One day at a time-or maybe half a day around the world

THE WHOLE INDIA THING AND COMING HOME EARLY

travelmitzvah-global — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:55:00 GMT

The whole India thing!

It very well could be my fault for the initial opinion of the place …almost. I had found a guide age 19, and told him I was on a small budget. He was so frugal with my money that I FINALLY HAD TO commit to something out of my price range just to survive for a few days.

The initial landing and meeting of our guide at The Locknow Airport was a mistake. I realized it after going to the large International airport in Delhi which was Number 4 for International Terminals in the world I am told. Locknow, like Alexandria, Egypt were best described as TOILETS. I heard that from an Egyptian and I must say, it was a great description.

Picture this: we are coming off the brand new FlyDubai plane in India, and we are being met by a large bus with no doors over 15 years old, rusted, missing windows at 2:15 am, we stand in line for customs amongst 45 Indians in a line to be designated for women and children only to be turn taking with the pushy men who wanted through the special line as well.

That experience is followed by a Tuk Tuk ride from a man ( with no teeth) for 10 minutes in the cool air down the dirty smelling streets of urine and trash, to a hotel with a 1 star rating for the first night. The morning brings no hot water for a shower, a walk down the roads past men spitting and snorting, not haven eaten for over 14 hours, as well as urinating men on walls and bulls on the street, among dog poop everywhere and anywhere, large puddles of muddy water to walk over which you had no idea what was in it as well as stepping over trash piles of garbage constantly. The dogs have mange, the children are persistent beggars, and the smell of the street food can turn any stable stomach to its weakest moment.

If I had just taken a Tuk Tuk to the train station, gone to Delhi and skipped the train ride from Locknow to Agra with 8 Indians with three meals in the same open cabin as ours as well as next to the toilet, not gone to sit on the train bench that had dog poop on it, not walked down the road to The Taj Mahal with 3 Indian men snorting and spitting, I just might have had a better start to India. I saw the Taj from climbing a hill next to the gate which was spotted with cow dung from a distance as the Taj is closed on Fridays.

I then traveled 6 hours by Taxi into Delhi for 5500 rupees. As we pulled in the parking lot, Hannah rose up from laying down, raised her arms and loudly said…Stop the Car, Stop the Car…she proceeded to run over to the bush, under a tree to let loose what little she had. We went to our Guides house to find a typical Indian home filled with incense, spice, and an eastern toilet as well as community sink and toilet that seemed to have never been cleaned. We joined the family around a table similar to Egypt where we sat with a tablecloth of newspaper. We shared a tasteful meal. Hannah was beginning to hit rock bottom for the night and I was thankful she had just an apple and white rice. The following 8 hours were spent with vomiting and diarrhea as we lay on a bed that was no softer than a board.

I searched throughout the house for bags for Hannah to vomit in so she would not have to use the communal toilet, we used all the Kleenex we had bought, we sprayed perfume whenever the door was opened and searched the internet for a hotel .That morning we gathered our wet clothes off the clothesline from outside, asked for a towel and bag, and entered the taxi in the street as Hannah kept her head in the bag for 15 minutes to the hotel.

We entered the hotel with Hannah still having her head in the bag and I proceeded to ask to see the room. It was decent and did not have the typical moth ball smell that most 1 star room’s have. We took the room and for 2 days Hannah never left the room that was sealed from smells under the door with a gray towel. The sheets did not fit the bed but luckily we had our silk bed sheets, and the blankets were old tan colored army blankets made of scratchy wool. Things were looking up as long as we didn’t open the door and Hannah did not eat anything for almost 6 hours. I went to get medicine for vomiting and was so happy that the pill was no larger than tic tac. We tried making an Electrolyte drink but found the taste disgusting so I gave Hannah an ounce of water and one cracker every 30 minutes till we made some substantial progress in keeping things in the body. I was thankful (somewhat) that Aunt Terry had nursed me back to health one time at her house as I remembered the measure ounce of coke and one saltine routine from her practice. We were thrilled to find a flat screen TV in the room and several English speaking channels to occupy Hannah’s experience in India.

Hannah felt comfortable on day two so I left her locked in her room so that I could get something to eat. I went with TREE real name Tarun (our guide) to a Pizza Hut. I drank an ice tea with peach flavoring which was a mistake. It did not come in a bottle and had ice. I made it home to the hotel after the first bout in the men’s room at pizza Hut. It was another start of diarrhea which started 14 days ago in Dubai. I had enough. The thought of public bathrooms (if I was lucky) as well as just coming out of the men’s room at pizza hut as they only have one toilet and the girl’s was filled was vivid in my mind. I had to wait 15 minutes for the hot water to come from the boiler in my hotel room and when it did I was elated to say the least. What we take for granted.

On day three she ventured out with a shawl across her mouth and nose as well as a fresh spray of perfume in her coat. She carried the bottle of cheap perfume we bought in Turkey and sprayed the car every time the window was opened or door. We did a drive tour of Delhi’s heritage sights as Hannah piped up from the back…No we can’t get out, I can’t do it. Our pictures are through the windows as we drove to the airport to travel 30 hours to come home.

Getting in the airport was relatively easy and it reminded me of the nice airport in Bangkok. We entered the duty free shop to find that we had to have American dollars not Indian Rupees’. We looked for an ATM but was told that they were on the other side of security with the money exchange window as well for our rupees so we were out of luck. Later we found that our last 1500 rupees could buy us a few snacks for the plane and Mom a coffee Latte. We entered the plane three hours later and found our seats. Much to our dismay, within minutes of seating down in our seats, the man behind our seat starting hacking and snorting about every 10 minutes for about 45 minutes till he fell asleep with a loud snore. I stretched the blanket I was given over the cracks of the seat so the germs might be caught by the blanket. It wasn’t long till the flight attendant came to us and offered us to move to a better location. I didn’t even ask to be moved which is hard to believe…but that tells you how bad it was from the airlines point of view.

We are traveling on our last leg from Paris to Atlanta and we are seating in the last two seats next to the toilet. I cannot believe the luck of pot we have seemed to have on this India leg. I must confess when I was offered Champagne and wine free of charge on this plane I eagerly accepted. I am sitting next to a man from Cuba and his wife is Indian. I would love to find out how that came to be but his English is very limited. I will just have to let that question pass and hope for the best. Hannah is starving. I have begged for 4 tangerines as well as coffee, water, and Pepsi. The movies aren’t bad but two 9 hour flights back to back have made a little difference in the shape of my derriere.

I can find many, many pleasures on this plane. I am very happy to be on this plane and I am happy to be out of third world countries. I might think that this could have been different. I also will miss the Thailand and China chapter, but all in all I made a good decision to head back to the states and cut our losses. The airfare from India is really rather cheap….does that tell you something? Half the cost if I would have flown home from Thailand if this health problem had continued.

Hannah and I saw many things together that you could honestly say were priceless. We were much more involved in the everyday living standards of Egypt and India than when I travelled with Taylor. In hindsight, that is what made the turn for the worse I think. We did five countries with varied degrees of comfort. We slept on the floor, an air mattress, a warm cozy bed, a stiff bed, a bed with the springs coming through, as well as almost the airport floor in Dubai.

We lived with the language of German, Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Arabic, Hindi, (Pakistan) and French.

We used Euros, Turkish Liras, Arabic Dirhams, Egyptian Pounds and Indian Rupees.

We rode subways, trams, trains, busses, tuk tuk, camels, cars, boats, and planes.

We held chimpanzees, lions, crocodile, fox, elephant and feed bears rice with honey with our fingers.

We sand boarded, sand duned, ran with a camel, and bowled two times. I went to an Armenian wedding and danced.

We saw Harry Potter twice as well as ate in Ruby Tuesday and Chilis. We found McDonalds in every country and almost found Starbucks for Mommy too!

We saw snow in Paris.

We played and sang songs with kids in Germany, Turkey, Dubai, India, and Egypt.

We went grocery shopping in every country as well as washed our clothes by hand and used the hang dry method.

We found angels as well….first in Dubai from Muhammad. He greeted us at our hotel in Dubai with the news that we had to be moved to another hotel down the road as they were full. To be honest, when we first went to the desk and they searched for a few minutes to find our name, I panicked thinking maybe I didn’t make that reservation afterwards…so when he said he was full and had to move us, it seemed so minor compared to not have had a room at all. We moved graciously, as he drove us, walked us to our room, took us back to a corner supermarket, bought our small groceries, came the next day to shuttle us, and continually checked on us by phone only to find that we were really ready to spread our wings and go for it alone.

Our next angel came in the Mall. They were a family with a little two year old who were sitting next to us in the food court. They had nothing to do as it was a Muslim holiday EID for them so they were delighted to have a new family for the holiday as their family lived in Jordan. They drove us around the city to see Bur-Al Arab, The Atlantis, The beach, and the tallest building in the world.

We met an American and 3 Turkish men at the Desert Camp and they were kind enough to

hand deliver a package I forget to leave in Istanbul.

When we missed the plane and had to change our direction we were helped

again by another angel who sat in front of us in the airplane to Alexandria Egypt. He led us by taxi, train as well as buying us snacks for the ride to Cairo. He waited after he called our guide outside the train station with us. We helped him with his luggage as he was moving back from 7 months living in Dubai as there was no work in Egypt. We struggled with his English, but we managed and had a laugh when I asked if he was going to have our guide pick us up at his house…He made a signal/hand gesture that his neck would be removed if he came home after 7 months with 2 women. We laughed!!!

Our guide Wael could not believe we were leaving Egypt through Alexandria. As I mentioned earlier, the Egyptian called the airport a toilet and it definitely concerned our Egyptian guide Wael when he got us there. All other people using him as a guide come into Cairo which is a functional airport. He could not believe that the airport was so un-functional that the people waiting for their planes had to wait outside in the sun as the terminal was not big enough. He went to the front gate and he was so insistent that we be taken inside that soon the police called out to the line..Who is here for Dubai? We raised our hands, as well as, another gentlemen, and from that moment on the new Egyptian looked after us. He bought us the usual tea as well as met his friend in Dubai at the airport and we shared Starbucks. We left Dubai to India that same night to meet Tarun at the Locknow India airport (the next toilet).

In closing, my special time with Hannah is at its end. It is bittersweet. I know that through it all I would never say that it was not worth it. It was always a moment of living my famous line “It is what it is.” I am thrilled that we will be reunited with our family and we have a special meaning for Christmas this year..simple and sweet…and that family is all that matters.

As I close, I believe that God has given me so many blessing to share with the world, and that we made a difference in ourselves and others. So many of the people we met were trapped in their life from the country they lived in. No way to get a visa, or to move ahead for a better life for their family. We saw a lot of people who smoked cigarettes as we were with the common person. It was so hard to excuse them but yet they had found some peace from their vice. I couldn’t find a way to judge them but rather always wished they could break the habit, even though I am not sure a long life was part of the plan anyway.

Children in the streets of Cairo

travelmitzvah-global — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 06:45:00 GMT

I had to see to cross the street in a very u party it for my own eyes. The difference of culture within the act of crossing the street or being in the traffic street with their mother. It is a learned life style to cross the street with holding your mother's hand. We wouldn't dream of putting our children on the outside of traffic, letting them get out of the car on the traffic side, much less play in the street. I have to say it is defintely a cultural skill of the Egyptian. Each child knows when to move, how to move and when to yield. The car knows the speed of the gate of the walker, the angle of the traffic flow and the unique language of the car horn. The best example I can give is the story of the English family getting out of the car at the birthday party in a very quiet gated neighborhood and holding the child close to the car as if they were on the edge of a cliff. The Egyptian holds the child's hand with the child on the outside and the traffic coming straight at them and they dont even flinch. Today Hannah and I stood on the side of the road waiting for our ride like an Egyptian. Sometimes I forget where I am a cross the street only to be quickly brought back to reality that I AM IN EGYPT!

What century did forming the line begin and end?

travelmitzvah-global — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:39:00 GMT

Stand it the front and by the time the door opens, escalator moves, passport queue or the line forms in the airport we will no longer be in front. Pardon, Pardon, Pardon...universal I am hoping as it is my only way of wishing some people well! Hannah had alittle trouble watching Mom be assertive at first but is beginning now to find her way amongst the other side of line queing(sp). I am jumping ahead on our travel ..I want to tell this story that relates to Egypt even though I havent written about dubai United Emirates yet. We arrive in Alexandria Egypt after a four hour flight on FLYDUBAI. It is totally not in our plans as I missed our plane going to Luxor that left 24 hrs before. I had the wrong day. Needless to say, it was interesting trying to get out of dubai but we did so rather well with a plane ticket from dubai to Alexandria rather than luxor. Once I landed in Alexandria a new world opened again.

As we left the line to come into the small shed for passport control was unmarked as well as one huge mass of humans waiting to que. I guess most of them knew the system...pile, wait for the men to get in the passport boxes and charge like bulls only to wait twice as long right over the next section for the baggage to appear. As we merged, best polite word I can come up with, Hannah was in front of me and I was close behind. Three larger women huddled in a line, moved as one unit negotiating the space with Hannah. Hannah was neck to neck with the front woman who was using her hips and shoulders to nudge hannah to the side , the second women of the pack came in from behind to take the spot over and finish the job with the third woman tight behind for the kill. Hannah and I became tight together at the turn and noticed we needed to literally stick together to take the line of most resistance. My backpack stands as the third person in our group so we were of equal challenge. As we came together for the same spot, my beautiful daughter took heed and let the first women pass and succeed. I felt proud that she resided as she had the grace of her manners as well as the value of thinking of others glowing. The third lady spoke up right before the kill in her native language. I returned the words "we only speak English sorry" and she muffed by. Hannah looked at me and I said we use the word pardon as this is a universal word. I said pardon three times as I finally got the third word out with less persistance in tone. The last women who I then found out was not part of the three pack said Oh, So you only speak English, welcome to my country please go ahead. We were astonished.

God must have brought you to us today!

travelmitzvah-global — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:09:00 GMT

Face to Face with social issues

travelmitzvah-global — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:28:00 GMT

I met the couple informally at breakfast over tea, black olives,feta cheese and bread. I did not know where they were from but I did know that they spoke english as well as another language. While talking later in the day they told me they were on a holiday from Sweden. We commented on the weather and the beauty of the warm sunny days of perfect weather in Istanbul. The next thing I heard from them stopped me in my tracks. The were orginally from Iran. Their family of 6 left in the evening when she was 9 years old with just one suitcase and the photo album. There home was in Iran...Baghdad. The name George W Bush rang in my ears soon after and I held my head down and said I was so sorry. I felt uncomfortable for a few moments until they lifted my concerns with saying they did not blame nor hate nor think of Hannah and I as the people who changed their family, their future, and their forgiveness of war. They had gone shopping in Istanbul to buy treasures similar to their past culture. They said Istanbul filled there hearts with what they missed as close as possible to the culture they longed for. They bought a music instrument that I tinkered with as well as a mosaic box and other things.

I wanted to ask them why they went to Sweden but I did not have the opportunity. I wish I had more time to hear their story.

The other moment in the day was sitting on our bed in our room trying on a long piece of material that I saw was wrapped on Fatima during breakfast.Iknew that she was from Sudan and later learned that she was a darfurian(sp). She is a practicing journalist in the state area underneath darfur. Her beau was working in London as a bio chemist and they met in Istanbul at the same boutique hotel that we were staying. It was an opportunity to reach over, to dance, to talk, to share nutella as well as to hear her plea for her people's help with their unsettled government. She is traveling to Egypt today on the same day that we will leave for Dubai. After Dubai we will leave for Egypt and we hope to pass her again in Cairo.

Buyukada (the big) Princes' Island in the Sea of Marmara

travelmitzvah-global — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 23:26:00 GMT

It was a beautiful sunny 70F degrees day in a large ferry traveling one hour to the Princes' Islands. There a four of them but we went to the last island to find a little bit of Key West flavor of architech of homes as well as modern style overlooking the large sea. A Honeymooner's dream place with carriage rides and no cars. Bikes a plenty with cows and horses and fruits lining the streets. The gelato as well as waffles could fill your sweet tooth dreams along with kebobs bread and baklava. The only not so pleasant reality is that the only trail to the monastery is up up up up up up a large elevation climb with little reprive for a breath or lack of muscle pain for the bikers. I feel after the day we made a wise choice renting a bike although I really think the travel book should have stated the degree of difficulty like a disney ride or trek. I hated to see the horses having to gallop up the hill with a load of people and their goods.

We stopped half way up in a large shaded grass park area with free roaming horses. We shared our two clementimes with them but they contiued to put their noses in our bike baskets looking for more. Had we known we would have brought the apples.

As we rode I stopped and talked with an older gentlemen painting his gingerbread. His house as well as many others was lined with cats and kittens. Hannah was excited to take the time to play with them and I to chat with the Papa of the island. It was his summer house for many months and then will return with his wife to Istanbul for the winter.

We seemed to do well with realting although he spent 20 minutes telling me how to find a chinese restuarant in a different area then where we are staying. I don't like chinese food but somehow the discussion went that way so I followed . After that we returned our bikes and heading to a new ferry to haed back. Guess we were alittle relxed as we both fell aseelp from the rumble of the motoer to wake in a not so smart mind frame and go off the ferry on the asain side of istanbul. We didnt know exactly where we were for about 45 minutes as we went to eat and use the toilet which were both on the top of the to do list. When I found someone to share the map with me we were told that we were in a spot that wasnt even on the map...too funny. The only way to get the the European side was by boat again or swim. We did make it back after a beautiful boat ride again sitting outside the ferry with the breeze in ur faces. We took the tram back to our sto and for the 5th time lost our sense of where our hotel was. We fianlly had someone ask us if we were lost and we agreed to find help on a map and a bit of guidance. When we returned to our hotel they procededed to give us a cell phone for the next three days. We were never afraid as people are very friendly and helpful..but we were tired of walking back and forth and up and down.

connections..............

travelmitzvah-global — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 23:00:00 GMT

The word as well as the world has a great deal of situations to use this term. I must first start with the technology side...we do not have a usb cord to fit the only camera we have to the usb plug of this laptop. I have decided that it is not top priority for my funds or time so until further notice there will be no pictures..just mental ones.

Consider this mental photo...Mom and daughter in a large tall stone cavern like building with five women scrubbing numerous sized women in the buff. The scrubbing women are also of a rather large size which really suprises me as the work very hard in the cardio as well as they are in a constant steam bath of sweat. It really suprised me that they had so much extra fat on them with all this perfect sweatbox environment. Neverthe less, they knew there job very well, were very happy with continual bursts of melody from all of them with turkish sounds , maybe words. I think the catch all charm (not sure of a better word) would be that this women dressed in a unique work uniform. They wore bikinis three sizes too small.

I had to change paragraphs on that comment as I needed you to take the time to mentally see that image. I hope that you did.

The procedure goes something like this..you enter a room with a bench and are given a tablecloth like towel and a pair of shower slippers. You then undress in a room with glass windows..I guess that is the beginning of preparing you for the rest.From there you enter the cavern of stone with a large dome.You go to the side and sit near a running fountain into a bowl similar to a fountain with both cold and hot water running from their own pipe.You must take the small bowl and mix your water to the temperature you like and then pour it over you time after time after time. When your turn comes you go and take your towel and lay down on the stone slab and the massage/wash begins. It is so warm and lovely but very intrusive for some. It is so efficient for removing all your dead skin, pride, inocence,as well as any dirt you might have on your skin. You are so very close to them when you are sitting up you must for safety reasons close your eyes tightly. It is to keep from laughing as well as maybe ge3tting hit with soap or their human flesh.

You then turn over three to four times and then rinse over again at the fountain. It is then time to go in the sauna and relax with all the others. It is a great story time and also our time was very international. We sat with Poland, Australian, Romanian, and the USA. We would have been a successful very clean nato meeting.

You can not help but wonder if this was pampering or a cleaning.

time flies-literally

travelmitzvah-global — Mon, 8 Nov 2010 03:13:00 GMT

We are fine and all has gone well. OK, I forgot a few things but why would it be different here than at home. We have traveled well, stayed healthy so far and have enjoyed our time with our Berlin German family a great deal. I HAVE HAD MY SECOND sTARBUCKS AND SORRY TO SAY MY GIFTCARD FROM dONNA IS NOT WORKING.

I think the most unusual situation is with the inability to buy most grocery items at the corner store before 1 pm on Sundays. You can get in the front of the store to buy bread in the am but nothing else. Then the store owner must close the entire store from 12-1 and then reopen til 6 pm. How silly is that? How would 24/7 walmart or Walgreens manage that time restriction in the USA?

Photos: berlin 2010

travelmitzvah-global — Sat, 6 Nov 2010 06:12:00 GMT

pictures with Sylvia