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the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street…

the back room of the oil shopi’ve been in india one week now and am learning more and more each day.

my yoga experience has been amazing. i am continuing to learn and improve daily, and sharath has been helping me a fair amount. he’s got very kind eyes that put me at ease.
i thought i would blog about some of the jobs that i’ve seen people doing around town. it’s pretty incredible all of the niches that people find in order to make a living.
making incensethe other day when i was walking around town i met an indian guy who started showing me around some of the places that aren’t in my lonely planet. we went into the back of a oil/incense shop, where i learned about different types of oil and watched a lady making incense.
wooden table makeri also had the chance to go to a wood shop, where men in the back were carving intricate designs out of wood for elaborate tables.

tobacco rolleri have seen guys around rolling up what appears to be some type of tobacco with all kinds of other mysterious things. i haven’t seen if people smoke it or chew it, but regardless it was an interesting thing to see.
sugar cane juice guyand finally, the cane juice factory. i’ve come across these guys a few times along my routes, grinding up sugar cane to make a refreshing juice. hard work, but judging by the amount of people drinking it, it appears to be worth it.

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i am walking on air.

today i started at the yoga shala. yesterday i had learned that you go into the room, start your practise, and Shirath (the teacher) stops you when he feels you need to stop. i had all of these feelings of self doubt and visions of only being there for 5 minutes.
why do i torture myself? turns out i was just fine. in fact, i was stopped right about the time i was invisioning that i would be stopped (for you yogis out there –marichyasana B). and in the heat and energy of that room i had one of the best practises i’ve ever had.
i feel great.
so to celebrate, i think i’m going to have a slice of anu’s famous chocolate banana cake.
i thought i would attach some of the photos that i’ve taken about life around mysore.where to go if you need a shirt ironed brooms for sale flower mandalas local builder typical street in mysore

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what a difference a clean bed makes

yesterday i was given the keys to what will be my house for the next month. i also was introduced to my maid, who comes twice per week, and my gardener, who comes every morning. if you look closely at the garden picture you can see that there is a ‘birds of paradise’ bush in the center. i think my first purchase may have to be a hammock.

it is great. right across the street is Anu’s internet cafe and restaurant, where i had a fantastic dinner last night. the yoga shala is literally a 5 minute walk down the road.

i’ve met some fellow yogis who have shown me some of the good eats around here.

last night i slept like a baby and was awoken this morning by prayer songs in the streets. it was a beautiful sound. i spent the morning checking out downtown Mysore before the heat of the afternoon set in. i had my first restaurant experience of a masala dosa (crepe like pancake filled with spiced potatoes). yuuuummmm.
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ups and downs

i made it to Mysore, which is the town in South Central India where i am doing my yoga training. It was quite an adventure to get here, but i made it and, more importantly, so far i really like it here.
yesterday was full of moments where i rollercoastered between loving and hating travelling. here are some of my thoughts about travelling (and really life in general). i think that anyone who has ever done any type of travelling can relate to these feelings, and i welcome your comments and examples!
1. the feeling of desperately needing sleep/water/food/toilet/(insert any other need here) and the “fight or flight” drive to get it.
2. choosing a path, realizing midway that it’s not the best option, but staying committed to the course in a desperate and hopeful way.
3. knowing that you’re getting ripped off but either a) having no control or options or b) deciding it’s not worth the 50 cents or whatever you would be putting energy into arguing about.
4. the kindness and generosity of people along the way. i was moved to tears (yes they were partly because i had slept 3 hours in the previous 36 hours) by an Indian family who offered me a train seat, a share of their food, and conversation when i was on what could have been a really scary train ride.




the photos are the yoga institute that i’ll be attending, a temple along my route home, and my first coconut water of my stay. ahhhh refreshing.

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If you haven’t been here, put it on your list


I. Love. London.

i’ve spent the last 24 hours or so getting de-jetlagged so that i’ll have my wits about me when arriving in india tomorrow. what a good idea to be able to catch up with our good friends Hannah and Dave, who we met while volunteering in Guyana. They treated me to a nice dinner, great conversation and memories, a warm bed, and the chance to leave a pair of jeans here for the way back through (that’s right chicago – i’ll have denim this time).

after a long on again/off again sleep, I feel reasonably rested and spent the day wandering around crystal palace (the burrough/suburb of london that they live in). everything here is so quaint and old looking. and as Dave pointed out, crystal palace is nice because it doesn’t have all of the chain stores and restaurants that have taken over the world. my only complaint – the damp cold that seems to get right into my bones.


and so in a couple of hours i’m off to the airport for my next time zone change.
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Highlights


Our last day in Vancouver and it’s the first day the sun isn’t shining. In fact, it’s been like spring for our whole time here (to the extent of tulips and daffodils in bloom). It’s been wonderful.

Our last day we did a lot of the ‘should do’ Olympic experiences, which involved a lot of line standing. We went to Sochi house, which is the introduction to where the Russian Olympics will be held in 2014.
Bananas for Switzerland
Our event last night was women’s hockey – team Russia versus team Switzerland. The Swiss won in a shootout, which was extra exciting because they were the underdogs. 3 out of our 4 events were watching team Switzerland, so our red and white fit in well. A definite highlight of the game was sitting beside a banana. Weird.

I think my favorite thing about the city were these amazing spotlights that made geometric patterns in the sky. It reminded me a bit of the Bellagio fountains in Vegas. Very cool. We took an evening walk down to Kits beach to check them out close up.

Next stop – London!

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Springcouver

We’re almost at the end of our Olympic trip.  So far we’ve been to the Men’s Hockey game (see last blog), a women’s hockey game (RUS vs SVK) and men’s curling where we got to see the Norwegian pants up close and personal.  We’ve been in the downtown crowds and are on our way to some of the pavilions today before we wrap it up at another women’s hockey game tonight where the Swiss take on Russia.

  Tomorrow DawnO takes off for London where she’ll get to see our friends before she continues on to India!  I’ll head back to Medicine Hat tomorrow night and continue to follow the games on TV and DawnO’s adventures on Skype.
  As usual, I have more interesting pictures than things to write so I’ll sign off and upload more photos.
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Vancouver 2010 – CAN vs SUI

Wow. What a game. It’s the morning after DawnO and I were at the Men’s Olympic Hockey game where Canada barely beat Switzerland in a shootout.  Our seats were as high up as humanly possible (if you look at the picture closely you’ll see blood coming out of my nose), but the atmosphere was electric and the game was incredible.
  We’ve still got 3 more events to go to before the end of our olympic holiday.  DawnO is ready to embark on her journey to India.  She’ll be stopping in London first to visit with our friends and work out some jet lag.  I’ll be going back to Medicine Hat for a month to fight off the tears of loneliness.  I hear Nachos, DQ Blizzards and Hi-def movies are a proven cure.
  I hope all three of you stay tuned as our blog has found new life and will be updated shortly.

  Here are some more pics from the game last night:

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Tick tock

one week exactly until we’ll be boarding our plane for our next big adventure.
that’s right, it’s off to vancouver for the 2010 winter olympics! robO and i are excited to attend a men’s hockey game, 2 women’s hockey games, and an afternoon of men’s curling.

on feb 23, i will be on my way to london, while robO comes back to work for a few weeks (booo hissss). after a refreshing night with our london friends i head to india for a month of yoga in mysore (southern india). i’ll be at the same yoga center that madonna trained at.

robO will meet me march 23, and from there we’ve got a skeleton plan to travel around india, nepal, thailand, vietnam, cambodia, and laos. on june 30 we’ll fly to egypt for a couple of weeks, then london for a couple of days, chicago for a couple of days, and finish with gusto – a seattle to alaska cruise with the baker family!

you’re probably asking how we’re managing all of this?! we’ve been saving for a couple of years and i got a 6 month leave of absence from my job. this means that 3 (!) days after we’re home i’ll be back to work. robO has a quasi leave as well. so we’ll lock up the condo door (seen in photo above), pack a backpack, and grab our passports for our latest adventure!

we’ve fallen off of the blog wagon for the past couple of years but have a renewed purpose for keeping it up to date. the goal is once per week (or so) blogging. so, mark us as a favorite (mom) and follow us along the way.

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Happy Holidays from the Olson house!

What an incredible year it’s been.
As most of you know, we spent the first quarter of 2007 volunteering in Guyana, South America. It was a challenging but amazing time for us, and we were able to grow and learn from the Guyanese, other volunteers, and each other.
In April, we said a tearful goodbye to the friends that we met and started on our travels, which took us to Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela (where we met both sets of our parents – what an adventure!!), Peru, Ecuador, and a final weekend in Chicago.

On day three of returning home, we jumped back into Canadian life by purchasing our first home! Our new condo is very small, but perfect for us. We’ve enjoyed decorating and making it our own.

I spent a month in the summer learning to be a yoga instructor, which has been a dream of mine. I’m now teaching two classes per week and enjoy sharing my passion with my students. My mom is my number one student in my Saturday morning class!

Rob is working as a transportation technician at the Medicine Hat School District. He does his fair share of fielding phone calls from parents who are angry about bus routes (who knew there was a job for this), but also is involved with computerized route planning.

The bulk of my week is spent working at the hospital, where I have been learning how to treat people with hand injuries. I also get to travel to a small community one day per week, which I find refreshing.

Other than that, we’ve settled into the community with a variety of extra curricular activities: hockey, ball hockey, volleyball, running, film nights, and game nights.
So far the winter has been a bit of a shock to our systems so hopefully the groundhog pulls through for an early spring!

We’re getting the travel bug again, so maybe we’ll make it to your neck of the woods in the coming year.

Hope you have a safe and happy holiday season.
Love DawnO and RobO