What More Can I Say

I'm back in Delhi, specifically at the Red Fort. I hope to make it to the Jama Masjid and then find some non-indian food before I return to Ahmedabad tonight.

I took an all night bus from Manikaran, and talked most of the time to Matan, my seatmate from Israel. We talked mostly of American politics and foreign policy, and he thinks the upcoming elections are rigged for Mcain. Honestly, a black man named Obama can't be president, he said.

His brother is a conspiracy theorist, and beleives 9/11 was planned by the US government to support a war for oil - and all the paperwork and evidence was destroyed in building 7 of the world trade center complex - apparently not very close to the towers, but it fell anyway. He suggested viewing a documentary called Loose Change, which points to alot of inconsistencies surrounding 9/11.

All I know is that while 45oo US soldiers have died in Iraq, over a million Iraqi civilians have also perished, and the US government tends not to care or acknowledge this. We are selfish assholes, and the world should hate us. Oh wait, they do.

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I'm still in Delhi. I was told at the train station yesterday I need only show up an hour before the train comes, and buy my ticket. So I waste the entire day, taking long meals and drinking beer; I also went to the red fort and jama masjid, but it was fast sightseeing since I had been there before.

Well, I slept in a room about the size of a cot, plus a foot to one side to get in. I slept pretty well, I guess skipping a nights sleep will do that. Today I bought my ticket to Varanasi and went to the zoo. The zoo was pretty good - there were beautiful jaguars and cheetahs. So there was no train to Ahmedabad today, so I could not go until tomorrow and get there the day after, or go to Veranasi for a half day and spend about 42 of 48 hours on a train. This will be a good test of my solitary sanity, because I have been dreaming of company or familiarity for a while now.

I talked to a street vendor last night for a long time; Lakush was selling maps, and for some great reason he decided to sit down and talk instead of continuing to pester people. He was a really great guy and like alot of the not-dirt-poor but not well-off people, he lived elsewhere and traveled to tourist locales. I gave him 50 rupees at som point, and we continued talking. When he got up, he said, "No one just gives me money," and in friendship gave me a map a half an hour before he tried to sell me for 400 rupees.

Really, less well off people don't want your sympathy or your money, they just might want someone to talk to.