OK No problem

As sad as I was to say goodbye to Varanasi and the kids - the children of the inn keepers were absolutely hilarious. I have some pictures that will come shortly, but they would come up to us and put their hands out and say 'jump!' we would lift them up into the air, twirl them, tickle them, they couldn't handle it. They were so giggly it was great. Two 7-9 year old cousins and a young baby. man they were cute.

Anyway, the train ride to Jaipur was long, but not too terrible. Slept most of the night and in the morning this Israeli girl serenaded us on her guitar. The first song she played was Leonard Cohen's Susan. it was cool. What a hippy. There are a lot of Israeli tourists about - we ran into one buying our train tickets, he was going to the Andaman Islands. It seems to be a common trend among European backpackers in India. Can't handle the hustle bustle and pollution of the cities, not to mention the chaos and tireless hastlers - so they hop on a train to Calcutta and then fly down to the beautiful Islands to chill out.

So far Jaipur is nice. It is a big city but seems a bit calm compared to Calcutta. Its Diwali right now, so that might have something to do with it. - Quick note on Diwali. I can't quite figure out what the story behind this holiday is, but it is basically like Christmas and New Years combined. A holiday celebration as well as a fresh start. Everyone gets new clothes and presents, the shops are painted with a fresh coat of paint and accounting books start a new. The part that affects us the most are the dozens of lights and fireworks. Every night there are fireworks throughout the city - throughout the country. It was beautiful to see Varanasi lit up with candles and lights and fireworks from our rooftop. Our first night in Jaipur we went to our hotel's rooftop to watch the fireworks shows around the city. Kind of cool but all the bangs and booms - a bit startling. The festival goes for awhile - I think this Friday is the last day, I'm not sure...

But Jaipur - One of the first things we did was to get tickets to the big Raj Mandir Bollywood movie theatre. The movie was terrible - really sappy and boring and confusing - it was actually based on a Dostoyevsky short story, white house, but it was strange. The second half was better because it had more dance numbers. The theatre though - absolutely stunning. The entry way was a huge circle in Art Deco styling - sculptures and lights everywhere, really cool. Today we are going to walk around the old city to see the Palace - I didn't realize royalty is still up and running and living in the palaces - weird..and then we will do a short walk/hike up to Tiger HIll to see the sunset and view of the city.

I can't shake the feeling that I am in Los Angeles though. This city really reminds of Southern California. I mean, its a crowded metropolitan desert city with lots of block like buildings and low lying hills in the background. If it wasn't for the Mosque next door, sitting atop this rooftop internet cafe I feel almost like I'm just at home! Funny. Almost at home.

The final thought for this entry are the two phrases one hears the most in Varanasi and Jaipur. First - shopkeepers - as you walk down the street you hear at least 5 guys in front of their respective shops "hello madam. hello. hello. come in. just to look not to buy. no harm in looking. look today buy tomorrow. no problem. ok no problem."

The shortened version of this which works in a variety of situations is "Ok no problem." You ask someone if you can use the internet "ok. no problem." you ask the rickshaw driver if they know where a place is
"ok. no problem."
"so, does that mean you know where it is?"
"sure, ok. no problem."
"wait, is that a yes or a no"
"OK no problem, just get in, no problem."
"wait, i'm confused...oh nevermind..." then you get in and hope for the best. It bothered me at first, but now its just hilarious. Anything to calm whitey down.

Ok. No Problem.