Something for me

It's been hard for me to be out of work for so long.  I've worked since I was 16.  I loved my job in Denver but quit last February to follow my heart to Houston.  This brought on a new set of personal issues.  I value my independence.  As easy as Glen makes it, I hate being so vulnerable and reliant on someone else financially.  I've also realized that as much as I tried to make nursing a small part of my life (3 days a week, can't beat that!), it really is a big part of who I am.  I love nursing.  I love every single dirty, wonderful, thankless part of it.  I'm a nurturer at heart.  If there's someone in need, I want to be there.  Maybe it's not all so altruistic...after all...it makes me feel good about myself...that at least I tried in some small way to make the world a better place, however insignificant that may be.


With the hassle of job availability, lack of the Hindi language, work visas etc., I have yet to find a nursing job here.  But I feel like my brain is going to mush and I need some mental stimulation.  So I decided to gear my search towards volunteering.  I found a Mother Teresa orphanage in Delhi so I went to check it out.  I walked in fully expecting to see a bunch of doe-eyed, cute, parentless kids...arms out-stretched for a much needed hug.  Instead, I found myself in one of the most emotionally challenging situations I have ever put myself in.  Turns out this particular orphanage houses severely mentally and/or physically handicapped kids.  Arms were outstretched only if they had them.  Some of these sweet kids didn't have eyes or were polydactyl.  Their bodies malformed with their heads cocked off to one side.  Many of them didn't have much control over their motor movement.  Severe lack of speech.  It was gut wrenching.  Still, I signed up for it so I sat down to play with some of the kids.  There was a peg board on which you had to put the correct colored shapes on the correct color pegs.  Akeel, the first boy I played with was a rockstar at it.  He couldn't speak and had use of only one arm but boy, he knew if I put the wrong shape on the wrong peg.  He would immediately take it off and put it in it's right spot.  He was so smart given his limited capabilities.  You could see it in him.  I (for reasons I don't know) started making airplane sounds when lifting the shapes to make them 'land' on the peg board.  He found this quite amusing and started mimicking the noise I made.  Then he would giggle....which brought relief to my heart.  He could feel and show emotion.  Unlike a baby girl I later held, who lay there lifeless in my arms.  Her eyes wouldn't track...she would just gaze off...to who knows where.  It was a sad day.  A humbling day.  I have to be honest and say that I'm not sure how often I will be back, if I will be back at all.  I'm doing some personal reflection on if I can handle it emotionally.  I'd hate to start up in these kids lives only to disappear because I can't cope.  They don't need that.


On a lighter note, I found a yoga studio that I love.  What better place to practice yoga than in India?  I've only been to 3 classes and am still sore after each and every one of them.  Yoga kicks my ass.  But it also provides me with a center.  The first day I couldn't focus because all I heard was the honking cars outside.  Surprisingly on the 2nd and 3rd days I was so focused on my breathing and my posture that I forgot honking was even going on.  This gives me hope because I need to learn to meditate and clear my mind.  It's physically difficult but I find that if you really breathe through it properly it is energizing by the end of the class.  Favorite position?  Corpse pose.  That's what gets me through the class is looking forward to the end.  I also love my sweet Indian yoga instructor Bindiya.


So now I have a few things to do besides play 'housewife'!  Not that I don't like that role.  I love baking chocolate cakes and carrot cakes!  A fulfilled Jenn is a happy Jenn.  And I'm pretty sure that a happy Jenn makes a happy Glen.  =)  

Jaipur

India has lots of holidays.  Every other day is a holiday.  This past weekend Glen got Friday off so we took advantage of it and did a weekend trip to Jaipur.  Jaipur is part of the 'Golden Triangle' that a lot of tour groups do.  It includes Agra and Delhi.  The 4.5 hour drive was almost as fun as anticipating our destination.  Glen and I felt like kids in the backseat of the car.  Normally on a road trip I fall asleep within at least 20 minutes of the drive.  But there was so much to see.  So much to take in.  Traffic wasn't bad once we got out of the city.  But still there was the craziness of Indian drivers all over the place.  Rules aren't enforced so we find ourselves facing oncoming traffic in our lane.  There are also motorcycles, trucks (lorries in England), bicycle rickshaws, tuk tuks packed with 20 people clinging on for dear life, camels, goatherders herding their herds...ha ha...that sounded funny...or stupid...whatever.  Closer to Jaipur the terrain resembled mountains.  Not quite as big as what I'm used to in Colorado...more like a cross between a mountain and a hill.  Still nice that is wasn't flat the whole way.  We took a pit stop for a quick bite and a pee.  I stumbled upon my first 'squatter' toilet that had no toilet paper.  I think I'm supposed to squat over the hole, use the cooter sprayer, then flush.  My imagination gets the worst of me so I turned around back to the car.  I'm so glad I packed a roll of toilet paper!  And I found one single 'western' toilet that I ended up using.  Wow, now you know my bathroom habits.  

Jaipur is crazy.  Overstimulating, loud, hostile, bustling, boiling, dirty, smelly crazy.  Yes, Katie Perry and Russell Brand just got married there.  Maybe they saw something in Jaipur that I didn't.  On the bright side...there is loads of shopping to do there.  If you can stand the hassle and the bargaining, the shopkeepers dragging you into their shops 'just to look, you don't have to buy'.  This is also the place to buy gems...but I didn't.  =(  We snapped a few good photos of the locals...always trying to savor the moments.  We found in Jaipur that some of the locals LOVE to have their picture taken...which we did...several times.  They will tap you on your arm and make the motion to take their photo....ask to look at it on the replay screen....smile...and walk off.  A few parents will ask if you'll take their kids picture.  I'm not really sure why this happens.  But it is a great way to get photos!

Jaipur's landmark architecture pieces are the Wind Palace, City Palace, Jantar Mantar  (there are a few of these observatories scattered throughout India, each one is a little different, all equally awesome so far), and Amber Fort.  On our way to Amber Fort we learned we could ride elephants from the parking lot to the fort about a quarter of a mile away.  It was an experience of a lifetime!  I would have paid anything to see Glen smile like that.  Elephants are his favorite animal and you can imagine his giddiness when he was invited to hop on.  It's one of those moments when you think "Is this really my life?  Am I really here doing this amazing thing?"  

Here is our photojournalistic vomit:

i have to disagree slightly with the future mrs parkes.  i love jaipur, i was there in 2007 for a couple of days an loved it then.  yes its a mental place, and yes, more than 2 days will send you insane, but its so alive, crazy, busy bustling, but so so alive.  great shopping, good touristy things to see, the amazing observatory is a sight to behold, the worlds biggest sun dial accurate to 2 seconds...and older than the united states.  amazing place. love love jaipur...for a visit i hasten to add. makes delhi look like a quiet backwater haven.  and yes...a hge highlight was the elephant ride, not just for the token ride, but the fact that there were dozens of them, all waiting in the 'elephant car park'...literally dozens of these huge beasts...it looked incredible.



 

Rest stop for she's and he's

Oh joy, I get to pee all over myself.



Cool thing in the water.



Snacks



Stuff



Chai tea

Glen's cool photo

Grains

'Please take my photo'

More grains

Cheeky flour maker

Another 'Please take my photo'

Wind Palace

Close up of the architecture

Another photo op

City Palace

Jantar Mantar

Astrology by some famous Ph.D. dude

The happy chappy!

Amber Fort

Stop for just a second...

...and get bombarded by kids

   



They were so happy =)

Meat

To go grocery shopping I have to go to the store to get staple items like cereal, I.N.A. market for produce, aaaand the butcher's for meat.  This grosses me out.  It's nice to get fresh, unprocessed meat but I hate seeing it and I hate handling it.  It's almost enough to make me go back to being a vegetarian.  Almost.

Mmm...head, feet, and lungs

Pretty cool.

We've been graced by the company of a few parrots in the morning.  They sit on our ledge and squawk so it's hard not to notice them.  Plus they are quite the stand out from the normal gray pigeons that hang out in a tree near to us.  How cool is that?  Wild, green parrots!  And at night the geckos come out.  We think the bugs are attracted to the bright indoor lights and the geckos like bugs so we get to witness them having dinner every night.  How cool is that?  i would never have thoughtid have wild parrots on my window ledge.  and i really want those lovely gecko's in the house!  what is also cool, is that we do not have any evil monkeys around our house...evil evil things

Meet Peter, Paul, and Felipe

I'll shop to that!

What do we do when I start to feel better?  Shopping!  At Dilli Haat you can get lots of STUFF!  Rugs, shoes, art, sarees, every few weeks there are different artisans from different parts of the country.  It's awesome...and pretty cheap.  Really cheap if you have Glen do the bargaining.  We ended up with 2 huge rugs and some outdoor lounge chairs.  And we're planning to go back as you can never have enough stuff.  Unless you're my Mom.  She has way too much stuff.AAAAAhhh dilli haat...one of my favourite places. getting quite good at this bargaining lark.  we have even agreed signals between us to denote when one of us likes something but we say we hate it just to lower the price.  obviously, for a bargaining position, if you say you like something, your position is compromise, so if one of us really likes something and really wants it, you will say "i dont really like it...its like the one that katie has'...then we shake our heads, tut, then begin to walk off....at which point, the price that you offer is acceoted (sometimes as low as 70% off the asking price).  now...this is all when and good if both of you remember the code word...however, sometimes when SOMEBODY WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS forgets the code, then you end up sitting in a mattress store in town having the following arguement and cross stares...(lets use random colours to denote the people speaking...of course, totally random colours)
someone - "what do you think of this mattress?"
someone else - "im not sure, its way too expensive, i dont really like it, its like the one that katie has"
someone - "what do you mean? katie who?...how the hell do you know what mattress katie has?"
someone else - "nooooo *hard stare*...kaaaatttiiieeeeeee  *wink*"
someone = "katie who? WHO"s KATIE? katie from newark?  how have you seen her mattress??"
someone else - "nooo  *harder stare*..i-t-s- l-i-k-e- t-h-e- -o-n-e- K--A--T--I--E' has"
someone - "i have no ideaaaa-oooohhhhhhh k-a-t-i-e-...aaahhhhhh..right.  ok, thanks, we'll take it"
i kid you not...true story

Random Glen photo =) 

  


  

CommonWealth Games

I didn't even know this existed but apparently there is a thing much like the Olympics but smaller.  Kinda like the Big Mele...Hawaii's version of Lollapalooza.  This unknown event happens every 4 years spaced between the Olympics.  Formerly known as the British Empire Games, the requirement for participating in an event...get this...the country had to have been governed or ruled by England at one point in time.  Damn world power.  Thankfully these are now independent sovereign states.  The Games gives little known countries a chance to participate in a world sporting event.  Still though, I don't see Samoans running the 800m race. 

The news leading up to the big event was nothing less than shameful.  Delhi had 7 years to prepare the city for the Games.  But still, as the Games had already proceeded there was much work to be done.  Construction was delayed because of the monsoon season.  Thousands of beggars still needed to be 'relocated'.  The Games Village where the athletes were to be housed had dog feces on the beds, bathrooms soiled, and even snakes were found slithering inside the rooms.  The claim was that the cleanliness and hygiene standards are different for westerners than they are for Indians.  I'm sorry but last I checked...not too many Indians are keen on sleeping on a bed of dog shit.  The news speculated corruption of the organizing committee with everybody pointing fingers at one another.  No one willing to take responsibility...which is typical of Indians we're learning.  There's always an excuse for something not happening on time.  It's quite frustrating to witness and be a part of.

Of course the whole thing piqued our curiousity so we just had to go.  Our lovely, new friend Jeremy was kind enough to get us tickets....at the furthest entry gate known to man kind.  We all met up at Gate 14...right next to the main stadium.  Like, right next to the stadium.  But lo and behold...our tickets said we had to enter Gate 6.  Which was abruptly placed...in no logical order...about a 4 mile walk from where we were standing.  It's one of those things where 'you just had to be there'.  We started our little jaunt all happy that we had made new friends and we were going to witness the CWG.  We were circumnavigating the stadium looking for the next gates...17, then 9, then...a detour that made us walk away from the stadium.  If there is a time to insert a 'double u - tee - eff then now is the time.  WTF?!  An hour and a half later we walked through security gates then finally were making our way back towards the stadium... *sigh of relief*.  Another half an hour and we were at another set of security gates but this time at the actual stadium.  We're still trying to make sense of the round-a-bout detour.  I was quite a grumbly girl by the time we sat down to watch people run around a track and fling themselves into sand pits.  To top things off we weren't allowed to eat or drink at our seats.  We had to smuggle in water because although it is 'autumn' it is still blazing hot here.  

I can't say I'd ever go to another Games again.  As I can now say that we did.  It could possibly be that Delhi has ruined it for me with their lack of preparation and their following boastfulness that the Games were a success...simply riding on the fact that the Opening Ceremony went off without a hitch.  I guess it's the cover-up mentality.  They are even saying that Glasgow (the next site for the Games) has a tough act to follow.  Puh-lease!  I'm beginning to think the Organizing Committee is delusional.  

Anyways...it was an experience to partake in and I'm glad we did.  We're told the city is cleaner than it was before.  Which is a shock because by western standards it is still a filthy city.  But it's good for Delhi.  Let's just hope they can keep it up.  And let's not forget...we made some new friends and those are hard to come by.   For everyone else in the world who has heard of the commonwealth games (ahem), this is a big deal, but unfortunately the games have now become nothing but an example in my work presentation slides of what is wrong with india (dont get me wrong...there are many many things right with india), but the commonwealth games fiasco is synonemous wtih things that happen every day in work when working with most indian suppliers, the mentality that no planning is needed but it'll turn out ok in the end.  the whole games were a farce, ceilings collapsing, brisges collapsing, unfinished projects, apathy yet still with the hope that no one will notice with a gloss of paint.  the lack of ownership - which im told by the indian press - is a cultural thing was summed up by an interview with the head of the games who said that 'it was no her responsibility to make these games go well, i am just a cog in the wheel'.  awesome.  we have a sister function/plant/company in China, and my counterpart is ironically called Glenn, we talk most days about india and china, and the differences are startling.  India is very much a democracy (with often too much talking/voting), yet china is a non democratic government, and the development of china v india is incredible, things in china just 'get done'...here it just gets talked about.  dont get me wrong, im not condoning many of the practices of the communist government, but if you imagine that india spent more money on the crappy commonwealth games than china did on the beijing olympics...then that says it all. 

Construction still going on!  Shameful!

The back of Jeremy's (our new friend) head.