Capital Gains and Indian Trains

Happy Ugadi everyone!

Ugadi is the Telugu New Year which just passed on March 16th. I was in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam staying with friends and enjoy a wonderful chutney made only once a year of tangy green mangos, fresh coconut, green chili, jaggery (a less processed sugarcane product) and tamarind juice! The chutney is not only celebratory of the new Year, but also the start of another mango season here in southern India. I am enjoying the green mangos now, and so pleased I will be here to enjoy a newly sun ripened orange mango freshly fallen from the tree in a few weeks! I was originally thinking I may miss out on the mangoes in order to head north and do some further exploration, but it now seems as though I will be staying south for the remainder of my time here.

Before traveling to Vizag, (as it is known locally), and taking a dip the Bay of Bengal, visiting a meditation center, receiving a long awaited massage, visiting a 2000 plus year old Buddhist site, learning the culinary secrets of Indian women with my newly acquired family, I spent a few days with some extended "family" in Hyderabad, the capital city of the state in which i have been residing, Andhra Pradesh.

During this time, some intriguing historical sites, including the "Old City." The streets of the old city were teaming with bustling groups and individuals shopping among the local artisans. I was fascinated by the number of Muslim woman purdah, veiled from outside gazers and also from the world of men. There was something ironic about the woman cloaked in their sea of black, looking at and buy wildly bright Indian textiles. I am aware that this is my outsider perspective and that i will never truly know about the individuals beneath the anonymising (Bushism? not you tara ;) ) cloth. I tried to discretly take photographs of these women and failed...didn't fail in taking the pictures persay, but was having a hard time being discreet as the tall white tourist.

When i started this email i had intentions of telling you all so many things about the wonderful adventures i have been encountering, but alas I have decided to devote time to updating facebook (yes, crackbook strikes again) pictures, and am therefore going to neglect taking this story any further. I could be focusing all of my attention on preparing for my workshop this weekend, which by the way, I found out yesterday that folks are litteraly flying in from all over india to attend! But, who wants to focus ALL of their attention on any one thing?! Not I, said the duck duck (Little Red hen, any one with me?!) haha ok, Haley Chronicles to be continued.....

LoVe like a storm in the desert (did i just rip off john Denver?!?!) hahahah

Haley