Still on Vacation in Florida…

Well I’m still here in Florida, however being in Orlando in the city is quite a different experience than being in Lake Wales Florida at the Winter Solstice Camp. This is probably the most crowded time to be in Orlando. We went out the other day to go to the mall and after hitting the mass crowds we are still recovering. We tried to lay low yesterday "recovering" from that outing. Going to amusement parks with huge crowds is so draining! Last year we went to the various Disney parks (Animal Kingdom, Epcott Center and Magic Kingdom) which was more than enough. Disney has it worked out to a science to grease as much money out of you as possible (taking full advantage of you being tired and having whiny sugared up kids). Now that I am here again this year and see the even larger crowds than last year I don’t want to go anywhere. Looking outside my room window I can see the crowds of people constantly streaming by and the cars jammed up trying to go somewhere. Well, it was worth it coming to this side of the country for Winter Solstice. That hit the spot. It was so relaxing and chilled out this year.

So, I’m a bit stuck in my room right now; Charanjeet isn’t feeling that good this morning so she is sleeping as I type here in the room. Narayan is going to go out with his grandfather to the driving range and maybe play some Golf. I guess it might be another dull day in sunny Orlando. It supposed to be about  82°F / 28°C  today so it should be quite warm. Quite a contrast to back home where it is probably pretty cold and maybe snowy.

I’m already missing quiet little Espanola. This place (and most big cities) is Maya city! Living in a small town I sometimes forget how things are for the rest of Americans. It can be so sad looking around at the American consumerism and waste. It’s a constant trying to "look cool" and competition with everyone around. Who has the nicest car, cell phone, clothes, looks sexy..is the prettiest…etc..etc. It’s so shallow. People never seem to be satisfied with what they have and who they are. The sad part is that our society drives this craze. One of the benefits of living in Espanola is that you are not constantly hit up by this maya and the want to buy something. Life is a bit simpler since there are no malls, shopping centers (other than the evil Walmart). There isn’t much to do (city wise) other than sports, outdoors stuff and hanging out with friends. I suppose I am also in a different stage of life than many younger people, since I am married and have kids. Being in a city can fun for some time, but I prefer smaller places to live. For me living in a sangat of like minded people is most important. Check out this thought provoking video called "The Story of Stuff".

2008 is almost here and another year has whizzed by. At this rate I’ll be a grandfather before I know it and we’ll be taking vacations to mars. I’m looking forward to this next year…

 

 

5 Responses to “Still on Vacation in Florida…”

1. Stuart says:

   December 28, 2007 at 6:59 pm

   I think I’d like to live in a place like Espanola. I had to go out on Sunday for some last minute Christmas shopping and I couldn’t move. The bus I took had to stop letting people get on board it was too full. Then of course everyone will be doing it again now because of the sales.

   I’ve got an old cell phone and the young people at work always comment on it. Apart from the short battery life, it suits me fine. Work before Christmas was terrible as well, I work in the warehouse of a supermarket and you couldn’t move because of the vast amount of beer and seasonal food everywhere. It really quite depressed me. Oh well at least I had my daughters first Christmas to look forward to and first birthday soon after.

2. Tanveer says:

   December 31, 2007 at 3:40 pm

   Sat sri akal paji..from what u wrote i remember my town in tanzania which is in east Africa…it was a small town so we din’t have any malls or even shopping centers..we just had supermarkets… i used to enjoy the quite place and it used to be a very greenly area… when a place becomes very big and then u just fall for the Maya most of the times and cannot enjoy the peaceful moments..

3. harjit singh says:

   January 1, 2008 at 6:43 am

   charanjit is really cute & nice baby. i love to see her photographs. in turban she looks amazing – MAY WAHEGURU BLESS U . THIS YEAR GURU GIVE CHARDIKALA TO YOUR DAD AND HIS WEBSITE.
   WISH ALL VISITORS A VERRY-VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

4. Gurumustuk Singh says:

   January 2, 2008 at 10:50 pm

   Here is an interesting video on this topic of consumerism:
   “The Story of Stuff”
   http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9153550196656656736

5. bryan says:

   January 3, 2008 at 7:07 pm

   espanola sounds like a very nice place to live. you are so correct how consumerism is the way of ‘modern’ society.
   for example, the true meaning of christmas is lost because of all the marketing and advertisements to “buy this”, “you need that”

   when will people learn? living simply brings much greater reward and inner peace.