My life’s pursuit appears to be the search of the weird and the marginal, and I am getting so much benefit. I just spent 10 days learning the ancient Buddhist meditation technique of Vipassana meditation (http://www.kunja.dhamma.org/). Working endless hours with awareness of respiration and bodily sensation, complete silence, segregation of the sexes, no eye contact [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Vipassana Intensity
Posted in Uncategorized on April 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Reflections on home and India
Posted in Uncategorized on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I think I’m going to keep this blog. I should probably change the name and the thematic. I never thought I’d enjoy keeping a blog. I never liked keeping a journal; I found my thoughts mundane and I’d never feel compelled to keep it up. But that’s because I didn’t bother [...]
Goodbye World!
Posted in Uncategorized on February 19, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Here I am back in Paris on my last day abroad. The sun is shining and Parisians are smiling and I know I should probably be at a museum or something, taking advantage of the city. But I’m actually staying at the legendary Shakespeare and Co, the left bank English bookstore across from [...]
Penultimate India
Posted in Uncategorized on February 1, 2009 | 2 Comments »
This will most likely be my penultimate post from India as I’m leaving in just over a week and half (!). Craziness. I have some mixed emotions about leaving. A fondness for the place and places and people as well as a habituation to the backpacking lifestyle has grown, and much will be missed. However, [...]
India: Fun for the Whole Family!
Posted in Uncategorized on January 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It’s hard to believe that my entire immediate family is currently in India; even my dad’s girlfriend arrived last night to travel with my dad. I am glad; I was tired of being alone, tired of knowing people for only bits at a time. I think also that I’m through traveling alone. It has been [...]
Imminent Parental Upset!
Posted in Uncategorized on January 8, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Man I hate Indian computers! I just wrote out this entry, saved it in Word (since the internet is unreliable) and the moment I finished it, it was promptly deleted. Well, I’ll try again, but rewrites are always shorter have a slightly bitter tone (ever try rewriting a 15-page paper in college?), but let’s see…
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I Want my Money Back/Happy New Year
Posted in Uncategorized on December 28, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Bad news. As I have finished more than 2/3 of this trip, I am beginning to come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to come back enlightened. I feel gipped by the Indian ministry of tourism, and I want to write a letter demanding my money back (well gypsies do come from [...]
Christmas in India
Posted in Uncategorized on December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Rudyard Kipling captures better than I why I opted to miss Mumbai to arrive in beautiful, tropical, sunny Goa on Christmas Eve. Christmas in Mumbai would have been way too depressing. More soon.
My wish for New Year’s: that India and Paksitan not go to war.
“Christmas in India” – Rudyard Kipling
Dim dawn behind the tamerisks—the sky [...]
Movin’ on up, and down and around
Posted in Uncategorized on December 16, 2008 | 4 Comments »
I am sorry about the depressing tone of the last two posts. There’s nothing worse than a complainer, especially a complainer privileged enough to be traveling in India. I think I have caught my second wind. As always, pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30498771@N02/. I would totally learn to post them in this narrative if these connections [...]
Getting the hell out of dodge
Posted in Uncategorized on December 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve gotta get out of Varanasi. It is clear that every passing day makes me appreciate this place less and less. Mostly it’s when I get sick. I rebuild my health for a week and begin to really enjoy India only to get sick again, and then I want to go home with every fiber [...]
