All The Small Things

So my sanity is at risk; I left my ipod charger at home, and had been charging it through my computer. Now that I am on my own and separated from my computer, I have about 5 hours of listening for the next two weeks. Its kind of sad to need it, but I'm traveling alone and all that jazz. And in case you haven't figured it out, the blog titles are songs that come up on shuffle -- and yes I still have a love for blink 182.
One of the only other times I listened to my ipod was on the metro. Dancing, doing a little white boy shuffle, as I waited for a train got looks. But you know what, I think they were jealous of my sweet moves. And I get looks anyway, sowhy not?

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(A few days ago).... This has been a completely unreal, normal, crazy, rational day. Again I find myself sitting on a train, one of the few awake. The crack in the window provides a great nighttime breeze to ease one into sleep, as the countryside, illuminated only by traincar windows, goes zooming by.

Emotions are temporary, and on this journey I must learn to realize that and therefore come to terms with in the moment happenings. Right now for example. There is a beautiful young baby curled against her mother sleeping; only a few hours ago I was miserable from the wailing. Now it seems so unreasonable to harness those thoughts as it is of course part of traveling.
Or take the man sitting on the end of my reserved bunk. This bench is mine; I as well as he knows that. But I'm sure he has an unreserved seat, and I don't want to make him sleep on the floor, like the people I walked over to use the loo. I don't "need" all my legroom, and if he is happily slumped over himself, so be it.

Today I treated myself and three others to the best and cheapest food I have had yet. Wandering Jamalpur and not wanting to eat candy, fruit, or raw veggies I ducked into one of the resturants (dhabas) lining the street. On the left as you enter is a man on an elevated platform, scooping food out of huge copper pots onto plates. Its blazingly hot, as to the right a man is spinning an firing roti (flat bread), practically sitting on the tandoori oven, and then expertly fishing out the bread with two long metal pokers.

I handed the guy a 50 rs note and waved at the change, figuring I would feed someone else too. The man waves in three hunger squatters who can't afford lunch, and hands them a plate full of food. Inside, two little boys continued to ferry me roti, daal and rice. Every time I said baas (enough), they brought more food. I was confused, but continued to stuff myself. Note to self: Busy, grubby looking resturants are that way because they serve the best food on the block.

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In Delhi...

I have no idea where I am. I signed into a hotel near the biggest mosque I have ever seen. It took me over two hours to find the place, but my room has a great view of the Jama Masjid. I spent the afternoon exploring the red fort - built by the Muhgols in the 1400s. It was beautiful and a true testament to the empire's power. Now I sit in a western resturant, thinging about going out. I have explored using the metro, which is great. So when I ordered dinner I asked about three different dishes, and then chose one. The staff proceeded to bring me all three, and Im proud to say I struggled throuh 2 and a half of em.

Next Day:

I tripped over a sheep laying on the pavement as I came out of the hotel today. wow. I traveled across town and bought an overnight bus ticket to Shimla, 10 hours away. Its in the foothills of the himalayas, and was the summer capital for the british. Its supposed to be an interesting mix of tibetan and raj influences. I also prayed in the huge mosque today, and went up one of the minarets; the view of delhi was impressive, but I was not impressed with delhi. There is so much pollution that you cannot see that far, and it seems to be mostly sprawl development with little zoning. And I just got back from the bazaar, which truly comes alive at night. Stores selling shoes, clothing, food, and just about everything that is used for everyday urban life, spilling out onto the street. Add in animals, motorcycles, beggars, and people chewing and spitting paan everywhere, and you just might start to get the picture.
I was hanging out and talking to a paan wallah (chewing tobacco worker), and he made me a sweet one. They wrap betel nuts, coconut, and a mix of spices in a leaf, which you stick in your cheek and chew. You can swallow the sweet ones, but with tobacco you spit it out, which is where the red stains all over the pavement come from.

And I was in a bar earlier nursing a large kingfisher and reading about Jainism, and celine dion coms on the sound system. I burst out laughing, and the few people around me are confused. I guess titanic theme music is taken seriously worldwide, because I have heard this song in multiple bars. I'm going to start a tally of celine dion songs i hear here (not counting nadeem's ipod). Also, I have heard enrique eglesias played three times in the last half hour.
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Now Im in Shimla...... its awesome. The city is on the edge of a hill, and the lower valleys are enveloped in fog. I pray it clears, but in the meantime I'll wander the bazaars and do some reading. There is a famous temple to Hanuman (king of the monkeys, helped Rama win an important battle in the epic Ramayana), a 40 minute hike uphill. The town is swarming with monkeys, no one here notices, but they are like the dogs or goats of Shimla. Im going to wake up early tomorrow, take the hike to the temple which supposedly is swarming with monkeys.

And its the Fourth of July! im going to go find some fireworks and be an idiot in the middle of town tonight.