Tickly Nose and Pit Looms Galore

Today was the first time that I finally got to see how woven cotton rugs are woven and prepared for the world market. Lets just say that I have a whole new appreciation for the proccess and a very tickly nose!

After a 2 1/2 hour drive on the insane roads that include dodging buffalo, motercycles and everything imaginable we finally made it to the town of Panipat. Home of the cotton woven rugs. I had heard in my upbringing the history behind the rugs and of the said pit-looms but never did I get to experience the complex nature that goes behind the process...nor the effort involved in each and everyone.

Firstly they have to set up the looms which makes brain surgery look easy. Once the loom are set they start to use a series of foot petals to operate the weave of the loom while they throw a woodle vessle called the shuttle back and forth. Not only does the operator need to know the pattern which will change with each passing buyer but they also have to know the correct sequence of colors, length and width of each rug. All the while they are doing this the cotton fibers flying through the air is so thick that your nose tickles and hair goes white with all of the lint in the air. I was truely humbled by the experience and now have a huge appreciation for the art behind making these rugs. When I asked the owner of the company whether he had personally tried to make the rugs in the pit loom and he just shook his head and said that he could not do it...and in effect was fired from his position. At least I admire the fact that he had tried!

Jess

Back on the road again

Yay! I made it back to India. I seriously thought the last time that I left here in September of 2010, would be my last...yet here I am again. And this country despite its poverty, dirt and intensly complicated culture has won my heart as I mark my 19th trip to India.

What makes this place so great is the culture. It is so complex and fascinating that everywhere you look there is something new to be learnt. For example there are approximately 20 different languages in this country and while all of them sound very similar to my Western ear and yet apparently most are unrecognizable to one another. As disimilar as one would find French and English.

As a woman, having gone to a persnipity all girls school (seriously who names a school Miss Edgars & Miss Cramps?), and having been brought up in a western culture that offers a lot of rights...justifyable fought for by generations of woman. I sometimes have to put aside my western thinking and open my mind to the differences of the culture I find myself surrounded in. Today, I met a woman who is involved in the setup of an arranged marriage of her newphew. It is not a new subject to me, something that fascinates me and yet everytime I think about it I can't possibly imagine what it would be like to be in that situation. I have to remind myself that it is the norm here and that I am the abnorm so to speak... and yet I just can't get past it. I mean how would I fare if my parents set me up? Would they do a good job? DO they know me well enough?...am I in a position to say anything being 36 and single...no probably not...however, it still fascinates me. I don't think I could tolerate sitting through a meeting because the uncle didn't agree on my caste even though technically it was the same level but different state...nor could I tolerate being asked if I cooked and cleaned or did house keeping for that matter. One vendor I met said he interviewed 40 women! (strangely the same guy who was trying to get me to pass a quality issue without seeing it even once) What about dowries. Do I see that as protection money or buying a husband. I am so confused on this issue and the more I ask questions about it the more confusing it becomes! On the other hand I tried to describe dating and wondered if I was making any progress on the other side of the equation.

And yet all the people I have met here are in extremely SEEMINGLY happy mariages. They become a family unit that they take pride in and that's that. Yesterday marked a special holiday where women fast 24 hours for their husbands for good luck in their family mariage and life. Of course there are no equivalent days for men and I have to ask myself why? Why do the women have to sacrifice so much and yet appear to hold so much pride. I know there are many more stories to oncover here both in the pro/con side...but it really makes me wonder.

Jess

Confessions of a Latte Addict

It has been some time since last post (2 months to be exact)- ooops. So where have I been? Good question. In the past 2 months I have travelled Europe, worked on my armoire, followed up on several job leads, taken care of sick cats, visited family and babysat - its exhausting just thinking of it. But today, I have escaped to my favorite cafe, Lili & Oli, to redirect my thoughts to this blog while drinking my favorite latte.

Lili & Oli is a fantastic place for one to sit back, relax, and philosophize with the staff. For the past year or two, much to my wallets dismay, I admit to have been coming here almost every day for a latte. Not only do they serve some of the best coffee in the neighbourhood, they also have great music, personable baristas that remember your name and your order, and patrons are so much fun. There is a real sense of community in this small independent cafe that is more like an inviting clubhouse. Where else can you go in Little Burgundy/St. Henri where there is a live bird on the counter chewing away on peanuts, a box of toys waiting for bored children, hilarious staff that feel like family and monthly food competitions? Of course they also offer a lot more than lattes but I am a stuck to old habits...

I call this place my home away from home, or the office. It's where I come to accomplish things and hopefully get through my daily correspondence, and a good laugh. In today's case the laugh was at me as my umbrella unexpectedly popped open as I walked in, scared the bejesus out of me and managed to shower a handsome gentleman with a shower of water. :) How I do these things I don't know. So come and join me for a cup-o-fun, and I will try not to shower you with water...can't guarantee it though. 2515 Notre Dame O., Montreal.

Jess

PS I realize I have yet to share my Bridget Jones-esque construction progress on the armoire and my recent trip to Europe...these are coming shortly. Lots to share.

24 hours to relax in the North!

One of the things of being unemployed is that every day seems the same. There are no weekends or weekdays, just days filled with small things that are hopefully accomplishments. The great thing about this phenomenon is that if one should one decided to take a day off from one of your days - you can :) So last week I took a break from 'operation marche au puce', 'operation career search' and headed up to Val David for a 24 hour 'operation relaxation'.

Val David nestled in the Laurentians is a mere 1 hour drive from Montreal....for normal people that is. Between the ever continuation of my car drama and a case of bad decisions, it took me 2 hours to leave Montreal and another 1:45 mins to actually reach my destination. Needless to say operation relaxation was mucho needed by the time I finally got there. The stress of my journey was quickly dissipated upon my arrival thanks to my excited 3 year old godson who greeted me with a huge heart melting smile and an enthusiastic "Jekada's here!"

Upon my arrival we sat down to a delicious homemade dinner of lamb meatballs and Moroccan stew. Shortly afterwards Veronik and I decided to leave Bryan to fend for himself with the children while we selfishly headed off to Spa Ofuro in neighbouring village of Morin Heights. Talk about luxury! The location was a completely serene Asian inspired spa that hosted a number of steaming outdoor pools, ice baths and even a small river pool for the daring. For those who have not tried the hot-cold experience it is definitely worth the try. I must admit that generally I am not a fan of cold water, to scared to even jump into the lake on even the hottest of days summer, but this experience is completely different experience that leaves you relaxed and satisfied. After basking in either a hot sauna or hot tub for 15 mins I looked forward to the quick dip in the cold tub and sitting outside beside the wood fire in my bathing suit at 0*Celsius. Kudos to Veronik who fully submersed herself in the river - her screams of shock strangely put me off so I admit to having only half heartedly splashing myself in the river as opposed to going for the dunk - even though shamefully it was my coercions that got us there in the first place :) Several rounds of hot & cold we returned to Val David, relaxed and well bathed, to find Bryan fast asleep on the guest bed with son and book :)

Friday morning I awoke to godson hovering over me, suspicious smile on his face crying out "Jekada's still here!". So of course I had to get up and play with him. We set out for a walk in the forest that was more of a crazy exercise than the light hearted jaunt we had hoped it would be. It would seem that the snow was much deeper than we had expected despite the recent spring like conditions. Walking in hip deep snow while totting to small children was not all that easy to do but oh so much fun and hilarious! I left shortly after our jaunt to explore the village and profit of the sun a little more before heading back to the city.

Val David is a quaint little village. Overall it is a extremely artistic and caters to hippies and tourist a-like. There seems to be more salt of the earth cafes, natural grocery stores than I have seen in Montreal but they are all so quaint and inviting making me want to stop in all of them. On Bryan's recommendation I found a great bulk store where I stocked up on many free range nuts and then headed to the Mouton Noir cafe and had a Delicious brunch. And so ended my relaxing 24 hours in the great North. I had returned completely relaxed and ready for ... whatever day was coming up next. Operation relaxation was a huge success!

Thanks to Bryan/Vero and the kids for a lovely time!

Monday Monday

Today is Monday... and it marks the first full month of my unemployment. I am still not sure how I feel about this but my friends and family continue to encourage me that this is a good thing ... perhaps a sign that I was a little too stressed out before and in need of a rest :) But resting is not my thing and so far my time has been used relatively well. I have met with a career counsellor, entered into an conference for people who want to become entrepreneurs, contacted and spoke to a few people about entrepreneurship, sold some old decor pieces at a consignment shop and spent lots of time with babies! And there is a whole lot more in store for this said free time. Between planning my upcoming trip to Europe, errands, and home improvement projects there should be no end to the excitement coming up - right?!. Today I am particularly excited about my new adventure which I will call operation 'Marche au Puce' (flea market). Having been encouraged by pages of web dedicated to remodeling flea market finds for little or no money...I may have purchased an ugly kitchen hutch at the local Marche au Puce. I intend to take my lovely flea market find and try to turn into something that I can live with. This should prove to be a daunting task as I am not actually adept with tools or do I know the rules of renos ... but I will learn :) hopefully without loosing any important opposable digits. My experimental unit was purchased for a whopping price of $30 (original price was $75) - how can I go wrong with that? This lovely piece appears to be finished in a medium wood veneer with a lovely gold metal inlay circa early 80's. I am not sure of the direction I will take this lovely piece but I have high hopes that I can transform it into the perfect piece that will prove to be the perfect solution for the lack of kitchen storage and the need to stay active and creative....I am after all in the home decor industry and need to learn how to do things like this...so lets keep our fingers crossed :)

Et voila the original which has just arrived...

Finally time to Blog

Intially, I started this blog as way to share my overseas buying trips with friends and family. There was only one problem with this is... I never actually did it? The reality of traveling all the time for business and trying to meet ridiculous deadlines left very little time to recount said journeys and sadly 4 drafts lay unpublished.

So how do I change this scenario? I mean the whole purpose of the blog was to share my life adventures with friends and family abroad whithout having to send mass group emails to similar people who do not have time. In comes simple solution, become unemployed restless person that realizes that adventures don't only happen abroad! Ok perhaps it was not a simple or easy solution. Let me tell you that leaving a company that you have been with for the better part of my life and never having been unemployed was not an easy or light decision...and yet unavoidable and necessary. And so I am now faced with a new journey which will hopefully be exciting and fruitful.

So I hope you will join me for some new adventures a little closer to home...not that I ever posted any of the abroad ones :) Even though now I have the time maybe I will go back and post some of those unpublished ones.

A New Year's Slogan

'2009 is mine!' This is the slogan I declared as the new year rang in, imagining that all the previous years events were erased and new better events were about to begin. I can't take full credit for creating a catchy 'year' slogan. After my friends had declared '2008 procreate' and then brought forth 8 children (all in different families) I thought it was time create my own slogan that was a little more suited to my current resolutions.

That brings us to now. For the past 3 years I have been meaning to start up a blog of some of my roadside adventures. As a buyer for a company that purchases home decor and gifts I spend a lot of time on the road on my own. Combine that with an overactive imagination, a background in both cultural and physical geography and the uncanny ability to get myself into precarious predicaments I thought it high time to get my thoughts down on paper or text into cyberspace...

So in keeping with my New Year's declaration ...welcome to my inner world and some of its little journeys!

Jess