Overexposed

If I listened to Larry Price and kept my camera on "program" I wouldn't have accidentally taken this picture.

Dhobi Ghat

Dhobi ghat, or washerman’s way, is in center of Mumbai and has long been an area for public washing of clothing and linen. The linen comes from hospitals, homes and garment factories all over the city and is placed in big bags to be transported. Each cubicle holds one dhobi and he stands in ankle-deep water and bangs the clothing against a stone slab to clean it. It is later dried by hanging or small dryers and ironed before returning. The British began the tradition long ago, but since the advent of home washing machines the traffic has been cut down to one million pieces a day. The dhobis are paid about 150 rupees a day for 16-hours of work which amounts to 3 dollars. They sleep in shacks next to the cubicles and have two months vacation during the monsoon. White linen is placed in a solution called neel which gives it a slight blue tint to make it appear whiter.

Day 3 - Hittin' up the museums.

So this post and the two below it document my trip through Paris where I had an absolutely wonderful time. My cousin and I stayed with a family friend who lives in the heart of the city and was a very gracious host. We tried to see all of the sights in the three or four days we had in the city, but also to do things on a whim and just enjoy ourselves. I loved the streets of Paris more than any other city I've been to. Every morning I woke up and went for a walk and took pictures and stopped at a boulangerie for a pastry and coffee - I loved it. I'm glad that I got all of the typical Paris stops done because next time I go back I'll be able to anything I want and see all of the different neighborhoods. The time we had there was lovely, but felt short.

Now I'm in Mumbai, India. I arrived two days ago and I've been visiting family and eating delicious food and shopping a lot. I haven't even had time to take more that 20 pictures. Once I feel a little more comfortable walking around along in the city I'll have lots of posts for you all, I promise.

All in all, I'm so happy and I hope you enjoy the photos. Remember, you can click the photo to view it larger.



A woman lights a prayer candle in an Orthodox Church in Paris.



A museum employee watches visitors at the Louvre.






The Louvre.



The Mona Lisa and her fan club.






Some kids sitting near the Pont des Arts.

Day 2 - Walking, Walking, Walking

Nicole and Shona walking ahead of me through a short cut to a fresh food market.




Someone's pretty driveway.






Tourists walk by a painting in the Palace at Versailles.




The garden outside Versailles.






The RER at the Eiffel Tower stop.





I had to ask two tour buses to move out of this shot. They were nice to me.





Two seats on the RER.

Day 1 - On the Road, On a Plane

Images from my first day of a long trip.





My papa driving me to the Chicago airport.




Break for a coke.




Waiting for the plane to board.



View over France.





Jardin de Luxembourg.





House in the Left Bank neighborhood in Paris.


More to come....

Transitioning

My life has consisted of a lot of packing and unpacking the last few days. I'm taking my limited time in Peoria sleeping a whole lot and relaxing. There is a transportation strike in Paris right now so my flight got rescheduled and now I have a direct flight from Chicago to Paris on Wednesday. I'm REALLY excited for everything that's going to happen in the coming weeks and I will post for you as much as possible.



My home sweet home.



Toonces, my lazy cat.



My momma being a great unpacker.



Where I watch hours of television on my computer.

It's Almost Over

The school year is coming to a close - 6 days left in Columbia, 10 days left in the country. I'm heading out to India so soon, it feels very surreal. Our last weekend in town has been a big celebration with good food, music and company.



People still don't like getting their picture taken.

A Real Final Project

Hey all! I cleaned up the audio and took out a lot of unnecessary images. Unless I find any more errors, this is my final edit. Please leave me some feedback!

To see it larger, click here.

Update on Karin Davis

This is a rough draft, so please leave me feedback before I turn it in.