from where we started: Namaste, My Dear Friend

Stoic, or confused?

It's just absolutely insane here in India. The poverty, the smells of urine versus the smells of freshly made chabadi (flat bread) or chai, the immensely ornate and beautiful mosques, temples, shrines, gates, ghats, street kids, rickshaws, and well, everything. It's beauty is untouchable and the people smile sooo much when you just say hello (I don't know if I've ever met better natured people, despite the fact that so many have so little). When you barter for things or ask directions, it's all smiles, even if they're out to get every last rupee from you. I seriously wish you were here, I wish you could see it, and I hope that someday you come--you have to. And I've only been here for three days. Only three days...

After I got in a couple of mornings ago, I napped a bit, watched some Bollywood on TV, then went up for breakfast, had some chai from the wala outside--the dude that yells 'chai, chai, chai'--and proceeded to wander around with this guy that I met named Elliot. He's a cool dude that's been traveling for about 4 months in India, plays guitar really well, and just seemed like an overall good bloke--some cool stories from him too. He went with me to sort out my train ticket stuffs, because it was ridiculously hot and there isn't really anything you can do in Delhi between 11:30am to 4pm, and I was hoping for some crazy story to come of it, but we didn't even get approached by any touts who tried to sell us something or trick us or anything. I was, at the least, quite disappointed. Anyway, I had my first Vegetable Thali with Paneer (an India cheese), and some other things, Chabadi, Papadom--the crisp flat bread... It was amazing, and only at the restaurant of my guesthouse...

The New Delhi Train Station

The guesthouse was pretty nice., as it's about 10 bucks a night throughout India for what would be a basic US hotel room. Every single second, somebody would ask me if I have any laundry to do. I say no, and then they ask me if I want some beer... because they charge big prices for it, since they legally can't serve it in the hotel. It's funny, as they definitely get disappointed when I tell them no... which brings me to another point... I've decided to stick to vegetarian only, and not drink while I'm here... until I get to Kolkata at least. It's just the proper [and legal] thing to do, and the likelihood of me getting sick off of veggies is probably pretty low compared to with, oh say, chicken.

I went to a place the other night, and watched this rat scurry across the back area by the sink--away from the food though. Welcome to India...

The food is good though. Definitely good.

After watching a little Nicholas Cage in The ROCK, it cooled down and I passed out. Woke up this morning, met some other guys and toko a private car tour around the city. It was insane. We stopped at shops to get the driver commission, refused to listen to almost anybody who tried to give me anything or tell me what I 'needed' to do--as most of the time people either want to take your shoes, or go through your bag when you 'have to' leave it when entering a building--and followed the rules when somebody either had a gun (army guy) or there was a huge sign in English that at least looked legit. Anyway, the driver Nhandlal took me all over the city, and I got to see the Raj Ghat where Ghandi was buried, the India Gate, the Akshardam temple (look it up online, because you can't take pictures), and the Lotus Temple.... I basically got hauled around the city all day for 200 Rupees, which is equivalent to 5 dollars... insane. I guess it's all relative though--or is it? Then I ate some more.

The Raj Ghat, where Ghandi is laid to rest...

Did I mention that the food is good?

My view from the train...

I arrived early this morning in Agra, in order to see the Taj Mahal. I'm pretty stoked. I find it very fitting that I'm going to see a temple that is pretty much the most absolute of all monuments to love when I am so happy and excited. Excited because of what I'm doing, what I could do, plus the fact that every day is an incredible adventure. Never in my life do I think I have been as happy as I am right now; I'm absolutely in love, I'm eating well (we'll see how that is in a few days), the people around me are happy, I think I know what I want to do in my life, and just feel good natured--something that I think has been missing, either in the last couple of months or for quite a while. I'm still not sure, and don't even know if I have to be...

Despite all of this excitement, the things that I see here continue to keep me grounded--hotel staff sleeping on the floor overnight, little kids with drug problems, and trash being set on fire next to thousand year old relics. It puts things in perspective... So, don't worry about me getting a bigger head than I've already got--I should be fine.