so, when you hear a gunshot in the middle of the night, and its not a gang fight cuz there are no gangs... then you hear lots of laughing the next day and look out the window and see the guys scaring the dogs with the dead caracal... then you know you live in the bush!

baby triplets, getting love!

this is what you do for halloween when there is no pupmkin! (plus when your sis sends a felt your own barack!)

two days in a row!!!

can you believe it? i was a little distracted yesterday writing the post, but i will try to make up for it. these are pics of our swearing in ceremony, wearing traditional swazi wear! that was on august 28th i think, so its been almost 2 months now! dang! some back ground. we live with the Myeni family in Nsubane which is near the south african border in south eastern swaziland. at our homestead there is our host mom and dad (make and babe) our brother and his wife and 5 kids. we have tons of cows, chickens and goats! including our lovely orphaned goats, annabelle and oliver. i love them, they are like our pets! we are getting close to the end of integration and will be able to do more "real work" soon. we are doing pretty well, there are definately ups and downs, but its becoming like home. ourcommunity is super rural... as in you walk for an hour and a half to catch the bus, and on the way you maybe see a person or two. not many people speak english, so we are practicing siswati quite a bit. we love hearing from all of you and miss you a lot! hope you enjoy the pics, love you! peace

hello all

ok, so it has been a long long time, but i thought i would just through up a few pics for you all to see. we are doing well, still in integration, which means we are staying busy (aka not busy) meeting people, going to the school, and doing a lot a lot of walking! we love our family so much! they are the most wonderful people i have ever met. the other day it was chilly and raining and i just sat for a few hours in the cooking hut around th fire with them. we chatted, ate a big lunch of corn meal porridge (lipolishi) and beans and Make just kept saying how happy she was that i wasnt full yet and hot fat i was getting (a compliment). we love you so much, sorry its been so long, i will try to update again soon.

tomorrow, tomorrow

on the fourth day til leaving, america gave to me...
moving all our stuff over
dinner at sujees with lots of friends and yummy indian food!

on the third day til leaving, america gave to me...
coffee and breakfast with christiane
doing laundry with christiane
cleaning the house
lunch at the wedge (yummy)
and a going away party!

on the second day til leaving, america gave to me...
breakfast at classen grill with my mom and david
lunch at grams with the whole family!
packing our bags for the final and best time with the help of christiane!
a wonderful dinner and cake made by lindsay eaten with tyler, staci, josh, lindsay and chris and me!

on the last day til leaving, america gave to me...
goodbyes
the last load to the kramers
lunch at 501 with maggie, little maggie. gram and dad for fathers day
errands
dinner with the kramers
and more goodbyes!

we love you all and will miss you dearly!

heres our address

Susanne Kramer/Chris Kramer PCV
PO BOX2797
Mbabane H100, Swaziland

on the ....

on the eleventh day til leaving, america gave to me....

packing and still more pack
ing
and yummy qeusadillas







































on the tenth day til leaving, america gave to me...
a pedicure
crepe myrtle
a trip to lawrence
and zen zero
a documentary on crazy amish teens
hanging out with sicky alyson

on the ninth day til leaving, america gave to me....
walking around down town lawrence
lindsay getting new birks
dinner at free state brewery with rachel

on the eighth day til leaving, america gave to me...
naps
a new camera






















on the seventh day til leaving, america gave to me...
still more packing
moving
dosas with sujee, lindsay's friend from the library

on the sixth day til leaving, america gave to me...
fixing chris's camera bag
helping chris pack
dinner with elyse and lindsay at galileos
kate spent the night
repacked my bag




















on the fifth day til leaving, america gave to me...
my last breakfast and soy cappucinos with gram
a jin shin tara session
lunch at cafe 501
swimming at the kramers

the twelve day til leaving (for swaziland)

on the twelfth day til leaving, america gave to me....
making a hat with nora for my sister
coffee with gram
PACKING OUR STUFF

stay tuned for the last eleven days...

pug pug squishy face

oh the fun you can have with a pug! how we will miss you and your face!

okc memorial marathon

the runners (and walker)
the whole fam

team kramer krew we came in around 45th for the family division relay!

so the kramers went out for a run (and walk) some of us did the relay, and some the half marathon, but it was a great day, followed by some arts festival corn and ice cream and then the lion king musical.

camera update

so (cross you fingers)

after visiting 2 different camera shops, passing through the skillful and not so skillful hands of the employees (including mr eperson himself) ruining 2 rolls of film.... i think i got it loaded and working!!!!

yippee


also, we went to the OU/KU basketball game last night with chris' parents, it was an awesome game! they started out behind, hooped it up to 20 points ahead, almost lost their lead, but luckily (and sadly) all the OU fans left the stadium with 2 minutes left, during the almost comeback, but won in the end!!!

ok, so its been a while

but i think i will try to keep up a little better...

some exciting things...

1. i bought a grain mill attachment for my kitchen aid mixer

2. i got the world's cutest camera (but haven't figured out how to load it yet)

3. i am going to see my sister in 2 weeks! and am taking a reiki training there
4. i made black bean soup and corn bread for dinner since it is cold
5. we went to the flea market today and i choked while having a mouthful of coffee and spit it everywhere
6. we drove around some alternate universe streets in okc, saw a big brick mailbox with extensions making it into a cross plus other crazy stuff
7. i like ugly betty
8. lindsay and josh have been digging garden beds in the back yard, so it looks like 4 dead bodies in the back yard

hopefully more to come...

coming to the end

we just finished our last yoga class and went out to dinner to celebrate birthdays, thanksgiving and going home. we will be home wednesday night after a long day of travel! we can't wait to see you all! love and peace

Happy Thanksgiving

so, while all of your turkeys are roasted and sitting on the table about to be eaten, ours are out playing at the park!
now thats a HAPPY TURKEY day!

we miss you all and wish we could celebrate the harvest with you! see you in a week!

Atma Vikasa

so, i keep meaning to add pictures, but if you want to see our teacher, you can click on the link (the title).

so a little about our time here in Mysore...
we wake up at 4:45, and greet the sun with asana class for an hour and a half,
then we all go get chai and juice and chat for a while,
then at 8:45 we have pranayama which is breathing excercizes for 45 minutes, it is also like meditation and our teacher gives a little talk at the end
then we are supposed to think about our class for atleast 10 minutes, so chris and i usually write in our journals
then we go to the coconut stand and get our first 'fix' of the day, and sometimes treat ourselves to one of the best dosas known to man (an indian savory crepe type thing filled with spiced potatoes)
then we have sutra class, studying about the philosophy of yoga (10:15-11)
then we get lunch, made by our teachers mother
yay for rest! free time until 5, we read and cook and nap
at 5 we have our very intense back-bending class, really pushing us to the edge of our abilities and making our minds stronger!
then our reward of another trip to the coconut stand (usually we get 2 at this time after so much hard work and sweat, we need to replenish our loss of electrolytes with some coconut water... straight outa the coconut)
then 30 minutes of bajhan, spiritual songs/chants
then dinner and sleep!

this is our daily schedule monday-friday, keeps us pretty busy
today we went to a bird sancuary and we got to see huge bats and crocodiles! pics to come...

just 2 1/2 weeks and we'll be home!!! crazy crazy!

peace and love!

pictures

sus rockin it on the scooter in goa!
stairway to heaven (hampi)

too bad this was chris' bike! (hampi)

the puppy friend we made (we miss you sooner, ninnah and abbey, you too schnooze)

beautiful sunset over a temple

more to come!!!

mysore: a blue state for sure

so, along with our fellow american yogis, we decided we needed to have a symbolic vote of our own, on november 4th, then send over the good vibrations! looks like it worked! congratulations america and the universe!


standing in line at the polls

a landslide victory! unanimous!

watch party!!!

some fruit and fruitcakes for obama!

sivananda yoga vedanta dhanwanthari ashram

so, i wanted to share a little bit about my time at the ashram...
it started off just feeling like a group of tourists, or like summer camp, but with some rituals that i had no idea about or what they meant. it took a while for me to be able to break away some of the layers and soften my heart and be open to God and spirituality fully again. i feel like all the craziness of india (even though it is supposed to be a spiritual place) had caused anxiety in me and made me harden. as my body opened up and felt the benefits of 4 hours of yoga asana and pranayama (breathing excercizes) and my mind settled down, i was able to turn to God more fully. i met a girl from seattle named Michelle and we talked a lot about intuition and energy in the body and spirit, which are both God-given and both things i want to learn more about. she and i were almost instantly comfortable and it felt like we had been friends for a long time, and will continue to be. i learned about and felt the energy and vibrations that different things can bring to your body and spirit, like food and music and chants. i not only learned about the chakras, but felt mine being stimulated and opened... a crazy energy radiating from my forehead. i knew it was God showing me more about the intuition he had given me to be able to follow him and love others better. as the time went on, everyone seemed to open up and become more comfortable with themselves and each other. we had 2 special pujas (ceremonies), one in a temple, where we chanted a lot and offered flowers and the other was a purification ceremony for the whole ashram and everyone in it. there was a special priest there who was cleansing the space there and all of us. we had a chance to make an offering to the fire of something in our lives that we wanted to give up to God and to be purified. the atmosphere of the room changed from somber to very light and free when it was all over. we all truely knew that we had been cleansed. i went from being very skeptical of the chants and rituals and feeling like "my religion" was too different to realizing that if you are worshiping God in your own heart, He knows and that is all that matters. some of the things we did, like the fire offering, were both symbolic, yet so real and powerful. I found that through chanting i can really open my heart and mind and become more intune with the Lord. i also realized how important it is to quiet your mind each day to be able to listen. i feel like i have woken up once again to life and to God. when we have so much blocking our heart and weighing it down, it truely is impossible to love and be open to others, yourself or God. There is so much i am ready to explore and learn about for my future, i feel like i have been recharged and am ready to push myself and be challenged and grow and love, and all the while depend on God and follow his guidance in my life.

A good NYtimes Editorial on their pick for the election.

HERE

We've been chanting and mediating for world peace the past week.

Jaya Obama Jaya Obama
Om Namo Narayanaya

the past few weeks (abridged and unillustrated)

from Murud to Panaji...
Panaji= the cutest little indian Lisbon in the world, we walked around, saw some super cute old portuguese houses. saw an awesome hanuman temple, at seafood and got news from the peace corps that we aren't going to north africa or the middle east... but where? to be continued

Panaji to Arambol
Arambol=a little beach town with nice laid back people and hippies. we rented a scooter and scooted around the area (very slowly) (i dont think we went about 30 km/hour) (and that felt like we were flying!) we hung out on the beach, played in the water and caught huge hermit crabs, but didnt kill them, only made them pinch eachothers shells!

Arambol to Hampi...(another bus ride of hell) so we think we are on a "delux sleeper bus" and actually when the bus comes to pick us up it is very nice, way nicer than we were expecting, we have a nice spot, double size bed... then they stop, pretty much in the middle of the highway median, tell us all to get out to go to our other bus.. note, the bus is full of unhappy israelies... and they speak their mind, sooo... the other bus is where? where? "oh just cross that street(highway) and walk a few hundred meters" yeah.. into an alleyway behind the bus company and get on a horrificly old and nasty bus... but when we get our seats we think, not so bad, we arent in the very back, but lo and behold and hour or so passes and the bus guy wakes us up (from our benadryl induced sleep) to kick us to the back back row into broken seats that don't latch to lay flat or to sit up, so every bump you get catapolted! hello whip lash... anyway, we made it.... alive and only a little stiff

Hampi=an amazing little town set among even more amazing ruins and boulders and rice paddies and banana plantations. oh it was wonderful. we walked and climbed and bouldered and explored and made friends with a dog (we miss you sooner and abbey and ninnah!) and rented bicycles and rode ourselves to death almost and crossed a river in a big upside down thatch saucer with like 10 people, 2 bicycles... and 2 motorcycles... thats right. and we found out that we are now going to sub-saharan africa and leaving in june

Hampi to Bangalore
spent the day in Bangalore, went to a cricket game...for chris' early bday present. it was fun!

Bangalore to Cochin
cochin was fun and cute, but chris got strep throat, so we rested a lot. its a very western feeling town on the water, lots of cool shops and restaurants

now we are at Sivananda Ashram in southern Kerala. we wake up at 6 for meditation and chanting, then do yoga , then have a yummy brunch, then have a lecture, more yoga dinner and end the day with more meditation and chanting. its pretty cool so far, but its only been 2 days, but it is very nice to be back into doing yoga... we have to get ready for our month long course in mysore! chris is still sick, but got some meds, so should be feeling better soon.

we love you guys, and we miss all of you very much.

Murud:

so after a few weeks in the big city, we decided we needed a bit of a beach holiday. we in one day took 2 taxis (one thru calcutta, one thru mumbai) 2 buses an airplane and a ferry! we made it to Murud (just south of mumbai) just in time for the sun to go down. we stayed at a cute little place on the beach with hammocks and palm trees. we used our time to relax and plan the second half of our trip. the beach was long and shallow, so when the tide went out you could find hermit crabs and clams!
the infamous beach cows of murud! what a life!
so we decided to go exploring ever these rock and around a little island, and got the great idea of trying to catch our dinner... i didn't really think i could do it, but i threw a rock at this poor little crab and killed it! he was too tiny and i felt so bad. i am sorry little guy, but i am sure he made a nice little snack for a puppy or something else!
this is one of the main attractions in Murud... Janjira Fort, built on an island, so it looks like it emerges straight from the sea! walkin' on water!