4 September, 2004 (Long)

What you are about to read may infuriate you, it may leave you awestruck, and it may simply cause you to dry heave. (I)regardless, please prepare yourself for another lengthy synopsis before continuing. There has been a slight time delay since my last entry due to my prolonged illness, but worry not for I am well on my way to a full recovery. Basically to summarize the state of my health I have been fighting fever, the runs, body ache, loss of appetite, cold, soar throat and just feeling poopy on and off for about two weeks. It has been an intense two weeks because we have been traveling so much and the heat and humidity that India generously provides, simply refuses to relent. There was talk of the monsoon arriving and it did tease us with occasional heavy, thunderous rain, but it has not arrived and many are unsure if it is to come at all this year. This may sound like a relief, but in fact it is not good. The intense temperatures combined with the absurd humidity quickly dehydrate the body and spirit. To put it bluntly, it’s very hot. This may also present a water shortage issue, which is the last thing India needs right now. So forgive my lapse of writing and rest assured that the long volumes of writing will continue. This past weekend our trek began by leaving Delhi at six in the morning. Our first destination was Jaipur located in Rajasthan. After the previous weekend’s excursion, we welcomed this relaxing trip organized by EAP. We got on the air-conditioned bus at six in the morning and made the six hour journey to Jaipur with only a couple of stops. Sitting in the back of the bus proved to be a poor idea as the bus ride was the bumpiest I’ve ever been on. We were grateful to have air-conditioning, so we did not complain. On the ride to Rajasthan, we were pleasantly surprised to see camels all along the way. Besides being able to spit really far, camels posses very expressive faces and a certain amount of charm. Rajasthan was beautiful. It was lusciously green in color and the wildlife was plentiful. Unfortunately along the way we came across a man with a small bear on a leash. When we looked closer, we realized that the bear’s teeth had all been removed and that he had taught the bear to do tricks. The treatment of animals in India ranges from worship to slavery. Just like with everything in India, all extremes seem to coexist at the same time in the same place. Jaipur is also known as the “Pink City” as the whole city was painted pink in 1876 when the Prince of Wales visited. Most of the city is enclosed by a massive wall. Jaipur offers a variety of historical sites and numerous shopping areas. We visited an array of places including the City Palace, Hawa Mahal, and Jantar Mantar. Jantar Mantar was most impressive as it was built in 1728 and houses amazingly old astronomical instruments designed to tell time, locate stars and other astronomical stuff beyond my comprehension. The highlight of the Jaipur trip however came when we journeyed about 11 km (they use the metric system here…and everywhere) North of Jaipur to the Amber Fort. Here we rode elephants up the mountain to get to the magnificent fort. The elephants were beautiful and gentle, yet capable of massive destruction, just like me. It was quite an experience to be riding an elephant up to a fort who’s construction began in 1592. We took many pictures and it was an experience that I nor the elephants will ever forget (elephants have good memories). The fort was massive and beautiful, but the highlight of the fort actually had nothing to do with the fort. On our way out, my friend and I sat down next to a snake charmer who had two Cobra snakes in a basket. It may have been the snake charmer, but I personally think it was our natural ability that allowed us to charm the snakes enough for them to allow us to touch them. It was an amazing experience. After the snakes we made our way down the hill atop the elephants. That evening we went shopping in the bazaars of Jaipur and picked up some presents and Rajasthani Chumple (slippers). A couple of other interesting things to note in Rajasthan were that we stayed in a really nice hotel with air conditioning and a swimming pool. We swam and enjoyed the cool air thoroughly. We also saw a lot of goats that appeared to be fighting. They raise up on their two hind legs and butt heads similar to WWE (F). Another noteworthy incident was when I got pooped on. I guess it’s not really worth writing home about (although I am), but when we were at one of the historic palaces, a bird pooped on me. It grazed my shirt and the bulk of it landed on my man purse (a blue fanny pack sort of contraption that houses my phone, camera, toilet paper and other incredibly masculine necessities). I have heard from many people that getting pooped on means 2 years of good luck. I have heard from many others that telling people that getting pooped on is two years of good luck is a simple and effective way of making them feel better for getting pooped on. We retired to our semi-luxurious hotel as we had an early start the next morning. Sunday morning we departed Jaipur early to get to our next destination: the Taj Mahal. There has been a lot of hype about the Taj with it being one of the seven wonders of the world, so part of me was expecting a lot, but part of me was expecting very little because a friend told me that he liked the temple art we saw in Khajuraho better than the Taj. So I went in expecting the Taj to be over-hyped. We arrived with our tour guide and I can honestly say that I was blown away by the sheer magnitude and beauty of the architecture. It was awe-inspiring and the notion that it was built in 1631by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife is a beautiful thought (I’ll think about doing that someday). The architecture is amazing and the Taj Mahal is a most awesome sight to behold. The work of 20,000 craftsmen and the 22 years it took to construct the beautiful tomb are strikingly apparent when one gazes at the magnificent wonder of the world. A couple of interesting stories about the Taj are that Shah Jahan had the right hand of the chief mason cut off so that the likes of the Taj could not be recreated ever again. Another story is that he also had plans to build another Taj built across the Yamuna in all black marble. It never happened because he was imprisoned by his son, but if it did happen I think it would have been cool if it were called Midnight Mahal(™). So the Taj was a great experience and I approve it being placed on the wonders of the world list. After the Taj, we journeyed over to a variety of tombs and forts. At this point I was pretty much forted and tombed out, so when we rolled up to one tomb in particular, we were pleasantly surprised to find some friendly monkeys. These Langurs were so friendly that you could literally feed them and they would put their hands and their feet on you. Instead of exploring the tomb, some friends and I instead spent some quality time with the langurs. It was such a fun experience interacting with them in such close proximity. For the first time I really got to feel what it must be like being friends with me. I started taking pictures and in some of the shots it really appears that the monkeys were posing for (at) me. At the end of it the watcherman who lives on the grounds asked me if I wanted the monkey to get on my shoulder. Without hesitating I told him yes, but unfortunately I was only able to feed him because the bus was leaving. So the interaction with the animal kingdom this last weekend was truly awesome. The ride home to Delhi had its ups and downs. I was still feeling pretty sick, so that was bad, but I did listen to my iPod pretty much the entire ride home. India is interesting. It is so easy to spend hours and hours just looking out a window when traveling because you see so much. We got back Monday evening around nine or so and walked straight to the McDonalds to have a nice meal. I got really sick the day after we returned and am now almost fully recovered. Wednesday night we saw a new Hindi movie in the theater called Dhoom. Dhoom is basically the Indian version of Biker Boys, The Fast and the Furious, Oceans Eleven, Mission Impossible 2, The Matrix, and Fried Green Tomatoes (not really) all in one. It was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, but completely fun because of the ridiculous action and (Hindi) dialogue. It was nice to go to a theater down the street from our apartment and to have mosquitoes and bats in the theater. A few days ago we watched Monsoon Wedding in our apartment on our friend’s laptop. I had seen it before, but it was a completely different experience watching it in Delhi where the movie takes place. It was also different because now we can appreciate the subtleties of the movie that make it so Indian. Yesterday I had my eyes tested at the local optometry shop. In India the eye exam costs 20 rupees, which is less than 50 cents American. I ordered some new glasses as I seem to have misplaced my old ones either in Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh. The eye doctor was an interesting experience because when we asked him how much the exam was, his reply was, “cheaper than a cobbler.” That seemed to be his reply to most questions we asked. Last night we went out to celebrate our friend’s birthday. We took the hour long auto rickshaw ride down to South Delhi and went to a place that can be likened to Dave and Busters or Family Fun Center in the states. They had bowling, pool tables, video games and bumper cars (literally only four cars, although it would have been even funnier if it was just one car and was called Bumper Car). We ended up bowling two games and had battle of the sexes for the last game, the losers having to pay for the bowling. I bowled barefoot wearing a Kurta. It was quite the experience bowling in India. This was definitely a place where only the rich come and we felt privileged to be able to be there. It was a great time and we had dinner at a nice restaurant afterwards. So life has been most interesting as of late. We are planning on traveling somewhere next weekend and then going back to Rajasthan the following weekend where we will ride camels into the desert and camp out under the stars. Hopefully India and my health will reach a peace agreement and I will put the sickness behind me. The other day we went back to the YWCA, where we stayed when we first got to Delhi in June, and we ran into a guy who works there that likes us. He pointed to my facial hair and asked me what happened. I thought he was asking about why I shaved my beard, so I told him that I like to change my look. Apparently he was asking why I lost so much weight and thought I looked thinner. It must have sounded pretty weird for someone to ask why I was so skinny and then for me to reply because I like to change my look. There is a serious communication breakdown every now and then, but somehow we manage. I’ve noticed little changes in myself nowadays. I decided last weekend in Rajasthan that I will not eat beef while I am in India. There are a couple of reasons for this, but mainly because the cow is so holy here and I wish to respect that. The funny thing is that although I’ve stopped eating them, I’ve started acting more like them. What I mean is that I figured something out the other day. There are a lot of flies here, all the time. The flies constantly pester everything and everyone. They seem to really give the cows a hard time and I noticed that when they land on the cows, the cows simply twitch the appropriate muscle to get the flies off them. The other day a fly landed on my arm and I noticed myself simply twitch my enormous bicep to get it off. I realized that this was simply the best and most efficient way of getting the flies off me while expending the least amount of energy. This greatly contrasts my pre-India behavior of flailing like crazy when a fly landed on me. So in a way I’ve really embraced the bovines here and they seem to be my greatest teacher when it comes to matters of life and love. India is also teaching me to respect insects for certain reasons. I dislike flies immensely, but admire their persistency, and I loath ants, but admire their teamwork. Each day in India brings new thoughts and more sweat. Sometimes I love just laying around listening to music and thinking about my friends and family and the states. It’s quite satisfying to sit and entertain thoughts of being back home with friends, families and loved ones. I have not really been homesick yet, just people sick. There are occasional little comforts here, but after all, how can one ever replace the most important thing in one’s life, the people. I continue to travel and to learn, all the while knowing that even though it saddens me to know that my time here continues to diminish, it just means that I am that much closer to coming home. I hope you are well…