The End

Three more hours until my taxi to the airport. I'm leaving my hotel five hours before my flight just to be safe (You never know how long things will take in India). I took my last outing today and went to the same street I started out in. I passed by my first hotel (only now do I realize what a rip-off hole it was) and saw the same beggar lady who posed for a picture. I also went back to the same little restaurant where I ordered too much food and couldn't finish it while working class Indians watched me waste. This time, I ordered five rotis and daal and polished it off easily (I had to set the universe straight, of course).

One of my favorite parts of this trip has been sitting down, reflecting on the day, and trying to come up with a creative way of sharing it. Apart from my pictures, this blog is probably my favorite souvenir of the trip, and if I didn't know there were people reading, this souvenir wouldn't have been as special, so thank-you very very much for reading!

The Last Few Days

I've been shopping the last few days so there's not much that's interesting to report, except that I'm haunted by the colour aqua (I see it everywhere). Oh, I'm pleased to announce that I've made peace with autorickshaw drivers and don't mind the squabbles we have to reach a fair price (However, I'm still at war with two drivers. 8:30pm, fresh off the bus with luggage in my hands, I told them where I wanted to go and they told me that all the hotels in a certain area are "Closed at night", then tried to get three times the fair price from me as I walked away. They next guy was nice though, and gave me a fair price right away without haggling).

Yesterday at my hotel, one of the 12-15 year old boys who clean the rooms/carry the bags/bring the food came to my room on the pretense of filling the water in my air cooler (not quite A/C, but close) and pulled out a map from under his shirt and showed me his village, asked me mine, then gave me the map as a gift. Apparently he moonlights as a roadside mapseller.

Today, instead of using my standard "Excuse me!" and "Yes", I caught myself using "Bhai Saab" and "Haan Ji" (in normal conversation, not as a joke).

Sadly, for those of you who wanted me to bring back a monkey, I only saw one monkey souvenir and it wasn't worth buying (I saw a monkey on a leash yesterday though. Oh, and after haggling with an autorickshaw driver, seated in the back, a guy with a yellow snake came up to me mumbling something about "Kali Ma" and begging for money. I stared straight ahead and told the hesitant driver to "Go! Go!" as calmly and as Hindily as I could. Upon reflection, I realize that if there is a beggar you should make happy, it's the one holding a snake).

Oh, I made it to church on Sunday (In India, it's not as easy as putting on church clothes and jumping in the car). Interesting fact: you'll hardly see black people in India (none outside the major cities), but if you go to a Roman Catholic Church, they make up about 5% of the congregation. And the best autorickshaw fares can be found right when you come out of church. They seem to respect religion.

On Monday I had a double lamb burger at a place called "Wimpy's". I thought they'd have beef, but I was wrong (that makes me think: what were those balls of meat in my lunch today made of? I only paid 20 cents for the meal...couldn't have been quality meat...).

Aqua is in the Eye of the Beholder

I'm sorry Sis, I really am, but I don't think it's quite aqua. Who would have guessed that the salesman would come down 60% off of the sticker price? I told him that my limit was thousands of rupees less than the sticker price thinking it'd get him off of my case, but goshdarnit, the man met me and I didn't even have to go half way. On the plus side, the sequin work is really nice. Since I've reached my room I've looked at it in different types of light and I'm sure it's at least a colour within the aqua family, but it's more like an in-law or second cousin. But you didn't really expect me to bring back something super nice, I mean, how could you? I don't even shop for myself, I'm legally colour blind and once the salesperson spends more than 10 minutes showing me something I feel obliged to buy. I have no taste! Back in primary school I used to draw people with red shirts and blue pants or yellow shirts and orange pants.

Actually, being in India made me realize I want to spend more time with you so I intented it to be a fixer-upper that we can spend time together working into wearability. If that doesn't work out, you could wear it at home or I could even wear it when I'm watching Indian movies (If Dad lets me...). I'm also thinking of gifting it to a future girlfriend ("I bought this especially for YOU!") Forget all the other excuses, I've got it: this gift will give you a glimpse of all the wonderful shopping that can be had in India and make you want to come! I saw so much beautiful stuff today but since I was somewhat restricted by style and colour, I couldn't buy them (Hah! Another excuse! You gave me guidelines and I work best without limitations!) Or, you can think of it like this: You don't need nice clothes to make you look good, your beauty shines through anything! I'm going back to my room now to see if it changes colour with time...(Hey, did you know if you Google for "Aqua", it returns many contradictory shades of blue/green?)

Old Pictures

Rather than bore you with my thoughts about eating a meal with a shoe polish boy, here are some old pictures:

The Dining Table Where I Ate While Studying Hindi This table is in an old English place in Mussoorie built in the 1800s. I spent two and a half weeks there and went back this week for four days to visit.
Also, instead of spending valuable class time learning Hindi, a few of us students and teachers would play Ping Pong. Those Indian guys know how to spin.
View of Mussoorie from the Hotel at Night
Lots of School Children and Monkeys in Mussoorie
Weekend Trip to Kempty Falls. This trip was amusing since all of the Indian tourists were more interested in taking pictures with a white baby--the daughter of an American couple who took us--then taking pictures of the actual falls.
One day I was taking a walk around Mussoorie and stumbled upon a group of college girls. (They SAID they were going to college at least...).
View From My Room in Kausani. After escaping the village, I spent over a week in Kausani living out my dream of being a hermit. The place was great: cheap food, room service, the only other tourists were Indians, and it had an internet connection. I also discovered the great game of cricket here. This place also had great views of the mountains:
View of the Mountains in the Morning
View During the Day

The Parable of the Ignorant Foreigner

One Sunday a man in a foreign land set out for a far away church. He could have stayed home and watched the final one day cricket match between India and Pakistan, but chose church instead. So he hopped on a bus that would take him to the 11:00am service in Hindi (the 8:00am one in English being too early). Sadly, due to traffic caused by the cricket match in the very same city, he was late (even though he left an hour early), so decided to stay on the bus and enjoy the ride. After enjoying the ride so long that the ticket man had to tell him twice that his stop had already gone, he jumped off and got a bus in the opposite direction. Just as he was about to pay his fare, the ticket police boarded the bus and asked him for his ticket. The foreigner explained that he had the intention to pay and that he was a foreigner who did not quite know the laws of the land. The officials were kind and forgave him the 100 rupee fine and helped him onto another bus (which he got kicked off of because of another misunderstanding...). Now I ask, if an evil official would forgive an ignorant foreigner a 100 rupee fine, how much more will your loving heavenly Father/Mother forgive an ignorant sinner?

What I Did Yesterday

Yesterday I woke up at 6:30, only to go back to sleep until 8. Then I sat up, turned on the Tv and watched the news. After having a not so good honey pancake, I sat down with a map of Delhi and sketched out the bus routes to places I want to go. Then I watched a little cricket and took a nap. I ventured out to buy a bottle each of water and Coke, then ate fries while continuing to watch cricket. I also sat in bed planning my shopping spree.

As you can see, I am a lazy traveller. Yesterday I had an excuse because my stomach was a bit iffy (this was originally titled "What I Did Today" but my stomach didn't allow me to go on the internet yesterday), but I routinely take "off days". Sometimes I have "Hindi Study Day" where I read over my class notes, watch Hindi cartoons on TV, and write down the meanings of words I don't know. There is also "Laundry Day", "Blog Posting Day" and "Figure Out Where I'm Going Next Day". Naps are not uncommon.

To get a better idea of my habits, I was in Orccha a week ago and spent six days. Of the six days I was there, I made it only once to the principal attraction of the town - 400 year old ruins of an old capital city - and that was on day 3 of 6. I didn't get lazy recently. In January, I was in Jaisalmer for five days and went to the historical sites only on day five.

Now, to wind down my trip, I've decided to spend three weeks doing what many people day in a day or two: See Delhi and buy souvenirs. I'm in buying mode so let me know if you want anything special! (Those who have encouraged my blog writing in some way will each get a diamond studded cow).

Things I Saw Recently (Not Made in Canada)

- A girl of about 8 staring at me as I sat in a bus-like car waiting for a train to pass on my way to the train station
- A goat twitching in pain in the middle of the road and a man running over and stroking it after I think it had been hit by a vehicle (I didn't see any blood)
- A man leisurely cleaning his ears with a specialized looking hook after cleaning his teeth (with a different hook, i hope) as I stood in the train, hoping I'd get a seat soon for the rest of the 7 hour trip
- A cool looking guy with a long, white beard suddenly turning a shade of non-cool when he spat a long stream of spittle into a cup (I think there was a cup in his hands) as I continued to wait for a seat
- Buffalos grazing, ugly land, polluted rivers, makeshift houses, pretty houses, as I sat in the train, one of six other people on a seat designed for four (I travelled second class)
- A big Tibetan temple/monastery when I reached Delhi along with lots of Tibetan people
- A Tibetan crowd surrounding a shirtless, seated Indian man who had his hands tied behind his back with his shirt. One Tibetan guy hit him on the head. I think he stole something.
- A gecko in the corner of my room (Still there. I think s/he comes in peace) as I lay down to watch TV in my nice, cheap room with a big window
- Wonderful busy street life and historical sites as I sat inside a local bus with Indians ignorant to my unIndianhood
- A Communist Party of India rally/speech, complete with thousands of people wearing red caps