10 Things I'm Glad I Have With Me
(in no particular order)
01. Travel Clothesline. For hanging up our underwear, which we wash every night. (We both have only 2 pairs with us!) It's got hooks and suction cups at both ends for versatility.
02. Sleep sheet. For some reason, most guesthouses only provide a mattress cover, no topsheet. If I didn't have my sleep sheet, I'd be forced to huddle under the small airline blanket that I stole from Virgin on the flight over. Also, every bed feels a little more homey since I always have the same soft sheets to sleep in.
03. Sarongs. These were given to us by Jochen and Birgit in Leh. Mine is orange with big suns on it. I am wearing it as a scarf in the "fascinating fractions" picture. Besides using it to keep warm, I have used it as a towel, a head cover on our camel safari, a bathing suit cover-up, a pillow case, a (makeshift) pillow, a skirt, a blanket, and a shawl. Truly indispensible.
04. Ipod. When I was on the bus the other day, I realized once again that India can be a relentless assault to the senses. The aisle was full of people who all seemed to be waiting anxiously, about to get off (although the ride was 5 hours long). They were pushing and leaning on Derek. The wind was blowing in my face, and we were passing by acres and acres of desert farmland, with women in brightly colored scarves balancing absurdly huge loads of millet on their heads. Every so often, the scent of trash and poop wafted in through the open bus windows. The bus was blaring Hindi music that was shrill and on the edge of intolerability. Luckily I was able to wrap myself in the warm blanket of familiar music. It served the dual purpose of drowning out the shreiking woman on the stereo and bringing something familiar to my senses.
05. Brookstone alarm clock-cum-calculator. (By the way, Indian English uses the "A - cum - B" phrase like it's going out of style.) Thank you Meg for this xmas gift a few years back. The alarm clock serves its usual purpose, and the calculator is useful for tallying the daily expenses, which I have been doing obsessively. (Hey, it's the only math I get to do over here!) But it has also helped to break the language barrier with local kids. Derek already mentioned this in his post - I would do a sum on the calc and ask the kids for the result - the calc verified their answers. Also, the calc-cum-clock opens in this very dramatic way that makes it seem almost magical.
06. Pictures of home. Derek brought some shots of his family and their house in the different seasons. It has been great to show these to Indians we've met, since they have very little idea of what America looks like (except from movies). They especially like the shot of the snow. The only problem is we've been telling people we are married, and we don't have any wedding pictures. Hmmm...
07. Boston Globe Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Vol. 2. We bought this in Logan airport. Great for mental stimulation and for killing 2 hours in a single shot.
08. Travel Scrabble. We bought this in the duty-free shops in Heathrow airport. We have played it just about every night. Derek beats me almost every time.
09. Head lamp. I never thought of a constant power supply as something I took for granted (but then, I guess when you take something for granted you aren't aware of it). But in India, there are numerous power outages, even in the big cities. Sometimes you'll be walking outside, and the whole street will go dark. Also, many hotels do not have generators, so you need to use it inside as well.
10. Derek. I know it's cheesy, but I can't really imagine taking this trip without him. It has been so great bouncing my impressions off of him. He adds a welcome dose of reality to my idealistic notions. We talked to an American girl who had been travelling by herself for 6 months. She had planned to do a year, but she was cutting her trip short because she missed home so much. I realize that I am so lucky to have Derek to travel with me. He is like a portable home for me, a familiar face in a very unfamiliar land.
...
So we are in Udaipur, our last stop in Rajasthan. From here we head to Mumbai, to the homes of some friends' families. We are really looking forward to that! In the meantime, there are a few pictures to see of the Taj Mahal. I hope you appreciate them, because these 7 shots took about half an hour to upload!
01. Travel Clothesline. For hanging up our underwear, which we wash every night. (We both have only 2 pairs with us!) It's got hooks and suction cups at both ends for versatility.
02. Sleep sheet. For some reason, most guesthouses only provide a mattress cover, no topsheet. If I didn't have my sleep sheet, I'd be forced to huddle under the small airline blanket that I stole from Virgin on the flight over. Also, every bed feels a little more homey since I always have the same soft sheets to sleep in.
03. Sarongs. These were given to us by Jochen and Birgit in Leh. Mine is orange with big suns on it. I am wearing it as a scarf in the "fascinating fractions" picture. Besides using it to keep warm, I have used it as a towel, a head cover on our camel safari, a bathing suit cover-up, a pillow case, a (makeshift) pillow, a skirt, a blanket, and a shawl. Truly indispensible.
04. Ipod. When I was on the bus the other day, I realized once again that India can be a relentless assault to the senses. The aisle was full of people who all seemed to be waiting anxiously, about to get off (although the ride was 5 hours long). They were pushing and leaning on Derek. The wind was blowing in my face, and we were passing by acres and acres of desert farmland, with women in brightly colored scarves balancing absurdly huge loads of millet on their heads. Every so often, the scent of trash and poop wafted in through the open bus windows. The bus was blaring Hindi music that was shrill and on the edge of intolerability. Luckily I was able to wrap myself in the warm blanket of familiar music. It served the dual purpose of drowning out the shreiking woman on the stereo and bringing something familiar to my senses.
05. Brookstone alarm clock-cum-calculator. (By the way, Indian English uses the "A - cum - B" phrase like it's going out of style.) Thank you Meg for this xmas gift a few years back. The alarm clock serves its usual purpose, and the calculator is useful for tallying the daily expenses, which I have been doing obsessively. (Hey, it's the only math I get to do over here!) But it has also helped to break the language barrier with local kids. Derek already mentioned this in his post - I would do a sum on the calc and ask the kids for the result - the calc verified their answers. Also, the calc-cum-clock opens in this very dramatic way that makes it seem almost magical.
06. Pictures of home. Derek brought some shots of his family and their house in the different seasons. It has been great to show these to Indians we've met, since they have very little idea of what America looks like (except from movies). They especially like the shot of the snow. The only problem is we've been telling people we are married, and we don't have any wedding pictures. Hmmm...
07. Boston Globe Crossword Puzzle Omnibus Vol. 2. We bought this in Logan airport. Great for mental stimulation and for killing 2 hours in a single shot.
08. Travel Scrabble. We bought this in the duty-free shops in Heathrow airport. We have played it just about every night. Derek beats me almost every time.
09. Head lamp. I never thought of a constant power supply as something I took for granted (but then, I guess when you take something for granted you aren't aware of it). But in India, there are numerous power outages, even in the big cities. Sometimes you'll be walking outside, and the whole street will go dark. Also, many hotels do not have generators, so you need to use it inside as well.
10. Derek. I know it's cheesy, but I can't really imagine taking this trip without him. It has been so great bouncing my impressions off of him. He adds a welcome dose of reality to my idealistic notions. We talked to an American girl who had been travelling by herself for 6 months. She had planned to do a year, but she was cutting her trip short because she missed home so much. I realize that I am so lucky to have Derek to travel with me. He is like a portable home for me, a familiar face in a very unfamiliar land.
...
So we are in Udaipur, our last stop in Rajasthan. From here we head to Mumbai, to the homes of some friends' families. We are really looking forward to that! In the meantime, there are a few pictures to see of the Taj Mahal. I hope you appreciate them, because these 7 shots took about half an hour to upload!
posted by Liz C at 1:05 PM
3 Comments:
Tata,tata Liz and Derek. I sounds as though you brought all the right stuff (including Derek). I'm happy things are going well. I'm also happy (knock on wood)to report on the Red Sox, who have won the last two games in overtime (extra innings). The first was an Ortiz homer in the 12th inning, and the second was an ortiz single in the 14th inning. The Sox now travel to NY for game 6, trailing 3 games to 2. Go Sox! Love, Dad/Jim
Tata,tata Liz and Derek. I sounds as though you brought all the right stuff (including Derek). I'm happy things are going well. I'm also happy (knock on wood)to report on the Red Sox, who have won the last two games in overtime (extra innings). The first was an Ortiz homer in the 12th inning, and the second was an ortiz single in the 14th inning. The Sox now travel to NY for game 6, trailing 3 games to 2. Go Sox! Love, Dad/Jim
aaaaawwwww, in the nicest, sincerest way. what a sweet post.
since Jim/Dad's last message, the Red Sox have tied it up in an unprecedented recovery from 0-3. Schilling (who, I just learned, named his dog General Patton), went for 7 innings on a bad ankle making him my #1 hero at the moment. Big event of the game: A-Rod swatted a ball out of Arroyo's hand that allowed Jeter to score from first. Refs got together and changed the call to interference, putting A-Rod out and Jeter back on first. Sox won 4-2!
really, what a great message. i loved reading it (and all the other entries).
too bad my scarf doesn't double as anything but a scarf.
love,
rebecca
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