I am a bringer of Rains

I am here in Windsor. It is raining.

This is not a surprise I suppose. England is famous for its wet weather. However Cathy's house is as fun and friendly as ever, so I have no complaints about the weather. I am nearing the end of my 2 month long journey and I am finishing up with a quiet stay in Cathy's House.

The last few days in Jaipur and Delhi were fantastic. Shashi and Shammy are excellent hosts, and my nightly pan walks with Shammy were a great end to my stay in India. Shammy is a wonderful man to sit and talk with. He is educated, smart, funny, and has seen many parts of the world. This combination gives him an ability to provide me with insight into India, and other countries around the world. For instance he was recently working in the Indian Embassy in Cuba, and informed me that the country is absolutely wonderful. In mostly every regard. Everyone is educated, taken care of, and for the most part happy.

We had many reasons to praise Shashi this visit. Not only was she allowing Michael and myself to stay in her house, and cooking wonderful food for us, but some paperwork she submitted in Delhi appears to finally have kicked the government into getting the road to the hospital paved. This is particularly amazing due to the fact that Michael has been trying to get this road built for over a decade. This bit of paperwork that Shashi put in the right hands of the right office will benefit tens if not hundreds of thousands of villagers in Orissa. When the road is complete she will have made a difference in the lives of so many.

My flight over from India to England was very pleasant, except I could a cold on the plane. I did however have an opportunity to watch Lawrence of Arabia, which I have not seen for over a decade. This was particularly interesting because Michael Daube IS Lawrence of Arabia. It is uncanny. He works with the local population in order to help them improve themselves. He is compassionate, and energized. The people he works with on the grounds revere him as a saint, or an angel. He is educated, aloof, and quite wise.

Michael would never tell you he is a great man, or that he does great things. I believe he really has learned so much from his work and travels, that he really understands what it means to do small things with great compassion. I know I sound like I am worshiping him, but that is not the case. He is a good man and a great role model. I feel very lucky to have been able to spend 2 months traveling with him and picking his brain. I think I am better for it.

It is late here, and I am tired. I plan on continuing my blog after my travels are over. I do not know what I will write about, but I think the trick for me is going to be making sure I keep my life interesting enough so that I can keep material for this blog. I do not plan on changing the name of the blog, because I think William Abroad suits the way I think, and the way I want to think and act.

Indian Moment

Today I had what Michael described as an "Indian Moment." I had a long day of Elephant riding and sight seeing at Amber Fort here is Jaipur. I had an overly spicy meal at a very good restaurant. I ate an extremely spicy chili pepper and burned my mouth. And after a few hours of walking through the markets, I kinda flipped out.

It was all internal. I maintained a huge grin on my face, but inside my mind I was screaming to myself to just get away from all these shopkeepers, rickshaws, tour guides, food vendors, and professional beggars. I just needed to get away from the markets, the noise, and the people. In case you are wondering I am better now. I got to my hotel room and recharged my emotional batteries. I am ready for round 2 out there in this strange and beautiful country.

One thing that really gets to me is what I call the white tax. Here in India there are many beautiful tourist attractions. If you are an Indian you can get into these attractions for 10-40 rupees. If you are from anywhere else in the world, you pay anywhere from 10-40 dollars. For those of you who are not up on current exchange rates that is 500-2000 rupees. If the price was low because they wanted to allow impoverished Indians access to historical or cultural works I would understand it. However even the Indian prices are prohibitive to the poor here. These prices are paid by middle and upper class Indians who make very good money. It is solely a price increase because of my status as a foreigner.

That is enough griping about India for today. The Pink City of Jaipur is beautiful. Many people here are very nice. I can't wait to come home and see snow.

That is all.

Jaipur

Here I am in Jaipur in a very nice (cheap) hotel. Things are going great over here except one thing. Travel in India right now is tough. Due to the Bombay bombings airport and all other types of security are on highest alert.

So yesterday I had my haircut at a "gents" salon. So Michael and I are getting a shave and a haircut and there are a bunch of women sitting behind us waiting. After a while a few drunken indian men enter the salon and start haggling with the owner of the shop. They point to 3 of the women and go into a back room. At this point Michael and I realize that we are not in a place dedicated to the styling and cutting of hair. Needless to say the rest of the shave was quite uncomfortable.

Went to Sashi's last night and had some fun times with Shammy her brother. He is back from Cuba to stay for a while. He and I went over to a local Pan shop and had a few of the normal non-sweet pans. This was only the second time I have had normal Pan. It kinda knocked me for a loop. The Beetlenut and whatever else they put in that stuff is strong.

Today we headed out to the Pink City, Jaipur. I finally saw an Elephant here in India. So my checklist is officially done. I saw a snake charmer in Calcutta and an Elephant in Jaipur. That is all I need to see. The snake charmer's snakes were so underfed and malnourished that he had to slap them to get them to wake up.

More to come later as I now have an internet connection that isnt 75 miles away over rough and rocky road.