6,403 Indian Rupees, 6174 Nepalese. My time in India has greatly exposed me to the way that old people and babies are cute in the same way. I'm sure there is one word for the phenomenon of both types of innate, helpless human need and the desire for our species to care for its members, regardless of creed, "race" or language.The English words cuteness and love or compassion are obviously imperfect. If anyone knows a word for this type of human bonding in a non-English language (as applied both to the very young and helpless and the rather old and helpless [View Full Entry]

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I'm fairly desensitized to most of the "unusual" sights a Westerner can see on the streets in a major Indian metropolis. Nursing newborn puppies, dying people, old men smoking chillims, elephants, young men selling (hopefully) fake guns, giant rats..... I barely notice such things now. Children defecating into the gutters or on the sidewalk.... this is no big deal either. However, today I saw a kid, maybe three or four years old, expelling some solid waste onto Park Street that was bright green . I hope he is in good health. [View Full Entry]

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Kolkata has changed quite a bit in the month I was gone. Stands that once sold fruits are now full of belts and shirts. There is a general pre-holiday atmosphere throughout the city. I went to New Market yesterday, and the crowds were, well, crowded. Less Westerners than there had been on Sudder. However, there are many Americans right now at Prem Dam. It was great to see the patients again, I missed them dearly. I was talking to Daniel and Mr. Badger to get the news, and apparently one of the patients escaped during a musical program! The weather is [View Full Entry]

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As most of you have probably figured out by now, I've been off the grid for a couple of days. Here's a quick list of the people and things I've recently seen and heard, felt and smelled: Immediately after posting my last entry, a group of about a hundred people carrying torches and chanting slogans marched up the main street in Thamel. As it turns out, they were members of the Night Workers Union, protesting a recent government move to shut down bars at ten o'clock (they used to be open until two AM). I think a good compromise solution (one [View Full Entry]

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The food here is incredible. Mike and I stopped by some small store (selling bread, biscuits, soda, juice, tobacco, ect) that had some eggs and noddles displayed. We got the best egg chowmein I've ever had (complete with channa, hari mrichi, aur alu ). There are also delicious soups and momos available at decent prices. For das Nepali rupiyay one can purchase two fairly hefty sticks of deep-fried, seasoned tofu. Just a few hours ago we wandered down to Durbar Square. Very beautiful and historical place, even though Kathmandu is "only" about 400 ( char sau ) years ol [View Full Entry]

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Interactions between unrelated men and women are more acceptable here than in India. Women on the street will give the sideways nod. Every fourth or fifth t-shirt worn by a local has the face of either Britney Spears or an American "professional" wrestler on a black background. I am paying for the cheapest internet I have encountered so far (15 NRS an hour) and it is also the slowest. The Nepalese are a bit less anal about right hand/ left hand interactions. Street kids huff glue, and in the same breath foreigners for money. I had the good fortune to run [View Full Entry]

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Top of the world to you! After a particularly brutal bus ride, Mike and I have arrived in Kathmandu. We plan to stay here for about a week before heading back to the Gangiatic Plain. It would be nice to skip the city at some point and get somewhere with more than fifteen stars in the night sky, but at the moment my traveling companion is experiencing some gastrointestinal difficulties. Our bus was supposed to arrive in the city at Midnight, but instead got here around six in the morning. The good news is we save money on a night at [View Full Entry]

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I forgot to update everyone regarding my expenditures. In August I spent 11,587.5 rupees. More than July, cheifly due to travel expenses and the purchase of some shoes. Still, not too terrible (I expect this month, with lots of travel, to be a bit worse). Today I visisted Sarnath, the place where the Buddha first taught his message to mankind. While relaxing under the shade of a particularly grand and elderly tree, two teenage boys sat by me and started a conversation. They were bored, and one of them drew my picture (no sales pitch involved). I wrote my name under [View Full Entry]

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Its good to be back in the friendly madness of the Gangiatic Plain. Yesterday I wore a lungi, and had as many people trying to speak to me in Hindi as in English. We went on a sunrise boat tour of the ghats, and a van tour of three different temples. One of them had the Ramanana written out on in Hindi the walls. I plan to come back in nine months and read it. In Hindu comsology, Varanasi is the cremation grounds for the entire universe. Sure is hot enough. A thought occured to me yesterday about how the Ganga [View Full Entry]

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.2Mike and I decided to head to Varanasi, and here we are! It's quite an exciting city. Many more bicycles on the roads than in Delhi or Kolkata, but the main drag is still plenty crowded. We were shown the Burning Ghats by a silk-valla. A very ancient and powerful (in terms of auditory, visual, tactile, and olfactory stimulation) place, and mother Ganga is very wide and beautiful under the setting sun. Because we came here more or less on a whim (at first we were thinking about visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar) we were not able to buy sleeper-class [View Full Entry]

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