
bizarro.
so i left today to go get my teeth cleaned, really unimportant to the story, but nonetheless, i walked by my flower wallah, around the corner from my house. and there was no flower wallah. there was a dude sitting there, and a few flowers, but all the buckets of flowers were gone, or lying on the floor.
apparently the government of delhi goes through and "cleans up" whenever they feel like it. last year it was called 'the ceiling' and they closed down a bunch of allegedly great restaurants, much to my dissapointment. i tried to ask the older gentleman what happened, he said something about 'committee.' an older lady was kind enough to come and explain that the gov't had come through this morning, picked them up, and destroyed the stand. apparently they'll be back after they pay a fee, but who knows when.
so, it's been a while since i blogged. i have been sick, again, and procrastinating the blog for some reason. nonetheless i went on a little trip a few weeks ago to varanasi, the religious center for hindus, the place where every hindu must take a pilgrimage to at some point in their lives.
thinh and i stayed in old town, at the end of a seamingly endless maze of tiny streets packed with people, cows, goats, and motorscooters. smells that i cannot describe wafted through the air as we miraculously arrived at our 'luxury room' at the hotel.
varanasi is an experience in and of itself. add the holiday HOLI to it, and wow, it's a trip. holi celebrates the end of winter and coming of spring (even though it had to have been 100 degrees) by spraying color on everyone. by the end of the trip i was a varanasi picasso of color. i don't have pictures, for fear of ruining the camera, but if you happen to see me soon i am sure you can see the traces of color still in my scalp and finger nails. varanasi will have to remain a story told over a beer or coffee....for now, some pics