"We'll open the window so you can hear how polite everyone is during the merge."

[For the beginning of these adventures, or Why Is Erica in Canada, see here.]

So, I went to Canada, eh?  I drove up to Vancouver, got a stamp in my passport, and met up with some friends I met last year at Stockton Folkdance Camp.  They are an amazing couple and their house features a living room that looks out onto the harbor... and as soon as I walked in and sat down on their couch, I declared I was never leaving.  

Of course, moments later I was whisked off to a quick tour of the city, a walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge, a visit to the hatchery where we saw actual salmon JUMPING up the ladder (awesome), a ride up Grouse Mountain on the aerial tramway cable car funicular thing and then an even higher ride up on the chairlift, and then we went even higher higher up to the Eye of the Wind, which the webpage says is "the world’s first and only wind turbine that allows you to stand in a clear glass viewPOD at the top of the tower, three metres from its massive, rotating blades."  Breath-taking and fabulous. On the way down, we saw some bears. Then dinner, ice cream, and we stayed up talking in that greatest-living-room-ever until 2 in the morning.

The view OF the Eye of the Wind

The view FROM the Eye of the Wind

The next morning we walked around Granville Island while the weather was lovely, and just as I left their house to go visit some other friends, it turned overcast.  Once safely inside the other friends' house COINCIDENTALLY JUST DOWN THE BLOCK ON THE SAME STREET, WHICH IS TO SAY I KNOW TWO PEOPLE IN ALL OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THEY LIVE ON THE SAME STREET, it began to rain.  I have to say, I really appreciate the way the weather has been working with me on this trip.

The other friends I was visiting were Gopal and Radha Bello, also known as the Swami and the Married Woman, who led the trip to India I went on with my mom in 2010.  I haven't seen them since the trip, and it was just wonderful to see them and catch up and be reminded of some of the enlightening moments I had during that incredible tour.  They signed their new book for me, we chanted the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra (Om Tryambakam, my favorite!) and I drove back to the US.

I will be back, for a much longer visit.  I need to sit in that living room again.

Namaste नमस्ते - now with pictures!

Well, I'm in India, I'm having an unbelievably amazing trip, and there just isn't enough Internet access to live-blog it. But I seem to be live-tweeting it, weirdly, since my cellphone is working pretty well almost everywhere. So for the moment, here are my first 10 days worth of tweets and pix!

Namaste.
21 Oct
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A lovely morning of yoga and touring Old Delhi. Next, shopping in New Delhi, and trying to convince my body it's 2pm, not 2am.
22 Oct

Just said an entire sentence in Hindi. To an actual Hindu. In Hindustan.
22 Oct

A few hours until we go see the Taj Mahal, at midnight, under a full moon. So excited! PS please god no more buffets.
23 Oct

You know how they say the Taj Mahal is stunning regardless of how many kitschy pictures you've seen of it? Truth.
23 Oct

Sharing the road with my tour bus: Cars. Other buses. Trucks. Rickshaws, bicycles. People on foot. Cows. Dogs. Camels. Horses. A goat.
24 Oct

I almost didn't see that dromedary hidden beneath that tree. He was completely camelflaged.
24 Oct

On the road in Rajahstan.
24 Oct
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On Safari in India and people are all excited over peacocks. I'm all: whatevs. Come to @campalonim
24 Oct





Omg omg omg
24 Oct












It's a tiger-eat-deer world out there. Wait till you see the video. Omg. #India
24 Oct



Guys, I haven't seen my email in 6 days. SIX DAYS WITH NO EMAIL. No, it's ok, I'm surviving. Sort of. Barely.
25 Oct

Yes, I took those pix of tigers in Ranthambore National Park. No, I didn't see Katy and whatshisname.
25 Oct

Yes, I have been staying at the same "luxury resort" where many of their guests stayed. No, I never want to leave. But: on to Jaipour!
25 Oct

Done with morning yoga and breakfast in Jaipur. Now - elephant ride!!
26 Oct


When in India...
26 Oct
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I. Bought. A. Rug. Omg I bought a rug. In India. At the factory where they make them. Silk. Gorgeous. Omg so much money. 27 Oct Back in Delhi. So, what's in the nightstand drawer of Indian hotels? The Bhagavad-Gita, of course... and Gideon's Bible. Yes, really. 28 Oct Getting on Kingfisher Airlines to fly up to the Himalayas. Naming an airline after an alcoholic beverge? Don't drink and fly! 29 Oct Hello, Dehradun. On to one of the 7 holy cities, Haridwar, Gateway to the Gods. Our guide just said, Welcome to the real India. Challo! 29 Oct "Wait, is that the fucking River Ganges right there?" Yes, yes it is. Satsong on the roof and now bed. Back up there for yoga at 8am. 30 Oct Overheard at rooftop yoga today when in the distance, a bell rings. "Is that breakfast?" "No, the opposite; that's God." 30 Oct


A sign for @CCnono 's collection!
30 Oct
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How great is the word _funicular_? Also, how great is a funicular ride up to worship a Hindu deity that grants wishes? I love this place.
30 Oct


Yes, this is what I came halfway around the world for...
30 Oct
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Heading to Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world. Ashrams, saddhus (pilgrims), yogis, swamis.

On the way to an ashram - Chabad House!!

31 Oct

Last night in Haridwar, great group celebration (I got the Shakti award- "ready, willing, and able"!) and getting so sad to leave... :(

1 Nov

Also, kinda got picked up by one of the waiters who all think I look exactly like Katrina Kaff. Now, if only he'd stop calling me "Katie".

1 Nov

On a train, from Haridwar to Delhi. In the station, travelers, pilgrims, beggars, monkeys. And utter chaos... which somehow isn't really.

2 Nov

About 15 more hours in India. Unutterably sad.

2 Nov

What's on the menu at Mcdonald's Delhi? The ususal: Paneer salsa wrap. McTikka Masala. Big chicken Masala Mac. Filet-O-Fish.

3 Nov

Bharat!

So, as you may know, I'm going to India soon!!

As requested, here's the story: I'm going for two-week trip with my mom and a group of her friends. The trip is in honor of her 60th birthday. She's wanted to visit India for as long as she can remember and now she's finally going! I'm so excited and lucky that her birthday request is that I go along too :)

The itinerary is set by the tour group and not at all up to me. Sadly, this means I'm not going to make it to either Mumbai or Varanasi, both of which I'd really like to see. However, we will be in New Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, Jaipur, and Haridwar. I think the most free time we have is at the end of the trip, in Haridwar and back in New Delhi before we leave. I'm really excited about the whole trip, and totally open to whatever kinds of experiences the group has planned for us.

I've been taking an Introductory Hindi class for a few weeks! It's a ridiculously few hours of class for only a short number of weeks, but at least I can sound out lots of written words and I can say the most basic things, like "My name is Erica" and "I'm not a doctor but I am a teacher." You know, the usual :)

It's actually kind of funny looking at how I'm preparing for this trip overall. Do I know what the exchange rate for dollars is in the local currency, or the details of that local currency? Nope. Did I think to get an electrical adapter until, like, yesterday? Nope. Do I know what the weather is supposed to be like when I'm there? Not so much. I didn't research those things.

So what have I been doing?
First, I read Shantaram, an INCREDIBLE book that takes place in Mumbai.

Now I'm reading the Bhavagad-Gita and a book by Salman Rushdie, and the stack next to me consists of: Gandhi's autobiography, Forster's A Passage to India, A Fine Balance, and two Jhumpa Lahiri books. (It actually also includes The Jew in the Lotus, but that may be a whole nother story.)

I watched "Monsoon Wedding" on Netflix last week (thanks, B!) and I've got a list of four other Indian movies I'd like to get to before I leave, if I can find them.

I downloaded a whole bunch of Bollywood music.

Einat and I went to Jewel of India for dinner on Thursday.

And I'm studying Hindi! If I could find a Bhangra class to take here before I leave, you know I'd be all over that. It's the culture-immersion approach, don't you know? :)

Hey - you ever been to India? If you've got advice, suggestions, warnings, postcard-requests, whatever... send 'em over! read_dance_bliss at yahoo dot com... or use the comments!

Thai Foid

Ok, this needs to be clarified: in my last post (go read it if you haven't already, I'll wait here), that whole thing about not going three whole hours without eating? OF COURSE I go three hours without eating during a day - like when I'm at work, or dancing, or whatever. The key part I failed to mention is that the pills have to be REFRIGERATED (and taken at roughly the same time of day each time), so I can't throw them in my bag and bring them to work/dancing/whatever with me. They're in the fridge at home, and I'm just not both home and awake for three hours in a row without eating. See? Big difference.

Still pathetic, I know. I know.

Anyway, I did it! Tonight was the last one, and I didn't even need to set any alarm clocks or take any in the middle of the night to make it happen - I just took it, and if I want to eat again tonight I have to wait an hour. And it's nearly 12:30am, so clearly I should just go to bed...

But I'm huuuuungry!! I haven't eaten in like 4 whole hours!!

Wow, is this sad:

So, I'm going on a trip to India next month (!!!) and so I got a few vaccinations already. For typhoid, the doctor recommended a vaccine in pill form instead of a shot. I have four pills, and I have to take one every other day. Here's why I haven't taken them yet, even though I've had them for weeks now:

You have to take them on an empty stomach, which they say means 1 hour before eating a meal or 2 hours after eating a meal. Which means either right when I wake up, I could take one and then not eat any breakfast or anything for an hour, or I could finish eating for the day, wait two hours, take the pill and go to bed, OR I could just find a 3-hour window in the middle of the day in which I don't eat.

These are impossible scenarios. I have always just eaten or am about to eat. THREE WHOLE HOURS? I can't seem to make it happen.

This is ridiculous, no?