finally... day 1

And finally the time had come. Now we were really really really off. No, REALLY. And we were heavy as hell! We tried our damnest to pack light but this is the best we could do. It’s a 3 month road trip after all!!! Ok, excuses. Anyway. There we are, with all our baggage.

We drove and drove and drove. And NH8, the national highway we were on, was smooth and straightforward. Nisarga was relieved and impressed. The only real issue were the trucks (lorries) whose horns scare the shit out of both of us, since there is no sound protection for us. And they tend to drive as if they are the only ones on the road. Actually, the law of the road in india is the reverse of what we know from the west. The larger you are, the more right of way you have. Period. (Basically because you can crush everyone else, literally.)

We entered Rajasthan and stopped for a break. We were actually cold driving and thankful to have packed warm clothes. As we sat having our lunch, a camel passed by. How lovely we thought. 5 hours after leaving Anita’s we arrived to the cut juncture where we can continue on NH8 or head into Jaipur. Nisarga said he wanted to go into the city and spend the night. I personally do not like Jaipur at all but since he had never been there it was not fair to not honour his request.

Unfortunately, my dear Gemini changed his mind once we reached the city. Had he said no from the beginning we would have already reached our destination, Pushkar. Now it was getting dark and we were stuck trying to figure out how to get back on the highway (a problem noted in guidebooks and bitched about by many, but Nisarga didn’t know that). We were already breaking our one most important rule, no driving after dark. Once we got on NH8 we searched and searched and searched for a place to stay but there were none. Finally we found a place, above an all night restaurant. Nisarga absolutely could not drive anymore and was extremely grouchy. I was horrified by where we had to spend the night i didn’t even bother taking off any clothing article out of fear of my skin touching the sheets.

We passed out and that was day 1.

day 0

So after waiting forever for the insurance papers for the bike, we were ready to go! It was 1pm, we were all packed and ... nope! After getting ALL our luggage on the bike, Nisarga realized there was something wrong with the bike which was only obvious once we were fully loaded. We didn’t unload, we hoped it was just something that could be fixed quickly and we could be on our way. Nisarga felt very uneasy driving the bike but we managed to find a mechanic. He said he needed the rest of the day to fix it. Ooops. We called Anita. She laughed, and invited us back over. At about 7pm we drove back over there, with all our stuff of course, not having gone even 10kms from her place. We went out to dinner in celebration of day 0 of our great adventure! Ha!!!

so much for PLANS!!!

plans...

so since some of you ask, i thought i would just write it out and then you can plan accordingly of where and when you can catch up with us. so what are our plans for this year? for those of you who know me... you know i'm a big time planner. so of course we have a rough plan through 2011; really, i kid you not. but lets just stick to 2009 for now.

something in delhi is working like a magnet to keep us here! we can't seem to leave. is there a siren singing somewhere??? and i don't realize it due to all that noise pollution? well we finally got the enfield!!!! last night. we are waiting on the insurance papers to be delivered, that's the final thing. hopefully that will be today or tomorrow.

and nisarga is actually enjoying it. not only not complaining but actually enjoying it. last night we went to a music concert where a friend was performing. then to a dear friend's birthday party. nisarga was driving the enfield around the city and it's great. nisarga is spending all day yesterday and today at a workshop on pranic healing (as in healing of energy and auras). tonight is full moon so there is full moon meditation at the pranic healing center and then we will have our own date. we have agreed that once per week, minimum, we will have a tantra meditation date. we were starting to slack off. we have cemented our mosaics but we still need to chemically seal them, that's tomorrow. then put away our winter wear and bring out the summer wear, and we should be ready to go by wednesday morning at the latest. which means we will have been in delhi for almost a month!

so anyway, when we finally manage to leave... this is the idea:
* until april 1st: travel on the enfield throughout southwest india: cut through rajasthan, all around gujurat, maharastra, down the konkan coast into goa, over to karnataka. take the train back from wherever we reach, with the enfield.
* april: at osho-nisarga participating in the following workshops: mystery of love, born again, and tantra. (my birthday is during the tantra workshop!!!)
* may: kashmir for travel and a friend's wedding, then back to osho-nisarga for one more workshop: self awareness
* may 20-22: amsterdam!!! anyone have a close friend living in the city who will let us crash on their couch???
* may 23 - june 4: nice and south of france to spend nisarga's birthday and to visit his father and brother
* june 5 - 22: travelling in greece with my mother, brother and maybe his wife
* june 23 - august 4: time on the islands including lesbos for a month, at osho-afroz (the osho center there), where we will be participating in workshops: primal, tantra, center of the cyclone, tantra for women (for me). we'll be sleeping in a tent, and we'll be just a few minutes drive to the nude beach. soooo excited!
* august 5 - 12: poland!!! kielce for home cooking and relaxing with nisarga's mom
* august 13 - 17: warsaw, to hang out with nisarga's friends there
* august 17 - 20: paris... a last trist with the old world before we say good bye for another year
* august 21: back home to india...

i'm soooooooooooooooooooo freaken excited. i love greece. adore greece. and i'm so lucky to be able to couple up quality time with family and meditation and inner work, and fun fun fun!!! and to go to poland and have nisarga as my guide. we joked about that last summer before we realized we'd be attached at the hip for a while... and now we are doing it! in fact, we have all our tix already booked, that's why i can go ahead and send this email with such concrete dates.

i am absolutely in love with my life. so happy. i'm doing so many things i've always wanted to do. like this enfield trip we are going to do. sure it will be frustrating but wow. and i'm totally and madly, googoogaga in love with nisarga and it all feels absolutely wonderful!

so if you know of anyone in amsterdam let us know! yes there is couchsurf and hospitality club and a bunch of other websites but i'm old fashioned and i still like to crash with friends of friends.

so when do we see uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu????

kisses

a "home" along the way

nisarga wasn't convinced but i knew i needed it. a break from travel. time with friends. there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to be in Delhi for Christmas and new years.

what i did not expect was my ex's generosity. you see, the last apartment where i lived in delhi, i shared with my now ex boyfriend, francois. and when i moved my stuff out in november, long after i had stopped staying there regularly, i had closure and said good-bye to that space. but just before leaving, francois asked when i would be back in delhi. i told him for christmas. he offered for nisarga and i to stay there while he was traveling for two weeks during that time. at first nisarga wasn't thrilled about the idea. but he knew it meant a lot to me and it was after all the most sensible thing to do, rather then staying in a guest room for 2 weeks. so he reluctantly accepted.

at first it was hard for him there, he didn't feel comfortable. it is after all, a space i shared with another man for over a year. but slowly he started to come around and we had a fabulous two weeks there. we cooked fabulous lunches and dinners for each other instead of eating out every meal. we watched a movie on a tv, not the computer, while cuddling on the couch. we could be in different rooms, instead of having just one hotel room. we jogged in the park. we went grocery shopping. we made mosaics on the terrace surrounded by tons of plants and birds flying overhead. we had spiked spiced cocoa at night. we didn't have to pack and unpack and repack. we put up a christmas tree even! we basically played house... and we loved it.

i have been traveling since july, and nisarga since feb, and we really needed this. with our batteries recharged, we are ready to get back on the road again. thank you frenchie!!! thank you so much for such a wonderful Christmas gift and start to the new year. a "home" along the way...

Szczescie

Czym jestes , każdy cie pragnie i każdy dazy żeby cie zdabyc, tak malo komu się to udaje, jestes tak bogata a jednoczesnie jestes pustka, bo to wlasnie pustka i milosc rodzi cie, pokazuje cala twa nature, ekstaze, piekno, radosc, zdrowie i wszechogarniajace jestestwo. Czujesz ze wiesz a wlasciwie nic nie wiesz , to wlasnie z niewiedzenia się rodzisz i uskrzydlasz czlowieczenstwo, dzieki tobie chce się zyc , odkrywajac najglebsze sekrety ludzkosci, podazajacej za szukaniem nieistniejacych odpowiedzi.

Oto proste slowa które mogą tak bardzo zmieniac nasze Zycie, komu zależało aby swiat przestal w nie Wierzyc, abyśmy bali się piekiel i czeluści, abyśmy widzieli Boga i bali się jego osadow i kary. Komu zależało aby tak bardzo zniekształcić obraz prawdziwości ludzkiej egzystencji , kto smial wątpić w obecność boga w nas samych w potęgę naszych mysli wierzen i pragnien. Czyz modlitwa do stworcy o to do czego mamy niezaprzeczalne prawo nie jest naszym obowiązkiem ?

Boze, pozwol mi osiągnąć szczescie, zachowac radosc, młodość, piekno , bogactwo powodzenie , wiare, zdrowie, harmonie. Pozwol aby każdy dzien przynosil mi nowe doświadczenia , abym kochal ludzi i piekno jakim promienieje każdy człowiek, niech spokoj i powodzenie zagości w moim zyciu, niechaj mój aniol prowadzi mnie i podpowiada słuszność każdej decyzji, abym uniknął niepotrzebnych zmian decyzji….” Wiara w to przepelnia mnie codzien.

Rodzina i Milosc

Jestem wdzieczny ze moglem urodzic sie w tak wspanialej rodzinie, dzieki niej jestem tu i teraz, tym kim jestem, jestem we wlasciwym miejscu i wlasciwym czasie, jestem wdzieczny moim rodzicom, bratu.dziekuje ze jestescie kim jestescie, ze pozwoliliscie mi byc tym kim jestem, ze daliscie mi to co potrafiliscie, ze oddaliscie mi swoje serce. tak wiele od was dostalem. dziekuje za wasze istnienie, kocham was zawsze , teraz i na zawsze...Poczeliscie mnie, i wy mnie stworzyliscie, byłem taki jakim chcieliscie abym był , posluszny, ulegly, przestraszony, spragniony milosci, to wy stworzyliscie moje ego i uksztaltowaliscie umysl , dzieki wam poznaje swoj strach i swiadomosc, stworzyliscie mnie wedlug swoich lekow, sami je w sobie pielegnujac od wiekow, pragneliscie mieć mnie lekajac się swej starosci i samotnosci, poczeliscie na swiat kolejna istote, ktorej celem mialo być cierpienie na tej planecie, jestescie doskonala kopia swych rodzicow.jestem wam wdzieczny i kocham was bo dzieki temu mogę byc swiadomy siebie, zyc odwaznie i cieszyc sie zyciem, najwiekszym skarbem jaki mnie spotkal. Dziekuje wam kocham was calym sercem. Jestescie najblizszymi mi istotami na swiecie. Codzien patrze na swoje cialo , na swoje odbicie w lustrze i widze was, najpiekniejsze istoty na ziemi , wy to Ja, Ja to Wy. Jestem jednoscia, dziekuje za wasza odwage i podjecie decyzji i zgode na to aby moje ja narodzilo sie ponownie w tym ciele, boska energia poczecia z waszego lona, dziekuje za cud stworzenia i wasze zycie, jestem wam dluzny do konca swiata, za wasza milosc.moje serce nalezy do was, moja rodzina, moja milosc , moja wdziecznosc, moja radosc....Dziekuje Mamo, Tato, Dominik, Bartus, Ciocia Dorota, Ela, Isia,Wujek Andrzej , Olek, Aga, Robek, Babcia Kazia,Dziadek Wicek, Wlodek x2, Darek, Piotr, Ewcie,Agatka,Adrian, Ghal, Osho,Antigoni, Patrycja,Ania, Juska,Miro,Maciek,Igor, wszyscy ktorych spotkalem, spotkam lub spotykam, moi nauczyciele, przyjaciele, znajomi....Dziekuje za nauczenie mnie czym jest milosc, wdziecznosc, wolnosc, radosc, smiech i placz, jam jest JA.

happy wednesday

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what
he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it
off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well
is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone.. We can get out
of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

five tips for happiness:

Free your heart from hatred - Forgive

Free your mind from worries - Most never happen

Live simply and appreciate what you have

Give more

Expect less