life « Amritha Alladi

Got swamp water runnin through my veins

October 25, 2011 at 4:15 pm | Posted in Ramblings, Seen and Scene, Travel Diaries | Leave a comment
Tags: comparison, experience, job, life, Louisiana, Monroe, swamp

Monroe-bound.

After two and half months of living at home with my parents while job hunting and freelancing for The Gainesville Sun, I finally got some good news. A Gannett paper in Monroe, Louisiana was interested in hiring me as a reporter to cover their city beat.

I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d never even been to Monroe or heard of it before I’d applied for the job. In fact, I’d never been to Louisiana or driven more than three hours anywhere, so the thought of driving more than 11 hours to get to the city I’d soon call my “home” sounded daunting. But Louisiana couldn’t be too much different than Florida in terms of climate, right? Maybe slightly colder in the winter. And from what I’d read of Monroe, it seemed like it might be somewhat like Gainesville too: large medical centers, a university, and a tight-knit community about the size of Gainesville, if you include the nearby towns that are grouped into the Monroe Statistical Area. Gainesville might have a much larger university— an enrollment of 50,000 compared to the University of Louisiana-Monroe’s 8,000— but it would suffice. (Before you ask) It’s about four hours from New Orleans.

What did I know about Louisiana? That perhaps the French I learned since fourth grade could finally come into use after living 21 years in Florida (Parfait!), and that Cajun food probably wouldn’t do me much good. Thankfully, I learned after getting to Monroe that being in Northeast Louisiana, they weren’t huge on Cajun cuisine (phew). To my dismay, no French was spoken either (quel dommage).

I decided to split the trip up, driving north to Atlanta first to visit some friends and to stop at the Hindu Temple to seek blessings before starting the new job. From there, I took I-20 West for…. well, hours, but that initial drive was far from boring. It was exhilarating because I’d never seen Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana. Something about driving that far on your own on the freeway is absolutely liberating.

Driving from Atlanta, I passed by Atlanta’s Six Flags theme park and Stone Mountain, past the Talladega Superspeedway, through downtown Birmingham, past Jackson University and Jackson Zoo and across the Mississippi River.

Finally seeing the first sign for Monroe, I got really excited.

It was in that moment that I didn’t care anymore that a few people back in Gainesville raised eyebrows when they learned I’d be moving to Louisiana. Why wasn’t I moving some place more hip like New York City, they asked. Or Boston or Philly? A couple even warned me not to come back with a southern accent (not kidding, though I wish I were).

But moving to what they considered the “deep south” turned out to have its benefits– southern hospitality. Since the moment I got here people have been nothing but welcoming and helpful. My bosses, coworkers, sources and absolute strangers have been so accommodating. All this time I thought Gainesville had been a really warm and friendly community, but I’m glad to learn that Monroe is just the same. I don’t think that’s something I’d get from living in a big, bustling city, but I’ll wait until I move to one to find out for sure.

For now, all I can say is that compared to the swamps of Florida, the bayous of Louisiana aren’t so far off. Some might call this job offer fate.

Crossing the Mississippi River into Louisiana. Vicksburg on one side. Village of Delta on the other.

Retreat at Ritidian

August 18, 2010 at 11:27 am | Posted in Travel Diaries | 1 Comment
Tags: freedom, Guam, leisure, life, travel

I had heard about the rugged shoreline of Ritidian since about a month into my move to Guam (last year).

But it wasn’t until yesterday I got the chance to experience the raw beauty of this beach in person. Truly, for anyone looking to get away from the tourists and hotels of Tumon or the busy humdrum of Hagåtña, Ritidian offers relief.

Ritidian Beach, adjacent to a wildlife preserve, is one of the more pristine beaches on Guam because it’s secluded, sitting on the edge of the Andersen Air Force Base. In fact, the military manages the beach and park proper, allowing residents access to it during daytime hours. However, landing one of the more scenic spots requires venturing off the path a bit through some wilder vegetation, but it’s well worth the “road not taken.” (Although, in all honesty, it’s still a road quite taken because people know making your own trail to the beach offers more privacy).

I went with two friends, one who was also new to the island, and another who’d been here for at least two years.

walking down to Ritidian Beach, photo courtesy of Joshua Ryan Johnson

After splitting westward off of Marine Corps Drive towards Andersen, the second part of the drive was really rocky and the road was full of potholes, as if to prepare us for the jagged coral of Ritidian’s waters.

We finally stopped at the edge of a private property, where my friend said he’d gotten the the approval to cross in advance to get to the beach.

It was a slight bit of a climb down toward what seemed almost like mangroves. But before I could even emerge completely from this greenery, a blinding afternoon sun reflecting off the scorching sand met my eyes and, voila, I was at Ritidian Beach.

Emerging at Ritidian Beach, Photo courtesy of Joshua Ryan Johnson

We walked along the beach to the remains of a shipwreck. Wood shards lay damp, splintered and worn, and metal fragments lay rusted. It was pretty cool.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Ryan Johnson

But the sun convinced us to finally get into our snorkel gear and get into the water.

It was so beautiful. There were, of course, fish, but I think I was more awe-struck by the coral and just marveling at looking down and seeing the sandy bottom 30, 40, 50 feet below me and then far out in front of me.

It felt liberating. I have never in my life been able to do that: hover in the water just looking down at the technicolor reef below me and knowing the entire ocean is before me if I kept swimming. It’s amazing how those varieties of coral are really not even that far out from the beach. It’s the kind of stuff Discovery channel would capture, except it’s actually only a few yards from the shore.

There were outcroppings of corals, openings in the rocks that you could swim through.

When I’d finally grown exhausted and decided to swim back to the beach, I found what looked like oyster shell with the pearly interior. Since didn’t know how to go to the bottom of the water with my snorkel, I slipped off my boot and used my toes to pick up the thin flaky shell from the sand. It was so pretty. I couldn’t miss it because it had been shimmering in the sunlight.

The guys got out of the water and my friend suggested we go to a nearby cliff off the air force base that would lend us a great view.

On the way to our car we saw a monitor lizard in a tree, and on the short hike up to the cliff we saw wild boar.

When we reached the precipice, with the sun to the left of us and Rota to the right of us, very faint in the horizon, we could see storm clouds suspended over southern Guam and were thankful to be on the other side of the island.

As a boat glided in the water, we peered down at the various shades of blue highlighted by the sun, trying to guess what kinds of stuff might be there for us to explore next time.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Ryan Johnson

Photos in this post courtesy of Joshua Ryan Johnson.

As cool as it can get in Chennai

January 1, 2009 at 1:17 pm | Posted in Seen and Scene | 1 Comment
Tags: Chennai, life

Right when the monsoons have passed: that’s when Chennai is most hospitable. Music rings through the city, with kutcheris at every corner, people buzz through shops trying to take advantage of Margazhi, New Year, and Pongal sales. The city is teeming with life.

Moreover, Chennai’s weather is also bearable this time of year. The crisp morning chill usually only dispels around lunchtime, and because of that there are fewer mosquitos to dodge. Cool January breezes beat excruciating summers any day.

But I’ve started to notice that it isn’t just the weather that’s breezy. At the home and in the office, life in India is just more relaxed, less scripted. Indians don’t wait for an invitation to call on relatives and friends — they just stop by. After all, the houses are literally kept open, welcoming not only that cool Chennai breeze, but any passersby who wish to stop in for a cup of tea or perhaps a simple chit-chat. As a child, I thought it quite rude that someone would barge in without giving any advance notice, but now I see that life without formalities between close friends is an ideal, not idiosyncratic, relationship.

Worklife, too, is laid back. Indians work hard, but they take their time working. When I started the internship about a week ago I was startled and downright peeved at the casual demeanor in the office. “This is a NEWSROOM,” I thought “what lazy reporters!” No. Not true. When it’s game time, these reporters know how to play. But knowing there are busy days and slow days, they take advantage of their time in the sidelines. I see that it’s just that people are in no rush. They take their time to savor the simple pleasures in life. They live each day by the “take it easy” policy.

A repairman said he would come to fix our tv at 10 am……he showed up at 7pm. That is India. The cook says she will make an orka dish for the next day’s lunch. She makes eggplant instead. That is India. I’m sent on an assignment to cover the Prime Minister’s arrival in Chennai only to be held up in traffic (even after leaving 2 hours early) on the way there and not make it on time. We borrow another station’s tape instead. This is India.

Indians don’t waste time stressing over circumstances out of their control. They come up with alternatives, work with what they’ve got, don’t complain about it and move on.

Just a few months ago when I emailed a former IBN intern about what I was to expect from my internship and if I needed to be proficient in any video editing software, her email response to me read “Chill out. It’s really relaxed here. Don’t worry about any of that stuff. You’ll learn it all, so just chill, man.” If there’s one thing that can fire a person up faster than a match to a fuse, it’s someone telling an already calm person to “chill out.” Great. So now I was the uptight American to-be intern who had a slight case of neuroses. I did not understand why a complete stranger was telling me from across the world to “chill out.” I was enraged.

Now, after actually seeing for myself how people work, talk, visit, laugh, eat, — in short, LIVE — I finally get what she means. We, in the U.S. are always rushing: to class (professor will yell), to work (boss will yell), to parties (friends will yell), to dates (girlfriend will yell)….perhaps the Indians are on to something when they take “chill out” for face-value. If there’s one thing I hope to take back with me to the U.S. it’s that calm, stress-reduced, “chilled-out” approach to life. Hopefully, I’ll just take my time enjoying that Chennai breeze.