Iran

Well I've been in Tehran now for about 2.5 weeks and things are going pretty well. I just realized the other day that in my two years off, I've spent 5.5 months in Iran...that's quite a bit of time. Tehran has started to attain that comfortable feeling of a home away from home for me. The streets have started to find a location in my brain and wandering around on my own or with taxis has gotten quite easy. Some of you might be thinking I'm a bit slow, but just to get a sense of the city, think New York big with the opposite of the lovely ny grid street system...the streets aren't exactly orderly here. Anyhoo, thankfully its easy to orient yourself here as it is often assisted by the slope of the hill. That said, Tehran is so spread out that I've probably really only become familiar with about a third of it (albeit the most interesting third;) One interesting improvement I've noticed since last year is the streets are much cleaner....I've been waking up to go to Park-e-Laleh early in the morning to run (the park is packed with people excercising early am...they even have this aerobics class that all these cute older people go to...and baba, just an fyi vali khodet hasti tuye un guru, vali daghighan nemidoonam aghe unjaham hasti baraye khoshgel factor ya na...schiad 10 sale dige;) Along the way the street cleaners are in full business, cleaning out the canals on the sides of the streets, using huge vacuums to clean the sidewalks and grooming the grass and plants in the park. It's quite a nice change, and very welcomed after India. I've seen some funny things along my walks. For one, there was a young boy in a car trying to turn right at a congested intersection....as he was trying to turn, people (and other cars turning left) were in the street making it difficult so all of a sudden he turned this sound like a police siren on, everyone moved out of the way and he easily turned, the siren went off and he went on his way. The kid next to me and I realized what he did and burst out laughing...it was pretty ingenious. There was also this amazing guy on the street demonstrating a veggie cutter which I watched for a good 10 minutes...in no time at all he cut all these veggies into really cool shapes and made little slinkies out of them. It was pretty sweet. I may have to get one one of these days. I also went to cafe naderi to get a yummy steak with creamy mushroom sauce and crispy fried potatoes...mmm, was so good. Met an armenian girl there who was quite nice. The cute older waiters working there (apparently ever since before the revolution) are entertaining and when I got the bill, he joked with me saying that the $15 on lunch was a common cost in the jomhuri-e-islami. But it is actually amazing that considering the vast differences in income, things like coffee and restaurants (except fastfood) are the same price as back home.

Walking around alone a lot lately I've started to have some interesting encounters with the other kind. It's never been creepy like in some of the other countries I've been to, thankfully. Usually the guys do it when no one else is around and then when they walk by you they say hello or some such thing (racy I know;) Two boys once asked me if I was waiting for them...and a group of suit-clad boys at a bus stop broke out singing for me as I walked by. was quite entertaining although I was a bit annoyed at the time. last year my cousin and I were trying to cross a big intersection and a car all of a sudden stopped for us...I was like woa, that's never happened before, I can't believe they actually stopped to let us walk across, and she informed me that that's what guys do to pick up random girls! hah! man I'm so naive. I've even managed to get some guys phone number of all things...happened in a handicraft shop of all places (persian handcrafts, unbiasedly of course, are hands down the most beautiful). started talking and when I was going to leave he was like my name's ali, come back, here's our card, oh wait, here's my cell number, the name's ali. lol, was pretty funny.

Met a nice anthropology professor and have been going to some of her classes and such with her lately. she told me about her experiences in mongolia and how she stayed for a few days out in the countryside with a tribe...they only ate meat and dairy products but had managed to make vodka out of yogurt! Pretty interesting to go to class and talk to the students. Some of the girls told me that they choose to wear a chador bc it tells boys that they aren't loose and such...they said that if you just wear a scarf and coat it shows that you have different beliefs and may be ok to flirting with boys and such. They said that if they went to the US, they wouldn't wear it and would just wear a scarf, because there it is the equivalent of a chador...was pretty interesting to talk to them about it. She brought me along to her yoga class at her friend's apartment which was cool to go to. mostly was meditation and was very relaxing...two hours of relaxation really helps you stay calm, which is particularly important in hectic Tehran.

Went yesterday to a friends presentation for finishing medical school...was cool to see although it was hard to understand most of it. An interesting tidbit I've noticed in Iran is the concept of the chai server...whatever school or company I go to, they have someone that comes around and gives tea and sweets to the workers everyonce in awhile. It's nice, although personally I like the distraction offered by getting up and grabbing your own coffee and chatting with a friend.

As familiar as I am with some parts of Persian culture, there are some things I don't think I'll ever be fully comfortable with, and there will always probably be things that I will learn about it. Persian culture is so complex, I don't think they even fully understand it. Something I'll never be comfortable with is seeing someone for the first time in awhile and having them immediately discuss whether you've become fatter or skinnier since the last time they saw you. They'll discuss this for awhile, kindly the entire time as if they're discussing the weather, and either way it's not bad. It's just...odd. I think coming from a culture where you generally steer clear of talking about your weight with others and then being in front of people that you don't know well and having them ask how many kilos you are, or discussing your weight in front of you is just uncomfortable. and no matter how much I try to tell myself that it's just their culture, it just comes off as extremely rude and awkward for me. I usually just shut my mouth and go into a zen mode until they get over it, but really inside I just want to be like, you know, it IS so good to see you again and how HAS your life been since I saw you last? but of course I don't.

another thing that's frustrating is ta'ruf. you know, I'm just not used to saying no the first 5 times and then saying yes. if someone asks me to do something and it sounds like fun, I just say yes. It's hard for me to realize that they usually just say stuff and expect you to say no. and they use such tactful language to show that they don't really mean what they say.....things like "if you don't have other plans" or "if you have permission to come" when they really mean that they are inviting you but not really inviting you bc if they truly wanted you to come they would be like "I'd be really happy if you came" or "we'd all really like to see you." I don't think they understand who they are talking to...to me, I take it all literally and if I don't have other plans and want to go, then I say yes. which I think I have unknowingly probably surprised many people and made them think I'm rude. I don't think they understand that 110% of my energy is going into trying to figure out what it is they've just said, and how I can say my response. I don't have the capability of deciphering hidden messages....nor perhaps most importantly, I don't have the mindset for thinking about hidden meanings. I'm a very straightforward person-I say what I mean and I mean what I say (for the most part) and I expect the same out of others. It's very hard for me to lie about things, and usually you can tell by my language because when caught between lying or saying something potentially rude or even slightly impolite, I usually defer to vague language like "yeah it's not bad" or in the case of rock climbing "I'd love to but unfortunately I have plans." ->that one's for you josh;) but usually, I don't even have a strong opinion and am good with going with the flow...as long as the flow is in a desirable direction;) anyhoo, it's tiring and I miss good old america;) I think it's important for people to live in other countries and experience different cultures because then you really get to see your own culture from a different angle and see what you like and don't like or at least get another view or be more understanding of others. (for example a somali girl in high school who had just came from somali once opened up to me and told me she hated the US...at the time, I took it as a personal affront and was a bit hurt-i mean, how could she not like my homeland??-but now I realize that it probably was exceedingly difficult for her to adjust to the new culture and surroundings, and plus, she was probably struggling with the right words to properly display her feelings and maybe she reached for one that wasn't quite right but the only one she thought of or knew at the time) language and words and gestures have so many connotations that we take for granted. I think in the last few years I've really realized the importance of communication and the affects it can have not only between individuals, but between countries. That's not to say I'm perfect at communicating...in fact, far from it. But it is amazing how much affect language can have and I for one need to try to concentrate more on it.

Last night I was at a friend's house and their young son asked me, "I'm not quite sure, are you Iranian or American?" The question took me a bit offguard and I wasn't sure how to answer it, especially in farsi;) at the time I basically answered it by saying the I am Iranian-American, and I still think that's basically true in some sense. I mean, I can speak some Farsi, know some about the culture and have pride for my origins. I like the sense of roots that it gives me...a sense of a history, an ancient culture, an artistically and intellectually rich culture. but upon further reflection, I think what I really am is American. and it's that fact that I am most proud of. I like being an individual, doing what I want, being responsible for my own actions and free to act on my own free will and not confined so strongly by a society. I like being able to voice my opinions and being surrounded by open-minded people (ok so obviously not all americans are, but I would venture more so than Iran...I mean, the more you are exposed to, the more open you tend to become and we certainly don't lack diversity in the us). I like having a more informal society where not so much effort is put into putting up a front. I like choosing my friends not by what they look like or wear or who their family is, but by their personality and goodness and heck, their interesting factor. Not that American culture is better than other cultures...just that it's this culture that I was brought up with, this culture that I understand and am comfortable in, and this culture I feel most like me. I think it's safe to say that a lot of americans have a second or third or fourth cultural influence. and for me, thats Iranian culture. but something I've realized is that I'm American first, with sprinkles of persian flavoring. and personally, I couldn't be more happy. ok enough sappiness...too bad it's not the fourth of july;) but really, I guess what I'm saying is I heart you america;0 I'm really thankful I was brought up in a country where the concept of freedom is for the most part, fully realized.

anyhoo, its chahar shambe suri here (just before persian new year, during which I'll be spending a lovely two weeks on kish, an island in the persian gulf;) traditionally people would jump over smal bonfires in the streets (apparently if they were sick it would heal them) but apparently in the recent past its taken a nasty turn where kids explode fireworks and such and has become exceedingly dangerous. lots of peole lose limbs or get burned from accidents. they showed a nasty show about it on tv last night and made me a little scared to step foot outside tonight...anyhoo, hope you all are enjoying some lovely spring weather!

Bombay, Mumbai, a bay;)

Ali and I successfully survived a 24 hour bus ride from Diu to Mumbai. and boy was it nice to be there. it was rather warm, but the dry warm that is tolerable as opposed to the insufferable humidity. Still technically winter, being February and all, and temps were already in the 30s. I'm so glad we weren't there in the summer! The bus ride wasn't all that bad and Ali and I were actually pleasantly surprised with how quick the time flew by. We had a sleeper, which basically means we had a little box all to ourselves where we could lay down and shut out the craziness that is India. Stayed at the Salvation Army's place for a whopping $4 a night, breakfast included. It's kitty corner from the taj hotel, where all the crazy stuff went down a few months ago. Didn't even phase my mind until we went out to grab drinks with a few Brit girls at Leopold's, the famous foreignor hangout, and saw bullet holes in the windows. Then it hit me, why the whole front side of the Taj was boarded up and blocked off. I know, don't say it, she's a quick one mr. grinch;) anyhoo, mumbai was awesome...I totally could live there for a period of time. There was the feeling of India, but then the comforting presence of the modern world that I'm used to. The first thing that hit us was how clean the streets were! and how little pollution there was for such a large city...we could finally maneuver the streets and sidewalks without having to avoid feces and crap of some kind or other. Lots of modern buildings, interspersed with ones from the Brits, and then adjacent to slums. Kinda a crazy background. Went to see Slumdog Millionaire again, and it was amazing for the second time again. It was so cool to see it in the city it was filmed, and brilliant to be able to recognize where the scenes were filmed. heck, we had just walked by most of them. Had some funny experiences with some street sellers...one guy tried to get us into his shop by claiming he was selling "museum pieces." hah. got some balloons from another guy who was walking around with a GINORMOUS balloon. I got giddy like a kid in a candy shop and got some. imagine all the fun you could have with a balloon the size of a small person. anyhoo, ali decided to get some the next day, and right after she bought them, this guy came up to us and informed us that they had sold us small balloons! duh, we totally should have figured given the size of the balloons in the bag. He demonstrated how far they could get blown up, a decidedly wimpy size compared to the others, not that size matters or anything, but anyways, he was trying to get us to pay more for the bigger balloons that he had. we figure they are probably all in it together and make money off of suckers like us. meh, it was fun.

as far as the food goes, Mumbai warrants a trip all on its own. man was it good. tried some of their faloodeh, although Iran's is much better. they put milk in theirs, and the noodles were like glassy spaghetti noodles, too thick for me. but the ice cream was good. had melt-in-the-mouth chicken kebabs, vegetable raita, vegetable fry and naan at the olympia cafe, a parsi restaurant that served delicious food...the whole meal along with fresh sweet lemon juice cost ali and I together a whopping $2! another day we went to another delicious parsi restaurant called Ideal Corner, where I had some brown rice flavored with lots of spices and some mutton curry sauce that was just like a persian khoresht but spiced up a bit with Indian spices. so yummy!

anyhoo, Bombay was awesome. flew to Iran via Qatar a few days ago, and now I'm nicely settled in Tehran. Thankfully it's cooler here...about 22c or so. it's good to be back. my aunt told me something funny today...she came home and told me I shouldn't eat the sausage/kilbasa anymore. Apparently the cops stopped some truck driver and checked out the back of the truck and found it filled from top to bottom with dead cats...upon inquiring as to what the cats were for, the driver said he was bringing them to the meat factory to make sausage!!!! yuuucckkk! I couldn't help it, I just burst out laughing one of those uncomfortable laughs as I racked my brain tried to count the number of times I actually ate the sausage. thankfully I never was much of a fan so it was probably limited to only a few times. well, at least the meat's halal here...;) man, I still can't believe it. that's so gross. maybe I'll be a vegetarian for life...after all, India showed me that it wasn't that bad...in fact, I really didn't miss meat that much. meh, hope you guys are enjoying your sausage;)

Diu

Diu..pronounced like the French word, meaning God. And for us, it has been a god send. Lying down on the sandy beach, with the sun beating down and a slight breeze with the ocean waves lapping near by has been the best relaxent (I don't think that's a word, but you know what I mean;) I think I know why meditation and yoga have come out of India...all you need to do is step into one of their busy cities and you'll understand the importance of meditation;) We actually went to a free yoga class one morning and it wasn't all that bad...not too much a fan of the spiritual aspect of it, but it was nice to do some stretching and relaxation things. In Jodhpur, we went to return some train tickets and spent nearly an hour and half in a "que" similar to those in Iran...so really just a mashpit in front of the window with everyone squished together pushing to get to the window first. Apparently there was some "order" to the "line" as they alternated between old men and women, but this was rather crude. After finally getting to the window, we discovered we had not filled out one section of the paper, and had to leave the line. Rather pissed (they had let an Indian man stand and fill it out, rather than lose his spot in line) we went near the front and as soon as the next person left, I sneaked my hand over the short Indian lady in front of me and threw my papers into the window saying politely "excuse me but are these correctly filled out now?" to which we were helped almost immediately. Ali was rather amused at my resourcefulness and the Indians around us were quite amused I think at my sneakiness, although they never complained a bit and seemed to think it was quite normal. If I hadn't been soo frustrated, I would have waited docilely another hour in the line. Anyhoo, back to the relaxing city of Diu. Our time has been spent waking up, taking a few hour breakfast with "cold coffee" (delish;) and talking to other travelers, then heading to the beach after a short walk into town and lying on the beach for the afternoon reading and swimming, then heading back to shower and grab dinner then spend the night by the fire talking to other travelers. There is a siesta "hour" here which really lasts from about 1-6 pm in reality. The restaurants don't even start serving dinner until 7 pm here. Many travellers get stuck here for awhile, and it is easy to see why. We've met some really cool people with amazing stories to tell. One, a Canadian, told us about how in Jaipur he got drugged by some food and woke up a day later in his hotel room with his money stolen and a gash on his head. Apparently he was found lying outside some hotel and they found his key and brought him back to his room...pretty scary. And there was a British couple he had met who had taken a rickshaw down from a fort on a hill...along the way they discovered the driver was high and ended up driving off the cliff...the driver is still in a coma, and the guy had broken his arm! we've been pretty lucky thus far...losing some money isn't anywhere near as bad as getting hurt. Last night we had an awesome conversation around the fire talking about travelling and other countries....we had all sorts of insights what from Britain, Canada, France, Denmark and Australia...the Aussie told us about when he went to Papua New Guinea...apparently it is like a fourth world country there, where they eat other people (mad cow disease is prevalent in people), AIDS is high...fastest growing in the world, and the tribes are constantly fighting each other. Some medical friends of his were trying to teach them to use condoms, and were demonstrating on broom handles. 3 years later, they went back to see how things were going and were shocked to find all the women on the island sweeping their houses with brooms with handles topped with condoms! and the men were also very resourceful, discovering that condoms are great for using as tackle for fishing! haha...well, really there is a much greater problem there than safe sex. I mean, really, teaching people to use condoms before they rape and pillage another tribe is rather irrelevant. It's hard to believe what a sheltered life we live back home...but also nice in a way to have such a great safe haven. Our problems are really very miniscule in comparison with some places in the world. Also met this amazing old German postman. He retired at age 53 and has been travelling the world ever since...he's been to India 11 times already. He has really inspired me to go to South America, and the Sputch couple to learn Spanish...so maybe that's what I'll be doing soon. It sounds like such an amazing continent. He went to the island just south of S. America and said it was very wild and untouched. mmm, beautiful countryside with small villages is so much more enjoyable compared to man made mashpits of congestion...hehe, no I'm really not that negative about India, although I think it comes out that I am much more than in reality. It's just that there are so many incredible things that happen here; I guess that's why they say Incredible India...Ali's motto is "impossible India" though, which is also true. Anyhoo, I realized today that I will actually be sad to leave a little...I have finally adapted and started to truly enjoy it, and it is so unlike any place I have been before...perhaps I'll come back during medical school. Sorry for the random babbling, there's just so many different things going on and my brain hasn't quite wrapped around them all yet and they just come pouring out;)

another tidbit about driving here....our driver told us that to drive in India, it is absolutely necessary to have 3 things: good brakes, a horn, and luck. so true. they use the horn incessantly, which is a huge form of noise pollution. you could be walking on the edge of a huge street with no one on it and a motorcycle will come by on the opposite side and honk the horn for 10 seconds while they pass you. I mean really, their use of the horn is absurd and overexcessive! but I have seen some instances where it is very beneficial.

Anyways...onto the really important stuff;)

Street food. man will I miss it. In Jodhpur we ran across a street vendor that took us into his little shop and we sat on little plastic stools as he gave us samples of everything he makes...potato chat (something like a potato cutlet with a bean curry and yoghurt, onions, tomatoes and spices added on top), veggie pakoda, spinach pakoda (fried spinach again with yoghurt and spicy sauces), pani puri (a crunchy empty ball filled with a spicy/sweet liquid...it fills-explodes rather-your mouth with this intense taste...some like it, I felt like puking, but then again, my small mouth can't handle overexpansion;), some yummy chai, and another sweet fried cheeseball with the yoghurt and spicy sauces on top..very interesting although can't say I'll miss the latter two too much. and then there are yummy samosas, and fried peppers with curried potato mix, and all sorts of sweets....ahhh, yes, they will be sorely missed. before coming to India, I was in love with curries...and now, I can't say it's my favorite Indian food. I think I've had my fill of them, although the homemade ones are soo much more tasty than in restaurants. The streetfood however, is to die for. There seem to be many good places to eat in Bombay (where we are headed next, after our 22 hour nonstop bus ride, starting tomorrow morning), and I'm getting excited. Apparently there is a large population of Parsis there (Persian Zoroastrians that left when the Arabs invaded) and they are supposed to have many good restaurants, so I'm excited to try them. I was excitedly talking about Bombay the other night, and Ali was like "but it's a lot farther south and it will be soo hot down there" to which I immediately replied "yeah, but we'll be eating the entire time anyways [in ac restaurants]"...she burst out laughing. For two food lovers, we've been known by the other tourists to be on the gourmet travelling trip across India. not too shabby of a reputation by any means;) Anyhoo, off to the beach now. we're trying to rent a moped to travel around the island...only $2 a day! so let's hope we survive safely;)

Udaipur

We spent an awesome couple of days in Udaipur, a chill town in southern Rajastan province. It was a nice break from the busy, intense cities. It is also known as the city of lakes, as it has a few...but due to the lack of much rain in the past few monsoon seasons, they were just a couple of smelly, dirty ponds...still nice to look at however. Went and saw the sunset from a palace up on a big hill, then checked out a palace and haveli. We met up with the Sputch and Argentinian couples again and had a blast....we all signed up for a cooking course together and learned how to make 3 Indian dishes, along with rice, chapati, parantha, and a yummy desert (golab jamun). It was by far the best Indian food I have ever eaten...so many flavors, and so fresh and not so greasy...you could actually taste the individual spices and vegetables as well as nuts. We were all in heaven except for the Argentinian girl who complained the whole time about it being too spicy (apparently she does this every meal). It was a great experience and really good to have a home-cooked meal finally. I think that in the past 3 weeks, I have only had meat twice...and honestly, there are soo many yummy veggy dishes here, that I don't really miss it. People are much friendlier now and helpful...and when you say no to something, they usually listen on the first attempt, rather than following us around for 5 minutes. Took the sleeper bus to Diu last night, which was soo much better than the train. It was warm and we had our own little cubby hole to lie down in. Diu is an island off the coast of Gujarat province and so far, so good. Ali's got a bit of an upset stomach now, but hopefully we can rent bikes and bike around the island. They are also supposed to have some nice beaches, so it'll be good to relax the next few days. Tonight our hostel has a barbeque with fresh fish, so it should be fun. We are staying in an old church that has been converted to a hostel...Diu apparently was a Portugese colony so the church was from then I believe. Anyhoo, hope you are all doing well and not freezing too much (it's probably in the 80-90s here...and it's only February!)

Reflections thus far...

So things are going much better over here...morale is high;) I think the golden triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur should really be the devil's triangle; the rest of India is so much more pleasant. They are just noisy, polluted cities full of people trying to get as much money from you as possible and they are very good at lying....make you feel like they are genuinely good people trying to help you, until you realize that their uniform is crap, their map false, their cards fake, their government position fake, and every word they uttered completely false. One even went so far as to say there are no buses in Rajastan! Anyhoo, we have come to the realization (along with every other backpacker that we have met...the old folks going on secluded tours dont count as they are in a perfect bliss since they never really interact with an Indians) that every Indian that approaches you is to be assumed to be lying and untrustworthy...and sadly, this has worked wonders to protect us. It is rather unfortunate that it has to be this way, but we've let our guard down many times, and every time we are trampled and used again. I've found the best way to deal is to have a smile on my face and joke around the whole time...things are much more enjoyable for everyone that way.

So some interesting things I've noticed:
sunday/monday is used by shopkeepers to refer to a reversible clothes item
"no hurry no worry, no chicken no curry" is a common saying, along with "anything is possible in India" which is totally true, I might add
men pee constantly on the side of the streets, which contributes to the ever present smell of urine...they even have little "urinals" on the sides of streets which are just protected by a little wall, but you can see everything inside...most don't bother to use them though and simply go wherever they feel the urge...which is intrigueing to me, as it seems that in some regards they have a very conservative culture...but maybe these are just people from the lower classes?

Anyhoo, we've met some wonderful people...a spanish/dutch couple and argentinian couple, whom we've been seeing over the past week and having a blast with. Tonight we have a cooking course together, so it should be fun. The "sputch" couple are medical students and lots of fun to be around...very calm and level headed. the argentinians however, are a hoot...the guy is very calm and laid back, whereas the girl is "just crazy" as the spanish guy says. they were all on the night train with us, except they were in a more expensive cabin...the argentinian girl saw a rat, and got mad when the spanish guy told her it was a just a small mouse...then she went up to her top bunk and saw her pillow and wall infested with cock roaches...apparently at this point she flipped out, and screaming, ran out of the train. her bf rand after her and they ended up hiring a car to the next town;) haha, we had some good laughs about that. apparently the dutch girl simply took out her contacts and went to bed pretending she couldn't see anything...very brave if you aske me;) we had some crackers and bananas for breakfast in a plastic bag which I had placed on the bunk by my head on the train...in the morning we discovered the crackers partly eaten (and plastic wrapper too) as well as parts of the bannanas;) the animals in this country are very well off;) this morning we saw cows on the street with chapatis, and the bus driver through out bread for monkeys on the side of the road as we went. not a bad place to be if you're an animal.

anyhoo, it has taking much longer than usual to adjust, but I think we have finally managed. It's nice to talk to other experienced travellers and realize that we are all in the same boat. At least it seems that now we are finally outsmarting the others and taking better care to protect ourselves, and our money:) anyways...off to cooking some yummy Indian food now!

Jaisalmer

Today was India at its greatest. It was by far our most amazing day yet. We met soo many kind people, laughed very hard, and had some delicious food. what more could you possibly want? First of all, let me just sat that Indian shopkeepers tell you things are reversible, but they just don't simply say reversible, they say "look madam, this skirt, sunday/monday" and then they flip it around. tres cute. We met a little girl who was selling bracelets (of which we had just bought a bunch) and she tried to have us get more. We joked around and tried to sell ours to her. At first she started out at 10 bracelets, 100 rupees, and then went up to 3000 rupees;) it was so cute and we were all laughing a lot. then she helped us put the bracelets on, and many Indian families stopped and came up to us laughing and saying that they weren't bracelets but were anklets. We walked around town some more and some women passed us laughing hysterically. They tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to our "bracelets" and laughed. It was cute. Then we met a really nice shop keeper who was super nice and ended up just giving us cute little coin purses for free. Then we met a group of kids who wanted to take their picture with us....they asked if we were married and then shook our hands (the guys anyways). Their little brother who was probably around 5 then got really excited and shook my hand (trying to marry me;) and then ran off all very shyly. It was funny. They were quite crazy kids. We went into a shop and became friends with Nana (aka brad pitt;) who was an awesome guy. He practically showed us everything in the store and when it came time to bargain, he whipped out his calculator...I was like no no no, put that away. We'll play a game like "who wants to be a millionaire"...you can use your calculator once, your phone once, and your friend once, but otherwise you have to use your head for the price. He was a little worried about this and kept trying to go for the calculator...it was very fun and we eventually ended up getting the stuff...these people are crazy bargainers and are very serious...at one point they really seemed to get pissed at us for offering a price that they thought was too low...whatever, they wanted over a $100 for a few scarves and shirts! and then on our way back to the hotel, we met an awesome family...the kids were outside playing badminton and we stopped and had chai in their house and talked for over an hour...they soon discovered my camera and were having a blast taking photos and dressing Ali and I up...it was a lot of fun. One man from delhi stopped by and started talking to me about Hinduism and the medical problems in Rajasthan (he found out about my wanting to be a doctor) and was telling me about the problems caused by fluoride in the water. all in all it was a wonderful day and we met so many kind people that our impression of India has drastically improved...I mean, I knew all along that the tourist people were probably not good representations of Indians, but there were soo many of them and they were such good liars and cheats that it was very difficult to keep a positive head about it.

anyhoo, Jaisalmer has been awesome. It's a smaller town (population about 60000) in the desert...we spent yesterday out in the desert and Ali went for a camel ride in the sand dunes. We went with a spanish couple who we've been with the past few days and a couple of Aussie sisters and we all had a blast. We've gotten hooked on an Indian show called "dance India dance" which is basically like american idol but for dancing. It's pretty fun to watch them dance. There was a guy on the other night who had gimp legs..no problem, he stuck them behind his head and dance on his hands! it was amazing and he was actually really really good. We went to a Bollywood film...saw Rab nivada di jodi....pretty cool movie and didn't need to know Hindi to understand it;) the clothes and dances were amazing. and best of all, we've eaten some really good Indian food finally:) stopped taking the advice of Indians and went by the guidebooks;)

we're off tonight on the night train to Jodhpur. hopefully it's not as exciting as the last one. it was freezing cold. there was this guy that was the most amazing (and annoying) snorer ever and kept me up most of the night. I finally fell asleep in the early morning only to be woken up early by somone sitting on my feet on my bed...this had happened a few times during the night and I would get up to find someone sitting at the end of my bed staring at me. pissed and tired, I didn't even get up but simply gave them a very firm nudge with my knees...they moved farther down my bed, to which I proceeded with a very strong kick. they got a bit pissed but got up finally to which I was very happy;) they don't have much sense of personal space here I think which can be abit difficult for us. anyhoo, hope it's better this time and I don't get a bottom bunk right in the hallway;) we will sorely miss Jaisalmer.

Vinod and the Taj

Man. I've done a fair bit of traveling lately, but I've never been beaten down like India. It's way intense. Talking to other traveler's it seems like they're in the same boat. There's SOOOO many people, animals, cars, rickshaws, bikes, camels, cows, dogs, bisons and more wandering the streets...you name it, they've probably got it. I think that traditional backpacking is probably very difficult to do your first trip in India...at least through the touristy areas and with limited time. All the other backpackers we've run across have relented and gone through travel agencies to book drivers, trains and/or hotels. Should've probably booked the tix back home, but who can plan for a 3 week trip months in advance? With my ever changing moods, it's just not feasible. Anyhoo, things are on the up and up. We've (thank god) gotten out of crazy Delhi and into slightly less crazy Jaipur (with a stopover in Agra). And our moods have considerably increased. It's not that we were in a bad mood before, but we were a little on edge. Didn't know who to trust or what was legit or not. So far, so good though. For me, I'm just concentrating on breathing;) After my stomach troubles, they conveniently proceeded into a cold, complete with sore throat, drippy nose, and fatigue. I feel like a semi has hit me, and breathing all the polluted air is a huge relief;)

We've had a driver (Vinod) the past few days and he's been awesome. Tells lots of funny stories and looks out after us giving us advice and who to avoid and such. Ali and he always sing "from Chandni Chowk to China" (a recent Bollywood hit) and he's taken to calling her China. The other day she was sleeping in the backseat, and he asked me "is China sleeping?" pretty hilarious. Told me a story yesterday about a Japanese tourist that came and saw a few semis tipped over on the side of the road and was wondering what happened. He told her that they don't have jacks in India to change tires, so they flip the semis over to change the tires....she believed him until he started laughing!! Seems like everywhere I go the locals have funny stories to tell about the Japanese tourists;) He told us how they fly to India just to take a picture of the Taj Mahal and then go right back! He told one guy that a temple was the Taj Mahal...the guy proceeded to take a ton of photos of it and was ready to go back to Delhi! How can you not know what the Taj Mahal looks like, and still fly all the way over to see it?! pretty crazy to me. Anyhoo, Vino's been awesome. and the Taj Mahal...wow, words cannot express how beautiful it was. I'm usually not a fan of huge touristy sties, but this one was incredible. So simply and elegant yet very majestic and detailed. Simply heavenly;) Michelle, Ali and I were all lost for words.

So being an obvious tourist here and going to touristy areas, we've gotten a lot of harassing to buy stuff. Rather than be rude and grumpy about it, it's been a lot of fun to joke around with them, and it makes my day to get a smile from them in return...I'm sure they can't enjoy the grumpy tourists all day long;) So I try to make it fun for both of us, as annoying as it is. I've learned a few Hindi words which has done wonders. One kid was shocked and said "oh Hindi" and left us alone. One persistently buggy kid I told "bas" which means enough, to which he thought a minute and then responded with "bas station is over there madam" to which we both burst out laughing and left on a very cheery note. Another kid I told him I would take his touristy gift for free, to which he laughed and shook my hand good bye. And then there was the cutest little boy in the mosque in Fatehpour Sikri, an ancient abandoned town. He was 8 and knew a few words in lots of languages, even Farsi! He was such a good little salesman and spoke so convincingly I burst out laughing...he was also very persistant. I couldn't resist and gave him and his older brother some gum. Another bunch of boys saw him chewing gum and asked me for some to which the little boy said "no madam has no gum" (which I clearly did since he had been with me for about 15 minutes in which he had gotten the gum)...after realizing it was obvious that I did have some gum and gave it to him he quickly changed his story to "madam has only 5 pieces of gum, to which she has already given to 5 little boys!" what a little shaytun! I always seem to fall for the cute little boys though and he was quite a character.

Did a bit of shopping today. I've never been a huge fan of bargaining, but apparently I've learned some from you dad. I kept talking the guy down and didn't budge much and eventually got it down to a very reasonable level. I was happy but wasn't quite sure how much it actually went for so I asked Vinod and he said the shopkeeper told him in Hindi that I was very smart;) so apparently it went alright. Too bad we were to shocked to do it for our tour;) oh well, you live you learn right?

Unfortunately, (and this really is the saddest thing of all) Ali and I have yet to eat really good Indian food...in fact, I would say so far it's been much better at home. Since becoming sick, I haven't been able to stomach it too much and the stuff we've eaten is just touristy garbage. I'm looking forward to trying some local places again soon once I'm feeling up to par. Tomorrow though we're going to see a Bollywood film in the cinema, so we're super stoked. Jaipur has a beautiful palace and we got to see them preparing to shoot a new Bollywood film inside it....was pretty cool to watch the preparations for it. Anyhoo, here's to better Indian food in the near future.