In America

2007-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

En la peluqueria/casa de nuestra madre postiza.

2007-11-01T10:17:00.001-07:00

I had pollution-eye. It was worse than in this picture. As it's name implies, p-e is caused by Lima's wooly pollution. It's curable with eye-steroids.

2007-09-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

2007-09-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

2007-07-24T12:57:00.001-07:00

A musty, claustrophobic archaeological exploration.

2007-07-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

Talavera ceramics are originally from Puebla, Mexico, which is where I'm located. This is a slightly over-exposed example of some, as used in the facade of a cathedral.

2007-07-24T12:31:00.001-07:00

Parade down the pyramid

2007-07-15T06:12:00.001-07:00

2007-07-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Puebla, Mexico

2007-07-14T17:58:00.001-07:00

2007-07-14T17:52:00.001-07:00

At The Great Pyramid of Cholula, the largest monument in the world.

2007-07-08T22:39:00.001-07:00

Aztec dead

2007-07-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Rain and fertility ritual

2007-07-08T22:20:00.001-07:00

Teotihuacán

2007-07-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

Mexico, D.F., largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere.

2007-07-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

2007-07-08T22:00:00.001-07:00

Terri (ble), luz de mi vida, fuego de mis entrañas.

2007-07-08T20:47:00.001-07:00

Guatemala's name comes from the Nahuatl Cuauhtēmallān, which means "place of many trees" (thank you, Wikipedia). Though I've seen a lot of trees there, I've seen even more volcanoes. By mass, anyway.

2006-12-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

2006-12-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Balinese rice field.

2006-12-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

Indonesian motorbiking.

2006-12-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

Petronas Towers

2006-11-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

Brangelina has been in Pune shooting a movie for the past few months. The former half came and volunteered for two days. He's hot; I had to snap a shot.

2006-11-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

2006-11-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

Many accomodations were required for the volunteers, including: wash basins and security guards.

2006-11-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

The worksite on the last day of the blitz build. Still mad about Indonesia the Dutch tried to declare the site a territory of the Netherlands. Jimmy wouldn't stand for it, and killed them all with one swipe of his fiery sword.

2006-11-03T07:25:00.000-08:00

The worksite before the blitz build.

2006-11-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

Ankoush wearing a visor bearing the name of the event that brought me to India.

2006-10-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

2006-10-25T00:23:00.000-07:00

2006-10-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

A sad-eyed elephant and myself.

2006-10-02T09:10:00.001-07:00

Betelnut is a mild drug chewed (often mixed with tobacco) by Indians. It is immensely popular, which is clear from the red spit-stains that cover public streets. Betelnuts grow on trees such as this.

2006-10-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Mehndi:
On my hand. Despite common belief, mendhi is not just for women being wed. A certain, small population of men have it done too. At the bottom of my hand is written my first name in Marathi/Hindi script.

2006-10-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Goan beach:I asked the front feller if he was watching the swell. "Cowabunga," he replied.

Har.

2006-09-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

In Indian culture close friends are often addressed familially, as in the South of the US. Your parents' friends are "aunt" and "uncle", and your friends are "brother" and "sister". Shortly after this picture I was told by this girl's father, a non-English speaker, "no uncle".

2006-09-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

The dancing continues in a temple, now with children.

2006-09-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

2006-09-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

Parlad, my mason friend, on the Lonavla-Pune local as we meet the Pune-Lonavla local.

2006-09-04T05:15:00.000-07:00

2006-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

2006-08-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

Dance party/lesson.

2006-08-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

Me, being awesome, with a tikka on my head.

2006-08-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

Whitey's car home, filled at Indian capacity.

Chai

2006-08-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

Chai at least 4 times every day. The construction office has a teaboy, Yogesh, whose job is to bring tea when you shout his name.

2006-08-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

The oldest, sweetest, most timid mason in the whole world.

2006-08-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

2006-08-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Some of the women who will be receiving the homes we're building doing their sweat equity. Or rain equity.

2006-08-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

2006-08-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

Bubbles for sale.

2006-08-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Rickshaw ride in Pune

2006-08-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

O! German bakery, purveyor of apple strudel and mushroom and cheese omelet. And neither with cumin ginger garlic corriander onions turmeric saffron. Delight to my curryweary Western mouth. And brewed black coffee, neigh Nescafe. Love.

2006-08-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, scooty, my primary means of personal transportation. How I love riding you.

2006-07-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

The house in which I live. It's certainly constructed quirkily (unreachable cabinets, spotty water service, etc.), but is luxurious in many ways too (21 ft ceiling, marble floors and stairs, 2 balconies etc.) The house is owned by the son of a local contractor, and was built of scrap from various construction projects through the years. All recycled. I didn't know 5x5 pieces of marble were ever scrap.

2006-07-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

Coworkers and I with some of the masons with whom we work. Hanging out with the masons is my favorite part of the job.

From Khushwant Singh's Joke Book 1:

Question: What is the difference between members of teh Dal Khalsa and members of the Hindu Suraksha Sangathan?

Answer: One have Khalistan in their heads, the other have Khali sthaan in theirs.

2006-07-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

This is the caretakers' house for the house in which I live. Apparently the family living there is squatting with the knowledge of our landlord. I was told they are being forced to leave, I'm afraid for the sake of us foreigners living in the main house. I asked those in charge not to eject the family, and was told it wasn't for our sake that this was being done, though I don't believe it. I feel terrible. Such are the curses of being the one to please.

2006-07-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

A brightly colored Hindu temple is never far away. They range from a couple of feet tall (the sort which I naively/foolishly/insensitively/unsarcastically asked if were for dogs) to solidly covering acres. The Hindus I've come to know so far are mostly very devout. They visit the temple every morning for prayer, as evidenced by the powdery red or yellow smudge on their foreheads.

This temple is surrounded by ricefields. Rice, too, is always close at hand. It is now some sort of replanting season, so I regularly see people carrying bundles of partially developed riceplants on their heads.

2006-07-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Cows really are sacred here. They're not as prevalent as water buffalo, though, from which most of the milk consumed comes (in little plastic bags). The cows are definately more prestigious, and are allowed to do as they please. The other day I saw a couple of cows walking down the (very busy) main street of town. They entered a store and one went behind the counter, unhindered by the shopkeeper who stood two feet away. The other urinated gallons all over the place. Noone in the store payed this any mind at all.

Night driving is particularly dangerous, with semis, cars, motorcycles, scooters, bikes, rickshaws, pedestrians, et al. doing as they please, passing four-wide, with or without lights on. When lights are on, they're always on highbeams. The possibility of cattle (among other things) being around any corner doesn't help make things any safer.

2006-07-26T05:03:00.000-07:00

Along with the mold and algae, insect life accompanies the Monsoon waters. The head of cauliflower I bought at market turned out not to be an edible vegetable but a multigenerational weevil/slug biopod. The lizards that live on our ceiling take care of many of our inhome pests, though not all. Garbage disposal is not as regular/existant as I'm used to. We put our trash on the front porch the other day, and the next afternoon found ants feasting on the flies that had feasted on our garbage that morning. This picture is the wall (not the floor) of our front porch, ants passing passing a fly groundward. I think they tried to pose as a flower for the picture,

2006-07-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

The most immediately apparent different between where I am in India and where I was in the States is that here we have Monsoon. I've never seen rain like this. There's water everywhere, everyday. And also the things that come with nonstop moisture, most notably fungi. I picked up my cowboy hat for the first time in a week today and it was full of spider-webby mold. The walls in our house are black with a fungus. Fresh vegetables rot withing minutes of returning from the market.

This picture was taken at some stinky old 2500 year old caves. The caves, of which you get only a suggestion from this image, were carved into the side of a mountain by Buddhist monks seeking refuge from... Monsoon waters.