Some Sights

Just some photos from the day. I will mention them in my next post no doubt.

India (Or at least an Indian airport)

Well I was wrong it was more like 9 hours to Amsterdam and then something like 8 to Bombay. So my mom and I have been waiting in the Bombay domestic airport since 11:30 pm on Dec. 29. It is currently 4:45 am or at least close to that time. Our plane leaves in an hour. I'm not sure how long that flight is, I believe it will be at least three hours. Ah well. My body has no sense of time or anything. Between not having a watch, (I forgot to bring one) and being thrown from one time zone to another, I'm thoroughly confused.The energy in India is amazing. We took a cab from the international airport to the domestic. I saw such a mix of cultures. Western advertisements right next to terrible poverty. It's so wild. It's hard to grasp. I feel like a camera that has been overexposed. A lot of my memories are all melded together. My mom and I are waiting in the lobby for our plane. There are tons of people here. Mostly Indian, but other foreigners too.

An interesting thing that I've noticed is the nearly continual presence of armed guards. Soldiers really. They carry large guns that are highly visible. I can only imagine that it is in response to the Bombay attacks. Yet, the security is nothing like American airports. It is pretty casual feeling.

There is so much noise all the time. For the last 20 or so minutes these airport workers have been trying to fit this large escalator type machine through this very narrow entry way. The machine is constantly beeping and every so often there is a bang as it hits something. This wouldn't happen in America. They would give up or do something else. Another thing. All the noise is meaningless, at least to me. Different languages all blend together into back ground noise.

Update on the workers. They are removing part of the handrail to make the machine fit.

Well, no more for now. We're still waiting for our flight. We don't know which gate it will leave from as that kind of thing isn't decided until the last minute. So far I love the Indian feeling.

Oh and one last update. As of right now we can't get on the Internet. Our computer is somehow messed up. So, if you are reading this you know that we somehow managed to make it work.

Departure

It's 9:47 am and I'm sitting in the Seattle Airport. We left my house at 5:30 am this morning. This morning is a blur of last minute preparation and packing. Overall we did pretty good I think. We have four bags between the two of us.

I said goodbye to my dad and brother. I won't see either of them for about five months. My mom and I are traveling to India. We will stay in India for a little less than two months. After that I will go and live in Holland for almost four months.

It's pretty amazing to realize that I will get out of a plane and be in India. I will step off the plane and it will be 80ish degrees. Meanwhile in Post Falls, Idaho it is cold and wet. The middle of winter.

To get to the international section of the Seattle airport we took a subway. Once in the train the feeling of things began to change. The automated directions were given in English and other languages. We got off the train and arrived in the lobby. It wasn't a huge shift or anything. It didn't overwhelm me with foreignness. However, people were speaking other languages. Directions over the PA system were given in English, Spanish and other languages I can't even name.

So, right now we're waiting at the Northwest Airlines terminal. Our plane leaves at 12:45 pm. It is 10:03 am right now. It feels like I should be thrust forward into my travels without a break. But the truth is there are a lot of breaks. Many, many breaks where I will just sit waiting for the next thing. It isn't a movie. There aren't any sped up scenes of airplanes cruising over the Pacific. I have to live every minute. There isn't a soundtrack either, however, if there was it would be "One more cup of coffee" by Bob Dylan. That is because I'm really tired.

The Pack

Hey. I got this pack online. So far I absolutely adore it. It's amazing. It's called the MEI Voyaguer. A company called Genuine Travel Gear makes them.

Packing

The day has finally come. I'm packing for my trip to India. I'll be gone for five months. What do you pack for a trip of that length? How do you manage to pack enough, but not pack too much? Luckilly that wasn't left up to me. http://www.onebag.com/ tells you what you should, and what you shouldn't, pack. It's a great resource. Anyways here is what I ended up packing:

underwear (2)
journal(2)
pencil case
ties
reporters notebook
extra passport photos
garbage bag for shoes
USB cord/headphones/Ipod
splitter
watch (except I forgot it)
pillow case
shorts (tech)
board shorts
socks (four pair)
shirts (3)
button shirt
pants (2) yoga mat
viscose towel
sun glasses
bandanas (2)
shoes (3)
travel wallet
belt
MEI Voyaguer bag

sinus rinse
sinus rinse packets
water purifer
duffel
floss
soap
toothbrush
cable locks
bungies
mosquito net

Altogether it weighed about 20 lbs. I also took some books and other miscellanious stuff in a messenger bag. Hopefully it will all prove to be usefull. However, I bet there is much room for improvement. We will see.

We leave in less than a month

We leave in less than a month. Yes, it's true. I can't believe it. I'm very nervous. I'm also very, very excited. We've purchased tickets and our itinerary is becoming clear. The last major thing we need to work out is what backpack I'm going to take and the immunization stuff.

Walking around Coeur d' Alene I can hardly imagine being in India. CDA is so safe and familiar to me. Soon I will be on the other side of the globe in a foreign country, where I'm the minority.

Wow.

After India I'm going to Holland for sure. I'll get to Holland in late February (I forgot the actual day). I'll return to the states on May 18 (I believe). I'm really excited to see Freek. I think that after India Holland will be much easier to navigate. But we'll see.

A trip to Missouri

Well, just returned from Kansas City, MO. Actually didn't just return, returned Sunday night. The trip was amazing, we got there Saturday. There were just around 2000 other college journalists and something like 200 other schools.
The Sentinel, the paper I write for, won two best of show awards (1st place) and one pacemaker award.
Overall it was a very fun convention. I probably drank a bit too much, however, I had some great conversations and met some very interesting people.
One odd thing about Kansas City is the size of the place versus the feel of the place. The city itself is huge, lots of big building, etc. However, during the day it feels absolutely deserted. It's very weird. I asked a barrister about it and he said that it's because it's so corporate. There just isn't much life outside of business. There was a neat covered area, which had a lot of bars/restaurants and featured music almost every night of the week. The area, called the Power and Light District, is privately owned, and features of of the most bizarre dress codes I've ever heard seen. Among other things you aren't allowed to wear plain white t's, cut up pants and frayed hats. So weird. It was a fun place, but kind of weird because it was all so controlled. There were many many private security guys all over the place.
The other bummer was that you had to be 21 to get in. After being turned away at the door I managed to wiggle my way in a back door. Yay for underage drinking.
So, I'm back home for now. We leave for India on Dec. 29. Which is coming right up, hard to believe. No more traveling until then, however, I will try to write about my trip preparations.
It is rainy and cold in North Idaho. This hasn't stopped me from riding my bike, of which I'm very proud. Hopefully I keep it up!
My plans in Holland are begining to solidify. Tomorrow morning I'm talking to Freek to finalize. Looks like I'll be living with him. That will be a lot of fun. I hope to bike around Holland, I've heard it's very very bike friendly. Speaking of bikes, check out my uncle Pat's blog. He's insane!

Off again

Hey heading out tomorrow morning. This time I'm going to Kansas City, Missouri. Should be a blast. Packed a little better this time. Meaning I didn't take as much uncecessary shit. So that should be good. Not taking my camera. Kind of wish I was but it's such a pain in the ass and you know everyone will have a camera there so I might as well not bring one there will be plenty of photos.
So yeah very tired so off to bed getting up super early.
P.S. The photo has nothing to do with anything, kind of neat I though. So i posted it.

Washington D.C.

Well hey. So I'm back. I've been in Washington D.C. for the last several days. Going into my adventure on the east coast I intended to write while actually there. Well that didn't happen. So, I think the best way to recapture the events of the last several days is to break this entry into days kind of like a diary, minus all the sappy sentimental snivilings that are so often found in my real diary. (yup i have a diary)

Saturday:
So, woke up Saturday morning at 6 a.m. I believe. I went to bed at 3 a.m. Now this late to bed early to rise thing was completely necessary. The reason I say this is because the night before I was descended upon by my friends who were quite unexpectedly in town. Actually being so tired was pretty interesting. I was forced to interact/navigate the craziness of the airport on almost no sleep. I did ok. I think this will serve me well in India/Europe. Anyways slept on the plane and kind of caught up. We got to D.C. at 7 p.m. there time, which is 5 p.m. our time. Oh this whole time I'm/I was traveling with my dad. Anyways arrived in D.C. My sisters brother, which would be my brother in law picked us up. His name is Mathew. Got to their house, Gabriel, my five month old nephew was asleep so I didn't get to see him that night. Ate a great dinner with Allison (my sister), Mathew and my dad (Chris). After dinner I was exhausted but Mathew had tickets to a punk band that was performing in their neighborhood. So we went to that.
I like punk music, well some punk music. This punk music fell into the category of punk music that I don't like. It was too loud, too incoherent and the musicians had almost no energy. THey were kind of old. But going to the show was completely worth it. Seeing the crowd in particular was like looking at a history book. While in the bathroom I saw this guy who was probably 35. He walked with a cane, had punkish sunglasses on, was covered in tatoos and wore a punk like hat. He looked completely burned out and I bet his hearing isn't so hot either. It was pretty amazing just seeing the effects of a certain lifestyle.
Wow, long day, went to bed.

Monday
Didn't do much on Monday. Walked around with Allison, Gabriel and Mathew. They didn't work because it was Columbus day, which is a day off in our nation's capital. Gabriel is a great kid. So open and awake to everything going on around him. Glad to know him. I'll be 40 when he's 20. Pretty amazing. Hard to believe. Throughout the whole week I ate very well. It's really nice traveling with your father because everything is free, or heavily subsidized. Went on a night bike ride with Mathew. Oh yeah biked with my dad. I love biking in the city, so fun and exhilarating.

Tuesday
Did the monument thing, kind of. Went to the National Portrait gallery, which was interesting. And then went to the Holocaust museum. We spent three to four hours in there. It was mind blowing. It's hard to believe that humans can be so cruel to each other. Yet we are and we continue to be. People need to go the that museum. It's so important never to forget what can be done in the name of ideology. I wish that every politician had to visit that museum at least once a year. Being there was scary. Knowing that something like that could happen in our country. In fact has happened (Native Americans, easy to forget isn't it?). I hope that if that ever does I have the balls to stand up for what is right.

Wednesday
Well i have a confession. There has been about a two week break between Tuesday and Wednesday. So sorry. However, an interesting study of time, I mean who's to say that its been several weeks? Huh? My memory that's who. So lets go back and remember what Wednesday was like.
We went to Baltimore on Wed. This was probably the most profound day for me. We went to Baltimore to meet with a friend of my dad who works at Catholic Relief Services(CRS). It's the 30th biggest non-profit aid organization in the world. CRS is located in a part of Baltimore that is seriously depressed. My dad and I had about an hour to kill when we got there, so we walked around. The majority of the buildings were boarded up. My dad and I, who are both white, were the minority. In fact I don't think I saw another white person the whole time.
You could feel the poverty in the air. It was amazing. I've never been around that kind of condensed poverty. However, intermixed with all that poverty was this profound amazing sense of community. Not my community. Not my dads community. We were total outsiders. But there was a community there. Men and women haning out on the street corners. Greeting each other, hugging each other.
I don't want to paint some dumb, rosy bullshit fake picture of it all. I don't know and I don't want to characterize or anything like that. But what I observed, what I saw, was depressing and hopeful. These men and women have been forgotten by the elites of society. They are the ones who will be kickced out when Baltimore is 'gentrified'. They are the ones who fill our jails. They're the ones who die in our wars. But they also are the some of the only ones in American society that have any type of community. It's not a nice community, perhaps, it's not even necessarily a safe community, but it's a community. Thats more than I can say. Living in my middle class, safe, warm compartamentalized life. I don't talk to my neighbors. Hardly even see 'em. My family could move tomorrow and no one on our block would think twice.
Again I've never lived in urban Baltimore, so my description of their life could be totally crazy, just the romantic ramblings of a bored middle class white kid.
Going into CRS was such a huge contrast. The building they are in is beatiful. It's probably 15 stories tall. We spent the whole day meeting different people in the organization. I learned so much about what aid organizations do. It was very hopeful. Aid organizations also have a huge need for journalists, so perhaps thats what I will do someday. Go from one disaster to another and try to make sense of it. Sounds instense.

Conclusion
Well, I think there was another day or something, however, I'm not going to even try and attempt to dredge that out of my mind. My trip to D.C., in many ways didn't prepare me for India/Europe, however, in many ways it did. It was just reinforced into my mind the importance of expereincing where you travel as 'really' as you can. Whether that be spending a day in the slums or whatever. It also reminded me that I can't be a dumbass and overpack. I took three pairs of shoes to D.C. Stupid.
Oh, yes! Speaking of traveling. We bought our tickets last week. We leave Dec. 29. My mom flys back to the U.S. on Feb. 28 and I fly out of Amsterdam on May 18. I'm so excited. Can't wait.
Oh yeah, while in D.C. my dad and I were interviewed by FSN (Feature Story News). They asked us how we felt about the economy etc. I guess it's going to air somewhere in Asia, pretty neat. Perhaps when I go to Asia they will all know me for my witty comments and insightful observations about the world economy.
Well, tell the next trio, which starts Wednesday, I'm going to Kansas City, Missouri for a Journalism conference, should be pretty fun.

Seattle

Well, I traveled to Seattle this last weekend (Oct. 4,5 and 6). I went with Katie Swanson aka Kazaam. We left Saturday heading into the west.
The interesting thing about this trip was that the weekend we left was also production weekend (at the Sentinel the college paper I work for). This was an issue as the pages I'm responsible for don't get done on their own. I overcame this obstacle by working all week before leaving. So all my shit was done by Saturday at 2 a.m.
Katie/Kazaam met me at my house at 1 p.m. We drove to Moses Lake in separate cars because her G-Ma lives there and Swanson was going to stay with her after we returned from the city.
Driving to Moses Lake I was just reminded of how much I hate driving. Biking is so much nicer. (I won't deny the convenience of being able to drive 300 hundred miles in a day, however, I prefer biking still)
Kazaam and I had a very nice drive to Seattle. We laughed and talked about camp non-stop. Camp people will understand this, non campies will think that we're insane.
While stuck in traffic outside of Seattle we blasted country music and stared at people. We were obviously from out of town and obviously obnoxious.
Soooo...
That night we went to Tom's house. Had a great time with a bunch of camp folks. Again we just talked about camp.
The next day I split from the rest of the group and went to hang out with Hannah Reid a good high school friend of mine. My mode of transportation was a bike, which I brought in the back of my mom's subaru. It's a fixie, which means two things, one being you can't stop pedaling and two being there are no hand brakes or brakes period. The only way to slow down, short of hitting something, is to resist the forward momentum of the back wheel by pedaling backward.
Soo...
I was pretty nervous when I began biking on Sunday morning. Seattle has some big hills. It also has a lot of traffic. Well I did fine, and thanks to that experience I feel 200 percent more confident in little old North Idaho.
I hung out with Hannah for probably five hours on Sunday. We went to an excellent Indian food restaurant where we talked about her experiences in India and my upcoming experiences there. After eating there we went to Pikes' Place Market, where I bought the biggest avocado I've ever seen. It it huge and I will definitely post a photo of it. I guess it's a water based avocado not your regular old oil based avocado. I also learned that there are over 70 types of avocados. (I might have misheard that, it's between 70 and 700 I would look it up but I'm lazy so...) Anyways we went back to Hannah's dorm and tried to make a mango smoothie (we bought a mango as well). That did not work out because we couldn't find a blender. So we just ate mango. Hannah's roommate then appeared. She is hilarious and in my opinion her and Hannah are a good match.
Hung out there for a little bit longer than returned to UW to have dinner with my camp friends at this mexican place. I ate a lot that day but I also biked a lot so I felt faily balanced between my consumption/movement.
Then went to a friends house and watched Ironman. A ridiculous movie that makes me mad every time I see it.
I noticed that people are very afraid of being out alone in Seattle. No doubt it's a warranted fear and I'm probably ridiculously naive but I still feel like it's a big waste not to go out and see things. I guess it's all about where your edge is.
I only got really lost once. I was riding from Capital Hill to UW and it was dark out (probably like 8 p.m.). Anyways I ended up way the hell not where I wanted to be. I was kind of by the bay I think and UW isn't by the bay. So I ended up asking this guy where I was. He was helpful but all-buisness. I think he thought I was a complete idiot for a. biking at night and b. not having any idea where I was.
Anyways made it back all ok. Had a great ride back with Kazaam. I love Seattle U and maybe someday I will go there. But probalby not any time soon.
Oh and if everything works out I will be oing back to Seattle with Libby Redline, which would be awesome. But we'll see. I'm missing a lot of class.
On Saturday I'm going to Washington D.C. to visit my sister and meet my nephew. I'm going with my father. Very excited for that.
So I don't know if I really learned anything from the Seattle trip that will carry over to my India/European travels. I did learn a lot about city bike riding and late night Seattle navigation, both of which I'm glad too know. Unfortunately I won't be able to take my bike to India.