WUCST

The third phase of our journey commenced this week with a flight from Mauritius to Nairobi. After a few days in the capital, we bused to the western Kenyan town of Kakamega. This is where Anita's father is a Professor of History at Western University College of Science and Technology.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to tour the campus and meet several of the faculty. The school was recently raised from a regional college to a national university, and therefore is in the process of expanding the curriculum, faculty, facilities and student base. Many of the people we met had either taught with, or learned from, Anita's father at other Kenyan universities over the past 20+ years.

For a glimpse of the campus, check out:
http://www.wust.ac.ke/

Siesta

pigs
Originally uploaded by mischamac.

We've completed our Indian journey and are now resting on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

After some recent technical difficulties, we've finally posted a batch of new India photos. Click the pigs for more.

Fly-Away Day

4:30 Wake-up knock on the door from Agra hotel clerk
5:15 Raju waiting outside hotel for pre-dawn rickshaw ride across town to the Agra train station
6:15 6am commuter train to Delhi crawls out of the station
10:00 The hottest and most crowded train ride of our lives pulls into Delhi’s Nizamuddin Station
10:15 Catch a taxi minibus to international airport after some hilarious ‘negotiations’ with Delhi’s opportunistic cabbies
1:30 Board 1pm flight to Indian Ocean island of Mauritius
7:05 Land at Mauritius airport (1 time zone west)
8:20 Catch taxi for ride to Post Lafayette
9:30 Arrive at Le Maison D’ete beach bungalows – greeted by Marie-Michelle and her dog Texas
11:00 Crash to bed with the sound of waves breaking in the distance

Fanaa

Jaipur - inside movie house
Originally uploaded by mischamac.

In Jaipur we visited India's most ornate movie house, "Raj Mandir". Not only was the theater amazing, but we loved the bollywood film that was playing.

The movie is called "Fanaa" and was an epic 4 hours starting with a love story between a Delhi tour guide and a blind singer. After the intermission it evolved into an action thriller in the Kashmir mountains, and then a long mystery as the characters slowly realized how they were connected. Of course we missed the intricate details as the movie is in Hindi, but there was enough clues to figure most of it out.

The inside of the theater looks like a giant meringue cake with shaped walls and colorful lights. Its absolutely huge and the crowd was boisterious. And throughout the rest of our trip in India we kept hearing the catchy songs from the movie.

Follow this link for some images from the film:
http://www.indiafm.com/movies/mstills/12456/index.html

Indian Food

Thali
Originally uploaded by mischamac.

Click this picture for more food pictures, but here's a quick explanation of a few interesting Indian foods we had at an extravagant lunch the other day. Starting from the upper left hand corner going clock-wise:
- Sweets: the round yellow balls are a Rajasthani specialty
- Dal: curried lentils
- Biryani (two types): flavored long-stem rice mixed with things like cashews, pomegranite, and minced mixed vegetables
- my half eaten plate
- Yougurts (two types in the middle of the picture)
- Chapiti: flat bread
- Eggplant stewed with other veges
- and some type of roll which I'd never seen before

Nyumvula

When we arrived in the ancient desert city of Jaiselmer, in the Western part of Rajastan near the Pakistan border, our "paying guest house scheme" host told us that it had been four years since the last monsoon rains had soaked this parched land. That was yesterday.

As I was laying under our room's ceiling fan this afternoon, taking a mid-day break from the searing heat, I heard that unmistakable sound. Raindrops hitting the street. We jumped to the window and sure enough a downpour had begun. Only an hour beforehand, I told Paramode that my wife's second middle name "Nyumvula" means "rain" to her father's people in Kenya. He seemed skeptical, but I told him about all the times Anita has brought rain...her birth, her thirtieth, our wedding night, etc. When we dashed up the house's interior stairwell to the roof deck Paramode was there. I told him, "I told you so" and he smiled from ear to ear.

It's now an hour later and it's still a downpour outside. Jaiselmer is splashing with joy!

Can Cows Swim?

Udiapur - Swimming Cow
Originally uploaded by mischamac.

Although I've never before pondered this question, we had the opportunity to find out the answer a few days ago in Udaipur. We noticed a cow about 50 feet from the shore of Lake Pichola. Only his horns, eyes and snout were poking above the surface. So it turns out cows can swim - there's only one problem...they appearantly can't swim in any particular direction, but rather in an endless doughnut about 10 feet in diameter. The result is that this confused animal would likely swim itself to exhaustion before eventually drowning.

As we watched the scene, word of the cow in distress quickly spread around the nieghborhood. Soon dozens of people were on the water's edge with decidedly concerned looks on their faces. A couple of guys went running off at full speed and several minutes later reappeared on the water on one of the tourist paddle boats mored on the other side. When they reached the tiring cow one of them leaned over the boat's edge and grabbed ahold of its horns. They slowly paddled him towards the shore where we were all standing. Eventually they reached the water's edge - and that's were the hard work began. It took more than half a dozen men nearly 20 minutes to drag, prod, push the now totaly exhausted animal up the rocky shore. Several woman approached when the cow collapsed on the wet rocks to offer a kind touch under the neck and some chipati bread. We were truly relieved when the cow finally was able to stand up, navigate the rocks, and walk to safety.

What struck me most about the whole episode was the look of total concern several people had on their faces as they watched the nearly drowning cow. It was as if someone in their own family was suffering. I've heard about the holiness that cows are bestowed in Indian culture, but it wasn't until that moment that I truly comprehended its importance.