Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
Post-Traumatic Stress, Take Two
I was pick-pocketed on a busy bus and discovered it only a couple of hours later, when I opened my purse. I couldn’t find my wallet despite effectively burrowing to the bottom of my bag, where everything ends up. I didn’t get that sickening pit in my stomach. I accepted that, yes, wallet number three [...]
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Tags: life, post-traumatic stress, purse, stolen, theft, wallet
Lump
This post is an important reminder for all of the wonderful women in my life.
A couple of days before leaving for Hawaii, I had my yearly physical. I never thought much of having one. I rarely get sick and I always feel really healthy. So I had time stand still when the doctor was examining [...]
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Tags: personal, life, cancer, breast cancer, cancer scare, cyst, ultrasound, mammogram, breast MRI
Duality Snippet
late-night spadina station. i hurry from the subway to the streetcar. near the column a homeless guy urinates with (ahem) abandon. everyone picks up their pace, regretting the reason.
fast-forward 12 or so hours later. it’s mid-day and the same spot. this time i’m retracing my steps to the subway. a fragile fluttering catches the corner [...]
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Tags: butterfly, life, snippet, spadina station, subway, toronto
Stupid Tourist
from my travel journal: 19 july 09
kathmandu, nepal
I felt like a stupid tourist at Pashupatinath. Zsoka had said, “Go see the burning bodies.” But it didn’t register until I was there that I was trespassing (or so it felt to me) upon families’ funerals.
As soon as we paid our admittance fee, a man who wanted [...]
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Tags: bagmati river, funeral ghats, funerals, kathmandu, nepal, pashupatinath, tourist, travel
Fifteen Minutes
from my travel journal: 19 july 09
kathmandu, nepal
All Kathandu’s traffic—foot, bicycle, auto—travelled and converged together in a water-like swirl down the main streets. The amount of hassling was high, but maybe that was requisite because the energy was also high. Walking was a challenge. But I sometimes like when things that should be easy, are [...]
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Tags: boy, kathmandu, nepal, prostitute, prostitution, street kids, swayambhunath, travel
Otter Snippet
from my travel journal: 18 july 09
driving to kathmandu
waterfalls streamed across the road, making our bus slow and letting us see how the locals were enjoying the surplus water. my glance up caught a jubilant boy on a green terrace. he was all shiny and sleek from the water being splashed on him by other [...]
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Tags: boy, kids, nepal, snippet, travel, water, waterfall
Permit
from my travel journal: 16 july 09
some tibetan road
Can’t forget our other driving adventure. We finally hit a relatively flat, paved patch of road. The bus pulled over. Our guide explained we all had to get out because the driver needed to go and get gas. Huh? Yes, we were to wait for him to [...]
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Tags: bus, highway, permit, sheep, shepherdress, tibet, travel
Yak Snippet
from my travel journal: 13 july 09
some himalayan highway
one time i looked out the bus window to see silvery, green, slim trees framing silhouettes of yak. the shimmering foliage acted like a theatre curtain that had just begun to rise and reveal the ancient-looking, hairy cast. such wonderful, effective back-lighting.
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Tags: snippet, tibet, travel, yak
Quirky
from my travel journal: 10 & 11 july 09
lhasa, tibet
I like when people jump out of stereotypes, especially when the leap reveals humour and charm. Then I’m reminded of how much I usually judge, making quick assumptions. I shouldn’t.
On my way into Jokhang Temple I was stopped dead in my tracks by a lithe monk [...]
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Tags: jokhang temple, lhasa, monks, potala palace, tibet, travel
Devotion Snippet
from my travel journal: 10 july 09
lhasa, tibet
pilgrims flung themselves into plank poses, thlapping onto their wood-shoed hands over jokhang’s sacred stones.
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Tags: jokhang temple, lhasa, pilgrims, snippet, tibet, travel
