"Only one!"

OK, more pictures from the rediscovered treasure trove of lost pictures. Again, here are a few from my first trip to Dubai. This must have begun my love affair with the camel. They were all taken on the same desert trip that led to the jeep being stuck on top of the sand dune. Here's an adorable picture of a baby camel, and a much more portly Scudder making friends. The last picture, which is hard to make out because it was taken at night, shows me getting my first camel ride. That's when I learned the hard way that you really have to bolster yourself when the camel sits down because they do so pretty violently and if you aren't careful you'll eviserate yourself. The guy in charge of the camels, who had been putting two women on a camel, and after getting a look at my unimaginable girth, shook his head and said, "Only one!" Later we were standing in line at a buffet and one of the Arabic men dolling out food looked at me and said, "You are a big man, I will give you more." His neighbor, started laughing, and jumped in with, "I too will give him more." I then came home and lost sixty pounds. When even the bedouins are laughing at you I think it's time to lose weight.

The Sacred and the Secular

And another early picture. I probably have dozens of pictures like this, but, once again, this dates back to my first trip to India so it is special to me. It probably speaks to me because it was one of those times when the extraordinary spirituality of India, which, because I'm a historian I already knew about, still jumped out at me in a very everyday way. Here is a little temple, essentially open to the elements, right on the sidewalk in the midst of the chaos of Mumbai. While America is not the most secular country in the world (technically many of the European countries are more secular than we are, although I tend to think that we still push ahead because we are so embarrassingly materialistic) we are still a world away from the spirituality that permeates all things Indian. This does not say that because of this fact India is necessarily better or that the U.S. is necessarily worse, but it does speak to the difference. I guess I wish that the U.S. was more spiritual and less religious.

Driving in Delhi

I'm not quite certain why my mind has been so absolutely flooded with memories of my early travel lately (other than, like Aurel Stein at Dunhuang, finding the treasure trove of pictures that I thought I had lost). While my first overseas adventure was to Dubai, the first time it was truly an ADVENTURE was my initial trip to India. I've written at length about my fascination with all things Indian, and although it predated this particular trip (March 2003) it was definitely reenforced then. After arriving in the middle of the night my first exposure of India was driving out to our then campus in Delhi - and receiving my first exposure to driving in India. I've always joked that Indian traffic laws are actually based on physics rather than the rule of law. I can still clearly remember counting the official traffic lanes (3) and comparing it to the actual traffic (7). Here are some of the pictures from that first drive in India, including the appropriately ignored/abandoned traffic police station (I've often wondered what sort of traffic crime you would have to commit to get in trouble in India, although I suspect my dear friend, Mr. Babu [see last summer's posting] will find out sooner than later]). I also like the fifth picture down, which shows one of the ubiquitous auto-rickshaws. I remember on another trip my chagrin at being unable to convince my good friend Michelle to climb into one. One time I saw one of them get tipped over by bumping into a truck, and the driver just popped out, rolled it back over and drove away. The second picture down was my first exposure to the cows living in the median and taking over the street if they are in the mood. The first picture is a nice juxtaposition of the old and new - and the haves and have-nots - in India.

Gold Souque

The first country I ever visited was, interestingly enough, the United Arab Emirates. In the old days Champlain had a campus in Dubai and I was initially asked to travel there as part of a team site visit, mainly because no one else wanted to go. So, after getting my first passport, I made the trip and actually had a great time. Dubai itself doesn't hold a lot of charm for me, mainly, I think, because I'm a historian and there's not a lot of history left there. However, one of the places we visited, the Gold Souque, did provide some aspect of the traditional, along with jarring reminders of the creep of globalization. Now, I shouldn't have been surprised by this because at the time the first sign you saw when you landed at the gleeming Dubai Airport proclaimed, "Welcome to Dubai, Crossroads of the New Global Economy." Dubai is a real delicate balancing act between the shiny modern and the deeply conservative traditional world. On my first visit we drove past a huge billboard sign for a car dealership that featured a picture of a young Emirati man driving a convertable, kafiya blowing in the breeze, with the catch phrase, in English, "Live the Dream" - which was clearly not to be a good Muslim, but rather to have a sweet ride. At the same time, there are a lot of topics, most notably feminism, which are clearly off-limits in our Global Module discussions. Anyway, here are a few pictures from my first trip to the Gold Souque. I love the juxtaposition between the traditional garb and the European casual wear.

Just a Picture

OK, just a few moments before I head off for a Faculty Senate meeting (and, doubtless, pray for death's sweet release). I was cleaning out my office and came across a CD that my good friend Marcie Patton from Fairfield University sent me. She was one of the great crew that were part of the Silk Road CIEE trip I took in summer 2009. It was part of a seven week, seven country marathon that was right in the middle of the lowest point in my life. However, although it was gruelling, it was good for me and by the end I was in a much better place emotionally - as evidenced by this silly picture of me that Marcie snapped while we were off in the mountains of western China (I'm thinking somewhere in greater Tibet, but I'd have to go back and check my notes). For some reason it really expresses a moment in time for me.

The Desert

OK, more on this later, but my mind has been swerving towards the United Arab Emirates lately. Here's a picture that I thought was long gone, but which I discovered by accident recently (it was buried in an obscure file on my drive at school - which also helps to explain why I am always getting those threatening emails about how much space on the system I use). On our first trip to the UAE we went on a wild ride through the desert in jeeps. Of course, my jeep got stuck at the top of a sand dune and we had to clamber out and wait for someone to dig us out. It was during this trip that I first fell in love with the desert. I can remember standing and watching the sun go down - and in the desert the sun sets so preternaturally fast that it is awe-inspiring. Anyway, I guess I've been stuck myself lately, and maybe all I need is to dig myself out and I can still get over the dune.

The Natti

I just made it back from my annual spring trip to Cincinnati. We now lovingly refer to it as the Natti, although that nickname didn't exist when I lived there. It's still the place where I feel home. I feel a rush of nostalgia and emotion when I travel north through the cut in the hill on I75 and catch a sight of downtown that I simply don't when I head to my actual hometown in southern Indiana. I spent years in Cincinnati pursuing my MA and Ph.D. but even before that it just always caste a very long shadow over my life. Every spring I travel back for my fantasy baseball draft (more on that later) and to spend time with my best friend, David Kelley. It was made even better that my oldest friend, and best friend from high school, Jack Schultz made the drive up from Atlanta. It was four days of eating really good (albeit bad for me) food, drinking beers, talking baseball and movies and reconnecting. I miss it already. Here are a few pictures I'll post in a hurry. Threeway chili and coney dog at a little hole in the wall restaurant around the corner from where Dave works. I know it horrifies my good friend Bob Mayer, but I love Cincinnati chili (and brought some cans of Skyline back to Vermont). Then there's a picture of Dave and his new dog Scout at Monk's Cove - how can you not like a bar that allows dogs? Scout was a very big hit. Then a couple pictures with sort of a film noire quality that are probably vying for the cover of a Townes van Zandt retrospective album (we were grabbing some fantastic burgers at the very cool Terry's Turf Club - Cincinnati has so many dives, something Vermont is really lacking). The last picture needs no explanation if you grew up in the Natti. Yes, Cincinnati is pretty messed up, has some real race issues, and sometimes I don't think it's actually within walking distance of having an actual, functioning democratic institution for a government, but I do love it.