Karavan stop #2 -- Kolkata

We met a little girl in the streets and became friends. She took us to her home in the slums where her father was in traction (created by loving hands at home) and recovering from an auto accident.
One of the funniest things that we experienced were the nightly (hard) rock concerts down the road from our stadium hotel. Kata, Jeetin (artist from Bangalore) and I got invited in to the VIP area (to prevent me from dancing with the crowds outside)

Believe it or not, our "hotel" was housed beneath this crumbling stadium
in Kolkata. There were cockroaches 2" long and rats that regularly scurried through the halls, but we had private rooms with air conditioning and hot water! Home sweet home!Rules of dining area (see photo of dining area below)

The dining room... by the end of our week in the stadium, the environmentally conscious artists from Orissa had cleaned the room, painted the walls with lively designs and installed a sculpture that hung from the ceiling.

February 16, 2010 --Kolkatta

The train journey from Shantiniken to Kolkatta was 3 1/2 hours long and was highlighted by a dance through the train cars by Kata... the local passengers looked at us (her dancing, me filming) with surprise and smiles. It got more raucous when she did a dance over and around the seats filled with Art Karavan artists... good fun.

Our new quarters for the week are under a HUGE STADIUM in the Salt Lake section of Kolkatta... like the catacombs...numerous rooms and dormitories tucked along the circular hallway surrounding the stadium. However, our rooms are AIR CONDITIONED and relatively clean with western toilets and hot water! Can’t beat that! (Although some of the rooms host swarms of mosquitos and some huge cockroaches and there are a few rats scuttling down the hallways).

My room’s terrific because I’m by myself and can snore in solitude without worrying about disturbing any roommates. Kata has a room on the exterior of the building, however, and the mosquitos can’t be kept out. (So I am now sitting in her “new” interior room while the resident repairman hacks up the doorjamb trying to fix the slide bolt so she can lock her door. Of course this comes after the two electricians who were in to install lights in the bathroom....and they are working on getting us some mosquito nets... ahhhh! all in a day’s work!)

Last night after we arrived we took a walk with our Bangalore artist friend Jeetin. At the end of our road was not only a wedding in full swing, but also a techno-rock concert! It was tough to decide which one to crash, but we opted for the concert. However, it was for college students only and they wouldn’t let us in (hard to believe... TWO white females!! and they won’t let us in!?!?)

So we stood outside the gate and I began to dance... soon I was dancing with 20 or so college boys (Kata was hiding behind Jeet)... and before we knew it, one of the Security Guards came over and asked if we’d like to go into the concert (yes, we would, thank you!) He led us around to the VIP area right in front of the stage. The music was BLASTING! and I enjoyed it thoroughly... dancing and taking photos. The band’s name is “Fossil” and is “the BEST techno-rock band in Kolkata,” we were told... It seems that there will be another concert tomorrow night week and we, of course (now that we have established our reputation) are invited to it along with as many of our friends as we desire.

Time has slipped away from me today.... it’s already 3 pm and I’ve done very little. (Kata went out for a walk and some random man on the street exposed himself to her)... The repairman is finished, so I think I’ll head out into the streets myself...

Art Karavan begins!

Art Karavan International 2010 kicked-off in Shantiniketan, India. Approximately 20 artists from India and around the world gathered together to travel and make art. Inder Salim, who conceived and organized the event, opens the show.
Loom in the texile department at Shantiniketan's school of art

Yarnbombed mom and baby in Pearson Village... it was amazing how a piece of yarn bound friendships

Art Karavan spent a day in Pearson Village painting, singing, dancing, talking, and laughing

My bracelet project was born in Shantiniketan where I yarnbombed the kids by makingthem bracelets

Beatrice Didier of Belgium and Kata Lengelyn of Hungary dance with and for the villagers

Namaste! Thank you for your friendship!

What started as a spur-of-the-moment gesture ended as a way to get to know many of the villagers at Pearson Village

Kata Lengyel of Hungary dancing in Pearson Village, a tribal community near Shantiniketan

A typical hut in Pearson Village near Shantiniketan... the houses were very neat and clean and many were painted with artistic designs

A group of my new friends showing off their bracelets. These girls sang and danced for us and were great fun.

Kata dancing through the train and passengers during train from Shantiniketan to Kolkata

Kata painting wall of home in Pearson Village. One of the Art Karavan artists is spreading artwork through the villages by engaging them in creative projects. During our day in the village, many of the artists worked alongside the villagers to paint the walls of several buildings. Many of the drawings were created by the children and artists in the village.

Chapati maker Shantiniketan. The town was quite small and easy to get around, so we enjoyed wandering to the local restaurants for chai and dinner.

View from train window on way to Shantiniketan where Art Karavan 2010 kicked-off

Adorable performers on train ... wanted money but we gave them a few songs instead!

Yarn bombed our bicycle rickshaw on way to Pearson Village, a tribal community near Shantiniketan

The rickshaw driver seemed to like his yarnbombed rickshaw

Into India

Out of my hotel window at the Paramount Hotel
Me waiting at the train station...from Nepal to India

Kata and I stayed at the Paramount Hotel (a quite elegant hotel on a garbage strewn alleyway) in Calcutta -- which is known as Kolkata in India.
Our trip to New Market -- the shopping "mall" near our hotel -- was exhausting but interesting. To improve the ambience of the mall, the developers included a slaughterhouse and meat market attached to it. When you reached the shops adjacent to the meat market it was nearly impossible to breathe much less shop.

Women in Bondage at New Market, Kolkata, India.

Recycling Center in Kolkata

Had only read about pull rickshaws until Kolkata

Be Indian, Buy Indian

Beggar kids in Kolkata ...they are a fun bunch and we ended up joking around with them every time we were in New Market.

Adorable begger lady... later on I gave her a bracelet and she giggled at me whenever she saw me

Post -- Into India -- Feb 11, 2010 Exploring Transportation

I left Bhairahawa by bicycle rickshaw on February 8th and have been exploring Indian modes of transportation for the past three days. They still have people pulled rickshaws in Kolkata!! Have never seen them before... lots of them pulled around by muscular wirey little Indian guys.... must have muscles of steel!!

A quick review:

Day One

Bicycle rickshaw from Bhairahawa to Sunali (border of India ) 1 hr
Bus from Sunali to Gorakpur train station 2-3 hrs
Sitting in train station as featured attraction (only white person) 3 hrs
Overnight train from Gorakpur to Delhi 17 hrs

Highlights and Lowlights:

Loved the rickshaw ride... felt like a queen on my mobile throne because along my entire route people stopped whatever they were doing to stare and wave and yell “Hello!” or “Namaste!” I spent the hour smiling and waving and greeting them back.

Found out at the border town that Nepal can no longer be “Visa extension central” for tourists in India. Until recently could exit India when your Visa expired, run up to Nepal and get a new one, and return to India the same day. Now, if you exit India you have to stay out two months before returning. This is causing a GREAT STIR amongst travelers who have actually been living in India (some for years!) and getting their Visas extended as needed... they have houses and businesses in India... and now it seems they are going to have to stay away for two months each time their Visas expire.... saga to be continued.

Gorakpur train station is not the best place to hang out for three hours (especially when moving around requires lugging my backpack, etc. around). No place to sit for first hour so squatted on metal support for sign. The place was teeming with (very colorful and diverse!) humanity (as well as dogs and one cow that lazily wandered through the gate munching on garbage). I was marveling at the craziness of the place when I heard a voice calling “Hello! Hello! Remember me??” Sitting a short distance from me was a girl with her mother and grandmother. The girl looked slightly familiar (MOST people look slightly familiar... I’ve met soooo many!) She proceeds to tell me that she knows me from when I visited Pokura last year for my Himalayan trek... “in Lakeside, remember??” To make things even stranger, she tells me her husband is a French paraglider teacher... I asked if she knows Daphne (Irish volunteer that loves to paraglide)... she tells me she and her small daughter are close friends with Daphne and, in fact, Daphne had told me about this woman and her daughter!! Small world......

Pahar Ganj is always an experience but after a heavy rain it is incredible.... located close to the train station Pahar Ganj attracts lots of travelers to its narrow, winding streets (on which you can buy most anything from souvenirs to necessities to illegal substances). After a rain (and helped along by the road construction they are currently doing) the streets become muddy, slippery swamps. I checked into the Metropolis Hotel (verrrrrry upscale for my usual lodging as I’m meeting Kata, a first-timer in India from Hungary) and immediately headed for FOOD (I was famished! Had eaten very little in last 24 hours). Walk into the restaurant and order only to have the waiter say, “I remember you from last time you are here!” (TWO YEARS AGO! Incredible! Although I DID remember him because he was such a sweet and adorable waiter).

Since Kata hadn’t seen India at all yet (she arrived at 3 am or so), we spent the day wandering the muddy streets, shopping in and small shops, haggling and joking around with the shopkeepers and having an absolutely delightful time! (India hint number one: KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR and when in doubt, LAUGH!)

And then, small world event #3, I hear “Hello, Carol! Remember me from Kashmir??” I turn to find one of our stoner shukura (gondolin) drivers from Lake Dal ... the one I called “Baseball Cap” who sold snacks out of his boat. Turns out he now has a small shop in Parj Gangh (which he showed us)... invited us to come back later to relax but time slipped away and we didn’t make it back. Next time.

Day Two:

Taxi ride to airport at 7 am (before even the chai shops open) 1 hour
Wait in airport (NEW domestic airport... impressive!!!) 1 hour or so
Indigo Air flight to Kolkata (what we call Calcutta) 2 hours
Taxi ride to hotel 2 hours
Walk to “New Market” area for food and shopping Minutes

Highlights and Lowlights:

Taxi ride .... The taxi ride was definitely the lowlight of the day (although “New Market” and the “meat market” were definite runners-up!”) “Fixed Fare” cabs cost 370 rupees... so we had some guy offer us a “deal” of two for 300 rs.... except when we got to our bargain cab, there were two other passengers already in the cab (who had EACH paid 350 rs each... so I guess we did the best bargaining of the lot!) The guy explained that they were paying more because their hotels were further away and assured us it was “natural” to load four of us in the cab (yeah, normal for HIM who’s making 1000 rs on a 370 rs ride!).

Long story, short. The cabbie dropped the first guy off after about an hour at his hotel. Then he proceeded to stop at numerous other hotels trying to find a place for the second guy (at a hotel, of course, that would give the cabbie a kickback... “just 5 minutes, just 5 minutes!”) This went on for more than 30 minutes until Kata finally told the guy just to stay at the same hotel we’re staying at for 400 rs a night (Hotel Paramount, 33/4 Free School St, Kolkata 2229-0066... REALLY basic --bucket bath, no hot water, fairly frayed around the edges, but with TV! quite a few others nearby with hot water etc for 700 rs or so) Our cab mate agreed and we ended our taxi journey after two hours on the road. And then, of course, the cabbie insisted that I give him “a tip to feed his child”.... no... didn’t happen.

New Market ....Again, we were STARVING by the time we got there, so headed out to a local restaurant recommended by our hotel guy... it was delicious... and on to New Market -- a fairly new looking huge 3-story building jam-packed full of stalls with vendors hawking wares of every shape or form. Now, in some circumstances one might consider this bliss; but when you’re the only two white people there (and seem to have $$ signs flashing on your foreheads!) it’s a nightmare.

We had somehow picked up a “personal shopper” at the mall’s entrance who so kindly showed us to all the shops that gave HIM kickbacks (who evaporated into thin air after Kata tried on numerous shirts at one of his favorite booths but didn’t buy anything -- because the prices were exorbitant!!) We were also shadowed by a mother and baby beggar team asking for milk money, a deaf kid that seemed happy to show us around everywhere and wasn’t too push because he couldn’t talk (and didn’t seem to know sign language), and a young girl selling hairbands (not sure WHAT her gig was). Walking through the mall was like walking down a narrow alley at a county fair on crack with both sides being manned by hyped-up carneys desperate for their next score. Funny for awhile; nerve-wracking thereafter (and keep in mind, this is only Kata’s second day EVER in India.... freak-out time!)

The mall was divided in two... one side retail goods, the other a meat market/slaughterhouse. The meat market was pretty much done for the day, but I wandered in to take some bloody photos (meat markets being among my personal favorites for photos) and did so until my battery went out. By which time we were both exhausted and wanted to go to our hotel, but we had to: first, find the WAY out (dragging our mother and child, deaf kid, and hairband girl with us)... second, get past the carneys on crack trying to sell us “best quality pashminas of every color,” “top quality silver and gems,” and other indispensables (such as flutes, woven shopping bags, egg white whippers, etc, etc)... We managed eventually and headed to the nearest beer shop.

Beer Shop.... Buying alcohol in India is very odd in some places. Sometime you simply walk into a store and buy your beer or whatever. Other times, however, you must go to the “lock up” wine shop. These stores have a small entry area that is barred off like a PRISON from the sales area where the alcohol resides. There is a small hole through which you order and pass your rupees and, moments later, receive your change and bottles wrapped in newspaper. The country is teeming with closet drinkers who slink into the lock-up shops to make their furtive high-proof purchases.

We, of course, had the lock-up guys laughing and loving us by the time we purchased our vodka (first trip to window) and beer (second trip to the window within two minutes... we told them we had already finished the vodka and now needed beer...)

Hotel Home Returned to our hovel hotel, drank our beer, met artist Ondi from New York, and went to bed (I watched a National Geographic special about the horrible diseases of India... not a good idea! and a BBC special about a girl that got thrown in an Indian prison for smuggling drugs... another not-so-good viewing choice!)


Day Three

Taxi ride to train station 30 minutes
Wait at train station 2 hours
Train ride from Kolkatta to Shantiniketan (Shawn-teeny-kitten) 2 1/2 hours
Bicycle rickshaw ride train station to school campus 15 minutes
Bicycle rickshaw ride campus to well hidden Chinese (heavily-
influenced by Indian) restaurant 15 minutes
Long lunch of chowmein and noodle soup and Manchurian something 2 hours
Bicycle rickshaw ride back to our room (in “visiting faculty” room --
sleeps three.... my poor friends will have to put up with my
snoring.... but all have to contend with the voracious mosquitos) 15 minutes

Highlights and Lowlights

Lodgings Kata, Ondi and I are in the special triple room (as compared with the dormitory)... three beds with hole-y mosquito nets (and these mosquitos mean business!.... my legs are already bitten and itchy!!) Squat toilet, can carry hot buckets up from downstairs, no towels, no toilet paper (and we forgot to buy some... so depending on small packs of Kleenex from home)

Town Walked into town... met an amazing man that makes musical instruments... tiny single-stringed banjos from coconuts, drums, and guitars. He performed while we watched and shot video and photos and danced a bit... until the crowd of locals got too large to be comfortable any longer.... moved on to.... chapati man!

Chapati man ran a small restaurant and sat and made chapati after chapati after chapati while an ancient man made chai for the customers and another man served the food. The chapatis were delicious and the potato-y food they served to eat with it scrumptious! Lovely time making friends and shooting photos.... and then on to.... boob man!

We got some cough medicine, mosquito coils and I found the coolest batik hankerchiefs... while I was there, Kata looked at some shirts at the stall across the road...and while the young shopkeeper was showing her the shirts, he grabbed her boob! Now, what was he thinking!?!? She probably would have bought the shirt... instead he got a good slap and lost a customer! Sexual repression is a serious problem here if people are sacrificing their livelihood to squeeze a stranger’s boob! Freaked Kata out, of course... (although I had warned her that some of the young girls had had guys grope them with some regularity) ... never a good thing to be accosted by strangers!

Returned “home” to find a few artists had arrived (including Marisa, a lovely fun lady from Argentina/London, that I know from Bodh Gaya and her daughter).... will catch up with their details tomorrow.

Till then.... gotta go escape the mosquitos as best I can... I’m currently sitting out in the hallway using my computer while it’s charging, my FLIP video charging via my computer, and my camera battery charging. Thought my phone was broken but took the battery out and put back in to resuscitate it.... thought my FLIP was broken but the NEW batteries I bought are defective.... thought my camera batteries were ruined but I think the electric current in Kolkata was weak... I’m turning into a regular techno-whiz here!!

Make your reservations now at the Mosaic Garden!

The (proposed) Mosaic Garden contains three main features -- The Wedding Arch (where newlyweds can sit on a bench and get their photos taken), the Photo Steps and Benches (where the hoards of family members can line up on steps and get their photos taken), and the Performance Stage (where all the gala wedding rituals and dances take place). The three areas can be adapted to similar but alternate uses when, instead of a wedding, the Gardens are hosting receptions, meetings or workshops. The three areas are connected by 81 24” diameter mosaic stepping stones (of our workshop’s original design, of course) and the feature walls in all of the 3 main areas will also feature mosaics.

It’s a LOVELY concept, but when you actually see our back yard (above is existing backyard where Performance Stage will be constructed) and have experienced how long EVERYTHING takes to implement in Nepal, you’d probably say this “Mosaic Garden” will be completed........well.... never.

Still, it’s worth a dream!

Plan of Presentation Stage -- perfect platform for weddings, receptions and workshops (as well as a great place to dance and sing!)

Wedding Arch site (with foundation dug and filled with rock and sand and bamboo pole indicating approximate height of wedding arch. We are on a ROLL already!!!! UK Volunteer Hazel Fullerton is the designer of the arch.

Wedding Arch plans... makes you want to tie the knot just so you can sit under the arch!!

Photo Steps and Benches site (with house I live in -- orange and yellow one -- in the background. (LARGE tarp draped over lower story was erected after vet said our 3 dogs needed a warmer place to sleep!)

Photo Steps and Benches.... THIS is the favorite of all the artists.... “Very beautiful, M’am! Very beautiful!”

And these lovely drawings were drawn in my high tech office behind the mosaic workshop, next to the (rather pitiful) vegetable garden in the midst of the future, “verrrry, verrry beautiful” Mosaic Garden of Bhairahawa, Nepal!

Last year in Bhairahawa, Nepal, I taught art, English and iris folding (greeting card making). This year, I drew blueprints of the property (who says volunteers aren’t multi-talented!!) and the proposed “mosaic garden” in the back yard that will (we hope and theorize) be an ideal place to hold weddings, receptions, meetings, and workshops. Last year’s tasks were a PIECE OF CAKE compared to drawing these plans.

I almost gave up and simply called it quits quite a few times because:

1. I had to measure the property, buildings, gardens, etc. using a 10’ seamstress’s tape (because our one big tape was being used for mosaic installations...after a hundred of so feet at 10’ increments, concentration and accuracy just drift away into the B’wa dusk)
2. I eventually succeeded in getting a t-square and a couple angles, some large tracing paper, and masking tape. What I DIDN’T get was an architect’s scale (that allows you to convert feet into inches... thus I ended up doing A LOT of tedious math by PENCIL -- no calculators here!)
3. And most challenging (beyond the impossibility of getting an eraser that actually ERASES without leaving horrible gray smudges behind) was to complete the drawings before they became absolutely filthy, ripped, wrinkled, or dumped upon!

After measuring the property with the help of fellow volunteer Daphne, I took my (incredibly intricately dimensioned) sketch to my “drawing board” (an old cupboard door, I think, complete with one remaining hinge)

Sketch resulting from our initial measuring

Within MOMENTS of taping a beautiful clean sheet of white drawing paper to the board (with brown packaging tape), one of the mosaic artists decided to oil his cutting pliers ON MY BOARD, leaving a big blotch of oil in the center of the paper and ruining one of my precious pieces of paper.

(I drew a skull and crossbones on that sheet and it remained as the sheet covering the board each and every time I left the table from then on... it worked!)

Next I discovered that our two parcels are not square; the ends are the same measurement but the sides are not. There is NO WAY for me to determine what angle goes on each end (without a surveyor and THAT ain’t happenin’! I can’t even get a scale!) After puzzling over it for awhile, I took a deep breath and sketched the angles as close as I could determine by looking over the edges of the roofs.

The rest of the drawing documenting existing structures and conditions went fairly fast; I was feeling good... until I went to transfer the drawing to tracing paper and found that someone had squashed my roll of tracing paper and it had several creases running through its length. (Arghhh! If I hate nothing else, I hate wrinkles... especially in paper -- although clothing is a close second... just ask my kids... I HATE WRINKLES and here I was stuck with nothing to use EXCEPT wrinkled paper.!)

I think the arrival of masking tape saved the day; at least I wouldn’t have to tape my wrinkled paper down using packaging tape (that rips the face off most papers). I counted my blessings as I taped my creased paper onto my board.

The result (although smudged by the erasers that don’t erase and the t-square sliding over the pencil marks from pencils that contain graphite on steroids, leaving the entire sheet a dirty gray) was amazingly good.

Existing Property

By now I was on a roll -- the skull and crossbones scared everyone away from my drafting board.... I’d resigned myself to the tools I had.... and I was learning to be one with wrinkles (personal growth at its best).

So over the next week, I created plans for:

THE MOSAIC GARDEN -- PHOTO #1 ABOVE

It’s a LOVELY concept, but when you actually see our back yard and have experienced how long EVERYTHING takes to implement in Nepal, you’d probably say this “Mosaic Garden” will be completed........ never.

Still, it’s worth a dream!

The Mosaic Garden contains three main features -- The Wedding Arch (where newlyweds can sit on a bench and get their photos taken), the Photo Steps and Benches (where the hoards of family members can line up on steps and get their photos taken), and the Performance Stage (where all the gala wedding rituals and dances take place). The three areas can be adapted to similar but alternate uses when, instead of a wedding, the Gardens are hosting receptions, meetings or workshops. The three areas are connected by 81 24” diameter mosaic stepping stones (of our workshop’s original design, of course) and the feature walls in all of the 3 main areas will also feature mosaics.

SEE THE BEFORE PHOTOS & PLANS ABOVE

And the lovely drawings were drawn in my high tech office (see photo above) behind the mosaic workshop, next to the (rather pitiful) vegetable garden in the midst of the future, “verrrry, verrry beautiful” Mosaic Garden of Bhairahawa, Nepal!

So the plans are finished (in the nick of time! I leave for India on Monday!) and ready to be shipped up to Kathmandu for Phillip (head of the charity) to look over, admire and (I hope!) implement. I’m sure there are many opportunities for supporters to sponsor a stepping stone, wedding arch, stage, photo steps, or one of the numerous mosaics that will grace the garden.... so if interested, give me a holler and I’ll direct you to the appropriate person!

And even better.... any weddings or meetings or workshops in your future?!?! Better get your venue scheduled now!!! Bhairahawa’s Mosaic Garden is the up-and-coming place to have it!!!

Multitasking in the Shower (fun, fun!!)

Washing laundry in Nepal is as easy as a morning bucket bath!

1. Heat up a couple pans of water on the propane stove (probably in the dark because mornings aren't very popular with electricity)

2. Dump boiling water in the bucket and lug it upstairs to the "bathroom" (no bath, of course, and rarely an operable shower, or if the shower is operable it features only icy water)

3. Gather together all your shower necessities -- soap, towel, scrub brush, shampoo, cream rinse, etc, etc -- as well as your dirty laundry and some laundry detergent.

4. Put your laundry in the wash basin (about 3' in diameter with the laundry soap)

5. Add enough cold water to your bucket to make it the PERFECT shower temperature.

6. Stand in the wash basin and dump water over your head and body with some smaller implement (a pan, a plastic container, etc)... lather up and rinse, letting all the sudsy water run off your body into the wash basin

7. When there is enough water in the wash basin, start up the washing machine by marching in the wash basin while you finish up washing and rinsing yourself. Agitate the water with your marching feet until the water is the color of mud

8. Exit the wash basin, grab your towel and dry off, and then scrub the "particular nasty parts" of your laundry with your little scrub brush.

9. Dump water into the toilet, "cleaning the toilet" to its sparkling best with the muddy water.

10. Rinse clothes repeatedly in icy water until the water stays relatively clear and free of soap (usually 2-3 times or until your desire from really clean clothes and/or patience runs thin). Alternate dumping the rinse water on the floor (after which you squeegee the floor nice and clean) or in the toilet (always can use another cleansing)

11. Squeeze as much water out of the clothes as possible, run them up to the clothesline on the rooftop and hang them on the provided rope line (avoid the wire line.... it leaves rusty lines on your clothes)

12. Wait for 1/2 a day (in sunny times) or up to a week (in foggy times) for your clothes to dry.

13. Repeat process every day (unless the water goes out for 3 days.... that makes it more difficult because you have to lug your rinse water from the pump next door... easier just to stay a bit dirtier than usual)

I'll take photos of the process and add to this blog as soon as I take another "shower"!

Installing a big mosaic on HIGH!

Not a bad placee to install a LARGE mosaic... just stand on the railing and table and all is good! Tule, Sunita, Man and Prakash have everything under control!

Well, I guess it requires a bit more balancing than we had anticipated. Thank goodness, Bunnu is supervising!

Forgot to mention, this is all happening about 30 feet above the concrete below...

Volunteer Hazel and I selected the (only suitable without being suicidal to the installers, we thought) site to hang the workshop's latest and greatest mosaic -- on the balcony wall of the workshop. The process SEEMED simple enough:

1. Layout where the piece is going to go and square it up (using a broken level and homemade plumb bob -- clippers tied to end of string)

2. Roughen the surface where the piece is going to be installed and smear entire area with cement (obscuring all the markings that were there to make sure the piece is hung plumb and square)

3. Carry the LARGE (3'6" x 4'6" or so) and HEAVY (this is cut up floor tile adhered to mesh) mosaic up the stairs, onto the balcony.

4. While balancing on the balcony railing, HEAVE the (floppy) mosaic up and smash it into the concrete (while trying to position it plumb and level without any marks....Frantic installers, "Carol, sister! Is this Ok???!!".... "How can I see anything, you're all standing in front of it!!"... All together, nearing panic, teetering on railing's edge, "Hurry, sister! Is this OK!???!?!?" .... Me, shoving a piece of plywood up to them along with a brick, "Oh, my God! Be careful! I'm sure it's perfect" )

5. While still balancing on the railing and tables, the installers heave a piece of plywood over the mosaic and start pounding on it with a large brick to adhere it (I have it on video!... just can't get the blog to upload it!)

6. Once it's stuck, installers pray to the powers that be that it won't fall down before it dries enough to be grouted. (Volunteers thank the powers that be that all have survived the installation)

And so we have another OSHA approved job completed in Nepal....

Yarn Bombing in Nepal!

Finally did some yarn bombing (guerrilla installation of pieces of crochet) here in Nepal...hilarious!

Bicycle Rickshaw Bombing.... When the rickshaw driver walked up and saw me "bombing" his rickshaw, he stood there as if it was like any other normal event of the day... when I finished, he stood back, looked it over, approved it and then rode away on his bicycle rickshaw... As he pedaled away the yarn blended into the colorful surroundings as if it was just another patch of the Nepali fabric of (very colorful) life... And then another bicycle rickshaw pulled up and gestured me to do his rickshaw, too! Gotta love it!!