The Shrine it Grows; My Seester, She Goes!

My sister, Pam, left today for Ghana. She's traveling with a long-time friend, Leslie. They are visiting her friend's partner who has a project in Ghana that involves rechargable batteries as a power source for villages who don't have any power. Interesting idea, don't you think? I leave for India in 11 more days and arrive the night before my 61st birthday. What a fantastic birthday - to awaken....in India and celebrate with my little sister. Ahhhhh, I've said it before and I'll say it again - LIFE IS GOOD ! Check the Travel Shrine closely and see if you can find all the new additions!

My Lil Elephant

This little elephant (painted by me ....and don't you laugh) is the newest addition to the travel shrine. Isn't he cute? We (Pam & I) are really looking forward to our elephant ride on our trip AND we hope she's a 'painted lady!'

Can you tell that I'm excited to get going? Look out India!!! Here we come!!

India Through the Eyes of Eric Meola

My Travel Shrine is growing. Last weeks additions was a fantastic book (another gift from Pam) on India with articles by many of my favorite Indian writers - Jlhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies), Nirad Chaudhuri ( My Birth Place), and Arundhari Roy (God of Small things) just to mention a few. PLUS - and this the the BIG plus - amazing photographs by the world famous - Eric Meola. I've been studing his photographs and hope to try to do some in his style while in India. Of course that is a HUGE goal....maybe it's a more realistic one to hope to get ONE photo in the style and quality of Eric Meola out of the thousands I will be taking along our journey.

Reading for India

As always, before I embark on a trip I like to read several books - some fiction, some non-fiction, that help me begin to understand the country and culture I am about to enter. Here's a couple of recent reads that I highly recommend: Ganesh, the Remover of Obstacles by Sujoya Roy and Sister of My Heart by Chitra Divkaruni. Both are fiction but give real insight into the culture of India - especially the culture of women. An enlightening book of poetry is - Words Under the Words by Naomi S. Nye. (who is actually from Palestine not India)

Now I've begun a more serious read : National Geographic's History of Religion that starts with Hinduism, the world's oldest religion. It's big, heavy (literally and figuratively) and an awesome read. Report to follow.