New Name New Direction

Our life after Nepal and Slidell is now settling into that comfortable yet anxious place where we wish to be actually doing something with ourselves instead of aimlessly wandering. After visiting with my sister in LA and stopping at various homes of friends on our north bound voyage (thank you Terras and GFR,) the chips are beginning the fall where they may. They have not shown their true colors yet but soon we will have to do something besides visit friends with warm houses, sans cats. Ironically, one week with each of your friends adding upto a year of goodtimes and no rent is a college fantasty of mine. Crazy how those intentions you put forth come back to you as this reality. Kind of makes you wonder if this physical word we think of as so hard and real is just the dreamy after effect of our immortal energies. And why then we put so much energy into changing our world thru such chanels as money, society, or moral imperatives, when we could simply energize our infinite loving self within oneness. Don't get me wrong here, I am trying to change my life through the "ways of the the world" with great determination. Living on the road in a cramped cold damp van in the winter with next to no coins in the coffer is a great motivation for a change in my world. And so as a small token of change and in the spirit of moving away from lack and saddness, Dolores will be expunged from our home's title. Gloria is the current name in charge. (Dolores, we recently found out, comes with too much history of great loss and sorrow, being a manifestaion of the Virgin de Guatalupe.) We hope Gloria will inspire us to new heights. More soon on the direction we are taking. For today we will drive north and look for snow on Mt. Shasta and then in Bend, Or. P.S. Julie has two phone interviews this week for jobs!! light and love zach

Here are some nice pictures of the wedding. The ceremony was sweet and exotic and not too long, given that it could have been several hours in length. All the colors, smells, and chants really distinguished this wedding from its American cousins, christian services. Our thanks to all the Dos family for making this such a special event. We wish James and Esther the best in their new life together. light and love zach

Southern India

Flying into southern India put us in the heat and damp of the late monsoon. We headed to Mamalapuram for our first taste of Tamal Nadu. This busy little beach town with world class rock carvings from many different dynasties, was ours to explore for 3 days.

We got hussled by a handicraft salesman as we were fresh meat. The highlight of our stay there for me was the day we rented bikes and rode to a neighboring town to hike the temple mount before sunset.

It was a long hot bike ride through flooded rice fields on uncomfortable bike seats. Julie had luckily bought herself a sun hat to shield her face from the scorching mid day sun. Unfortunately her arms were bare to the bright sunrays and were visibly burned by lunch. The Eagle Temple was perched a top a granit dome with 556 steps carved into the side. The views were great and we stayed just long enough to perform a puja with the temple priest.

After making our offerings at the shrine inside we hurried down to the streets below and began the long ride back to Mamalapuram. We were racing the setting sun, a most beautiful sky unfolding in all directions. Our asses hurt fiercely on the hard bike seats but the fear of riding the streets of India at night drove us on as fast as we could. The sun won the contest and with brillant colors, and earned its place in the top 10 best sunsets ever. In the dark we were left to the mercy of horns and headlights on an ever busy roadway. Thankfully we made it back safely and returned the bikes before heading to dinner. That was the only time I got Julie to rent bikes in India.

James and Esther's Wedding

James and Esther were married in great splendor under auspicious heavens with the ceremonies performed in traditional sandskrit. Of course they were nice enough to have the prayers and vows translated into english for everyone. The wedding event spanned 3 days with very different events held in honor of the uniting of two family and two souls. The first formal event was the mehindi ceremony, traditionally for the women only, in which we gather for singing an dancing while the henna is applied to the hands and feet of all the women.

I was also allowed to have my hands hennaed, a very fun break in tradition. The music was performed by a small group of folk musicians playing lively dance tunes. One of the troup would often perform a dance durring a song and encourage us to dance. eventually the wedding party ventured to the dance floor. The henna designs on all the ladies were absolutely stunning. Of course food was served with due time and the variety of flavor was fantastic. At the end we were all full and retired to our hotel room. The Matranga family was staying in the Senate in a huge modern hotel complex called the Diamond District. We had a seventh and top floor appartment with great space and modern comforts. White marble floors and air conditioning. Julie and I thought we were staying in a palace. light and love zach