vauxhall & I: April 2008

The marathon is easy. There are no lions.

Two weeks ago, the London Marathon swept through Greenwich town centre & just past the main road my apartment is off of, so we had a first-hand view of the action...it was amazing. The dedication, determination, & strength of people who run marathons gives me chills & brings me to tears! (I'm serious, I had to hold back what might have been a complete emotional catharsis/meltdown brought on by the power of the masses coming together for a comon cause). But even more so is the strange goodwill events such as marathons bring out in ordinary people(standerbyers). It was odd for complete strangers to be laughing and talking to each other in a city known for being normally noticeable distant and cold. Day-to-day you're considered a freak if you so much as smile or make eye contact with another human being on the street...But on the day of the marathon, things were different. Complete strangers, even complete strangers who were ENGLISH, were opening up to conversations about themselves, what they do, where they live, who they date, & how they've tried to run for fitness before but it's just not their thing or how they ran in the marathon last year but suffered an injury during training this year...

There is something really powerful, I think, about watching other human beings push themselves to the limit...physically, mentally, emotionally, & often in memory of someone or for a charity. It's like watching the possibilities of your own strength come alive in front of you in someone else. There's passion, sweat, love, joy, pain, the nasty, the beautiful, lots of people gathered together for a single cause, cheering others on, screaming and meaning it, pushing themselves, and all of us opening our eyes to all the little and big ways human beings, our physical bodies and our minds are amazingly strong. There was one guy who had run 35 marathons around the world in 22 days. Unbelievable. Not to mention INSANE! People from all over the world come to London to run the marathon, too. People with incredible stories & causes.

Among those who ran this year were six Maasai warriors from Tanzania who ran to raise money for clean water for their village back home. They ran the 26.2 miles in traditional clothing including sandals made of car tyres! See a few photos from the marathon-taken before it rained :)-and check out the link below...it's the chief of the Maasai warrior group's diary of his time in the UK (his 1st time outside of Tanzania). Funny & a bit scary from a vegetarian's point of view. :/

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/story/0,,2273114,00.html

Olympic torch in London...

You can't actually SEE the torch in these photos, but on April 6th, the olympic torch made its way on a boat down the Thames PAST MY APARTMENT (this is the view from the balcony off of my room!) to the O2 Millenium Dome in Greenwich where it ended its stint in London. It was cool to watch the torch's journey on TV until it boarded the boat and then run out onto our balcony & see the boats go by with helicopters trailing them above! exciting times!

DUBLINX2

I liked Ireland (and its residents) so much my first visit in February, I had few objections to Ratna's suggestion that we journey there over Easter weekend. Rut & I were lucky enough to receive the gracious hospitality of my favourite doctor from Ireland who kindly welcomed us back to the city of Dublin(and fed us absinthe upon our arrival!)...Fun times, needless to say. Highlights of the trip included: the largest calzone ever, the discovery of "stimulation drink", a day trip to Glendalough & the Wicklow Mountains, which are absolutely gorgeous, & the Jameson whisky tour, where Ratna became a world-class whisky taster...Oh, and one more thing...when in Dublin out in Temple Bar, mind the dodgy English blokes there (wasted!)on holiday(see pic below (25th down)-i was forced into the picture, but ironically, am the only one fully in view, eyes fully open, & smiling)...