Roman Holiday- Indian Holiday

    One of my favourite movies is the 1954 classic Roman Holiday.  It is a charming story of Princess Ann, who on her European tour, breaks out of the Coliseum and tries to have some fun in Rome away from her Royal life and Royal responsibilities. Her night out takes on a different note when she meets Joe Bradley; an American news man played by the incredibly handsome Gregory Peck. Mr. Bradley conceals his identity and plays the gentlemen card while trying to scoop the story of the century spending time with her and finding out as much information about the Princess as possible. The spend the day together in Rome, have much fun, excitement, and of course some romance.
    Since I arrived in India I have felt like Princess Ann. Sick of being confined to certain duties and responsibilities, that come with Canadian privilege, most of which are self created/established. I flew the coup of Canada and came to India in search of some fun, excitement, and a little quality Stephanie time!
    I didn’t pass out at a fountain in Rome and get taken back home by Joe Bradley, but I did get picked up by a Rikshaw driver named Jamail who brought me to his hotel property. Where I am staying is a spacious hotel room, with private bath, a gorgeous view of the town and morning sunrise, a rooftop balcony that looks over the lake and all of the surrounding palaces. All this for just dollars a day ;)
    After the Princess initially leaves Joe Bradley on her way back to the Coliseum, she walks through a nearby market place to see the sights and lives of the people in Rome. Jamail took me to a local fruit and vegetable market the other morning. I took photo, after photo of the faces, the fruit, the colours, the lives that exist there. I was so enthralled with everything that I neglected to notice where I was walking. Until an Indian woman, who was sweeping the area that I was walking through yelled at me in Hindi, much to the laughter and enjoyment of those around.
    As Princess Ann meanders around Rome she stops to get some gelato at the base of a huge set of stairs. She sits on them enjoying the ice cream and enjoying . . . Rome. For the most part I have tried to have either Ice Cream, or lassi (a sweet yogurt drink, usually flavoured with fruit) everyday. Everyday that I have my ice cream, or lassi, I am just as happy as when I was enjoying it the day before! Truly marvellous J
    A bit later in the movie the Princes comes back into contact with Mr. Bradley. As they spend some time together at a sidewalk café, she meets Joe’s friend Irving, a fellow in the news biz. If India has shown me one thing it is that there is not a lack of people to meet. Everyday I meet new faces, shake a fresh set of hands, and am welcomed by a warm smile and a new friend J
    One of my the cutest scenes in the movie is of Joe and the Princess riding around Rome  on a motorbike. While at the same time Irving is driving around in a car ahead of them snapping photos of the Princess whenever she isn’t looking. On my first night in town after a beautiful sunset at a local garden, Jamail traded in his Rikshaw for his motorbike and I got to double all around Udaipur. This must have been one of my favourite memories so far. Udaipur at dusk is a stunning sight to see. Udaipur at dusk during Diwali is a million times better! Weaving through the city; fireworks going off everywhere, strings of glittered garlands strung overhead, women at the side of every street stringing orange and yellow marigolds into more garlands and wreaths with which to decorate . . . everything. Weaving in and out of it all. I was in heaven. It couldn’t have been more perfect, more charming, more Indian.
    This has been my experience thus far. I am still missing the part when the Princess goes dancing at the river where the big brawl breaks out among secret service agents. That being said there is always the electronic music festival in Goa at Christmas time. Hopefully it wont be anything too dangerous. I am also missing my dear Gregory Peck, probably the most handsome man, in my opinion, that graced the face of the planet. I suppose instead of a 6‘7, white man with incredibly broad shoulders, a superman jaw line, and a deep, sexy voice I have a 5’2, brown, Muslim man, with a Rikshaw, and a motorbike who is named Jamail. I am sure it all balances out ;)

Udaipur: A Romantic City

November 13th, 2012

!!! HAPPY DIWALI !!!

Firecrackers going off every instant. One small BANG, two BIG bangs . . . BANG BANG. I jump in my skin every time even though I know they are coming.  Crackling crackers shimmer in the distant sky. What seems like a powerful canon going off is another firework echoing its gunpowder of fire!

Diwali is being celebrated in India, and in particular Udaipur, Rakasthan. I arrived here this morning after a weary overnight journey from Mumbai. Crammed into a tiny sleeper I took the 14 hour bus journey up to Rajasthan. I felt the need to get away from the city to get time and space for myself. Well my choice to leave the city was an excellent one. Udaipur is stunning! Palaces mark the city hilltops and are mirrored in the river dividing the town. It is a ancient paradise with much romance and charm.

Truth be told I had been second guessing my choice to come here. I originally had wanted to head to Jodhpur and see the blue city. However no direct buses were available and I wasn’t willing to shell out the extra Rupees to go by train during a holiday period. Transportation costs rise 75% during the holidays. Lonely Planet had said that Udaipur was a city of romance, again another reason I wasn’t too enthralled as I had been feeling a bit jaded in the romance department. I didn’t need a reminder, and by reminder I mean a kick to the teeth, about how in love everyone is! So after the uncomfortable hole of a sleeper car I arrived in Udaipur, which still seemed less than what I could hope for.

The town seemed dusty, dirty, and, well, a drag. Not too thrilled. I had picked up a flyer for a cheap hotel in Udaipur while I was in Mumbai. A rickshaw driver was more than happy to take me there. As we drove in his tuktuk he asked where I was from. Then passed me a leather bound journal of all the tourists he had shown around Udaipur. The comments were endless and all rave reviews. As I read more and more he started telling me about the properties he owns. They both sounded incredible and far better than the inexpensive dorm room I was about to subject myself to at the Mewar Inn. After careful consideration paying 200 more Rupees a night for my own room with private bath, right downtown seemed like a far better choice. So I let Jaimal drive me to his hotel.

Again, the far better choice. This city is enchanting. It is not a romantic city, perhaps the way one would think France to be. But the city itself romances you. As you drive through the crowded streets you feel happy and warm as if you have the love bug. You get kind of giddy and silly and you are not quite sure why. You just feel great and are happy to be feeling this way. As you wind around narrow bends and curvy streets you soon come upon palace after beautiful palace. WOW ! What a sight to see! Driving over the main bridge that dissects the city the riverside is embanked with architecturally stunning buildings. It is a paradise. You feel entirely charmed by this city. Just like that, BANG, you are in love. The city lives up to its reputation and you are head over heels in the midst of it! Diwali provides the celebratory backdrop for your new found love interest ;)

Dearly Departures ;)

I arrived in Mumbai tired, a little worn out, and very sleepy. I had arranged to stay with a couch surfer here in Mumbai, however, the time that I was to arrive didn`t work with cultural mores. So I decided to hang out at Mumbai International until I was able to get a taxi and head to my destination. What to do at 1am, Mumbai time, when stuck in an airport without WI-FI, or a cell phone??? Well for starters you can charge your laptop while testing out your new new outlet adapter, which btw was successful! You can also write, which is exactly what I came here to do:)
My dilemma was such: I had at least 7 hours to kill. I didn't want to leave the airport because I didn't know where to go, or what to do. Also, I was a little frightened to leave the airport at 1 in the morning. I also needed to get internet access as I had not written down my hosts' address or phone number. I couldn't get any networks at the first location I sat down at in the airport. I ventured further. Well actually I tried to get into the Departures area. This was my plan all along. If I get into departures, there is sure to be WIFI, an internet cafe, food, bathrooms, and potentially a place to sleep for the time being. It was a good plan. Except that they try and keep out free-loading foreigners who are not actually departing by plane to another city. Whoops:S I tried to convince everyone that I needed to get into the Departures area so I could buy a plane ticket to another locale, but this strategy didn't work. They redirected me towards the booths where you can purchase a plane ticket, in arrivals, where I had just come from.
In the arrivals hallway I pulled out my laptop to see if there was in fact a WIFI network I could access. Success! My computer finds the Mumbai Int'l network!
Fail! You need to enter in a local cell number to access it:( Or head into Departures to the Security Desk and get an access code/password! "Good grief" as Charlie Brown would say!
So now what? I had remembered seeing a hostels booking place in arrivals. I thought that might be a good place to get information about WIFI. If anyone would be looking for WIFI it would be idiot foreigners who didn't write down crucial information before leaving the country. The hostel place was actually a "Budget Hotels" booking booth. I explained the situation to the guy that worked there. Without a second thought offered to help me out by using his cell phone number. Yay!! At first unsuccessful, however a connection was established and I was able to access my accounts and get my host couchsurfers' address and phone number :)
That was the easy part. The hard part was keeping myself entertained and awake for the next 6 hours until it was morning and I could actually leave the airport :P

Scentual Overload

Monday November 12th, 2012

I sit in a very crowded Starbucks drinking an iced lattes writing on my laptop and soaking up the free wi-fi. Somehow this doesn’t scream the essence of India that I came here for. That being said I am in India and this is a part of it!

It is my third day here and I am settling in. One thing I have always appreciated about myself is that, for the most part, I can feel at home anywhere. The first time I walked around the streets in Guatemala City I felt at home. India has a similar feeling. Everyone said I would have a culture shock, granted there is a drastic cultural difference, but I anticipated a lot of what I have seen and am seeing.

I think a large part of the culture shock are what your senses experience. Instead of just hearing about what it is like, or seeing images, it is a full body download into your other senses. Your nose picks up scents entirely unfamiliar and sometimes extremely uncomfortable. Mumbai’s scents are ripe with life and death. On the one hand the air is rich with incense, fresh flowers, and sandalwood. While on the other hand it is drenched with the smell of urine, garbage, and rot. The first day I was here I was overcome with incense and I remembered one of my history teachers teaching us about the France during medieval times. The wealthy/royal class had little to no access to fresh sources of water, such as rivers, streams, etc. Because of this the French came up with the best perfumes and colognes as a means of masking their odorous scents. I wondered if the same was true with India. Creating the most magnificent incense as a means of masking/disguising the all too fragrant streets of city life. Just a thought ????

Four Months in India COMMENCE !!!

Here I am at Calgary International waiting to board my first of two planes on route to Mumbai, India. I said "Mumbai" to the KLM ticket agent and instead of giving me a reassuring smile he gave a frown, furrowed his brow, and said "BOMBAY"!  Apparently my attempts to be culturally sensitive and thoughtful about the city name change was not appreciated :S Whoops!

I was recently at dinner with some close friends, and was given some good food for thought, as well as some good food . . . and wine ;) My friend said that the next trip he is going to take he wants to plan way way way in advance. The reason being is that he enjoys the anticipation of the trip as much as the trip itself. I really liked this idea and decided to use it as advice in helping me ease into this trip. Despite the fact that I have, pretty much, always wanted to go to India, and have been super excited about this trip certain fears, doubts, and nerves do, and have, popped up! That has been an experience in and of itself. Watching myself go through the motions as I prepare for this experience. Trying to keep myself calm when panic hits. Trying to keep myself level headed and clear in terms of planning and organizing. Not wanting to let it all go or give up when it feels all too real and all too scary. It is safe to say that my body has been producing exorbitant amounts of adrenaline over the past month, maybe even two. Caffeine has been my downfall as it provides a perfect point of comfort and calm, while at the same time triggering my nervous system, propelling my anxiety levels even further, and driving me towards a nervous breakdown. Funny how such an oxymoron of a pacifier can exist ;)