INDIA 2012 DAY 2 – Thursday, October 19, 2012 The Qutab Minar We’d had our Baptism by Bicycle Rickshaw in Old Delhi, and I was feelin’ a little cocky that I could handle anything. Squeezing between cargo vans and wagons of bricks on the Chandni Chowk? Done. Men peeing in the street? Beh. Bring on the humanity. I’ve got my camera. Our second day in Delhi began early, at the site of the first of its “Eight Cities” — the Qutab Minar Complex. The Qutab Minar is one of the earlies

ECUADOR, 2012 We interrupt this trip to India to bring you a brief from the diametric hemisphere (that’s something like the Twilight Zone, but in color and with better food). I’ve started this entry as I lounge on a  tiny couch perched in front of a crackling fireplace, the only source of heat in my room at the magical La Mirage Garden Hotel, a Shangri-La high the Andes in the small “leather” village of Cotacachi, Ecuador. Cotacachi is about two hours north of the capital of

INDIA 2012  DAY 1 – Wednesday, October 18, 2012 It’s said that the official language of India is Hindi, but in reality, it’s honking. It’s hard to imagine the variety of horn sounds that are produceable by transport vehicles – and this is from a Los Angeleno who has heard every variation of La Cucuracha ever played by a truck. (I learn later that some Indian truck drivers have a selection of horn tones that they play according to their mood that day!). And yet, on my first ni

INDIA 2012 Yatara is the Hindi word for travel, and it is derived from Yatana, which is their word for suffering. It means you’ve been taken out of your comfortable existence and forced to adapt to ever-changing conditions. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, and the Indians are experts at it. I’ve never witnessed such an unending demonstration of graceful resourcefulness. Our group of 11 women and two men (including our instructors) had a very intense eight days to lear

INDIA, October 2012 A little over a year ago, I found myself suddenly living alone for the first time in 25 years. Why India? Well, why not? This might seem like a devil-may-care attitude, or maybe that’s my delusion. Maybe I just seem irrational. What I have, really, is a well-developed sense of denial — but so far it’s served me well. I think of myself as tolerant and resilient, so therefore I can be adventurous. Yes! I’ve been through hell and back! I can handle anything!