Random Thoughts

RELIGION was something I hadn’t expected in India.  I mean, I know every country has religion, but I wasn’t prepared for the PERVASIVENESS of it in India.  Religion is EVERYWHERE there – it is in the way people dress, the way they eat, the way they relate to one another, the way they worship, the way they celebrate, it is even in their politics.  Religion is an integral part of life there in a much more “real” sense than I see in America. And religion in India is SO DIVERSE.  There are many, many different faiths represented throughout the country – Hindu (the majority religion of the country), Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Bahai, Christian, Catholic, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Parsi…  And it seems, at least to this outside observer, that the different religions coexist in harmony.  There do not appear to be overt attempts at convincing others that one religion is “right” and therefore “better” and others should convert to it.  It seems to be acce...

SO.  MUCH.  HEAT. The locals keep telling us it is indeed HOT, "It reached 44 today!!" they exclaim. Sadly, though we are getting better at figuring out the in-head formula to convert rupees to dollars to have some idea of what we are spending, a formula for converting celcius to farenheit has not been commited to memory.  Note to self:  when we have internet look up that formula!  I know 44 must be over 100 degrees.  In Delhi it is a dry heat and I am sweating like I have never sweat before.  But it is interesting - the sweat doesn't STINK.  Even clothes taken off and dried in the hotel room do not smell sweaty before they are pitched unceremoniously on the DIRTY CLOTHES pile.    At India Gate - boy were we SWEATY!  And how about those HATS, eh?? We had a super busy day on day 2.  In fact, we were so busy that by the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED and bailed out on going to meet some relatives of a friend in D...

Today was our first day in Delhi.  We landed (after a 20 hour trip) at 1:30 am.  After immigration, having been met by guides (and given beautiful lei-sort of necklaces made of orange marigolds!) we were taken to our nice hotel in south Delhi.  Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?  They smell nice, too.  Made it to the hotel!! We have seen movies about India.  We read a bit (not enough) before we came.  But even on the ride to the hotel in darkness it was clear - this place is UNIQUE.  I knew it would be, but I never imagined to be as struck by it all as I am.  So maybe it was the bizarre time zone difference (we are 9.5 hours ahead of USA East Coast Time), maybe it was the weird sleep (some on the plane in uncomfortable positions, then a good sleep at the hotel), or maybe just the newness of it all  - but it hit me.  I mean BOY did it hit me... Most people would look at our agenda for today and then look at what we actually accom...