India II

            I am so shocked to be writing this as I fly back to the USA! It seems like I only arrived in India a few days ago and now here I am desperately trying to cram all my belongings back into my suitcase (it seems to be getting more difficult the more places I go!!). So to fill you all in since the last time we chatted, more adventures have been had, more friends have been made, and more places explored!

Mumbai is a very large city. Did I mention that before? Like real big… I enjoyed living the city life but found myself looking for a different scene on my free days. A few weeks ago I spent a Sunday at the National Park. The park sits about 30 minutes (by train) outside the city and home to a large variety of birds and plant life. I was joined by three friends Georg, Neha, and Pratik and we hiked up to the parks famous Canary Caves. I was about 4 hours round tip and unfortunately unknown to us it was also the hottest day of the decade on record….no joke. At the end of our hike we were coated in sweat and utterly exhausted.  We then took a refreshing ferry ride to the Global Pagoda before utterly succumbing to the heat and dragging out sun-stroked bodies to Neha’s house for a delicious home cooked lunch. Thanks Neha for feeding us and being our guide and Pratik for being our personal photographer!!!

            The following Sunday a friend invited Georg and I to her family farm which sits about 3 hours outside the city (also by train). I was so incredible to really get into nature for a day and the farm itself are beyond words. Mansi grew up there and they pretty much grow every fruit you can imagine from coconuts to chikoos to mangos to lemons to lychees! It is much more beautiful than the photos can convey and we spent a day and a night with her family chatting about our different cultures and eating their homegrown/ home cooked food! I of course was in absolute heaven and didn’t want to go back to the Yoga Institute! We walked through the orchards, strolled around her small town, and even visited her cousins nearby textile factory. It was complete relaxation and bliss and I hope to return at some point to “apprentice” in her mothers kitchen for a while. Thanks for everything Mansi and family! It was by far one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had!

             After such fun the thought of returning to a boring lecture the following week was far too disturbing, so my trusty adventure friend Georg and I played hooky from class one day and went sight seeing around the city with our personal guide and dear friend Franziska. Franzi has been living and working as a journalist/freelancer/communications agent in Mumbai for nearly four years now. She has more knowledge about the city and its history than most locals and was kind enough to share it with us for an entire day free of charge! We visited Dhobi Ghat (the cities largest outdoor laundry facility), Mahalaksmi Temple, Chowpatty Beach, Victoria Station (where Slumdog Millionaire was partially filmed) and even squeezed in a few fabulous markets around town. By the time we returned home Georg and I agreed that although our bodies were covered in eight layers of dirt and grime our minds were refreshed with interesting Mumbai facts and we were ready to return to class the following day. Thanks Franziska for all your help while I was in Mumbai. I miss you already!

            In between these day outings I was able to sneak in a few mini-adventures as well such as my first (and second) motorbike ride in India! A classmate teaches a nearby Zumba class and offered to give me a ride a few times. It was a great way to see the city and the class was excellent!!! Thanks Serin!! Near the end of the course a Chilean couple in our group kindly asked a few of us to join them for dinner at the local Hare Krishna temple where we all spent the evening eating too much and laughing too hard. It was such a great night and not one I am likely to forget soon!

            Last Friday the course drew to a close. We had our final exam, received our graduation certificates, and said our goodbyes. A few of us went out for afternoon drinks to celebrate and agreed it was a good experience for all even if it wasn’t what we had expected.  It felt like the class had become a family and although what seems like a thousand photos were taken, I will miss them dearly. I spent my very last day in India with Franzi and Georg doing all the last minute things one should do in India, such as eating dosa, having our hands hennaed, cursing the humidity one more day, and chatting about what we liked and disliked about Mumbai. In case you were wondering what was on the list, here is an overview:

THUMBS UP

-Indian street food

-cheap cost of living

-fruit variety

-aliveness of the culture

-my awesomely tiny but friendly gym

-meeting wonderful people

-the confusing head wag

-traveling by rickshaw

-street markets

-being barefoot all the time

THUMBS DOWN

-exhaust filled air

-traffic/honking

-construction/dust

-summer humidity

-the caste system

In the end we decided it was all worth it and we would each leave a tiny piece of ourselves there. For now I will head home to my Mr. Charlie Pants (thumbs up) and prepare for my unavoidable jet-lag (thumbs down…). I also wanted to officially announce (to those who don’t know…), I have chosen to attend Groningen University of Applied Sciences this fall in their Masters of International Communications program in the Netherlands. I am very excited to be back in school and of course to get back to the Europe for a bit. Wish me luck!!

Also, on an overly proud elder sister note, Neil has gotten a wonderful job for Red Tail Aviation as a guide pilot in Moab, UT for the summer! It is such a cool opportunity and I could not be happier for him! You go Spud! You’re the bomb!

Well I think that is all to report for now! I have a busy summer ahead and am looking forward to seeing as many friends and family members as possible! I will see all you MacNichol’s at the wedding of the century (Hoorah Sara and Ross!) and all you Foster’s at the graduation of the century (Go Kylie, go Kylie, go, go!) I truly can’t wait! Hugs and kisses to everyone and please forgive my out of touchness for the past few months! If any of you have time please send me an email about how everything is going and what you are up to!! Until next time….xoxo

India Part 1

            Everything is alive in India. Everything has a smell. Everything has a sound and absolutely everything moves. Incense wafts upward from fruit stalls, sweet aromas float out from dried fruit and delicacy shops; curry, coriander, cumin, chili powder, thyme, and hundred other spices I don’t know the names of combine outside restaurants to create an intoxicating nasal orgasm (Of course the stench of rot and filthy public urinal is just as powerful not so far away). Every rickshaw honks, every bicycle dings its bell, and every driver yells. The vendors entice, the shopper’s haggle, and the stray dogs quarrel.  The surrounding scene gobbles you up and simultaneously spits you out.  Life is constantly in motion and all the while every moment the heat, humidity, and dust sinks deep into your bones until you can’t even recall what it feels like to cold and clean. There never was, and I imagine never will be again, such an assault on the senses as Mumbai, India. It is organized chaos and it is fascinating beyond measure.

            My flight to Mumbai was by far one of the most pleasant plane rides I have ever taken! The plane was mostly empty so I got to choose a fab seat with no neighbors and plenty of space to lie down and nap.  I also watched “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” on the way over and if you haven’t seen it, you should because it is a really fun movie. PLUS the airline food was not only decent but good! Even I ate all my supper haha I arrived very late in the evening and was picked up by the driver from my hotel. The hotel was nothing special although getting there a day early allowed me to have my first Indian market experience, as I was in desperate need of clothes suitable for the climate. Let me just say, women’s clothes here are really the best most comfortable, not to mention beautiful, clothes on the planet. The tops are loose, cottony, and brightly colored and the bottoms are either baggy Princess Jasmine style pants or leggings, which bunch slightly at the bottom. I enjoy both styles equally and take full advantage…

            The day after my arrival I took a rickshaw to The Yoga Institute where I was to spend my six weeks. The Yoga Institute is over 100 years old and trains hundreds of students per year. Besides holding teacher-training courses like mine, they also have daily classes and children’s camps in the summer.  The Institute itself is situated in the far northeast part of the city near the airport. Typically in Mumbai the Western part of the city is the wealthier side and the Eastern side takes the scraps.  Because the institute has been here so long and the city has grown in around it, my fellow yogis and I find ourselves in a lower-middle class neighborhood sandwiched between two major slums. Most impressively to the south lies Daharvi slum. It is the second largest slum in the world and houses over 1 million people on little more than a few acres. If you think that is impressive, you’ll be interested to know that it is only one of many major slum areas here in Mumbai which all together house about 60% of the city’s population…which comes out to be around 10 million people in total. Yikes! They have become so large and diverse they are nearly independent cities themselves with independent businesses and power grids. Life seems oddly normal until you take a closer look at the infrastructure and realize the “houses” are made of anything from patched cement, to tattered cloth, to scrap metal, to plastic tarps and cardboard and are piled one atop the other so tightly it is unimaginable that someone lives there….and then 3 children, a woman, and a dog come piling out the “front door” and you think, my God, the human condition is truly astounding.

*Note for concerned family members: Don’t worry I have not been wondering around slum areas. The institute is quite far from the city center and to get there I have to take a train, which goes directly through this area.

            On a different note, life inside the institute is business at usual. Rise at 6am, breakfast at 8am, class from 10am-5pm, and dinner at 7pm.  There are no tables or chairs anywhere to be found and we do everything barefoot and cross-legged on the floor (writing, listening, eating, reading etc.). It’s quite nice I must admit. The food is prepared on site and 100% vegetarian and very much my kind of good clean sustenance, but Indian style. My class consists of 6 foreigners and 40 Indians so the lectures are in a Hindi/English mix and most of the time unintelligible in either language as far as I can tell. Neither our classroom nor our sleeping quarters have air conditioning and therefore in the 98 degree heat and 90% humidity my feet and ankles are usually swollen to twice their normal size….good thing no one here wears shoes….Boo 

            As far as traveling goes, the course keeps me pretty busy but last Sunday I was able to take a trip to a place called Elephant Island with my friends Mansi (Indian) and Georg (German). The heat was excruciating, but the caves were interesting and the boat ride to and from the island was refreshing.  On the way I discovered trains here in India are divided. Women and men ride in separate cars. If a family is traveling together the women are permitted to ride in the men’s cars but under no circumstances are men allowed in the women’s cars. I am told this is because during peak hours when the train cars are crammed full that the women are inappropriately touched but unable to escape due to the crowd. It is said the men “just cannot” control themselves and there have been more than a few incidences where clothing was torn or worse and women were emotionally traumatized, and therefore were just separated all together. Interesting fact….

            That’s all to report for now!! Hope everyone is doing well and gearing up for summer! xoxo

Romania

          In the USA there seems to be a misconception that eastern Europe is a delapitated desolate depressing place. Perhaps this is because older generations remember when parts were still the Soviet Union and can recall the fear of the Cold War, but it seems much has changed in the past 25ish years. These places are vibrant and alive and although there are traces of communism they have their own rich cultural heritage and wonder to show the world, so don’t discount them quite yet. If you are patient and open, the surprises that await are beyond measure. Welcome to Romania....

            After another excrutiatingly long train ride I arrived the capital city, Bucharest.  I was collected at the station by this lovely lady.  I was very excited to have a travel buddy after flying solo and we got down to business right away. Kitty and I were introduced by a mutual friend sometime ago and have been in touch though skype ever since. Turns out we get along as well in person as we do online, hooray!! Haha

        Well of course first thing's first after tiring a train ride: food. We started the trip off with a traditional Romanian meal of Sarmale (beef wrapped in cabbage leaves and boiled), sour stomach soup, and mamaliga (polenta smothered in sour cream and salt) washed down by fresh orange juice. It was probably the heavyist meal of my life but it sure was tasty!! 

       As I came to find out, most Romanian food is quite heavy.  Most dishes are salty, meaty, and include some form of cheese.  The desserts vary from sweet pastries to cakes to pies with honey glaze and cinnamon…..it seems eating light isn’t really a thing.... After a meal like that it was time to get out and move around, so we headed to Herastru Park in the heart of the city where bikes cost about $1/hour to rent. I was thrilled and we spent the afternoon biking around until Kitty had to run off to work and I went exploring on my own.

           An abundance of flower shops line the streets here as well (and yes I indulged again!) and even though I was still mostly full from lunch I managed to squeeze in the citys most famous snack, a soft warm pretzel!! They are sold from small storefront windows on every block and I swear the whole city smells like baking pretzles….does it get any better than that?! 

            The next morning we hopped a short train to a town called Sinaia in the Trasylvanian countryside.  It is a small town home to the last kings country castle.  Of course Romania hasn’t had a king since before communism so now the castle is open to visitors. The last king is actually still alive and living in Bucharest at the ripe age of 92!! The castle was stunning and so were the surrounding grounds. We spent our time there hiking, shopping, exporing the town and enjoying the quiet crisp air. Kitty was a fabulous guide and we ate more traditional Romanian foods like mici (grilled meat rolls), stuffed peppers, and baklava…no wonder my jeans feel a bit tight!

            Good thing we returned to Bucharest just in time for this!! What is it? Well the first day in the city I saw a poster on the subway that Bucharest would hold its first Color Run right before I was to leave the country.  Of course I was so excited I could hardly contain myself and I was able to sign up at the last minute. The color run is basically a 5K run/walk for any level and at each kilometer the runners/walkers are doused in colored chalk. Needless to say I was finding orange/yellow/blue/green chalk in my ears and belly button for days, but it was sooooo fun! Kitty opted not to take part but her and her boyfriend, Shageldi came to take photos and cheer me on! 

                          

        Also while in the city I stumbled across a gym where I found myself in a wonderful spinning class!!! Near the Dristor metro station is SanGym and this happy guy is Mihai the cycling instructor. If anyone is traveling through and looking for a place to work off the the over indulgent Romanian food, I highly recommend you stop by for a class. The gym facility is wonderful and has everything and the spinning classes are full of positive energy and great music. I really enjoyed myself. Thanks Mihai!!

            As I prepared to board my India bound flight I realized I was not done with Romania yet!! I wanted to stay more and eat more and exlpore more and visit more! But isn’t that how is should be? We go and travel and fall in love with a place and leave with a heavy heart and a head full of nice memories…I wouldn’t have it any other way. Off to the next phase of the trip!!!

PS In case anyone is wondering how Charlie, Jason, and Shelby are doing I received this pic a few days ago....everything looks great to me!! xoxo

Vilnius, Lithuania

            After what seemed like the longest train ride EVER, I arrived safely in Lithuania’s capital city of Vilnius in the early afternoon. As is my habit, I took a taxi straight to my hostel and regrouped. Now, before I get into all the particulars of my activities, I want to quell some family anxiety. There seems to be a misunderstanding about where I am and the dangers of being so “close” to Russia. I am receiving concerned emails and phone calls form certain members of the family about my safety that I will be swept up in Putin’s decidedly overstated “communist revolution”…. So I’ve included a map: As you can see Lithuania is surrounded by friendly countries and I can assure there is no trouble here at this time, so fear not MacNichol family!!

            Ok anywho, during my city expirations I was surprised to find the city was not at all how I expected. I envisioned communist block style housing and gray building with cracked corners and forlorn shutters, and boy was I wrong. This city is astoundingly beautiful. Communism met its demise here between 1989-1990, which in reality isn’t that long ago, so of course there are remnants of it, but more so than that, the city is a true Baltic beauty.  The old style baroque buildings and cobblestone streets give way to a large busy city center and some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered. The city is cut in half by a river and large spired cathedrals are tucked into the crevasses of what seems like every street. Fresh flower shops dot the alleys and bouquets can be had for less than $1 (I admittedly went a bit overboard…). 

            The food here is succulent and heavy on the stomach. Juicy grilled meats, dark breads, savory pastries, dense sauces, thick soups with seafood, and sweets so sweet they make ones teeth scream are the norm and it leads me to wonder why everyone here isn’t obese!! The streets everywhere smell like baking bread and juicy meat at lunchtime and a side of some variety of potatoes seem to accompany every meal. The fresh produce markets smell like herbs such as thyme and freshly ground pepper and I spent a good amount of time just perusing and contemplating my tiny purchases.

            The parks are dense with trees and tulips (my favorite flower!) and there are many benches to sit enjoy the sunny weather. What a treat!!

            I went to check out Vilnius University on my second day and was even more surprised by the University than the city. I am including another areal photo of the campus so you can see how it is laid out, but the most impressive aspects are the ceilings.  They are painted with the most intricately spectacular works of art and combined with the large courtyards and tiled floors some of the buildings feel more like castles than classrooms. There is a large greenhouse on campus and the whole place seems...peaceful, although I am sure that changes around finals time!

            Needless to say I enjoyed it quite a bit and realize I did not quite budget enough time to see all I wanted! Shoot!! But perhaps I’ll be back…. For now I am on yet another overnight train this time to Bucharest with a stop over in Budapest. I will keep you all posted on my ongoing journey and inform you immediately if there are any Dracula sightings in Transylvania ;) Love and miss you all xoxo