Category: Uncategorized

Sounds tasty, doesn’t it?

Since the grid-blog happens so seldom now, I figured I’d join in on the fun, even with a topic like this. Just kidding, it’s a good topic. So what does generosity….

Look like: I have been eating breakfast every day with the college kids, so that means eggplant, potatoes, green beans, kidney beans, a lot of things I don’t know what they are, and of course rice. And every time I’m there I can’t help but stare at the generous helpings of rice in front of me. One time I went to India House in Regina and I ate so much that I couldn’t move after. Seriously, if I would’ve moved, I would’ve displayed the buffet on a different table than the buffet table. And it seems like they serve me that much here every meal. But I’m not complaining. Not just that, it is the generosity of all the people and what they are willing to do for you. I have met a load of people in this past 3.5 weeks. More than I ever have before, I’m sure, and every one of them has offered me many things. They have been generous beyond then my sense of the word. Other examples are obviously my parents, who have poured out love and time and money and new underwear to me. Without them I’d be no where. And of course there is the short list of others such as the Ashby’s, the New York Yankees, Lee Strobel, Andrew, Daisy, all the ants in my room, my bed, and of course Ray and Ellen.

Generosity seems hard for me. It is a great thing to do, to show it, but sometimes to accept it is hard. I guess it would be pride’s fault, or my fault, or my pride’s fault. If someone is willing to be generous, then it sometimes means that you are in a weakened or lowered position, and to admit that is hard. But then there is that generosity for no good reason but being generous. As usual, this likely makes no sense to anyone but me. Oh yeah, I forgot. What does generosity….

Sound like: kind words and a rippin’ solid guitar solo.

Smell like: I’m not too sure, possibly a bean burrito, or a nice warm slice of apple pie.

Taste like: Again, I am not sure, probably just as it smells. Or better.

This morning I was heading for the shower with my Old Spice Hair AND Body wash, (amazing invention by the way, it cuts shower time in half.) and bucket to collect my bath water for flushing, wearing only a towel. I got situated in my shower stall, which looks like a place they would clean cattle, and the water is about as cold as a witch’s teat. That part is nothing, you get used to cold showers when you shower after Melissa, and when Sharon comes to visit. And, it’s actually rather refreshing. Anyways, Bidyut (pronounced BEE-DOOT) asked me something I couldn’t quite understand, and I peaked around the stall wall and he started laughing. I think he was laughing because I was bathing naked, and he thought it was pretty funny. I, personally, don’t know any other way to bathe. I’d go totally Indian and bathe the way they do, but that would require me to go through the awkward question of asking another dude, “So… how do you bathe?” or creeping around and trying to see. Neither, I really want to do, so I am keeping to my original way of bathing. Nice and naked.
Maybe they were laughing at a birthmark in the shape of a cricket bat and posts that I haven’t seen before, you know, in that one spot on your backside you can’t see without mirror or photo aid.

Mom, do I have a birthmark you never told me about?

worse than new york city. i’ve never been there, but there is a good chance.
a good 5 hour traffic jam on the way home from the science centre field trip. like most good field trips, little learning was done. but it was a good time. pictures to come soon.

but yeah, 5 hours. we saw the sun rise, then set, then rise again. we ate cookies, noodles, chips, water, and knuckle sandwiches. got home, ate burgers and furters.

it was a good day. i am tired.

if you haven’t noticed, i threw a picture thing on the top of my blog, because that was the place it fit best. let me know if it works, and if it looks good at all. the computer here it works and looks alright, but really, the ones that matter are yours. so, let me know if it looks alright, and if you can see it working.

i don’t know everyone’s big deal with flickr. maybe i haven’t researched it very well, but i think its kinda bogus. it seems unorganized and you can only upload a limited amount of pictures a month. mine, as featured on the top of my blog, and as a link on the side, has no limit of pictures, that i have found, as well as the same fancy stuff flickr has. along with this, it seems more organized. i know that 90% of the people that read this use flickr, so, if i am missing something let me know.. but either way, check out my photos. i will try and update them as much as possible.

thanks.

I woke up two nights ago, around 4am, to a sound invading my room, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. You know when you are in that awesome deep sleep, and when you wake up, nothing at all makes sense? I was in this part of the night. I woke up, heard the noise, and it took me a good few minutes to figure out the noise was in my room, and that I should do something about it. I reached around for my flashlight, and got up, shone the light around the room, on the wall where the noise was coming from, under the bed, and then into my personal bathroom, where I had left the window open for some venting of the region, because it needed it. Anyways, nothing was there. I couldn’t figure out whether this was a dream, or whether I actually heard something. If it was real, it must have been an expert climber, or a flying animal, because my window is about 20feet from the ground. Andrew figured it was a bat, and I wouldn’t be surprised, because I saw a bat in the bathroom the other day, when the windows were open. Either that, or I found a new species of iguana that shrieks and climbs buildings. I would call it a Climbing Iguana, or a Cliguana or an Iguanimb. I remember the sound very well, it was a cross between a huge squirrel, a group of excited teenage girls, and the squeaky dirty screech of a shopping cart wheel. You know when you get one of the shopping carts, and only 3 of the wheels touch the ground? Man, that sucks.

Anyways, over the 3 weeks I have been here, I have been having the weirdest dreams, and on a nightly basis. It must be the spicy food. I have had many dreams about friends from elementary school, as well as teachers. Playing paintball and shooting Mrs. Fowler in the gut, and hanging out with ollllld friends, from many a year ago. Every night before when I say goodnight to some of the guys, they tell me to have sweet dreams of my girlfriend, and even the girls here on a nightly basis tell me to have sweet dreams. Maybe that is the reason I have been having the dreams.

The other night I had a dream that I was sitting with Jerms, Kris and Melissa talking about how India was, like I was looking into the future.. That will no doubt bring on some trippy déjà vu.

Last night I had a dream that Lucas, Bryn and Kurtis came to India to visit, brought their hockey gear, and mine, and some snow. We went to brewsters after a hockey game, then to the Indian movie theatre, and it turned out that the movie theatre was just an orchestra with a small TV in the front. The orchestra played the movie music, and the TV was about 20” big. It was a true letdown. So don’t go to the movie theatre in India, at least not in your dreams.

I have also heard that eating bananas before bed will give you the dreams. So, just to make sure this is all true, I am going to make sure someone tells me to have sweet dreams, and soon after I will eat a banana that is stuffed with hot chilis. Should make for a good night.

Oh yeah, and yesterday, i dove off of a mountain. it was great. but it hurt.

Today I went into town again. Same old stuff. I laughed at many things, and wanted to buy many things. I saw, in some very small shop on the side of Bara Bazaar, a nice black cap, with the Team Canada logo on it, brand new, with the tag on it and everything. I thought that was neat, and surprised me quite a bit. I didn’t buy it. maybe next time. I bought a new soccer/football ball, from the same sports shop as the last one i visited. The same lady was working, and she said she gave me a deal. It was about $5.

Bob, Duothang (yeah, kinda like a duotang) and I went to town, and we stopped by David’s Kitchen. I ordered a real meal of Butter Chicken Masala, and let me tell all of you, it is much better in the real India than it is in the fake Regina India. Boy oh boy, my first real butter chicken was a beautiful thing. The perfect sweetness, butter-loving goodness with a perfect amount of spice. I also had some real nan bread, but forgot to order rice. I figured it might come with rice, but didn’t, so I just put it on my nan. Still, a beautiful thing. Tell Sharon King that the only way to experience it, is in real India.

Tell Dave Turner that I found a banana hammock branded with Arsenal, that I will likely get him. Dave would look nice in the banana hammock.

Tell Oprah I hate her.

Tell my friends and family i miss them.

Tell my wife that I love her.

I have yet to master the art, but I am optimistic. I am working on it, day to day. It is an unavoidable task, and is quickly becoming a skill. The picture is of a toilet, if you couldn’t tell.

This photo is the night sky of Aizawl, including the moon, and a tree I couldn’t avoid. It is a beautiful sight every evening, and is hard to miss.

These past few days, I have been playing lots of ‘football’ or ‘futball’ with the kids. Today I played for about 2 hours with about 20 different people, rotating around every 20 minutes or so. I played for about an hour and a half with two cute little girls named Ankita and Anjenna, and they were fun to play with. I played with people aged 4-30, and it was a good time. You’ve gotta love futball.

Yesterday I had a bag of milk wafers. Andrew called them milk wafffers. Yeah, I know that sounds so good. They looked like pale Cheesies, but tasted like the sweet milk you drink after eating cereal. Very weird, but oddly good. I have to try everything, it is a rule.

The other day, when driving in a taxi to the school, I noticed a kid, about 13 wearing a red teeshirt that had the grey print of ‘skateboarder’ on it, with a small patch stitched into the side that said ‘TIKI’. There was no mistake to be made, that was my old shirt. Where else would have this kid bought a shirt that could only be purchased in Regina? I thought that was neat. Then today, I saw another guy wearing one of my favourite longsleeves of all time, the white and burgundy striped one, which I grew out of. So, I guess that is where your old clothes end up. They sit in the bottom of your drawer for a few months and then eventually end up in the home of some boys in India. Both are really nice shirts, by the way.

For breakfast each morning the past few days, I have been eating downstairs with the college guys, and the meal usually consists of rice, dry fish, dahl and a cup of water. It is a really great meal. Today was a bit different. It was rice with about a large can of kidney beans and some sauce, which was also a great treat. Anyways, the food from Ellen and the food from Becky is so good, that every meal it is a hard choice of where to go, and I mean that in a good way. Not like, ‘I dont want to eat either place it is so bad’ but more of a ‘I want to eat both places at both times because my tastebuds get pissed off when I only eat one place.’

Brudder Bob Parker came last night, and it is nice to have him here. I could go on, but I think that is a good enough of a compliment. He is a solid dude.

I don’t know why people go to school for 5 years to become a teacher. I went to school for .5 years and I know just as much as the teachers I know that went to school for that long. All you really have to do, is get the kids to read a book, and then you look on the internet to make sure it is to curriculum. Along with the best times and holidays, a teacher might just be the easiest job in the world.

besides professional sleeper, or professional circus man.

Today, I went to town once again. I never really realized it, but it is a good 30minute drive to the core of the city.

When Ellen went and searched for her goods, I had some shopping of my own to look after. I have needed a new pair of headphones for a while now, as the ones I have only supply me with half of the entertainment they should, that is, only the left earbud works. It is a real bummer to hear only one half of Kelly Clarkson’s hits. It just isn’t the same.

I headed around the market, looking for a suitable electronic shop, and found quite a few. When I found what I wanted, the small ear bud headphones, it turned out that they only cost 30rupees, about 75cents. I tried them out, and only one of the earbuds works well, the other works, but very quietly, together putting out a sub-par sound. But, I guess that is what I get for being Wilf’s son, and buying the cheapest. I will likely buy a new pair soon. When I was done this, I walked further down the street and found a DVD/CD store, and found a Stallone DVD, featuring all 5 old Rocky movies, and the three Rambo hits, all on one DVD, all for 150rupees, for less than five dollars. Even if it doesn’t work, the package was worth it alone.

On the way back to the meeting place I saw a sign for a tattoo parlour, and thought I’d stop by for a look. It was possibly the dirtiest place I have ever seen. The tattoo ‘artist’ was about 60 years old, with a young girl sitting in there, smoking a cancerstick. I looked through his archives of tattoos, none of which he actually designed, and left soon after. He told me to come back another day. Maybe I will. I got my hepatitis shots at home, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t get a tattoo done. Maybe one, full back tattoo, of a map of the country of India holding hands with a map of the country of Canada, and say ‘United Forever’ or ‘Straight Edge’

After this I headed into numerous shoestores, finding out that no one in India needs shoes bigger than a size 9, so my 12’s won’t be supported here. I also stopped in a sporting goods store, looked at soccer balls, and talked with the lady that worked there for about 10 minutes.

When I was done browsing, I purchased a bag of Lay’s potato chips, India’s Magic Masala flavour. You can’t get much better than masala flavoured anything. Once I finished these, I met Ellen, and we came home.

It took me a good half hour to upload these, so look at them, and enjoy them. Look at them numerous times, for at least 5 minutes each time. To make it worth the time I spent.

I am sure many of you have seen an exact picture of this, but here it is again. I had to get one for myself.. A truly amazing city. Like most things, a picture does not do it justice.

Welcome to India! A warm welcome from Shillong. My favourite part is the word ‘Sexological’. I know these pictures haven’t been the greatest yet, but this is all I’ve got for now. More will be uploaded soon.