One-year anniversary of kissing the old life goodbye
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes
I still don't know the name of that fruit
It’s been a year to the day since I officially started My Backpacking Life and hopped an international flight from Chicago. I’ve been on five different continents since then, produced a small amount of reporting, bummed about working when I could, volunteered as a teacher in rural India and a conservationist in rural Ecuador and smiled too much for my own good.
I encountered the limits of freelance journalism and discovered that I don’t have the hustle necessary to pay the bills that way. I also learned that I want to play a more active role in helping the planet and its huddled poor. I’m ready to take off the neutral observer hat and put the gloves of a fighter (even if it means going graduate school).
I became what amounts to a dual citizen of both the U.S. and India. I’m moving back to Delhi for another extended (indefinite?) stay in a few weeks.
I learned to dive, fell in love with the sport and became obsessed with the oceans. I can’t now foresee a future where I’m not diving regularly. I learned how much I love sea turtles.
I’ve taken more than 16,000 photos.
I lost more than 52 kilograms (about 115 pounds). I had become incredibly overweight and was eating and drinking myself to death. Now, I’m vegetarian and rarely go near alcohol. I jog and am seriously contemplating running a half-marathon yet this year.
That’s not to say I don’t miss people and places and things from my old life. I have many fond memories and no real regrets.
But in the photo above, I am tired, sweaty, muddy, smelly and sucking on the remainder of a strange jungle fruit in the Ecuadoran Amazon. I’m also immensely happy with that new me.
Tags: ecuador, india, photography, shenanigans, tourism, volunteering
Shuar warriors
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Warrior pose
During the three weeks I volunteered in the Ecuadorian Amazon, or “en la selva,” I lived in a Shuar community caught between traditional practices and modernization. Meet our volunteer director, Enrique Vargas, a 23-year-old who is studied in traditional ways, drips machismo and wants, in male Shuar fashion, multiple wives. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: arutam, culture, ecuador, en la selva, enrique, photography, poverty, shenanigans, shuar, volunteering
Monopolio!
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Adam 2, Joel 0
When I stopped through St. Louis in June, Joel and I had a rematch of our previous Monopoly battle from August 2009 in Green Lake. A few people will recall that historic clash when I pantsed Joel good and he complained that I wouldn’t immediately defend my title again.
Well I beat him again this time ’round, though I admit I rolled like the dice were rigged.
I’ll defend the title next year perhaps. Right now, the series stands at 2-0, me.
I’ve been playing Monopoly a fair amount lately. There was a battered version of it in Spanish (hence the “Monopolio” blog title) and I’ve since downloaded a pocket version for my iPod.
And yes, Joel, I recognize that the game remains mostly luck. I was absolutely destroyed in a five-way exhibition last month in the jungle.
Tags: games, joel, monopoly, photography, shenanigans, st. louis
A taste of India on a Logan square street
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Ahhhh, paan, my weakness
Missing all things India, while in Chicago, I made Kelly drive us up to the Desi section of Devon Avenue. We perused markets and walked past windows of gold jewelry and saris and smelled spices that transported me home. And then we finally found what I had wanted most: paan.
Kelly also became my victim, because she agreed to try paan — my kind of paan, tobacco paan — without really knowing what it was. I explained a bit about tobacco and betel nut and offered to get her the mitai version, but she wanted to have whatever I was having. Kel is brave, longtime friend.
From a little convenience store we got it wrapped to-go, after I surprised the paanwallah by ordering in Hindi.
I also explained that I would document her eating it for blogging purposes. The photos below are the outcome of that fun afternoon experiment on the street outside her apartment in Logan Square.
Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: chicago, devon avenue, india, paan, photography, shenanigans, wallah
Hola de Ecuador
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under notes
Pintura
So I’ve run out of pictures from the times in the U.K. And while the blog sputters a bit, enjoy my Shuar guide Enrique painting my face.
I’m on the coast now enjoying lazy days of seafood and diving. Galapagos in a little more than a week.
Tags: ecaudor, en la selva, enrique, environment, facepaint, shenanigans, shuar, volunteering
Covent Garden games
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Man makes fool of himself
Russ and I stopped off for an afternoon pint in Covent Garden, one of London’s popular and touristy hangout neighborhoods. It’s loaded with pubs and restaurants and human statues and mimes and other kinds of street theater.
From the balcony at the Punch and Judy, we watched a street comedian and juggler make an ass of himself and along with various spectators. It was thoroughly entertaining.
I also had my first pint of proper beer since leaving the U.S. It was a tasty, wonderful Guinness, evidenced by my mustache below. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: beer, covent garden, guinness, london, photography, punch and judy, shenanigans, theater, tourism
Cozy in Lodi
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Resemble anyone?
More Lodi lovers. On the green lawns outside the octagonal tomb of Mohammed Shah.
Tags: delhi, india, lodi, lodi gardens, love, photography, shenanigans
