Bombs in India

By now, most people have heard of the terrible bomb explosions in India. Incidents like these are always a bit unnerving. After that news report, people have recommended that I not return to India. I hear comments like, "The world is a scary place." and "Things aren't what they used to be like." "Those people are scary over there."

Sure right now, India seems like a hotbed of terrorist activity. The news on TV is probably talking it up and trying to scare you right now. What they dont' tell you is how messed up America is, but thank's to this radical new device designed to scare the crap out of everyone we can all rest assured that the India is probably a lot safer then America.

http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php

Above is the link to the Global Incident Map. It's a web page that shows you all the horrible stuff that's going on in the world in real time. This morning I decided to dampen my mood and check it out. The map mentions the bomb blast in India and it mentions an arrest of some suspects relating to the crime. That's it. In a country of over a billion people, that's what it says. Now if we go over to America (a country 1/3 the size), we see quite a different story:

"Texas Bomb Squad blows up suspcious objects near school"
"Diesel Tanker Hijacked"
"Louisana Airport Reopened after Bomb Scare"
"Shootout in Lobby of St. Petersburg Courthouse"
"Bomb Threat Phoned into Fort Lauderdale Immigration Office"
"Meat Processing Plant Worker Admits Tampering with Food"
"Kids Vitamins Tampered With"
"Detroit - Grenade found at Intersection"
"Bomb Threat Closes Ferry"
"Women Arrested for accessing Website with Terrorist Information"
"Bomb Squad Called to Staten Island Shopping Center"
"Local Couple Buys Suspicious Colgate Toothpaste"

Now which country sounds safer? The world is only as scary as the news you watch. To live in fear of the outside world is only going to add to our problems.

Cultural Arts Day

In case you didn't hear, today was Cultural Arts Day at Ben Hill County Public Elementary School. After one artist bailed, I was asked to give a talk about being an artist to the school kids.

The students spent the day visiting different classrooms and hearing presentations from artists in the various mediums. There was a lady who played the harp, a man who sang and played the guitar. There was another painter, a photoshop lady, and a poetry lady. There were a few oddball categories like a Civil Ware Reanactor and a Baker. But after talking to those two presenters I got some great ideas for my next presentation to children. First I'm going to bring chocolate chip cookies, then I'm going to have them line up in battle formation just like the confederates did in the Civil War. After that I'll show some paintings.

The day went by pretty fast. I had to give twelve twenty minute speeches to different classes of students from 3rd to 5th grade. It ended up being a good time, just showing my paintings and talking about art, asking questions, answering questions. Twenty minutes wasn't really long enough to get into anything but a cursory discussion on art in general. I was forced to focus my points to be brief, to the point and relative to a third grader. The only group that was semi tedious was the class that just came in just after lunch. They were all 'lunched out' I guess. The rest of the kids were inquisitive, enjoyable and interested.

Speaking of lunch, I got to stand in line at the school cafeteria again. When was the last time any of you did that? The food was fine, but I swear that one of the ladies who cooked in my cafeteria when I was growing up, was there working today. If it wasn't her directly, it must have been her identical twin daughter.

Universal Mysteries Revealed!

This week I've learned one of the mysteries of the university. There are times I'd be somewhere and I'd see a bench in a park that says, 'Gift of the Kiwanis Club of Townsville.' Or when you're driving into some small town there, you can see under the church listing buildboard a list of local clubs, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, etc.

What are these clubs anyway? What do they do? Are they like the ones in the Flintstones? Well I had the opportunity to find out. I made this video about my trip to India and Nepal, which can be seen from my website, and it turned out well. I ended up getting a projector and a screen from the library and I started showing the video around. Someone who saw it wanted me to show it at the local Kiwanis Club. I figured it'd be a great opporutnity to see the insides of one of America's most secretive organizations.

The clandestine meeting was to be held in the backroom of Tom's Super Country Buffet. It was an interesting mixed crowd. After the collection of happy dollars I gave my presentation and showed the movie. A short question and answer period followed and I went home.

So in actuality, I really didn't learn what this club does. I know every week they have some sort of a presentation and that this club just learned about India, but other then that I think it's just a way to get a nice meal at Tom's Super Country Buffet.

Thoughts on home

It's nice to be back in the US again, although it's more depressing then being overseas. In India I wasn't trying to keep abreast of the current news. Now that I'm in America I'm still not trying to stay updated, but it's shoved down my throat wherever I look. Newspapers, TV, the internet. Even if you dont' go to a news site, every other site has links back to the news site, so despite all my efforts I still know what's going on in the world.

And of all that information I get, it seems like none of it is real news. All this talk about the election is ridiculous. I have no clear idea what each candidate stands for. All the news organizations talk about is how well each campaign is running. Or the news people talk about what the other news people said. That's not 'news' that's just gossip.

The news used to be about the issues each person stood for. They used to talk about plans for the future. Now they just talk about, the plans for the campaign. It's like our school systems. Schools don't worry about long term goals and building quality students, they just worry about the end of the year test. So if you can pass that test that is all that matters.

Some people asked if there were more fat people here in America, but there's big people the world over. Although apparently now there's not enough food, so that might change. There's not enough oil either, so even if someone wanted food, the companies can't deliver it. I guess there's just too many people and not enough stuff.

It's been nice to see friends and family again. I guess in any situation, it's the people that make a place what it is. I used shaving cream for the first time in months. It was nice. Very smooth. Although it wasn't smooth enough for me to go out and buy my own bottle. I've noticed people sure like thier products here in the states. People's bathrooms look like the aisle of a CVS or something. Bottle after bottle. It's crazy. When did body wash replace soap? What is body wash anyway? Just soap in a bottle? If so, why? And what's the purpose of aftershave? When I was in school we never learned about bathroom products so I never used it. No one tells me these things on how to be a man. And why do razors vibrate nowadays?

Same to Same

I'm sorry to say that television hasn't made any progress in the past three months. It's a shame. What TV I did watch in India was some program about the biggest construction project or some other lame show that makes drama out of people's every day jobs. It seems the Discovery Channel has worldwide appeal.

I'm also disappointed to be hearing other peoples' conversations and understanding them. Listening to joggers talk about cool websites. Or hearing a girl talk about the latest gossip between some other girl and a this boy while talking on her cellphone was annoying as well.

It's very enjoyable to come back home to hear about the husbands with forty brides down in Texas. Texas gets another checkmark under the list of 'one more reason not to move to Texas.' I was fortunate enough to witness a live interview of some of these FLSDSLS people. The expert interviewing lady ended this historic interview by asking the Mormon's why they wore thier hair like that and what's up with the dresses?

Home sweet home.

A long ride back

So I'm back in the states now. I'll probably keep up this writing thing though. It's good for me. The trip home was slightly annoying. It's not like it used to be with the whole nine month boat ride, but it still felt like it took forever.

It started off with a nine hour bus ride from Pokahra to Kathmandu. We had the pleasure of running into some major traffic issues that delayed all the process. A few days in Kathmandu fixing tickets and such, then it was a early two hour flight to Delhi. Our ticket said the plane was leaving at 7:00. Although the airport didn't open till 6:00. And the flight eventually left around 8:00.

We landed in Delhi and spent the day there. Our next flight was to Bangalore and it left around eight in the evening. The stupid morons at British Airways wouldn't let us switch our flight to Delhi, so we had to fly all the way down to Bangalore. I know I'll never fly on British Airways again. Of course the flight was delayed, so we didn't arrive into Bangalore until midnight. Our next flight left around 6:30am, so we just hung out at the airport. No sleep that night.

That next flight took us to London where we had a nice 24 hour layover. We were going to head out and meet a friend, but we ended up being so tired we just crashe at the airport. Our next flight left the next day and ten hours later we arrived in Atlanta. Then it was a three hour drive to Fitzgerald and that's where I am now.

Pokhara to Kathmandu

The trip back to Pokhara was a little tedious. A couple hour jeep ride, followed by a couple hour hike. Then a nights rest, followed by a couple hour bus ride on this sketchy thin mountain rode. Then switch buses to a bigger one. A few more hours on this bumpy road and we finally get to Pokhara. We figure out the travel plans, and then walk around town for the last night.

The next day we take a bus ride to Kathmandu and run into some traffic. The bus ride takes forever. We get passed by a western couple on mountain bikes, but we eventually arrive in the loud, westernized, dirty, town of Kathmandu.

Kathmandu is filled with CD stores, email cafes, outdoor clothing stores, Thangka shops, restaurants, hotels, taxis, touts, and drug dealers. Everyone is trying to sell you something. It's as if white skin means deep wallet.

Overall Kathmandu leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Actually, it gives me a sore throat. I prefer Bangkok or Delhi to this place. Those towns have a little more character then here.

I walked to Durbar Square one day and some guard stopped me and told me I had to pay 200 rupees to get in. I didn't feel like doing that so I left. The next day I'm wandering around and I end up finding myself in Durbar Square but I entered from a side street. Apparently it's free from over this way. I did some sketching and painting watched the people. Again there was more communist mumbo jumbo. These elections are annoying.

Everywhere I go I hear about elections. I even hear about the American elections. US politics is news in every country. It's a little sad when you think about it. There's nothing more petty and annoying then US politics and our silly elections. So to have that be worldwide news means that everyone else is interested in petty squabling and mud slinging just as much as we are.