India in the bloodstream...in a good way :)

Where the H to begin....ok first of all it is 3 am and I couldn't sleep. I snuck out stealthily so my room mate wouldn't be awakened only to find the business center closed. No worries, the ever so ready to serve hotel staff has given me permission to steal an hour or so. Which of course will not be enough time.

Before I say anything tho, Michelle it was nice seeing YOU last nite at a dance celebration at the URS of Hazrat Inayat Kahn...I'll get to URS another post perhhaps. I mean I knew you were here in spirit but COME ON!!! I thought you'd managed a flight when I saw you across the room. So of course I have pics. Her mother was there (WENDY!!) and Audrey as it turns out, is an identical twin...stars are colliding!
I always like spotting a great look alike of someone I know. While I never knew Ghandi, if wearing the right spectacles, Howard makes a nice 6 foot replica. He has enjoyed seeing himself on all the money. (Laura W., he is some kind of triple Leo, and may I say, a triple threat. HA!!)

Thanks to my two Lauras for their weighing in and all other lovely readers for your interest.

I will take you back to my first days here which seem like a lifetime ago.

In my journal from a few days days ago: (BTW what the hell day is it!!!)


Tues feb 3rd...People have begun arriving in waves the last couple nites all in various stages of sleep recovery. I managed to pick up a sore throat--the 4th person to catch something like it. So I nursed that with massive doses of 'C' water and rest, only allowing for a brief jaunt to the Mahatma Ghandi museum with new pal Howard.
We both poured ourselves into an auto rickshaw after, completely on empty with warning lights flashing--us, that is, not the rickshaw. That 2 hour trip put me down for 15. UPDATE: Good health has returned, just in time for our tour kick off dinner on the 4th at the now beautiful Claridges, a very drastic change from the under belly of the Beaufort Inn--which I also loved, strangely enough. I know, run on sentence, no time for editing...

Speaking of rickshaws, I'd like to make an observation about traffic in India. It has struck me as being a completely intuitive endeavor. It is crowded and chaotic, and mostly done at break neck speeds where you can suddenly find yourself at a stop about one inch from something that has just crossed your path. And the driver barely blinks. Yesterday at lunch I likened it to our very bloodstreams...millions of cells following a path, albeit hopped up on caffeine, no traffic lights--or little respect for them- but here's the thing: the blood cells don't get all pissed off at each other with fingers waving and expletives. And so it is with both drivers and pedestrians here. Unflappable. Rarely do you hear sirens, rarely do you see accidents. I have come to completely trust the process of traffic and walking about.

I haven't even gotten to the festival we have been celebrating in the last 24 hours and yet to come today. Tomorrow nite we take an all nite train to Mt Abu. It may be that I have to sneak away at odd hours to get my posts in. I probably will never have it as good as the Claridges the rest of the trip. If I can, I will post some pics in the wee hours tomorrow nite where nothing distracts me except the need for sleep. Love to you all--for all of you have contributed to my life by your very presence in it. Wendy