My Apologies...

So what I went through with my new Mac was extremely frustrating. At the time what I didn't realize was how small and insignificant my problem was in comparison to so many others problems. So I want to apologize. I feel bad for this complaining. This has truly made me realize how lucky I am. I'm angry at myself because I let the month of February pass by. I didn't take advantage of my time here, instead I complained. From now until I leave this country I am going to take full advantage of living in this incredible place. Yes it has/had its challenges, but, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am now on my way back to where I was before this laptop drama, I am on my way back to loving it here. Again I am sorry and I hope you see a difference in these posts and forgive me.

Thanks guys!

They see white, they see money

It has been frustrating the past few days being in Mumbai. I’ve recently had a lot put into perspective. This happened plenty of times on the trip and it was one of the first things I noticed here in India. 

Being white, you get treated differently. They see white, they see money. I hate this… Yes I do realize I have been very privileged being born into the family I have and being born in Canada. I am very lucky and realize that more than ever. With the troubles I’ve been going through recently trying to get my new laptop out of customs, it has really thrown this all into perspective. The troubles I’m going through are nothing compared to trying to provide for a family and make a living while living on the streets. 

In Mumbai and else where in India, as soon as a beggar sees a white person they run after them and harass them to try  to get money from them. Honestly, I would love to help everyone who asks, but you just can’t. How do you pick who to give money too and who not too? I really dislike this. It makes me feel like an ass. It makes me hate the hierarchy that shouldn't exist. You’re also treated differently here, they put you on a pedestal. DON’T, I am not better than you, I am the same as you. We are both human.

Udaipur

Sylvie is currently on her own little adventure doing Vietnam, Thailand, India, and China. She landed in India on February 15th and on February 16th we took a bus from Pune to Udaipur. The bus was 20 hours, luckily we had a sleeper bus. The bus wasn’t too bad until the last 5 hours. At around 3 am I woke up feeling nauseous and I’ve NEVER gotten car sick. I popped some gravol and went back to sleep. At 8am (30 minutes before we were scheduled to arrive) I woke up abruptly and slammed open the window and puked my guts out down the side of the bus! Luckily all the other windows were closed otherwise it would have been bad… Sooo not a great start to Udaipur. Felt nauseous for most of the day, until around super time. That day we did the city palace, chilled on various roof tops, and wondered the city. 

Udaipur is a little city built on a lake in the state of Rajastan which is North of Pune. One of the things the town is famous for is the fact that Octopussy was filmed there. We spent three nights, 4 days there. We ate at some incredible restaurants on the waterfront. They were pricy but the atmosphere and the views of the city palace at night were worth. Honestly you have to be there. That is a common thing in India. Words, videos, and photos do not do this place justice what so ever! We spent our days wondering the twisting ally ways and shopping. It’s not as bad as it sounds cause we bought our stuff from this guy who could talk for hours. We learned so much from him about the area and what to see, where to eat, and what to do. It wasn’t your normal shopping experience. 

On Monday we were leaving at 5pm for Mumbai for a few nights. We wondered for a while to different parts of the city and then sat at a hookah bar for a few hours waiting for our bus. Very relaxing last few hours in Udaipur. 

The bus ride to Mumbai was 16 hours of bumpyness. FUN! Haha. Didn’t get sick this time though. We were suppose to stay in Mumbai for 1 night which turned into 2 for Syl and 3 for me. Long story and that will be in the next post. Syl left her passport in Pune and a hotel wouldn’t let her stay so she had to leave early and well my reason is infuriating but as I said I will get to it. Syl was suppose to fly from Pune to Delhi on Friday morning, never happened. Again another long story. I got back to Pune Friday evening. Was there for 2 nights and now back in Mumbai where I am currently writing this post. Wellllll until the next post.. Which may be in all caps due to anger. 

So long folks! 

Ps. Will add photo's to this post later. 

MUSE ICKITY ICK

Currently listening to Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2011 and loving 90% of the songs! Highly recommend to download it! But here are a few songs from it. Enjoy...

and finally...

Running in Mumbai

Morning run in Mumbai = Running away from stray dogs, running through train stations, dodging traffic, running through questionable smells, and running through what appears to be fog but is in reality pollution.

After India...

Also in February, I decided what I am going to do after India AND.....drum roll please... Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek! I amazingly stoked for this! It's a two week trek and it will take me about 300 m above base camp which sits at 5200m above sea level! The peak of Everest is 8000m above sea level so I am almost 3/4 of the way up! Can't efffing wait. I will be going to Nepal May 16th and be there just under a month! 

Fractured Harmonies

The following weekend after Hampi, the group of us decided to go to Goa! Time for a beach vacation. Well all I have to say is that it was beautiful, sunny, hot, and relaxing. Nothing really exciting happened, because the elections were going on so bars closed at 11pm :( However, alcohol is amazingly cheap there. For instance a 26 of rum costs $2 !!!! And it’s delicious rum at that! I got a lot of reading done and drank throughout the day chilling on our beach chairs. We did yoga in the mornings and went for walks along the beach watching the sun rise. One day we decided to swim to the island. It was a lot further than it appeared to be! But made it one piece and got some great exercise at the same time. Another morning we went dolphin watching on a boat during the sunrise. It was an extremely relaxing time. Others went cliff jumping and repelling down waterfalls. Sadly I couldn’t join them because the day I was able to go was booked full and Crystal, Marnie, and I had to leave a day earlier than everyone else due to school work. Oh well. I am planning a trip there very soon specifically for the cliff jumping and repelling! So no worries! 

All of our meals were eaten at tables directly on the sand and by candle light. There I also tried shark one night. I asked what fish had been caught that day and then I have a tray of fresh fish in front of me. I picked the baby shark. 30 min later the shark is cooked and sitting on the plate in front of me. YUM! 

There is this party at this beach called the “Silent Disco” which is a headphones party. We were going to go, only to find out it’s been cancelled due to the elections :( Oh well, we bought a bottle of Old Monk and drank it under the stars on the beach. Some skinny dipping may have been involved.. Shhh 

Goa, can’t wait to go back!

ENJOY IT!!! 

Goa

The following weekend after Hampi, the group of us decided to go to Goa! Time for a beach vacation. Well all I have to say is that it was beautiful, sunny, hot, and relaxing. Nothing really exciting happened, because the elections were going on so bars closed at 11pm :( However, alcohol is amazingly cheap there. For instance a 26 of rum costs $2 !!!! And it’s delicious rum at that! I got a lot of reading done and drank throughout the day chilling on our beach chairs. We did yoga in the mornings and went for walks along the beach watching the sun rise. One day we decided to swim to the island. It was a lot further than it appeared to be! But made it one piece and got some great exercise at the same time. Another morning we went dolphin watching on a boat during the sunrise. It was an extremely relaxing time. Others went cliff jumping and repelling down waterfalls. Sadly I couldn’t join them because the day I was able to go was booked full and Crystal, Marnie, and I had to leave a day earlier than everyone else due to school work. Oh well. I am planning a trip there very soon specifically for the cliff jumping and repelling! So no worries! 

All of our meals were eaten at tables directly on the sand and by candle light. There I also tried shark one night. I asked what fish had been caught that day and then I have a tray of fresh fish in front of me. I picked the baby shark. 30 min later the shark is cooked and sitting on the plate in front of me. YUM! 

There is this party at this beach called the “Silent Disco” which is a headphones party. We were going to go, only to find out it’s been cancelled due to the elections :( Oh well, we bought a bottle of Old Monk and drank it under the stars on the beach. Some skinny dipping may have been involved.. Shhh 

Goa, can’t wait to go back!

Hampi (sorry I've been lazy)

SO it has been far too long since I’ve posted on the blog but now it seems I have some down time in Mumbai (and I don’t want to write an essay) so I am going to try to bring this blog up to date.

HAMPI

INCREDIBLE… Probably my favorite place thus far. Think of an amazing geographical landscape that has ancient ruins littered all over. Funny thing is the essay I am suppose to write atm is on Hampi. Maybe this can be my introduction.

So Hampi is located south of Pune about a 10 hour bus ride away. It is in the state of Karnataka. When Crystal and I arrived Friday morning, we ate our breakfast in a roof top restaurant over looking an incredible temple. We found a guest house to stay in and proceeded to rent scooters for the day. We heard of this rock climbing place and wanted to do it. Hope on our scooters and just start driving in the direction of rock climbing. The drive included passing through ancient gates and driving past ruins. There were literally ruins EVERYWHERE. So we get lost, no surprise. We decided to make the best of it. Crystal noticed a little temple a top of a hill. Pull over, lock up the bikes and start blazing our own trail up the hill. It took some time and involved a little bit of bouldering and walking through thorns. It made us wonder when was the last time someone ventured up to this temple. We were greeted with amazing views of the surround area. For the rest of the day we should happily rode our bikes around without caring or knowing where we were heading. We stopped at the temple which is still used. Outside the temple was a Giant tree with monkeys it. First time I’ve seen monkeys in the wild. Well one peed on me. Bastard. But they’re still cute and we got some nice photos of them. We ate dinner at this restaurant where you sit on the ground in this hut overlooking the river. BEAUTIFUL. I decided after dinner that I wanted to go for a swim. I asked and they said it was safe. I walk into the water and want to get to this rock in the middle of the river. Well the current was a lot stronger than I thought and I got swept off my feet and brought down stream. I wasn’t worried due to my river tubing skills I’ve acquired with Jessica over the years. I grab a rock and pull myself out and start to hope along the rocks to try to get back to where I was. Where I entered the river was the only place that you could get out without walking through thorns. At one point you have to jump back in the water to swim to the next rock, against the current. Well got swept away again. This happened once again. Finally the third try I made it out. So my swim consisted of being swept away and than trying to get out of the water. 

The next day everyone else arrives (the other Canadians). Crystal and I decided that we want to check out and stay on the other side of the river (Only way across is on a small little boat.) We find a guesthouse which has a hammock in the front! SCORE! We rented  scooters again and decided to go our separate ways. My day resulted in making my own road through the desert going from ruin to ruin. At one point these kids came out of no where and so I gave them I ride on the scooter. They then demanded gum or money and wouldn’t let me leave until I gave them some gum. Luckily I had some. At one temple I met this guy from England and these two Girls from Austria. We talked a bit and they seemed like awesome people. We went our separate after that but through out the rest of the day I kept running into them everywhere. Small world. I had a late lunch at the place where had dinner the previous day. There I ran into Jon (another exchange student.) Jon, Ali and Liv were going up to the top of a mountain, on top of a temple to watch the sunset. So I joined them. Awesome hike. All the exchange students met for dinner later on at this restaurant called the Mango tree. Words cannot describe the atmosphere. Super chill terraces all facing the river (which you couldn’t see, but you could hear because it was pitch black out.) You sat on the ground at these low tables and ate by lantern light. Awesome! SO the last ferry across the river is at 630 and well when I wanted to go back over (Crystal was already there and didn’t join us for dinner) it was 1030. What you do to get back across is you stand by the shore and try to signal to people on the other side. They paddle over in this “boat” that is a circle made of bamboo and palm leaves covered in some sort of resin. They then paddle you across and charge 200 INR when in the daytime it cost 20 INR. Oh well I got across and apparently it’s illegal to cross the river at night. I’m a rebel. That night I slept on the hammock outside. 

Crystal and I rented bicycles at 6 am to try to make it to this monkey temple for sunrise.. Well we got lost instantly. By the time we found our way the sun had already risen. We still climbed the crazy amount of stairs up to the monkey temple and still had amazing views of the sun climbing higher into the ski. We then proceeded to bike to Anagundi where the rock climbing was, only to find out it didn’t open until 10 am. It was our last day and we had to catch a bus at 5 pm and we still wanted to go to these waterfalls. So we turned around disappointed. Had lunch with everyone again at the Mango Tree and then biked to the water falls. To get to them you park your bike at the entrance to the trail and then walk through a banana plantation. As you approach the falls it feels like you are on a different planet. Amazing rock formations. There are these cliffs you can jump off of that are around 7m high. Sick times! 

Hampi is a must see if you ever find yourself in India!

Bribes

And this is what I've been dealing with. Be thankful the west is not like this. This has been the most frustrating 3 weeks of my life. It has made me hate this country and want to return home. I have been going through this just because I had laptop sent to me VIA FedEx because the computer labs in the school here are severely out of date and my laptop is too old to support programs required. I wish no one ever has to go through what I have been, especially over a fucking Laptop. Back to Mumbai tomorrow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13616123

Very accurate...

You know you're an architecture student on exchange when...

... you decide now is the best time to read "The Fountainhead."

... your living room has no furniture, however, it is a great place to lay out your drawings.

... you have a copy work station set up in your living room.

... your analog SLR becomes a decoration because you have nothing else to "decorate" your flat with.

... you have model supplies in the hallway.

... your kitchen counter becomes a cutting board.

... your kitchen table is your "drafting table."

... your shelves not only hold your food and dishes but its a great place to put your camera, books, and models. 

Mevabi Wood this is my shout out to you!

Look what I found when I was backing up my laptop. Miss you! 

LIVE UPDATE: the journey to the bus stop

First off I would like to mention that this post is being written as I am sitting on the bus heading to Hampi. Crystal and I had a great dinner at my house before we needed to head to the bus stop. The bus was to leave Pune at 930pm and arrive in Hampi at 7am. The bus stop wasn't too far from where I stay so we decided to it. Thinking we had plenty of time we weren't worried at all. We put the address in Crystal gps on her phone and headed off. The GPS said we had arrived...we hadn't. we continue walking thinking it shouldn't be too far ahead. I stop in and ask another bus stop where ours was. They said it was 5 minutes ahead. Okay were not worried. It's now 925 and we start running. Asking people as we pass how much further. Same answer everytime 5 minutes straight ahead. Finally I arrive at the bus stop. Crystal fell further behind. While I was talking to the people who work there she past it. Now it was time to find Crystal. We are reunited at last!

Talking to people we learned that the bus company we were with no longer stops at this stand. Our ticket however was booked for this stand. An awesome guy helped us out by calling our bus drivers phone (it was given to us) The bus driver doesn't speak english so he translated for us. He almost missed his bus. He took Crystals number and confirmed that the bus will wait. Now we had the challenge to get to the right bus stop. The same guy had to talk to the rickshaw driver to tell him where we needed to go. It was 170 INR to get to the stop and he had to pull over several times to get directions, talk with the guys, and talk with the bus driver, but, WE MADE IT! On the bus to Hampi now.
Goodnight everyone...when I wake up I'll be in Hampi.
Where will you be?

MuSe IcK (I got really creative with the title)

Love this song and video!

Moar White People...

On Tuesday January 10th we had out orientation at the university where we met the other exchange students from Ontario. There are 7 new exchange students and 3 students who have been here since the summer. Everyone seem pretty chill and down to travel and have a good time. I feel like we will all get along. 

A presentation was given by the coordinator, then we had lunch. After lunch we took a bus to see some sites around Pune. This was great because we went to parts of the city that I have yet to explore. We saw a fort, an incredibly ornate temple, and these gardens where it appeared everyone went for walks and family fun. Talking with the other students we have already made plans to go to Hampi next weekend and then to Goa the weekend after. Let the traveling begin!

Today after studio a group of us decided to check out Osho (http://www.osho.com/). Since our project is a rejuvenation centre, it was sought to be fit to check out a world famous centre here in Pune. Due to security we weren’t allowed to walk around the ground. You need to do a formal registration before entering and it is quite a process. I really want to check it out and give it a try so I am planning to go on Sunday and spend the day. After that we went to lunch. One of the girls let me drive her 2 wheeler to the restaurant and I SURVIVED Pune traffic. It was great! I thought riding on the back of one is fun, but driving it is so much better. Lunch today was this thing called Sizzlers. I had a steak one (in India I know right!?) So there was a steak on the bottom, veggies on top, french fries on top of that, and all covered in an oyster sauce still sizzling on a metal skillet straight from the oven. Delicious! It reminded us and tasted very similar to poutine!! There were so many different combos of this! Awesome! 

This evening I am going to the opening of the Pune International Film Festival which will be on going for the next weekend. I am hoping to check out as many films as possible. This is my first time attending a film festival so I am quite excited. 

Good bye for now 

Muse ick

Can't help but to smile when listening to this song. 

Guhagar, India

This past weekend was spent on the West coast of Maharashtra in a small village called Guhagar. We went there with college to do a Settlement Study. Beautiful untouched beach. Quaint little village. Friendly locals. Warm water. Sun. Sunrise runs down the beach. Sunset swims and walks. Bond fires. Great weekend! However this made me miss certain people. You know who you are.

Love you guys!

Photo of the Day 07/01/12

Photo of the Day 06/01/12

Photo of the Day 05/01/12

New Year Muse ick

A song that played at the first bar we went to

Happy New Year from INDIA!

This post is LONG overdue and I apologize for that. This year I was lucky enough to celebrate New Years in a fashion I never thought I would. It’s not that it was an amazing party or the best DJ ever, it was the fact that it was a new experience. This is what made it so good. 

… Along I was waiting for Crystal and Marnie to arrive in India before I decided what I was going to do. Before I received the message from Marnie stating that they were in Mumbai and I should meet them by 6pm (This was the morning of the 31st that I received this) I was going to go check out this fort that I was recommended to go see. However, when I read the message my plans changed. An hour later I was sitting on a bus headed for Mumbai. Mumbai took me by surprise! Wasn’t expecting it to this beautiful! It had the feeling of Barcelona. Just an incredible city. 

I met with Crystal and Marnie and we had a quick dinner then tried to figure out what we were going to do. Originally we were going to go to the beach for an Electro party...that plan fell through. We decided to check out this bar opposite of the hotel. Very chill bar/lounge with a little bit older crowd. It looked like it was going to be a chill New Year until we went to Leopolds, a bar down the street. We tried to get in the side entrance (by accident) so then the security guard sent us to the front entrance. One minute later we had another security come up to us and escort us back to the side entrance where we got in right away and headed upstairs. Great music and great people! Lots of foreigners like ourselves. Around 2am we headed to this roof top bar on the waterfront. We met some new friends, one from France and the other two from Australia. I’ve been told this before, when traveling you will meet people and they will feel like your best friends for the night. This statement is very true. Lots of laughs and good times had. Finally crashed at 530am. 

Hangover Day

January 1st marks the day of a new year and our first train experience in India! Incredible! If you’ve ever seen “Slumdog Millionaire,” the part where they’re on the train is legitely accurate. Just smiles all day even with such incredible hangovers. Best Hangover Day EVER! Great time had in Mumbai!

Hangover Day

Just after New Years!

Rooftop Bar

Happy New Year to ALL and all the best! 

Imagine this...

Imagine this...
A drunk Tyler celebrating new years at a club in Mumbai...
Now imagine a drunk Tyler jamming out to this song with all the Indians...
Bollywood is definitely in my future! 

Photo of the Day 03/01/12

Ferguson College, Pune

Muse ick

A song I recently found on my itunes. Very chill beat. I just feel it's an appropriate song at the moment.
-Enjoy!

Christmas to NYE

So it’s been a week since my last post. I apologize for the delay. A lot has happened since Christmas, but first I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! 

This past week at the college was something called “Gatherings.” For people in Building 22, these gatherings are similar to our spirit week, a little more intense though. I manage to participate in some of the smaller events by testing out my dance moves. It was a great time! Bollywood is in my future! The night of the 27th I got the keys to my flat here. It’s a great place and good location. Very close to school and fairly close to everything else. I moved in on the 28th. The place is unfurnished, however, the landlord is getting me some chairs for the living room so it won’t be too empty. My bed consist of 6 fleece blankets and 4 pillows on the ground in the corner of the room. It’s not bad, comfortable enough. I might eventually get a mattress. We’ll see. The night of the 28th was a performance from the school bands followed by a fashion show and dinner. The night of the 29th was the main cultural event where each class makes up a dance routine and compete it. The dances were great. At the end of night they announced the winning class which was THIRD YEAR B.ARCH GENERAL!!!! That’s the class I’m in!! It was great being on stage celebrating. The air was filled with awesome energy, you couldn’t help yourself but to smile. 

The next day I wanted to go for a “hike” through this park. I get dropped off at the top of the hill only to find out it was closed. Some locals told me about Katraj (which is a zoo more or less) that was near by. They pointed me in the right direction so I started walking. It the road was turning into a residential zone, now in Pune (and I assuming most other cities in India) residential zones are a maze of alley ways and are very easy to get lost in. I turned around and was going to walk back down the hill to the main road. Some boys started talking to me and said they would bring me to Katraj. I decided what the hell follow them. They brought me through the neighbourhood and one of the boys introduced me to his family. At one point I was surrounded by school children who were just laughing and grabbing at me and wanting to shake my hand. It was hilarious! Loved it! Later it got to the point though where the boys didn’t even know where we were. An older guy (around my age) stop and pointed us in the right direction again. I decided to pull out my camera to document this. I was quickly told by the boys to put it away or else I would get robbed. By this point I was feeling a little nervous. Eventually two guys (maybe 17) pull up on a 2 wheeler. One of the boys said it was their friends and they would take me to the main road. I said fuck it, and got on the bike with them, still nervous though with the situation. After driving through the twisting alley ways for about 10 minutes, we made it to the main road. I got off 2 wheeler and they pointed me in the right direction. I spent the next few hours in the “zoo.” It was an interesting situation that just reminded me I am in a very foreign country and can’t let my guard down. Good lesson learned. 

I will post about NYE and New Year Day tomorrow! 

Peace!

Photo of the DAY 01/01/12

First day of 2012. Central station Mumbai. Best hangover ever!

Photo of the Day 31/12/11

Last day of 2012 spent in Mumbai. Beautiful city! Was not expecting this!

Photo of the Day 30/12/11

This is in Pune. Katraj 

Photo of the Day 29/12/11

Traditional Indian outfit.