Sapta Napla : comments

Visit of Sushil

Tuka — 2008-06-26T06:33:00Z

End of June an old friend from India visited us. We organized a Sapta Yoga work shop and he spent the night at our place. Although Beatrice was a little bit worried that Noah might have troubles to sleep while in the other room would be some ongoing whisper, chatting etc. all doubts faded away once Sushil arrived. We had in fact a beautiful time and Noah shared some special relation to Sushil instantly.

I was pretty much worried in the beginning since only few people subscribed to visit the workshop but turns out that these worries were useless. We had eventually enough participants and I believe everybody enjoyed it. It was during the first week at my new job, that I had to leave already early to catch Sushil at our home. I had some imagination that this might be a problem but at least until now it wasn't. Time went by fast and may be we meet again in September. We got some invitation to go to India in his new ashram which will be finished during this winter season. Since I know his family very well I know it will be great for Noah. He can run around and play with all those children there and the family will pay attention .... and we can practice without disturbance.

Toilet

Tuka — 2008-06-24T06:21:00Z

Finally Noah understood the miracle of a toilet. Although he still does not connect the process of emptying his bowel while using the toilet, at least he stopped refusing to sit on it. Actually seems that he starts to feel comfortable :)

Hotel Salzburg

Tuka — 2008-05-31T16:07:00Z

At the Gasthof Jägerwirt we checked in during our journey's pause. It was a pleasurable stay with the big advantage that this Gasthof was connected very well to the highway. Noah had quite some fun there and felt instantly like home (that was a really good sign). He enjoyed himself very much ;)

Budapest

Tuka — 2008-05-30T12:05:00Z

Middle of May we started our visit to Budapest. Almost exactly one year after the last time. Primary goal was of course for Beatrice to go "home", visiting old friends and taking care of some administrative stuff as well as maintaining the car. We split the travel in two days because for all three of us it is just to much to go 1000 km at once. So we booked an overnight stay close to Salzburg. We had quite some breaks on our journey and one was at the astonishing scenery at the Chiemsee. We spent almost one hour there.

Once we arrived in Salzburg, the room Beatrice booked via Internet wasn't available anymore. That was unexpected but what to do. It was whit Monday and the town was overcrowded with tourists from all over the world. But we've been in luck and we found a cozy little place with balcony, bath tube good beds and a great breakfast. This break was a real good decision and we were quit relaxed when we continued our journey. Noah was pretty relaxed and I played with him nicely all the time. I guess we've been through his books several time and fortunately the roadhouses in Austria are well equipped with children's stuff, play grounds and good food. That was again great, especially for Noah ...

Once we arrived in Budapest it all started with a traffic jam.....of course. Thus we were pretty happy to arrive at Laci's place. I got all the stuff from the car (one can image that our Fiat Punto was really really full) and we relaxed in our lodge. But already it was cold. Somehow my body temperature is pretty low. It has to be warm around me. I'm not talking about 40 degrees inside the room but 15 degrees is not sufficient to make me feel comfortable at all. Consequently I turned the heat on (middle of may) ..... but what to do. Again Noah had lot of fun giving water to the flowers. Looks like he might become a gardener. At least he has some affection towards flowers :)

The first days passed by and all of us three had some struggles with a cold. Beatrice bought the local medicine which was called propolis. The taste is disgusting and once I stopped taking it I eventually healed. Alright.

At the first weekend I attended a Himalayan Yoga Workshop, which was great and gave me the chance to speak to quite some Hungarians there. Friends of friends. Amazingly they translate books from English to Hungarian but when it comes to casual talking they become quite. That was an experience which is rather common. People somehow are afraid of talking a foreign language because they believe it might be wrong what they're saying. Even if this is true, I personally believe that it just doesn't matter. The main thing is the communication aspect and not the brilliant grammar or vocabulary. Anyway.
Once when Noah felt asleep in the car during lunch time we did some sight seeing. Well that's of course not real sight seeing. It's more or less a rush through or passing along some crumbled ruins or awesome building. For me as a tourist it has been always a great opportunity to watch amazing craftsmanship and such kind of things. I'm very eager to learn history ... in the making. Thus I had this one chance when we went up to the Gellert hill. I shot a picture here.

And by chance an English guide was next to me who explained why there are no skyscrapers in Budapest at least until now (although the communist already managed to disturb this age old law by awful buildings and tenements).
Almost every morning we went to the local market to get some fresh strawberries and cherries. Beatrice is convinced that in Hungary everything tastes more natural. Well better not to judge tastes. Even I could manage to find Internet access. And with all those friends who came to see Beatrice, like little Flora .....

and all those where we went, we always got some presents. Noah was the overall time very tranquil and that left quite some impression. To get some rest we used all possibilities either the staircase (with another new favorite toy)

or at the banks of the Danube ....

All in all it was a very exhausting holiday trip. To be honest it wasn't holiday at all. Now in the aftermath basically Beatrice is still recovering from the drainage of these days. For me it was beautiful to come back home. It was just enough. Because I'm just an outsider not able to speak the language I had the feeling to be the fifth wheel.
On the way home once more we stayed in Salzburg. We explored the alps and cows and whatever was there.

We were guided somehow because the hotel where we planned to stay overnight was closed. But exactly at the time when we arrived the owner was walking the dog. And he just allowed us to stay there. Another small highlight was the trattoria around the corner. I ordered a simple pizza and we realized that Noah likes that very much. Since then we enjoy self made pizza again and again.

Our Visit in Lebus

Tuka — 2008-04-18T05:00:00Z

Once again we've been at the house of Noahs grand parents in Lebus. And Noah enjoyed it very much. He was very open and instantly started to play with them. Already when his grand father met us at the station, and we went by car to their house Noah wanted to give his mobile to him. And the first thing he learned there was the use of a straw. After a couple of tries he already realized how to do it and it was quite a game for him.

But our journey didn't start smoothly at all. We had quite a hurry to get the train in time. And by 10 sec. we arrived before it left the station. Once we found our train compartment, we realised that a pram cannot fit inside of it. I had to dismount it, to make it fit. That was quite an unwanted and unexpected hassle. And after a couple of hours when Noah finally felt asleep another mother with child enter the compartment in most furious way, that Noah felt out of his dreams instantly. And her baby was sick as hell, I was just thinking we go for another compartment or at least for the bar. Anyway we arrived in time and all in all it was more pleasurable than one year ago.

We arrived on a cold, gray and rainy day and the weather didn't change for the upcoming 5 days. It was continuously bad, thus leaving us to play with Noah only in the house which becomes after a while just boring. Fortunately we had the mobile phones of the grand parents. An everyday highlight. Noah enjoyed that very much. Dancing and holding a mobile.

After the 5th day on a Sunday the weather eventually changed and some sunshine filled our lives. Instantly we went to the garden, the pond, exploring everything there. These upcoming 2 sunny days have been really nice and the by was exhausted in the end of the day, sleeping in the night much better besides his teeth ache. Little fresh air works miracles.

After 10 days our short vacation was over and we went home again. This time we had a nice train compartment and good company in it which makes the journey even more pleasurable and the time passing by very fast.

Belly Massage

Tuka — 2008-04-18T05:44:00Z

One of the favorites of Noah in Lebus was the mobile. Although this attraction originated already some months ago and as far as I know hits almost every baby. Anyway even when he was totally exhausted he had to continue with it. In this case he also received some belly massage.....

Mama, Papa

beatrix — 2008-03-28T20:17:00Z

Noah has lot of new things, nice and strange too. When i am outside or he wants something he says MA MA, sometimes shouting and sometimes tells it to papa too.

The strange things, eating the stones from our shelfs or making a big noise. I think he wants to stay always in the center. But also it's possible he just likes the taste of the stone. On the playing ground he eats some sand and small gravel. This is Noah how our physiotherapist told when i told to her she has to look at Noah because we think he walks strange ... maybe the pelvis is not symmetric? She told everything is okay and this is Noah, he walks like that....

Today evening he wanted to sleep with his papa. He was on the way to fall a
sleep but was holding him.:) For me was beautiful to see his love towards his papa.

Today afternoon he learned with papa to walk on the stairs and he was very proud to show to papa it.. With papa the relationship is different and beautiful.

Impressions of a growing Boy

Tuka — 2008-03-09T05:32:00Z

A small collection of pictures we did recently. Although many of them are available on our photo site, I guess it's more convenient to get them from here....

That pic was taken in the garden of my mother's house. It has something special, living animals, namely two cats. And actually seems like you can do everything with them, without getting a scratch. At least the cats are in some kind of balance.

The boy is having a good time. He enjoys whatever he's doing. And when he's smiling you cannot be angry with him anymore. Nature arranged it quite smart.

The cutie ....

Changes

Tuka — 2008-03-09T04:29:00Z

It's almost 2 months since the last entry. Lately time passes by so fast and for Noah many new things are coming up, every day. The latest highlight is to play hide and seek. In our bedroom we have a palm tree, and behind that he's hiding all the time, waiting that somebody is trying to find him. Of course one can see him quite obviously but since his eyes cannot spot you he believes you can't see him. So cute.

Another new thing is that he wants to give water to all our flowers. Of course this might be not so good for them, but there's no chance to avoid it. We'll give him an empty bottle to water them.

He still so small. You can play tricks on him very easily because he completely believes in what you do and say. When we go to other children usually they want to get everything, the toys, the cookies just all. And Noah is giving it to them ..... very sweet. But still we are fighting with his teeth. Looks like a never-ending story. I lost meanwhile the count. Maybe we have something between 12 and 14 teeth, which are outside. For sure the last weeks nights have been disastrous.
Nevertheless we had some help lately to find a new flat. Although the contract is not signed yet and although we can stay there only for about 10 months we believe this is a good chance for a change. Anyway many things in the future are not clear yet and this might be only an interim solution. But it looks nice.
Another help we received is for getting a nice and cheap ticket to go to the Grandparents in Lebus. That'll be in the first half of April.
In the middle of May we are planning to go to Budapest visiting a bunch of people from Beatrice's side. And of course, like last time, I have the chance to visit some yoga class again. Sounds promising. Beatrice wants to send me to a Thai masseur. Hmmm.
My dissertation approaches the final stage now. End of February I had the presentation of the complete validation in front of some 20 people at the institute. But it wasn't me who was presenting but my students. And besides some small weaknesses it ran quite smoothly. Although the time spent was especially in the last week tremendous. Anyway, I hope to never touch again chapter 1 and 2 for the rest of my life. When all is working well, I might be able to finish the complete thing in about 1 week. We'll see.

A bed has to come

Tuka — 2008-01-18T10:28:00Z

Looks like time is reap at least for me to find a more suitable solution for a convenient sleep. Although I know he might sleep in our bed for at least as long as his nourishment comes from the breast of his mother, he starts to need more and more space in the bed. And it's way to small for the three of us. Last night I had a dozen of times his feet in my face while he was trying to fall asleep. For him that means to turn around hitting the bed either with hand or feet. Since I'm lying next to him his feet are hitting me with quite some power. I cannot escape that attack doesn't matter on which side I am. Due to the breastfeeding his head is always towards Beatrice thus his feet apart from her. Tonight was a strike. Instead of waking up with a kiss a woke up with a dazzling blow around 3 o'clock a.m.. That was way too much for me. Maybe I'm inpatient or selfish, but I was/ am out of balance when I'm waking up like this.

I wonder what I did to receive this kind of treatment. Consequently I took my blanket and went to the couch in the living room. But I was way to sober to fall asleep here. What can be a solution? I admit to have no idea at the moment. Who knows how long we are still in this flat. It might be ill-advised to invest in a child's bed at this very moment.

Yoga Weekend

Tuka — 2008-01-16T09:44:00Z

Last weekend I had planned a beautiful and very relaxing yoga weekend in the black forest, together with some people of the university and the teacher of the universities yoga classes, Hans-Jörg, in a monastry next to Sasbach.

Together with Hans-Jörg we planned beforehand what we are going teach there. He wanted us to share the lessons of which I had no objections. Although he had some strange ideas about connecting chakras with asanas in an imaginary way he fortunately didn't insist on that.

Actually the whole trip started already with almost 1 hour of waiting on the pavement indicating somehow that it's probably better not to go. Since it was decided and with this delay we eventually started. On arrival we checked in and besides some weird comments from one girl everything was fine. Okay the night was terrible, I was freezing like hell .... it was so cold and the blankets so thin.

Nevertheless 6.30 Saturday morning we started with the practice and as planned we shared the lesson. Around noon the disaster happened. Another girl instructed us on a series of body postures in such a haste and with so much talking that I wasn't able neither to follow nor to enjoy the whole thing. Hans-Jörg contended how beautiful it was and he asked about the opinions of the others. I did as I was told telling my personal experience, my truth. And that somehow wasn't what he wanted to hear. To make it short: from 2 to 3 the two of us had a conflict management dispute. Somehow, latest at this point, the relaxing yoga weekend was over before it really started.

To be blamed of telling the truth is undesirable. But especially in the path of Yoga its indefensible from my point of view. Another small thing which clung to my mind was the food which was not like home. That is of course okay, but when Hans-Jörg came to me telling how good his beef steak is I lost all my faith. Maybe everyone thinks different about Yoga and about these esoteric techniques, but to respect each other in his way of life is it vegetarian, vegan or full of meat is a fundamental part of coexistence. I was kind of shocked.

Thus I was pretty happy when the weekend was over and I was back in the cradle of my home. Seems like the lesson for me was to realize that the own aspirations might not be in favor for others. Nevertheless despite all this trouble on Tuesday evening at my weekly yoga class, the advanced students who attended the weekend too, came to my class to practice together satya, the path of truth.

First Words

Tuka — 2008-01-14T12:14:00Z

Almost exactly 13 month after his birth, Vinci uttered the first words. I had the chance to record it on celluloid and embedded it here. Turn the volume on to enjoy it as we are still doing every time. A small and very cute miracle.

Toilet Paper

Tuka — 2008-01-05T16:30:00Z

Toilet Paper, originally uploaded by Tukaram.

We have a new quite interesting hobby. Because we realize how beautiful it is to play with toilet paper. Such a petty that there are only so little tissues on one role :) But fortunately we have enough roles ....

The 2nd Christmas day

Tuka — 2007-12-31T14:19:00Z

The second Christmas day we went to the grandparents with two cats. Pets are always a highlight for Vinci. Anyway he enjoys the zoo very much already but touching and petting them without fences is the best. Therefore the real Christmas tree or the presents wasn't half as much fun as the cats.

We enjoyed again the bathing tube very much. But without caressing the cats we cannot do anything ...

Divine Love

Tuka — 2007-12-25T13:31:00Z

The first birthday of Noah and Christmas brought along a couple of new things, changes that occur anyway all the time especially for babies like him. These changes usually go by without notice. Some others have a strong impact for both, parents and child.
Now Noah starts to develop his own will, the first steps to his ego. I believe that the ego is such an important part of ones' self, plays such a major part of ones' life, that the advances have to be steered in a very good manner. This manner is twofold driven by either the father or the mother. Besides, the foundation is always the love. But love again can be manifold. The appearance might by of union but might as well be of separation. Duality is part of this life. Thus duality doesn't exclude one or the other side. Actually it's always complimentary. Where there is black, there's also white and everything in between, where there is light, there's also shadow. Considering such universal law it has to reflect on the daily education of the self.
In our life Noah plays a central role. His mother is giving the compassionate love whereas the father is doing the same but with less affection (at least carried to the outside). Unfortunately compassion seems to be always paired with weakness. The ego of the alleged stronger tries to take advantage from it. But as a matter of fact it's not weakness at all but tremendous, deeply rooted power. Noah's ego is now exploring his limits. He knows how far he can go with both father and mother. He understands very well what he has to do, to get what he wants. But sometimes he goes far beyond the allowed. Yesterday was such a day. Once the limits are passed and the tears are running, once it is too late, once the deed has been done the yield will follow. Comprehension of both sides is the way out of the misery. To understand the action and to handle it are different things. But in that way a lesson can be learned. It is remarkable how fast our mind is forgetting the past. But the small spots on the white of our soul are there to remind us of what we have learned.

The Teeth

Tuka — 2007-12-20T12:55:00Z

Looks like this is our fate ..... at least for now.Teeth, Teeth, Teeth. Roughly since 8 months we have problems caused by teeth. It's getting way too much. I found one picture explaining the current situation.

The upper part of the picture shows the upper jaw, the bottom part, the lower jaw. Now we are all the way through to number 5 and 6. And looks like these are even more painful than the others before. But the unhappiness and grouchiness occurs more in the day than in the night time. We already know that he's eating everything, but now he's biting so hard ..... at least I can sleep at night, but Beatrix has to breastfeed him continuously.

Fortunately after 20 Tooth the whole thing is over. But I guess it's not over until it's over On the other hand we are quite in luck. Next to his omnipresent teeth he has no other problems, no sicknesses ... naught. Hope this continues for a while.

Christmas Eve

Tuka — 2007-12-25T12:41:00Z

Our christmas eve was quite beautiful. We had a splendid palm tree which I decorated profoundly by now.

I prepared the traditional potato salad ... so good. The first time that it worked (although it was the second time in my life i prepared it at all) And we had such marvelous presents. Beatrice got some Hindi DVDs, beautiful earring together with a ring and some toe socks. Vinci got one big wooden toy and myself, I got an orange danish candle, a "path of the light" book, for incense sticks a Japanese holder and a framed hand written poem by my love. Now we have to find the right place in the flat, to put it.

Birthday before Christmas

beatrix — 2007-12-21T08:58:00Z

We have some events before Christmas, for example St.Nickolaus and birthday of Noah:).Was nice the whole family was together,Hardy, Noah and I.He get the
kreisel (whirling top) with the ocean, dolphin, boats ... And came one big box from the grandparents, Evi and Roland. To open that was already the big fun. Lot of things inside Safari clothes, one ostrich from Namibia and the colorful duplo :). I was the first who started to play with that. Noah likes it very much. But like always we had and still we have the tooth problem, now on the back and almost outside.
Looks this is more hard for him and what is strange Noah has more pain in the daytime. Actually this is better. We are like a glue always together (he is on my breast) to forget the pain :(.

Sleeping in the swing

Tuka — 2007-11-30T21:23:00Z

Noah has a new toy, and he's using it intensively ;)

Missing Rhythm

Tuka — 2007-11-24T13:51:00Z

More time to write ;) Christmas eve is coming closer and we can start to feel the magic of the advent season. Today Beatrice start to decorate our Christmas palm tree with two pieces. Better to start now than when it's too late. The flat is changing like every year. What is still missing is the advent calendar. Since it's self made it's always more effort .... but more beautiful. I wonder if Noah can feel this change too.

Lately we have a troublesome time because he lost his rhythm totally. I guess since 3 weeks its like that. For him looks like he's full of power nevertheless, but for us, especially for Beatrice its much different. Until now we couldn't find a way to cope with this change but its draining our power and my patience. He's not sleeping in the evening before everyone's in bed. He's hardly sleeping day time. Looks like he doesn't want to sleep at all. This is wrong. And once he's tired he's more destructive, for instance to my donald duck books. I'm suffering ... ;)

They say once the first six teeth are out it's finish ... you'll have a break ... not for us.

He's still grumpy ... but of course he knows very well to be a real cutie too. Looks like nature did it quite clever. An angel during the day, the devil during the night. Hope that time will save us from these troubles quite fast.

The Washing Machine

Tuka — 2007-11-19T10:02:00Z

It's so funny, one of the biggest attractions in our flat is the washing machine. Noah is in love with it. Every time it's running he cannot turn away. He wants to open it kiss it, even crawling inside ....

Impressions of the late summer 07

Tuka — 2007-10-25T11:34:00Z

At the Zoo

Tuka — 2007-11-01T12:28:00Z

With the hungarian grandfather we strolled around the zoo to check out Noahs favorite animals, the horses and donkeys and goats. We can even give some food for them

Unfortunately everything gets boring so fast, so the best is to entertain all by oneself.

Recent Happenings

Tuka — 2007-11-18T11:09:00Z

It's been so long since I had recently time to write into this diary. The work was/is pressing me, my Ph.d. thesis is pressing me, my family wants a door bar .... more pressure. I believe it's natural to save time at least in a way not to do the minor things. Nevertheless today the parents of Bea are here. Since I have no means of communication with them I have some time to catch up with the some stories.

Next to all the small highlights we experience every day with the boy, we had a couple of outstanding things. For instance the visit of a girlfriend of Bea. We got lot of things from Hungary like a baby seat for the car, or Hungarian butter and cheese .... and we couldn't pay her for that. Although we gave the money to her, she rejected it and hid it somewhere in our flat where Bea found it afterwards. At the same time we received a cry for help from India because of the devastating flood and for us this was the sign to spent the money there. This way it served hopefully a good purpose. To be open towards your surroundings gives you a hunch of the masterplan which is upon us.

Another experience was the death of my grandfather last Monday. It wasn't unexpected, since he was sick quite some time, but it's always different once it happened. There's a disparity between knowing and experiencing. The most astonishing thing is the delicate handling of my grandmother. How she was mastering this situation, despite her own sickness is amazing. So much power, so much determination. She managed the bureaucracy as well as the funeral preparations.

From my point of view I finalized the project in the last review meeting. It was pretty successful, but kept some questions open. Other issues I discussed directly with my PO and they lead to more work in the aftermath. I underestimated the amount of this work which meant that I'm currently still not working on my Ph.d. thesis. I have to find a way to do so. Until Christmas I shall give to my boss at least a rough version of it to stand a chance for the defense of this thesis in February.

11.11

Tuka — 2007-11-15T13:28:00Z

11.11 That is our day (every day) with Hardy. When we met in Pokhara, the first time .... Hardy came one day later. We were in the meditation when somebody was walking next to where I was lying on the stairs. Almost i told:"Hey...." :) Afterwards on the dinner he was so shy. Sure many girls .... After the dinner i heard him speaking very well English and i avoided to talk to him the next days.

This year the 11.11 was on a Sunday. Everything was normal getting up, playing with Noah and then Hardy came inside the room with some "small" box. That was a Belgium chocolate and 10 minutes later i realized one small envelope. I opened it and inside was one pair of green earrings. Very beautiful, i think i never had in my life such a beautiful earring like that. This man is amazing, usually the woman is thinking of the wedding day, first date, rendezvous ... Yes, i know i have a special man :).That was a big surprise. I was in the sky and still i am there since i know him.

Summer holiday in Lebus

Tuka — 2007-09-08T07:40:00Z

At the end of august, peak of the summer, we decided to travel one week to Noah's grandparents. Although the birthday of the grandfather was one reason, another one was to visit them, after such a long break. For us it was the first time to travel together by train and to stay with the boy almost 10 days away from home. It was definitely a challenge. But we did it as clever as possible. We booked the train ride first class and we booked a whole compartment. So we could make use of the pram, i.e. Vinci could sleep inside it. Anyway when we arrived the boy was absolutely exhausted and slept the first night more than 12 hours. That was great for us and we hoped he would continue to sleep that long. But this glimmer of hope was shattered fast and, even worse, turned to its opposite. The last days we barely could catch sleep because he had to struggle with his teeth, his stomach as well as all the new impressions like the fabulous garden with the big pond and the great paddle pond.

We had so much fresh air, that was something totally new for him. And in the garden thousand of things one can discover, all those blooming flowers with the diversity of colors and forms, the insect and critters and the gold fishes and frogs in the pond ... overwhelming. Unfortunately in the second part of the week the weather got little bit cloudy, but that wasn't really hindering us. We had a great time in the hamper ...

as well as with everything else. And never we could stop laughing and smiling and enjoying.

Funny Video

Tuka — 2007-09-07T19:48:00Z

To be at the right place in the right time with a video camera is almost impossible ... but sometimes ....

A day off

Tuka — 2007-08-16T18:07:00Z

The last weekend Beatrice eventually decided to finish her toe problem and to go to the doctor on Monday. That was a good thing I believe, but of course couldn't be solved Monday. She had to go on Tuesday again to a specialist who did the work in a couple of minutes ... professional .... cold-hearted ... like a butcher (but anyway his job has to do with meat :)) Nevertheless that meant for me to take the Tuesday off because the doctor forbid her to go anywhere, only to put the foot up ... that's it. Almost impossible for her to sit without moving around :-)

Anyway Noah had also an appointment at the physiotherapist so I had to go with him. This lady was so happy when she saw me because her greatest problem was the communication with Beatrice in English. But now there was no need for any translation ... good for her. We stayed there one and a half hours .... that was such a long treatment but I believe very good for Noah. Because after the usual fight when he finally fell asleep many things came up which never came before. The physiotherapist told me that's a difference if the father or the mother is there because the boy in some way is always reflecting the one he's connected with. In this case with me and there came up some mechanical problems on his right shoulder still something from the womb like some big tension and he was working very hard on it. Another neat side effect was that he was sleeping on my chest. Although I couldn't hardly feel my arm anymore (one and a half hours, 12 kg) we came close again like before I went to Canada. I was quite relieved afterwards

Evolution

Tuka — 2007-08-11T07:12:00Z

After I came back from Canada I had to see that many things have changed during the last ten days. Although Beatrice always kept me up to date by phone it's a difference to see with your own eyes. Like now, he can crawl .... very well, very fast.

Not only that. Looks like once he understood how to lift the buttock he also managed to get up. Of course with the help of the table or ... even worse the book shelf. That's pretty bad for all the books inside.

That gave me quite some trouble. Firstly the bookshelf itself, because it wasn't fixed on the wall at all. Since Vinci now wants to climb the whole thing I had to fix it as fast as possible. Secondly the books, because I actually like them, that's the reason why they are still here. Now somebody is playing "taste and throw" with them which gives my mind such a hard time. Here I can learn to disattach from the objects.

Another thing that troubles me is that when I came back he somehow was confused of who I am, or what I am doing here or whatever ... Now after almost 2 weeks he obviously knows that I am part of this environment, but thats it. He always wants to go to his mamma. Not that I am concerned about it, I guess thats pretty much normal, but that is a definite change. It would be a lie to pretend that this behaviour doesn't affect me. It's really not easy to be kind of neglected in this way .... I hope this will change again. One cannot force it. But one thing is fore sure, I have to travel again and again due to my work.

Final Days in Canada

Tuka — 2007-07-30T19:56:00Z

Friday was a pretty relaxed day. After the typical morning procedure, I started to work during the morning time on my paper. Actually I thought to spend more time on it but I felt like it's inappropriate to waste time at the computer instead walking around in Toronto. I guess I'll never return here....although one never knows:)
In the afternoon I took quite a walk to Bloorstreet and Yorkville which are quite trendy parts of the town. I was determined to get the stuff for Beatrice, and after a couple of hours I eventually had what I wanted. I hope she'll like it. Meanwhile I turned so hungry I needed to get some food in my stomach. Especially because I wanted to go to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) which is another highlight of Toronto. It's full of all kinds of evolutionary things, a couple of exhibits from ancient Greece and Egypt, from ancient Peru and some Japanese art from Hiroshi Sugimoto. Quite packed but nice. I enjoyed somehow staying around the Greek and Egypt exhibits because I felt what great opportunities I had to travel to these places and see all these things in the real life. I was deeply grateful. In the evening the planet travelers hosted a free BBQ. That was the only time I ate a veggie burger and I will never do it again. How can they serve poison like this ....

Saturday was business day. I finalized the paper which took me almost the whole day. Nevertheless I met some great people during lunch break specially one lady from Labrador, who was telling me a couple of real insight of Canada's native population. I was shocked to learn that there is the highest suicide rate amongst teenagers of native Indians compared to the rest of the world. In the afternoon I went to 'little India', once again, to my favorite restaurant and I get in touch with another east Indian guest who was frankly speaking about immigrant problems and who advises me to some great places in India once I go back there .... was that a sign :-)

Sunday came fast and since it was the last day it wasn't much what was left to do. So we decided to visit the CN Tower which they proclaim as the worlds largest building reaching up to 553m into the sky. After the usual queue which kept us almost an hour waiting, we managed to reach the elevator which took us to the lookout platform, where is also the elephant glass. Sounds impressing, but is not. It a pretty small glass floor on which one can stand. Nothing really special although Canadians want it to be.

Afterwards we went one last time to the islands, to rest at the beach. We headed back around 4pm. I took a fast shower in the hostel and went to Kensington Market to get some food and enjoy briefly the festival there, whatever it was about. But that took all quite some time. Thus we were already delayed with our travel arrangements and we went in a great hurry to catch the Airport bus. It left just in front of our noses...gone. But fortune came to help us. Since the bus stop was located in front of a hotel I met a chauffeur, a Sikh, who offered a ride to the airport in his deluxe limo. That was really great. A kind of first class trip. And we arrived in time for check-in.

The flight was pretty bumpy not really bad, but always shaky never really tranquil. So we had a hard time to fall asleep. And the on board entertainment hasn't improved since last time at all. So I was very happy and glad when I arrived at Frankfurt airport, 14 degrees, cloudy ... And I remembered once more the beautiful sight from the maid of the mist in the middle of the horseshoe of the Niagara Fall.