damn!...been trying to post pics of all the wonderful things i've been up to at camp but for some reason haven't been able to do so :( let me see...we've gone kayaking, did zipline, went sailing on this beautiful wooden boat at bath, followed by a bbq dinner with the local community of sailors. then, we spent a day in boston day before. after being in camp amidst tall pines n a lake, the big city certainly looked bigger ;) just the kind of day i was looking fwd to....loitering around, watching street performers, live music, microbrewery beers, decent indian food, a visit to the state house, walking down what they call the freedom trail. the birth of the country happened here..so!...n of course, we went to harvard where i learnt that harvard is the second biggest non-profit org with endowments running into billions of dollars.
this trip, my second to the states, has been so so different from the first - when i worked on board a cruise ship in the caribbean. then i was like a second-class cheap third world labour...fear lurkink around...always...but this time round about 13years later, i feel special...v special. have met some really nice americans ;) bush-haters n antiwar...who worry about the govt policies n their country's future. they've embraced us whole-heartedly, taken us home, fed us n generally been so nice!...i must sound like a weirdo :)
of course, the dialogue sessions (what we are here primarily here for) are tough, real tough - not so much betw us pakistanis n indian, but the scene betw israelis n palestinians is explosive...some of their stories is totally gut-wrenching...everyday, day in n day out...i cannot even imagine what it must be like to live in those parts. i've been to kashmir n i thought that was real bad :(
got to go now...another new day some more dialogue some group physical challenge some swimming some singing but such a packed day i just drop off each night in seconds...but then what's new about that ;)
3 comments:
Hi Ajay. It's so interesting and coincidental, in that, I was watching a rerun of the show The West Wing, and the exact same thing was shown on there, the Palestine-Israel conflict. Nothing seems to change, does it?
Or is this too depressing a view?!
hey Ajoo, you seem to be having a change of heart......not so bad after all! Wars are wars are wars are wars.... everywhere. Makes us appreciate what we have back home, even more.
hey ro! sure it does seem depressing n hopeless at times...but how do we continue keeping hope n appreciate any attempt to change things. far better than doing nothing, right?!
hi baby! o you bet, we are just so much better off home.
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