Filtering by Category: Snapshots

Watching the sun set from beneath palm trees at a peaceful yoga ashram in Kerala, India

Meditation, culture, & yoga: Ashram life in Southern India

Added on February 10, 2013 by Jessica Yurasek.

My foot is asleep. No, I take that back. My entire leg is asleep. A numb tingling sensation that reminds me of childhood gymnastics shoots upwards through my body. I have been sitting cross-legged in silent meditation, wrapped in the darkness of early morning for satsang (sanskrit for in the company of the "highest truth") since 6:00AM. Given my current inability to feel my legs, I'm not sure things are quite so enlightening right now.

Decorative remains after a puja ceremony — Checking out beautiful decorative designs from a puja ceremony at the yoga ashram in Kerala

Sometimes you have to surrender before you win + Answering Mother India's call

Added on January 30, 2013 by Jessica Yurasek.

Stepping out of customs and into a crowded pen of late-night travelers, the warm Mumbai air reassures me we are no longer in China. Bunches of people are waiting, but not for us. Unfortunately, that appears to include the taxi driver we'd supposedly hired in advance.

"Sometimes you have to surrender before you win. Surrender is at the heart of the Indian experience." — Gregory David Roberts, from Shantaram

If there's one thing I've learned about India, it's that surrender really is at the heart of the Indian experience. There are so many inexplicable hoops and loops to everything here, and the method in which they are worked out rarely makes logical sense.

In this instance, in order to find our driver, we have to pay someone to contact someone else who eventually discovers our guy sleeping in his car.

Peeking inside the communal living space of a hutong — Peeking inside the communal living space of a *hutong*

It all comes down to perspective + Exploring a traditional hutong in Beijing, China

Added on January 21, 2013 by Jessica Yurasek.

Beijing is famous for its hutongs.

No, this is not a type of food, nor is it a Chinese rapper.

Hutongs are charming courtyard residencies clustered together and scattered about the city––they're a glimpse into old-world China. In Mongolian, the word means 'town,' a remnant from their 13th century invasion. Back then, single families lived in communal spaces such as this. As times grew tough, haphazard additions filled the once open-aired inner courtyards to accommodate family growth. Sadly, most traditional hutong areas were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

Hiding from the camera amidst the narrow aisles of Qing Ping market

A walk through Qing Ping market in Guangzhou, China

Added on January 14, 2013 by Jessica Yurasek.

The Chinese eat everything. If you don't believe me, just visit the street markets.

Guangzhou is probably the most important trading and manufacturing city of southern China. It's filled with clusters of towering skyscraper apartment buildings, and factories line the freeway for miles leading up to the city center. Tucked away amidst all this modernity hides Qing Ping market, a remaining section of old China nestled just across from the central island.

Mengwi royal Balinese temple palace, from old times

One month of impermanence + Farewell Bali

Added on December 5, 2012 by Jessica Yurasek.

It's been one month on the road, but it feels so much longer. I am in southern China now, and after days of being blocked out of my own blog (even with a VPN), miraculously the Great Firewall seems to have peeked open for a moment, time enough to post a farewell to beautiful Bali.

Cacao plantation or bust, road tripping in Dominican Republic

Added on September 16, 2012 by Jessica Yurasek.

We are driving north towards San Francisco de Macoris from the capital, Santo Domingo.

Little vignettes of this third world country blur through my mind as we speed along. I am groggy, blinking away sleep, but curious. I have never been here before.

Three little black kids pump water into big blue plastic jugs from a well, five small boys play baseball alongside the road on a dirt patch, a man rides a horse with rope reins, goats pick through garbage in the ditch, a cow rummages for food in a dumpster, four men sit at a card table playing dominos. Wooden carts selling coconuts, banana bunches, and white eggs dot the roadside. Garbage is scattered everywhere. These scenes register in my brain a few seconds delayed, we are driving so fast. It seems cliché, like something I've seen in National Geographic, but it's real and right before me.

O Brother Where Art Thou? Snapshots from New Zealand

Added on May 24, 2012 by Jessica Yurasek.

On the southernmost tip of the south island sits Curio Bay, the closest I’ve ever been to Antarctica. Wind whips my face and hair and I feel I might blow over the cliff’s edge into the ocean. There seems to be nothing else around save wind, sea, and waves. I feel alone here in this whirlwind. Beyond lies that one and only great icy landscape. I can almost touch one of my dreams.

Things we would never see: A journey to find glowworms

Added on May 14, 2012 by Jessica Yurasek.

First by car, then by plane, then by car, then by boat. It was night. Arriving at the dock felt like stepping into a scene from Lost’s Dharma Initiative, eerily lit, the sound of water lapping against the boat, some unknown location isolated in the rain forest.

Then by foot, bending and wriggling through the cave entrance, walking precariously on a metal bridge. Glacier water rushing beneath us, hungrily escaping the depths of this great earthen cave.

Karekare beach, New Zealand

Added on May 3, 2012 by Jessica Yurasek.

A sunset like no other, sea rolling in, sun bleeding through clouds. The most magical eve. <3

We arrived at Karekare beach just in time to see the sun bleeding through the clouds. Waves rolled in, white and foamy, reflecting the soft dazzling rays of sunlight as the clouds diffused their shine. This is the beach where The Piano was film… — We arrived at Karekare beach just in time to see the sun bleeding through the clouds. Waves rolled in, white and foamy, reflecting the soft dazzling rays of sunlight as the clouds diffused their shine. This is the beach where *The Piano* was filmed, and amidst the overpowering beauty of the Earth's elements, there was also a moody feeling of both romance and the gentle but constant reminder of Mother Nature's power.

A collection of rare antique priest vestments

A most unlikely hobby, La Scarzuola, Italy

Added on May 18, 2011 by Jessica Yurasek.

Everyone has a hobby – sports, horses, music. Today food is considered a hobby. Or if you’re a hipster maybe records, mustaches, or ironic T-shirts are your hobbies.