Gypsy Friday: December 2011

I just got back from a month long trip to India, hence why I have been m.i.a. from blogging land. India was sensory overload and a total culture shock. I came home with a new appreciation for how blessed we are to be Canadian. Canada is beautiful, safe, free and full of opportunity (cheesey, right?). I will speak for myself when I say growing up Canadian...you kinda live in a ignorant little bubble. For a lot of kids in Canada our biggest worry is designer denim or landing the latest iphone. We have not seen poverty or hardship like in India. There are literally shoe-less babies begging in intersections and homes made out of tarps. Did you know that the government actually bulldozed through slums claiming they were making an effort to 'better' Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth games. Imagine having NOTHING and then having your own government roll over your 'house' and what little else you have, all with no effort to give you any notice or effort to relocate your family. There are hungry bellies and animals everywhere. There are beautiful colours, never ending honking cars and animals scattered roaming through garbage (please see note below***). I saw cute but scary monkeys...huge camels...and elephants! While the amount of poverty is overwhelming I struggled most with the street dogs wandering around...because if you haven't realized yet, I am that creepy dog person. All of them limping, hungry and sometimes dead. I wanted to scoop each one up and pack them into my luggage. Instead I just fed as many scared puppies as I could.

There are many lovely parts to India as well. If you are part of the lucky in India, you will have a gorgeous lavish home filled with servants, drivers and everything you could ever wish for. You can find all of the upscale things we have at home, in India. Prada, Gucci and some of the most fashionable and beautiful women in the world. The Taj Mahal and all the forts are rich with beautiful history and romance. Meeting my husband's wonderful, generous family and friends in India was also the main highlight. I also got to visit the exact same park my grandmother was at in the 1970's!!! And while I did have a heavy heart in India, I have hope that it will get better. In the meantime, I will appreciate all that I have, recycle everything like a crazy woman, foster homeless dogs and quit harassing my husband for the latest Marc Jacobs hand bag.

***Note to tourists: PLEASE STOP using animals for entertainment! While I do understand that people are using the animals as their livelihood it is important to stop the cycle and protect the animals. Don't pay the man who leashed a frikken monkey to do ridiculous tricks in silly outfits and please don't take a elephant/camel/horse ride! These poor animals forced to work when it's hot as shit out are clearly malnourished and tired. WALK!!

If you want more info on why I feel so passionate about this please go here.