Beautiful relaxed historical place. Staying across a small river (10rs ferry) on the less-traveled part of the town. Its been hard for me to resist the economic will-power of the locals selling home made instruments. Bought two self-droning gourd clarinets (no better way to describe without a picture) and a Kirshna-style flute. Good deals on all three, and they are light and sturdy (good for transportation). The freedom of being able to carry all I own in this hemisphere of the world on my back is both humbling and empowering. Only bad thing to say is that the internet here is [View Full Entry]

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I'm in a train station, headed north to Karnataka state (little historical/tourist place called Hampi). I just found out about the Mumbai attacks by looking over the shoulder of some fellow reading a newspaper. Getting lots of love and concern (thanks!) but I am not scared in the slightest for five main reasons: 1)I had and have no plans to go to Mumbai (or back to Delhi, another potentially dangerous city) 2)With my beard and my lungi, I look Muslim (locals ask me if I am all the time, and most Tamils away from tourist areas think I am North Indian). [View Full Entry]

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Something I noticed from my first day here. There are dozens of sandals, sometimes solitary, sometimes in pairs, scattered around this town. Many many many at the beach (of course) but also a surprising number have been discarded amongst the boulders below the ancient rock-carved temples, and along the main streets. Says something about the relative lack of poverty here. In Kolkata such treasures would be snatched up, refurbished and resold rather quickly. If I am ever really going through hard times in Tamil Nadu, I now have a simple scheme to survive. One man's trash.... In Varanasi I had [View Full Entry]

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For being so touristy (both foreigners and locals) this place is real laid back. Two young dogs and the 2 year old niece of the fella that took me to my delux 100rs room on his moped wander around the grounds of the guesthouse, which is basically a house with some rooms built to the side. Yesterday whilst wandering around town a group of newbies (1 Aussie 3 French) asked me if I knew a good place to stay, and I took them back "home" with me. Haven't gotten any baksheesh from the place, but it is good to know I [View Full Entry]

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Had a good train ride to Chennai. Slept for about 75% of the thirty-two hour journey. The rest of the time was spent eating, and reading a book by Coelho (thanks MM!). No one really talked to me, which must mean that I fit in well. Once in Chennai, I got into a auto-rickshaw and looked for a place to stay. Everywhere was too expensive (1000rs! 800rs!) and my driver got mad at me for not giving him enough money. One hundred and forty rupees is a lot of food or biddis or clothing or whatever here, certainly good compensation for [View Full Entry]

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Last night I tried to explain to an Australian friend what the word "word" means. In West Coast urban youth slang, "word" can be an affirmation ("did you get the CD? - "word"), it can denote agreement ("the war in Iraq is messed up"- "word") or its a useful filler word ("word"). It's almost Indianly ambiguous. The hardest to understand amongst native English speakers are intoxicated Scotsmen. Sheep eat vegetable scraps in the waiting rooms of Indian hospitals. [View Full Entry]

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It's been awhile since my last entry. Apologies to my loyal readers, I have been rather distracted by the love and madness and friendship I have found in the City of Joy. One must be careful here what they call people that they interact with. For a couple of days, I was referring to the man who runs my favorite internet hub as daddu. He seemed a little put off by it, and after about half a week asked me if I knew what the word meant. As it turns out, what I wanted to say was daddah, and I was [View Full Entry]

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Alright, time for some self indlugence, keeping with the theme of music. A few times I've had problems going to sleep. Thinking too much is the curse of humanity. So I wrote some songs. Anyone is encouraged to figure out their own preferred melodies and chords. To my generation of "middle-class" Westerners: Well you drank too much vodka 'cuz you got it for free Now you're naceous and thirsty with a fresh STD.... While people chew bark 'cuz there's no food to see So really your problems don't matter There's a child parapalegic who's covered in lice And folks way up [View Full Entry]

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Basavanna Vacana 820 The rich will make temples for Siva. What shall I, a poor man, do? My legs are pillars, the body the shrine, the head a cupola of gold. Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers, things standing shall fall, but the moving ever shall stay. I love Kolkata. It is a magical city, a refuge for millions, a veritable mixed vegetable koorma of belief and language and genetics. However, it is time to move on. I need to mentally digest some of the things I have seen and done and heard and smelled in this rather humanly intense [View Full Entry]

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I woke up at 5:20AM to go to a party hosted by the American Consulate. Free food and coffee, and live election results. Didn't find out about Obama's victory until after I came back from volunteering. I hope President Obama can live up to half the expectations the world seems to have. Naturally, the free food was overexploited by myself and some Seattle U students. I also swiped about a dozen unwanted McCain/Palin buttons, to be given away to random people in need on the streets of Kolkata. Still rockin' my Ron Paul bling. [View Full Entry]

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