Cheese Puffs...The Breakfast of Champions!?!?!?

Cheese puffs!

The power food that was chosen for 16 young men as they prepared to explore personal growth and tackle the subject of sexual education as none other than Chai, Upama (a traditional India Breakfast food), and CHEESE PUFFS! How cool is that! America was great enough to invent such an unhealthy snack, but India has taken it to the next level! Cheese Puffs for breakfast! Mothers all across the globe are scared!

Matching Bruises!

Within two days of each other we got matching bruises! how romantic! India is a dog eat dog world!

pics and links

here you can see a typical goods carrying truck, pani puri which we made with our friends val and amol, an old muslim womans hands, and one of the clients where i work. check out more pictures athttp://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=581221203751864030/l=353766354/g=11441637/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Oneness blessin-working for the NGO

hello there my loves. it has been months since i have written. the big news is that you should be able to call us on an asheville number. i have emailed sue as our test pilot today. the number is.....828-333-4656. please call because i miss you. we are around 10 hours after you. so your morning time is best. हे लुक हिन्दी there is a type in hindi option how cool. so i have spent 21 days silently meditation and to date i would rank the wedding and this meditation course, http://www.onenessmovement.org/ the highlights of my life. i am looking forward to seeing how my life will change with this in it. so far i just do the 2x/day short practices. i am looking forward to giving deeksha to more folks. i have been livin in a lil flat and working for an NGO for two weeks. we work with HIV heroine addicts. pretty intense and a great program. they strive for helping others to help themselves. One of the addicts who i got to know a bit, relapsed and died in a train accident. This is what happens with this population a lot, pretty crazy, pretty sad. but i am glad i got to know his beautiful smile! I am conducting an art therapy workshop this weekend, should be great. i miss you all

Bollywood and Delaware!

The pictures are of me and some locates hawkers at the Mumbai Arts Festival and other arts festival happenings!

I think I forgot to talk about the Kanheri Caves in Sanjay National Park. They were straight up amazing! They were built around 900 AD by Buddhist Monks! Here were over 109 caves. Most were simple dwellings, but about 20 are truly amazing. One is like a prayer hall with pillars carved in the walls and a shrine. Another was like a lecture hall complete with two long sitting areas. Most caves had canal for drainage! It was great. We are planning a field trip to the Park with the youth who come into our drop in center! I’m stoked.

Di and I walked to the Caves and it was a good 2 mile walk. We saw many communities of monkey along the way. When we past one set of monkeys there was a car, about the size of a station wagon carrying about 18 people feeding the monkeys. As Di and I walked by they stopped feeding the monkeys and just stared at us. (This is not uncommon, we get stared at all the time. I suspect any white person gets stared at all the time. It can get quite annoying sometimes) ANYWAY I want to do a study to see what people stare at longer…Monkeys or Foreigners! I will publish my findings in Science Today! Look for it upon my return to the states in the September 2008 issue!

Di and I went to Filmistan the other day. Filmistan and Film City are the sets that many Bollywood films and most India TV shows are shot. It was amazing! I have a new dream! To have my own cooking tv show. I would eat all day! How great is that! So let me report back to everyone what it is like to be on the set of a cooking show. They shoot for about 12-14 hours straight for 6 days. That basically gives them a season of shows. It takes around 20-30 minutes to shoot an episode and they everyone gets to try the tasties! Not too bad. On top of this world class food there is a stream of chai/coffee/soda/water. Of course lunch and dinner are served but they act as a side course the multiple gourmet tastings throughout the day!

If you have read this long you deserve the secret to getting stuff done or going places in India. The person who greets you will refuse you entrance pretty much no matter what. Even if you have a huge invitation that says you belong there or even if the building has a large picture of you face on it. You will not be let in. They will claim you need 5 other forms of identification or need letters from public officials of some sort. Do not be discouraged! Keep insisting that you belong or were invited or whatever the case maybe and after about 3 minutes they will welcome you in! Good Luck~

So Delaware is a real cool place on the other side of the world as opposed to in the US!!! I have gotten the following reactions to me being from Delaware the past 2 weeks!
Our one friend Red is Indian but lived in Chicago for 14 years and has about 340 tattoo’s and is a boat load of fun. (Yes we did sing her the “I used to Work in Chicago” song. This song did not nearly go over as well as I would have hoped with the international audience.) Any way were talking about where we were from in the states and I proudly told her Delaware! She basically fell over in excitement and started touching me screaming “I have never meet anyone from Delaware, that is an imaginary place!” This went on for a solid 5 minutes!
Another volunteer with AJWS was equally as excited to meet a true Delawarian. Over diner we were introducing ourselves and again I got the chance to throw the Delaware title out there and her reaction was equally as exuberant! Your from Delaware?!?!?!? That is amazing. I have never meet anyone from Delaware! What is it like? Can I have your autograph. And then we posed for pictures! It was great!

Update from India

So how goes it everyone? Things are great here. In the past few weeks Diane and I have partaken in the AJWS staff training for our India Placement. I would like to give a shot out to Sam, William, Sunita, Anna!! They were the staff for AJWS and the training was extremely beneficial and informative for both of us. We also got to meet the other incredible volunteers~ Ron, Debby, Debby, Sylvia, Murrey, and Jason. They are wonderful people and we wish them much luck in their up coming volunteer placements!

Diane and I went to Sanjay Gandhi National Park this past Sunday. There is a cat problem so they say. Between 2004-2005 33 people have been eaten by leopards! LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN IN TWO YEARS 33 PEOLE HAVE BEEN EATEN BY LEOPEARDS! That is wild! How does this happen you might as? Well Mumbai has about 14 million people in it and this National Park is pretty much the only green space around. There are huge high-rises and apartments all around the park. Poor people have started to live in the park because of land issues. This is illegal. The local government is supposed to regular this, but the local politicians want the vote of the people living in there so don’t enforce the law thus 33 PEOPLE GET EATEN BY LEOPARDS! Truly Wild and sad. There was a wedding in the park by some of the local inhabitants. We were able to see the presentation of the bride as well as the party that ensued after the ceremony! It was very lively with music and all. Here are some pictures from our trip there.

We also went to our first house party in India! It was a heck of a good time with lots of food. Diane and I feel that Indian’s are much like Jewish Mothers and Italian Grandmothers! They just feed and feed you. You have to say no about 123 times before their request subside. It’s great food though. Mom don’t worry I’m not starving by any means! I’ve actually put on some wait!

We moved from our temporary home in Thane- (thanks Val and Amul!) to our place in Bandra! This place apparently has Bollywood stars all over the place but I haven’t been able to recognize one yet! The local Crepes places is run by a Bollywood actor but I don’t know who!

We have meet someone who produces an Indian TV cooking show. We are going to his studio tonight to taste some of the foods. I think the show is on ZEE TV on Sunday at 12:30 pm if you get that channel! Look for the two white people stuffing their faces! That will be us!

Me and the Thali have had a falling out or sorts! Well I guess it is really Mumbai’s fault but Mumbai does not believe in the bottomless Thali much like the rest of the country. It is sad so my hunt for a bottomless Thali is underway and I will report back once I have found it! If you know of any near Bandra please do let me know!
Thanks~

Saathi- the beginning!

Intro to Saathi:

I have been at Saathi for 2 weeks thus far. The first two weeks are for me to familiarize myself with the multiple facets of the Saathi juggernaut. Saathi’s main focus is to work towards a Just and Equitable world with a specific focus on youth living on the streets.

I have visited ad interacted with the youth at the two main “day centers.” One is KPC where the boys go and other is the APC where the girls go. Both provide physical, social, occupational, and emotional support for the youth during the day. I observed and participated in various activities in each center ranging from story telling, physical activities, theater therapy and counseling.
I have been taken on three outreach trips through the various locations Saathi networks in. The red light district and the Mumbai Central bus terminal were the locations I observed and met some of the youth living on the street and Saathi’s Stake Holders. Stake Holders are individuals who have been on the streets for a while and will refer newer youths to Saathi. I spent an afternoon at Saathi’s Muland Home Placement Center. The Home Placement center houses runaways who are relatively new to the Mumbai area. The Home Placement serves as a location away from the city where the youth can reflect on their decision to run away where meals, counseling, and shelter is provided. I visited vocational center where youth boys were making paper bags out of recycled newspapers. They happily welcomed me to learn the trade. It was fun!I look forward to start planning my projects with the staff and implementing them!

Here are pictures from the Mumbai Marathon and the Kathakali Dance in Kerala. Kathakali dance is native to the Southern part of India. It tells a story of various gods only using music and movement. there is a large emphasis on the facial movements of the dancers. it was great to watch!~

MARK GOT A CELL PHONE!!!!

Well actually i just got a sim card because we already had a cell phone which we are borrowing for the time being so MAYBE I DID NOT GET A CELL PHONE!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway here is the number
the country code is +91 and then 98 3343 8908
i want some prank calls!
talk to you guys soon!

Pictures of India

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=208129259/a=104446816_104446816/t_=104446816

this is the web site for some picture of our first month in India! Check it out!

These are some pictures of the Himalaya's, the sun set at kodaikanal and pictures from the backwater tour in kerala.

Amazing! Rhode Island you got nothing on us!!!!!!!

My mother has done it again and sent me one of the most amazing songs to grace this planet. After the Mantra i received at the Amma's Ashram i think this is the second greatest song in my life right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRsWdTO6P7o

And some more pictures: a penguin as a garbage bin, doesn't this look like delaware, the sun rising and setting from Amma's Ashram, and a picture of Kodaikanal

New Years, Rollin’ Solo in India, and Amma's Ashram

Diane has gone off to her Oneness seminar about 80 km north of Chennai thus leaving Mark all alone in the large country of India! What does he do?!?!?! Well the first thing was get the heck out of Chennai. A decent city, but we didn’t give it much of a chance.

We did spend New Years in Chennai and saw some amazing fireworks. We stood on the top of our hotel and watch fireworks from every angle. It was a bit scary b/c there were some amateur firework displays. The path that some of the fireworks took did not make it past the 6th story of a few of the local hotels. Thus exploding into the side of many buildings. I was a bit concerned but what are fireworks without some danger right?

On New Years Day we went to the beach of Chennai! This beach is straight up HUGE!!!!!! There could be the larges beach ultimate tournament, WITH REGULAR SIZED FIELDS, on this beach. It was mammoth. Of course getting thousands of ultimate players to the beaches of Chennai might be challenging the beach was huge. There was a Shakedown Street of basically “Dollar Stores” on the beach. There were amusement park side, granite small ones, but still in the middle of the beach. It was wild. After being treated like celebrities on the beach. You know how it is, the shaking of hands, the picture taking, the constant gawking. It is tough work being famous! We were off to the state fair.

The state fair is a bit different. Take for example in the Western North Carolina State Fair we dress us pigs and give them names like Dale Swineheart Jr. and race them around tracks. In India the state politicians have large walk through displays of what the different state agencies are doing with the people’s tax month. It was pretty cool.

So like I said, out of Chennai. I headed to Kodaikanal. A beautiful town about 2000 meters up in the mountains of the Western Ghat range. Kodaikanal’s claim to fame is that they have a lot of homemade chocolate and ice cream. I can speak from experience that this stuff is TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is also a pastry shop that I straight up harassed this store to tell me when the wheat bread would be fresh. When I finally got the info and a warm loaf it was orgasmic! Also there was a dairy plant with fresh cheese. I missed the whole milking process by an hour b/c I spaced out one day but the cheese coupled with that fresh wheat bread would make a vegan reconsider their ways!
The views up here were fantastic I might add. I took some cool pictures of baby chickens that were smothered in this bright red sauce hanging from wires on street vendors carts. This is the point were vegans jump back on the bandwagon! I will post these pictures soon. It was pretty interesting. So after a few days in Kodaikanal I headed to Kollam for a “Backwater” tour or the southern part of Kerala.

I was afraid I was going to miss it b/c my train pulled in at 9:42am and they said you should get there at 10am to get on the boat. I was standing in the doorway of the train as it was pulling into the station and I saw the stairs go past me. I looked ahead and saw no other set of stairs. WHAT WAS HAPPENING! I WAS GETTING FURTHER AN FURTHER AWAY FROM MY EXIT! So like any intelligent young man with a 50 pound back pack on would do, I “stepped” off. Apparently that whole day’s lecture in high school science class about “things in motion staying in motion” didn’t really cross my mind b/c when I hit the pavement I fell on my side. By the way i was the greatest 8th grade science teacher ever! Just ask teh three honor boys i let run wild in our dilapitated science lab. (Needless to say the made gun powder and blew stuff up!) The backpack doubled as my cumbersome turtle shell and I wiggled around a bit until I was able to get up right. A few scratches, but I’m ok. I’m an idiot but ok! PS I did make the boat with plenty of time!

The boat trip was great! There are these large wooded contraptions that looks like birds feet all over the backwaters. They are Chinese fishing thingys. They basically get lowered down and pull up some fish a while later. They littered the landscape. There were also tons of eagles, and boys both young and old asking for :”pen, pen” as we floated by. A beautiful and relaxing trip.

After about 3 hours we made it to Amma’s Ashram. Her real name is Mata Artriyumanuouhjgkljrshgkjshkuhfgushioghfusgiofshfgsahfos but people call her Amma, which means “mother” They also call her the “Hugging Saint” b/c she hugs everyone she meets or who come to see her. She is truly an inspirational lady. She is a spiritual leader but preaches “love” and that “all things are God.” The Ashram is basically an Ashram, but gone Hollywood. I at first though I wouldn’t like it b/c it was too big, but I really have fallen in love with the place. To defend myself I did arrive on Sunday, one of the busiest days there are. On Monday things calmed down a bit and I decided to extend my stay.
Let me describe it a bit. There are 5 huge apartment complexes, the biggest being a 17 story building, with a 13th floor by the way, in the middle of about 1,000,000,000,000 palm trees! There is a huge temple, a large autitorium, a huge kitchen, a hospital, a printing press, a swimming pool, 4 different eating areas, and numerous shops and various other things. It is like a resort but for prayer! It is great. The whole place is run by volunteers and everyone there is asked to do a “Seva” each day. Seva is basically volunteer work or selfless work. I got assigned recycling! Hot darn! By the way when you recycle plastic bottles- TAKE THE TOPS OFF, POUR OUT THE WATER, AND WHILE YOUR AT IT PLEASE CRUSH THE CAN/OR BOTTLE! THANKS~

So Amma is one heck of a rock star. She donates millions of $ to causes all over the world. A Tsunami hit Kerala right by her Ashram and she personally paid for and built everyone who lost their home a new one. She gave free food, medical care and most importantly love to all of the victims. She has also helped to rebuild communities after earthquakes and Tsunamis have destroyed towns in Gujurent and in Tamil Nadu. She even gave money to Katrina relief and just helps everywhere. She has build huge apartment complexes in slums and donates food and medical care constantly. So how does she do all this. Like I said before EVERYONE IS A VOLUNTEER. NO ONE is paid! It is great. In a day and age where Non-profits and NGO’s can be iffy with money she is doing it right. She doesn’t have to pay workers so the majority of the money goes to the people in need. I would recommend donating to her cause if you want to donate some $ and know it is going to a good place.

So I have extended my stay here and am taking a 2 day medication course. It has been great so far! That is about it right now. Have a great day and much love~ we miss you guys~mark

here are some pictures:

like i promised the red baby chickens, the circus!, our minister friend brady who married us, some free range beef, and shot out to Delaware! Go Blue Rocks!

Fun in India!

So India is pretty cool. First off when you go out to eat you can order specific
items or you can get the "meal/thali". I LOVE THE MEAL/THALI!!!!
it is basically all the starch (rice/chapati) and sauces/dahl you can eat with your fingers. The first time we found this out we were eating at this sweet little joint and the waiter kept coming up to me and smiling with this three columned bowl. He didn't speak english but would look at my empty sauce places on my banana leaf (yes you get to eat of banana leaves!!!!!!!!!) i would nod and ask for more and he would refill my sauce spaces. then he would wiggle his head side to side. i got the larges kick out of the side to side head nod! it was great b/c he had this little smirk on his face as well. i have come to realize that this head wiggle is for everything, "when pointing to the bathroom- head wiggle, when just looking around in stores- head wiggle, when getting kicked out of a Hindu only temple- you guessed it the head wiggle!~ i love it

another finer point of traveling in India is the rickshaw drivers get paid if they take you to a store. So when you get into the rickshaw and ask to go somewhere they take you to a store and play dumb or act like they didn't hear you correct. THEN THEY TAKE YOU TO ANOTHER STORE! How can they play this trick twice with the same excuse is what i'm thinking. But anyway on to the story. Diane and i were walking around Dehli and we wanted to go to the metro. a taxi driver pulled up and said 20 rupees to the metro and that was a good deal so we got in. then he went into the whole "behind the sense working of the taxi/store scam"
the driver gets 100 rupees from the store each time he takes a foreigner there. so he wanted us to get in on the deal. if we went to one store we didn't have to pay to go to the metro. if we went to 2 stores he would give us 100 rupees. I was kind of considering it, but di was feeling ill and she wasn't buying it so she said to just take us to the metro. about 2 minutes after we refused his scam he started asking if we showered that day. then he started telling us that we smell and we should go back to our country if we are going to smell up his taxi, and how we were poor and how we really smell. i tried to roll down the window but he just yelled at me. it was real funny!

more to come~