From jerry
got my new sitar. sounds so great and looks great to. Pt Chatterjee is here now to. lessons hav started again. saw Karunamayi again. She chanted mantras for Her progrm this time. new Indian resturant opening soon in downtown Bremerton.
Response: Great, all great news. Michelle and I definitely want to help organise a concert in Tacoma. Would Pt Chatterjee be interested in playing at University of Puget Sound? We can't promise anything yet, but we'll try to organise something. Maybe the musicians could do a master class about music and the instruments.
From Nicki
Hey guys, I did manage to get through your long reports because they were awesome and engaging, I like the writing you both do and I'm very proud and happy for you! I also can't wait to see you in two months!
Response: Nickers! Congrats on getting through our crazy entries. There's just so much we want to share, plus it'll be cool to sort of have it all recorded so we can look back on our trip later on. Actually we were thinking that when we all get back together at the end of August, Brian wants to cook a big Indian dinner (aloo gobi, dosais, chai, kheer, etc.) for the whole house and we can all share pictures and memories of what we each did while we were gone. Wouldn't that be awesome? Take care!
From Ronald Ripid
Hello Michelle & Brian,
This is your uncle Ronald reading your travelling diary. Your mum send me your email address. Must be interesting travelling to India.
I am in Northern Japan right now. Luckily its summer and not that cold.
Right now I am rather busy.
Anyway, take care and do keep in touch. Thanks and Bye.
Ronald.
Response: Hi Uncle Ronald! I was sad to have not been able to see you this last trip, but I hope you are enjoying yourself in Japan and are not working too hard. India is very interesting, in some ways quite different from Malaysia, which seems a bit more familiar since I've been there four times now. We will keep in touch, take care and give my regards to my auntie and cousins. We hope to see you on our next trip to Sarawak!
Michelle
From Caiti
So I opened my mailbox yesterday to find a lovely photograph of several human skulls gathered together in some variety of netting. Fortunately, I'm not at all uncomfortable with the fact that Michelle is descended from headhunters since it would likely never have had an impact upon any of my people anyway-- my head, at least, is so freakishly large that no one in their right mind would want to haul it around. You also raise an excellent point in that it is perhaps better not to be discriminating in who you choose to kill (Actually, I would have far less guilt in killing some of my law school classmates than I would in killing any non-human out there...).
Been reading the blog. Still jealous.
P.S. The nicest (soy) ice cream man in the world, who also happens to be a trained chef, has offered to cook a five course vegan meal for us and a few of our friends sometime this summer. I think, for this reason, that a Brichelle visit is in order.
Response: Caiti, we thought you'd appreciate the morbidity of it all. Actually I wonder if your skull might be especially desirable because of it's size, hmm. And yes, part of writing a blog is the satisfaction in arousing jealousy in our readers; we'd love to share the indigestion if we could! Your proposal for a five-course vegan meal is highly interesting to us, how does late July sound? Maybe the last weekend. That would be sweet. p.s. Chinese food here is AMAZING. It seems wrong, but it tastes so right...
From jerry
there's a coffeeshop here, (another oe of those) that is run by evngelical minister, that preaches there on sundays.he was telling me that he also runs an international agricultural business. i asked himif he grew oganically and he was quite puzzled by my question. i asked him what did he grow and he said goats and boars!!! am i missing something here???? i guess its like when i tellpeople im vegetarian and they say "so you eat fish and chiken?"!!!!!! i say, "nt until they grow on trees!"
Response: yeah, it's weird how the industry uses the term "grow" for chickens and other animals. I think it's intentional.
From Alysa
WTF I've been back for a week dudes! I'm going to Eastern Washington this weekend and I wanted to eat at that one place you guys go to after CHCI! <33 Yay India!
Response: I can't believe your cross-country road trip is already over! Sounds like it was fun though. Trust me, though, the post-CHCI place is nothing special! Both times we've gone were by accident. I think they maybe have a couple tofu dishes, better to go to Happy Dragon in Tacoma. Mmm, crispy eggplant in spicy szechuan sauce, we should go sometime!
From justina(brian's mum
Hi Michelle,Hi Brian,mum gave me the address and I've thougth I better say hello and see how did you getting on in India.Iam so pleased to meet you both when we were in Sarawak.I Treated you two like my own children.By the way Brian, I told Steven about you and your brother has the names,he was laughing,and asked me how old is your brother.It would be very funny,if they are the same age.Is your mum my age? Im 47 and david is 55.Steven is coming home this Sunday for summer holiday,and then he will go to Greece for his holiday.He said,he missed out all the fun we had in Sarawak.Any way,how is Michelle's leg? I hope she recovered,poor Michelle.I wish you both a pleasant trip in India and all the best in future.
Response: Hi, Tina, it's great to hear from you! I was really happy to meet a long-time friend of my Mom's. Actually I remember looking through photo albums when I was younger and seeing pictures of her life in Sarawak, and now I wonder if any of them were you and David. There's one I remember of a British man, maybe when Brian and I get back to the States my Mom and I can dig out the albums and look at them. I think your Steven is probably a lot younger than Brian's brother, who must be turning 40 this year. It's too bad we didn't get to meet your other son, maybe we will get to see you all again if you visit America or if we eventually find our way to England. My leg is a lot better, thanks for asking! Would you believe we saw even more caves here in India? Saw some prehistoric carvings that are thought to be over 3000 years old. Well take care and thanks for reading!
Best,
Michelle
From jerry
thanks bu dont bring back ghee. too heavy. i do need a steel ring (one size fit all!!) for saturn tho. i cant find one here at all. ++sitar will be here today Pt Chatterjee thinks. he coordinated the buildig of it. he says it is very nice and the custom made case is done to. Pt Chatterjee mailed it himself. he will have 6 more different live concert cd's for sale now. he said i learn Raga Bhairavi next.
Response: We weren't able to get a ring. We did find a couple for Saturn, but there were two options, for two different zodiac signs, and I didn't know which one you were. Also, they were silver, and I didn't know if you wanted steel for a special purpose.
You should try Travellers. They have a lot of great things, and they might have it. And they go back to India a few times a year so maybe they could pick it up for you next time.
It's on 501 E Pine in Capitol Hill. Go there!
I'd like to get those CDs soon.
From Dad & Barbara
I just finished reading both of your recent posts and I am somewhat overwhelmed by your experiences. This is an opportunity of a lifetime that you will remember and cherish. We look forward to seeing you in Vacaville on the 8th. Safe travels.
Response: Thank you for reading and for your help in getting here. It was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and it affected us in many ways.
Brian
From Alysa
DUDES URGENTTT!!!! What is the name of that place in Ellensburg with vegan food?!?!? I don't want to starve!
Response: ??? I thought you were in FLorida or California?
and I don't know any place with vegan food in
Ellensburg.
there's a Chinese restaurant with tofu dishes that we've been to. don't know the name. some typical chinese restaurant name.
good luck!
PS we are eating dosa pretty much EVERY DAY! although there are over 100 kinds of dosa in India, we've only had ONE KIND! the others are hard to find around here.
From jerry
hi, hope all is well. a friend just pruned his fig tree and i have enough wood now for agnihtr for maye a couple yrs!! my sitar guru arrives sunday and my new Hiren Roy willb here shortly as well. sitar concert wih Pt Debi Prasad Chatterjee and Vishal Nagar on tablas, in bremerton, sept 15, confirmed!! i may be moving on to my mother's property in a few months. we are considering converting 5 car garage into apt.
Response: yes, things are well here. that's great that you have wood. we met someone here who also does agnihotra. she said it's good for purifying the environment... and she works for the agriculture department as well. We were thinking of getting ghee here for you, since it would be cheaper. Anything special we need to ask for, or just plain ghee?
That is very wonderful news about the concert. I am excited to go. In Bremerton, too. We might be able to arrange for them to play at University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Maybe I can look into it when we get back.
Good luck with moving. It will be easier for you to help out your mom being right there with her.
-Brian
From Dad
thanks for calling again this morning. getting sick on the water, gee maybe you should boil the bottled water :(.
Good luck in Kerala
Response: yeah, i don't know why i got sick. it's hard to avoid water altogether... they wash glasses with it if you get fresh juice. the water in restaurants I think is boiled. I've heard you can also get sick from drinks with dairy in them like chai.
Thanks!
From jezzica
you guys made it to india! so happy! i have not seen any moose yet. what gives? take care and be careful and boil your water! xo
Response: yes, we made it.
no moose? what? how about grizzly bears? if you see one, hug it for me.
yeah, seriously about the water. i've gotten sick twice on this whole trip (the second time is right now).
From Mel
The Sikh Society provided free food at the end of Saturday's Peace March. Free curry for 200! I think they got more cheers than any of the speaches or the musicians.
Response: dude, that's sweet. Sikhs are generally vegetarian, and some Sikh temples (gurdwaras) serve vegetarian lunches after services. But like all religions, people don't follow everything, so not all Sikhs are vegetarian.
But that's way cool they did that and are into the local peace movement.
The best Indian restaurant in Washington that we've been to is in Renton, where I (Brian) grew up, and it's all vegetarian, and owned by Sikhs, so it's Punjabi cuisine. It's amazing.
Anyway.
From Alysa
Oh man Michelle I'm in VACAVILE!
Response: Lucky you! Say hi to cowtown for me.
From Dad
Hi Michelle, Hi Brian, We made it home. Great site you have. I'll check it all out once I get over the jet-lag. Hope you are in India when you read this.
Response: Thanks for the message, Dad. We're in India and will try to call soon. Hope your jet lag is over soon!
From jezzica
holy crap i miss you guys! did you see stalagmites in the caves?
Response: We miss you too! Not only did we see stalagmites, we saw stalactites. Oh yeah.
Michelle
p.s. Brian dropped his camera battery in a pile of bat guano.
From Mel
If an exotic location is going to be open to tourists, it's extreemly useful to have those sorts of resorts. It insulates the locals from american culture (which, when americans travel abroad, includes classism), prevents gentrification of their neighbourhoods, and injects cash into the economy. Seriously, you can afford $4 for a meal.
Response: I can see your points, but it was still a depressing experience for me personally, for various other reasons that I didn't get into, including inaccurate "cultural performances" that ended in propaganda-like nationalist anthems. We can talk about it later, my time on this computer is running out. I might make some kind of sociological post later about various things I've observed.
From Alysa
Dude. I'm in Florida, and I FEEL like I'm in the rainforest here!!! <3 OMG IT'S SO HOT HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD??? What is the temperature over there? I'm not even sure here. it is HOT.
Response: Hope you're having fun, Alysa! I'm not really sure what the temperature here is, it's not often posted (like it is in Washington on every other church reader board), and when I do find out, it's in Celsius, which I admit I am too lazy to figure out. Haha. But yes. HOT.
From shebee McBride
i triple dog dare Both of you to:
walk down the side walk in hot pants & spaghetti strap tank tops, while hittin' a pipe. You must also spit every so often, have a dog unleashed with a bandana around its neck, and talk loudly in english to everybody while waving your arms and gesturing to your left palm with your right index finger.....GO!
Response: Shelby, it's bad enough I have to limp around speaking English with a camera around my neck. I'll only take your dare if you in turn wear tight khaki shorts, slather white sunblock on your nose, let the camp kids call you "Stinky" and blow on a whistle in lieu of using a human language to communicate. You know you want to. Or maybe you already are...
From Pat Cereghino
Great travelog...really enjoyed reading it...what a great experience for you....visiting Michelle's family is a special bonus....continue to have a wonderful trip......and keep posting....we're reading it....
Love, Aunt Pat
Response: Thanks Aunt Pat. The family aspect really is a bonus, I'm glad we're having more of a visiting experience than a purely tourist one. Take care!
From Rick Dalderis
Enjoyed reading about your trip.
Keep the reports coming.
Can you post some pictures?
Cheers,
Rick
Response: Thanks, and we'll try to post some pictures soon! Even harder than finding the resources and time is choosing which to post out of the hundreds we've already taken!
Michelle
From Julie
Brian and Michelle - Sounds like your're having a wonderful time. Michelle, I hope your ankle is better. Be sure to email pictures when you can.
Response: Thank you. We are having a great time. Michelle's ankle is almost all better, and we will rest for a few days when we get to India so she can be all recovered.
Hope everything is going well there :)
From Barbara
Hi Michelle and Brian,
Sounds like you are having a great trip. I'm enjoying reading about Maggie's relatives and Sarawak. Sounds like you are all taking advantage of this wonderful travel opportunity.
Can't wait to hear about Gunung Mulu National Park.
Response: We are having a good time! The park was beautiful and I think the forthcoming pictures will better show this than words. Thanks for reading and take care.
From Mel
pictures!
Response: Hopefully we'll get to post pictures soon... we usually don't get much time on computers, and sometimes they don't have the capability of transferring pictures. But there for sure will be some when we get back...?