Ramadan for non Muslims

I have to admit when Ramadan first started I was excited.  The same way I´m excited for holidays in America, or what it would be like to experience Christmas in Bethlehem, Diwali in India, etc.  Everyone in Jordan was excited, there were major sales going on in all the stores, "christmast lights" or what they know here as Ramadan lights hanging everywhere, it seemed like an exciting time.  I even planned along with my Italian friend Silvia to fast for the first day and then have dinner at Feras's parents house to break our fast and experience a real Islamic Ramadan feast.  The first day came and I knew it would be difficult but I didn't realize HOW difficult.  First of all, I drink coffee every morning, a LOT of coffee so immediately in the morning I was groggy and had a headache from the caffeine withdrawal.  I had a quiz at 9 that morning in my Arabic class which I was having great difficulty with but what could I do?  Ask for sympathy from my Muslim teacher? Some classmates of mine who are Muslim?  Of course it was one of the hottest days of the year, so my hunger and thirst just added to my headache, however I said I was going to fast and I was sticking to it!  I guess maybe I wanted to prove to myself that I'm stronger than I think, and part of the point of Ramadan is to feel for the poor, so I figured it couldn't hurt me to maybe try and feel a miniscule taste of what most of the world goes through unwillingly everyday.  After class I came home and tried to sleep but my head hurt too much....so I just layed on the couch and watched tv until the time came to get Silvia and take the bus to Salt.  We arrived at Feras's and I didn't realize how used to Arab hospitality I've become until that day when we didn't immediately have water, juice, tea, Arabic and Turkish coffee and dates pushed on us as soon as we walked through the door!  It seemed like an eternity but when we heard the prayer call softly and then loudly and Feras said "Ok you can eat now" I drank more water then I think I ever have in my life and then stuffed my face with food so quickly I ended up barely being able to eat because my stomache was so small I filled up so quickly!  It was a very nice relaxing dinner, then Silvia, Feras, Dema (his adorable 7 year old sister) and I went up to the roof to hang out where there lived a baby chicken that Feras's little brother had brought home the other day!  It just lived on the roof by itself.....and it was dyed pink!  It was so cute I held it in my hands for a few minutes and when I went to put it down it snuggled close to me and wouldn't get off my hands.  I was in love!  So I sat with my little chick or "sous" in Arabic for a few hours until we left for home.  The next day I learned my sous had died!!!  Probably from a broken heart since I left him all alone on the roof poor little baby. 

Silvia, Dema, the Sous and I

Feras and Dema

The sous

Fast forward a week later and I am so sick of Ramadan!  Everyone is cranky (justifiably so) during the day, nothing is open, it's impossible to get anything done and no alcohol at all in the country to at least try to cure the boredom!!  Even if you're not a Muslim (and it's perfectly acceptable not to be a Muslim in this country) you're basically forced to fast during the day.  There is almost no restaurants or take out places open, and forget buying a bottle of water and drinking it on the street!  I can do it without problems yes, but it's just really very rude and I don't like to be rude in other people's cultures (or anywhere for that matter!).  Plus everyone is just so.....tired.  19 days to go before "normalcy" (is there such a thing in Jordan?) returns!  On a brighter note, Silvia, Marthe (my new Norweigian roommate) and I have been invited to Feras's grandmothers for our third Ramadan feast tonight so there is something to look forward to!  I never thought in my late teens and early twenties that I would be looking forward to a dinner with no alcohol and strict Muslims so much.....

Renewing my Visa in "just" 4 tries.....

When most nationalities arrive at Mataar Maleka Alia (Queen Alia Airport) in Amman they are automatically issued a one month, one entry visa.  If you want to stay longer than a month you have to go to the "nearest" police station to renew.  So, one week before my visa was to expire, Feras took me to the police station closest to my apartment which is in the Khalda neighborhood.  The lease to my apartment was handwritten in English by my landlord because he didn't want to give me a lease in Arabic because it would be unfair for me to sign something I don't understand.  Feras went to a store and bought a lease written in Arabic and signed my landlords name on it.  Only in Jordan can you buy a lease to an apartment at a store!  So we went into the station....after a million stares and everyone asking Feras "Where your girlfriend from? She is welcome to Jordan!" We were told we had to go to a different police station.  So we drove there, but it was 2:45 and they were closing at 3 so they didn't feel like seeing us.  Ah Jordan.  Or "f***ing Jordan!" as I so often say these days!  So, two days later we went back, and they told me I need to get papers from my school saying I'm a student.....but my school said I had to do all my visa stuff at the police.  Ugh.  The next day, two people from my school, an American and a British were going to renew their visas so I decided to go with them and see what happened.  They said nothing about doing it at school, but gave me another form to have my landlord sign.  My landlord was in Turkey at the time.  So....I went home, called Feras and he took me the next day with all the signed paperwork (that he signed for me).  The police men start saying I need something else and I'm about to kill them when the police cheif recognizes Feras's accent as being from Salt...and he was from Salt as well.  They start talking, joking around and what do you know because of this I was given a two month extension on my visa, no fees, and NO FORMS.  This my friends, is Jordan in a nutshell!

Loves and hates about Jordan

So I’ve been in Jordan one and a half months now and I guess it’s only appropriate I start to blog during the holy month of Ramadan.  So far I am still loving this country, although sometimes it drives me absolutely insane.  I’m learning to be more patient with  everyone and everything here, it’s hard but I think I’m doing pretty well.  For example,  I don’t throw my phone anymore when someone calls me 5 times because I haven’t called them back.   When you finally answer the phone or call them back because you think there was an emergency they just say they wanted to check on you because they haven’t heard from you…..in 1 day.  They are genuine, and sweet, but it’s really quite crazy!  I’ve learned how to deal with the impatience of everyone here, no one waiting in line or their turn (although after spending time in Israel this is nothing!), people stealing taxis from you….I’ve learned how to manage that.  I’ve learned how to manage the biggest one of all and that is the “Arab time”.  Basically when an Arab tells you they will see you at, for example, 4pm, it could  be anywhere from 4-8!  Also, people always want to tell you they know someone who can get you a job, etc…..but that never happens either. 

However there are so many wonderful things about this country which is what brought me to be here in the first place.  First of all there is really not enough that can be said about the Arab hospitality!  For the first two weeks I was here I was living with my friend Dalla and her family in As-Salt which is about 15 minutes north of Amman and is the oldest city in Jordan:  over 2000 years old!  The tales of living with her are for another day, but the way I was treated was beyond something I could have ever expected.  I was given the youngest daughters (Sewar) bed and she slept on the floor even when I insisted that I would sleep on the floor.  They would make me coffee every morning, tea in the evening, juice and water all day, they would bombard me with home-cooked meals every day I have never been so well fed in my life!  Their oldest son bought me some presents (they were things to put in my hair, well my hair if I was 12 years old but the thought was very nice) because I was a guest in their home.  THEY ALSO DID MY LAUNDRY!  You wont find that anywhere in the western world!  When you walk down the street everyone wants to talk to you and ask you where you are from and then give you a big “Welcome to Jordan!”  Seriously I think everyone in this country is trained to say those words since birth.  I know, that even if I live here for ten years and speak fluent Arabic,  because I am white people will still tell me “Welcome to Jordan”.  It’s cute, and it’s nice.  People may stare a lot here, but always they want to help if you are in need.  Plus…and here’s the shocker for all you media believers…..it’s SAFE.  Like, REALLY safe.  Like, safer than America safe.  Ok, maybe people drive crazy here, maybe building and food codes aren’t 100% equal to the US….but they are close.  The crime rate is almost non existant.  If you lose your passport, your wallet, your purse, chances are someone will return it.  If I am walking down the street late at night by myself and I pass a group of “shabaab” (young guys) hanging out on the street, nothing will happen to me.  There is almost virually no rape or murder in this country and NO TERRORISM.  There were a couple of bombings in western hotels in 2005.  Tragic, but nothing compared to the terroristic acts that are commited in western countries regularly.  Jordan is safe, BEAUTIFUL, and the people here respect other cultures.  Yes they don’t want their women to act like me which I disagree with…however it’s their country not mine and they respect the way I act and think and what I do and I love that about this place.

The countdown is on.....

I find it ironic that I stopped blogging as soon as I left India for the Middle East, considering the fact that the Middle East, with Jordan in particular, had a bigger influence on my life than almost anything I have ever experienced.  I should probably try to recall my not so distant memories from my time spent in Oman, The United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, The Palestinian Territories, Israel and....of course.....Jordan.  I came home from my trip to the region on my 29th birthday, October 30th of this past year, 2010.  For reasons I wont get into right now I ended up back in Jordan on Christmas day, 2010.  I was supposed to be there for 11 days only, but as I had just gotten fired from my job, I ended up spending a month.  The start of what would later be known as the Arab revolution was emerging in Tunisia while I was in Jordan, and during my brief visit to Lebanon, their government collapsed the day I flew back to Jordan.  I decided I just had to live in Amman, Jordan, study the language I have grown to love, and hopefully go to grad school for international relations while living in a land I love.  So now....the countdown is on.  52 days left until I leave for my new home....and this is the e-mail I receive from my normally very open-minded, and very supportive, Jewish, liberal, father:

Pilar, 

I am now VERY worried about what is going on in the middle east and have decided to write down some of my concerns, and to do it in a way that trys to keepmy emotions out of what I have to say. I know you have your heart set on going to Jordan, and I want you to be happy and to live where you want, and I am fond of Jordan and your friends there, I really am. 

But the whole middle east is in turmoil right now, and although it was thrilling to see Mubaraks government fall, and to see the Syrian dictatorship be challeneged, there is a strong tendency towards a regional war starting to emerge. If that happens, there is no way that Jordan will be able to escape being strongly affected by it.

The Palestinians are going to declare a state in September. I am for that, but unfortunately, it is being done in such a way that is driving the current Israeli government to react in a disastrous way. Between these two things, we could have big violence break out between Israelis and Palestinians. 
Yesterday Hamas and the Palestinian Authority announced they were setting aside their differences and going to have elections and create a 'national unity' government. While this could be a positive development for the Palestinians, it is having the effect of isolating Israel. The peace process, as pathetic as it is, is likely to completely fall apart, lead to desparation among the Palestinians and then probably a 3rd Intefada. The first two Intefadas left thousands dead on both sides.

Egypt, with it's new government, is bound to side with the Palestinians, and Egypt was always Israels greatest security threat. Width Mubarak gone, it is likely to get very tense between Egypt and Israel, especially if the average Egyptian sees Israelis shooting Palestinians on their TV's every night.

We are already seeing a bloody crackdown in Syria, and that will certainly spread into Lebanon, since Syria and Lebanon have historically been one country and still see themselves that way. Iran is very influential in Syria and Lebanon and they are bound to get evens stronger. the Iranian and Syrian governments will not tolerate the 'Arab spring' in Syria and Lebanon. 

and right next to these hotbeds of unrest and violence is a small paradise called Jordan. Half of Jordans population is Palestinian. It's hard to see how they will remain emotionally detached from their cousins next door in Israel when Israeli troops are likely to be shooting Palestinians. That will create unrest and the possibility of civil war in Jordan between the Jordanian Palestinians and the Jordanian Hashemites.

Jordans army is strong, and could probably contain the Palestinians, (by shooting lots of them) but at that point, the civility inside Jordan would probalby be gone anyway, and westerners in particular would be tempting targets for those who wish to create 'incidents' and hurt the Jordanian royal family and relationship with the west.

the whole region is going in the wrong direction. Israel could quite likely find itself facing great hostility on it's borders with Egypt, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. If they feel encircled, the Israelis will absoltely not hesitate to strike first, and it's hard to see how the Jordanian royal family could survive if all the other Arab countries are joined against Israel except them. if a general war between Arabs and Israel breaks out, Iran will certainly put their military might and muscle behind the Syrian regime, behind Hamas in Gaza, and behind Hizbullah in Lebanon. Iran would love to see King Abdhullah overthrown, and wartime is when such things happen.

Jordan is not going to disappear. This is the wrong time to be thinking of going for an extended period of time. I am begging you to postpone your plans for a few months and wait and see how things are going. It's your decision to make, but when I say I am begging you to put off your trip, I am not kidding. This danger is very real.


Dad


Wow.  What do you say to that?  It was obviously well thought out and extremely intelligent and not (well, not entirely) based on fears from the American media.  I always said the next person that asked me "are you sure its safe...you're american..." I was going to smack in the face.  Ive been to 25 countries: I've never felt safer than I did in Jordan, including the city I live in Philadelphia.  People are so scared of Arabs and Muslims in general, that they think the middle east is one hot bed of terrorism when in reality it's a land of ancient and rich culture, modern, peaceful, friendly and HOSPITABLE people, good food, good music, and most importantly, acceptance of other cultures.  Of all the countries in the region, Jordan is by far the most open minded and peaceful, with the exception of Lebanon who unfortunately, has Hizbollah and a never ending war with Israel standing in their way to be the gem of the Middle East.    So when my JEWISH father who never questioned my love for the Arab world (or Arab, Muslim men for that matter) wrote me this email it left me feeling kind of panicked.  I'm going to go....because although Jordan wont dissapear I could, and I dont want to wait to start my life.  I've never been a "waiter" and I am not going to start now.  At the same time, the thought of my parents sitting at home worrying everyday whether or not I am ok is very disheartening as well.  So to start I had my friend Feras, who lives in Salt, Jordan, write him an email.  Next, my father promised to call my girlfriend Dalla who also lives in Salt and talk with her.  We will go from there.....

Rishikesh-->Delhi

Again, 5 months late, but better late then never!


I left off in Rishikesh after I went on my little Hyena hunt in the Himalayan jungle (I just like the way that sounds).  Came back hot, sweaty, covered in mud and tired but so worth it!  Chilled out for a while, and then me and Julia walked down to the little patio area I hung out in last night to see if anyone was there and Yuki (Kuwaiti born, half Japanese, raised in Holland) and Oded (Israeli) from last night were hanging out with the German girls and they had beer....well actually the Nepali guys working at our hotel went out of town (alcohol is illegal in Rishikesh because it's holy) and brought us back a case of beer!  Soon some more Israeli's and an English guy named Chris (all of them who had been riding motorcycles across India together) showed up and then it was a party, where Julia led us all in Yoga at 1am.  Some of my favorite parts of traveling are the people you meet along the way and this was a good group. 

The next morning while having coffee, Yuki told me the Israeli's had all left and it was just him and Chris and they were going to walk to a waterfall you could swim in and would Julia and I like to come? Hell yeah!  So the four of us set off, walking up the side of a mountain road, until we got to stairs that literally came out of the side of the mountain.  We started climbing.  It was HOT and a long walk, I imagine the great wall of China to be this way.  At one point the stairs crumbled to nothing, my flip flops fell off, and if Yuki and Chris hadn't been there most likely I would have fallen and broken a leg.  Just when it got to the point where I thought I might pass out from heat and over exurting my body, the stairs ended and I was faced with a giant waterfall off the side of the himalayan mountains running into a pool below.  I turned around and saw gorgeous mountain views with tropical vegetation and couldn't believe where I was.  There was no one there so I felt completely comfortable stripping to my bikini and jumping in the pool.  We swam around for hours, smoked a little......courtesy of Yuki and had the most magical time. 

Time to climb down the stairs!! It wasn't so bad on the way down, but of course once we got to the road, in true Indian fashion, a bulldozer decided to come and break apart the whole road completely blocking us from getting back to our town.  So we waited for him to throw some boulders around for about half an hour till they made a "path" for us....I almost broke down into panic mode.  Our "path" was a gravely stretch literally on the side of the cliff.  One slip, or one part of road giving way, and we were done for.  Clearly however, we made it!  Back to town, and then chill night on the roof next to what they called mine and Jules's "penthouse" because we were on the roof of the hotel, and there was a roof chillout lounge with a swing and chairs and stuff. 

The next day (our last day) it was my inner music geek taking over, and Julia, the German girls and I went off to find the Maharishi Yogi's closed down ashram where the Beatles stayed in the 60's and wrote most of the White Album.  We walked for hours trying to find this place, but it was a beautiful walk, and when we finally did it was worth it.  It was set back in the jungle and even though it was closed and run down it was just breathtakingly beautiful and I can see how they got so much inspiration from this place.  Eventually made it back to the hotel, where the rest of the motorcycle crew had showed up from being run down somewhere in Kashmir for days.  There were two Australian's (Tom and Rob) and....a Cuban (Alberto) ! I never met a Cuban traveler before and neither did he (although I'm not actually from there, obviously only my mother is) so we became instant friends.  We became even more friends when him and Tom rode their motorcycles out of town and came back with two bottles of vodka, whiskey, rum, wine and a case of beer.  Yes, that was a crazy night.  Even the hindu's and Nepali's running our guesthouse who aren't supposed to drink joined our party on the roof, and as me and Julia were leaving at 430am to catch a train in the morning it was our sendoff party as we all became pretty tight in that short period of time. 

430 am.  I don't think anyone slept where they were supposed to, people on the roof, people in empty guestrooms, and I barely made it up to find Julia, but we had a 9 hour train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then a 2 hour train to Delhi where we would catch a 730am flight the next morning to Muscat, Oman.  I definitely came on vacation to have fun, but this was almost too much for me.  I was beyond hungover and the train was hellish.  Two guys in our train compartment, loud and fussy as hell, no sleep, hot, dirty, yuck. 

Made it to Agra.  I have to thank the Commonwealth games for shutting the roads down that day so me and Julia were forced to take a bicycle rickshaw from some poor guy for 10km to get to the taj.  I felt like the scum of humanity having this guy drive us.  He was clearly exhausted because the ride was too long for him and as much poverty as you see in India, even though you get desensitized to some, at least for me, some things just haunt me and this was one of them.  Well....as out train was two hours late, and it took this guy an hour to drive us, we got to the taj too late and it was closed.  We both cried.  We laughed about how ridiculous it was, how everyone back in Rishikesh-which we were really depressed to leave-told us to stay and we said we couldn't, and we just traveled in hell to see something that we now couldn't see.  That is India for you!  We made the best of it and went to a rooftop restaurant and had dinner overlooking the Taj so we DID get to see it, just not how we wanted to. 

Waiting in Agra train station for two hours for our train....made us miss Rishikesh more.  Child beggars kill me, child beggars with missing limbs kill me more, and when they pull on my arms and legs for hours, relentlessly and I keep saying no because it's what you are told to do, it makes me wonder what kind of a person I am that I can't give these kids something.  So, I caved and I went to go buy them food, and suddenly there were like 20 more and they all started fighting so I spent every last penny I had on me on food for them, not thinking I would need that when I got to Delhi for a cab to our hotel.  Julia luckily had 370 ruppees on her so we were able after MUCH negotiating to find a cab who would drive us to our hotel for that.  Delhi train station is HELL especially if you are white and ESPECIALLY if you are a woman.  Everyone grabs you, shouts at you, pushes other people out of the way to try and get you to go with them, grabs your bags, your purse, it's scary at first, but this time we were hot, tired, pissed off and just yelled at everyone who tried to bother us and actually worked out in our favor, they started backing off and we found a good driver. 

Jodhpur-->Jaisalmer-->Delhi-->Rishikesh

Well I'm about 5 months late posting this but better late then never right??

So we got to Jodhpur in the province of Rajasthan which was a beautiful little city, everything is painted blue, and there is a giant fort carved out of the mountainside.  Our guesthouse was 5 stories of beautifully decorated traditional Indian art, with a gorgeous rooftop restaurant.  We woke up in the morning and went to the fort which was fantastic and then back to our hotel feeling really worn out from the sun, jetlag and traveling.  We had (VERY) quickly discovered that Indian's don't drink....so there are no bars.  At all.  Our hotel had beer so we sat down for some food (still havent seen any other westeners at this point) and beer, and after two beers we were both so exhausted and drunk off of our long journey that we passed out at 730pm.  We both woke up at 5am when we realized that not getting the AC option in our room because we didn't want to spend another 2$ was STUPID!! So, Julia being a Yoga teacher we decided to go to the roof of our hotel and do some yoga and watch the most BEAUTIFUL sunrise I've ever seen, while listening to the Muslim call to prayer.  Surreal.  Then, we checked out and got our driver for our 5 hour drive to Jaisalmer a city in the Thar desert 40km from the Pakistan border. 

 

We loved the hotel we just stayed at so when they recommended we stay at their friends place in Jaisalmer with a pool we were very happy to oblige.  Once we arrived, we discovered, more men just milling about the hotel, and staring and there was NO CHANCE IN HELL of me getting in a bathing suit!  We didn't think we could take another night of just sitting about, so we decided to spend the night in the desert on a camel safari.  We rode our camels with a guide out to the sand dunes to watch the sunset, once again beautiful, still the only westeners this time surrounded by Indian tourists escaping the craze of Delhi due to the commonwealth games.  EVERYONE wanted to take their picture with us.  It got pretty frustrating at one point because gypseys were coming up to us trying to force their sodas and crap on us and demanding money from us telling us "we know you have it, give us 100 rupees" and it just gets intimidating and annoying.  I know I'm rich compared to them, but I can't give everyone in India my money!  So we go back to our camp where we had a choice of sleeping in a hut or a tent.  We look at the hunt, seems alright, even has a bathroom, we look at the tent and seriously a spider the size of my f'n head was crawling down the wall by the door.  I can handle most situations but spiders are my girly weakness and I froze while everyone started laughing at me and Julia was yelling at me to come outside of the tent but I was paralyzed with fear that that thing would drop on my head.   Whatever, I made it through, we had dinner with the Indians in the desert and a 19 year old girl from Delhi wanted to practice her english with us so she asked us a million questions.  "What you think is better, love marriage or arrange marriage?", "What you think is better, Indian culture or American culture?", "What are you thinking of drinking beer, is it everyday?" then she tells us about arranged marriages "I think my parents know what is best for me, they know more than I do, so whoever they choose is good, I must please my parents they know me more than I do".  WOW.  Different world, different world.  We retired to our hut, which had become overrun with locusts and beetles so we did what any normal westener would do:  we took my bug spray and sprayed the perimiter of the room, stuffed our blanket under the door, and took a valium to calm our nerves and passed out.

 

Next morning, camel ride to watch the sunrise, just me and Julia and our guide, beautiful, other worldly, and took turns running down the dunes like children.  So much fun!!

 

Later in the afternoon we had a 430pm train to catch to Delhi which would arrive at 11am the next day, where we had a 4 hour layover and then we'd catch a 4 hour train to Rishikesh which is at the base of the Himalayas and supposed to be the spiritual and yoga/meditation capital of the world.  The ashram the Beatles studied in and wrote most of the White album in (which the song sexy sadie was written about) was in Rishikesh (and yes, the music nerd in me will be going there!!).  We had first class seats this time, and we were very lucky: the only other person in our 4 bed room (with a locking door! no more men trying to grope us in our sleep!) was a Chinese girl who spoke perfect english and was cool as hell.  Oh, and a mouse, which we made valiant efforts to try and get out of our room, including proping the door open with a suitcase and me, being the only person not scared of it, taking a plastic bottle and banging it all over the room climbing on the beds trying to chase it out while the girls ran screaming behind me.  I'm sure it would have been quite entertaining on video.  One of the highlights of the trip was a family we met in the desert with their two children a boy and a girl, aged 12 and 9 found us on the train, the kids were SO EXCITED, they invited us to their house in Delhi (which we are going to try and make work), their mother gave us her and her husbands cell phone numbers in case we have any problems in Delhi, just genuine GOOD people.  I also had a silly band Caroline put on me in a stupid, drunken, deep conversation, so I gave it to the kids and they loved it so much I got their address to send them more.  Guess the silly band has been introduced to India.

 

Delhi.  All we had heard was how careful to be, how dangerous it is for women, etc.  So after Mumbai, yes we were scared.  We bought traditional Indian clothing to wear because a professor I admire (thank Jeannie!) told me it would help with the stares, and she was right! Delhi was chaotic, gross, etc. but not once did I ever feel in danger.  I'm sure being the middle of the day with all the commonwealth games going on helped.  We boarded our last train to get to Rishikesh and after 4 hours were FINALLY in a place where we could relax for the next 5 days!  Unfortunately at the train station was an image I will never get out of my head.  There was a little boy, he could not have been more than 5, naked, covered in FILTH, whos legs clearly didn't work and he was crawling on the ground, pulling himself by his arms grabbing on to people trying to get money.  No one paid any attention.  I still get choked up when I think about it, I don't think I will ever have skin thick enough to handle seeing something like that.  We arrived late, it was 930pm (as there is no nightlife, that is late in India) we found a guesthouse and passed out.  We woke up the next morning to one of the most magical and beautiful places I could have ever imagined!  The ganges river runs through town, it has two swinging bridges across it which get a lot of cows crossing, mokeys galore (including one who keeps fucking with me and trying to get into my room, and after my Thailand experience, those of you who know, I do not have a good history with monkeys!), ashrams, yogis, etc.  It's very calm, tranquil, peaceful, our hotel has a balcony off our room that overlooks the whole town....I just can't begin to describe the beauty!!  So day one (yesterday) we shopped our little butts off, and took a Yoga class in the evening.  Wow.  I can't describe it so I won't even try.  Then we had heard about a place 11km out of town that served alcohol so we jumped at the chance to go, and lucky for us, two guys working at our hotel were going there to have dinner so they gave us a ride.  The men here are nothing like in the city, I haven't felt uncomfortable once.  We ended up sitting and eating with them and as usual they want to practice their English so they ask a million questions which is fine since i'm usually the one doing all the asking!  I was full and finished with my dinner so i started to pile up my plates and the one guy got really upset and told me he used to be very poor and that I should never waste food.  It was seriously two bites but I felt so guilty, and it really made me think about how much I waste all the time and it's just sickening.  Lessons learned!! So after a couple drinks we got a ride back with them, the power in the hotel was out and Julia went to the room and passed out, but I saw two girls and two guys sitting near our room around a little table hanging out and I was feeling social as always so I approached them and they invited me to hang out.  Two German girls, and Israeli guy and a Dutch guy who was half Kuwaiti half Japanese.  They had vodka and whiskey so we drank for a few hours, and the girls invited me on their jungle safari the next morning (today).  So off we went at 630 this morning!  We went to Rajaji national park which was actually closed for the season but our two guides live there in a small town called Cheela and they took us to see their pet Elephants, and then on a walk through the jungle.  They were very cool, knowledgeable guides, and asked if we wanted to go look for Hyenas.  We said sure!  Next thing I know I'm walking through thick vegetation, not on any path at all, and we end up at a den and the guy goes "ok here are the babies" the girls and I go "babies? aren't we supposed to stay away from them??" he says "no worries, mother wont be back for at least two minutes" we said Hell no!! I look over and one guy has a huge stick, the other a big rock in his hand, they tell us for protection.  We say we want to go back to the path so they take us, also explaining to us that if we get bit by a cobra, no worries, they will take a knife and cut the poison out.  Awesome!  We see some Hyenas far away, not too close for comfort, and then we stumble on an Elephant.  Silly Western girls we are we approach it and the guides with looks of fear on their faces yell at us to walk away very slowly.  Crap....so we do and we were fine.  Apparantly Elephants kill 50 people a year.  Good to know.  We then walked upon the holy Ganges river and sat with our feet in it while the men tried to tell us it was all in our minds that we can't bathe in and drink the water, no worries we wont get sick....well I wasn't taking that chance!  It was very relaxing though, and the Indian boys made a map of the world in the sand, and asked us to map where we live, where weve been and then they shouted out cities and we had to put them on the map.  It was a very good day!  Miss you all, and will write more soon!!

From Philadelphia to Mumbai to Jodhpur

WOW.  So I've been all over the place, blah blah, you all know that, but India is nothing like anything I have ever seen in my life.  I thought I'd done third world (Cambodia) but even that doesn't hold a candle to this place.  First of all, our flight was long, 16 hours, and I've never sat on a direct flight for that long.  Even Thailand was broken up.  I am pretty sure save for one other person we were the only white people on the flight, and our flight attendant definitely took to us, giving us free bottles of booze! Mumbai is where we arrived at 930pm and we went straight to our hotel which was on the beach.  We changed and had some dinner and drinks at the restaurant outside, and were all ready to go out but were told to "take caution it's night time" so in our jetlagged state, we decided it would be better to just get some rest and drink those airport bottles.  The next day we hired a cab to drive us around Mumbai, and take us to the Taj hotel (site of the 2008 terrorist attacks).  The hotel was GORGEOUS, simply stunning, yet on the outside surrounded by slums.  I've never seen anything like this......children barefoot playing in garbage piles sitting in front of gorgeous palaces.  I was not a fan of Mumbai.  I could barely breathe from the pollution, our driver and hotel workers kept trying to rip us off and demand tips from us for EVERYTHING (including the guy working security, give me a break), I didn't see another white person the whole time in the city, and to them we were just dollar signs.  I can't blame them, but the city was chaotic and unfriendly and not for me.  So we got our cab ride to the train station for our 16 hour overnight train to Jodhpur in the province of Rajasthan (northwest)....not knowing our train station was the "second" station.  Good god.  I wish I had pictures but I was too scared to take out my camera.  It looked like a run down bombed building....there was literally shit everywhere, and we were not only the only white people but the only females as well....and EVERYONE was staring at us and crowding around us.  The men were just leering and pointing and trying to talk to us and grab us.  I thought Julia was going to panic and I had to stay calm or we both would have lost it.  Somehow we found our platform and waited for our train to arrive and when it did 4 westerners got off and I was so excited to see them I ran over to them and started blabbing away until i realized they were not American and their english was minimal.  They had just left jodhpur and told us to stay at Yogis guesthouse.  So we board the train.  Second class AC sleeper....in US? nothing this ghetto.  Like a subway with curtains around the "beds" that had cockroaches crawling over them.  16 hours.  The bathroom? a hole in the floor of the train where you just did your business and it fell on the ground below.  Good thing we drank all the airport bottles the night before.  The only thing that saved our sanity was a) the xanax i had left from my flight (unfortunately, only 1) and b) an indian family (young mother, 1 year old son, and her parents) who spoke english and fed us and had their adorable son playing with us.  They even invited us into their berth to sleep.  On a train full of men, they were so comforting I could never even begin to describe it.  FINALLY we arrived in Jodhpur....and what a breath of fresh air!!!  Still dirty by our standards, but beautiful little walled city of alleyways and everything is painted blue, and there is a giant fortress on top of a hill where apartments are carved out of.  We jumped in a rickshaw and told them yogi's guesthouse and crossed our fingers it would be good, and this place is FANTASTIC i don't ever want to leave.  Rooftop restaurant/bar with swinging couches, cushions to lay on, balconies to read on, monkeys and parrots....finally this is the India I came for!! Off to take a nap, will write more later!