#52 I get all the news I need from the weather report.

I had planned on leaving Palolem beach earlier, but the lifestyle has sucked me into staying longer, I will now depart tomorrow. I've met some nice people who I've spent a bit of my time with. Anthony from Australia and Mike from New Zealand who live next door and I have hung out most days. We have also hung out with others living in our area like Michelle and Sarah from England.

I have found myself in a bit of a routine for the last few days. It goes something like this:
Wake - Bathroom - Swim - Walk on the beach-breakfast (tomato and chesse omelet, hash browns, toast and tea; $1)- read in the hammock on my porch - swim - listen to music while laying on the beach - swim - talk with others on the beach - swim - get an ice cream - swim - back to reading in the hammock - go to town to get water..email..other things - walk on the beach and watch the sunset - read in hammock - dinner -hang out with friends -bed Next day: do it again.

I sleep under a mosquito net which turns out to protect you from many things. Last night I woke up to something moving around my room and when I turned on the light I saw little mice or rats escaping through my ceiling; it's amazing to me how little this bothered me, I turned the lights off and went back to sleep.

We had a gin and tonic party last night (the neighbors and our few friends). Turned out fun with lots of laughs.

I ate my first banana-chocolate pancake...get in my belly!!!

That is basically my life on the beach for the last few days.
So, I hear there is a lot of snow in michigan. Can't say I'm missing it right now.

"I've got nothing to do today, but smile and doh doh doh, here I am" -Simon and Garfunkel in their song 'only living boy in new york'

#51 How much am I really spending? Dogs, Muscles, First meat.

"Sometimes I get the feeling I need to excercise. When this happens I sit down and wait for the feeling to go away." This was what I read on one Indian guy's tshirt. Indians aren't fat people. However, in no way does it look like any of them workout or excercise too often. The excercise that comes with their everyday work is the extent of it. My friend Kiran from Bangalore told me, "the last thing on an Indian's mind is excercise." I don't exactly know the reason for this, but wonder if it could be partly because of arranged marriages. Whether they are fit or bulging with muscles they are still going to get married. It is the parents that arrange the marriages and the last thing they are worried about is their child's spouses figure. There are few divorces in the arranged marriage world. I think this is partly because there is no pretending to be someone else while dating. Maybe not pretending to be someone else, but not going that extra mile when you are actually married like many do. We've heard it all before from some parent or relative bitching about their spouse, "he used to be so romantic before we were married", or "she used to want to do it more before we were married". Anyways, like everything, each kind of marriage has it's ups and downs, advantages and disadvantages.

India is a dog factory. There are so many stray, random dogs walking around. Half are puppies or mothers walking around with 10 hanging, milking tits. (I don't really know how many, does it change by the dog or are they all the same?) Those who treat your dog like a daughter or member of the family would be appalled over here.

So I spent my last night in Ajuna beach with John and the girls at a huge Sunday market. Thousands of people and just as many shops. Bands were playing, hippies everywhere, bars, and wackos. It was quite exciting to see the hustle bustle of the people. Interesting to watch the short time tourists who the vendors prey off of because they know their lack of bargaining skill and motivation. Then there are the tourists who have been there short time and bargain for hours. Then there are the Israelis who are known for being great and stubborn bargainers which is a show in itself to see and can be exhausting just watching them go at it.
Here is how most conversations go with a shopkeeper as you are walking by:
Shop: come look at my shop, you like you buy, you don't like no problem, very cheap prices.
Me: (if I decide to look) How much is that?
Shop: 500
Me: no thanks
Shop: ok best price for you 400
Me: not thanks
Shop: what is your best price?
Me: 50
Shop: impossible for me, ok my lowest price possible, 300.
Me: no thanks
Shop: ok, you make best price.
Me:100
Shop: ok, 200 but your don't tell anyone and it's the best price, I'm the only one that has this item.
Me: I saw this item at 10 other shops on the way here.
Shop: they are my shops too
Me: (of course they are)
Shop: so two hundred my friend, are you happy.
Me: that's ok, maybe tomorrow.
Shop: maybe I don't open tomorrow.
Me: I'll take my chances
Shop: Ok, 150
Me: see you tomorrow.
Shop: Ok, 100.


After a couple of nights of hanging out with John and crashing at his place I said farewell to them and Ajuna beach and headed south to Palolem beach. I took the buses there which took about 4 hours and cost about $1.50. The next viable option would have taken half the time and cost at least 20 times more. When I arrived I found a hut on the beach that looks at the bay (see above picture view from my room).
My hut most resembles a big box made from plywood, but has a bed and is the cheapest place on the beach, 200 rupees (less than $5). I ate my first meat in almost a month, fresh seafood sizzler, deeeeeelicious.

There are many hippies from around the world in these parts and they are often high and trying to tell people that they know the way to be happy. (when I say hippies it comes off as a bad thing, but there are many different stages of hippies and I somewhat consider myself one. I only say it because we can all picture a full blown one.)
There is a great quote that says:
"those who know, don't talk and those who talk, don't know"
-I don't know who said it.

#50 Cows on the beach, new friends with great stories, excuse me you want to do what?

I was more than happy to arrive in warm weather again and be able to pack the jeans that I have wore straight for over a month. I arrived in Goa and split a cab with some other travelers to Ajuna beach which is in N. Goa. First night I went to bed early since I didn't sleep the night before due to the wedding. Second day I walked around town checking out the little shops, streets and just getting a feel for the city. I headed down to the beach for the afternoon and after getting a massage on the beach I met a guy, John Hanks.
JOhn left England 15 months ago with his car and has driven it through Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and into India. He has a 5 year visa for India and will spend a couple of years here before driving his car eventually to Japan, shipping it to the U.S and driving for some time around the U.S.
He told me about 1 guy who hitchhiked around the world, one who bought a rickshaw (a motorized mini car with 3 wheels) in Thailand and drove it back to England and it just made us realize that their are some great stories out there to be heard.
After sitting and talking with him for some hours he invited me to crash in his home in the living room where there is a spare mattress. He's renting a house for a couple of months. We headed back to the house and I met his two housemates, Luciana from Brazil and Lucia from Italy. Lucia is famous in the north of India because she was swimming in the Ganges river while it was raining hard and lighting hit the water, she got an amazing shock from it and couldn't sleep for 3 days but somehow didn't die, so many Indians in the north thinks she has special powers.

The following day I moved my stuff into their house and then walked around town, made cd's of pictures and packaged up things I have bought and collected along the way to mail home. Here in India also it is necessary to wrap the things with white cloth and stitch it; not just in Kuwait. I spent most of the day at the beach reading, listening to music and watching people. I bought a half of watermelon from a woman on the beach and a cow came by when I was half way through and tried to steal it from me, there was no way he was getting it. In the house they have some speakers and I have an ipod. We were all so excited to be able to listen to some music so we got some drinks and then after a while John and I headed out to a restaurant for dinner where we ate like kings, had a couple of drinks and at the end each paid 130 rupees which is about $4.
Today I mailed all of my stuff, I really don't expect it ever to arrive. You would understand if you saw the post office and delt with them for the hour that I did. I spent another day at the beach and when I arrived there I had different men come up to me and show me a card, here is what it said:

This is to certify that "John Doe" , aged 25 is a good ear cleaner. He will do very good work.

This is on a piece of paper with no authority signing it whatsoever. Anyone can go to a computer and type this and print it.
One guy after showing me this showed me a picture of a guy cleaning someones ear. I asked him who this picture is of because it wasn't the guy standing in front of me wanting to clean my ear. "It is my brother." Of course it is. Anyways, his brother is not there so why would he show this picture? Then I saw the tool that they use. They want to put these metal things in my ear to clean it out. First, there is no way in hell that they clean these things and if they do it is on their shirt. Second, if he paid me to clean my ear I wouldn't do it. The amazing thing is that there are many people who say "Ok, sounds good, I need a good ear cleaning, go for it, I'm not worried because your card says your good at it".

The south is MUCH different than the north. Everyone speaks English, at least enough to sell you something. In the north I maybe saw 1 white person for every 1,000 Indians, in the south at the beach town it's about 50/50. No monkeys, still cows.

Many people will help you or be kind to you and you often want to do something for them. A guy who helped John in Iran told him when John wanted to give him something for all of his help and kindness, "Don't return a kindness, pass it on."

#49 Dundeewad to my family. A great experience and having to say goodbye after the marriage.

My experience staying with the family is like no experience I could ever read about or pay a tour company for, it was priceless. Like the other families I have stayed with during my trip, they treated me like one of the family and let me look into their everyday lives.

One day the family and I headed into the city to shop for clothes and things for the marriage. I myself bought a traditional Indian outfit for the marriage. For each persons items they bought it was a family event where everyone would put in their own opinion. While walking around the city I had both of my hands held at all times by the little ones in the family. One man yelled at me because I was holding their hands and you should have seen the rest of the family go off on this guy. When we would see other white people in the city the little kids would point them out to me to say "look, there is your friend".
I spent one day at two schools talking with the teachers and the students. I had an hour at one school where they called an assembly and I spoke to about 350 students and answered their questions. For a punishment kids can still get their hands hit with a stick and I discussed with a few teachers that did this. One in the school I got to agree never to use it again with the help of a card trick. He was sure his card wasn't where I told him it would be and agreed to stop using the stick if he was wrong; he was wrong. I was presented with a flower necklace/chain for being a guest in the school.

If you ever meet a man from India that you nickname RC cola and he asks you to go on a program with him for 25 minutes, don't go!!!
The 25 minutes turned into more than 2 hours of meeting lots of his family and listening to his problems. RC only talks and doesn't listen to anyone. The biggest problem was that the family at home was waiting for me and so I was very late.
When we arrived home I was greeted with hugs and open arms from everyone; it made me feel great.
As far as arranged marriages go it is usually pretty mutual as far as both enjoying each other. RC cola's case is a prime example of how someone can get screwed and someone can get who they don't deserve. RC is the most obnoxious man in the village that I came across. His wife who is about 10 years younger than him is beautiful. He would have never gotten her if it wasn't for arranged marriages. He got married to her when she was around 10 and got her pregnant at 12 years old. There is a downside to every rule.

Every night we were at someones house for dinner and then always followed by traditional singing and dancing until the power went out each night. I was almost attacked by a monkey one day (pink faced one) and had to move faster than I moved in a long time to run into the bathroom. Almost every meal is eaten with Chipatee, a kind of bread. It is the womens job to make it. One night when I insisted on making it and helping there was an uproar in the house and in the neighborhood that I wanted to make chipatee. Many people in the village the next few days new that I made chipatee and asked me why I would do a woman's job. I continued to make chipatee and told the family I wouldn't eat any unless I made it. By the end of my stay they called me when they would make it and enjoyed watching me do it.

To prep for the wedding everyone decorated themselves with Henna tatoos. I got a couple of my feet and one on my hand, it lasts about a month.

On the wedding day I got to see all the preparing and excitement leading up to the marriage. We went to the city at about 6pm and all the people from Nick's side of the family meet in a park. From there the mob of people follows a band for some miles stopping every few minutes to break out into dance. This goes on while nick rides a white horse amongst all the people. The walk leads us to the place where the wife and all of her family and guests are waiting for our arrival. Here there is a big dinner and the ceremony takes place. Through the night the family would head back home and I would say goodbye. They asked me to change my plane ticket and stay longer which made it harder for me to leave. There were some tears from the family members. I know that I will remember my stay with them forever and hope that they remember me also.
Thanks to all the family, I enjoyed each and every one of you!!!!!

Since arriving in India I haven't eaten any meat, that has been quite different for me. I also haven't had alcohol since the end of November, it is amazing how much money I save not drinking.

I have put up the pictures from Kuwait.

Life isn't worth living unless you're willing to take some big chances and go for broke.-- Eliot Wiggington

#48 Kites, Monkeys, My indian family and I'm the boy named Shive (sounds like Sue/shoe)

So much has happened in the five days since I've written last. This is the hardest part of the blog, trying to remember and explain everything (also my fingers get tired).
From Delhi I took a bus to Jaipur to visit the friends (Nick and Ganaess) who invited me to stay at their home and attend the wedding ceremony and partake in the festivities leading up to it.
As the bus entered Jaipur I saw thousands of kites in the air. The rooftops were filled with boys, girls, men and women flying these kites. The trees had hundreds of kites in stuck in them. This was a big holiday for this part of the country; the kite festival. I met up with Ganaess and headed back to his village which was outside of the city. Here I got to experience from the rooftop the flying of the kites and the unbelievable skill these people have in flying and controlling their kites. I am convinced that everyone in India knows how to fly a kite and it is so hard for them to believe that most people in the US can't fly a kite. Part of the skill is trapping another string in the air and wrapping your kite several times around their string so that it cuts and the other kite goes sailing down to the streets where all who see it coming run after it; it is somewhat of a trophy. When a string is cut there is a loud roar from the rooftop of the assailant.
I also got to witness the others that roamed the rooftops; the monkeys.
There are the pink faced monkeys which are the dangerous ones (they have attacked people in the village before) and there are the black faced monkeys which are the more peaceful ones that just want scraps of food. These two groups of monkeys don't get along and will fight when in each others presence, they also live in seperate parts of the city (does this sound familiar).

I got to meet all of the family that lives in the house (15). Only a few speak english but they all welcomed me with open arms and after day 5 (now) they are like family to me and no words are even needed. 15 in a house is fairly low compared to other houses in the village, the neighbor has 23 and the houses with the most have between 40 and 50 in a home. The people of India are extremely hospitable, everyone I meet wants me to come over to their house for a meal or at least for tea. They all want me to meet their families, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts. If they say they are a brother or uncle here it doesn't mean they are by blood, pretty much anyone can be. If they say this person is grandma, it is true she is a grandma but not necessarily theirs. They insisted I have my own room while 4 and 5 shared another room.

The next day we prepared for a big pre wedding celebration (9 days before) and so first things first they told me I should shave the beard and so for an equivalent of 7 cents I went to the barber and let him shave me. I didn't even recognize myself. Once the main work was done in preparation for the evening there was more kite flying were I decided to give it a try. I SUCK at kite flying, but everyone got a laugh out of it so it's alright. It is quite a relaxing hobby and I would like to get better here and continue during my life. Night arrived and about 300 guests arrived to celebrate Nick. (the one who is getting married) His sits on a box and everyone brings him gifts and they announce the date of the wedding officially. Old men smoke cigars, they pass out tea, the future bride who is not in attendance has her brother and family come to give Nick gifts to wish him future luck and happiness. I stand out like a sore thumb and feel a little guilty for more people watching me than watching the celebration (especially the children). I told Ganaess that I can't eat some fruit and other foods because my stomach was not used to it and so he is now overprotective of me out of pure kindness. I was told not to eat any of the sweets being passed out because they are not good for me and I shouldn't eat anything hot because it could upset my stomach (but I like hot foods...and sweets), but he insisted. For 12 nights before the wedding if there is not a celebration on that night then the women of the house and village gather at the house from 8-10 to sing traditional songs to Nick while the same happens for the future wife in her village. Electricity goes out in the village at 10pm and comes back on at 4:30am, but goes back off at 9:30 am and comes back on at 6pm. I find we don't really miss it at all.

I went and visited the school of Ganaess's real sister Indra. Here I sat in on a classroom after watching the morning prayer that is mandatory to attend (public school). These classrooms are very simple and even the computer class only has 3 computers which only allows each child 5-10 at a time 2-3 times a week.
I then went with a group of the boys from the home up the nearby mountain/hill to have a view of the village and neighboring villages. Whenever I meet anyone new they ask me, "what is your good name?". This confuses me a little because as far as I know I only have 1 name, whether it is good or bad I'm not sure. If I have a good name does this also mean I should have a bad name? We headed back to the village to eat some food and while eating, Jothi who is about 9 yrs old had a monkey jump off the wall and take the food right out of her hand and then quickly climb back out of reach. In this process Jothi jumped and through her other, liquid foods all over the place; it was very exciting.

When we travel around the village or through town I have gotten a chance to ride on the back of motorcycles which is an adventure in itself. I went for a day with Ashok (pronounced ahh shole). We stopped on the way at a farm where they make bricks and I was able to learn about the process.(there are some many things I realize I don't know and take for granted)

As most of you probably know most of the marriages in India are arranged marriages. The thought is that the parents and older family members are wiser and can better pick out who will be a good fit for a husband and wife; it seems to work quite well. As we (westerners) would refer to the arranged marriage as something unusual and possibly a bad thing, this is the same they feel about our so called "love marraiges".

I shat for the first time in a toilet that is a hole in the ground, it wasn't as bad as I expected.(I tried to avoid it all together, but after holding out for 3 days and eating that spicy food I was warned against there was no more hiding from it.)

I tried to tell many people that my good name was Steve, but it is very difficult for many of them to say here so to make it easy for everyone the family decided that they should just call me Shive (pronouned a mix between sue and shoe), and all I could think about was Johnny Cash and that here life is easy for a boy named shu. Did you know that Shel Silverstein wrote that song?

India has been the most drastic of cultural differences of anywhere I have ever been. I can't stress how lucky and appreciative I am to be staying with a family and learning about their culture first hand and to see how it works within everyday life. This is nothing you can read in a book or see in a movie. The experience of course would be different depending on the family I stayed with also, but for me at this point, I couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to be with.

I have been reading the autobiography of Ghandi which he calls "The story of my experiments with truth" It is great thus far and I would like to share some parts that I highlighted with you.

First, he explained the Indians way over 100 yrs ago which I think still hold fairly true today. "Our different ways of living, our simplicity, our contentment with small gains, our indifference to the laws of hygiene and sanitation, our slowness in keeping our surroundings clean and tidy, and our stinginess in keeping our houses in good repair" also that "Indians give more than had been expected of them".

He had a habit of taking long walks all the time.
"It was mainly this habit of long walks that kept me practically free from illness throughout my stay in England and gave me a fairly strong body"

"No matter how explicit the pledge, people will turn and twist the text to suit their own purposes"

"Proneness to exaggerate, to supress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly, is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary in order to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be thoughtless in his speech; he will measure every word."

as far as teasing a man for wearing unusual clothing this man replied,
"You civilized fellows are all cowards. Great men never look at a person's exterior. They think of his heart"

This part really hit a chord because I am the first american that many people every meet and their feeling of americans will be based only on their experience with me.
"Their responsibility to be truthful was all the greater in a foreign land, because the conduct of a few Indians was the measure of that of the millions of their fellow-countrymet"

"It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow-beings."

"differences prove helpful, where there are tolerance, charity and truth"

I think these are a good two to end with.

#47 Himalayas, a crowded bed and Momo anyone?

McCloud Gang up in the mountains continued to treat me well. One of the days I hiked to a "holy lake"-lake dal. For a holy lake it had a crapload of garbage in it.
I watched a cricket match next to the lake before wandering around in the hills for a while. When I was walking back to town along the road, I noticed rocks falling down onto the road and thought maybe they were rolling down the hill as a landslide or something, but when I looked up I saw a bunch of monkeys up in the trees with rocks in their hands and they were trying to hit me. What would any human (who is known to be much more intelligent than these monkeys) do when this happens? That's right, I picked up a couple of rocks and chucked them up at them and then ran down the road until I was out of their sight.

I watched a couple of movies while in town. 1)a documentary-Born into a Brothel (very sad) and
2)Mayura (or something like that) it is a movie based in Tibet about a monk, slow but good.

I learned why people where the free Tibet t-shirts. Because China is occupying Tibet and killing and torturing some of the Tibet people. Tibet however won't be saved in my opinion because it is a very small country and no other country wants to tell China to leave, especially considering it does so much work for international companies.

One day I took a cooking class to learn how to make momo. It was great fun. Easy ingredients, get a little dough and then we learned how to roll the dough fancy like in the restaurant and whalla, we were stuffing ourselves with momo. (Be ready for a momo party when I get home)

It was absolutely freezing in the mountains so I spent a bit of my time trying to keep warm; I bought a hat, drank a lot of tea and a delicious drink of hot lemon mixed with honey and ginger. My room had no heat and so I would soak my feet in hot water before going to sleep under my thick blankets they provided (they were warm but not the cleanest things).

I went and talked to a Monk to learn about their religion and how it all works. They pray a lot and strive for enlightenment. Some monks go into the mountains to meditate and pray, this can go on for a week up to 15 years; seriously.
They and the Hindu religion have a calendar that can have 11,12 or 13 months depending on the year and what the priest and astrologist decide. Each month has 30 days but might have two days that are the 4th therefor skipping a day later in the month.

There is sooo much garbage in India; it is their biggest flaw. It is everywhere, piles on the streets, garbage cans nowhere to be seen. Also, people just piss where ever they feel like it (people being men). Oh yeah, you may be driving down the main streets and see half naked men on the side of the road, they may be bathing or washing their clothes. Men can basically get naked anywhere and no one notices. Women however in general can't even show the bottom half of their leg or in noway can look as if people think are naked in public.

Raj picked me up after my few day rest in the mountains and we headed back to his home where I bonded and played with his sons for hours before leaving to a relatives home for dinner. This night I again shared the room with his parents, his son and a family friend. Since the family friend was here in a addition I got to share the big bed with his father and one of his sons... really what else could I say now after telling you that; exactly.

Today Raj and I drove back to Delhi. I bought him a Bob Marley cd since he had never heard of him before, we heard it about 16 times on the ride home. We stopped at a huge Kashmir carpet shop.(Damn those things are expensive) handmade though. A 4X6 carpet takes about 6 months to make. The salesman told me its not spending money, it is an investment. Ok, I'll take the investment if I don't have to spend the money. I still don't own a Kashmir carpet. Is this a hot item in the US? anyone want me to pick one up for them?
We also stopped at the biggest park it Delhi. Ok, so where I'm from I go to the park and there are families playing, having picnics, that sort of thing. Friends playing sports, having a party, maybe a couple walking and holding hands. Here in this park there are only couples and they are there for one reason: HOOKING UP.
They are in the bushes, against the trees, behind a wall, a the benches, everywhere. In the culture they can't go to either person's house and hotels won't give them a room, so everyone decided the park is the best place to go. It was a weird experience, I felt dirty seeing it. Even the dogs in the park were horny. Their is everything from kissing, to petting, to heavy petting to...well you know.

I am relaxing tonight, finished with having Raj at my disposal and ready to fly alone again. I take a bus south tomorrow to go and stay with the brothers and their family to prepare for the wedding.

One more thing. On all the stores they advertise selling STD's. No thanks.
They have something to do with a calling service that they offer, but when I first saw it and saw that they offer different types of STD's I couldn't help but laugh histarically and nobody here appreciates the humor in it.(I'll post pictures of it)


Integrity is what you do when you know that noone is watching.
-I read it on a wall in an internet cafe.

#46 Why doesn't this go on at every border? Raj means king and where am I from?

I left off dropping off my driver/tour guide that spoke no english and picked up Raj.
I didn't leave a quote at the end of the last blog so I'll start this one with a quote from Raj. "In India you need 3 things to drive, a good horn, good brakes and most important, good luck".

Raj (who speaks good english) and I were off after a morning of haggling about the price for the week. We drove through the day and I learned lots about the Indian culture and how it differs in the north and the south and from the big city to the little villages. I learned about the world's largest organization which is sort of a religion but not really. I don't know the official name of it, some people just say beas and some just say guru (which means teacher in hindi). This group is more like a way of life where prayer is involved whenever you want and the main idea is to live a simple life and help those in need. Raj's uncle is well known in this group, he once sat in the yoga position (legs crossed with arms relaxed over the knees) for 21 days straight and now he apparently knows the future. He also is 79 and looks to be 55 where his brother (Raj's dad) is 77 and looks at least 77. I also learned a lot about Raj. He came from a small village and worked hard to be successful (basically the story of rags to riches, except he's not rich). When somebody cut him off while driving he started yelling at the guy in hindi while his window was up. I told him that I don't think the guy can hear him and Raj said "that is good, because if he would hear me, he would beat me." He is a short, stocky little man who has a good laugh and wants to make everyone happy. I asked him not to call me sir, just to call me steve and now he refrains from calling me anything and just talking, but once in a while he will call me Mr. Steve. He told me that maybe I shouldn't tell people I'm from the US because of the Sadam hanging. However, everytime we stop and he is chatting with people I hear him say american in the middle of the conversation. When I ask him why he tells me not to tell and then he tells, he says those people are alright to tell.

Our first stop was Armistar which is the home of the "golden temple". This is the holiest place for people in the Sihk religion. I learned quite a bit about the Sihk as well, and basically they started about 350 years ago as people who were the defenders of the people who were being tortured and killed by the Monguls (I think). They are known to be very honest, helpful and healthy people. They stand out because they don't cut their hair or beard and oftne carry a small knife. (Basically many people in the US and western society would think that these people look like terrorists which means that if they were traveling in India they would think at least half of the people they see are terrorists.) Back to the Golden temple: It was beautiful, it is a small temple surrounded by water and the water is surrounded by a walkway which is surrounded by beautiful (I know I just used this word, but it's true) white walls/buildings.

We then headed to the one place where there is the one border crossing between India and Pakistan. If you were to see this event where thousands of people fill the stands on the India side and thousands fill the stands on the Pakistan side and chant back to each other basically: "India rules, we are great" and the other side cheers "Pakistan is the great place". (of course this isn't in english and I may have been chanting something terrible but I don't think Raj would lead me astray here) The soldiers on each side of the gates do some marching and everyone cheers. Then one soldier will yell into the microphone for a long time (it reminds me of watching a soccer game when the announcer yells, "gooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll") and then everyone cheers. I waved my India flag proud and made lots of friends because it was obvious to EVERYONE that I wasn't from India and they appreciated my support. I would think this event happens once a month, maybe once a week. NO, this happens EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. It is awesome and was soo much fun to attend and be part of. (I would love to get this started between the US and Canada or the US and Mexico) It is all in good fun and turns into something of a party.
According to Raj everyone from Pakistan wants to come to India and nobody from India would want to go and live in Pakistan.

After the border closing we drove for a few hours to the village that Raj is from and I met his family. I got to meet his wife, his mom, his dad and his two sons. We arrived late and ate a dinner before going to bed. I shared a room with his parents and his sons. (It's like staying in a hostel with other people, just most of the time they aren't 77, 74,8, and 6). Still I slept like a baby and had a dream I was on survivor.
Sidenote: for a lot of the trip I have woken up remembering my dreams and then since I arrived in India I haven't remembered any of them. I wrote in a very early blog about how eating a banana before you go to bed will help you remember your dream. With that, I bought a banana and ate it at dinner. I don't know if it was the banana, the fact that I thought "I want to remember my dreams tonight" or just because it was a dream that I was on survivor which made me remember; either way I'm eating a banana tonight.

The next morning I woke up and got to go and see the kids school and meet the principal and take some pictures of the kids and the school. After breakfast I walked through the village and met some local people including the doctor for the village.
What I learned is that this man Raj who I pay $50 a day, to drive me anywhere I want for many hours each day, and who is on call for me 24 hours a day is like a king in his village (Raj means king, actually it might be Raja but that's not the point) because he owns his own car. This makes him the biggest success in his village, he also is a good guy and gives his family a good life and helps some other people in his village. (He is giving me a better deal than he gives most people, so maybe the numbers are distorted a little.)

After lunch we drove for a few hours and I was dropped off in a little village that is high in the mountains. One way I look and I see many small villages in the valleys down below and the other way I see the snow topped himalayas. When I was looking for a hotel room here I had to decide between a basic room for about $4 or a room with a tv, my own bathroom and a windown that has a view of the valleys down below for about $6. I decided to spoil myself and go all out while I am up here in this stunning (I almost used beautiful again), relaxing place away from the busy cities.

"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."
Mark Twain

I didn't know Mark Twain visited India - Steve

#45 So.. India huh? It's a world I've never seen, cow's roam the streets and there are Indians everywhere.

India... ah India.
I had set up to be picked up by a guy who I spoke with on the phone who would drive me around northern india. Instead, for the first four days I was assigned a driver who was very nice but spoke almost no english. With that said I talked to myself a lot while I thought I was talking to someone. Shib (the driver) was there to pick me up at the airport with my name on a sign (I always see this at the airport and laugh thinking that will never be me). First night we headed to Agra for a freezing night of sleep to prep for my big day at the Taj Mahal.

Traffic in India:
People in lots of the world check about safety before they buy a car. Some check the gas mileage, some worry about lifetime of the car and some just want a good look.
I am convinced that in India they first check about how loud the horn is and second how long the life of a horn in the car is. While driving in India I think it's a rule that you must press down on the horn the whole time you're in motion. While driving with Shib, when he honks at someone and they don't respond he gets quite upset with them and follows it up with a wave of the hand or some mumbling (in hindi of course). Now when he has 4 or 5 cars honking at him for being in their way or cutting them off, he hears nothing and doesn't even budge one way or another.
Right of way usually goes like this: the kid moves for the adult who moves for the bike who moves for the bike pulling a person who moves for a 3 wheel taxi who moves for a motorbike who moves for a 4 wheel mini taxi who moves for a car who moves for a truck or SUV who moves for a semi truck. Everyone moves for a COW that might be in the road because cows are sacred here. Nobody eats cattle in India.

Back to the Taj Mahal.
Beautiful, Gorgeous, Amazing, Spectacular.
It is the highest sign of love. The King built it for his wife who died delivering her 14th child in 19 years. He had 20,000 people working on it for 53 years (I think). When it was finished the artchitect wasn't allowed to travel anywhere with more then 5 people for fear he will try to design something similar. (I don't think he had another 53 years to build) I toured the Taj Mahal with a very nice family: The Choi's. They are a Korean family that have lived in Bangalore for over 10 years now. They had a guide taking them around and telling them facts about the place and let me join in with them. It was the best thing I could have asked for on my birthday; to meet a nice family and have them be extremely nice to me at a time when I spent the other 20 hours a day with people that don't understand what I have to say. Although Shib did wake me up this morning with a pound on my door saying "happy birthday sir", and that was all I heard of that.

After the Taj we headed to another famous building that I can't remember the name of outside of the city; actually it was like 50 buildings that were all part of this complex. It really was quite enjoyable and relaxing. One the most interesting buildings was one that held a tomb of a famous elephant, he was the kings favorite and very special because he could smell a person and tell if they were good or evil, and if they were evil he would kill them. In total he killed 4 or 5 people; I got to get me one of those.

We then headed to Jaipur which is quite a big city. After visiting Fort Amber and the City Palace I had had enough of the tourist sites. I did however ride my first elephant ever up the hill to the Amber fort; it was extremely comfortable on my little toosh. OK, so I didn't ride it bareback, there was a nice chair hooked up with cushions thicker than the beds I've slept in since I've been in India (this isn't saying much at all). Every time I check into a room and they show me it they point to the bed and say "nice? very comfortable" I say "it's ok, and really hard" and then they say "ok, good, you like, yes very comfortable".

I have fallen in love with pomegranite. I learned from Boss in Kuwait how to eat one without making a mess and even without cutting it. I have since eaten many.
The food in India is quite good, spicy and cheap. Most meals that fill me up cost around $2. I am full and still eating about 20 times less food than I ate in Kuwait.
It is a good thing I'm the least picky eater of anyone I know. For every meal we go to a little restaurant and they give me a menu that is translated into English and still means nothing to me. When I point to something and ask them what it is they read the words on the menu to me as if I can't read. I end up shutting my eyes and pointing to something or waiting for more people to come in and order and then look at their food and if I like it, I tell them I want that or if it looks bad find out the name and order something different.

I met two brothers who spoke some english and after not knowing them very long they invited me back to there house after I go to the north. I was told he was getting married and he would like me to be a special guest and come for the week before to see all the things building up to the wedding and the wedding itself; of course I accepted and will be heading back to Jaipur in about a week to see some Indian culture; I am extremely excited about this.

This morning I wanted to go to this place that I read about that was up on a small mountain that overlooked the city. My driver didn't want to but then we ended up going anyway. It was my favorite place in the city thus far, away from the congestion and all the many busy tourist places. There were a few tourists but I hardly noticed them.

I am back in Delhi now and on my way to write this blog I had a fresh squeezed fruit drink for under $1 and went to get my beard and neck cleaned up. Somehow in the middle of the shaving he was convinced I told him I wanted a facial along with a face massage and my hair combed back (I haven't tried in anyway to have any control of my hair since I left for this trip) and then charged me 10 times the price he quoted me. It is hard to argue with the man who has a blade next to your throat, so I paid him the eqivelant of $7 and went on my way.

Tomorrow I am supposed to get picked up by my english speaking driver/tour guide (it will be easier to be a guide when he can communicate with me)

Piercings in the left nostral of woman is a big thing.
Men dressing like it is the 70's in the US is in.
Cow's rule
There is garbage everywhere.
Everyone still tries to charge me more when they see my skin color.
I love life, I was told here it is the golden gift.
50 cent and eminem are not known in India so nobody knows Detroit and when I say Michigan they still reply Mexican.
Pepsi wins the cola war in India where Coke dominated in Africa.

I is out.

#44 My visit to the post office in Kuwait.

Why in the hell would I write about going to the post office? Read on and you will understand.

Boss picked me up around 4pm on one of my earlier days in Kuwait and I asked him if we could make a quick stop at the post office to send some stuff back to the U.S. "We always use DHL but the post will be MUCH cheaper and shouldn't take too long" In Kuwait places close in the middle of the day similar to Spain. We arrived at 4:15 and thought maybe they opened at 4:00.
When we got there a guy was standing at the door and when we asked if they were open he said they have been open for 45 minutes, that they opened at 3:30 but nobody was working. "What do you mean no ones working?" "We have been open, but the people who are supposed to work haven't come in yet, if you come back in an hour they should be here." "Aren't you working" we asked. "I'm just here to tell people that nobody is working"
This was all spoken in Arabic between boss and the man, and when Boss told me I thought it was a joke. "Government jobs in Kuwait are a joke, people are always late, this isn't that strange".
So we headed to a different post office. When we arrived here there were people working and when we showed them what we wanted to send they said we had to put it in a box which we knew. "Should we just tape it and write the address on the box?"
"You can't use tape, it's against the rules. You have to rap the box in white cloth and then stitch the cloth around the box" When Boss translated this too me I couldn't stop laughing, and neither could he.
So we went and found a box after asking at a couple of stores. We took the box into a material store and as soon as the man in the store saw the box he said, "you need white cloth to mail it." Ok, so this happens often and they aren't just playing a trick on us. The man handed us the cloth and we told him we needed it stitched. "I don't do that here, but I can give you a cell phone number of a guy in the post office who will stitch it." We called the guy and he met us outside and stitched it for us for a small fee. When we handed the box to the lady sitting behind parcels she said it's light enough to mail certified or not certified. What's the difference we asked. It turns out that certified is slower and more expensive but guaranteed to get there where not certified can be faster and cheaper but it may never come at all. We said we would like to send it certified. She handed us the box that was nicely covered and stitched with while cloth and pointed to the seat next to her that no one was sitting at. After 5 minutes she got up and sat in the seat next to her to send it certified but first asked why we didn't use DHL, everyone uses it she said. I wonder why?

When we arrived with our friends a few hours from when we started our venture and told them the story they all believed that there wasn't anyone working at the first post office but didn't believe the story of the cloth, and they all asked "why didn't you use DHL? For the record it would have cost me almost 8 times as much to use DHL; now I just have to hope that my packages arrive.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein

#43 The Holidays with good friends in Kuwait

I thought about my family and friends a lot in the last few days since it is
close to the holidays. When i got on my plane from Cairo to Kuwait and
found myself to be the only white person who didn't understand the arabic
instructions on the plane and found everyone looking at me as if to say why
are you here? what are you planning? you aren't one of us. It was the
first time I really felt like the minority where there was no place to hide
and no one to go to. I wondered if there was something on my face that they
were all looking at and realized it was the color. They had no idea about me but were so quick to judge which is when it really hit me how other people feel in other parts of the world when they are judged based on how they look.

I arrived in Kuwait to my friends waiting for me. Before I left people were quite worried about me visiting this part of the world and told me lots of people here would like to kill me. If they are trying to kill me with kindness and food then that may be true. I got to spend time with some people who I lived with back in the U.S at MSU. Shiggity S Hempz, King T, Boss, G, Bujasim, and Fry. I also met and got to know some of there friends during my viist; Saleem, Porks, Hussein, Njada and a few others. When I arrived Shiggity and T gave me a cell phone and a labtop to use. They checked me in to a hotel for the first few days so I could catch up on sleep and relax for a little before staying at their houses. We went out to eat most days for the meals someone didn't have me over to their house. For the days out I was never allowed to pay for anything.

It was such a difference from traveling in Africa in some of the poorest countries and staying with people who didn't have a car to cruising around Kuwait in the 06 Corvette, the 06 Porche, an escalade, or a top of the line Lex like Ali G wants.
I was taken to all of their homes and treated like one of the family everywhere I went. There was lots to eat!!! Everywhere I went there was food. I think in my 10 days here I put on at least a pound or two a day, but worth every bit of it.

On Christmas Eve Shiggity's family had everyone over for a big meal and I had a chance to get to know his Parents, 3 brothers and younger sister. I left stuffed and happy. On Christmas morning I awoke in my hotel room to Boss who was dropping off groceries for me. For Christmas dinner I went to T's house and had maybe the best turkey I've ever eaten in my life. I got a chance to get to know his Mom, his two sisters and two brothers as well. While we were talking and eating dessert they asked me how it was and I replied with a little of what my friends taught me in the States that you say when something is really good; binga7ba. When they errupted with laughter his mom told me that this is something you only say around your guy friends and that is literally means son of a bitch. She wasn't mad at all since she knew I was taught this but it brought a big laugh to everyone there and everyone that heard the story after.

Most days we would cruise around town catching up on each others life, stop to eat, meet up with some other people for tea or fresh juice, then go and eat again. I got to catch up on movies I haven't seen:
Lucky Number Slevin : I enjoyed this one, had a bit of a usual suspects feel.
Little Miss Sunshine: I had some good laughs during this movie, a few cheesy parts but I quite liked it.
Borat: some real funny parts but there were some real unnecessary parts too where he went overboard; but that's what Borat is about huh?
Rocky 6: It's rocky six, what do you expect. It was good ending for Rocky, some horrible lines and I was happy that I slept through most of it only to wake up for the ending.
The illusionist: a cool movie, I feel like an idiot doing my card tricks after watching this movie. Edward Norton is the man.
Jackass 2: painfull to watch. I wonder how many hours these guys rack up in the hospital. I was laughing so hard at some parts and wanted to puke at others, just what you would think you would get.
Click: Not to great, seeing it once was fine.

I learned (mostly from Porks) about gizzing. Gizzing is what you do to pick up women in Kuwait. There are very strict rules as far as PDA (public displays of affection) and interactions between men and women here. Gizzing is when you drive up and down the main streets and look for women in cars, if she looks at you and makes eye contact and smiles you can give her your phone number. Once you give her your phone number you follow her car for a while. When I suggested this is liking stalking I was told that "stalking is cool in Kuwait". Then they might call you for some weeks before you actually get to meet up with the girl. You might meet her with some friends for some weeks after that before going to dinner or something with just the two of you. It really is a long process that didn't interest me one bit. The time Boss, T, Porks and I went out to go gizzing we stopped for a emperor (mango juice with vanilla ice crea) after about 5 minutes of driving and then went over to another friends house to play the Nintendo Wii which is just an awesome video system and beats gizzing any day of the week.

All the way to the chalet is desert on either side of the road. Most of the year you only see sand but at this time of the year all you see are lights at night. Because it is the winter and a little cooler, EVERYONE in Kuwait sets up tents for month or more and goes there on the weekends. When I say tent I mean 3-5 tents that are each as big as a garage and if you were to look inside would look like a permanent home with beds, couches and the works. I found this quite interesting, we didn't go there, we had a Chalet.

We spent a couple days at the Chalet which is about a 45 minute drive from the city which to people in Kuwait is VERY far. This is because it takes about 3 hours to drive from the southern most tip to the northern most tip of the country. It is a country of around 1 million people which is strange after leaving Cairo which holds about 22 million. Lots of our friends went to the Chalet which is right on the ocean. Here we just hang out, play video games, watch movies, listen to music, play cards and of course eat loads of food. It was very relaxing and way to cold to swim which was dissapointing since I have never swam in the Arabian Sea before.

Alcohol is illegal in Kuwait. We had it whenever we wanted it. Not in bars or anything like that but there was a way to get it. Since I spent a bit of the time trying to recover from a cold I didn't drink at all but they had gotten some for the holidays. You can buy a regular bottle of vodka or whiskey on the black market for about$100, or you can get it from your dad who got bottles as gifts through work.
Yeah, and marijuana is illegal in the US; doesn't mean you can't get it.

I have to say that one of my best friends that I lived with for a couple of years at MSU who is from Kuwait was not able to be in Kuwait while I was here. Big MO style is in the US now training for work while I am here in Kuwait living it up. We did listen to some of his rap songs and talked about him quite a bit. He says that he will meet me in Bangkok though so that will be alright.

Pirating is huge in Kuwait because there aren't really any laws against it. We went to Rehab which is a huge building where you can buy any video game, movie, tv series or pretty much anything in the electronic world at a great discounted price.
I was also taken to the friday market which is where you literally can buy ANYTHING. They sell, fish, chicken, dogs, sheep, parrots, monkeys, shark, pigeon, rugs, tv's, antiques, perfume, jewelry or really whatever you want. I really enjoyed this trip to the market. They sold tons of little chicks that they dyed all different colors (see picture in winkflash).

I spent a lot of time with Boss who is Big MO's cousin. I stayed at his house quite a bit and got to meet some of his family also. We went to his Grandmas house one day for lunch and all of his relatives laughed when I made his little cousin cry by playing a trick on him, it was innocent I promise.

Eid is one of the biggest holidays in the Islamic religion. They celebrate in honor of the people who have died in their family and for the people in Mecca. It specifically celebrates when Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his son and then when he was going to do it God sent down a sheep for him to slaughter instead. I stayed at T's house the day before Mecca so in the morning I could wake up and celebrate it with his family. They had bought sheep a couple days before and so this morning of Eid I got to watch the slaughtering of sheep. They donate one to the neighborhood and then keep the meat of the other which will last for a few months.
It was interesting to watch just because I'm not accustomed to seeing it. Most of the meat I get comes in a plastic wrapper with a pricetage on it. Another custom that goes with Eid is that the parents will give kids money, and it is usually new, fresh money. So when I got out of bed his Mom handed me a $100 bill. I tried to refuse but was told it is part of the custom and it would be insulting if I didn't take it; you know I don't like to insult people.

The time I was here went by so fast and it was exactly what I needed in the middle of my trip. Being with friends, relaxing and being able to pick on people who know me well enough to just tease me right back. Especially hearing about the death of my friend Tom made me really appreciate having friends around to support me with love and kindness.

When I went to the airport to leave, 4 cars went with me, parked and walked me in to say goodbye. Not just anybody does that.

The only way to have a friend is to be one.
* Ralph Waldo Emerson