If you don't know yet, we adopted two cats few weeks ago ! You can see some pictures in the folder 'Maki and Marlo' or you can view the videos below. They will be about 5 months in a week.
It's been a long time since we've used this blog (after saying we would in the last post), but here we are again. And again writing from a new country, continent, etc...but this time for a little longer.
We arrived in New York just over a week ago and settled into our little apartment in Manhattan, near Columbia university. Emma is starting her six year (!) PhD in English Literature, and Izumi will be job-hunting as soon as his work authorization comes through (probably in a month or so).
It's been busy busy busy here with settling in, assembling Ikea furniture, unpacking boxes, attending university orientations and adjusting to life in the big city. We had two friends (one from NZ and one from France) saying in the living room/kitchen for the first week we were here while they sorted out their own housing. It was fun having them here, and great to have their help with furniture construction, etc :-)
Exciting times :-) We're so glad we had 5 tranquil months in Toulouse before coming here, but we are so happy to be here now. And we're over the moon about our little apartment right next to the university, so we've made a little video to share the joy (and to give anyone who'd like to visit and lodge a size-wise reality check...though it's not to deter you!!)
Definitely let us know if you are in New York! The Columbia campus is gorgeous if a bit grandiose...maybe we'll get a little video of that done soon.
Momo-chan playing with Aria
Ah, sitting in bed with on my laptop, my new electric hot water bottle around
my feet, after a warm bath, it's hard to imagine that only a week ago we were still in India, grimy as ever in the same two pairs of clothes we'd worn for 5 months straight. Suburban Tokyo with
its immaculate streets, silent cars that actually drive in lanes, and super polite people who don't dare look you in the eye is a bit of a shock after the subcontinent. But not in a bad way at
all :-)
But back to where we left off... After Vipassana Izumi and I thought we'd make our descent to earth (and not just any earth, but the smoggy chaos of Kathmandu) easier but just relaxing, eating
and reading until mum and Christie arrived. We found a wonderful little second-hand book shop run by an Indian man with a masters in Philosophy who had moved from Varanasi to Nepal in search of
Truth. We spent a week churning through his recommendations. I discovered one of the best books I've read in a long time, 'Our Ancestors' by Italo Calvino - absolutely brilliant.
The day mum and Christie arrived we went out to grab a taxi to the airport only to find the roads completely deserted. Not a vehicle in sight. We slowly gathered that there was a strike and
the whole city - public transport, shops, restaurants - was shut for the day. Not even private vehicles were allowed on the road. For lack of anything better to do people loitered on
the streets, young guys with loudspeakers and red flags shouted Maoist messages, and some guys with too much energy to spare smashed the signs of a shop that had dared to open its doors. Finally
we managed to shove ourselves onto the only bus allowed to run which shuttled panicky tourists to and from the airport. Mum and Christie were waiting when we got there and had luckily
figured out what was going on. Some more shoving and we were all on the bus again heading back into town.
Bright and early the next morning we were on a tiny 15 seater plane into the Solu Khumbu, the Himalayan region around Everest. The views were excellent, though Christie and I got a little nervous
when the slightly rickety plane (the armrests were cellotaped in place) started a sharp descent, followed by a rapid beeping noise.
The 15 day return trek to Gokyo was spectacular. As well as far superior views to those Izumi and I had seen in Annapurna the trek took us through villages with a rich Buddhist culture.
The Sherpa people were very open and friendly, and so, justifiably, proud of their culture. Many we met had well for themselves, and despite having children in universities
overseas or international qualifications themselves, they continued to live in their mountain villages, days walk from the nearest bus. The walking was tiring at altitudes that took us
higher than 5000m and it was cold. But snuggled up in our down jackets around the lodge wood burner in the
evenings playing games of canasta and 500 warmed us up. The fast altitude gain meant we could only walk shortish days, so we had lots of time for games and reading and just hanging out with
mum and Christie. Good family times :-) On the trek Christie also found out that she'd absolutely aced her end of high school exams and was on her way to Melbourne Uni. What a brilliant little
sister :-)
From Gokyo we did a couple of breathtaking day walks. Izumi and I climbed to our first pass, Renjo La, at 5300m. The going up was tough as we scrambled and slipped through scree, snow and
ice. But we felt like real mountaineers when light-headed with the altitude, slightly nauseous and numb we looked out through prayer flags from a knife thin ridge over a vast panorama of
Himalayan mountains and lakes. In its beauty and extremity really unforgettable. The next day we hiked up to 'scoundrel's view' with mum and Christie where we ate a lunch of muesli and potatoes
looking straight on to Everest. (Photos under 'Everest')
We got back to Kathmandu in time to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and Christmas. The lights and jingles around touristy Thamel made it feel like Christmas - especially when
Christie and I got to help decorate the plastic tree outside the Korean restaurant where we ate Christmas dinner. (Photos under 'Kathmandu with Bridget and Christie)
Izumi and I said goodbye to mum and Christie (who stayed in Kathmandu to volunteer at an orphanage for a few weeks) and took the bus to the Indian border. I was a bit glum because I'm always sad
to leave family - it'll be a happy day for me when we all live together as one big happy family (by 'together' I just mean in the same country). I let out my angst on the bus conductor
in India. Suddenly I snapped and all my contained annoyance with Nepal and India flooded out as I yelled at this conductor for a good 10 minutes inside a packed bus because he was trying to
rip us off by 20 rupees (about 50 cents). No, I haven't become that stingy, it's just that at some point India is sure to make you snap. After that I was fine, and I fell in love with India all
over again as soon as we stepped out onto the chaotic, oozing life of the Delhi streets.
Now we are settling cosy and clean into Izumi's grandmother's house in the suburbs of Tokyo. We had a big New Year party on 3 Jan where I got to meet all the in-laws. Lots of fun and good food.
Izumi is job hunting and interviewing, and I have started writing an article on Virgin Mary miracles and medieval hybridity due on 1 March for a book. I'm starting an intensive Japanese course
tomorrow. So travel is over for the moment. The start of (another) new chapter!
We survived. 10 days of 10 hours of seated meditation everyday. in total more than 100 hours. Complete silence. Waking up at 4am. Sitting completely still for a hour at a time with all the aches
and pains. Hardest (for me at least), constantly debating, analysing whether this philosophy and practise actually made sense or not.
And loving it all. The mental clarity. The mental quiet. The sense of being right here right now and finding it so beautiful. The moment that I realised the skin of a grapefruit on a tree outside
was so fascinating and alive that I just wanted to paint it. How much I miss painting, not painting as the intellectual game it became, but as a way of loving the real world as it is. I debated
and debated how Vipassana, which I was experiencing the good of, could fit with my study, love, and experience of Christian Science. For me, there were holes
in the rationality of Vipassana, but this only served to highlight the gaping impracticalities and irrationalities of my (wrong) understanding of Christian
Science...and how I can work on changing that. An exhausting, challenging, invigorating churn up and wash out - physical and mental.
Coming back to the smog and congestion of Kathmandu, we feel far more equipped to handle it. We don't get as bothered and, unexpectedly after being so introverted for 10 days, we are far more
eager to engage with people and the place than we were before. The hardest thing now is getting our eyes used to the light again after being closed for so long everyday!
But a really special time for both of us so we're going to try to record a little of what happened each day. It's a bit of a blur in our minds how the days went though. The days were so full on
and we weren't allowed to write anything, so it's hard to separate them now.
Day 0. Arrive at centre in afternoon. Settle into separate sex areas and lodging. 'Noble silence' starts at 8pm with an hour of meditation.
Day 1. Bell goes at 4am. Start meditating in hall at 4.30am. Just observing the fact that our breath goes in and out of the nostrils...for the whole 10 hours of the day (with short breaks for loo
and food). Hard for Emma's blocked nose. Izumi surprised at how hard it is to concentrate...ahhh, this is why Emma
complains he's not listening to her. Emma thinks day goes by quite fast...because she is daydreaming or planning most of the time.
Day 2: Observing the touch of respiration in the area of nose and below nostrils above upper lip. Hard day for Emma: what is the purpose of all this?? Izumi's
mind is still wandering. Emma marvels at how chaotic her thought patterns are.
Day 3: Observing sensations ONLY on the nose and under. Thoughts starting to calm down. Not as aggressive, random and vivid. Emma glances to the men's side and sees Izumi sitting on a
throne of cushions :-P
Day 4: Observing only on the sensations on small area under nose and between upper lip. Break through day for Emma. Horton Hears a Who moment: is this all really happening in this tiny space?!
Concentration easier coz this is so amazing. Still...as nostrils start flapping towards enlightenment, the rest of body stays unhappily writhing on my thin
ground cushion. Izumi is really looking forward to meals. Towards end of day, real Vipassana meditation starts (the rest
has been just to calm our minds). Two wretched hours of sitting still and observing the body. Izumi realises similar to something he did in Japan before. Emma
nearly crying with pain.
Day 5: Observing the body, piece by piece for sensation. Objective, equanimous, calmly...yeah, right. But that is the key to Vipassana. Observing all the pains and pleasures of the body without reacting, realising that they all change so are not worth reacting to. Looking at them as if they are
not part of you, as a river passing by.
Day 6 onwards.... the days all start blending from now on. We keep observing the apparent realities of the 'mind-body' in their inconsistencies and let them pass. We develop sophisticated ways of
figuring out how far we are through each sitting: the light reaches certain place on the curtain (you can tell through closed eyes when you are desperate enough!), only 15 minutes left; a bell
goes at a nearby school, only 30 minutes until lunch! In the breaks we obsessively wash clothes for want of nothing better to do, sit in the sun and watch the trees, and delicately pick off bugs
because you aren't allowed to kill ANYTHING.
Day 10: At 9am we are allowed to talk. We suddenly can look at the faces of the people we've been living and eating with for 10 days. Quiet, tentative words at first. Then the bubble bursts and
we are jabbering, laughing, praising, and complaining. Easily, because we've all just gone through the same completely amazing, completely bizarre experience. Some women speaking only Nepali try
to communicate with me but we end up just falling into laughter. So great to have done something in Nepal that is so noncommercial, that tourists and locals are just doing together for the same
reasons and with the same results.
Day 11: 4am start and then back to Ktm at 7am.
We'll try to keep up practising for an hour or so a day (we did this morning!). Maybe try another Vipassana course in Japan? It'll be a totally different
experience I'm sure. For one, none of the burping and spitting that complemented meditation here!