Dream, Plan, Travel, Repeat.

I was browsing through some old files and realized that I wrote quite a few notes from various parts of the world for my O & E section that were never posted. So, consider this an O & E “international edition.” (Notes from Italy are coming soon.)

•    In Hyderabad, India, there appears to be a trend of photographing your baby/toddler in a variety of costumes, such as a doctor, a god(dess), a policeman, or even (my favorite) Gandhi. Some people put all of the images together to create giant posters to hang in their homes. Very, very funny.

•    I passed by a kindergarten in Kenya that had painted the alphabet, and images that corresponded with each letter, on its exterior walls. What image do you think they used for the letter “G”? A giraffe? Nope. They used a gun.

•    While a friend and I lounged on a beach in Lamu, a Kenyan man told us a nice story about the baobab trees that can be found around the country. One legend says when a god gave each animal a tree or bush to plant into the ground, the hyena planted the baobab tree upside down (which is why its branches appear to be roots). When the hyena realized his mistake, he began laughing and continues to laugh to this day.

•    A friend I traveled with in Tanzania had a Swahili phrasebook that provided sentences for interactions with market vendors, waiters, taxi drivers, and so on. One of the sections was for sexual interactions. Phrases that you could murmur to your Swahili lover whilst in the throes of passion included “Easy lion!” and “It helps if you have a sense of humor about it.”

•    In Kigali, Rwanda, you can make a “cell phone call” by stopping one of the young men and women wandering the streets with full-sized desk phones that are somehow wired to the mobile network.

•    Pigeon is a popular dish in Egypt. I consider myself an adventurous eater, but I couldn’t bring myself to try pigeon, a bird that I believe is popularly known in the US as a “sewer rat with wings.” I am also amused (and a little disgusted) by the similarity between the Arabic words for “pigeon” (hamam) and “toilet” (hammam). Coincidence? Probably not.

•    Cairenes have an awesome(ly scary) way of asking for directions: rather than safely pulling over and directing their question to one of the thousand pedestrians on the street, they will drive alongside another car and, as the two vehicles weave unsteadily down the road, converse with the other driver for a minute or two.

At long last, I’ve gotten my act together on the photo front. Lesson learned: when you’re on a round-the-world trip, upload photos as you take them.

My photos from Malaysia, India, Kenya, and Tanzania can be seen at http://flickr.com/photos/dptrphotos/. I have internet access at the house where I’m staying in Rome, so my photos from Egypt should also be up within the next few days. There are no Rwanda photos because, as those of you who read this blog might remember, my camera was stolen in Kigali (tear).

Update: All my photos are now online!

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to start posting on more a regular basis, so expect to hear from me again soon. I had a blast hanging out at Rome’s Piazza di Popolo on New Year’s Eve, and the experience was definitely entry-worthy. More on that later. Until then, enjoy the photos!

My life has been full of so many noteworthy experiences over the last few days that I don’t even know where to begin.

…

Let’s start with this: I’m writing from an internet café in downtown Nairobi.

I’m been in Nairobi ... [Continue reading this entry]

I spent the last three days exploring increasingly amazing cave temples (and UNESCO World Heritage Sites) at Elephanta Island (in Mumbai Harbour), and the inland cities of Ellora and Ajanta. Each was filled with beautiful reliefs, sculptures, and Hindu, Buddhist, ... [Continue reading this entry]

• I’ve seen a lot of toddlers wearing shoes that squeak as they walk. Kind of adorable, kind of annoying.

• In one town, Matteo and I were psyched to see a Baskin Robbins and, ... [Continue reading this entry]

I arrived in Mumbai by plane this afternoon. ($40 on SpiceJet for a 1 1/2 hour journey that included a snack of fresh cookies! I love those Indian discount airlines!) My first impression is that if I ever decide to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Here's the story that I promised in my May 23rd post. Enjoy.

When you need to buy a ticket for a 3-hour train ride at a train station in the Western world, you locate the station’s ticket counter; stand in a ... [Continue reading this entry]

I'm currently in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. I spent most of the day wandering around the bazaars, but since nothing I did strikes me as particularly entertaining I've decided to dedicate this post to some of the miscellaneous encounters ... [Continue reading this entry]

After arriving in Udaipur by train this morning, I went to a restaurant and had my first Gujarati thali-- a massive, incredibly delicious, all-you-can-eat vegetarian feast that includes rice, chapatis, papads, dal, potatoes, mixed vegetables, onion salad, yogurt, fresh juice ... [Continue reading this entry]

In about 2 weeks, I will leave India for Kenya, so I’ve been on a whirlwind tour for the last few days to see as much of the country as I can. At the time of my last post, I ... [Continue reading this entry]