sweet endings

in a year so much can happen. sometimes retrospect doesn't really do it justice...it's what the future starts to look like that helps you realize the growth. it's not only the expectations that you have acquired, nor the places you now couldn't imagine never visiting, nor the people you know you want to experience it with, what it is just that newer part of you that carries on.
school ends on thursday at noon and i can't wait. i'll be off to bali at 11 that night. my move will happen while i am gone, so when i get back, ill be in my new digs.


ill write from the southern hemisphere, and look forward to seeing you all in less than a month.
all my love

monsoon may?

it's been a crazy few weeks of storm and rain! for the last 2 weeks we have had crazy rains and storms every night with the exception of one or two. big booming thunder, crazy lightening and monsoon like rains. so has the monsoon arrived early? i am no expert to say. i do, however, kindly welcome the 75 degree rains. they are much more human than the 110 degree heat. happy rain.

so we have 5.5 days of school left. clearly, i am very busy today. i can't wait. patting myself on the back for making it through the year in india. it;s been an experience.

i am off to bali on the 29th...going to learn how to scuba and travel the island on my own. i'm excited for my first real solo travels, nervous too. i'll be back from bali and hopefully moved into my new apt., then I will head up near Mori Village to see Eamon at the Tons River camp.

On June 18th I head back to the states, just in time to see the beautious brides Allie and Kim get married.
And heads up all you PDX people. i bought my flight, expect trouble to roll in on the 5th of july and stay through the 12th!

All the best to all my readers...thanks for sticking with it!

who did it?

murder mystery party 2008. skye, gene and kendra started this lovely tradition.
i was rosie marie, the proud owner of the juice joint where all the trouble went down. you can see we all played our roles (at least dressed them) well!
man, my life is fun.

hill stations: mussourie

they're all over the foothills of the himalayas. they are small towns that the british established to get away from the summer heat. a few weeks back eamon and i headed up there to do just that, escape the heat. truth be told there wasn't much to see, so we booked a fancy hotel and enjoyed getting pampered. hey, that's why we work, right? here are some pics from our fancy hotel, and it's fancy view(s)

we opted for a day trip to kempty falls. aka: wisconsin dells india. just picture, hundreds of indians renting swimsuit (probably more like swim wear) and innertubes, just floating under this glorious waterfall. just to top it all off, they had a 'hindola,' a pleasant ride up down to the falls.

the taj finally

So my mom and Sara came to visit last week! My mom's friend Sue also made the trip. We had quite the adventures. India is def. not for my sister, but I think she walked away with some lasting impressions:) right sare? We headed up to Rishikesh, they met Eamon, rafted and survived the (seemingly) treacherous roads. We washed away all of our sins in the Ganges and even got some henna-mehndi tattoos! What a hoot.
After that trip we headed to the Taj in Agra and then to Jaipur in Rajhastan. I thought it was a fabulous trip...we met a few great people who helped make out trip fabulous, and we did some serious shopping...it was non stop fun with a little exhaustion in between
Below is a pic of Amber Fort in Jaipur, and you know the other one....it's the TAJ!

i do believe it.

bizarro.
so i left today to go get my teeth cleaned, really unimportant to the story, but nonetheless, i walked by my flower wallah, around the corner from my house. and there was no flower wallah. there was a dude sitting there, and a few flowers, but all the buckets of flowers were gone, or lying on the floor.
apparently the government of delhi goes through and "cleans up" whenever they feel like it. last year it was called 'the ceiling' and they closed down a bunch of allegedly great restaurants, much to my dissapointment. i tried to ask the older gentleman what happened, he said something about 'committee.' an older lady was kind enough to come and explain that the gov't had come through this morning, picked them up, and destroyed the stand. apparently they'll be back after they pay a fee, but who knows when.

so, it's been a while since i blogged. i have been sick, again, and procrastinating the blog for some reason. nonetheless i went on a little trip a few weeks ago to varanasi, the religious center for hindus, the place where every hindu must take a pilgrimage to at some point in their lives.
thinh and i stayed in old town, at the end of a seamingly endless maze of tiny streets packed with people, cows, goats, and motorscooters. smells that i cannot describe wafted through the air as we miraculously arrived at our 'luxury room' at the hotel.
varanasi is an experience in and of itself. add the holiday HOLI to it, and wow, it's a trip. holi celebrates the end of winter and coming of spring (even though it had to have been 100 degrees) by spraying color on everyone. by the end of the trip i was a varanasi picasso of color. i don't have pictures, for fear of ruining the camera, but if you happen to see me soon i am sure you can see the traces of color still in my scalp and finger nails. varanasi will have to remain a story told over a beer or coffee....for now, some pics

saris and such

last night we got all dolled up to go to night under the stars. once you get over paying a bundle to go to a SCHOOL function, this was hands down the best party of the year. school was transformed into a bollywood film. red carpets, spotlights and paparazi and even a hookah lounge. it was beautiful. you can see all pre and party pics on the picture site. we were lucky that skye's maid helped us get into those saris. it is truly an art. i think the sari is just a beautiful thing. notice how all of us wore them quite differently.
i loved it.