India 2008!

Allah Akbar! Happy St. Basil's Day!!!!! St. William too!!! Awakened first by the firework booms just before midnight on New Year's Eve, and then at 6 a.m. by the tinny echo of mosque chanters competing for the first call to prayer for 2008. Sights and sounds continue to amaze. Overriding all is the peacefulness of this chaos. The absence of anger and anxiety here are calming, as is lack of cell phone and television. While Jaipur is not quite a walking city, at $22 for a most pleasant personal driver for the day (more than many charge) I am thrilled to take photos and shop for linens. Rickshaws and saris and elephants and camels and monkeys and dal and nan and dusty roads. The Schweppes is "Indian Tonic" naturally. Stares, hawkers saying "Madam, Madam" with fine painted scenes over Arabic script. Red hijabs. Naked children. Cows in the road. Raw vegetables and fruit on wood carts supported by bicycle wheels and pulled by camels. Wonderful and affordable Ayurvedic massage. It might be a good thing that I have a head cold, because things smell just fine. The link above has more photos!!!