On Nov. 24th, I shared my birthday w/ the annual Maitri golf tournament fundraiser -- it was awesome. It was an early morning (we were up by about 5, I think) and a long day of the golf tournament itself, as well as preparing for the awards dinner and fashion show that evening at a grand hotel called the Ashok. These are pictures from that event... click on any of them to see the full album:
and the dinner...
So that was nutsos. It was great fun though, good people, good times. Year 24: here I come.
... So then we were supposed to leave the 26th for Shillong, Meghalaya, in Northeast India (near Tibet), when a riot broke out at a nearby military base (I think) and over 60 people were killed... way sad, and a bit of a dangerous predicament for us. So we *delayed* our departure by a couple days, which was good because we got to experience an earthquake! Indian style, though: no one seemed to think much of it. I was roused from my sleep at apparently was near the end of it and I thought I was crazy b/c for 5-7 seconds I was certain that the jolts back and forth were real... it was 4:45am, though, and in my half-sleep stupor I apparently just wrote it off and went back to sleep. (I'm becoming more and more Indian by the minute.) I knew, however, that it must have been something of some signifance b/c a few minutes later Kacee was knocking frantically at my door wondering if I had felt it.
Anyway.
Save for an earthquake and a riot, we made it to Shillong on Wednesday morning (early)... they call it the "Scotland of India" because it is unlike any other part of India. It's near Tibet and there is a strong tribal & Tibetan influence there... it was gorgeous. I've never been so excited to see nature before! Not only was it NATURE... it was lush mountains and fields and lakes and canyons... I was in high heaven.
We visited a nearby village; went to a school for underprivileged children that Maitri works with that completely blew me away. We met and visited with dignitaries of the highest order, thanks to Winnie's fantastic network -- one of whom is the King of Tripura, a near-30 year old who is one of the few remaining royalties in India. Pictures of his castle/palace are below/in the linked album... it was amazing.
Dec 1 was World AIDS Day and we commemorated it with a roadshow in downtown Shillong where we set up our signature "Count on Me" Pledge board for people to sign; this is a pledge we ask people to take to take accountability for their actions, i.e. not engage in risky behavior, as well as showing compassion toward those infected with HIV. It was a tremendously successful event, and some interviews that we gave even aired on a national Indian news station!! The piece was 3+ minutes long, which was great, and all of us were interviewed.
Among other wonderful things we got to do, one of the more notable experiences was the 4+ hour drive from Shillong to the airport (we took a helicopter on the way in) which was a death-defying experience. Our driver was great and drove the way one must in India--the same way one would be killed if they were to drive in a similar way in the U.S.. We were going at what seemed like astronomical speeds through super curvy canyons practically the whole time, but as Indians choose not to acknowledge respective sides of the road, dodging huge trucks and taking corners that I was sure to be the end of life was an interesting experience. Not to mention the fact that Winnie and Ali were loving the 50's-60's Hindi tunes, which, in their jubilant, gleeful, and happy-go-lucky manner, really made the entire scene art.
It was certainly an adventure--one I don't think anyone could experience without my given circumstances, so I feel really lucky.
... With a week and a half left here, my mind is starting to go numb. It's so strange to think that I'll be out of here so soon -- time has flown.
Anyway.
Here are some pics from Shillong, and again -- click on any of them to link you to the full album:
here's a slideshow of the rest of them - again, click on the slideshow or any of the above pics for the full shebang:
