Landfill tour

Hey there, get ready a wild tonal shift from "what is the best roof in this city upon which I can watch Octopussy" to "staggering scale of economic disparity on display." I've learned about the 1% in America, and seen the haves in have-nots in Bangkok, but these pale in comparison to the grand scale of class in India. Lavish consumer malls; destitution.
On Earth Day in the spring, my fellow teacher / friend Scott and I were able to take a small group of students on a tour of the largest landfill in Delhi. It is a mountain of trash with roads cutting up to the top. As we walked on the solid road made entirely of trash, trucks with more garbage rumbled by. The mound was smoking from various articles of trash decomposing and spontaneously catching on fire. 

Dozens of people, mostly in families (including small children) scour the surface for recyclable materials to sell. 

the wedding

Hi! We're married! Where to begin... We tied the knot at Borough Hall in Brooklyn on Friday, June 28th. We met, dated and lived in Brooklyn for three years before moving to Bangkok, so it was a fitting place. We waited in some lines and took orders from sassy bureaucrats, and then officiant Robin married us in a short ceremony in front of our immediate families. 

 Meet the parents. 

Official! 

The following day, we had a celebration at my parent's house in the Philadelphia suburbs. We surprisingly didn't have too much to take care of (bonus of not having any brides involved I suppose) so on Friday we had a totally normal and quiet dinner in Wayne, followed by drinks at a local bar with some out of town guests. Saturday was random errands like picking up balloons. We got dressed, took some official photos (Thanks Kathy!) and the guests started rolling in. 

Bootsie waiting with champagne.

Us. 

After cocktail hour, we had a ceremony with a few speakers. My brother Tim did a nice reading. 

Our softball friend Tim read a poem. 

My Aunt Mary introduced us for vows and read a blessing. 

And we read our own vows. 

My brother Matt gave a toast

as did Maki's friend Denise 

and then it was party time! 

My talented cousin Alisabeth created a tree for our guests to fill with their fingerprints.

Maki and I had and unplanned first dance to The Spice Girls' "Wannabe"

and people drank, danced and were merry. 

What a great night! Best of my life. I've done a lot of emoting over the past few weeks, so I'm sticking to the business here on the blog, but if you see use we will happily share the amazing details! 

Udaipur, Pt. 2

We even climbed a small mountain in the Aravalli range. Here's the view from the top. 

On the way back, these hard-working women gave us a quick photo.

And the day ended in style with Kingfishers on the roof. My friend Flo was visiting too. Udaipur's claim to fame in western pop culture is as the filming location for Octopussy. We attempted to view a rooftop screening, but the restaurant's TV had just broken yesterday (yesterday...mmm hmm, says Drew.) 

Udaipur, Pt. 1

What a fall its been. A late, rainy monsoon wrapped and I felt fully occupied from September onwards. I am co-chairing my department this year, and we are adapting 1:1 personal tablet devices, new standards, and a new model for teaching reading and writing. Luckily, for the first time in a while I am teaching the same classes for a second year. In October, a pesky mosquito infected me with dengue fever, sidelining me for a full week and attaching lethargy for two-three more. I assistant coached middle school soccer again, and led our service club after school. Oh yeah, took a grad school class. Anyway, I write only to excuse my lack of postings. Took only two long weekend trips this year, to Dharamshala (in the mountains, working on pictures) and Udaipur.
Udaipur is in southern Rajasthan, a desert state on India's western border. This beautiful city surrounds a lake. Here is the view from our hotel.

Also visible from our hotel is the city palace. Rajasthan (along with other states here in India) are full of architectural remnants from the era of princely states, or maharajas. Rather than unitary monarchy or republic, this region was a constellation of various small territories loyal to one leader. These leaders in turn swapped loyalty to greater empires, with seemingly constant shifting.

Maki and I took a walk through a local outlying village, and were able to observe a lot of local color. The seamstress.

The barber shop.

The brick makers.

bike ride in Delhi

Delhi in September, October and November is beautiful place to be. Temperature is just right, and the generous monsoon has left lush foliage everywhere. Here are a few pictures of Delhi on a lazy, leafy Sunday.

Biked over to Lodhi Gardens. Malis (gardeners) working on the roses.

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Langtang Trek

And now here's what you've been waiting for. Great thanks to Eric for sharing these amazing photographs. All the way up the valley, we were accompanied by a rushing river.

The lush forest eventually petered out into more open, rock strewn valley.

A group of Tibetans celebrating with a dance.

Glacier

We saw two avalanches from an opposing mountainside.

A view of the valley were we finished the trek, from the peak of a surrounding mountain.

So out of Kathmandu we headed. Our trekking destination was the Langtang Region, a remote valley a few miles south of the Nepal-Tibet border. The ride up through the foothills was full of color. Here, a truck was stuck in the middle of the road, blocking passage. About twenty men eventually pushed it through the troubled spot.

Our jeep hit a chicken hanging out on the road, and the entire village gathered to watch the negotiations for reimbursement.

After a long day in the car, we reached the trail head, and gladly said goodbye to motorized traffic. Into the woods we go...