Faith is Restored

**Disclaimer: Pictures did not load due to a slow internet connection, however they will be added at a later date!**

After weeks of searching, after the withdrawals and cravings came and went, after we hit rock bottom and had all but given up, just when the last drop of hope was lost, we did it. We stepped off the ferry this morning after an exotic hour walking through a fish market – appetites restored from the fresh sea breeze after nearly puking at the sight and smell of a harbor (yes, my vegetarianism is affirmed). Passing by what looked to be an ordinary street stand, a familiar silver gleam caught uncle David’s eye. Could it be true? No, the lingering pescatoral smell must be making him delirious. Upon closer examination and a slap in the face to ensure he wasn’t dreaming, there it was. HALLELUJAH, GLORY IS THE DAY THAT WE FOUND A CAN OF DIET COKE!!!!!!!!!
And yes, we bought not one, not two, but every single can of diet coke that man had to offer. He even went to his storage locker where he had a secret stash. Grandma came down with a pretty nasty cold yesterday so she slept instead of joining the morning exotic hour, but when we delivered the cure-all diet coke to her door just as she woke, her spirits lifted and she is magically healthy again!!! Thank you little man at the street stand for the healing elixir – the nectar of the gods – the fruit of the loom – the liquid gold that you have bestowed upon us. We are eternally grateful.

Other secondary and tertiary items of note from the past couple days:

• A spice plantation tour, where we learned their Ayurvedic and homeopathic used. It’s a surprise Indians aren’t immortal with the amazing health benefits of Tumeric, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Ginger etc that they use in all their curries! Uncle David was adorned with a flower earring and I was given a Hibiscus, which can be used as shampoo. Still not sure what exactly was implied by that…
• A brick plantation, where our favorite aforementioned aggressive photographer got a little too up close and personal during her snap-and-shoot…
• jungle walk, where we didn’t see much more than monkeys and birds, but it was a really cool way to begin the day. The fog rising from and drifting along the river as the sun rose was spectacular, and the bamboo raft we used to cross the river was quite cool.
• rubber plantation: there is only one guy who mans the entire plantation! He collects the rubber sap from 800 trees and then mixes and processes it all before noon.

Wed: Unfortunately our elephant ride was cancelled because not enough people wanted to do it. What’s the point of being in India without riding on an elephant?!! Instead, I did get to enjoy our first truly relaxing day of pool lounging, banana lassi, and yoga. My body is still sore from the deeeep stretches. It was one of the best yoga classes I have ever been in because the teacher gave very individual attention with adjustments in the poses, as it was just Shanon and I in the class. He also bestowed a few pearls of wisdom upon us regarding what it means to be a teacher.

Yesterday we had another long bus ride to Fort Cochin where we stopped for lunch on a houseboat that took us through some canals. We typically eat breakfast around 7am, and then don’t have lunch until 1 or 2pm. By that time everyone is starving, and I have been bringing cereal in my tupperware to snack on. I’m thinking I’ll start a side business selling snack on the bus to fund my travels in the future 🙂

We made it just in time to see the oldest synagogue in India, just before it closed. No pictures were allowed, but there were some Belgian Chandeliers that were just so beautiful and ornate, made of crystal and brass. Truly a sight to see.

In other news, I have also decided to entertain myself by taking covert videos of various members of our trip doing the snap-and-check, asking Lakuma over and over and over what time to meet and where, and exactly what is happening next. It’s to the point where I want to just write on Lakuma’s forehead in bold black sharpie meet at 7am. Unfortunately I can’t post videos on here, but I’ll find a way to distribute once the trip is over… muahaha.

Le Salon III: Grace

Last night (on Dec 12… posted this a bit later than when I originally drafted it) a room of people gathered for the third monthly salon, to discuss ‘Grace’. This is what I remember unfolding:

Jeremy led the topic, and asked everyone to take note of something they thought of as graceful in the days leading up to the salon. Here we’re some of the replies (not in temporal order of our conversation):
Brandon Crawford playing shortstop for the Giants: making something so complicated looking so easy and smooth and fluid:
– the mastery of a skill. The repetition of a task
– the process of getting to the state of grace
– a quality that cannot be verbalized, but is recognized

Other tangents…
– Wrestling, ju-jitzuh, yoga, ballerinas
– graceful is knowing the space surrounding the world
– awareness of yourself in relation to others and the world
– control at every moment: to be able to pause at any point in a yoga pose and to be balanced

Godliness – god gives grace (mercy?)
We say grace – grace can be singing and praising and being appreciative loudly and raucously
-as grace cannot be verbalized, godliness cannot be put into words. Though one may not think of god when seeing Brandon Crawford play shortstop, like godliness the grace cannot be put into words. The relationship between both of these qualities and their non verbalness?

-Adam and eve

Socially graceful:
– quitting with grace: respectfully, fulfilling responsibilities, patience,
Grace can be being dishonest, withholding in speech and actions
Juxtaposed to being fluid and open and uninhibited

Being graceful when doing inherently ungraceful acts:
-falling with flourish, or falling and falling so hard
– belly flops into a pool

Being graceful in socially disgraced acts:
Murder – in fictional works – The Stranger, Crime and Punishment
Farting

Grace as a means to discover truth

Grace has a positive connotation – the importance of it in our lives. Recognizing grace in our lives.

#Funemployment

Well there you have it.

I have joined the ranks of the unemployed as of Monday eve.

I was working for an Ed-Tech start-up that just didn’t have the funding to keep everyone on board. They kept 6 of 10 people, all who had higher degrees in education, as they needed to move more towards direct consulting than a mere online platform.

My initial reaction? Disappointment, yes of course. But even more so, I was just surprised. 

I was thanked for my work, and ensured I would receive nothing but positive references. And that was that. My e-mail account and all that goes with it was immediately deactivated.

So it goes.

Three days have gone by and I must admit, it isn’t so bad ya know?

Mentally, I have processed my brief stint of employment like so: that job was not a huge part of my identity or my life goals. My passion is not education technology; I fell into this position at the end of August after a brief skim through a few Craigslist job postings. As quickly as I was hired, I was let go. #easycomeeasygo #startuplyfe

When I was deciding if I should take this job or go back to school, everyone was encouraging the job route. Except one. And that person said it seems like my sole motivation for taking the job is that it’s better than the last one I had. To be honest, that was so true – it was the best job I’ve ever had – best work environment, nicest/smartest people, interesting mission, etc. But that motivating factor is not good enough in and of itself; in the future I want to be more thoughtful about the job I choose – I don’t want my next job to merely be “better than the last one”. 

Furthermore, when continuing to be honest with myself, I was not necessary to the success of the company. No doubt, I did valuable and appreciated work, but as Customer Success Manager, my responsibilities are easily delegated to others. The CEO projected/expected/hoped for many more customers than what actually materialized. And thus, with few customers to successfully manage, my position was rather obsolete.

 

So the big question: what now?

Well, here’s an account of my week thus far:

Tuesday – hang out with courtney’s cats, drink coffee, bike to farmers market, have lunch, hang out, go to a cafe & update resume, go to yoga, go home & make dinner for some housemates, play our new arcade game console word dojo.

Wednesday – Run in the rain, clean out refrigerator, do laundry, sew Ari’s pants, take Ari’s computer to get fixed while waiting for clothes to dry, go to Kaiser to get meds for India/bloodwork to determine vaccines, go to a cafe with Altay and begin learning HTML through Codecademy, eat dinner, hang out with housemates at home.

Thursday – drink coffee, play rock band: drum training mode (official new motto I live by: WWAD = What Would Altay Do?), go back to Kaiser to get vaccines, meet up with friends for lunch, finish my HTML course, head to Berkeley for yoga, and hang out at new cafe and blog. 

Like seriously, where does the time go?! How did I have time to even live when I had a job?!?!?

The timing is a bit interesting… I’m going to India from Jan 10- Feb 10, so it doesn’t really make sense to apply to jobs until I return. Also, I think I need some time to reset my intentions with future employment and what not. 

So here’s what’s on tap for the next month:

1. Wisdom teeth removal (srsly have been putting this off for 3 years now)

2. Learn to code. HTML: check. next up: CSS. next up: WWAD

3. Run & Yoga 

4. Run errands for other people #karma #gotnothingbettertodo #needasenseofpurpose #livingvicariouslythroughothers 

5. Dominate rock band – drum training mode.

When my dad was laid off a few years ago, he spent the first few months destroying every level of every song on Guitar Hero. He even managed to pass Free Bird on expert. #likefatherlikedaughter

6. WWAD