arrival! life of pi, tibet, INDIA!

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Currently Watching
Kal Ho Na Ho DVD 2004
By Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta


Sooo.... We're here! Angel's internet hasn't been working but we hooked up the ol' laptop and voila! el interwebo! It's like 3:00am or something ridiculous at home, but it's a little after 1:00 in the afternoon on Monday here. We're about 9.5 hours ahead on this side of the world.

Arrived safely after a long flight on Friday night. Angel and her dad picked us up at the airport - we got special treatment b/c her dad works there. Ha! Everyone looked pretty confused when they took us out of the normal line.

Have slept here 3 nights and are finally getting over the jetlag. Went out shopping the other day with Angel and Dids and her mom. We both bought salwar kameezes (fancy pajama pants and long shirt/skirt thing). Mine is blue with little tan/gold embroidered star-like things and Arielle's is brown with tan pants. We like them. Put up a photo when we figure out how.

Rajma chaval is beans and rice. Pani = water. Slowly learning some Hindi.

It's hot. Pounding heat. 40 C. over 100 F. Sweat drips everywhere. Cold showers relieve. Poison ivy has returned with a vengence in the heat. No toilet paper - use cup of water to wash. Getting the hang of that. Pater purifier beeps - beautiful music. Dust. Color. Hungry children. Green and yellow three wheeled autorickshaws. No traffic lanes. Honking. Honking Honking. Driving on the right - we're going to get run over. Hindi movies. Shah Ruqh Hahn and his singing hotness haha! Fans. Airconditioning.

Went to the Baha'i temple. Huge lotus. Reminiscent of the opera house in Sydney. Overwhelming.

Angel's family has been amazing. Her dad is adorable. Sister is very cool - doctor - heading back to the States tonight. They're trying to get her married. Angel's mom has been very helpful. Keeps trying to feed us. heh.

Okay, enough for now. I have a sandwhich and ice coffee waiting for me. Suppose i'll let Arielle on to post for a bit.

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Arielle just finished re-reading "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel and now I'm beginning to re-read it, too. Certainly one of our favorite books. We will most definitely be stopping by Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu, the location of the beginning of the story.

Much like the narrator, who came to India knowing almost nothing except that they speak "funny English" and use words like "bamboozle", we're moving on faith. Like the narrator, we too were feeling restless and have little money. "This is not so illogical if you realize things: That a stint in India will beat the restlessness out of any living creature, and that little money can go a long way there."

Let's hope so.

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Also, it unfortunately looks like we're not going to make it to Tibet during this trip. There's really just too much red tape and money involved that could be better spent in India.

We are, however, going to be heading up north soon toward Amristar, where we'll visit and stay at the Golden Temple, the largest Sikh temple in India. We'll head on up to Dharamsala, the location of the exiled Tibetan community and the home of the Dalai Lama.

After that we're not sure how we'll be moving south. Either heading by train/bus down the west coast starting with Mumbai (bombay) and making our way around to Chennai (madras) and then back up to Delhi. Also need to visit Agra and the Taj Mahal.

So that's the skeleton of a plan. We'll be leaving Angel's house tomorrow and staying in a youth hostel in Paharganj in Delhi for one night, maybe two, and then heading up north.

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