Stating and repeating the obvious: a blog

Katy tests Delicious

2011-11-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Google has gone and done it. They've removed the ability to share items in Google Reader. I occasionally did this from my personal Reader site, but did it much more often for work. Now that it's gone, I'm testing new options. I'm still hopeful though, that the Google Reader community will rise up against Google on this one and demand a reinstatement of what was a wonderful feature.

This guy...

2011-06-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

...he's got some crazy talent. I was smiling through the whole video.

"Have you taken pounds?"

2011-04-25T08:13:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, I have now gotten this question TWICE! In fact, one fellow suggested that I had "taken 2 to 3 kilos" in four days! Haha. I have tried to explain that this is most certainly not a compliment in North America, but both gentlemen insist that I look better with "more pounds".

It's easy to gain weight in a country where oil is used like water. Even when I order vegetables, they come dripping in the stuff. And I have fallen in love with aloko. They are a common side dish (as are french fries and those oil rich vegetables) and are deliciously deep fried. In attempting to not get sick again, I am trying to stay away from raw food, which unfortunately increases the amount of oil in my diet.

A petit diet may be in order upon my return - I do have a wedding to be in!

Easter and Islam

2011-04-24T11:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter from Senegal. It's pretty easy to forget that it's Easter here in Dakar. I don't know a lot about the intersection of Islam with daily life in Senegal, but here is what I do know:

1. According to the CIA World Factbook, Senegal is 94% Muslim;

2. Islam in Senegal and The Gambia is slightly different than other areas of the world. Instead of ordinary believers being directly connected to Allah, in Senegal there are intermediaries between Allah and the commoners; they are called the marabout (pronounced mare-a-boo). The marabout have divine power, and can have significant sway both politically and economically in Senegal.

3. It is not uncommon for families to hand over their young boys to the marabout under the pretense that the children will be given a good education. While I'm sure some are getting a scholarly education, it seems that the majority are simply learning to live on the street. These young boys are everywhere with their tins, begging for money not for them, but for the marabout. It often seems like a good option for families in extreme poverty; and actually many of the boys supposedly come from Guinea-Bissau. It's quite sad...I just looked this up on the internets - the boys are called talibes

4. I live in an area essentially under the control of the Layene brotherhood. Indeed, the area I live in is called Yoff Layene. Their huge, picturesque mosque sits on the beach a five minute walk from my place. For reasons I don't quite understand, because of this mosque, the power rarely goes out in Yoff Layene; whereas in other parts of Dakar, power outages are very common.

Match du Football

2011-04-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

Update: PICTURES

On Saturday March 25, I had the pleasure of attending a soccer game between the national teams of Senegal and Cameroon. Before I went, I joked with some of my Senegalese buddies that I was going to root for Cameroon, just to be a bit of a "merde perturbateur". Then the woman who owns my guesthouse told me that the last game between The Gambia and Senegal resulted in both a Gambia win, and a beating for all Gambian fans. Change of plan! GO SENEGAL!

Becca and I opted not to show up six hours early as another friend had chosen to do. Instead, we felt 1.5 hours was sufficient. The line up outside the stadium when we got there was ginormous, but moving pretty quickly. Once we got into the actual stadium, there were many more lines corresponding to the colour of your wristband. We were yellow. After standing in the yellow line for 20 minutes with no movement (the door was shut and it didn't seem that there was any intention by stadium staff to reopen it) we opted instead for the blue line. We were immediately ushered to the front of the line, for no other reason than we were white (as far as I could tell).

We had landed ourselves in the covered section. We did not pay for the covered section. Oh well! There were no seats left whatsoever, so we sat on the stairs as many others had begun to do. This stadium would fail every kind of fire regulation in Canada, that's for sure. Good thing people weren't lighting flares in the middle of the crowd - OH WAIT - they were!

The game itself, up until the 92nd minute, was not spectacular. As is typical with most soccer games I seem to watch, the score was nil-nil and the players ran a lot, and fell down a lot. But that 92nd minute changed everything. Senegal scored. I have honestly not seen so much joy and jubilation in one place. People went CRAZY. Becca and I were splashed with water as people swung their water bottles around in fits of euphoria. The man beside me, who until that point had been fairly reserved, picked me up and gave me a huge bear hug; not putting me down until about 10 seconds later. "EXTRAORDINAIRE!" "INCROYABLE!" And it went on, and on, and on. People began to storm the field, and the police didn't get them under control for a good 15-20 minutes.

It was a pretty fantastic experience. I'll add pictures to Picasa once my internet connection is strong enough to handle it.

Disjointed Thoughts and Observations

2011-03-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

I was invited to a colleague's house for dinner with her family. The father was talking about the recent French election, and the bigotry of one of the candidates. A candidate who had equated Africans with primates. Obviously awful. About ten minutes later, someone at the table said something about China. Then the kids pulled their eyes back in their imitation of a Chinese person and started talking in a ridiculous fake Chinese accent. This was encouraged by the parents with fits of laughter. I found this act racist also, and was surprised that it was fine after we had just been discussing the French attitude towards blacks. Then I wondered if I was being too sensitive? It's hard to tell sometimes.

There are no stoplights in Dakar. Why? I don't know. I find it bizarre. There are beaucoup de roundabouts, but they don't necessarily work the way they are supposed to. Often, the police are directing traffic, but with no regulations on emissions (or unenforced regulations), I imagine they'll all have terrible respiratory problems in no time at all. The pollution here is pretty, pretty, pretty bad.

People here almost unfailingly call me either "Kathy" or "Cat-ee". Somehow, these said with a French accent are much more bearable than said with an English accent. No offense meant to the Kathy's and "Cat-ee's" out there; they're just not my thing. When people introduce me, they typically say my entire name in such a way that it sounds like I am the leader of a successful military coup and am addressing my adoring public for the first time: "Now introducing CAT-EE STOCK-TON!!!!" (The crowd goes wild. In my head.)

Unfortunately, as a single female traveler/worker for the most part, it is all too easy to attract unwanted male attention. So far, I have three expressions of love under my belt. Especially unfortunately, two of them come from the young males who live in my guesthouse. This makes my daily life slightly awkward. Though it is nice to receive compliments such as "you are cool; funny; simple; not very hard" (uh...I think...) not to mention my favourite, "irresistible"!

Off to Mali for a quick four day jaunt.

Live-ish Blogging

2011-03-23T04:12:00.000-07:00

Continuing the post from hier, j'ai demandé a mon amie 'puis-je manger avec toi aujourd'hui?'. She replied 'I'm fasting', then told me to call extension 7738 when I wanted to eat. I thought she was pointing me in the direction of someone else who would eat with me, mais quand je suis revenue a mon bureau, le extension était pour le 'cafetariat'. Hahahaha. Mon dieu. Luckily, someone else overheard and offered to eat lunch with me at 1:30.

Update: The reason I was told to call the cafeteria is because you have to pre-order your food. Luckily someone pointed this out to me, and I ordered 'salade kubata' et 'C bon'. Huh? Me no know. Turned out the salad was fairly close to salade Nicoise, and the C bon was fish, rice with shrimp and various other sea creatures, and something spicy. It was Senegalese; it was ok. It certainly wasn't as good as injera! I ate with colleagues and we spoke French. When I was busy chewing or not paying attention, they spoke Wolof. Waaw. I now have enough for dinner tonight, as someone was kind enough to lend me their tupperware when I asked Puis-je prendre le riz et poisson emporter?

Pathetic

2011-03-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

After writing an email to a friend about my lunch experience today, I felt it worthy of sharing with a wider audience.

I am in Dakar, Senegal. (I know, right!?) Je suis arrivée hier. After landing in the morning, I slept for a few hours, then came to the regional office, where I will be working pour les six prochaines semaines. See, Senegal is a French speaking country. My French is not great, though j'essaie de practiquer.

Now, yesterday I was told that lunch typically happens from 1pm - 2:30pm. Alors, aujourd'hui, j'ai attendu pour quelqu'un to come and get me. No one came (tear). So instead of just sucking it up and investigating the café myself, I sat in my office and thought of various ways of saying 'May I eat lunch with you' for tomorrow then looking them up on the internets.

Excusez-moi, puis-je manger mon déjeuner avec toi? (Je suis très pathétique!)

February Weekends = Gone

2011-02-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

My weekends in February are totally booked up. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just odd how that happens sometimes. In fact, it's probably the best month for that to happen since it is my most hated month. First of all, it's pronounced funny. Why is that first "r" there? I can't help but pronounce it, though I think many people probably call it "Feb-u-ary". I wish I could. Second, it's the month where I'm really starting to be done with this whole "Winter" thing. Third, there's the whole Valentine's Day thing, which is no good. I think three reasons is sufficient. What's your most hated month? This blog has really deteriorated - it's like the Sun newspaper of blogging.

Come to think of it...I think all of my weekends are booked until May! More on that later, if you're lucky.

Also - Egypt! WHOA! I said to a friend that I thought watching a potential revolution unfold was very cool. Hearing about people dying and getting beaten is, of course, not cool; but watching a population collectively stand up for what they believe will be a better future is really remarkable. And encouraging. Think we could get away with that here? Can we demand Harper step down after his five years of tyranny? Maybe I'll just write a letter to my MP...

I just visited the Globe and Mail website (you'll be pleased to hear that they got rid of the front and centre "Reader Comments" that I previously posted about) and discovered an article entitled "Hosni goes back to the Mu-Barracks". While part of me definitely groaned, the other part was not-so-secretly very pleased with their little word play. Good work G&M!

Christmas Days at Work

2010-12-15T19:26:00.001-08:00

Today I spent approximately 2 hours actually working. Out of 7.5 hours. That's not bad. Here's how it all went down:

9am to 10:30am - French lesson
10:30am to 12pm - Working hard
12pm to 2:30pm - Christmas lunch
2:30pm to 3pm - Trying to convince people to be part of a Bollywood dance number for our Friday work party
3pm to 3:30pm - Working hard
3:30pm to 5:30pm - Rehearsing the Bollywood dance number

I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about the dance number. I think it will be pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Failure, Success and Modern Living

2010-12-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Every now and again I go through mini life crises. Crises really is too strong a word...let's say...reflections. Recently, I have had various occasions to think about success, failure and life direction in general. Life has the potential to be quite stressful in a number of ways, depending on the individual - I think one of my greatest stresses emerges from a lack of clear direction. Other people may find this exciting, and I'm sure I would think it was exciting if I was stuck for the foreseeable future in a routine.

My musings about "what next" revolve around various questions: what's important to me; what kind of skills do I want to gain; where would I like to go; what do I need to get "there" that I don't have; will a chosen path limit my chances of meeting someone; am I sure that what I want is really what I want and not an impression left by friends, family or society; etc. I can provide some answers to some of these questions, but there are still a lot of blanks.

Today, I was directed to a TED talk about personal success that resonated with me, and I think most people would be able to relate to some aspects of it:

The idea of failure is one that has scared me for years. I used to be so afraid of failure, that I wouldn't really try. The rationale being that if you try and fail, you've really failed. If you don't try and fail, you'd probably be successful if you actually tried. Totally logical. I tend to try now, when it counts. In fact, I can easily recall instances recently where I've really failed. As it turns out, it's not that bad, and I have learned quite a bit from the experiences. Sure, it's not a nice feeling, but failing is most definitely a part of life. And it should be. As Alain de Botton says, no one can be perfect at everything.

In the end, my definition of success involves me feeling satisfied and happy both personally and professionally. I can't decide if that's too much to strive for, or completely reasonable. I think it is probably not too much to strive for. The trick will be ensuring that my expectations for myself and others have a limit. I am not reaching for the sky; and we are not all so special, despite what Mr. Rogers may have told us.

The Globe and Mail

2010-11-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

Recently, the Globe and Mail changed both their online and print look. The physical newspaper now contains colour on every page. For the website, the Globe decided to shift the immediate content to the left, perhaps to capitalize on the "F-pattern" in which people typically read websites. A few choice articles appear at the top, and then a heading called "Today's Must Reads" with four articles from different sections of the paper. And sometimes, in between these two, are reader comments.

Right there, front and centre: Reader Comments.

I am not keen on this addition to the Globe and Mail online platform. It was mostly ok, until the highlighted comments began to contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and were signed by the likes of anonymousdoucheyuser345. Granted, some people have legitimate things to say, but I don't want to be face-to-face with them immediately when I visit the site. If I'm interested, I'll read the comments. Don't force feed them to me!

So what did I do? I searched for the "contact us" link and wrote the powers that be a little piece of my mind. I started off quite civil, but the power of the written word took over me and I became an impassioned website critic. I implored them to remove the Reader Comments and asked if a little part of them died whenever they posted a comment with a spelling error to the front page of the site. Can you imagine how newspaper editors must feel if I am this upset about it?

I was rushed in finishing my treatise, as I was late for a game of lunchtime euchre, so I quickly pounded out any remaining thoughts, signed my name and hit send. Ahh. Relief at lashing out against something you know you can't control.

I came back from lunch to a confirmation email from some Globe and Mail bot that my email had been received. I reread the words I had written, when...shock and horror! I found a spelling error. Embarrassment washed over me as I hung my head in shame. I should have taken the time to spell check before I hit send. I feel I have completely forfeited my right to complain. Le sigh. But if anyone else feels inspired to write to the Globe and Mail on their new look, I highly recommend it.

In other news, I feel quite unsettled. Not just about that debacle, but about life in general. I feel like I need some sort of change, but in what category I'm not sure. Maybe I just need a haircut.

Holy Laziness Batman!

2010-10-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

First: a huge congratulations to Alex and Matt who were recently married. Both looked super fabulous, and Alex's fist pumping on being told she was officially a wife was both hilarious and fabulous.

Second: I have been really lazy with my assignment. The winner of the previous post was actually "Things I want to know about" with 2 face-to-face votes in its favour. I think I've been lazy because the topic is hard to write about, as I think an explanation of why I want to know about these "things" is necessary.

I'll start with one: I want to know about trees. I want to know the Latin names. I want to be able to tell you that my favourite tree is salix alba without having to look it up on the Google. My Dad knows the Latin names of trees from his forestry days and I think it's cool. It would be more cool if we both knew so that when we went for walks I could say "I dare say Father, have you ever seen such magnificent colour on an acer plantanoides as that? I quite think that is the most vivid splash of rutilus that my memory can summon!"

Unrelated: Google Translate added Latin a while ago. Lorem ipsum!

Third: I will be Adam West's Batman this Halloween. I expect only awesomeness to come from this decision.

Help Me!

2010-09-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hello one faithful reader,

When I began to think about starting a blog, I wondered what I would possibly write about. People seem fairly concerned these days that their blogs be about something. There's the travel blog (probably the most common among my friends); the special interest blog; the look-at-me-I-have-a-family-and-house-and-too-much-time-on-my-hands-so-I'll-photo-blog-my-baby's-first-twenty-years blog...you get the picture (funny right? picture? photo-blog?). Well, clearly mine is not about anything, which is also fairly common. We're the Seinfeld's of the blogging world. Hopefully we don't come to such a disastrous end.

Anywho, as I was saying, in thinking about what to write before SaRtO:aB existed, I made a bullet point list of potential topics. And wouldn't you know it, I haven't actually written about any of them.

This is where I reach out to you, faithful reader, and ask for your guidance. (Maybe I'll even learn that there are more of you out there!) From the list below, please vote for your favourite bullet point. After one week, I will blog about the bullet point with the most votes (or more probably, the bullet point with a vote).

Leaves on trees story
Things I want to know about
FB-pics of illicit activity
Sentimentality
Wallet Story
Girlfriend vs. partner (note: I just mis-typed "partner", and instead wrote "panther" - this is a much better word than either girlfriend or partner)
Air guitar acceptability...why?
Hallway etiquette

Alright, that's the list. Voting ends at 1500h EDT September 23, 2010. Unless I get bored in which case it ends earlier.

Seacreast out.

Canada: not afraid...anymore

2010-09-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

While it is now too late to listen to CBC's This is That (the last show of the summer was this morning), I would like to encourage people to visit their website, and listen religiously if it gets renewed (hopefully!)

I wish I had been listening with a pen and piece of paper, because I don't remember many of the things that had me laughing out loud. Luckily, you can stream past episodes online. The show is made up of about 4 fake news stories per week, with one liners and shorts peppered throughout.

Some of the memorable quotes/stories I recall:

(With the sound of a hand saw in the background) Next week: why adult beavers make such good pets
Canada: 9 out of 10
Canada: you're standing on it
China gets rid of Saturday and adds a second Wednesday

A billionaire has decided to buy the eastern shore (so you can see the sun set) of Hudson's Bay to build a family fun zone since global warming will ensure it's tropical up there soon, maybe even by next year. He doesn't think "Hudson's Bay" evokes family fun zone, so he's going to change the name to Pleasant Park.

Calgary's aquarium has run out of money to keep it going, so it will have to close by the end of the summer. But, to thank everyone who has supported the aquarium through the years, they're going to be holding a big seafood bbq - come one, come all!

This is the opening to This is That:

Canada: North America's third largest nation
Canada: home of Toronto
Canada: member of the internet
Canada: skies and lakes and skies
Canada: the world's richest people
Let's peer into the heart of this great nation: who it is; where it is; where it's going; and how it's getting there; and who's involved; and what's at stake...Canada

Another great aspect of the show is the feedback from the public. Some people don't get that it's a joke...their comments could probably be a show in itself.

This is That was on Saturdays at 1030 and Tuesdays at 1930 (so actually, it's NOT too late!)

Close Talkers: the Solution

2010-08-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

From Hyperbole and a Half

Fun with Putin

2010-08-13T06:32:00.001-07:00

If you're blue and you don't know where to go to, why don't you go where fashion sits...

Watch a Gorilla Behaving Badly!

2010-08-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here.

Question: Why do people hate Russian dolls?
Answer: They're so full of themselves.

This just in! Pictures of the aforementioned dock:

The Most Excellent Weekend

2010-08-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

I had a most excellent weekend; the kind of weekend that makes me want to live in the woods, surfacing only when I experience attacks of nostalgia for "the city" (which would, in reality, probably happen a lot...).

Getting to the cottage at a decent hour on a Friday makes a huge difference. Having Monday off makes a huge difference. Sleeping in makes a huge difference. Life can be so relaxing.

There were a few highlights.

First, it was Daddio's birthday so my small, nuclear family had a lovely dinner of fall-off-the-bone ribs (an annual birthday special), tomatoes with goat cheese and basil, peaches and cream corn and a delicious lemon cake made by Mama with blackberries that we all had a hand in picking.

Second, I helped my Dad build part of a dock. Our old one got crushed by ice in the Winter, so a new one was necessary. I successfully used a miter saw (I think? Like an electric hand saw), and measured and lifted and felt very carpenter-esque. I think I could be quite handy. Who needs men anyway?

Third, I had three very cool run-ins with nature, and some more standard run-ins with nature. We had heard that there were bears at the dump, so Daddio took me on his birthday to see them. We were not disappointed, I'll tell you what. At first, one large black bear was keeping our attention, ripping into bags of garbage and eating the remnants of Lays potato chips. He (or she...) was soon joined by another bear, and then another! Three gigantic black bears right before my eyes! I found this exceedingly exciting, and was convinced to leave after we had watched them for almost an hour. Yes, I like bears. Getting back to the cottage, we encountered a tiny fox sunning himself (or herself...) at the top of the driveway. Nifty! Then, I was out in the canoe and saw two loons in the middle of the lake. For a lark, I decided to paddle out to them to see how close I could get. For some reason, they let me get right beside them, and we paddled along together for about two minutes, exchanging "hellos" and "woohuhuhus" or however one might phonetically spell the cry of the loon. Very nifty! The standard run-ins were those of chipmunks allowing me to give them chippy massages and chickadees, nuthatches and blue jays eating from the feeder, and ruby-throated hummingbirds drinking sugar water.

Fourth, our bestest family friends were up at their cottage (on the same lake) with delightful family from New Brunswick. We went over for dinner one night and got a little tipsy and had a gay ol' time. We also went cliff jumping/diving the next day with all of the kiddies. (Still no one has beat my record for highest jump...just saying). I also got to catch up with a very good friend of mine who I don't see often enough.

Fifth, I got to relax and do the cottage things I love to do: play golf off the dock, dive for the golf balls after the game is done, swim, do crossword puzzles, play Crib, hang out with my parents, have an outdoor shower, and even experiment with taking photos.

All in all, fabulous.

Feel Free to Comment

2010-07-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

I currently have the hiccups. You don't have to comment on that specifically. In general though, comments make me want to blog more.

I thought I knew how to get rid of the hiccups...turns out I don't.

EDIT: YES I DO!!!

Excuse Me

2010-07-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

I find this picture highly amusing.

This one time, in Nova Scotia, I saw a really big shark. And I decided to film it. And now it's kind of embarrassing to watch, because while the video is super awesome and you can see the big guy's teeth at one point, all I can concentrate on is me in the background repeating "Oh my God...oh my God..."

I will work on being cooler in unexpected situations (we were looking for dolphins, not sharks).

Other stuff: Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's current President is 84. He looks really, really good for 84. His age shocked me.

Kanye West is coming out with a new album in September. I rarely get excited about new albums, but I'm excited about this one. He really is an excellent artist. You can already hear the first single "Power" on the internets.

Just Feel

2010-07-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Paradise on Earth at 5pm, bidding adieu to Tariq (motor mouth), his cousin, and 2400 Rupees. Hil and I had requested to be dropped off at Dal Lake in the middle of Srinagar so that we could find a houseboat on which to stay, as this is THE thing to do. As soon as our little jeep rolled away, we were semi-attacked by men wanting us to take their shikara to check out our potential homes for the next couple of days. (The houseboats are in the middle of the lake, so some sort of water transportation is needed to check them out). We picked a shikara dude, who took us to 3 houseboats, where he was clearly getting commission. We settled on the "Jannat", a shitty, but roomy boat behind the much more luxurious "Dream Palace". The two were run by the same bent old man who we originally thought was a doll.

I'll admit that it felt like Heaven. After the hell ride getting there, sitting on the veranda on peaceful Dal Lake, watching the sunset and listening to the birds twitter was idyllic. Our little bent man brought us Kashmiri tea while we relaxed. We asked to have dinner there - no problem, he said. Veg or non-veg? Since we hadn't had meat in a while we opted for non-veg, especially as Kashmir is supposedly famous for its mutton. Mmmmm! He told us it would be ready in a bit, which turned into 4 hours. We were also banished to our rooms to eat, with this totally crazy Israeli chick who liked to smoke the dope and spoke incomprehensible English (at least I couldn't grasp it - Hil was pretty much a pro star). Israel was quite angry with Mr Nadroo (little bent man) for casting us like outlaws to the Jannat, since she had eaten up in the dining area of the Dream Palace every other night she had been there. We were all confused by his behaviour. Did we smell that bad? Was our appearance so disturbing? It turned out that he thought our non-veg order would greatly disturb the Indian guests who were staying in the Dream Palace. Oh well, we didn't eat there again, and crazy Israel left after the next evening.

Full Day The First: Besides Dal Lake and houseboats (and violence), Srinagar is known for its gardens. So, after sleeping in (huzzah!) Hil and I decided to start walking to Shalimar Bagh and may have gotten waylaid by a carpet store. Kashmir is chock-full of carpets and shawls. CHOCK-FULL I tell you. After thinking about colours and sizes for 1.5 hours we both bought carpets. So far so good.

We then flagged down an auto rickshaw to take us the rest of the way to the gardens (it got frickin' hot for walking). After walking lazily around the gardens, posing for pictures for those ever curious Indian tourists, and eating cookies and mango shakes, we started to head back to the city on foot, cursing rickshaw drivers who were clearly asking too much. Well, as good fortune would have it, a car pulled over in front of us and a friendly looking couple asked if we wanted a ride. While I would not have accepted this offer in Ottawa, it seemed perfectly reasonable in Kashmir, and so in we got. They asked us the usual questions - where we were from, what we did, what were our names - and then asked us where we were going. We had decided to check out yet MORE gardens, which our new found companions took an interest in. They drove us right to the entrance and then paid for our tickets! Then they wandered with us and talked with us. When Hil said something about them being married they giggled and exclaimed "we're not married!" From what I can gather, the woman, Mahek, was the mistress of the older, not-so-attractive man. This is because when his actual wife phoned and demanded to talk to me after he claimed he was with two Canadian girls, Mahek looked at me and made a Oh-God-don't-tell-her-I'm-here! gesture. Anyway, they were both very interesting and very funny and I'm glad we met them.

Once they had dropped us off back near Dal Lake, we almost immediately met two more people who were to become the bane of our existence, along with a source of constant amusement, for the rest of our time in Srinagar. Martin, a French dude who was finding himself in India was staying with his "brother" Riyaz, a Kashmiri whose family owned a houseboat named Movie Land. Riyaz and his family had sort of adopted Martin who had landed in Delhi with no plan and nowhere to stay. Being in Delhi only for a short trip on business, Riyaz brought Martin home about a month before we met them on the side of Dal Lake. Martin continued to have no plan, quite content with living and eating for free and smoking the grass thrice daily.

So this white dude and this Kashmiri dude called out to us, and being friendly as a tourist is kind of the thing to do, so we started talking. We were hungry, so they told us a place to go and asked if we would like to meet up after for a drink after dinner at a "special place". Special, because Srinagar is quite strict and drinking and smoking is clearly discouraged. I think there are two bars but these are pretty much meant for tourists only. Ok, we thought, what the hell. This is what adventure is MADE OF! So after dinner we met at a predetermined place and flipped a coin for who would get to ride on the back of Riyaz's motorbike. Hil won, fair and square, so they took off and Martin and I started walking. What I learned about Martin quite quickly was that he was kind of a hippy flake. I mean, good for him and all, but I just can't take people like him seriously. I won't go into details, but I'll say it's probably good that it was dark because I was having trouble containing my eye rolling. So we're walking and walking...and walking, and I'm wondering where the hell we're going when Riyaz pulls up with his bike sans Hil. He says he's come back to get me and he's left Hil at the "special place". I realize this sounds totally sketchy, and it kind of was, but if I thought I was in any real danger I wouldn't have gotten on the bike.

So I get on the bike and he stops in the middle of nowhere. I look over and see Hil sitting on the side of the road and it dawns on me. This is the "special place". The great outdoors. There is nothing special about this special place, and this makes Hil and I laugh, a lot. We laugh so much I think we hurt Riyaz's feelings because he thought this was pretty darn cool. I tried to reassure him that we weren't laughing at him, but at the misunderstanding. If there's one thing Kashmiris are missing, it's a healthy sense of humour (except Mahek and her, ahem, friend). Riyaz went back to get Martin and the four of us drank beer on the side of the road, looking at the constellations and exchanging stories about whatever. It was getting pretty late, so Hil and I said we'd better start back (little did we know that there was already a search party out looking for us...) Riyaz opted for me to get on the back of the bike. So I get on the back and Riyaz takes off...in the wrong direction. I say, as casually as possible, "hey, you're going the wrong way!". To which he replies "I know! I'm kidnapping you!". Ok, not that funny. I laugh, but start planning my escape just in case. Adventure, right?

It's clear at this point that Riyaz had taken a liking to me, consistently singing a song he's made up called "Hold Me Tight" and asking why I won't get closer to him. Dude, I say, I just met you and I'm not that kind of girl. Well, he takes me through all these different streets in Srinagar, which would have been really nice had I not been slightly freaking out. This goes on for way too long, and after demanding, in a nice way in case I'm reading him wrong, to get back to my friend he drops me off where Hil and Martin are - still walking along the lake. I jump off and announce that I am done riding on the back of that bike. Martin looked so disappointed; thinking that he had discovered a serious connection with Hil, he was eager to continue walking with her and her alone, though Hil appeared as happy as I was to say our farewells. He opted instead for a hug, whispering in her ear to "just feel". This became our motto for the rest of the trip.

Reaching the shoreline close to our houseboat, we were yelled at by a man we had never encountered before in a shikara: "Hey! Canadian girls! You're staying at Dream Palace, right? I'll take you." Good Lord does word ever get around in Srinagar. It's like Big Kashmiri Brother is always watching. Well, we took that slightly creepy chance to escape from the boys and headed home after what felt like a very long, very interesting, very weird day.

The Road to Kashmir is Paved With...Well, Nothing

2010-07-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

The first stories I remember about India are from Kashmir - I'm not sure my travel partner would agree with this, I think she's trying to put Kashmir out of her mind. We arrived in Srinagar after a very long, very tiring, very dirtying journey from Leh via Kargil. I am no longer sure of just how many hours Hil and I, our two constant Kashmiri companions - the driver and his extremely Muslim-valued cousin, and our rotating companions - various vagabonds along the way, spent in that Jeep. I think it was supposed to be a 14-18 hour drive. It probably ended up in the 26 hour range. Luckily, our very friendly and opinionated Kashmiri lawyer friend had the amazing ability to talk constantly. And when I say constantly, I don't mean 40 minutes out of an hour; or even 50 minutes out of an hour - I mean 59.5 minutes out of an hour. Now multiple that by 26 hours. Yeah. Seriously luckily for us though, he spoke to his cousin and our randoms for some of the time; probably because Hil and I became a bit less receptive around hour number 8.

Now, it took so long for a couple of reasons:

First, we took a bit of a longish route so we could drop this English dude off in Lamayuru. This wouldn't normally have been a problem, except the road to get there was closed so we had to take the "alternate" route, which was up, up, up a mountain pass and down, down, down the other side, passing large trucks all the while. Really incredible scenery though, and it really didn't ever get old. I have numerous pictures of mountains to prove that I thought it was continuously breathtaking (see left!)

Second, the Indian army is, well, they're a bit incompetent. Let's just put it right out there. Their job is to maintain the roads, and protect India should Pakistan decide they want another crack at Kashmir. Heaven help them if Pakistan decides to invade. The roads do need maintaining - it's not a sit back, sip your tea and eat your rice while watching the cars go by kind of job, though this is how they seem to view it. It's snowy up there, and cold, and the roads are in really poor condition and there are landslides (Drass, a town we had to travel through is the coldest inhabited place in India!). We happened to get stuck behind a landslide, which I'll admit is better than getting stuck in a landslide. But this meant a solid 5 hours sitting and waiting. And waiting. And then...waiting some more! And then some more after that (see left - from left to right: some Indian dude, Sir Talks-A-Lot, Cousin of Sir Talks-A-Lot, some Indian dude, some creepy Indian dude). You probably get the idea. At first it was exciting. Hil and I jumped out of the Jeep and made snowballs and a little snowman friend and soaked up the snow-covered mountains. And then I realized I had to pee. And then I looked at my surroundings. Usually, I'm not really a prude when it comes to squatting wherever, but we happened to be on a fairly straight road, and there were trucks as far as the eye could see in both directions. This also wouldn't have really been a problem, except that we were two white girls, and we were kind of a big deal (my apartment does smell of rich mahogany and I do have many leather-bound books). Every move we made was watched - by Indian MEN. (One thing quite noticeable about India, and quite quickly, is the lack of women "in the wild"). Well, we both held it in for another, I don't know, 4 hours. Holy uncomfortable, Batman!

After we cleared the landslide, it was pretty much smooth sailing to Srinagar (if another extremely bumpy and uncomfortable 5 hours could be called smooth). Kashmiris are very fond of telling you that Kashmir is paradise on Earth; they really think it's the best thing since sliced bread. Probably since bread. They probably think Kashmir is better than bread. And when I first entered Kashmir I could see where they were coming from. The landscapes are absolutely beautiful. Truly (see right!). It made me decide that my next vacation would be to Canada's own Rockie mountains, just so I could compare (and so I can go back to Kashmir and tell them that actually, no, Canada is paradise on Earth!). Landscapes can make a destination, but so can people; and people can also unmake a destination. By the time Hil and I left Kashmir, we were not inclined to call it paradise on Earth. But what did happen to us there was strange, and amusing, especially in retrospect. We definitely had fun...but that will be for another chapter.

Oh, and to make it that much better, the picture below is the toilet that we finally got to use after holding it in for so long. We both peed on the floor (into a drain) instead, because, well, ew.

In my/the news

2010-06-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

First of all, India was amazing. Like, totally amazing. My travel partner, Hil, and I got along incredibly well; we were born to travel together. Hil also planned a most excellent route for us that allowed me to see some really interesting pockets of various cultures/religions within India. The country's diversity means that for someone like myself, it is incomprehensible. There is so much going on in that country, and so much that you just can't understand as a visitor for 3 weeks. This just means I'll have to go back one day.

The World Cup is an even bigger deal now than it was when no one was actually playing. I'm hardly following it at all, but am more open to getting into football (see? look at me calling it football) than I ever have been. Go...Ghana!

Kevin Rudd, Australia's previous PM stepped down today. I don't follow Australian politics and had no idea he was losing his popularity. This has opened the door for Australia's first ever female PM - Julia Gillard. Pretty awesome. What would be even more awesome is if Stephen Harper would step down. But this got me wondering who Canada's Deputy PM is. Turns out we haven't had one since 2006. If Harper is unable to fulfill his Prime Ministerial duties, then he has stated that Lawrence Cannon can act on his behalf, and then Jim Prentice.

It's quite hot in Ottawa these days. Not as hot as Delhi (I am not struck with instant heat rash upon stepping outside), but still hot. Oh, also, apparently there was a magnitude 5 earthquake today that was felt across much of Ontario, Quebec and some Northern States. With the epicentre being about 60 km north of Ottawa, one would think that I would have felt something. It seems I'm among the few who felt nothing. It's confused me. Am I earthquake resistant? Should I be exploring other potential super powers? Probably.

I'm going to India!

2010-05-18T17:21:00.001-07:00

True, the quality is pretty bad. So I'm not a Photoshop expert (also, I stole this from somewhere else). I'll spell it out for you:

Steve Jobs: Remember when we were poor?

Bill Gates: No.

Steve Jobs: Me neither.

Laughter ensues.

(Unrelated?): I'm going to India!

I do it for the lulz

2010-05-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I do stupid things on the internet. No, not those kinds of stupid things. That's gross. I'll give you a for instance. For instance, sometimes I go onto Omegle and talk to strangers. For the most part, these strangers are stupid and are asking for things that I am unwilling to give them. That's gross. Sometimes I talk to people who are interesting. Like this 17 year old girl in Pennsylvania who is just starting to question the faith in which she was raised. That's interesting.

If you type "I did it for the lulz" into Google, some ridiculous things come up. Some people can't understand how someone like myself could spend hours on the internet. I don't like to go into details, because it's usually really stupid.

Sometimes they're funny

2010-05-13T21:11:00.001-07:00

Facebook Blows

2010-05-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

To find out who my real friends are, I don't publish my birthday on Facebook. Turns out I don't have any real friends. (The graph below is not representative of my page).

What now, Harper?

2010-05-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Blogging is hard. Or, taking the time to blog is hard. And yeah, I have ideas about posts, but I feel like many of them deserve some careful crafting, some element of wit and humour. Things that I can't just pull out of my...fingers...in five minutes or less, unless I'm really on the ball. And honestly, how often does that happen?

For written items that don't require lengthy consideration, I turn to the news. I like the news, a lot. I like voting on news items, and I like reading people's comments. I rarely comment myself, but I certainly have thoughts and opinions on many of the articles I read. And if I use this blog to publish fully-legitimate to semi-legitimate to fully-illegitimate thoughts on news items, I will become incredibly popular, and will be able to turn to blogging full time as my livelihood.

News item #1: Gordon Brown (Labour) resigns as British PM, David Cameron (Conservatives) takes over. The best part about this is that Cameron will form a "proper and full coalition" with the third place party, Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats. But wait! Didn't the Liberals, the Bloc and NDP threaten to form a coalition back in the Winter of 2008? Didn't Harper call such an unlikely alliance a deal between separatists and socialists?

If it's one thing Canada's Conservatives do well, it's communicate. Mostly their messages are hate filled and nasty, but are they ever effective. And that, I would argue, is what the bulk of politics is about. Their communications team seems to be immediately all over any problem and always seems to manage to spin it away from Dear Leader. Turning the coalition into a nasty separatist/socialist hybrid beast didn't help it's chances of surviving. It also didn't help of course, that Harper had won the most votes and so really had won the right to govern. With Cameron on top, but not on top enough to form the government alone, he's trying to forge an unlikely alliance. It's nice to see a right of centre leader who is able to contain his propaganda in favour of a potentially effective coalition. Maybe coalitions aren't the devil after all? Time will tell...

News item #2: The Habs play Pittsburgh tomorrow in game 7 of a tight series. Despite my Canadian-ness, I am cheering for the Pens all the way. I will be momentarily upset if they lose tomorrow. Sidney Crosby is amazing. So is Malkin.

News item #3: Helena Guergis is back in the news, and I stopped reading about her/her whining and the Conservatives total dismissal of one of their own. (Again with the communications). What I want to say about this is that the website where I read most of my Canadian news frequently publishes pictures of her that are quite unfavorable. I think it's too bad.

News item #4: Apparently the World Cup is a big deal. Who knew?

Happy Star Wars Day! (apparently)

2010-05-04T07:59:00.001-07:00

Birthday Blog

2010-04-29T18:24:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday to a truly great friend.

My Rite of Passage

2010-04-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, it has happened. After all of these years, I have officially been dumped. Ouch.

If I'm being honest, I received the news while watching, of all things, ANTM. If I'm not being honest, I received the news while engaging in a heated online debate concerning the provision of medicines to the developing world and the rights of Big Pharma in their quest for extended intellectual property rights. Either way, when I read what I read I experienced such an odd feeling - this hot ball of energy originated in my chest and emanated throughout my entire body, to my fingertips and toes.

I had three thoughts within the next few minutes. The first was that I had to know why. The email had been less than clear on this point. I just really needed to know. The second thought I had was that the worst thing about being dumped was that I was going to have to tell people. A few of my friends and family pointed out to me later that if I thought this was the worst part, I was going to be just fine. The third thought I'll get to in a minute.

Well, I met up with the fellow in question shortly after and am pleased to report that things are just peachy. I was given a more extensive reason, and one that I can certainly relate to, so I didn't feel too badly about myself, or the parting. I believe I have told everyone that needs telling, and it turns out that wasn't so bad after all. Not that I want to go through it again anytime soon, but all in all, people were just very supportive and I didn't experience the level of embarrassment I had expected.

This brings me to my last thought in those few minutes after the dumpage, which was: I should blog about this...

Wordless Friday (kind of)

2010-04-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

Drumming

2010-04-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

There's this guy who is always in the park outside my apartment "drumming". He brings one drum and hits it at semi-regular intervals, occasionally offering his chanting as accompaniment. He is terrible.

Usually people who go to the park with their instruments are great and very musical, and they are often encouraged by the other park goers who sometimes clap and sometimes demand more. I don't think anyone has ever asked this guy to keep going; but perhaps as polite Canadians we're all too nice to ask him to stop.

Lighting

2010-04-19T15:23:00.001-07:00

I have been told that I am lighting sensitive. To me, it's just really obvious when the lighting outside is beautiful, but it seems not everyone shares my enthusiasm. I'm not at all an expert in photography, but whenever I see excellent lighting, one of the first things I think of is how great the colours and shades are for taking pictures. This usually happens at dusk, and I'm sure it would happen at dawn but I'm usually drooling on my pillow at that hour. Hot, I know. Moving on...I was inspired this early evening to take a picture to showcase the lighting, and was saddened that the picture does not do nature justice. I recognize though, that this isn't the camera's fault, but mine. I wish I knew more about photography.

Post the First...

2010-04-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

I should probably just write and publish something so that the whole concept seems less foreign. It helps that I had a couple of drinks and am currently consumed by an emotion that is more than just neutral.

I just realized that it is quite odd to write for an audience of one, maybe two. It seems like I should be addressing these people individually. Blogging under your real name feels very different from commenting anonymously on various internet postings, not that that is something I do often.

I recently came across the account of someone I know (knew, really) quite by accident. This person is anonymously commenting frequently on a social news website (Wikipedia told me this is what this site is called...I wouldn't have necessarily given it a name that was so...legitimate sounding). Once I realized that I knew who this was, I spent quite a while poring over their posts - some of which were quite intelligent, some which were quite funny and some which I would have been happier having not read. I wondered what this person would think if they knew I found them and they were no longer anonymous. And how my posts would change if I was anonymous.

Well, here I am, going the non-anonymous route with this blog. I'll behave myself to a certain extent. Because really, as most of us know by now, people in this day and age take the whole politically correct thing a bit too far. But perhaps that's for another post.

Wordless Saturday

2010-04-10T07:41:00.000-07:00