Liebster Award

Thanks to Michael from Musings of an Expatriate for the nomination! Michael is from Florida and got his TEFL certification to have the opportunity to teach and travel. His first and current location is Orizaba, Mexico.

I’m Mani, a Mexican who married an American and now lives in India. I write about our exciting, challenging, fun, boring, frustrating, delicious, crazy, colorful, adventurous and spiritual journey of living in India (and other travels).

The basic idea of the Liebster Award is to give growing blogs a bit of exposure. The origins are hard to trace but it seems it started in Germany about three years ago. Liebster means dearest in German.

To accept the award I need to:

• list 11 facts about myself
• answer the questions from the person who gave me the award
• nominate 3-5 blogs for the award by posting links to their pages (they say it should be people with less than 200 followers but it used to be less than 3000, you make the call.) notify them via comment/email.
• create questions for people accepting the award from me
• post the award

11 Facts about myself:

(In case you haven’t had enough random facts about myself after reading my about me page…)

1. I’ve had inception-like dreams.
2. I love Calvin and Hobbes.
3. I hate cigarettes.
4. The longest nonstop flight I’ve taken was 16hrs long, the longest drive was 12hrs long.
5. I have one tattoo.
6. I love the soundtrack from “The Legend of Zelda.”
7. Big pet peeve: when people crack their knuckles and necks, or bones in general.
8. My favorite leisurely thing to do is go to the movie theater, and I live in a place where the closest one is 2hrs away and they only play a couple films in English.
9. The worst things I have tasted were raw jellyfish, raw goose and liver.
10. I’m a dancer, but if I ever had to run for my life, I would probably die.
11. Caprese, risotto, rose wine, gelato, and limoncello is the perfect meal for me, but I could probably eat sushi every day.

Questions I must answer:

1. What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done? 

I have a fair share of things I’ve done that I consider very cool. Taking the overnight train from St. Petersburg to Moscow was very cool. Also doing circus stuff including lyra, flying trapeze, and aerial silks. The dark cave labyrinth in Budapest and the garden labyrinth in Austria were really cool too. Watching a Euro Cup game in outdoor Berlin was super cool. Swimming with dolphins in Cancun, nothing like it. Lastly, taking the Magical Mystery Tour in Liverpool, UK was very cool indeed (I’m a Beatles fan).

2. In what capacity do you use your blog?

I’ve been running a travel tumblr for a couple of years and when we moved to India about two months ago, I started posting about my experiences but I felt limited, I wanted to write more and share more photos per post. So I asked my tumblr followers if they would be interested if I started a separate blog about my experiences in India and I got a great response, so I did! It has been fun running this blog.

Since 2009 I have been privately writing about my life because a lot has been happening, I thought maybe one day I could share these stories with family, friends and even strangers. So much went on that they don’t know about. I didn’t lie to them, but I did keep information to myself. So, now my writings have transitioned from a private  google document to a public blog. That’s why I try to keep it honest as much as possible, that’s why my blog may seem moody, and that’s why some of my posts are a bit too long, because I simply jot down my thoughts as if I was writing in a diary but instead of “talking to the diary” I like using a story-like format like a non-fictional novel.

3. What’s your best experience abroad?

Living in London for a year was amazing; I love that city and I miss living a 5min walk from beautiful Hyde Park. Attending Rock Werchter, a three day music festival in Belgium, was pretty fun too.

4. What’s you favorite thing to do outside?

Ski. I love skiing. Unfortunately planning a skiing trip if you don’t live near a ski resort, can be very expensive. Riding waverunners makes me happy also. You didn’t ask, but jogging is the least favorite thing I like doing outside.

5. Favorite book?

(As you have seen, I can’t give one straight up answer to anything) so here’s more than one favorite book: The Knight In Rusty Armor, Life of Pi, Franny and Zooey, Harry Potter and The Odyssey.

My Nominations:

Indian Love Story: An amazing story of an English gal following her love to India.

Mexico Retold: There is more to Mexico than meets the media.

Our House in Aarhus: Just a couple of American expats living in Aarhus, Denmark.

Girl Pacific: The story of an Oregon girl laid out in a series of projects, stories, and recipes.

Six Degrees North: An Australian family living in Ghana.

Questions to my nominees:

1. Name three of your favorite movies.
2. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
3. Describe the last meal you would like to have before you die.
4. What is the most courageous thing you have ever done in your life?
5. What was the last book you read and what did you think of it?
6. Do you believe in any of the following: God, reincarnation, soulmates, or ghosts?

Note: if you don’t wish to participate, you may accept the award honorably (or even not at all).

Listen readers!  To make it even more fun, choose one of the questions I made and answer it in the comments below.