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;)