Age of Steam and Turmoil

Penn's alumnae magazine (which like my current employer, is named The Gazette,) is finally out. The latest  issue is for November and December. I wrote the "Elsewhere" essay, which you can read here. It's a modified version of a story I first wrote for this blog while I was in-country. That story was originally called Sapucai and the Bones of the Trains.

I have since found a couple of stories online published two weeks ago (after my piece had already been turned in) which suggest that the trains might be starting back up again!

I really wish I could be on the ground down there right now to see them actually plying the rails...

Potrero/Pirayuvu update

It's amazing how time flies. It's been six months since I left Paraguay and Amy Heimberger, my follow-up, arrived in Potrero Pucu ready to save the day. She's been doing a fantastic job, working in a couple of communities closer to Caballero and taking on completely different projects than the ones I tackled.
 I got to speak to her yesterday a little bit and found out she just updated her blog. It's the "What I've Learned" post, and it is much more comprehensive than mine was.

My favorite, and a potential motto for Peace Corps:

"That I’m always busy doing something that never gets done" To which I can only say, "Amen."

Fun reading, take a look: http://aheimberger.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-ive-learned-part-1.html

Another one

As you know, I've been posting the pieces I've written in other publications here as well. A new story/piece of mine just got published in the Washington Post. You can read it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/in-hampi-india-the-remains-of-a-great-but-forgotten-empire/2012/09/13/1ca0c3fe-f3b8-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_story.html

Followers of the blog will recognize the pics.

FYI, I have a few more pieces coming out - in my alumnae magazine, and a few other places. After that, I'll be writing a few more essays for this blog, and then turning it into a more general blog about Paraguay.

Stay tuned!

My India travel article is out

http://www.philly.com/philly/travel/20120826_Schooled_by_India_s_surf.html?page=1&c=y

Enjoy!!

Because you don't have enough work to do anyways -

I wrote a post about my Peace Corps service and slog through Nepal and India for my favorite blog, Phawker.com. If you would like some fast, light reading, check it out: http://www.phawker.com/2012/08/22/always-drink-the-water-the-ten-most-valuable-lessons-i-learned-bumming-around-south-america-central-asia/

Hey Gang.

I'm traveling through different parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Right now I'm Washington DC. Sorry I've been quiet for a while, I will post something about returning to the US in a few days. In the meantime, Amy has a new blogpost out: http://aheimberger.blogspot.com/ so you can all see what's happening in my old site.

For those who haven't been up on the events in Paraguay, its president Fernando Lugo was ousted in a parliamentary coup.

Here's an article about his take on what happened: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/paraguay-archives-44/3766-post-coup-paraguay-an-interview-with-fernando-lugo

UNASUR (the Union of South American States) and MercoSur (South America's trade bloc) both suspended Paraguay for a year. You can read a little about their reaction here: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/08/16/Paraguay-plays-down-suspension-by-Unasur/UPI-25501345113933/

In the meantime, Lugo's successor, a man named Federico Franco, is apparently working out as the new president, albeit with weekly protests (which is kind of encouraging, given that Stroessner would probably just turned on some polka and fired up the chainsaws). Read about that here: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21154738/paraguays-new-president-proving-effective

Thanks, Nepal!

Last week, after two and a half years, I finally returned home to the land of freedom. I'll probably write a longer essay in a few days as culture shock sets in, but I just thought I'd post a public thank you note to Team Nepal, that is, Yashas and his wife Dhriti, and his wonderful parents and grandparents who opened their homes to me and taught me so much about Nepal (and India too).

Dhriti, learning how to cook like a Newar

Go to Nepal, eat Newari food.

Team Nepal. And yours truly, the goofball gringo in the background.

Mo' momos please!

If there's a national food of Nepal, it's dal bhat, the rice and lentil combination people eat here for lunch everyday. And then there are momos, the small meat and vegetable filled dumplings that I've been wolfing down ever since I got here. They're little flavor-packed bites that go down so easily that you don't realize what's happened until the plate of two dozen you just ordered is suddenly, tragically, empty.


I spent a few minutes learning how to make them the other day with Yashas and Sheetal, his mother.

Roll out your dough

Just like Christmas cookies

Fill with a small spoonful of filling

Pinch at one end...

Fold from the front to the first fold, alternating sides

Steam and eat immediately!

Last views from Nepal

I went to Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu yesterday, the last of the seven sites in the greater Kathmandu Valley that make up its designation as a World Heritage Site. The thing, as you can see, is massive. Lots of pigeons and tourists shops, and thousands of flags. A good last site-seeing trip. One more post after this about momos (you'll see), and then the next time you hear from me, I'll be back in the land of freedom!

Take care all and thanks for reading/viewing while I've been on this trip through Asia.

Back to Delhi

It's my last day in India today! I fly to Nepal this afternoon, and then home to the states on the 22nd.

Hyderabad

I only spent a night in Hyderabad, but I got to try some authentic biryani, and wander through the city for a few hours. Here are a few snaps

Cape Comorin, Puducherry, and a couple from Visag

Bus station in Trivandrum. The Coffee House to the left held a spiraling ramp and tables inside, nothing more.

One of Cape Comorin's beaches. Facing east.

Delhi to the tip. Thousands of kilometers later, here I am!

A view of the 133ft tall statue that sits just a few hundred feet offshore.

The statue's feet

Looking southwest

Puducherry

Mass in the church of Notre Dame, in Puducherry

Feelin' blue

Visag

And back in Potrero Pucu,

My followup, Amy, has a new post up about Potrero Pucu. If you followed me back in Peace Corps, go check it out:

http://www.aheimberger.blogspot.in/

In case you didn't read my Annapurna adventure,

You can read the abbreviated version here:

http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-01/news/32495340_1_trail-steep-hike-trek

Live from Puducherry!

I've been moving pretty rapidly over the last few weeks. After Kerala, I headed further south to Kanyakumari, located at Cape Comorin, the very southern tip of India. It felt a little momentous - over the last six weeks I've descended thousands of meters and crossed thousands of kilometers to get here. I'll write something more substantial later, but enjoy the pictures for now.

Fruit seller, Munnar

Sharkmonger!

A reservoir in Munnar

The Western Ghats

Yep. 

This might have been the highlight of my trip

In a hole in the wall chai shop

Cocoa pod

Thali by the roadside

Periyar Lake

Traveling through the Keralan backwaters

Canoeing home

In Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala