My New Home

We got to look at our apartment and talk to the landlady today. The apartment is going to be magnificent. I mean this apartment is nicer than any of the apartments that I have seen in Davis. It is really big and in a very, very nice neighborhood for Northern Delhi. It is approximately a 20 minute walk to my department on campus. And if I feel so inclined I can always just take the metro which has a stop right outside my door.... literally (which is the nthe metro is one of the nicest I have seen in the world... I mean that too). This means that I can get pretty much to any of the main places in Delhi for really cheap (the most I saw for a ticket was Rs 20 or $.50). The building across the street form us is the old Parliamentary Secretariat and was the British center of control in Delhi before they built the other buildings in New Delhi when the British moved the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The apartment we will have was once occupied by the former president of India when he was just starting his career as a politician. The buildings themselves were designed by a semi famous architect. Other cool things include walas who come to our house for yoga lessons, cleaning EVERYDAY(meaning sweeping and kitchen I think), a dobi (washer man), and older women who come to sell weeks stock of home cooked Indian food (at around Rs40 for the whole thing). Newspapers are also delivered. Did I mention that there are ACs in all of our rooms? The only downside is that we can't flush the toilet paper down the drain because the plumbing is like 100 years old. But there is almost never any blackouts or water shortages in this neighborhood. Needless to say, it is FANTASTIC! When we went into the apartment to look at it, we were so amazed. It is really cool.

Also we talked to our land lady who was just about the coolest land lady ever in India. She was like, " I think of you as my own children. I want to show you the best India has to offer. If you ever need to contact me, even in the middle of the night, for any reason, then just call me." She also wants us to attend an Indian wedding. The first night that we move in, she wants to make for us an authentic Indian meal. She is pretty upper class (surprise surprise considering she is the landlord of this neighborhood). She doesn't live there (she lives in S. Delhi) but her mother (who is also a great grandmother... we saw her great grandchild) lives there. Her daughter is a doctor too so she said we could go to her if anything is needed.

I can't wait to move in...

Monkey Brawls

One thing you can never count on in Mussorie is sleep. Why? Well let me tell you...

This morning I was sleeping soundly in my bed until I was abruptly awaken by a crashing sound on my roof. Now to the untrained ear, this could be quite a surprise, but not for me. You see it is not uncommon for monkeys to scamper across the roof early in the morning (6:00am) because there is a territory war. They fight for dominance all the time and usually, or so it seems, that fight is carried out on the roof. The roofs are tin so they clatter with deafening affects and to add insult to injury, they also screech wildly. Usually the babies are with them so the screech is one of utter terror. They run up and down the roof and berate each other with seemingly impossible high- pitched screams. Once in while, I look out my window and see them running all around. If you are lucky, you might see them fight for a bit.

Everyone thinks monkeys are cute. They fawn all over them and think they are so fun to watch. Alas, all I want is to be woken up by my alarm once in a while and not the monkeys... stupid monkeys...

Punjabi Air Hockey

Last night was one of the EAP students' birthday and to celebrate, a bunch of us went down to Mussorie's Landor Bazaar to eat at a nice restaurant. This evening turned out to be one of the funnest evenings I have had in India.

At the restaurant, there ended up being about 30 EAP students (about 3/4 of the total EAP students in India). Naturally, when you have 30 college students there is a lot of drinking and this was no exception. While I don't get drunk, I must admit that watching these 30 students make a fool of themselves was quite entertaining. The restaurant was half restaurant and half bar so the Indian people watched on with amazement and amusement as a group of 30 white people got progressively more and more rambunctious.

When we left, a few of us decided to go to some of the arcades that Mussorie has. now when I say arcade, don't think of those in Mussorie. These arcades are filled with old games from Japan that they could refurbish so they send them to India. Nonetheless, there is one game that never goes out of style that this arcade has: air hockey. At first, just me and the other EAP students were playing. But as we continued to play, there was a crowd of Indians who watched. soon we were playing each other and a huge crowd gathered around the table. The group was mainly Punjabi and soon it was a friendly game of "U.S.A. vs Punjab." I was the star for the American side. I kept winning until they put they're very best against me. The final score was 6-7 (games are played to seven). It was amazingly fun. They were buying all our games, laughing and cheering with every close call, ands screaming with delight when anyone scored.

By the end, they wanted to buy us all dinner and play more. We had to pull ourselves out of their arms in order to leave. In hindsight, I wish I would have had the second dinner and just hung out with them. But regardless, it was really fun. They were all so nice and hospitable just so that they could say they played air hockey with a white guy. At least I know that i will always enjoy that game of Punjabi air hockey...

Yamunotri

This weekend I went to Yamunotri, a town 10,000 feet up in the Himalayas. It was an amazing expereince. It was like walking into the pages of a national geographic magazine. We had to take a 7 hour drive up the mountains to get there and then hike the next day to the temple in the mountains. It was a 7km hike and 500 meters vertical! Needless to say it was a little hard! But it was so beautiful. Hopefully the pictures give a better description then I can, so here are some of the photos I took. Enjoy!

Rishikesh

If you read the last blog, Rishikesh is a holy town on the Ganges River. It is a bizarre and beautiful town. Once I got back, I realized that I had wished I took some different pictures. I suppose nothing can really capture the feel of this place. There are so many holy men wandering about and the poor are very visible on the streets of Rishikesh. Then there are the flies, the smells, the heat… None of my pictures, I feel, capture that aspect of Rishikesh. Nonetheless, I hope these give some idea of the place.

Mussorie

Pictures really do not do Mussorie justice.
The breathtaking vistas are

wonderful. I really

can’t complain. Every morning I

wake up to an alpine view of the Himalayas. How cool is that! It

is a very hilly town and we are

located on on

e of the peaks so it is quite a walk (going down in elevation a couple hundred feet

) to go downtown and into the bazaa

r. Hopefully this will give you some visuals.

Red Fort

The Red Fort is an amazing fort built by the Mughals in the 1700’s. The Mughals are most famous for the Taj Mahal but they built many other things such as the Red Fort and Humayan’s Tomb both located in Delhi. The empire at its height was a contemporary of Louis XIV of France but had nearly 10 times the wealth of Louis XIV. Needless to say, the fort was amazingly ornate.

Thailand Arrival

Pictures!!! And lots of them…

I have been getting some emails about sending pictures. So here they are. I have done this in chronological order from Thailand to Rishikesh. If the movies don’t post then I will try and figure them out soon and post them. It is more to give you an idea of the sights and sounds. Each section has a header of where it is. Enjoy!