Aug 23 Udaipur

Toulouse - Just moved in!

I am now fully ensconced in my new home.  I have all new ceiling fans, bed, fridge, LED TV, and air conditioner.  The clothes pins are on the line and the landlord has fixed the water tank so I now have a constant supply of water.  Now for some furniture and transportation...maybe a scooter?  

The days are flying by as I have been so busy setting up the house and making plans for a jewelry shop.  I need to find an English speaking attorney for the agreement between Himanshu and myself before I start spending money on it.  He just bought paint and will start work on it today. The previous tenant painted it a hideous shade of pink/red that now has to be covered as well as the

View of the City Palace from my roof terrace!

concrete sealed.

Toulouse has adjusted well and looks forward to her walks 3x a day.  Everyone in the streets already knows her name and even the people on bikes passing by slow down to see this unusual dog.  The dogs here tend to have short hair and I never see any with short legs and curly hair.  They just want to feel that wooly fur.  She is due for a grooming and I have to find clippers as well.  Just finding everything you need is a challenge.

It's 7 am and I can smell the spicy food cooking already as they eat it for breakfast as well as every other meal.  My system just can't handle all that spice, so I am glad I have a semi-functioning kitchen - now to find time to cook.  Maybe I'll boil some rice this morning and find vegies to stir fry in my new pan.  You really don't have a grasp on all the conveniences we have in the states until you try to run a house here without them.

I am on the roof top terrace and the monkeys just came running across the top of my walls - Toulouse went crazy!  She has now sniffed noses with her first cow and barked at her first monkey troop.  It's a cool morning, in the 70s, cloudy, as Udaipur wakes up.  The children are in school and I can hear them singing.

Aug 14 Udaipur

Milkman

The rain continues to fall as the monsoon season is now in full swing.  It's 7am and the school children are on their way to school in their clean pressed uniforms; some in brown, some with checks of red and green, and the government school uniforms of khaki pants & blue shirts for boys, and girls in blue & white.  The street sweepers are out in the drizzle cleaning the streets & gutters, and women in saris walk past with the colorful cloth pulled over their head to ward off the rain.  Families go by on scooters, 3 deep, with umbrellas.  The milkman rides a motorcycle in full rain attire, pants & rain jacket with hood, milk cans strapped to the back sides.  There are several kayaks on the lake this morning as well; something I haven't seen before.  The weather is cool now with no need for air conditioning; a fan being sufficient. 

It's Cow's Day, the 12th day after the full moon, and the women are dressed in red saris, with trays full of flowers, are on their way to decorate the cows in the street with vermillion powder, red strings to tie on the legs, necks, & horns, and to do an arti to bless them.  There are so many of these traditions & rituals in the Hindu faith, which keeps their way of life fully integrated into their beliefs.  They truly live their religion and their faith in the Hindu gods is strong.  This is such a rich culture that I can only touch the tip of the iceberg of understanding.  It fascinates me daily and I am so glad I moved here to be a small part of this complex country.

My new house should be painted and ready either today or tomorrow and I can start shopping!  I am so excited to have my own space, top to bottom and lucky to have found a place with privacy in the old city.  It is a narrow place with all marble floors & stairs, sandwiched between 2 large houses with a living room and bath on the first level, then up to the kitchen, which has a long granite counter top, the next floor is the bedroom and the next a rooftop terrace with a half bath and a view of the City Palace - awesome!  I can hardly wait to buy plants for my outdoor space.  Once I get the basics of a hotel room (bed, sheets, fan) bought, I can move in and continue to furnish it.  Himanshu has a small gas tank with a burner on top I can borrow so I can make chai in the morning.  Life is simple here and all is as it should be.

Aug 8 Hanuman Ghat, Udaipur

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Camels on Parade

I just witnessed the most wonderful celebration / parade on the street in front of Himanshu's shop!  A decorated elephant, floats, lovely girls in costume, horses with embellished harnesses, Policemen standing by, women and children watching from windows, and camels to pull the floats.  Oh yes, we can't forget the jamming music in tow with young men gyrating to the sound. Fun times!  Now I am in Millets of Mewar having a banana date shake with coconut milk...life is truly sweet! 

Rajasthani Man in Turban

This morning as I walked Toulouse at 7 am, before the sidewalk cafes on the waterfront opened, there where the tables and chairs normally sit, were 2 rats about 6" long, not counting the tail, on their hind legs playing!  I just stood there for a few minutes and watched, they reminded me of a couple of kittens at play.  I don't particularly like rats, but it was the cutest thing!  Of course Toulouse wanted to chase them and they scampered away trying to climb a metal pole, not, and the nearby wall.  I pulled on her leash and we walked on.

Now the eagle size bats fill the sky on their night journey helping reduce the mosquito population.  Such an important task here, especially during the monsoon. Go, bats, go!

August 6 Udaipur

Himanshu

As I sit having chai at Raju's haveli on the corner, the school children in their uniforms, backpacks full of books & papers, pile into the small auto rickshaws, sitting on each others laps on their way to class.  Toulouse is at my feet as is Raju's dog, Bruno, her new best friend.  When I walk her, he always comes with us and protects her from the street dogs.  

I can hear the worshipers chanting at the nearby temple as cows stroll by looking for food thrown out on the streets for them.  Their diet seems to consist of people's leftovers, whatever they can forage from the trash cans, and the occasional bundle of grass carried in by the local women.  I think the camels have it a bit better as they pull the carts and look well fed.

Life slips by in peace as I look for a more permanent home. We have looked at 3 places so far and haven't quite found what we are looking for...one was in someone's home, one turned out to be great, but was in a bad neighborhood, and the 3rd one was just too small.  I feel sure we can find something in our budget as all of these were less than I expected. I can't believe I have been here almost 3 weeks.

Camel - Udaipur

The monkeys are playing in the temple and I see a new black baby.  Although the languor monkey has grey hair with a black face, the little ones are solid black, and so cute.  They scamper around and one jumped off the platform only to find it could not get back up as it was too tall.  His mother promptly jumped down to collect him.  I could watch them for hours, and sometimes do.

Although we are not officially in tourist season, they are here, as Udaipur is one of the main tourist attractions in the state of Rajasthan.  We have palaces and forts, ghats and shopping, monkeys and parrots, and lakes in the middle of town.  The sun sets behind the Aravali mountains, highlighting the Monsoon Palace perched on the precipice of the tallest one.  Peace and beauty!

July 31 Udaipur

Room #108, Hanuman Ghat Hotel

I awoke to the sound of rain falling with Toulouse cuddled by my side.  My new room, I changed hotels yesterday, has screened windows on 2 sides as I have the room on the top floor corner.  I get a view of the lake on one side and the temple on the other...life is good!  Now the rain has stopped, I walked he dog, and am waiting in the restaurant for my milk coffee and papaya porridge.   Shared a table and conversation with Lin from China.  Unfortunately, she is getting ready to check out and is on her way to Mumbai tonight on the night train.

It is still drizzling rain and of course, Toulouse had to go out the minute I got back.  I am so glad I brought an umbrella.  They are putting a flat screen in today and taking this large dinosaur of a TV they just put in here, out.  That will free up the entire corner of the room and with all this luggage, I could use the space.

I am so thrilled with the new battery I got for this netbook - the charge lasts 6 1/2 hours, and with a modem stick I am good when the power cut happens and can still use the internet.  Speaking of which, the grid for northern India had an outage that affected the entire northern part of India, 22 states, including Rajasthan.  It went out a 2:30am yesterday and didn't come back on until late afternoon.  It was like a steam bath in the room.  I was glad to be checking out.

March 15, 2012 Bus from Agra to Delhi - Stranded!

I wish I had a picture of the bus, after it hit the car in front of us.  After a late start, the bus made its way from Agra, where we visited the Taj Mahal, to Delhi.  Unfortunately, it rear-ended the car in front of it around 9 pm and the car's driver and passengers got out with pipes and proceeded to bust out the front windshield of the bus in anger.  Then they started down the sides, breaking glass and sending it flying inside.  Himanshu pulled me down to protect me, then someone shouted, "stop it! there are children in here!"  The mayhem stopped, except now we were stranded about an hour south of Delhi with a bus driver who was no where to be found!

Thank goodness we were only on a day trip and had no luggage locked in the back.  No one spoke English, so I was doubly thankful for Himanshu who managed to get us a rickshaw to the bus station.  Although it was closed, a bus going to Delhi pulled in with seats available.  We finally arrived back at the hotel around midnight!  Quite a day trip!