Happy Feet

The big perk to this trip was my visit to Cape Town. Friends from Xavier, Brian and Jessica McInerny, currently reside there. Normally Jon and I don’t get much down time on these recruiting trips. So this was going to be a nice break from the constant motion. What is even more amazing about visiting with Jess and Brian is the fact that I went to high school with Brian. He was three years ahead of me at school but we played soccer together and I had always looked to him as a role model. It has always amazed me that I have been fortunate enough to see many places in the world. I remember thinking that I would probably move back to Wheeling after college. Obviously none of that happened, but it is nice to be able to talk about the “good old times” with Mac.

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It was like being on the coast of California with the best parts of Mexico thrown in. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and you have the mountains and the water minutes away. Plus you have Penguins! Cape Town is known for having a large population of penguins. I would have never guessed that they thrive in this type of climate, but they are everywhere. We spent the day roaming the beaches for penguins and eventually headed out to the mountains. We climbed up Cape Pointe and visited the Cape of Good Hope. Both played an integral part in the colonization of the country. There was something very humbling about being at the Cape of Good Hope. The wind was powerful and being among the waves and the mountains was just overwhelming. I felt like a very small part of something much larger than I could ever understand.

The evening was spent at a winery/restaurant with traditional South African dishes. The food has been delicious and the wine is amazing. Pinotage is a unique type of wine to the area and I could have finished a bottle on my own. I probably did by the end of the night.

No Oprah

The day started out with a bit of a disappointment. We found out that we would not be visiting the Oprah School here in Johannesburg. I don’t really know why I cared so much, but it is Oprah!!! The day was actually pretty boring as far as photography goes. Liza has revealed that Johannesburg is a pretty violent place. People could just come up and shoot you if they wanted! I took it all with a bit of skepticism. Everything I have heard about this place has been positive. So we drive around the city and visit a couple of schools. I think that it will be a successful visit for Jon and the university of Cincinnati. Liza is very excited to have us here and it shows.

As we drive to different parts of town, I notice more barbwire and electrical fencing. Perhaps there is some truth to what Liza has been telling us. She is very cautious when we pull up to stop lights and at one point fears that we have been followed back to the hotel. So anyone who knows me knows that I tend to freak out at small things. While I don’t know if this is necessarily a “small thing”, I definetly start to become insecure about my safety in town. What throws me off is the fact that the majority of the city is completely modern. There are malls that rival anything in the States. Factories and business seem to be flourishing. Jon and I discuss the fact that we have been to places were there is a lot of violence, but they seem to still be struggling to rise above third world status. Over the next few days I will learn a lot more about this enigma in South Africa.

Despite my lack of confidence in going and taking pictures around the neighborhood, the night ends with warm conversation with Liza and her son George. George is looking to come to the U.S. to study. Of course all this talk about UC has gotten young George very excited about his prospects. Whether it was the alcohol talking or not, I started getting very excited about Cincinnati and how great it is. For those of you that know me, you can imagine how funny this whole conversation might be. Ole “two can Sam” Klenowski! Despite my loud ramblings, I think that will still apply. I do hope that we have the thriving Latin dancing community that I had promised him?

Travel

Traveling across the world can be absolutely brutal. Yes, I know that I probably sound like a jerk with that statement. I have a 5-hour lay over in Detroit. I have another 20 hours of travel ahead of me. So what does one do in the Detroit airport for 5 hours you ask? Try to be as creative as possible!

Detroit has this long hallway that makes me think of some sci-fi movies from the 80’s. You move along the moving sidewalk and lights flash around you and trippy music is playing. I decided that it would be fun to go back and forth and take pictures of the glass that was lining the wall. You can see a couple of my attempts at being artsy.

I meet up with Jon and we board our plane to Amsterdam. I was a little worried when I sit on my seat and the women behind me immediately asks me not to come all the way back. I was a little frustrated since I have pretty long marionette legs. But I tried to be a friendly traveler and didn’t recline that far. The main reason was because the plane was amazing. I have never flown Northwest before, but I am very excited for their merger with Delta. The crew was great, we got free alcohol, and they had movies on demand. I watch I’m Not There (Bob Dylan Bio) and Cloverfield (terrible attempt at a horror movie). The gentleman sitting next to me was pretty interesting as well. I believe that there are 3 types of passengers:1: Normal 2. Sick (weird coughing and clearing of the throat) and 3. Weird (talk to much and ask inappropriate questions). I sat next to a Missionary from Tanzania. He was a mixture of 1 and 3. He started by pulling out his Iphone and showed me pictures of all of his family and giving me the rundown of them. Never did I think that the Iphone technology would be used for evil. It was like looking at distant relative vacation photos. He then started asking me about my political views and I going on about how great the freedom is in Tanzania. His example was that if you wanted to paint your house with purple polka dots, no one would say anything. I wanted to point out that I thought you could do the same thing in America? Instead I pretended to fall asleep and watched movies. I guess it was good he didn’t turn out to be too weird, but I really wanted to start conversations with “ Did I tell you the one about the Tanzanian Missionary?”

The transfer from Amsterdam went smoothly and had another great flight into Johannesburg. After customs and things we met Jon’s city contact. Liza is a Greek woman who grew up in Zimbabwe, but recently moved to South Africa. She came across as pretty intense. Since things close at 9 in the city, we struggled to find a place to eat. Liza wouldn’t be stopped! We found a Greek restaurant right before it closed and got some amazing gyro’s.

Overall it was a great day. Few problems and a comfortable bed to fall asleep in.

So for the first 5 days of this trip, Jon and I averaged about 4 hours of sleep a night. Until last night this had been a very grueling week. My eyes have never hurt like they did. Despite the lack of sleep, all my photography cylinders are firing. I know that the blog hasn’t been updated as frequently as some might like, but I have been averaging about 500 pictures a day. Of course this is when I can pull myself away from movies from the late 80’s. Predator holds up surprisingly well. Three men and a Baby is definitely dated. But who can resist Steve Gutenburg. Does anyone know what happened to his career?

The last 3 days have been very good. Bombay is such a unique place. It is Hollywood and New York combined in one. I had heard that Bollywood scouts search the town center for Americans to appear as extras in movies. So I put on my Sunday best and hoped for the best. Unfortunately no scouts thought I was interesting enough to put into a movie. But I have seen an episode of the Indian version of “So You Think You Can Dance”, and I think that I might be able to make it onto the show. If only I had more time!!! After meeting students in the office, Jon and I got a nice tour of the city. The highlight was riding in a car that was playing the “Macarenna”. It was only topped when “Who Let the Dogs Out” came on. It felt like a scene out of a movie. The Gateway of India was pretty outstanding. India likes their monuments large! Everything I have seen puts most American monuments to shame. After the tour, we got a quick bite of Indian McDonalds. I wished we could have spent a little more time in Bombay. There is so much to see and we barely scratched the surface.

We are now in Hyderabad. The city is surprisingly calm and clean. It has been nice to slow things down a little bit. We actually got a full night of sleep last night. Hyderabad is the largest Muslim city in India. Jon and I have decided that we are Canadian for this part of the trip. Actually the people have been absolutely amazing. I like being the object of attention. Unlike China, people want to interact with me instead of just staring. I posed for a few pictures and young children think that I am rather interesting. I would have to agree. After an early day of work Jon and I got a driver to take us around to the more interesting sites. The most interesting place was the Charminare. Built in the late 1500’s it is holds the oldest Mosque in the Hyderabad. It was also a photographers dream come true. The Mosque is surrounded by a bazaar. I went absolutely nuts with the photo opportunities. I couldn’t shoot fast enough. I almost pulled out a second camera to try and capture as much as I could. It was sensory overload. My only regret so far this trip is that I didn’t spend more time there. But I got some unique shots and can’t wait to share them. I feel that I am expanding my photographic eye. I am really pushing past my comfort zone and trying things that I would never do.

I know that there have been few posts. I am hoping that things will get a little better from here on out. The rest of the trip is more relaxed. Plus internet issues are worse than China. So for those of you still checking in, Thanks!!

Uncle, Uncle, take my picture!

It has been difficult trying to find internet access and actually get some time to update the blog. Hopefully our arrival in Bombay (Mumbai) will help change that. Jon and I are spending the day here meeting with a close partner to the UC International Admissions program. Mumbai already feels very different from Delhi. The streets are still crowded and I still fear for my life while traveling in a car, but people are just more relaxed. The poverty seems to be a little less severe as well. I just got back from a small jaunt along the coast of the Arabian Sea. It feels good to be close to the water. Today was exam day for many of the students in the area. So by the time I hit the road, children had taken to the streets relieved that the Diwali holiday was almost near. Cricket seems to be the sport of choice. It has been nice that people have been coming to me and asking for pictures. Though I am always a little apprehensive that they are going to want money. Instead of money I am ready to hand out Jolly Ranchers. Although the children today quickly turned on me when I wouldn’t give them more.

So we are going to lunch soon. Though I am experiencing a lot of stomach problems. I don’t think that I have caught anything, but the thought of Indian food right now makes me feel ill. I thought that I would try to get pictures from yesterday up. It was a slow day on the picture front. I spent the day with Jon at a school in the suburbs. I managed to get the courage to wander the streets a little. Got some great shots this afternoon of kids playing in the water etc. I will try to get those up soon.

India Day 1

I first became aware of India when I was a Junior at Central Catholic High School. Mr. Shultz showed Gandhi to his religion class. I remember being very moved by the movie and the man that was Gandhi. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would find myself in India. Late Monday evening after a grueling 14 hour flight, I took my first steps on Indian soil. I had tried to do my research about the country. Obviously I knew a little more than I did all those years ago. Unfortunately, I still felt unprepared for what I experienced today. Delhi really is a complete contradiction. There is a booming economy in India, but the poverty is unbelievable. It is also very weird to be staying in a 5 star hotel and walk around the corner and be slapped in the face with a homeless family sleeping in the middle of the road. Despite this poverty, I witnessed some beautiful moments of humanity.

The morning started with a nice breakfast on the hotel patio. As always, I have been trying to expand my tastes. I tried some crazy fruit that looked like it had poppy seeds in it, though I had to pass on the baked beans? I never really thought of that as a morning snack. A driver has been arranged for me to tour the city. I had a schedule as well, but due to the traffic in Delhi, any sort of time management gets thrown out the window. I have been to a lot of countries and been in various forms of transportation, but India gets the prize for the craziest motorists. There is absolutely no law. I am totally surprised that Mr. Sanjay (driver) did not kill anyone. We did come close to an elderly man on a bike. My lofty goal of seeing 6 monuments today fell pretty short.

My first destination was the Lotus Temple. It is a beautiful Bahai temple located just down the road from our hotel. I was shocked when I heard someone yelling my name in the distance. The only person I knew in the country was in an office doing interviews. It turned out that the woman I sat next to on the flight was leaving the Temple. Looking back on the day, I should have taken this as a sign. There are thousands of people everywhere, and I run into the one person that vaguely knows me. What are the chances? The temple was absolutely gorgeous and the brief introduction to the Bahai faith has definitely intrigued me. It makes me proud to say that we have a temple over on the Westside of Cincinnati. I was a little nervous when I had to give up my shoes before entering the Temple. I trust people, but I never know how much I should trust them.

After a quick prayer, I made my way to Humayun’s Tomb (see picture below). I spent a while walking around the expansive complex. I really started to find my photographic eye at the Tomb. I took my time walking around and didn’t rush anything. I would sit in an area with heavy foot traffic and wait for the shot. I decided that this would be the smartest way to spend my time once I reached my next destination, Akshar Dham Temple. Imagine a few mega-churches and you might begin to come close to how large this facility is. I am told that it is the largest Temple in Asia? I wouldn’t be able to tell you much about the place due to my lack of faith with leaving expensive equipment with complete strangers. Instead I decided to sit under a lamp and let the pictures come to me. My energy was beginning to drag by this point and I was totally overcome by the scene that presented itself. There was a young man who looked to have some sort of mental disability. He was playing with what appeared to be his niece. She would run around and he would clap. Then he would chase after her and scoop her into his arms. Both would scream with laughter. Yes, this is extremely cheesy and sappy, but in a town that shows you the worst of what humanity has to offer, it is always nice to see that there is still beauty in it.

The day just got better from there. I met a few members of a marching band who wanted to shake my hand and have their picture taken. Again, where in the world do you just see a marching band walking down the street? I ended the evening with my friend Jon and I having a nice dinner in the Club Lounge. It was a long day, but one that was very productive from a photographic standpoint.

Now for a few random thoughts and observations:

1. The weirdest thing that I saw today was the ivory toothpick/ear cleaner that Gandhi used. I would have never put those two items together?
2. India marketing strategy is very odd. They keep showing a commercial with people seductively dancing and making innuendo’s about having sex. The commercial is for golf products.
3. My computer is running an old system of Mac OSX. Plus it needs some more memory. Plus we are having internet issues. Therefore I have had to keep the number of photos small and unedited. I hope you like them anyway.
4. Dumbledore is gay! At least this is what Yahoo news tells me. Wow the things I miss out on when I leave the country.

Tomorrow, we go to the Indian suburbs. I am told that it is the West Chester of Delhi. I hope they have an Ikea! (West Chester is a suburb of Cincinnati in case you didn’t know that)

For my final day, I visited the Temple of Heaven. It is this gorgeous park south of the city center. The weather was pretty overcast and drab. I was hoping for some sunshine to pick me up this morning. Still just feeling exhausted and beat. If there is one thing that I have learned about photography from this trip, is you never know when an opportunity will arise. As I was trying to cross an insanely busy intersection, I saw all of these people running across a bridge yelling. Yes, I did get a little freaked out at first. I didn't know what the hell was going on and if it was bad. Since no one else seemed startled, I timidly walked to the craziness. It turned out to be some sort of high school training program or something? It was like gym class, but without the ball. They were in groups on the sidewalk doing these basketball and marching drills. It was just crazy.

I walked through some alleyways to see what the other side of Beijing looked like. It was a pretty sad scene. Everything is in a constant state of destruction. Sidewalks that I have been walking since the beginning of the week are now gone. Nothing seems to last long here.

The Temple of Heaven turns out to be the most beautiful park that I have ever been in. It is also the most unique. There was activity EVERYWHERE!! And it was strictly adults! There was bad mitten, ballroom dancing, hackey sack, traditional fan dancing, singing, card games..... it was insane. There were almost no children at all. These were mostly people in their 50s and 60s! Old women doing tricks with a hackey sack that the most sober hippy at Bonnaroo could never do!! There was also this little area where old men were playing these strange guitars and drums. I have never heard such noise before, and I mean noise in a very beautiful way. It shouldn't have sounded good, but it did.

By the end of walking around the park, my feet were done. I called a taxi and got a ride back to my hotel. This will be the last entry from China. This last one was pretty hard to write. I feel like I have just finished a marathon. I am sad to leave tomorrow, but very ready. Jon and I catch a flight into Newark tomorrow and will be back to Cincinnati on Sunday. I hope that this thing didn't bore you to much. I hope to talk to all of you soon.

Peace and love