Asia
I was fortunate in 2015 to attend mass presided by Pope Francis when he visited Sri Lanka
Monicah and I attended in 2018, as representatives of Dole, a very lavish, wedding of the year with 16 sections with different foods, in Worli, Mumbai for the son of the Jain family of Jain Irrigation.
We visited Sa Kaeo near Krabi, Thailand. Purportedly 150 meters deep. Absolutely incredibly aqua blue.
I traipsed around India visiting agricultural communities and trade shows for Dole. I was asked many times to take my picture. Students would surround me and ask many questions about the world outside India. I witnessed tractor blessings, marriage ceremonies at temples, and baby blessings. I loved the seat in the bus at the Vijayawada airport, felt like royalty. Seemed like everywhere, there was air pollution. The tour guides were phenomenal For me, India is so so fascinating and the agriculture is much more advanced than what the world outside India believes!
Scenes from India. It is so so so fascinating. So many people. Such congestion! I invariably toured each new area I visited and my drivers were always interesting. One, a muslim, was so happily recently married. He said that his new wife he did NOT see her face until the evening after they got married! AND they were living in his parents compound, and his wife was NOT allowed to leave for 90-days after becoming a bride! The kabobs in Lucknow are WORLD famous and so delicious. And Gandhi G…I visited the Gandhi G Terth in Maharashtra, his museum in Mumbai, and his original home when he was a child in Gujarat. I spent one birthday in Gujarat, NO meat and NO booze…I ended up ordering a cheese pizza! And for breakfast, I asked, “Do you have oatmeal?” “NO”. As I was discovering all the food in the breakfast buffet, I found oatmeal…I said, “You do have oatmeal!” “No, that’s OATS!!” I love India. What a culture…so so old. What history.
Camel selfie in Mandvi Beach, Gujarat, India.
The Amber palace in Jaipur was surrounded by The Great Wall of Amer, built to keep out the Muslim invaders. It rivals the Great Wall of China. Elephants were everywhere in India!
Transportation in India - Van, Taxi, Bus, Train…can be a bit crazy! Mr Singh my driver in Mumbai was the best!
The Navam Perahera, held annually in February in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is a massive, vibrant parade featuring scores of decorated elephants, traditional dancers, and musicians. The largest parade of elephants in the world! It was incredible. Sri Lanka hosts many many elephants.
I met this man in Pune India. He would travel in from his farm every day to worship. He had turned over everything to his son because he was in the fourth state of life, the last stage. He was loudly praying in the cave at the temple. He was most fascinating with whom to talk.
One of my favorite cities in India, is Kochi. I loved the hotel on the waterfront! The fisherman, the river, the 82AD christian church where I learned that JESUS LIVED IN INDIA, the belief that Jesus after the crucification actually moved to and lived in Kashmir India and really didn’t die but is so controversial no one wants to talk about it in the Christian world! (I found the book in Delhi, India and bought and read the it... most interesting.)
In Delhi, India, I visited the largest Sikh temple. They had a HUGE kitchen, staffed by volunteers. Their dining area served 35,000 PEOPLE EACH DAY!. Their ONLY requirement was “Are you hungry?” Rich, poor, they did not care. All are welcomed! I was so so impressed.
Visited the Yellow Umbrella protest in Hong Kong. So so much energy amongst the crowd. Good friends of mine supported the protestors with food and money. We know how it all turned out.
At the Swiss Hotel in Kandy, one of my favorite hotels and cities, in Sri Lanka, we were awakened by a monkey on our balcony! We visited Kandy many times. Whenever I toured the plantations, I made sure to end the week in Kandy! The Swiss Hotel was an old style hotel. So so cool!
In Colombo at my hotel/apartment, Global Towers, where I lived for 3.5 years, every Christmas I enjoyed attending the cake mixing ceremony. Lots of booze for that cake!
