Hello Monkey! An Indian Welcome

Let the adventures begin!!  I was welcomed at the exit of the New Delhi airport by Jesse, the dude who would take us on a 7 hour game of chicken on “highways,” “byways,” dirt roads, pot hole filled roads and only god knows what else, and Dominic, a fine and lovely gentleman from Canada, who has been studying music at USC but has spent the last 8 months on a solo meditation/ancestry, journey in a hut in the Philippines.  He has a 4 month contract waiting for him back in LA for the LA Gay Mens Chorus as their conductor and he’s the sweetest guy so I’d like to put him in my pocket for the rest of my travels but, these 6 weeks together at yoga teacher training will suffice.  Oh and the drive just outside of Delhi smelled RIPE!!  OH…MY…GOD GROSS!  Just smelling what I did I was second guessing this little adventure of mine but thankfully, Rishikesh does not smell like asparagus pee mixed with hot steamy feces.  Mmmm…MMMMM!!!

People in India drive like maniacs, sheer, terrifying maniacs and I was not put at ease when I found my seat belt didn’t work but fingers crossed and good thoughts going to Jesse, we all made it in one piece.  I want to say they are very similar in their driving mannerisms to the crazy bastards in Lima, Peru.   It was better in the dark because I couldn’t see what was coming towards us but as the giant pink sun rose over the hazy horizon,  we were dodging people, cargo trucks, busses, motorcycles, tuktuks and let’s not forget the cows and monkeys.

As we came closer to Rishikesh, which yes, did take 7 hours, we were told to exit the car and Dominic and I were going to take turns riding on the back of a scooter, with all of our shit, through crowded streets, up steep slopes, around tight corners, dodging, yet again, people, bikes, cows and monkeys, getting almost bounced off with every pot hole all to arrive at a hotel.  Again, we both make it in one piece J  I’m sure my mom is LOVING reading this right now!  Don’t worry mom, we weren’t going fast!  We get to our hotel and the guy looks at me and says, “room,” and I said, “uhhhh, yes?”  He finds a random room to put me in, Dominic and I shower, NOT together, and then as we’re standing at the balcony of our walkway we see across the way what looks like the accommodations from all the pictures we saw online.  Deciding to take a stroll and investigate we find that we were dropped off at the wrong place.  I didn’t find this odd at first because the website said, “due to program popularity 1/3 of the students will be staying at a nearby hotel.”  We head back to our original place, grab out shiz, skip around the mounds of poo on the ground and arrive at our actual school!  I was warned I may get dropped off at incorrect locations in this fine country, I just didn’t think it would take a matter of only hours.

So far, so good!  I already made a few new friends, Dominic, obviously, but also Michelle, who is another Canadian who has been traveling around and is a professional philosophy student and Jules, who is a philosophy professor and published author from El Paso.  I waded out to foot deep water in the Ganges River, got blessed, booked an in room massage from someone in town, managed to not step in a single bit of cow poo, watched Dominic get chased and hissed by the monkeys who hover around for open doors with a room full of food at our hotel and made friends with a local shop owner who has a store full of shit I know someone would LOVE!  Would it be called a care package if I’m sending something to someone back home? J  Maybe a house warming would be more appropriate. 

I’m running off 5 hours of sleep since 8am Friday PST and it’s now 1:30pm Sunday Delhi time so what is that… 1am Sunday PST?  I’m also sweating balls, which I don’t even have, THAT’s how hot I am, so off to find shade and a ceiling fan to sit in and under. 

Nah-mast-ee bitches!

Dirty