By now, a lot of folks have given me the (now standard advice when traveling): Don't Drink the Water!
I don't even drink tap water here in California (Too much fluoride and other garbage). I sure as hell wont be drinking the tap water in India!
I've grown quite spoiled by the distilled water and super tasty Sparklets (reverse osmosis with minerals, for taste) water here in the states. I hope I can get decent tasting bottled water in India.
Good tasting water makes all the difference when it comes to "hydrating". (at least for me) If it tastes good, I find myself much more likely to drink deeply. I think most peoples aversion to just drinking plain old water throughout the day is that "it tastes bad". Well, I'm telling you. Good water tastes good! Go get some good water (I recommend distilled water) and you'll see what I mean. Making tea with distilled water makes all the difference in the world also.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Safety?
A concerned friend forwarded me a news article about the recent terrorist activity in India. My friend meant well. After all, they had no idea where in India I was planning to go. I made a map illustrate where I'll be relative to the current/ongoing problems.
I should mention, even before thinking about where I was going to be I was not particularly worried about being hurt or killed by terrorists. I'm not worried about it in my own country so why should I be worried about it in India?
On my map, which is extremely exaggerated, you can see I'll be far away from the political troubles. There is the ongoing stuff in Kashmir and Sri Lanka of course. But in some ways, they are both "stable" situations in that things are not getting worse. The problems in both areas seem confined to the respective region. I also drew a little skull for the now polluted area of Bhopal. ( The water and environment there is still heavily contaminated from an industrial disaster over 20 years ago. Bhopal is a really sad story. If you have a chance to read up on it you should. The whole situation is shameful. ) I never considered much of this while planning my trip. Maybe it will help my mom feel better to know that now I have.
There is no particular reason to worry about terrorism. If anything I'm more worried about pedestrian stuff like getting sick from the food or getting hurt in the same sort of accident I might get hurt in anywhere. I'm a little worried about crime. But I plan to be as careful as possible to not put myself in stupid situations.
I should mention, even before thinking about where I was going to be I was not particularly worried about being hurt or killed by terrorists. I'm not worried about it in my own country so why should I be worried about it in India?
On my map, which is extremely exaggerated, you can see I'll be far away from the political troubles. There is the ongoing stuff in Kashmir and Sri Lanka of course. But in some ways, they are both "stable" situations in that things are not getting worse. The problems in both areas seem confined to the respective region. I also drew a little skull for the now polluted area of Bhopal. ( The water and environment there is still heavily contaminated from an industrial disaster over 20 years ago. Bhopal is a really sad story. If you have a chance to read up on it you should. The whole situation is shameful. ) I never considered much of this while planning my trip. Maybe it will help my mom feel better to know that now I have.
There is no particular reason to worry about terrorism. If anything I'm more worried about pedestrian stuff like getting sick from the food or getting hurt in the same sort of accident I might get hurt in anywhere. I'm a little worried about crime. But I plan to be as careful as possible to not put myself in stupid situations.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Destination: India
It seems that everytime I mention to friends I'll be staying in southern India for two months the questions that arise are almost always the same: Why? Have you ever been there before? Isn't that a long time? Why don't you just go to Maui?
I'm not sure if people are concerned for me, or just morbidly curious. Considering I've never left the American continent, those are relevant questions. So, why am I going to India, and why for so long?
I'm going to India to fulfill several personal desires. First, to learn about earthen architecture and second, to learn more about a place called Auroville (AV for short). I learned about Auroville by chance while searching for information about rammed earth home building. There is way too much to tell about Auroville. If you are interested in learning more about it's best that you just follow the link. Bottom line: Big ideas. I want to see how the humans involved make it all work.
Regarding earth architecture, the Earth Unit in Auroville has developed a very sophisticated earth architecture system. Their system really caught my imagination; in particular, the quality of the work possible. If you look at some of the pictures of their completed projects maybe you'll see what I see. Earth Unit Projects: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Though made from earth they are far from mud huts.
The Earth Unit in AV is the only place to learn how to build Compressed Stabilized Earthen Block (CSEB) architecture "from the source". The main purpose of my trip to AV is to learn CSEB. Considering how far I'm going it seemed like a good idea to learn general masonry while I was there also. I decided to take nearly the entire course, including the theory/engineering section. The classes alone will take a month.
It's my desire to some day build my own house, either via the rammed earth method or perhaps with CSEB. I'd like to do some humanitarian work some day also. The skills might come in handy.
After finishing the training courses at the Earth Unit, I'll have a month free to explore southern India. I'll plan the details over the first month of my stay.
As for going to Maui: Isn't that what everyone does? Where is the fun in that?
I'm not sure if people are concerned for me, or just morbidly curious. Considering I've never left the American continent, those are relevant questions. So, why am I going to India, and why for so long?
I'm going to India to fulfill several personal desires. First, to learn about earthen architecture and second, to learn more about a place called Auroville (AV for short). I learned about Auroville by chance while searching for information about rammed earth home building. There is way too much to tell about Auroville. If you are interested in learning more about it's best that you just follow the link. Bottom line: Big ideas. I want to see how the humans involved make it all work.
Regarding earth architecture, the Earth Unit in Auroville has developed a very sophisticated earth architecture system. Their system really caught my imagination; in particular, the quality of the work possible. If you look at some of the pictures of their completed projects maybe you'll see what I see. Earth Unit Projects: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Though made from earth they are far from mud huts.
The Earth Unit in AV is the only place to learn how to build Compressed Stabilized Earthen Block (CSEB) architecture "from the source". The main purpose of my trip to AV is to learn CSEB. Considering how far I'm going it seemed like a good idea to learn general masonry while I was there also. I decided to take nearly the entire course, including the theory/engineering section. The classes alone will take a month.
It's my desire to some day build my own house, either via the rammed earth method or perhaps with CSEB. I'd like to do some humanitarian work some day also. The skills might come in handy.
After finishing the training courses at the Earth Unit, I'll have a month free to explore southern India. I'll plan the details over the first month of my stay.
As for going to Maui: Isn't that what everyone does? Where is the fun in that?
Monday, August 14, 2006
Chicken Hypnosis
It's a little known fact that chickens can by hypnotized. I taught the niece and nephews the trick. Here you can see Goku mesmerized by Keoni's fingers. (I'm not sure why everyone was painting their nails this day.)
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Chicken Crazy
It seems word has gotten out I am a fan of chickens. Now people are contacting me for "chicken rescue". My first "guest" is a cute little bantam. I'm not even sure what breed or how old he is. I'm guessing he's 8-12 weeks old, but I'm not sure. I don't have enough experience to really know. Cute little fella though...
UPDATE: Since acquiring the chicken I've discerned that he is a Silver Sebright. A big clue is the fact that he is "hen feathered" meaning that he doesn't have the usual sex feathers of a rooster. (the pin feathers on his hackles and saddle, and the long tail feathers) He now also has a name: Goku
My 3 year old niece came up with the name and it stuck.
UPDATE: Since acquiring the chicken I've discerned that he is a Silver Sebright. A big clue is the fact that he is "hen feathered" meaning that he doesn't have the usual sex feathers of a rooster. (the pin feathers on his hackles and saddle, and the long tail feathers) He now also has a name: Goku
My 3 year old niece came up with the name and it stuck.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Chicken Progress
The Araucana chickens are growing up! If You would like to know more about Araucanas, you can read the information here: http://www.skyblueegg.com Don't miss this great National Geographic article from 1948 about the introduction of the Araucana to the USA.
I like the chickens I got from the eggs I acquired on eBay. But according to "The Standard", they are not ideal. Fortunately, I'm not too particular about that sort of thing. Two of my birds show the highly coveted "tufts" and a couple of them are tailless. The hen looks like any old chicken. No tufts, no tail. She doesn't even have any interesting colors.
Group Shot.
I like the chickens I got from the eggs I acquired on eBay. But according to "The Standard", they are not ideal. Fortunately, I'm not too particular about that sort of thing. Two of my birds show the highly coveted "tufts" and a couple of them are tailless. The hen looks like any old chicken. No tufts, no tail. She doesn't even have any interesting colors.
Group Shot.
Blackbeard crowing.
Lucky, screaming his lungs out.
Duchess is my only hen. I need to get the fellas a few more girlfriends. She's already starting to look over-worked.
Does this guy look like any chicken you've ever seen?
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