It was a cold and wet December day, touched the ground at JFK, snow was melting on the ground, on BLS i heard the sound, of an angel.....(well, not quite, it was a cold and dry January night, with no snow to be seen)....but I have landed back in the states. How clean everything is here! How orderly! How few people seem to be milling around! (and this is in Manhattan, mind you)....life will be taking on more of a mundane role for awhile, so Ill be using this blog basically to jot down notes for myself....one day, i will be on the road again, many more adventures to be had, of that I am sure. But I must say, it is great to be back in America, its home, and I did miss it much.
I ended my travels with an amazing (and amazingly quick) tour of South India with my lovely sister, who came out to join me in Chennai for 9 days of luxury, cheuffured cars, 5 star hotel rooms, the works. Our whirlwind tour took us to Mammalapuram, Madurai, Periyar Animal Reserve, Cochin, and Mumbai. Personal highlight was the backwaters of Kerala, seen from the top of a lazily motoring boat, was an amazing peek into rural Indian life, and one of the most beautiful sights that I have witnessed in that part of the world. The tranquility was such an antithesis to the chaos of normal Indian life, it was even more appreciated. We had a wonderful time together, and im in the process of getting pictures online...she might beat me to it:
http://www.very-simple.com/
Thank you Sam!
the wonders of broadband internet and youtube.....this is wonderful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIgYBx2HxP0
In other news:
NYTimes today:
Sierra Leone has the highest infant mortality rate in the world, with 270 deaths per 1000 births. The rate worldwide, in contrast, was 72 deaths per 1000 births.
This absolutely shocked and horrified me in reading. Due to the wonders of broadband internet access (courtesy of my wonderful parents) I delved deeper into these numbers.
According to the US Census Bureau, the infant mortality rate in Japan is 3.2 per 1000 births.
This discrepency is shocking to me on a human level. I have traveled in many countries and witnessed the positive effects of Japan's wealth in terms of international development projects (of which im sure many are the fabled white elephants), but their goodwill aside, on a globalized view, how can this be tolerated in the 21st century, the gap between the rich and poor, the healthy and hungry, is disquieting.
