Not once did I consider it an April Fools joke but we have no idea how the photo showed up on Graham’s Facebook feed last night. Kentucky State University has a mobile fruit and vegetable processing truck that visits farms in season to help them preserve their harvest.
Finding no info to take me specifically to the person in charge, I emailed the head of the agricultural school at KSU, dropping The Wild Ramp market experience to give me local “street” cred (more like farm cred). And now we are setting up an appointment for me to go look-see!
Why the excitement? Two factors. In case you missed it, I am setting up a business here in Oregon to help small farmers preserve their surplus fruits and vegetables. AND we will be in Kentucky for Graham to do some forensic business in May, less than an hour from where the KSU research farm is located in Frankfurt!!
WOW! Life is good! Now, who can I get to help me write a grant application?
Thanks to my sister Laura giving me a special gift to celebrate 60 years, Graham and I enjoyed a brunch cruise on the Willamette River in Portland.We’d been on a dinner cruise a few years ago on the Ohio River out of Huntington, West Virginia with our friends Deb and Milt Hankins, so I sort of expected something similar.
Not being super familiar with Portland yet we drove in early to give ourselves plenty of time to find parking (2 blocks away for $5) and maneuver around the Rose Festival which had the riverfront area blocked off for concerts and rides and other fun fair activities.
We made it to the dock in time to chat with the captain who, while chomping down a commercial donut, told us how terrific the food is. (And it was pretty good!) Missed that donut photo for you, though!
The cruise headed upriver, which is south from downtown Portland. The gray overcast cleared and we ended up with beautiful blue skies. Activity on the river shows how much people enjoy having this playground.
Development along a riverfront can tell you something about the way a City considered its access to a natural resource. While we did see one industrial business, it is only fair to tell you that most of the commercial and industrial development in Portland is along the Columbia River, not the Willamette.This has left the shorelines free for recreational and residential development for much of what we passed.
OMSI (Science Museum) includes a submarine built after WWII
I particularly enjoyed the floating houses.
And of course there were plenty of mansions.
As we returned downstream the number of bridges became apparent, from the aged Sellwood Bridge which is past time getting replaced
All bridges are given a safety rating from 1 to 100. The Sellwood Bridge rating is a 2. Would you drive across it?
to the new Portland-Milwaukie light rail bridge which will provide a river crossing for mass transit, bicycles and pedestrians, but not automobiles.
We caused one lift bridge to disrupt traffic,but turned back south(upriver) before the next one.
Both Graham and I noticed some downtown construction features-a rooftop tree planted plaza and solar arrays over one roof. There are a lot of things about Portland that are truly admirable! The respect for the natural resource of the Willamette River that flows through the City is one great example.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. Warren Buffet 1930- , American Investment Entrepreneur
I met Carol through the internet in 1996. She was a travel agent in California and soon began to provide service for my boss who flew somewhere just about every month. He was surprised I was using a resource located so far from Nashville and had me switch to the agency used by Vanderbilt. However, when they overnighted a changed ticket instead of messengering it the two blocks, he learned the definition of value. Carol cared about him and providing her service for his monthly travel, and so she was responsive and easy to get along with. He agreed to switch back to Carol and she provided all his travel arrangements for the five years he and I worked together. I got to know her quite well over that time and visited her in California on two separate trips.
She retired seven years ago and moved to Croatia. Although her parents had emigrated to the U.S. before she was born, she had been there to visit family several times and it felt right to her. Her hope was to provide individual tour guide service to people visiting Dubrovnik but found many of the cruisers who didn’t already feel they could just see the place on their own opted to purchase a land tour arranged by the ship. It takes some work to find an alternative to a package someone hands you. And at first comparison, the price may not seem advantageous.
So I want to talk just for a bit about the way hiring a private tour guide can make a tremendous difference in the quality of a visit in a new place or as a way to explore areas of a place that are “off the beaten path.”
Just recently my daughter Lisa and I enjoyed a week in India on a group tour. As soon as I learned the itinerary I hired a private guide for some “free time”. It cost $225 for two guides and a car and driver and I was the one who finally called it quits after 8 hours. What a wonderful time we had getting to see non-tourist areas. If you have been reading my blog (if not, just go back about a month in the postings) you already learned about how they listened to what we wanted and immediately figured out how to show us the real side of what living in India looks like.
About seven years ago, on a circle tour of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, my family visited Mesa Verde National Park. We stayed in a bed and breakfast that hosted Elder Hostel programs. Elder Hostel, now called Road Scholar, is an educational tour program geared mostly to people over the age of 50. I was intrigued by this b&b’s affiliation because it offered private educational programs as well.
We hired a delightful archaeologist who took us on a 3 hour hike on BLM land. With her expertise we walked among ruins and learned more about the Anasazi people who lived in the area than anything the National Park Ranger told us later when we went into the park. I paid $150 for the five of us and it was worth every penny in the new appreciation each of us took from the experience.
Three years ago one of my sisters presented my daughter and me with a surprise 4 night trip to Paris. She had found a steal of a deal (I’ve shared how to find those types of travel opportunities in a prior post) and was happy to take us. I decided that we needed to really get a feel for back street Paris and searched the web looking for tour offerings. When I found Richard, I knew I had what we wanted.
Shopping in a market in the Marais with Richard
Richard Nahem grew up in New York City but moved to Paris when he fell in love with it on a visit. His sense of adventure, eye for detail and love for the unexpected is what prompted me to hire him. Read through his blog to see what I mean.
We paid him 195 euros for 3 hours of back street tours 2 of the 3 full days we were there. In addition, Richard can arrange for cooking classes and also day tours outside of the city, especially to the nearby champagne wine growing area. Please go to his blog to his website about his tour service.
Finally, Carol Sosa is available for walking tours of Dubrovnik. This town, called the Pearl of the Adriatic, is on the itinerary for many cruise ships. Visitors have between 4 and 10 hours there and yet, it was interesting to watch the kind of activity many chose the nine days I was there. I saw lots of people walking the main street eating gelato and going into the tourist shops and I saw long lines of tourists following a leader holding an electronic microphone. The sound quality was so poor that only the first ten people could probably hear and understand. However, there were easily 25-40 people trailing behind the guide. These tours usually cost between $25 and $40 per person and lasts maybe an hour.
Cruise ship tour group crowds around guide
In contrast, here are some things we did with Carol taking us on a private tour.
Ivo working as a guide at the Fortress.
Carol has spent the past six plus years getting to know the secrets she can show to a small party. She has found out the shops that have authentic items made in Croatia, not tourist trap purchases found in some of the main street shops. She charges 70 euros per person for 3-4 hours and your tour is tailored to your specific interests. Read her blog to learn more about her.
In a nutshell, a personal tour guide can customize the trip for YOU. While you can find tour programs that will give you great overviews (several years ago we enjoyed the boat trip on the Thames in London), and a group walking tour can give you tremendous value usually in one hour (like the Ghost Tour we joined in Oxford on that same trip), only a private tour for you and your immediate group can be geared to your interests and specifically address issues you have.
For example, when my camera died on our walk in Paris, Richard was able to take us to an electronics shop that had great prices, and we not only felt assured we were safe making a purchase there, the experience became part of the “getting to see how real Parisians live” experience.
So, consider hiring a personal tour guide, maybe not every day or every place you visit on a trip, but at least once to expand your awareness of what makes that location, the place that interested you enough to plan the trip, so very special.
Imagine, if you will, a nice spring day. Your main front door is open and you are letting the sun and breeze enter your home through the screen. A knock on the door is answered by your teenager and a stranger, with 3 other people, tells him, “These people are my guests and they want tea.” What would you do?
I know my inclination would be to tell them where they closest coffee (tea available) shop is located.
Imagine instead, flinging the door wide open and inviting the four strangers inside, making tea and spending an hour, your family gathered around you, listening and learning about the strangers who entered your home.
Come with me into a poor neighborhood of Agra….feel this one with me.
When Kamal and Nilal met us at our hotel and asked what we wanted to see with our personal tour with them I had thought it was all organized already. I had been in email discussion with the BuddhaPath office in Delhi and was promised a tour of a Buddhist Temple and a mediation session and then some other things. That sounded great as I have read some about Buddhism but know the real life exposure would be meaningful. But the guys had not gotten the memo.
So, basically Lisa and I told them we wanted to stay away from the tourist areas. We wanted, while staying safe, to see how people live. We also had a list of items we were trying to find for friends and wondered if they knew of any market where regular people shop that might have them.
Nilal got on his cell phone and within 20 minutes we were out the door and into the car. We headed to an area of town SmartTours never would have wanted us to see. This was the real deal…the place where people in the middle middle and lower economic areas live, work and play.
Walking through the market itself was amazing with the narrow street, the moving traffic (I inadvertently walked into a moving motorcycle at one point and was vigorously told off ), the animals wandering around. The mass of humanity.
Shopping was more fun. First of all, the prices were not super-inflated for tourists to begin with. For example, I knew I did not want a sari; I would never find a real occasion to wear one, but I wanted a shalwar, an outfit with pants, tunic and scarf. I had priced one earlier in Delhi and it was over $70. So, with some hope, we entered a shop. Open to the street with an metal overhead garage type door, the store itself was probably 15 feet wide by 20 feet deep. This was a large shop (larger than the shop with jewelry Lisa is exploring in the photo above). Shelves stacked to the ceiling were loaded with plastic bag wrapped clothing items. With Nilal getting into the spirit of the shopping, the request was spoken, the estimate of my size was made, and the stack started growing on the counter. Every bag was opened. Every item unfolded. Soon there were about 10 choices on display. When requested the price was given…equivalent to $40. That was better, but we already knew the system. Bartering, arm wrestling over the price, is expected. Nilal quietly asked me what I was willing to pay, Giving the equivalent in rupees at $25, he then went into his discussion in Hindi. In a few minutes it appeared I had purchased my new outfit for $15.
We hit a few more shops and made a few more purchases. In this market, unlike the ones where the tourists go, the vendors did not chase us. There was curiosity about us; we were the only Westerners on the street. But courtesy and interest was the action.
We wandered south along the street and crossed some railroad tracks, entering into an area where small factories lined the narrower street. Metal works included pots and pans and also what we figured were evaporative coolers similar to what is used in the American Southwest as a less expensive alternative to air conditioning.
Nilal lead us on and then took us into a side alley. He said he hoped we could get to see the inside of a house, and then he knocked on the door, the teenager answered. He disappeared for a few seconds (probably to check with mom) and then ushered us in.
After crossing the small entryway we entered into a courtyard about 10 feet by 10 feet and open to the sky above. To the side was a room with a few plastic outdoor chairs and several platforms of woven canvas webbing. A middle aged woman offered us the chairs and then asked Bilal in Hindi if we would like some chai. I had no idea what he had said to the teenager that we wanted tea so we looked at him and he nodded and we smiled and nodded.
The room filled with people and they piled on to the platforms. The family living in the house includes a grandmother, 5 adult brothers, their wives and their children. We counted about 25 people and only met one of the men who was sewing in his room upstairs. (When I noticed his sewing machine I immediately flashed on the family history that my mother’s father was a tailor when he immigrated to the United States in 1905 and had probably worked in a similar setting in New York before leaving the city for literally greener pastures; he became a farmer.) We learned that the family had owned the house for at least 5 generations. That the oldest boy was soon to take his college entrance exam.
Understanding that offering them money would be an insult I told them a bit about New York City and then, using paper and pen we drew a map of the United States and showed them other places we had lived. They knew California but nothing else, including Nashville. Marketers for Music City USA would be devastated.
When asked if we would like to see the house I grabbed the opportunity (once again thinking how my house would look if strangers came to call). I watched one of the women make our chai.
The tour wound up and up and up five flights of stairs. We poked our heads into several of the rooms and one was nicer than the others; the man must have a good paying job.
The boys then proudly lead us up to the roof where they have a coop with pet pigeons.
The view from the roof gave us a glimpse that life in this neighborhood is vertical and that not all is as it seems on the street level.
We talk a lot about hospitality in this country, especially in our church communities. Since 9/11 we also are very quick to think poorly about people who are Muslim. It is so easy to generalize when you don’t know anyone.
These people live at the lower end of what is considered middle class in India. Here it would be poverty level. But the house was spotless. The people were curious and friendly and involved. They had little but were very willing to share with the strangers.
How we measure riches? How do we show acceptance?
Getting off the beaten track is what Lisa and I like to do when we travel. The Taj Mahal, visited that morning, was the highlight of the trip for many in our SmartTour group. For us, the day only got better and better…..to be continued.
Neither Lisa nor I are typically group tour tourists, so deciding to purchase this trip took some consideration. Our concerns about group tours is that the itinerary may not be a good fit to our own personal interests, that the group itself may be so large that the information the guide has to offer may not be heard well because of our location in the pack, and that if any people on the tour are difficult and non-cooperative it can affect everyone’s experience. We decided to take the risk because the price was considerably less than retail rack rate would cost and the culture in India is so significantly different than my travel experience and the potential language barrier existed that a guide would be helpful.
It turned out very well. The tour group numbered 31 in all and while everyone had different travel experience and attitudes towards what they hoped to learn, everyone was very nice and there were no prima donnas. One of the fears, that we would have to wait for people who were late returning to the bus, never happened. And we managed to snag the front seat on the bus next to Arvind, our guide, which enabled us to constantly chat with him, asking lots and lots and lots and lots of questions.
The tour schedule gave us an afternoon and evening free in Agra and another afternoon free in Jaipur. That permitted those that wanted to take it easy to hang by the pool. And it allowed Lisa and me to go explore.
Based on advice I received from other people who had traveled to India I decided we would arrange for a personal tour guide for at least one of those free afternoons. By happenstance I met a farmer here in Oregon a week before my trip who was from Delhi and his brother-in-law there happens to run a licensed tour service, BuddhaPath. While my request was a bit unusual, because of the personal connection they were happy to arrange a personal guide for our time in Agra.
Kamal came 5 hours by bus from Delhi to join us in Agra. India law requires when a tour is offered that an assistant is also part of the team, so Bilal joined us as well. Since he was local, he became very busy on his cell phone after talking with us, locating the places that fit the concepts we mentioned. And, in addition we had a car and driver. The cost was $225, which is very standard for one personal guide for 4 hours wherever I have hired one (archaeologist near Mesa Verde, guide in Paris, guide in New York City and the going rate in Dubrovnik as well). These three guys started with us at 12:30 and I finally told them I was tired around 8:30. Kamal stayed with us chatting about Buddhism for another hour after we were dropped back to our hotel. We definitely had wonderful service that I can highly recommend to anyone.
I want to share what we did that day, so stay tuned!!! It made the day, that started at the Taj Mahal better and better!!!
He was so deeply in love with his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, that when she died in 1631 giving birth to her 19th child at age 41, Shah Jahan was devastated. His heart broke and later one of his sons felt his reasoning was also questionable as he had spent down the kingdom’s treasury to build this exquisite mausoleum to honor her.
It took over 22 years and 20,000 workers to erect the structure. The Taj Mahal is made with the hardest marble found in the world, finer than Italy’s Carrara marble used by Michelangelo in his carvings. Makrana marble, quarried about 300 kilometers west of Agra in the Indian state of Rajastan, is so hard and nonporous that today it is marketed for table tops, knowing that no spilled foods will stain it. In the Taj Mahal the white stone gleams in the sun. More than 1000 elephants were needed to transport the marble to the construction site. Red sandstone is also included in the site. This was brought from the area in Rajastan near Fatehpur Sikri (more on that site in another blog).
The marble is so hard that chiseling it is difficult, but much of the surface is inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones also from Rajastan. Many were stolen by the British during their administrative rule of India, and even today people try to remove pieces. There is a security screening upon entering the grounds and many items, such as nail files, are not permitted.
Modeled on the Moghul architecture of the “Baby Taj”, the tomb of Mirza Ghias Beg located across the city of Agra, the Taj Mahal has complete symmetry not only in the mauseleum building but on the grounds with the surrounding structures. As a burial site, it also has a mosque and the site is closed on Fridays for the Muslim Sabbath prayers. The corresponding matching building has no current function.
The only item inside the Taj Mahal that is out of symmetry is the grave of Shah Jahan. Deposed by his son after he learned his father planned to build another matching structure in black marble across the River from the Taj, the Shah was placed in “house arrest” in the Red Fort down the river from the Taj. There, he could gaze longingly on his love’s tomb until his death a few years later.
Some of the design took careful engineering. For example, the 99 names of Allah inlayed in Arabic script around the entrance, grows in size as it rises so it appears to be the same size to the human eye.
As you approach the upper level of the Taj shoes must be removed. Our guide, was able to obtain shoe covers, another option, for us, in deference to the rising temperatures (probably about 90 degrees at 10am) and the fact that most Americans are not used to walking barefoot.
There is concern about the future of the Taj Mahal. Built next to the river on a piered foundation, low water levels (caused by reduced monsoons as well as increased water usage by area industry) are weakening the structure. In addition, because of the factories, Agra has some of the worse air pollution in India and although the marble is hard, chemical effects on the stone are beginning to be seen.
This UNESCO World Heritage site is considered to be one of the seven modern wonders of the world. I heard many in our tour group say this was the highlight of the tour for them. For Lisa and me, it was a wonderful beginning of a day that only got better.
Awake way too early today as I am shaking off the 12.5 hours difference of the past week in India with my daughter Lisa. Her Golden Birthday trip choice was India and she found an amazing tour package that cost less than the retail price of airfare alone. (I wrote about how to find travel deals in my CustomTripPlanning blog several years ago after a glorious four day trip to Paris for $499.) The price of the tour was $1299 and additional costs to us included obtaining our visas, recommended inoculations and medicines, tips for our guides and drivers, and personal spending money.
The flight is long. I first flew from Portland to the east coast as the tour originated from JFK. Air India provided service superior to the American carrier I last flew to Europe. Not only were there small niceties like a foot rest with roller bar, but extensive entertainment options available through the seat-back display which also included a power port for electronic gear. They offered two meals heading east, and three meals flying west.
I flew directly home after arriving in New York and that was a bit tough. Next long trip like this will be broken up with at least one day in an interim location. Getting old, I guess, but making adjustments like that will keep me enjoying travelling for a long time to come.
India is a large country, about one third the size of the United States. This map superimposes the outline of India on North America so you can see the comparison.
India’s Golden Triangle are the cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.
Delhi is the capital and has an estimated regional population of over 16,000,000. (New York, in comparison, has about half the population.) While the ancient city of Delhi has been occupied for over a millennium, New Delhi was built in 1912 when the British moved the national government from Calcutta.
Agra is best known to most people as the location of the Taj Mahal. I will write about that world heritage site in another blog as well as how we enhanced our experience by hiring a personal guide to get away from the tourist areas.
Jaipur is located in the State of Rajasthan which has many world heritage sites. It is known for its gems and textiles which, since I sew, got me pretty excited. I stuffed an empty duffel bag in my small almost empty suitcase to carry back my expected purchases and yes, used both suitcases for the trip home. Other people in our tour group had not planned and purchased new bags.
I have a lot to share with you. India is certainly the most culturally different location I have ever visited and I bombarded our guides with tons of questions to better understand what I was seeing. Here are some of the topics I plan to share
Visiting a Sikh Temple and the kitchens which prepare 20,000 meals a day
Understanding the story behind the Taj Mahal and concerns about it
Visits to amazing high quality crafts factories for rugs, marble, textiles, and more
Shopping in the street markets and how to deal with the aggressive vendors
Exploring rooms and passageways in several other World Heritage sites
Getting off the beaten track and seeing how real people live
Visiting a Hindu Temple sunset service for Shiva
So much more…..and if you have questions, throw them at me.
I have been planning trips for so long that I even began to offer my services as a business venture. My custom trip planning blog was full of stories of our own adventures as well as ways to customize a trip so you have something very special to experience. No one hired me for several years, so I took a step back. That was when a friend asked me to plan a trip for him. LOL Funny
Planning a trip can take hours and hours to discover opportunities to explore a place that matches with your interests and I often told people I had twice as much fun as everyone else because I explored in front of the computer and then in person on the ground.
But in the past few years I also noticed that that wonderful feeling of excitement that I used to get heading out on a trip as a kid was no longer there. Perhaps so much prep eliminated the wonder?
So, here I am beginning to feel that old excitement. In a couple of days I will hit the road, so to speak, on my way to a week in India with my daughter Lisa.
She found this wonderful travel bargain for an 8 day tour including entry into places, airfare, hotel and most meals for less than the cost of a roundtrip airfare! (More on how to get bargains here)
Although I have read about the places we are going to see, I have not done the level of research I typically do, relying on the travel agency. So, there is a lot of mystery ahead….bring it on!!!
I just returned from a two week trip to Sri Lanka conducting a workshop for some of the forensic chemists at their Government Analysts Bureau. It is part of a international program funded by our USAID. The point of this essay is not what I taught but about my observations about the Sri Lanka, its people and, because I am a foodie, its food. This is the first of several blog posts.
Sri Lanka is an island just east of the southern tip of India in the Indian Ocean. I was told that Sri Lanka means “Pearl of the Ocean”. When it was a British colony it became known as Ceylon and was most famous for its tea, spices and sapphires. My Sri Lankan guide told me that “Ceylon,” a corruption of “Sea Land,” named so because of its importance as a port for early sailors.
Not many Americans visit there mostly because of the distance (12,000+ miles) and long flight times. It took me about 25 hours total travel time each way. This is a shame because it is a beautiful tropical island with a diversity of geography and some of the most friendly people I have met.
My work kept me in the capital city of Colombo most of the time. Since I had the weekend free I enjoyed a guided day trip into the mountains to the city of Kandy. More about that trip in a later blog.
The island was inhabited for over 10,000 years by a wide diversity of people, resulting in a series of kingdoms and territorial wars for centuries before Europeans arrived. Portuguese Jesuits set up a trading center in Colombo in the 1500s. Of course they also began to work at converting the islanders from Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions to Christianity. The Dutch came later in the late 17th and early 18th century, establishing a fort at the city of Galle (pronounce Gaul) on the southern end as part of the Dutch East Indies company. The British made their appearance in the early 19th century when it looked like France would conquer the Netherlands and its colonies would become French.
Ceylon became part of the British Empire in 1815. Independence from Great Britain occurred at the same time as India in 1948, but remained a member of the Commonwealth until 1972. There have been a series of governments in Sri Lanka including a Communist leaning one in the late 70s and 80s.
There are currently two major ethnic groups, the Singhalese and the Tamils. Each group has its own language and alphabet. I was told that because each refuses to learn the other, English is the common language. In fact at the local universities all classes are taught in English and theses and all papers must be written in English.
The upper is Singhalese; the middle is Tamil
Most recently there has been a very bloody uprising by a faction (ILTE or Tamil Tigers) of the Tamil minority that lasted from 1983 until 2009 when the Singhalese dominated military was able to crush the rebellion. Numerous bombings were commonplace during this time. Several top officials of the government and parliament were assassinated.
Although Colombo is quiet and relatively safe, a number of bombings occur in the Tamil dominated northern and eastern sections of the country each month. Land mines planted during the insurrection are still discovered in rural areas; unfortunately when elephants or people step on them. There are soldiers at key positions around Colombo with Chinese made AK-47s and numerous police (mostly unarmed) throughout the city. Directing traffic seems to be the main occupation of many police.
I considered taking a picture of one of the soldiers but thought it might not be a good idea.
I thought this boat was just a fishing vessel when I took the picture until I blew it up and could see the deck guns. It was patrolling off shore opposite my hotel.
Since 2009, there has been a resurgence of foreign capital coming into Sri Lanka with a building boom in Colombo. There is a goal of constructing 3000 new hotel rooms over the next couple of years. A new toll road to the airport was just opened. A cab driver told me it is an election year so the current president is seen a lot cutting ribbons on projects.
Galle Face Hotel
The hotel where I stayed (Galle Face Hotel), originally built in 1864 is undergoing the second phase of restoration to be completed next year.
This was my residence for the two weeks in Sri Lanka. A historic hotel with hardwood floors, ceiling fans and an ocean view where I could watch the sun set from either my room or from the patio bar and pool below. As most guests stay only for a few days, my two week stay may have resulted in some of the comps (bottle of wine, fresh fruit and candies) I received, and the service was excellent.
After a full week there I had laundry done…it was return perfectly folded in a rattan basket.
I had the feeling of being in a Victorian novel where the elite made the Grand Tour of the Indies, staying at hotels like the Galle Face. The room had all the standard accouterments with a very modern bath. In addition to central air conditioning there was a ceiling fan in the room which I much appreciated especially coming in from the 90 degree 90% humidity that reminded me of summers in Houston, Texas. The hotel had a library, (yes it was that yellow!) gym and spa.
Carved wood trim everywhere including the dining room
Lots of staff available (more it seemed that in a typical Hilton) willing to take care of any need. The bar had photos of famous people who had stayed there including Nehru, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Alex Guinness and Sir Lawrence Olivier. The general manager told me that during the filming of Bridge over the River Kwai, much of which was shot in Sri Lanka, several of the cast stayed there. He also told me a visitor commented to him that any hotel that hosted both Che’ Guevara and Richard Nixon (not at the same time!) was his kind of place!
We’ve been blessed with a wonderful reception here in Oregon. When we moved here the end of the summer we started building a circle of friends who have introduced us to places that would enrich our lives, taught us skills that enable us to enjoy the bounty that Oregon provides, and welcomed us into their homes.
As we headed west, we carried with us so much of our years in West Virginia. The people and places there continue to be well loved and we are so very thankful for the contacts on Facebook who help us remain connected.
Making a move like ours need not be 3000 miles to have similar feelings. Whether someone moves across town, across the state, across the country, or even to another nation each of us carry some sense of what makes us feel comfortable. It is when those comfort zones are rediscovered in the new location that a sense of building new roots can start. Likewise, if it takes a while to replace what is missed, it takes longer, unless a decision is made that not all places need be alike.
I once had the wonderful opportunity to work in Europe for 6 months. While I had never had Germany on my personal bucket list of places to visit, I never turned down travel where expenses were covered by someone else. I looked forward to what I could learn while being vigilant because of my heritage and understanding the history of the place. It was a wonderful time and I learned a lot.
But one of my travelling companions for the job, I’ll call him Bubba, had a very different experience. During our first evening ordering dinner in a restaurant he was impatient, used to the way restaurants provide pretty quick service here in the United States. The drink orders came fairly quickly, but he was dismayed to find out that the beer was served at room temperature, not ice cold. I pointed out that the glass was about a liter of beer and would have been room temp anyway by the time he got through with it. But that was the least of the issue that evening. After we put in our food orders we waited about an hour before the first dish was presented. It was mine, and as we are used to all plates appearing together here, I waited. After ten minutes I told my companions I was going to eat while it was warm.
Bubba then pounded the table, hollering “schnell!”, the only word of German he knew and the source of that had been from the tv show, Hogans Heroes. Of course, the service on our meal slowed down, as the Ugly American had to be taught a lesson. But Bubba learned, instead, that he would not tolerate this cultural difference, and for most of the three months that he was there, he ate at the local McDonald’s. He went home for Christmas and refused to return to German to finish the work. He would not tolerate anything different from “home” and so lost a wonderful opportunity to enhance his life experience.
With the homogenization of American culture I knew so much of what I was used to would be found here in Oregon. Living in West Virginia prepared me for living in a small town in a rural area in many ways. Although McMinnville has almost everything I need, If I now need to drive a bit (here, maybe 20 minutes) to get to a more densely populated area where more shops are available, I have learned to tolerate that. We just plan those kinds of trips because driving into the suburbs of Portland means more traffic and I am loving living in a small town surrounded by farmland.
Basically, it comes down to a choice on how each of us faces life. Do we stay in the nest we grew up in because it is too scary to fly away? Is the concept that this home nest is the best place in the world based on actually evaluation of other places? Or is exploration something that can provide exciting stimulation and help build a sense of flexibility while building a new
The cruise headed upriver, which is south from downtown Portland. The gray overcast cleared and we ended up with beautiful blue skies. Activity on the river shows how much people enjoy having this playground. 
Shopping was more fun. First of all, the prices were not super-inflated for tourists to begin with. For example, I knew I did not want a sari; I would never find a real occasion to wear one, but I wanted a shalwar, an outfit with pants, tunic and scarf. I had priced one earlier in Delhi and it was over $70. So, with some hope, we entered a shop. Open to the street with an metal overhead garage type door, the store itself was probably 15 feet wide by 20 feet deep. This was a large shop (larger than the shop with jewelry Lisa is exploring in the photo above). Shelves stacked to the ceiling were loaded with plastic bag wrapped clothing items. With Nilal getting into the spirit of the shopping, the request was spoken, the estimate of my size was made, and the stack started growing on the counter. Every bag was opened. Every item unfolded. Soon there were about 10 choices on display. When requested the price was given…equivalent to $40. That was better, but we already knew the system. Bartering, arm wrestling over the price, is expected. Nilal quietly asked me what I was willing to pay, Giving the equivalent in rupees at $25, he then went into his discussion in Hindi. In a few minutes it appeared I had purchased my new outfit for $15.
goingplaceslivinglife 
