It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

I think the new Florence and the Machine album, Ceremonials, is fantastic, particularly the first single "Shake it Out" which, if you're looking for a new song to add to your running mix, look no further. Load it in your queue, turn it up, and press play.

And I've been a fool and I've been blind

I can never leave the past behind

I can see no way, I can see no way

I'm always dragging that horse around

All of his questions, such a mournful sound

Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground

Cause I like to keep my issues drawn

It's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, Shake it out

Shake it out, Shake it out

Oh oh oh!

Shake it out, Shake it out

Shake it out, Shake it out

Oh oh oh!

It's hard to dance with a devil on your back

So, shake him off!

And I am done with my graceless heart

so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart

'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn

it's always darkest before the dawn

Enjoy:

Feel Good, Inc.

Song of the Day: Feel Good, Inc. by Gorillaz

In honor of the Denver Gorilla Run this morning, what's better than a little Gorillaz to start the day? Nothin'.

Hashing Undead

Some things are too fun to pass up.

This includes running through the streets of downtown Denver with the Denver Hash House Harriers while dressed up as Zombies.

Running. Fake Blood. Beer. General mayhem. Braaaaiiiins.

Check out the full coverage here.

And the photo slideshow here.

Add it to the long, long, list of the many reasons I love Denver.

All good things must end

July 26 - August 18, 2009 Mumbai & Lonavla, India

My last three weeks in India were bittersweet.

I moved from my friend Sunitha's house to the apartment with the volunteer housing. Since I would be teaching full time at both the school in the city and one in Nallasopara, a northern suburb. To say I was moving to a polar opposite place could not have been more accurate, and as Terri, a fellow volunteer commented when he helped me haul my stuff to the new apartment: "You DO know what it looks like, right?"

I did, and I was excited for this change for the last bit of time I spent in Mumbai.

My last few weeks were tiring, but mostly happy. I would leave for a full day of teaching either at the Khar Danda school, which was a 10 minute rik ride away, or prepare to go to Nallasopara, which involved the following steps:


1. Rik to train station: 10 minutes
2. Buy train ticket: 1-5 minutes
3. Wait for train/eat salty snacks for breakfast: 10 minutes
4. Get on correct train in women's compartment for 50 minutes
5. Exit train, find Shankar (fellow teacher) to meet and walk to another rik: 5-10 minutes
6. Rik to slum: 10-15 minutes
7. Walk from edge of slum to school, 15 minutes
8. Teach all day
9. Repeat commute, but in reverse
Below are several photos from those last few weeks at Nallasopara and at Khar:

All smiles at Nallasopara, though I am pretty sure this wasn't my demeanor the whole day, but it certainly was his!

Sunil at Khar Danda school; soooooooo many computer flashcards we studied!

Milk store on the way to/from Khar School.

Good carrier truck, common scene in the slums and on the regular roads. This one is in Nallasopara.

This awesome kid and I learned "U" is for unicorn. I love this photo of him.

Thanks to my friend Joe in Denver for sending me news magazines; little Sapna especially liked this one.

Deepak, one of the oldest boys at Khar school. He does a MEAN rendition of "Lean on Me."

As i took this photo, one of the students reminded me, "Leah Didi, that's a cow." Yes, indeed.

On my last day at Nallasopara. Pencils and Bananas, naturally! I love the girl in the background.

Much time was spent the last few weeks dodging the huge rats in the alleyways between the buildings that lead to the Internet "store" from the apartment, catching up with friends I had missed while traveling in Europe, and going out and meeting new friends, and some new guys, too. I knew soon enough I would be another tallish, blondish girl in America, so I took advantage of the attention and met some interesting fellas. I never would have experienced Indian karaoke, or sang "Summer of '69" to a boisterous crowd, if I hadn't met Senthil, or had the chance to dance to Akon until 3:30 a.m. if not for Chirag, Harsh and Mehir (my running club buddies), or stay up til sunrise, walk to Juhu beach with 7 others and drink from a coconut; the same sand where just two months before I was running to train for the half marathon in England. I also met up with Afreen, a woman who was at the Vipassana meditation with me who's from California, and we had a most interesting dinner at BBQ Nation, a popular, albeit pricey, restaurant. Finally, I made sure to take advantage of the spa in Mumbai one last time; an eyebrow threading (rather than wax) comes out to less than $1 there (some things I do really miss about India).

Some more photos from school:

"Kushboo's best friend Leah" awwww

He smiled ALWAYS, except for this snap.

Seriously, so composed!

And then, 5 seconds later! Happiness!

Swine flu caused me to miss my last few days with my kids at Khar, which I was way bummed out, but teacher Mahendra and I poked some fun of it my last day at Nallasopara.

A group of the youngest kids at Nallasopara!

My last weekend in India I spent in Lonavla, a few hours out of Mumbai, with the Hash running club. Being monsoon season, we still ran, even in the pouring rain. We also had two nights of dance parties and a late night drive up the mountain side, listening to M.I.A. and the Black-Eyed Peas will not be soon forgotten. It was the last day of the weekend when I was christened with my Hash Name "Slum Bitch" in honor of my teaching stint, and riding back to the city with Harsh, Chirag and Mehir I wondered when I would see them again, but I never wondered IF I would. Harsh and Chirag especially were great friends to me when I was in Mumbai, sharing in several adventures, and without which my experience would have been very different. Thank goodness I love to learn from books, and read a book that mentioned the Hash House Harriers. And thank goodness for Facebook, that I know what they're doing all the time.

Mehir and Harsh on our first run of the weekend.

Sad faces cuz I'm going back to the states.

Mehir and road cow!

Me and the boys.

Lonavla beauty.

I took a rik from the volunteer apartments after the guys dropped me off (after a few last beers) and headed to Sunitha's, as she would be taking me to the airport the next day. I spent the last day having a samosa at my favorite sweet shop, Tewari Brothers, and checking my email at good old Reliance World, even with their crap customer service, they did allow me to Skype.

It was with mixed feelings I packed and prepared to leave. I was really calm though; I knew it was time to go, and I knew what would await me as all the adventures I had did not come cheap, and realized I would have to get a job when I returned.

I wasn't worried though; I was happy. Happy to have been in India, happy to be leaving for the next chapter of my life, and happy to know that even though I was leaving friends behind I would be returning to so many I missed.

Sunitha escorted me to the airport, and while it was sad to say goodbye to her, she joked we'd have a reunion at some point, likely at my wedding (which may very well be in 50 years). I couldn't help laugh though, as just three weeks earlier when I left Vipassana my rik driver had told me "You are not Married! NOOOO! How old are you? 30!?! Oh my. Next year, I know this. You return to India, with your husband. You will be married then. Then you will find me, and I will be SOOOOOOOOOO happy! Yes, this I know, because you have a good spirit! You will be happy with husband yes!"

As I got out of the rik, hugged Suni and took in my last gulp of humid, Bombay-polluted air I turned and smiled. I had survived India, and India had survived me. And who knows what next year will bring...but I couldn't wait to find out.

Some of my favorite kids, coloring break, Khar Danda school, Mumbai, India.

London Town (or I love Cadbury Spread on Toast)

July 7-12th, 2009

"I'm saving up my money

Gonna fly back to London Town

Don't think that I should

But I can't help myself right now

Cuz if I make it

Back to London

I may never

Make it out." --Chris Seefried, "London"

The two things I loved most about London: easily navigable public transit and Cadbury chocolate spread on toast.

I arrived in London on a Tuesday afternoon, tired from my flight from Athens but excited about being in London for the first time in a decade. I found my hostel easily (located a block from Hyde Park,) and thanks to advice from my friend Pete from high school bought an oyster card for the public transit. My hostel had free wireless as well as a common room, and since I was staying in a shared room with 7 others, it was a welcome amenity. I took it easy the first night, treating myself to an Italian dinner and a good glass of wine.

The next day I went for an early job in Hyde Park; it's not every day I get a chance to run past so many historic things, but I found myself wondering what it would be like to run past those each day. It was something, I thought, I could get used to.

After making plans to meet up with Pete the next day, I began navigating the buses and Tube. I passed by Big Ben and gave him a wave, and then took a ride in the London Eye, since that wasn't there the last time I was in London. Having nothing on my hands but time, I took in the Dali exhibit and made my way to Trafalgar Square, treated myself to coffee, and ducked into the National Gallery for a few minutes.

It was freeing to be able to make decisions on a whim, traveling alone. And I wasn't lonely due to the large amount of people around. I was loving London, and it seemed to be sharing the love right back.

My next decision: going to Lion King in the evening, which was fantastic and I had never seen it before. I ended up sitting next to a Canadian women in her early 20s who was nannying abroad, and hoping next to go to Spain.

View from/of the London Eye.

Hello London.

There's the Big Ben.

London Archy architecture.

Boy conquers lion in Tralfagar Square.

The following morning I headed out to the Campden Market and found some used Wellies to take back with me for the monsoon season in India. I spent most of the day wandering, taking photos, and eating fish n chips before busing it to the Hampstead Heath area and walking to the highest point in London. Finishing a book, I watched a handsome guy flying a kite before heading back down to meet Pete for crepes and a beer. It'd been years since I'd seen him, and it was great to catch up. Soon we were heading to the opposite side of town, to go to a party with some of Pete's friends who are professional symphony musicians. A few had played in the Mumbai Symphony, so it was especially fun for me to talk with them (though I couldn't help wonder how I happened to be crashing a party full of professional musicians, when I quit the clarinet in 10th grade and can't play a bar chord clearly on my guitar). I had to run to catch the tube back to the hostel before it stopped for the night, and as I reached I spilled my purse on the ground, the token/security man took pity on me and helped me gather extra change before the last train left.

Wellies from London, left in Mumbai. Such a pity I didn't bring them back.

Can you believe I held out and did not buy a wig? Loved this store though!

View from Hampstead Heath.

I continued my touristy trail of London the next day by strolling through the British Museum in the late morning, finding it odd to see art and sculpture from India and Greece when I had just been there. I did see a mummified hippo, the Rosetta Stone, and an outdoor garden exhibit on Indian plant life. I met Pete and two of his friends for lunch and we had, of all things, Indian Thali, which was delicious. I found a copy of High Fidelity in the afternoon in an old bookstore, and found a phone to call to change my flight back to the U.S. I wandered through the National Portrait Gallery (fantastic) and failed in my attempt to find a small photography museum.

Later, again in Tralfagar Square, there was a live art display taking place where each individual spent an hour on this raised pedestal in the square and could do anything they wanted, as long as it was legal, and they were alone. I saw a woman reading a book--not aloud--followed by a soccer mascot dancing to a boombox.

That is one OLD hippo.

My buddy.

Art display near Indian restaurant in London.

I soon made my way to the Aldwych Theatre where I upgraded my seat for Dirty Dancing (and yes, I had the time of my life). At the bus stop back, I was asked for directions from a young couple. Surprisingly, I was able o help them. I guess it only takes 3 days in London to seem at ease (and avid use of public transit).

LOVE that I got the random 80s girl in with the hot pink signs!

On Saturday I headed to the Portobello Market in Nottinghill where I was met by Pete and his friend Elizabeth, another delightful American. We wandered, ate churros, people watched, drank beer, basically, it was fabulous. In the afternoon I headed to see a Kate Nash show at a literature festival in Queen Elizabeth Hall that was a combined book release/signing for Laura Dockrill, a friend of Nash's releasing a book called "Ugly Shy Girls", and met Pete and Elizabeth again that night for a drink, though with the early closing of pubs in London it didn't end up being a late night. I did manage to get slightly lost finding the correct bus back to the hostel, but was able to sort it out, only getting slightly drenched in the rain.

Portobello Market view.

Please give me a key to your pastel house, where I will while away my days and water your plants.

Pete and I: Holla for SD!!!

Elizabeth is awesome!

I spent my last morning in London doing laundry and eating my last breakfast in a long time of toast with Cadbury chocolate spread (DELICIOUS!) I headed to the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park which featured art from American Jeff Koons and his work about Popeye and also inflatables (it was cool, trust me). I headed to the Natural History museum to see some dinosaurs, but since it was Sunday it was packed and being prone to claustrophobia, I split to see the Victoria & Albert Museum (or V&A) nearby and eat lunch by a pond outside. I highly recommend going if you are in London!

My last stop before the airport was to meet my friend Becca who I volunteered with at One! International in Mumbai. We had a beer and it was great to see her before I headed back to Mumbai. I told her I would be moving into the volunteer housing--where she had stayed--and she laughed, hoping I would be prepared, as it would be much more bare bones than Sunitha's house...so we would see!

Turns out, British dinosaurs RARRR just as loud as American ones.

Outside the V&A Museum pond before returning to Mumbai.

Runnin Runnin

Mansfield, England June 24-29, 2009

The next stop on my European tour took me far up north, to the London Luton airport. As with many instances during travel, things didn't go as smoothly as planned.

I had booked one night at a Travel Lodge "near" the hotel, and after taking the cab from the airport to the hotel, I knew I wasn't in the cheap confines of India anymore (as it was, the progression from Turkey to Greece than the UK had steadily prepared me for increasing costs of goods and services). After wincing and handing over my cab fare, I tried to enter the hotel, but with no luck. A young couple was also trying to get in, and soon another guest came out and said the hotel was closed because of water damage. Being 11 p.m., in a new country after a four hour flight, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. Eventually though, an employee came and opened the door and informed us we would be moved to a new Travel Lodge. Fair enough, and after some more waiting around, and our cabbie getting lost on the way, I finally found my way to a bed around 1 a.m.

The next day I took a taxi to the train station (which was right near the airport) and was ridiculously early. Being so early, one would think I would have enough time to figure out how to board the train.

However, I learned a valuable lesson: the train comes and the doors only open for about 30 seconds, and close, and don't open again. I was trying to be a "good passenger" and go to the carriage where my seat was labeled. Needless to say, I was too slow, and the doors closed despite my banging on them. Defeated, I stepped back and the train sped of.

How I managed to navigate around India, Nepal, and Turkey and then mess up in the UK was beyond me, and at the same time, hilarious.

After talking to a very helpful train station employee, I waited two more hours (because the next train was cancelled) and finally boarded (quickly this time) my train to Nottingham. I met a man on the train, in his late 50s, who told me both his daughters had traveled a lot like I was doing, and that really taking this kind of time out to explore is an investment in one's self. I couldn't agree with him more, though it made me think perhaps it was easier to justify the money I spent on fun in Turkey and Greece...

In Nottingham I hooked up with my friends Anne and Ed that I met in Southern India. Friday morning after a short run, we headed to Sherwood Forest to see Robin Hood's tree and, naturally, have a picnic near it.

Stylin' in Robin's hood

Seriously I was there.

Ed's mom was gracious enough to put us up for a few days, and it was really nice to be in a house again, watch TV, and have home cooked meals. The next day we headed off for a big "surprise" as Ed had told us. It turned out that a new museum was being dedicated near Mansfield and Sir David Attenborough, who is the famous host of the BBC Natural History documentaires the Life Collections, was speaking. I had only been privvy to Sir David's excellence the day before, but Ed and Anne were long time fans. After the dedication we also got to see Robin Hood's Cave (the man was all OVER this area) and I had my first ever English scones with jam and cream, and loved them.

Sir David holla-ing.

Mansfield countryside.

Later, we did a driving tour of Mansfield which culminated (for me) in the successful find of the last Twilight book. We also stopped for more tea, which Senor definitely enjoyed.

All four of us are in this pic.

The next day was the defining moment for the weekend though; our half-marathon. At the end of our Southern India tour, Ed had suggested that we go up to Mansfield and run a half marathon with him, as he wanted to get in shape before he moved to Argentina to be with his girlfriend. At the time I had been eating my way through Southern India and I was open to the idea, and once I realized it fit perfectly into my European Adventure, agreed, and we got Anne to go along with it.

We woke to a perfect morning for a race; cloudy, cool (around 55 Farenheit) and little wind. Stretched out, we made it over the start, and despite my lack of regular training, we all went for it, and I surprisingly did better than my 2006 half marathon time (though by only 5 minutes, and my 2006 half marathon was at altitude, and this one was at sea level). Regardless, we all did awesome, and had some afternoon beers to celebrate.

Me, Anne, Ed's Friend and Ed pre-race.

This guy totally beat me.

Showing off the high-five.

Ed and I in post-race glory.

After the race Anne had to head back to Northern Ireland and go do dentist-ly things and the next day I again boarded a plane, but this time to a place I had been looking forward to going to for a very long time, a land of dark beer, great accents, and men with red beards: Dublin.

Touring Athens

ATHENS June 21 - 24, 2009

We welcomed Athens with open arms, and the mood was reciprocated. After getting a cab with relative ease to our hotel, we were able to navigate the public transit (with assitance from our hotel desk clerk) to an area not far from the hotel where we had an amazing dinner with, as expected, excellent wine. We also realized that the 80s style is back in a big way, as evidenced from the hot pink tights this young woman was sporting.

Having been pretty spent from ferry-traveling, we retired early that night, and admittedly, did not figure out how to pay for the use of the bus until the next day.

On Monday (the 22nd) we tried without success to enter the new Acropolis Museum. Though it was officially open to the public, we needed advance Internet reservations, which we didn't have. Bummed but determined to enjoy the beautiful day, we headed over to the ancient Acropolis (which is the name of the ancient Greek city) to see the Parthenon (which is the temple).

We didn't take a guided tour of the Parthenon, but highlights were the Dionysus Theatre and the Herod Atticus Theature. I won't go into a lot of the history here, but instead will let some of the pix speak for themselves.

Goddesses I loved this.

Parthenon view.

Senor felt at home here.

Having our trusty guidebook, we tried to find the Temple of Zeus, but first wandered up a small trail to the Philopappou Monument. I cannot remember what greatness Philoppaou is known for, but the view of the Parthenon from his monument was pretty grand.

After trying, in vain, to get an employee at the Acropolis to guide us to Zeus' Temple, we wandered around in other areas known for their spectacular ruins and called the Ancient Agora (what we thought was Zeus' Temple most of the day from far away views). This was the heart of ancient Athens for years and years and where political gatherings, debate, elections, theatre, athletics, religious occasions, and trading took place. However, it was repeatedly plundered and destroyed over the years, and it was last excavated in the 19th century with more effort going into it beginning in 1931. Having a great lunch after leaving the Ancient Agora, complete with Mythos Beer, we continued our journey until we finally came upon yes, you guessed it, ZEUS' Temple!

Lib holla-ing at Zeus' Temple!

It wasn't nearly as rad as we had hoped, but it still was pretty great, and we also got to see Hadrian's Arch. From their we wandered in the beautiful National Gardens where we came upon some delightful old men playing chess and a wild turtle. Soon, we came to a road that we discovered was in front of the President's residence, and just as the Changing of the Guard was taking place. A small group of men were filming some sort of TV show of the process, but we never did figure out what that was about. Being a huge nerd, I needed a photo with the guard. I am pretty sure he hated me, and all others like me who pose for such photos.

After my photo opp, we made it to the original Olympic Stadium that was re-used in recent years.

By now though, it was time for happy hour where we made it to a delightfully decorated watering hole. After our drink though, I hit the wall, and wanted nothing more to rest up for the night, and we soon ventured back to the hotel.

With only two days left in Athens (and the last day of holiday for Lib) we took the day fairly easy, doing some shopping and of course sampling more great food. The highlight was an open-air concert at the Herodeion at the Acropolis which featured a classical music concert by Thanos Mikroutsikos and was part of the Athens & Epidaurus Festival. We did end up leaving before it was over, partly due to the fact we had been there for three hours and partly because we had our fill of entertainment by the extremely enthusiastic woman in front of us who was overprotective of her seat cushion and had a little too much love for Thanos.

It was sad to send Lib off in her taxi to the airport, but I was so happy to have spent the time traveling together and took such great memories away from our trip! I was also lucky enough to get into the Acropolis Museum my last day in Athens, and it was very impressive, featuring tons of Greek sculpture. Including this Half-Faced Man.

Athens was a great city, but in comparison to Istanbul it didn't hold quite the same allure to me. I did wish we would have had time to go to Marathon though, the city where Pheidippides, the man who was said to have run the entire distance from Marathon to Athens to declare that the Athenians had been victorious over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon, started his fateful journey (he died of exhaustion after relaying his message of victory). I was thinking, maybe it would make me faster in the half-marathon I had coming up in a few days.

The Turkey/Greece leg of my adventure was certainly full of surprises, happy memories, and tons of fun. All the same I was very excited to be heading to England to meet two friends I had met on my southern India tour and oh yes, run a half-marathon.

Onto England!