New Orleans days 3 and 4

 On Friday we had roasted tomatoes and three cheese frittata at the B & B - yum!
Norma and Miguel picked me up and we went off to see plantations.  I am a sucker for big southern mansions like I should have been born in the 1890s sipping lemonade on the porches of these great houses.


We went to Oak Alley plantation first and it was gorgeous.  It was a sugarcane planation so their was a lot of information about how sugarcane was grown and harvested.  The big house was a gift from Jacques Telesphore Roman to his bride Celina.  The Alley of Oaks is a quarter mile alley of 300 year old Virginia Live Oaks.  There are 14 on each side 80 feet apart.

slave cabins

slave cabins

sugar kettle

the upper level
porch

view from the porch

view from the porch

Next we headed to Laura plantation - a creole planation based on detailed memoirs of life in 1805.  The tales of Br'er Rabbit were first recorded.

It was a really hot day, but we enjoyed it!

Saturday

They served  croissant french toast and bacon at the B & B this morning.  I walked up to the WWII museum and it was great.  It is known as one of best museums in the US and it did not disappoint.  I also saw the 4D movie Beyond all borders produced by Tom Hanks.  The exhibits “The Road to Tokyo”  and “The Road to Berlin”  were really good… and depressing.  I was pretty emotional the whole time and struck by how a few crazy people can turn the whole world upside down.

I walked around down by the Quarter and saw a musician playing “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.  My dad loves that song and we grew up singing it all the time.  

I love just walking around and looking at all the New Orleans architecture. 

A police officer in NOLA died recently and they had a huge police funeral for him – streets were closed down as a ton of police motorcycles and state trooper cars went down the street.  I went down to the French Market and got some apple beignets, but they were not as good as the beignets at Café Du Monde J

I went to church with Norma and Miguel at the Cathedral, had some jambalaya with them, then went back to my B&b.

On Sunday we had potato casserole, scrambled eggs and a biscuit for breakfast and I flew to Houston to start the next phase of my trip. 

4th of July in Atlanta

My brother Christopher moved to Atlanta for State Farm in November so my took my dad to go see him. We left IL on the 1st and I used my miles to fly us down.  He picked us up from the MARTA station and showed us his office.  We walked around and ate at Shane's Rib Shack - yum! We stayed with Christopher Friday and Saturday night at his house in Woodstock.

On Saturday we went to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library which was pretty cool.  We tried to go the World of Coke, but the line was huge so we went to the Martin Luther King Historical site which was more crowded than Jimmy Carter, but less so than the Coke place.  We ate at Five Guys burger on the way home - BEEF!

MLK Ebeneezer church

 On Sunday we went to the race expo to pick up my packet.  Dad and Chris were really into the expo so I went through really quickly and didn't get to enjoy it too much.  We decided to go to the World of Coke again and the crowds were less, but still a lot.  That place was crazy!!  Christopher couldn't believe it was even a tourist attraction, let alone one of the biggest one!  There were soooo many people in there.  They herded us in 200 at a time to watch a movie and then move on to the exhibits and it was so crowded.  There were a lot of interesting things in there - I particularly liked the Olympic torches from several Olympics games.  It is amazing that the invention of one drink effected the world in such a profound way.  The Coke culture spread to so many countries and they have had some genius marketing.

We ate at Waffle House then went to our hotel - it was perfect. The Courtyard Mariott downtown right next to the Peachtree MARTA station.  On Monday - the 4th- Dad headed to the airport to go home and I went to do the 10k.  I haven't run more than half a km in almost a year.  I managed to run 3 miles and walked the rest.  It was HOT, but a lot of fun.  I finished in 1 hour 40 minutes.  I went back to the hotel, napped/watched TV, ate dinner, and got ready for the next stage of my trip - New Orleans. 

Yoga

In November of 2014 I started having trouble with my left shoulder - pain and limited movement.  In the spring of 2015, I was diagnosed with a frozen shoulder and started physical therapy.  It was HORRIBLE painful - it hurt to breathe or move and if I got bumped, it would make me want to scream.  I could barely move it so good thing it was my left arm.  My kids called me T-rex.

I went to physical therapy 2-3 time a week from March 1st until school got out in June.  It hurt soooo bad.  They did acupuncture and pulled it and did all these exercises.  It wasn't improving fast enough so I went to a doctor to get a cortisone shot.  It slowly started improving.  During the summer, I had a hard time lifting heavy things or moving my arm very far.  I started PT again in August until Nov.  They got it as far as they could, then said it would just get better with time.  I started Yoga in January.  Ratish comes to my house to work with me for an hour for 1000 rupees ($15).  It has improved quite a bit.

18 months after it started, I'd say have about 90-95 percent mobility now and the pain is a lot better.

Yoga has improved my flexibility and balance and I am working on my strength.   I had been working with a personal trainer, Nilendra, for three years, but our work was greatly compromised due to my shoulder.  Basically I just did squats and lunges for 6th month with him because I couldn't use my arms, not even to get down on the ground to do abs.

Ratish does a lot of breathing exercises with me too and I am sleeping sooooo much better. Since I was diagnosed with Lupus 12-13 years ago I have slept horribly.  I wake up 10-30 times a night - no exaggeration!!  The doctor makes me count.  Now I'm waking up 2, maybe 3 times a night!!

Another Indian Hospital Adventure

One of the best weeks of the school year is spirit week where we get to dress up - crazy hat day, mismatch day, superhero day, and the best...... pajama day!!!  I have the best elephant pajama bottoms  and I never get to wear them in India because it is hot!  Last year pajama day was on a Monday and I FORGOT.   My kids and I were so bummed.  This year it was on Friday so I talked it up all week.  On Thursday night, one of my sweet girls emailed em to remind me because she knew how disappointed I was last year.  I replied to her and said I had them all laid out and ready to go.

Then my chest started to hurt - not like it normally does, but straight in the center.  I get weird pains all the time due to my Lupus so I thought it would pass.  My yoga teacher, Ratish, came at 6:30 - I told him it hurt, but we started doing my normal stretching warm up and it immediately got worse. Really bad pain in the center of my chest and I was struggling to breathe and swallow.  I got down on the floor and had Ratish get my phone and call Karen who lives in my building.  Then I had him call Alison, out school nurse.  By this time I was in so much pain, I would barely move.  Karen came down and called Kylie who lives a block from us to come over (she is the athletic director so she has good first aid skills).  It didn't get better no matter what position I was in, so we decided to go to  Lilavati hospital.  They all three came with me which is necessary in Indian hospitals :)  We went into the casualty ward and they did an ECG, blood sugar test etc.  They hooked me up to an IV in my hand to give me meds in case it was gastric related.  Karen and Kylie filled out the paper work and Alison made sure they didn't put me in the wobbly bed that was totally unsafe.  They decided I needed to stay for observation, but they didn't have beds so they transferred me to Hinduja Khar Hospital. They let me keep my IV port in so they wouldn't have to redo it at Hinduja.  Alison and I laughed that they would never allow that in the US or Australia because people could inject drugs through it.

Alison called the school doctor so he could call the hospital and pave the way.  They took me in the ambulance - with sirens!  and the cardiac specialist was there waiting for me.  They repeated the ECG, blood sugar, etc.  I was feeling better, but they put me in the cardiac ICU anyway.  I really wasn't that sick, but they do things differently here in India.  Karen had gone to my apartment to get some clothes, toiletries, my ipad etc...  but they wouldn't let me keep anything.  They took my clothes, took my nail polish off, and wouldn't let me go to the bathroom or keep my ipad.

I was feeling better, but the night was rough.  It was loud, busy, lights were on, and I was only allowed to use a bed pan.  At 2 am, I asked a nurse to get me some cotton balls to put in my ears and that helped a little.  I managed to sleep a couple of hours.  At 6 am, a nurse came in and offered tea and biscuits, then they did a sponge bath and changed the bed with me in it.  Doctors would come and go and every time I said the pain was gone and they kept saying it wasn't likely to be heart related yet they did a chest x-ray and an echo (even though I just had one like a month ago) .  Alison came back at 8am and helped me navigate the system. It took me awhile to get discharged and she did a lot of work getting the insurance payment squared away.  Our school has an insurance representative to help with this stuff and he came and he had a lot of problems too - they make things so hard sometimes!

No real answers as to what it was, but they ruled out the big things - heart stuff and blood clots.  Kylie and I were hoping it was worms!!  Alison and I thought it might have been esophogeal spasms because the pain was in waves and I was having trouble swallowing.

I'm totally good as new though and feeling fine except sad about pajama day!!  

Traveling solo

There are many blogs and articles about traveling solo.  People do it for different reasons - friends don't have the same time off, other don't want to go where you want to go, or you just want to be alone.  Many of the articles deal with safety (especially for women), how to eat alone, what to do by yourself etc.  I know quite a few teachers that travel alone occasionally especially to beach locations - great time to relax and recharge.

I travel with friends sometimes, but a couple times a year I travel alone.  Usually its because I want to go to a place that my friends have already been or something like that.  I'm pretty good at it - I don't mind eating alone most of the time and I am good at navigating airports and new cities.  Sometimes I get a little bored, but I like that my itinerary is not attached to anyone else.  That if I'm not feeling well or tired, I can take a nap or skip something in the itinerary (like when I fainted in Sri Lanka).  I love to walk for hours on end and not everyone likes that.

I have traveled alone to Israel, Spain, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and many cities on a cruise. Even so, I prepared mentally for traveling alone in India this weekend.  When you travel in developing nations, you can expect a certain number of beggars, hawkers,  rickshaw drivers wanting your business, and men following you.  I got some of that in Sri Lanka and Cambodia - even in Mumbai where I live, but Varanasi was a whole other level!  It was so bad, that I spent a lot of my time just relaxing in my hotel.

I purposefully got a hotel away from the ghats trying to guarantee more peace.  On the first day I got a rickshaw to take me where to meet my guide for a walking tour.  He took me right there and it was great.  My guide was good, we got a little separated a few times but no one bothered me.  We ended as it was getting dark and he said he'd walk me along the ghats for safety reasons because it is sparsely populated there.  He left me at the main ghat where there were tons of people and he had shown me earlier where to walk to get an auto rickshaw.  He left, I got a bottle of water and thought the 10 minute walk was going to be fine.  I was immediately accosted by two guys - one in front, one in back - bothering me, trying to convince me to go with them.  It took me a few minutes to shake them.  Then a shopkeeper started following me and trying to get me to go to his shop or hire him to be my guide the next day.  He kept asking me to take him home with me so he could find work.  I found a auto and got in the back.  The shopkeeper and his friend both got in with the driver in front (there is only one seat up there!)  I didn't like it at all - why are there three men in the rickshaw with me.  I kind of knew where my hotel was so I knew we were heading in the right direction.  and we were going slow enough that I could jump out anytime I wanted.  The shopkeeper talked to me the entire time - practically begging me to take him to Mumbai or the US.  The next morning, I got a rickshaw to the ghats at 4:30 am.  The driver was fine and didn't try to scam me or anything so I asked him to take me to Sarnath after breakfast.  I get in and another guy gets in too.  augh!  they took me to Sarnath and when we got back, I paid the driver what I had agreed to pay him and the second guy wanted money too!  I said that I didn't ask for him.  At least he let it go pretty easily when I said no.  I stayed inside for the afternoon and went to try a walk in the evening and after 10 minutes, I went back because I had been bothered like 30 times.  I couldn't even enjoy a walk!

When I went to Amritsar (a Sikh city) I could feel peacefulness and spirituality in the golden temple even though it wasn't my religion.  I expected to feel the same in Varanasi, but I didn't because I was so concentrated on my safety.  Being with someone else makes it easier to ignore some of these people, you can just act like you are in a deep conversation with your friend.  I don't think I will be traveling in India alone again.  I still enjoy traveling alone, but I want to have fun and be comfortable and that doesn't happen in India.

Varanasi

There are many places to see in India and you can't possibly see them all.  Varanasi has been on my list of must see for a bit and I wanted to make sure I got there before I left India.  Different cities in India focus on different gods - Shiva is Varanasi's focus.  Varanasi is the center of Hinduism and many followers come to bathe and worship at the Ganga (Ganges river).

I have heard from people that is it crazy and dirty and I was bracing myself.  I actually had plans to go a few years ago for part of the week when I went to Kolkata, but I cancelled because I was stressed and didn't want to deal with the crazy.  It is sooooo hot here - 43C or 109F so the tourist crowds are low so it wasn't that crazy.  I arrived at 9:30 am on Thursday and spent the hot afternoon in the hotel taking a nap.  There are lots of guest houses along the Ghats for $12 a night, but I chose to splurge and stay at the Ramada.  It is about a 25 minute tuk tuk ride to the Ghats so it was away from the craziness and there would be food I can eat there.


On Thursday evening I went on a walking tour in the area where the Muslim do a lot of weaving.  My guide took me to the Ghats and we saw the evening ceremony. They burn the bodies 24/7 but at night, you can really see the fires.  There is a white platform where the rich people burn their loved ones, a place on the ground  near the water for middle class, and a smokestack place for poor people for free.

The guide walked me along the ghats for safety because people were sparse.  He left me at the main ghat and I had to walk up a really busy street for about 10 minutes to get an auto rickshaw. I wasn't anticipating as much trouble as I had - men following me, harassing me, etc.  I will write more about that on a post about solo travel.


Everyone said it was so filthy, my guide said that Varanasi has been cleaned up 80% since Modhi took over as Prime Minister.  The trash was less, but there was still trash.  Modhi provided the smokestack for poor people to be burned so there are no more dead bodies in the river which helps make it cleaner.  There are cows everywhere which means there is poop everywhere.  The cows wander these narrow alley ways and have to literally push them out of the way to get through.  Monsoon starts in June so it was really dry and dusty.  The washcloth was literally black when I took a shower at night.

The next morning, I got up at 4am to get to the ghats by 5 and take a boat ride to see the sunrise and morning ceremony.  It was calm and peaceful.

sunrise on the Ganga

yoga school on the ghats

 I went back to the hotel to eat breakfast, then took a rickshaw to Sarnath.  Sarnath is one of 4 Buddhist holy sites. A guide who was a volunteer from the Buddhist Society took me around and I saw the Stupa, the deer park, the temples, and the Bodhi tree. It was a pretty quiet, peaceful place.

 I went back to the hotel to nap and binge watch the Gilmore girls.  Usually when I travel, I walk around a lot, but it was HOT (109) and men bothered me a lot on the streets so I just stayed in.  It was a restful break.