other things delhi

my car just got towed. what was a very fun shopping experience turned a little not fun but yet a little fun when i realized my car had been towed. of course, we walked around thinking maybe it might have been somewhere else, but after talking to traffic police decided that we had to go to the tow lot. of course the tow lot isn't a "lot". it's actually on the side of the road, and the police officer sits on a random public bench and collects the 6 dollar (300 rupee fee), 200 for the towing and 100 for the bad parking spot. it's funny though. there were at least 6 other cars parked where mine had previously been. i'm chalking it up to having exited the car with 4 foreign females.

dreamstate

perhaps i've been walking around half awake, perhaps it's the heat, maybe the probiotics?. who knows. i just walked through the market and had some weird sort of out of body experience, do i really live here?
does the fact that i make more mean i have to pay more for services which have fixed prices?
need i really pay the auto driver more for waiting even though the price he quoted was double what it should be?
does the girl at the light think she's going to get me to give money by wiping the nose of the baby and then touching me?
i guess year 3 doesn't make me a pro at this whole india thing. just saying.

don't forget to read the other new post.
peace.

i'm back.

I’m back. Arrived last night to what is making up to be “world-class airport.” Was a little surprised with the health check before immigration….really? Like you would fly for 15 hours and then tell them you were sick? Navigated through duty free (again) and the luggage reclaim just fine. I didn’t feel so bad about my overage fee after many of my colleagues showed up with many more than two bags.
Side note, electricity just cut for the 3rd time in 10 minutes, and my pot of coffee isn’t even done yet, ARG!
Came home to a house that was WELL taken car of. With the exception of a few plants that need to be stripped and given rebirth, the house is pretty unscathed. It was apparently so hot that the basketball size candle on my coffee table is not a deflated version of a Frisbee. My plants are thriving outside and must be enjoying the rains. After checking out the place, I went down to try and start my new, to me, car. I purchased a green Maruti 800 (with AC!!!) from a friend that left. It does, however, come with a little trick. Apparently, after it’s sat for a while in the heat, the gas evaps out of the carborator. If you are a car person you might just want to stop reading. So I have to take my handy dandy leatherman and open the air filter cap, remove a gas line, take a little bit with a plunger and put it in some hole. Believe it or not, I actually got all these instructions, again, from my friend Dharma who is in Peru, on facebook chat. Dad, I thought you’d get a kick out of that. The car jazz was not successful. I am going to try it again now.
So night one went quite well, went to bed at 12:30am, and woke up @ 6:15. Clearly this isn’t my preferred 8 hours, but I’ll take it on night one!
So, with my Alterra Blizak and Tizan on the pot in the living room (kitchen is sans power) I’m back on the couch, watching another rerun of Numbers, listening to the dogs barking, waiting for the power to come back on so I can post this!
MUCH LOVE!

highs and lows of 2008-2009

it's been a long time. sorry blog, if anyone is actually still reading you! so, i write this on the eve of my departure from year 2 in india. i go home with sweet tales and memories of a year well lived and well spent, and anticipate the return for year 3.
so, the top ten highlights.
1. my new digs and all the rad parties i had there
2. the friendships of new and old that continued to blossom ...and give me strength and support
3. travels: thailand, mumbai, kerala, rishikesh
4. going to my first ever: book launch and fashion show....
5. finding new shopping delights with tricia and maureen
6. actually being able to manuever around delhi, with a map of course!
7. the new workout craze, thanks in part to liz, chris, kendra, gene, and julie!
8. being able to come home 3 days early for jules' wedding
9. feeling like a real expat
10. paying off my loans

lowlights:
1. bombings
2. no week without walls
3. missing christmas at home
4. drama
5. loss of grandpa bill
6. missing brooke and roses' weddings.
7. missing births of new babes!

Thanks for sticking to this. I promise to start fresh next school year!
See you in the USA I hope!

indian machismo

i've been dying to talk "to" this subject for a while. i admit, however, i couldn't come up with a catchy enough title for it. either way. i take taxis to school most everyday. every morning i wake up, get ready, and call C Block Market Taxi stand. the conversation usually goes something like this
them: "hello"
me: "uh, yes, taxi stand? i'd like a taxi please, B1-24"
them: "d for delhi?"
me:"NO! b for bombay, 1 by t-w-e-n-t-y f-o-u-r"
them: (any take on the following): "(silence, then hang up), yes madam, coming, right away"
me(screaming at the phone which is now disconnected): seriously? i call every freaken day....ahhh!

a little sidetracked....back to the taxis. i usually take a taxi or an auto home as well. some days i read, listen to the ipod or talk on the phone. lately, however, i've been doing a lot of noticing.
the setting is usually the same. taxi/auto going too fast, dude in front slams on brakes with or without brake lights, we almost crash into it, my heart leaps into my mouth and we stop 3 cm before their bumper. it's what happen next that varies according to the machismo. (would machindian have been a better title?)

in the fall a taxi behind mine crashed into us. the driver sped ahead (i relaxed) but then proceeded to cut the other driver off, force him to stop. then he got out and whacked him. one might call it a bitch slap. it was awkward and uncomfortable. had it not been for the 2 cases of beer in the trunk i would've ran into an auto.

just last week before my 630am workout (eat your heart out!) we had one of the above mentioned scenarios....the slamming on the brakes. this time we sped ahead of the driver and slowed down. i knew this situation all too well and started firmly telling the driver to just keep going....but he slows down just enough to creep past and make this creepy eye contact, which basically means, what the *#$*#( you #*($@(#*.

and today, which was the inspiration to post, was the macho tuk tuk driver. he flew over speed bumps, careened around traffic circles....and then yelled at the police officer who was (very poorly) controlling the street lights. after yelling he continued the stare down far into the middle of the intersection...nice, dude.

it's these little things that keep it real here in india.

do you want to play holi with me?

school's out, for wednesday at least. today we celebrated holi with millions of indians. the streets clearly out, the morning is spent throwing colors, and then a visit to the temple! holi celebrates the welcoming of spring. this year there was a genuine effort to throw "organic" colors at each other. either way you look at it, it's a mess. a very fun, colorful, rowdy, messy mess.
fabulous day off!

india mike

found this cool website from my friend jon. has tons of forums and articles about, you named it, india. i just read an article about a man's travels through india and found this quote quite approp.
enjoy!

"Every westerner could benefit from spending at least one full year in India, during which time you will be broken down, disassembled, reassembled and honed into a full-fledged human being, for better and for worse.... Namaste!"