Home

And now I'm home, laying down in my own bed, my own house, in Canada. Family and friends have said their hullos, and I saw Iron Man. Not bad for a first day back in Kelowna.

I am so happy to be back, but I also miss the Temple and all the friends I made there, though almost everyone of them has already gone home as well, scattering abroad, (which means that I have places to sleep and bum off of people worldwide now), The trip back was eventful but good, I enjoyed. Amsterdam is a very nice city, though dead on a holiday.

Good Times. 

I wonder if I should even write on this again now?

Comin' Home, City and Colour

April! 3 Weeks Left!

Guys! Only 3 weeks left, hard to believe that the time has gone by this quickly!
Times are still going strong, I extended at the Temple instead of going traveling around the country, mostly because it's really awesome here and I know that no where else is going to be the same as this place and that I should save it for another trip!
So almost all of my original group is gone and/or going! Neysan, man I miss ya a whole bunch, no more teamwork on mocking others, I have to rely on Samir and he is a just a big dumb. Saba and Kurosh, my silly Germans, you guys are amazing! So many people have come and gone it's hard to really rely on everything, it's why I'm glad that I live in the moment, detachment is a wonderful thing!
Right now there is this crazy long festival going on, 10 days, celebrating some random Hindu thingamajigger, so we're going to be ridiculously busy at the Temple!
I did a Ruhi book (7), and am now doing Ruhi here, it's pretty fun but kind of annoying, responsbility stinks.
I got a whole list of good songs for you all!

Numb/Encore, Jay-Z and Linkin Park
Sundress, Ben Kweller
Vindicated, Dashboard Confessional

Mar Again!

So, my Deutschen roommate left two days ago and within 8 hours I had another roommate for Cali-Forniaie named Jason, Yeah for putting all the White people together in the same rooms! Yes! White Power! Er, I mean, um..... well, I mean to say is I'm sorry for what I've done to you the reader and your culture.
Ok, smoothed things over with you there quite well if I do say so myself. We also have a whole crap load of Iruunis and Malaysians now, they each count for a quarter of the volunteers. Plus all of the Iranians are girls and thus filled with utter Lunacy. Also another girl from Germany, one from Wales, one from California, and another girl from France, by way of New Caledonia. A new guy from Egypt, some from Saudi Arabia, more Australisans, and some more Indians of course, one of the Canadians is leaving sadly. I went on another trip to Humayan's Tomb and have successfully hooked each and every person on How I Met Your Mother, way to transcend cultural boundaries Romantic Comedy Sitcoms!
The Temple is getting busier and busier but we have more and more volunteers which is awesome. Also, a Shoeroom Club has been started complete with nicknames! Big Bear (or BFG), n-Dawg, Big D, Bruce Lee (or the Chinese Dragon), He-Man, The Sandy Boyz, the Nepali Action Team, The Shervmeister, Bengali-San, and the Rookie.
Awesome times here in India! I'm excited for the rest of the Service and also will be excited to head home! Less than two months now! CRAZY!!!

We're Going To Be Friends
The White Stripes.

Mar.

It's March! And that means Fasting Time for the Baha'is! Super-Happy-Fun-Time!
Also extremely thirsty time, but that's alright, soon however will be a sweet ballin' party at the end of the fast, at which party I will be extremely ballin' in my new Nehru suit. Tailor-Made, it's the best-fitting clothing I've ever bought, only 8,000 rupees! It's like $180 Canadian which is pretty fine for the fabric/labour cost. Also another dude got one, he's from NYC and is named Samir, also he's another Ashraf, his is black, mine is a dark blue. It's getting nice and warm now, Indian Kurtas are awesome for the weather, and also fun to play with. "How I met Your Mother" transcends cultures and boundaries, everyone loves it! Yeah for my favourite TV Show! Also my new plan for travelling after service is to go North, and then South, Amritsar and then to Sri Lanka.
Also, all Arabs are crazy, people from South America have funny accents, Chinese people end every sentence with "Issssss It?", Germans are silly and aggressive, and people from Canada are far too polite.
Long live Old and New Stereotypes! Also, I hate the Indian head bobble, it means yes, no, maybe, F*ck you, Thank you, and everything else you could possibly think of, easily the most retarded gesture in the entire history of human existence.
Peace out, A-Town!

Itch U Can't Skratch, Junior Senior.

Feb.

So I pretty much forgot about this thing, so I'm doing a major update of all sorts of shite that happened. But not really, because I don't really feel like writing too, too much.
I have another roommate now, Kouroush, a half German-Persian guy. He's extremely German, so German it's freaking hilarious! As in like as German as you can get. It's awesome.
Working at the Temple is the same as always, pretty steady, Mondays (day off) are always fun and filled with adventure, one of my favourite things to do is to buy really random stuff for super cheap and just do stuff with it since I don't care about the cost. This past Monday I got a pack of 12 bandanas for 50 rupees, or a $1.10, which is freakin' sweet.
India is ridiculously crazy and busy all the time but I love it. Only words to describe this place are Organized Chaos, it's overwhelming at first but you realize that this is just how it works after a while.
Service is most excellent! People are most Excellent! Holla to everybody back home! Peace Out Brahs!

Thursday, Asobi Seksu.

Week Three

Well, the past couple weeks have been pretty sweet, I've picked up a whole bunch of Hindi and Chinese phrases, (only the most useful of course), had a few more new friends leave. Coliss, my Suited up Chinoise friend, my roommate Raj, and super sad was my (un)matchable friend Nasim, though she comes back for one day in a week.

We had all this planning this week setting up for the 26th of January, Republic Day in India, because the crowd was supposed to be over 35,000 people and we only got 20,000, meh still pretty crazy to see all the people. Today (the 27th) was actually busier at around 25,000; the reasoning given was the "cold weather" here in India. Psssshhhhhttttttttttttttttttttttt.

Had a really awesome night, with both Coliss and Nasim before they left, Coliss just sitting on the top of the Information Centre gazing at the lit-up Temple. With Nasim we went to this place in the Muslim quarter where you pay 4,000 rupees ($100) 50% of it in advance and 24 hours ahead of time you can order an entire Lamb stuffed and cooked. Minus the head, sadly.

Waking up to the Temple every morning and going to sleep watching it are amazing!

Too bad it's totally Photoshopped....

Pachuca Sunrise, Minus the Bear.

Week One

The First Week has been completed. So far everything that I've done has been very exciting, service is very good and enjoyable, though it's a very good thing that I do not mind repetition or else I may have gotten bored out of my mind!
Sadly, some of my new friends have already left, and more are going every day, but new ones should be arriving soon which will be nice! A bunch of Newzies, (Sarah, Shiva, and Nooshie) and an Iranian have already left (Nika), though Nika may actually be going to UBCO in the next year which would be pretty cool, though slightly deafening, she is a little loud....

Interestingly enough, this week at the temple has been pretty dead, usually it has far more people apparently.

Got a Roommate though! After the first two days sleeping in the spacious guest room I get to share a dorm with a Malaysian named Raj (he's actually a south Indian whose family lives in Malaysia). Of course he is also leaving in 3 days, so a new roommate should be coming soon enough.

And, also I apparently sing along with Icelandic lullabies in my sleep. My subconscious of all things knows Icelandic...

Sæglópur, Sigur Rós.

Touchdown!

First few days have been amazing and exciting! Little scary, arrived, there were some communication errors at the airport. No one was there to pick me up so I went to a hotel, a little sketchy not too bad though; the room was nice and cool looking. Key was really cool, an old clunker complete with ancient lock in the door.

First Night, main song: "One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)", Stars.

First day at the temple was mostly rest and relaxation a little bit of touring. Coming from the hotel in a taxi, and seeing the Temple materialize through the fog was absolutely amazing and unforgettable.
First day of service was exciting, though a little unnerving, second you make eye contact everyone stares, little remarks in Hindi to each other, Everyone coming up, Bashir! Bashir! Trying to shake your hand. The children are just astonished, it's actually kind of funny. Asked, and it takes a little while to get used to it, hah, everyone wants a picture with the white people with blue eyes as well.
Meeting everyone has been awesome. So far I've met plenty of amazing people, from all over, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, France, England, and Iran. Also one fellow Canadian, one of the last people I met so of course, everyone was all "Oh, you're Canadian? Have you met Justin do you know him?" Too bad Justin was from Ottawa...
So first night was a little discouraging but Making to the Temple was astounding. Only sad thing is that many of the people who I have just met and become friends with are all living within two weeks, but many are staying on, and many more will come! Oh and Indian Markets + Bargaining is fun, exciting, and a little scary/annoying.

"Fearless", David Usher. Mostly for the Temple/Idea of the Faith.

The Journey

Tomorrow, I leave for India.

I don't really have all that much to say about that, only that it is going to be a frikkin' Long first leg of the travel, 14 hours on bus, then 12 hours in the aeroport, and then 21 or so hours for the plane! So, by the 4th of January, 2008 at approximately 23:50 Delhi Time, I'll be in India.

15,000 km away.

Soundtrack for the Journey, First Song:

"Leave It All Behind" The Features, Exhibit A.