees.com/saree/wearsari.htm.)

Next stop: Nairobi.

Arrived in Mumbai

We arrived on Tuesday after almost 24 hours of travel (via Frankfurt). We’re staying at the Lawrence Hotel – a humble and modest hotel near the main bazaar and tourist shopping areas.

There are noticeable changes since we came to India four years ago. India is taking its place as a world leader in business, entertainment (“Bollywood”), and other areas. “India isn’t running into the future – it’s galloping,” says the CEO of one of India’s biggest corporations. Members of the growing middle class stand out in contrast to the multitudes in the lower classes. We recently heard that India’s middle class numbers 300 million—almost the size of the U.S. population (its total population is over 1 billion).

It’s hot here – in the 80s and 90’s; and this is the “cool” time of year! India’s had a serious drought this year, and there’s concern about water usage. Mumbai depends on three lakes for its water supply, and they’re drying up. The city has mandated a 20% water cut, which may be increased to as much as 50-60% until the monsoons return next summer.

We’re adapting to the difference in climate, culture, and food. The food is easy—it’s fantastic.

Tomorrow we’re off to a 30-day meditation retreat about three hours outside of Mumbai. We’ll be in touch after the retreat.

It’s not every day that you sell your beloved house, leave a great job (Scott) and art community (Kathleen), and say goodbye to dear friends to create a new life elsewhere, but that’s what we did in July of this year. At times we wondered if we were crazy to give up our secure life in Seattle and venture into the unknown in the midst of a historically bad economy. We knew, though, that we’d wanted to move to Canada for a long time, and now seemed like the time. So we sold the house, wrapped things up at work, hugged our friends goodbye, and headed north.

But our plans didn’t stop there. We thought that, since we’d be going through big changes anyway, why not take advantage of the transition to do some extended travel before we find work and settle in Canada. Thus were born our plans to travel for six months in Asia and Africa—including India, Kenya, Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia.

Before embarking on our Asian/African odyssey, we’ve spent three months in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Kathleen’s hometown. Moving to a new country, we’ve had lots of loose ends to tie up, such as registering for health care, changing driver’s licenses, and Scott applying for a social insurance card and waiting for his final immigration documents to arrive. It’s been good to have these months to get things in order and to spend time with Kathleen’s family and old friends.

Saskatoon is a city of just over 200,000 with strong ties to the land and a more relaxed pace. The continuity of the generations is more apparent here, and there’s a strong sense of community. We run into people we know almost daily, and it’s still OK to drop in for a visit without calling ahead. We’ve been blessed by Kathleen’s family and relatives with their warmth and gracious welcoming. We’ve also enjoyed the beauty of fall in Saskatchewan. Flocks of migrating geese are everywhere, and there are even sightings of whooping cranes (still in danger of extinction). On the prairies that surround Saskatoon, fall is a magical time as families and neighbors work together to harvest the wheat, barley, canola and other crops that stretch for miles and miles.

Now, our pre-trip time in Saskatoon is coming to a close as our October 26 departure date to Mumbai, India, fast approaches. With this blog we hope to share our adventures with our friends and family. We’ll post “snapshots” of our experiences as we visit new places and meet new and interesting people. We hope you enjoy it, and thanks for sharing in our adventures as we go on our way...