horses

Here we go, landscape painting classs

Bethany Jean — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:39:00 GMT

How about some sky....

Santosh observes class

Chasing me with their landscapes.

To Chandrakal

Bethany Jean — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:26:00 GMT

Sad goodbyes at Prem Kiran, but I will have to go back, and with some new art itinerary.... just need to figure out some logistics .
So, on to Hyderabad after spending a night in Mumbai at Umale's . I got to spend an afternoon with Vanitha and Moni, who drove me there and had lunch at Leonardo's nearby the Taj Mahal. That was fun to just have some visiting/hangout time.
In Hyderabad I met up with Joseph and Machelle and had a day to go around with them, pick up new art supplies for the kids at the Chandrakal orphanage for kids infected with HIV and go to Gol Kunda, an old Muslim fort .

At the top of this Muslim fortress there is a Hindu temple built now, Joseph called this 'poking the bear'.

Hyderabad is growing fast with new Microsoft and Google headquarters. High tech and low tech city.

Driving out to Chandrakal...

the orphanage .

....first class, making their names so I can remember:

Madam teacher ...

The Indian government has come out to visit to see what they do becausethe kids are doing well. They get free meds now from a governmentagency, a big relief. There is a hospital/clinic across the street . Afew years back there was a handful of children that just started livingin the hallway because they lost their parents to AIDS. That is whensome action and fundraising happened to build the orphanage, and nowthere are 57 kids there. HIV education is difficult in the villages.There have been songs made for people that don't read (there are tribalpeoples in the surrounding villages, many languages) , but the virusconcept sometimes just does not compute so well. the orphanage also hasmore boys than girls because girls are more often kept to do

housework by relatives.

Before leaving Prem Kiran

Bethany Jean — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:11:00 GMT

They fed me with the traditional banana leaf style-papdom, greens, plaintain , chapati, curry cauliflower. Jeba feeds me and what is missing from this picture is the pile of raw carrot, beets, turnip and cucumber that comes with every meal. They know i am veg, and I appreciate it. Most of there meals are vegetarian, but it is nice to eat some raw food-
And in case you are wondering, I haven't gotten sick the whole time, except carsick on the ride out from Mumbai the first day. There's a lot of start and stop driving , those water buffalo really don't care about getting out of the way on your clock. And then there's the guy who just stops his car in the highway lane to get out and pee on the side of the road. And coming back to Hyderabad last night, there was a roundabaout that connected to another roundabaout and an unfinished part of the highway that turned into a makeshift one lane dirt ramp onto another highway.
well anyway, I ate well and all is well in that department.

They also dressed me in a sari:

The balloon scavengers..

To the Mountain

Bethany Jean — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:57:00 GMT

After all the mural work, we had a day to go for a hike to the mountain. It was a hike into the hot afternoon as well.... 3 km to the end we all broke down in the shade and got rides back.

girls line up to go

it started out well

We came upon a hindu temple

it had this statue... a rock god?

We go to the water.
Kathy, Balla, and Neha check the parameters.

Well, we lasted a little while longer after leaving the water, but not much longer. We got rides back with 3km still to go.

The making of the Mural at Prem Kiran

Bethany Jean — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:44:00 GMT

This was a feat, and I'm happy to report , no one was hurt in the making of this mural. I was a little worried with Santosh scaling the wall to paint the sky, but all went well.

And that is that

Word from India

Bethany Jean — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:35:00 GMT

This is something I wrote over a week ago, but couldn't post....don't have time for pictures yet, more later!

So, I have no internet access here at theTransformation Center, but I have been here for four days –ish. I arrived in Mumbai on the 9^th and stayed one night at the Grand Central Hotel where I met up with Rabbi Joseph. It was a fine landing spot. We we repicked up by Umale, who is one of the founders of the Transformation Center and we went downtown to pick up art supplies for the workshops I would be leading.

Ok, driving in Mumbai is an experience you may want to see for yourself. Beeping is how you get by, literally, the trucks have signs painted on them that say Horn OK Please. They want you to honk if you are coming up behind them. Beeping is a way for people to know where you are , so speak up. Beeping at people oktoo. And cows. We drove through a sea of people in the downtown where we wentto a wholesale shop for paints , etc. Just tell the guy in the shop what you want and it appears from one of the shop workers, or from a hand coming through a hole in the ceiling from the upstairs supply room.

Next, to the party shop across the street for balloons, glitter, shiny things, ribbon for decorating the paper mache masks we will make.

Back at the hotel, it is cocktail hour, so we go and chat. Then dinner, a special Chinese New Year menu. Rabbi gets the grouper fish. I am suspicious that this is the same type of fish I saw in the Chao Phray River in Bangkok,,,..they were enormous in the Chao Phray, big mouths. And not so appetizing I have to admit, swimming in that city river…. I had a bite, not bad, but Rabbi went to it.

Anyhoo, next morning it was off to the center, a couple hours drive outside of Mumbai. We get there and are served chai tea or coffee, walk around to see the boys dorm, the girls dorm,the womens’ place , the big church center, the grounds and where I will be staying as well, a house down the street that is being lent by an ‘Aunty’ while she is away. BTW, as soon as the car arrived in the center , the children are all vying to greet me, touch me , catch my eye and smile. They know Joseph so are saying hellos, and Shalom,which he taught them last time he was there.

Rabbi has to get back to Mumbai for his flight, and I end up going too so I can stay one night with Umale’s family. I didn't pack much clothes so I wanted to go to some shops for some Kirtans so I can fit in a little bit stylewise. Umale’s daughter Priya is nice enough to bring me around to some shops.Btw, on the way back to Mumbai I was carsick , the stop and go and airconditioning and being in the back seat got me. So at night I am feeling a little shaky, but nothing serious.

Next day we go back to the center and basically jump right in . The kids are gathered in the main building, we talk about what we will be doing , and I mention I want to learn Indian dancing , which the girls were very excited about. Then I am asked to teach them a game. The only thing I can think of that is easy enough on the spot is Duck Duck Goose, which goes over really well except that I am the goose every other round…..

But pretty funny , the kids are really excited. Afterwards we broke into some dance moves, one girl, Pooja , has got the pop and lock moves and mixed with Indian bollywood style, some very good dancers. They are showing me some new moves. Boys too.

Next day we begin the mask making. All the materials are not gathered yet….still the cardboard is missing, which is too bad because it would have been much better to have it prepared, but oh well, going with the slow flow at first. The cardboard is collected from boxes around the center and cut into the basic mask shape. I show how to build the underlying structure and let them go to it. Pictures show better.

The fun part of doing the classes is that they really pay attention and then, when you say go, they start making the thing and it is like a quiet buzzing of busy hands. Other times it is 'Oh Dee Dee, oh Dee Dee' (they are calling me sister).

I am fed on a regular schedule, they know I am mostly vegetarian, so every meal I am served a plate of sliced cucumber,beets, radish and carrot, along with chapatti, dal and some other cooked veggie dish. I don’t even eat this much raw veggies at home, but it is nice. Also, the Indian diet tends to be a bit starchy, so the roughage is a good thing. ….but funny to eat a pile of rabbit food for breakfast lunch and dinner.

In general I am served up more food than I am used to eating and the refills just keep coming.

Vanitha is a staff member assigned to be my manager and translater, she also stays with me in the house down the street.She is very smart and funny and the rolling of eyes and Indian head shaking is quite amusing. I had to ask Rabbi about the head shaking , because it often looks like they are annoyed , but it is not so much that , it is sort of just happenimg for many different expressions.

I live a couple hundred yards from the center, yet I am chauffeured each time I go back and forth, and everytime it is a production, the driver, the guy who guards the house , grandpa who helps with the keys who often carries the grand baby all crammed into the front, then me , Vanitha, and Priya or some conglomeration of helpers in the house piling in and out of the back seat. The locks on the front gate , the front door and the inside door all have keys that look like cartoon keys. One night we were given the wrong keys and the driver and co. had to come back, I think that is when grandpa started coming on these trips to make sure the locking and unlockings went smoothly. Baby just comes for the ride. In the morning , sometimes we walk to the center, like this morning, Vanita was tired of waiting for the chauffer service so we walked. We were just arriving at the center when the car came up to us and the door opened for me to get in so the could take me the last fifty feet,like they wanted to at least make the grand entrance with me in the car. But I didn’t get in I waved them off, and besides, they had to go down the road a way to turn around. We often share this road with the water buffalo , who really don’t care what you do, and don’t necessarily move when beeped at.

This weekend was nonstop, and by the end of the days, I am ready to crash, there’s painting class , paper mache mask–making class, foot reflexology class, drawing class. We had ten more children just visiting this weekend. They really jumped right in for the mask making. We also did a landscape painting class. I felt like that guy that does the oil painting on tv., Now,make a nice blue sky with some friendly puffy clouds….Then horizon line, treeline, fade it down, make a little river that flows to the foreground where it makes a lake that has lilies on it, a duck, some fish, a butterfly, and a water buffalo!

These kids are all children of sex trade workers. Some of the women are at the center too because they can learn new skills to get them other work and get out of the sex trade life and we are in the country side away from the pimps. It’s complicated with the caste system/beliefs . The children are living here now and going to school and having a schedule. It is very important especially for the girls who would otherwise be destined for the same life. It is a pretty amazing place, so I don’t really get exhausted. When taking pictures, once the camera is out everyone is trying to jump into the frame. I’ve tried taking some candid shots,but there’s usually some little face poking into the shot, or literally flying in to get in the picture.

Ok, signing off.

WAIT here's some pictures. It took me an hour to load them and then it crashed so

this is it for awhile.....

This is a view of some of the Prem KIran compound...kitchen, girls drm, boys dorm, office...

Mask making..

Masks made...

From the landscape painting class

snack time lineup

More of Bangkok

Bethany Jean — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:58:00 GMT

the skytrain door

I can make pad thai, massamam curry, tom yum soup, and tom kha soup, papaya salad, sticky rice ans banana dessert..

Here we have your basic buddhist temple style, known as a wat. This was up the street from where I was staying.
Cooking class with May Kaidee, vegetarian restaurant owner/entrpenuer. She is in the process of working with Whole Foods for a vegetarian thai food branding.

Bangkok Breakfast

Bethany Jean — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:24:00 GMT

Wish you all were here to join me...It is summer weather here, although I've been told this is just the very beginning of the hot season, so pretty nice, not overwhelming. I can't write on my blog here in Thailand , it is blocked by security, my web hosters said there is no problem on their end, hopefully it will be ok in India .Soooo, here I am already five full days, getting massages, taking river taxis, sky train, all kinds of markets, took a cooking class. .I went to an art opening last night , I didn't know there was an opening , i just happened to go to the Art Gorillas gallery at the right time. It seemed like a bunch of friends putting on a group show with a band playing. They were all very friendly and excited that a random person came to their show. They had me sign their guestbook, , and by the looks of that, I was the only guest. I wish I spoke more Thai. Oh well, it was a nice vibe, and funny conglomeration of work.Maybe my last day I go on a bike trip for the day outside the city.Ok, it is past midnight here, although I am jacked on Thai ice tea, I am going to try to go to sleep.

My new roommates

Bethany Jean — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:54:33 GMT

I arrived in Bangkok just fine, although 1am. My room is sweet on the
top floor of a guesthouse , which is good because Bangkok can have a
sewage type smell sometimes and being up top somehow avoids that.
Anyway, I'm off to explore. Don't want to be too much of a geek on my
tech gadgets...

Sent from my iPhone

Blogging from my iPhone

Bethany Jean — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:21:06 GMT

This is cool, I can blog right from my phone, no computer needed.......stay tuned for travels to Bangkok, next stop Mumbai, then Hyderabad. I'm not making a new blog , just one long one forever, horses are always on my mind anyway ....

Sent from my iPhone

blogging from my iphone...

Bethany Jean — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:15:43 GMT

Testing , one , two , three.....

the End?

Bethany Jean — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:53:00 GMT

Oh Buck, horse heartbreak

Bethany Jean — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:43:00 GMT

Well, circumstances don't provide enough time for Buck to feel ok being in a trailer. Karin's job ended early and it is time to go. Buck is staying on the ranch for now, but there are some other leads locally we are checking on.

and some more shennanigans....Chandi said I have Buck legs, so I decided to do a comparison

he's got a better tan for sure.

Chandi and Annikan.

More heartbreak,Maple has to say good bye to her boyfriend

Check out the last gallop and other video snips here: Last Gallop

Van , Trailer and Horse for sale.

Bethany Jean — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:38:00 GMT

Well, it has come to this ladies and gentlemen, whoever is following this story.... Buck is just too skittish.Yesterday we were optimistic. He has recently progressed to getting in the trailer, but shutting the doors behind him and going for a drive could take awhile. Today he broke a lead rope and ran back to the barn when I was tacking him up for a ride after trailer practice.He didn't like it when I went to take my sweatjacket off, he yanked on his lead rope and turned into a bucking bronco, breaking away and galloping off..... I turned to follow him, but he was full steam ahead, leaving shoe marks on the pavement all the way home. Chandi arrived at the crime scene sometime soon after to find van doors open, half a lead rope and the horseshoe prints disappearing up the road. Unfortunately , Karin needs to go this week, and has decided we should make a decision, which ruled in favor of leaving Buck, sad as it is, she can give him to some friends. Soooo, onward to the rest of summer.

Van for sale
trailer for sale
horse, best offer

Also, in case anyone is in the market for horses, here is a link to some up for adoption in Maryland:

http://www.hswcmd.org/horses-for-adoption.shtml

Check your local humane society. Lots of people have ditched there perfectly good horses because of the bad economy.

Anyhoo, no picture today.

RainbowTrailer

Bethany Jean — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:34:00 GMT

yesterday I did some fine tuning on the trailer.

guilty of damaging the ozone...

I think he likes it

or maybe not?

Buck goes inside his new digs

We are going for a test drive now,Chandi and I are driving him to a nearby campground for the night
more later

bethany

Picturesque shots while we're here...

Bethany Jean — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:57:00 GMT

Yesterday was stunningly beautiful so we took some photos out in the meadow.
Cloud shadow in the field

yep.

Now we step into the picture..

Buck dances around because it is windy and he is spirited...

Then dinner time, the usual veggie burrito from town.
So that was yesterday. We also looked at a campsite nearby that we will take Buck to for camping practice. Maybe he will like sleeping in a tent?
Today we had trailer practice again after having a serious talk about
Buck being left behind . He got in all fours and stayed for 15 minutes. Maybe it was because I told him about Wisconsin the whole time , the green pasture he can eat all day, maybe the oats I was tempting him with while scratching behind his ears. I also told him to stop being such a sissy. Some how the combination worked pretty well.
and now, Chandi Karin and I are going to town to get pizza. It has been a grey and chilly day, time for food.
byeeeeeeeeeee

Quiet Sunday success

Bethany Jean — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:54:00 GMT

Here he is , all 4 feet in the trailer on a quiet Sunday morning. He even hung out a little while inside. Now we will have to get him used to having the door shut behind him , not today though. Afterwards we went up to a stream so he could play in the water. He splashed around and liked the the mini water fall. The cold water must feel good on his feet because he seemed to like standing in it.
All for today.

I don't know if you can tell, but he is splashing the water with his hoof like he's digging.

Today in the Trailer! also Chandi Arrives

Bethany Jean — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:08:00 GMT

I got out of town early this morning to go pick up Chandi from the airport and do some grocery shopping. Picked up the usual burritos in Westcliffe before returning to the ranch. We got back just in time to find Karin bringing Buck over to the trailer to coax him in . We’ve been putting a bucket of oats the farthest distance into the trailer. Yesterday he put his two front feet in . Today, for the first time, he put all 4 in .

Karin calming him, getting him to keep his head down.

The secret artillary

stepping in...

Stepping in....

Another step...

He actually did step all the way in, but I had moved out of the way so I wouldn't distract him. It lasted about 10 seconds.
Progress!

Chandi is checking out our apartment. When Monica and I first looked around, we peeked in the closet in the bedroom once and decided to never go there again. We didn’t even use the bedroom at all for the first couple days. I got tired of sleeping on the floor and caved . I have my sleeping bag on the bed now. Monica had used the couch the whole time she was here, not taking chances being near the closet. The apartment, by the way, is very cozy. We just got a case of contagious paranoia. Now of course it is Chandi’s turn to snoop, and her investigations have proven we were right . Evidence!, the closet is a bad place!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Well, that is a full day. Buck is on his way, we all are.

Today on the Mountain

Bethany Jean — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:50:00 GMT

I took Buck out on the trail today, through the forest and the chopped down forest.

treepiles

This morning's tea bag guru said:

and here is yesterdays view on the mountain meadow:

Monica's good-bye

Bethany Jean — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:11:00 GMT

The tidal wave cloud.....

From Monica:
Well, I’m heading back to San Francisco today. No flower in my hair. This morning Bethany asked me if I had regrets coming out here to Colorado. Honestly, I had no idea what I was walking into but that’s usually how I approach things. I have no regrets. I got to meet Buck. I had some good conversations with Bethany, some of them in a state of delirium. I did what I could the best that I knew how. I learned a few things along the way and met some friendly people. I can back a van with a trailer hitched to it, which is a real mind bender. All this mountain air has got a few things germinating in my mind and there may be a few paintings that come out of this. Maybe even a graphic novel. Who knows what may come of it. I’ll ruminate on it.
My advice to Bethany: Stay hydrated. Make lists. Eat food…(more food). Be flexible. Safety FIRST and good luck with Buck!
This is “low tech “ out.

Monica on the trail

Before leaving, she got to catch the Memorial Day Parade in Westcliffe, and some yard sales where she did quite well.

Alpacas just shaved..

Really you are