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Indian Diaries of worldly and streetsmart travelers

 
 
Heatwave
 
  1  
Reply Fri 19 Jan, 2007 09:26 am
I just read your cockroaches post, Dagmaraka. You're hardier than ANY other Indian I know, for sticking it out at the 'dhaba' (the road-side hotel). Anybody I can think of, would've walked away. Either that, or you were really hungry!

Which city were you in? I can't imagine the smallest Indian city (not talking of villages, here) would not have a cleaner place to eat at.

Great writing, btw - agree with msolga, you could be employed by the Lonely Planet.
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Lord Ellpus
 
  1  
Reply Fri 19 Jan, 2007 10:04 am
Great piece of writing there, Dag.

I had "Chicken Hyderabad" for dinner the other night. 'Twas scrumptious.

It seems a bit odd though, importing chickens from all the way over there, when we've got millions of our own.
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Wed 24 Jan, 2007 08:14 am
well there's more chicken than people here in this town, and let me tell you, there's plenty of people. so the chicken do need some exporting, too. outsourcing, you may say.

i am now sporting a brand new salwar kameez that i bought only because a local colleague makes them as her side job. tonight is my only chance to wear it, because where the heck would i wear it in boston... but it's ok, she made some money and i have yet another pretty useless garment to hang in my collection.

off to cambodia this sunday, hopefully with B29, if tickets arrive in time (littlek FedExed them this monday, because orbitz only issues paper tix to phnom penh and only delivers withing u.s. and canada...). anyway, it shall be yet another adventure with a nerve wrecking beginning (waiting for tickets and visa). which means everything is as should be in my life.
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McTag
 
  1  
Reply Wed 24 Jan, 2007 11:33 am
I've got some nifty Indian duds and I wore them at Whitstable. Cool
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Wed 24 Jan, 2007 05:56 pm
Tickets' eta is 1/.25 bt 8 pm. I think that's eastern standard time.
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Sat 27 Jan, 2007 03:45 am
Aaaand off to Cambodia tomorrow for some 10 days. Turns out I might even have a day or two off, in which case expect photos and updates. Most likely I will post after I come back to the states though. In the meantime hello a2k!
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Feb, 2007 06:26 am
After Hyderabad, Phnom Penh seems like a clean green oasis. Not sure if that would be so if I came there directly from the Caribic or whatnot, but I must say that I was impressed. I expected a war torn ravished country and found it pleasant, well kept, beautiful beyond belief (countryside especially) and people are cheerful and kind. How on Earth it is possible that almost 2 million were killed here by their own kind, I will never understand. I look at older people in Phnom Penh and wonder what was their fate. In 1975 the city was completely evacuated and the city people - the "New people" were the low order in the new revolutionary society. They went through hell. Starvation, overworking, exhaustion, diseases...
But my job is to do workshops (last just ended) and that was fun, if challenging. Teaching conciliation of conflicts that have roots in history, memory and identity to a mixed Cambodian and Vietnamese group ain't a walk in a park. But all is well and good.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for NYC via Bangkok and Delhi - a day each - so I should arrive appropriately exhausted and smelly, as one should from a long trip. Will post pictures when I regain senses and energy.
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McTag
 
  1  
Reply Wed 7 Feb, 2007 11:57 am
God bless Daggy, she is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Thu 8 Feb, 2007 12:14 am
Isn't she, though!

To do the work she does & do it well, she must be brilliant!

Bravo, dag! Very Happy
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Thu 8 Feb, 2007 09:11 am
Can't wait for the slide show!
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Mon 12 Feb, 2007 06:44 pm
Well, I'm back. Sitting at a friend's house, still utterly exhausted. Yesterday, the last workshop, fifth in a row for me, was completed and I am a free woman for awhile. Hopefully if I sleep for a few days straight I'll be in good shape in no time. Meanwhile I have uploaded pics on my photo web page. When I feel sane again, I may add some text, too.
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Mon 12 Feb, 2007 07:39 pm
In NYC? Welcome home!
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ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Mon 12 Feb, 2007 08:19 pm
Well, I tried to post one of my favorites, but can't. Let's say it's the last one on page 10, India. Haven't tripped to Cambodia yet...
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ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Mon 12 Feb, 2007 08:47 pm
On Cambodia, looks very interesting.. but I'll pick the last photo, by Paz..
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Tue 13 Feb, 2007 12:53 am
I would love to hear more details about your work, dag.

Now have a good rest!
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Wed 28 Feb, 2007 09:13 pm
Where did you go?

After Hyderabad, Phnom Penh seems like a clean green oasis. Not sure if that would be so if I came there directly from the Caribic or whatnot, but I must say that I was impressed. I expected a war torn ravished country and found it pleasant, well kept, beautiful beyond belief (countryside especially) and people are cheerful and kind.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQDoDoITk4s20JZZJ0w8YkV7Xbeq*Pv14kF*bX3b7YbQgjvLkoNxhNhK7gzaBEaCFNxEJFHErRZFvDDRFmIZgN5qqQfdkU68TqqNWnS6zJw/IMG_1773.JPG

How on Earth is it possible that nearly 2 million died here over four years, I will never understand. I look at the older people in Phnom Penh and wonder what their fate was. On April 17 1975, just on the day of Cambodian New Year, the city was completely evacuated by the Khmer Rouge and the city people - the "New people" were to become the low order in the new revolutionary society. They went through hell. Four years of starvation, overworking, exhaustion, diseases... Looking into the faces of anyone who's over forty, I can't help but ponder: Where did you go? Were you sent to Battambang province? Or to the Cardamom mountains to make rice fields in un-penetrable jungle? When did they take your car or cart away? When did you realize you're trapped in this prison without doors? How did you survive that? If I look at you long enough, will I get any answers?
The entire country was shuffled around- people from towns were sent to villages and forests for "reeducation", to work in the rice fields until they drop dead, people from villages were in turn sent to the towns to work in factories. Complete equality. Everyone was equally miserable. Every last house and apartment in the city has a blood curdling story to tell.
But that is not something I can talk to people about. I can only guess and speculate. It's and odd and morbid fascination, studying houses and people trying to guess how many deaths of family and close friends they have been touched by.
On the other hand, I cannot say I am starving. My thoughts are starkly juxtaposed with the paradisely (it IS a word now) beauty of every day here. Cambodia is lush and green and ripe with fruit I have never even heard of before. My favorite are mangosteens, soft, juicy and sweet, unlike anything else I have ever had. And langsats that "look like potatoes, feel like tough grapes, and taste like heaven," as they say in Cambodia. And spiky rambutans, that look like lychees but are not.
Oh but we didn't just eat. In fact we mostly worked. Three workshops in a row. I brought re-enforcements from the Henry Martyn Institute in India - in the persona of Varghese, trainer and director of the conflict transformation program at HMI. Workshops were great. One for the students of the Pannasatra University, one for the top officials from non-governmental organizations, and the last but not least one for the Cambodia-Vietnam dialogue group of young leaders and enthusiasts.
We managed one trip to the ocean. Only one day and we had to work - but it was worth it. Swimming in the ocean in February is worth almost any cost to me. Sitting under an umbrella, having just caught freshly grilled prawns, crabs, scallops, shrimp and some rice cooked in bamboo leaves, drinking fresh coconut water (every day) for dessert. Could life be any better? I always thought my colleague Adam, who lives and works with us from Phnom Penh, is so brave. Just picked himself up and moved to the Wild East. But when I saw how life is in Phnom Penh, I could barely control my jealousy. I could be brave like that anytime. Bring it!
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Wed 28 Feb, 2007 10:18 pm
<grin> is there more?
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Wed 28 Feb, 2007 10:20 pm
No. there's no more. I have nothing whatsoever, especially nothing interesting to say.
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Wed 28 Feb, 2007 10:21 pm
really. Hnh.
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dagmaraka
 
  1  
Reply Wed 28 Feb, 2007 10:29 pm
Evil or Very Mad < -- must be in the air. multiple people are Evil or Very Mad today
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