Indian River boat ride

The Indian River is almost the ocean.  It's big and salty and wet.  But really it's a lagoon area on the Atlantic coast of Florida.

Ocean, river, lagoon--whichever you'd like to call it--it's a pretty place to take a boat ride.

Spring at Humayan's tomb

 It feels like spring at Humayan's tomb.  The water is running though the complex.

 The ceiling is freshly repainted.

And it's not meltingly hot....yet. 

City of fountains

I saw a sign at the Kansas City airport when we arrived that said, "City of Fountains".
I made up my mind right then to look out for fountains. And I did see a number of them.

Some were kind of odd.
As in: what is this guy doing to the horse? And why capture that in statue form?

Giant spitting fish aren't exactly common either.

I would be less surprised to find Zeus if this was Europe and not the midwest, Lewis and Clark territory. But okay, maybe a city full of fountains needs to come up with more ideas than the average city with fountains.

Anyhow, it makes for a fun treasure hunt.

Water truck

This makes me so thankful for what I have.

Two times a day, a water truck stops in my neighborhood and dozens of people gather around with their containers to fill them up with the water they need throughout the day.

The truck blocks traffic, fills the road with puddles and mud and could be considered a general nuisance.

But not if you really think about what that truck is doing there.

And remember that in your own house is running water.
I don't have to stand around a truck, waiting my turn to fill as many containers as I can carry so that I can have water in my home.
That is not my reality.

But it is someone's.
It is for these neighbors of mine.

So I'll turn on my faucet and be a little more thankful today.

The shikara

Life on Dal Lake is one of my favorite things about Kashmir. It uniquely takes place all on water. Houses are on water, stores are on water. Mosques are on water. Gardens are on water. And all transportation is over water.
The shikara, then, is essential in every family. It's what gets you from place to place.
It gets you to the store.
It gets you to the neighbor's house.
It gets you to work.
It gets the tourists to your boat.
It gets you to the shore.

And it's a marvelously slow way to travel.

There's time for thinking when you're on a shikara. Time to look around you and pay attention to something other than yourself. Time to see the world you're passing by.
Time to breath--that's rare, and that's something to savor.

Wide load

Eight water tanks on a bike.
Yup.
I do believe they are empty, though.

Here they come.

And there they go.

Steeplechasing

What is the steeplechase?
It's running around the track (3000m worth of running around) and jumping over these hurdle-like things.
Wikipedia gives a much more comprehensive explanation than I do, but I will quote the interesting name-history here:

"The event originated in the British Isles. Runners raced from one town's steeple to the next. The steeples were used as markers due to their visibility over long distances. Along the way runners inevitably had to jump streams and low stone walls separating estates."

In the modern steeplechase, one of the obstacles is jumping into a pool of water, like this one.
That's no small feat. Just look how deep the water hole is when there's no water in it:

The Kenyan women were super good at it. They owned the steeple chase.
1-2-3.
Gold-silver-bronze.

The determination of this Indian athlete deserved respect.
Early on she fell behind the others, but she kept on and didn't tire in her graceful leaps over the hurdles.

She wasn't the only one who had difficulty. Apparently a Papau New Guinea steeplechaser was so tired he had to use the potted plants to help him climb over the hurdle.

Street bathing

Here's a fun picture I found online today.
Swimming in the street.
At least the water looks clean, as in: not brown.

Flood rains

Rain, rain, go away
We have had enough today.

I have water spots on my wall, a window that leaks and a balcony that doesn't drain, but my problems are small.
The city of Delhi is flooding.

There has been record rainfall for this month. The rain is still coming down. And the waters are rushing down the river toward us.
For those who live on the streets, there is no dry place to sleep.
I am thankful for my dry home.

Not so exciting

I've been thinking to myself, what more can I write about? I haven't had a lot to say lately.

Well, I can tell you that it was a year ago today that I moved into my flat. And at that time there was so much happening that there was plenty to keep me posting frequently.
The flat shaped up in January, and since then, there's been less excitement.
So to speak.
Don't get me wrong. Every day is still an adventure, I'm just looking for a little less of it.

Take this week:
I've spent most days in the house hiding from the hot and melty-like weather. Inside I think of myself as spoiled to turn on the air-conditioning. I use it at night and during the day the cool marble floor and fan are enough. But at around two in the afternoon, I think I need a nap.
The only things it's not too hot to eat are mangoes, watermelon and koolaid. I made pasta sauce one day but was so tired afterward that I didn't eat any of it. I went and took a nap.
When I leave my room, which is cooler than the rest of the house, I immediately head to the fridge for more water, then think: "why did I come out here?" I go back to my room, remember why I went out and open the door to face the heat again.
The dust storms cover everything in dust. I could spend all day dusting and then start at the beginning again.
My refrigerator is half full of water--it's the only cold water. The tank on the roof spends the day in the sun and all the water that comes through my pipes is nice and hot.

No wonder I'm exhausted--and I LIKE heat.
And no wonder there's nothing to write about if I'm napping so much of the time.

My friend and I were talking:
"This is what hell is like," she says. "So hot and you can't do anything to be cool."
"No," I reply, "Hell is when you're cold and nothing can warm you."
Yes, we are opposites in this.
It's kind of funny how she sat there near dead--it is how I would look if you'd caught me in the middle of winter: immobile near a heater.

My outing one day this past week made me feel it was a day of great accomplishment.
I had a list of things to do and all of them got done.
The pharmacy had what I needed.
The atm at the bank was in operation.
I found the bookstore I needed and got my books repaired.
I got some groceries.
And I did it all in an hour and a half.
Nice.

So perhaps you can understand that if the above is an exciting day in my life why I don't have so much to write about.
And really, I'm not asking for more excitement than this. The lull is good.

Bill paying

My water bill was due Monday. But the bill paying office was closed. What kind of sense does that make? So I got to pay the 13 rupee late fee.
After I found the "office", that is.
It's in an out of the way place off a highway in a walled compound.
I chose the "cash counter" since I didn't have a cheque.

Water

It has come.
What a relief.
It took days to sort everything out. But now the pump is located and hooked up. The documents are in order with the water department. And, very importantly, an automatic switch has been has been installed on the pump to turn on when the direct line of water is running. This way the tank will fill up and I don't need to get up at 4am every day to make sure it does.

It was difficult to know I was frustrated with lack of water when every day this water truck comes two or three times to fill the community tank for the poorer people who have no running water in their homes. I should be more grateful.
And I am now. Very. Water is a beautiful thing. Coming from the taps: that's really magical.

This much water

Three buckets of water. That's how much came through the pipes while the direct line from the city was running.
I'm getting closer? Is that improvement?

Almost

There is no water yet, but maybe by the end of my birthday in a US time zone?

I guess there was an outstanding bill with the government water agency because they assumed someone was living in the apartment, using water and not paying the bill. The landlord went to their office and straightened that out. A pump was connected to the pipes and hopefully tomorrow morning when the pump can be turned on, water will start filling the pipes.
Hoping hoping.
That was amazing fast, really. Quite possibly miraculous.

On other fronts, we tried to get a few other things done for the apartment. Almost bought a slab of marble for the counter top. Almost bought some needed plywood. Almost got the junk and old furniture moved out of the flat. Traffic jams were the problem. At least today the markets we needed were open.

Along the way I saw something interesting. Some men were putting up signboards. Maybe the picture can help explain why cranes are falling on cars. There was an article about it just yesterday. It's not a crane they're using to put up the signboards, but it does show the lack of safety precautions.

For my birthday, I'd like water, please.

I'm moving this week.
This is a way bigger job than anyone anticipated.
We thought there would be some repairs and fix ups--a few days' work-- and lots of cleaning.
The landlord thought there would be some minor repairs and a little cleaning--a day's work.

The reality is much different.

Yesterday:
One of the men who came yesterday to remove the old furniture and other trash (why do people keep old medicine containers or not throw out their coke bottles?) broke a window in carrying it out. His hands got cut and that was the end of the junk moving out.
There was no electricity and the electrician was no where to be found.
There was no water to begin washing away the pounds of dust. And further inspection revealed the water pump has actually been stolen.

The dust is thick over the old furniture that needs to be removed, the peeling cupboard doors needing replacements, and every other inch of the place.

The floors are actually white marble. Can you tell? :(
There is so much dust you can see it in the air in the photo.

Here's some video so you can see and hear the work taking place.



See the view from my balcony? Perhaps there's a silver lining in sight?

The electrician came today and now there is power. Hooray!
So tomorrow, I'm hoping for water...

New geezer

No, "new geezer" is not an oxymoron. A geezer is what a hot water heater is called. And I got a new one.

When we moved into the flat, there was not a geezer in the kitchen, meaning there was no hot water at the sink there. I mentioned this to the landlord, thinking it would be impossible that anything would happen anytime soon. But he said, "A geezer? Why not?" And the next day he went out and got one.

I was amazed. Things never happen that quickly here. Especially when it involves spending money for someone else's benefit.

And look: it's even a special windsurfer one. So nice, huh?

Slip and slide fun

The foam sheets sold to go underneath carpeting makes for a great slip and slide and good summertime fun.

Songkran

Songkran is the Thai new year celebration.

And it's a city wide water fight.

In the city here the celebrating/water throwing lasted from Friday to Wednesday.

People lined up on the side of the road to throw water on passing cars and motorcycles. People in trucks drove by throwing water back at them. From old to young, everyone was in on it, with their squirt guns, hoses and buckets.

It's the hottest time of the year, so it must be nice to have a good reason not to go to work and to run around throwing water at each other.