Aufwiedersehen Deutschland, cheers London!

The last few days in Germany were...awesome!  Igor's 28th birthday was on May 2nd (3 important people in my life are tauruses...go figure) and we celebrated it on the 4th.  We went paintballing...I thought I was going to be awesome.  I definitely was not.

I seriously think paintball is a sport for people who really like first person shooter games (i.e. Halo, Doom - for the older folks out there).  There were no trees to climb up, so I just kinda hid in the back and tried to shoot people.  I wasn't the most successful.  And I surrendered really easily.  Some pictures:

Me before paintball started.  As you can tell, I'm wearing climbing clothes...I'm an idiot.  You gotta layer up for paintball!  Those things hurt!!

Left to right: Dennis, Katja (priceless expression!), and Tabea (Igor's girlfriend)

Me, still smiling before paintball....our paintball instructor took pity on me and gave me an extra pair of pants to wear!

Tabea, Igor's girlfriend, giving a thumbs up!!  That mask is very becoming of her...



This is Igor's original team.  I think Yusre (the guys on the very right who is turned away), is smoking...oh, Germans...

But!  The cool thing is that we got to go bouldering on saturday!!  For those of you who don't know, I've gotten really into climbing.  Bouldering is a type of climbing where you are not tethered.  So climb up and jump down.  You're never climbing very high though.  But it is tricky.  German boulderers are very different than Seattle ones.  Differences:

• Height: Seattle is filled shorter people at the gym; in Germany, every guy was like 6 ft tall.  This actually makes a really big different because it determines how far apart the grips are placed.  A taller person has a bigger winspan than a shorter person.  So moves taller people can make, I literally have to jump to make.
• Overhangs:  There are a lot of overhangs in Germany, where you are almost literally climbing upside down.  One of the cool/defining characteristics about bouldering is that it is much more daring than regular climbing.  If you miss a hold, you will fall.  Climbing in an overhang is...tiring, to say the least :).  Gravity's a bitch (sorry Newton).  Anyway, more overhangs == need more strength during climbing.  German climbers are pretty strong.
• Arm strength vs. core strength:  As mentioned above, German climbers are strong.  The interesting thing about climbing is that the best climbers int he world aren't necessarily the strongest, but they know exactly how to shift their body weight, which means they have incredible core strength.  The latter is where Seattle falls.  A climber who relies on their arm strength to work their way up the wall, it's pretty clear that every move requires a lot of effort.  A core strength climbers looks pretty effortless on the wall (but it requires just as much effort!)

Alas, now I've left Germany.  But I'm London!  And I'll give you a hint that I'm not here to drink high tea or eat the shortbread....I'm here to visit my sister!  She moved to London 1.5 years ago (about the same time as I went to Seattle).  So, I finally came out to see here!

Cheerio ol chaps!

 Priya

Back on the road again...

Perhaps I should use a different title for this post...my mother might read this and reach straight for the telephone to call the Nepali embassy and ask if they know where I am :).

But, for those of my readers who are...salivating for my next post, here it is!  I am back on the road!  But this time in a much more tame (somewhat lame!), expensive and orderly place: Germany.  1st world countries...how they bore me :) (sometimes).  But this in one in particular, because for those you who don't know - I spent a year studying abroad in Germany.  I took a year off of high school and college to 'study' in Germany for a year.  I use the term 'study' lightly since I wasn't learning in a conventional sense...

Now, my more critical readers might be asking themselves: why are you in Germany if you aren't really that excited about being there?  Well, if I'm not travelling to eat food, to see a new place or to indulge in my expensive hobbies (i.e. diving/climbing), then what could I be traveling for? People!  I'm traveling to see people.  My best friend, Igor, lives in Germany.  Brief context: Igor and I met on my year abroad.  He ended up being the next door neighbor of my host family.  I guess we hit it off in the first few weeks and have hung out ever since (6 years!).  He's visited me 3 times in America...I thought it might be time for me to come visit him :).  Igor:

Yes, Igor is 3 years old.   

No, but really, this is him in real life

So, the question reigning over your mind is probably: what does it feel like?  Being back in Germany after your year abroad? (clearly, I pretend that I'm being interviewed by the paprazzi...).  It's pretty...refreshing.  Germany was the start of my travels.  It was the first place I'd been to, aside from India & Canada, that I needed a passport.  I came here as a novice adventurer.  Now, 6 years later, I come here as a beginner (seriously, not that much more learned...).  It feels refreshing!  Germany is still Germany.  The trains are on time; the pretzels are delicious; Germans stare at brown girls...everything is the same as I remember, but in a better light.

I think its really easy to feel overwhelmed by the world.  There is no way you'll be able to see and do everything in one lifetime, much less one visit.  There's always a new place to go or something you missed in an old place.  But...it's kind of nice to see Germany similar to the way I left.  It makes you think the world I just a little bit smaller than envisioned.

Ok, bis bald meine lieblingse leser!

Priya