Delhi

I forgot to give more examples of the many ways in which OK No problem can be used Here are a few:

"Is it better to use internet now or later?"
"sure, ok, no problem"

"Is the hotel to the right or left?"

"can I have 1 samosa, how much does it cost?"

the list goes on...

it actually says something about the way of life here, or the attitude. Despite the problems and hardships and lack of opportunities, people are very...crafty.creative...you know they have so much to deal with on a regular basis, things that we (I) would consider problems really aren't problems at all. Not enough chairs, just squeeze in close. Bag broke, find something to tie it with. Very good at problem solving and finding solutions quickly and efficiently. Car broke down, gather a group of people and push it till it works again. The examples are so small and seemingly insignificant, but its just something I've noticed a lot..you know - use what resources you have at your disposal to make it work..i like it.

Anyway, not much new to report. Jaipur was nice but a bit overwhelming. Walking along the streets you just get hassled so much its almost unbearable. The tactic is to come and start talking like your friends, "namaste, how are you, which country are you from" they hold your hand and don't let go. We call it the long hand shake. Then after awhile when you think you've just made a curious and outgoing new friend they tell you about their jewelry shop. When you don't want to go they get agitated and ask why you are so high and mighty and have so much pride. We had one guy follow us for a few blocks and got so mad he called us racist bcause we are mean to Indians. He said "if you treat us like shit we will treat you like shit. White people don't respect Indian people" he went on and on. But I mean...he was trying to get us into his shop and we didn't want to go...it was wierd...

But, when we hiked up this hill to see Tiger fort (pictures to come sometime) looking down the city was so much bigger than I realized. It really did look like LA though, sprawling desert city - instead of ocean on one side low mountains on both. Given more time I think I would like the city alot, but since we were only there three days and only saw tourist area it wasn't so special. HOwever, I had probably the best meal of the trip so far. It was a hole in the wall with a smll menu written in HIndi. We just ordered Thali - which basically means "food". It was one dish of dal and one potato curry and two pieces of fresh naan. The curry's were perfectly spicy and completly delicoius. Everything had multiple refils and it only cost 30 rupees. Thats about 75 cents. Amazing. Yum. Now that we are in Rajastan you can get Naan or Chapati (Chapati is like a small tortilla) and tandoori chicken. Still mostly veg, but I can't wait to try some tandoori.

Early yesterday morning we hopped on a train to Delhi which is a great city. Really polluted and huge - but less crowded then Kolkata. We accidently got off at the Old Delhi train stop so we had to get a bicycle rickshaw to our hotel, but it was nice to get a mini tour of the city first. It has a lot to offer and I'm not going to see nearly all of it, but it has a good feel. The usual mix of middle class prosperity contrasted with huge slums and street children...Today we went to KFC for lunch - I know - but it was actually really great....it was in this area called Connauhlt place which is a sort of square. A park in the middle with layers of circles of shops. Stores like nike, levis, puma - typical western outdoor mall. We sat in the park for awhile to watch the sun set. It is so polluted here you can stare directly the sun no problem...

So, nothing too exciting. Long term travelling is really interesting. We basically just go to different cities and hang out and get to know the place. Walk around, get lost, meet random people ..almost everywhere you stay there is a rooftop and you can just sit on the rooftop and get a feel for the city. Bcause of Diwali fireworks go off all around all the time - very exciting. There were some last night tht looked like shooting stars - pretty cool.

Tonight a friend of Matt and SCott's is flying into Delhi to travel around with them for 10 days. We will do Dehi for a few more and then down to Agra and over to Pushkar for the camel fair. Woo.