by Debra Nicholson | May 30, 2016 | Travel
May 29, 2016 Sexually Harassed Sexual Harassment: “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” (American Association of University Women workplace definition, February 19, 2015, accessed May 29, 2016,...
by Debra Nicholson | Apr 5, 2016 | Travel
April 5, 2016 Touched A leper slapped me on the arm today as I walked down a French Quarter street in Pondicherry, India. A few moments before, I had left the Notre Dame des Agnes church. The leper was an old, shriveled man, shorter than I, dressed in a white robe...
by Debra Nicholson | Mar 4, 2016 | Travel
March 3, 2016 Listening My left ear is blocked. A few nights ago, I woke up with a piercing earache and a sore throat. Later that day, I started antibiotics, easily purchased over the counter at the local chemist, on the recommendation of a practicing nurse on the...
by Debra Nicholson | Feb 14, 2016 | Travel
February 13, 2016 On the Road to Shimla The toasted cheese sandwich wasn’t very good, but it was late and this was my dinner, after a long day of travel from Dharamsala to Shimla. I sat on the edge of my bed in the hotel, calmly eating one bite after another, like...
by Debra Nicholson | Jan 30, 2016 | Travel, Writing
January 29, 2016 The Authors Lounge at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2016 On the fifth and last day of the Jaipur Literature Festival, I stood to the side of a doorway leading into the inner sanctum of the Authors Lounge. From this vantage point, I had observed...
by Debra Nicholson | Jan 11, 2016 | Photography, Travel
January 10, 2016 Yesterday, I visited a Jaipur temple, Kanak Vrindavan. It involved walking a long steep zigzag path up to the top of a hill. The temple is frequently referred to as a monkey temple because of the many monkeys found along the way, not to mention boars,...
A trip to India in November-December 2014 so completely stunned Debra Nicholson that she vowed to return as soon as possible. Following her nearly six months’ second trip to India, from December 2015-May 2016, which included a camel safari in the Thar Desert, volunteering at the Jaipur Literature Festival, a two-month train tour around the perimeter of the country, and Bollywood dance and Hindi classes in Delhi, she continues to post on her blog, The Laughing Camel, about her adventures.