It's December 29 and I'm sitting in the airport at 7:40 PM in Delhi waiting for my 2:20 AM flight.
Luckily, it is a direct flight straight to Chicago – only 15 hours; a real miracle! The couple who is watching Dubai, my dog, is picking me up from the airport sometime around 7 AM on the 30th. I think I gained a day coming home.
Nepal was a real hippie throwback area, especially in Pokhara, where we could see snowcapped mountains, which was Jack's dream! We had to wait in that airport for about three hours because Kathmandu airport was closed down due to intense fog. The worst fog was in Delhi, where in the morning you could barely see cross the street. So fog? Where does fog come from? It depends completely upon who you ask in Delhi! My Seik taxi driver told me it was because for Diwali , The lights and candles holiday of candles, there were so many fireworks blown into the air from August through November and the rains didn't come and wash away all the cloud in the air. My German landlady at the B&B said that was pure poppycock! She attributed the overwhelming fog to all the buses and trucks and cars that drive through the city headed every where else in India. Our driver Sharma, said the fog was because every family has three cars and the roads as you probably know are jammed to the hilt with cars, trucks, buses…
And any rate, and we got into Kathmandu and said goodbye to Rabin, Who responded to our generous gift with quotes and it would be better if you could give me more." There was a lot of drama around our visit to Nepal and none of my teaching gigs materialized except for to be able to go to teach the orphans in Varanasi and teach Rabin's class at his house for 10 children. Both were amazingly and meaningful and heart-warming.
Every day from the minute we got to India until we left Nepal we were on the run! I don't know if I told you, but the train ride from Agra (Home of the Taj Mahal) to Varanasi was canceled and rebooked three times. The four of us ended up waiting on the elevated train platform from 11 o'clock to 5 AM, when I rickety old train came and whisked us away. Because of the fog, trains were running 15 hours late. Our "13 hour" train ride turned out to be 20 hours. We got very close and that little train car, The four of us. We think we didn't tip the conductor enough because he didn't bring his blankets and we all froze the first night. But the China man came in the morning and Samosa man came in the morning and we wear rejuvenated and warmed from the inside.
Cards
Cards made us a lot of good friends. When the train that was supposed to leave at eight didn't leave until 11 (supposedly) our driver Sharma took us back to his house (after he and his wife posted us for dinner) and we ended up sitting crosslegged playing cards on their bed for two hours! When I left his wife gave me two containers of Hannah so I could have someone do some more Henna on my arm or leg or wherever when I get home.
Then, on the train, we met a boy of 16 years who was just curious about American so he came and played cards with us too. We never could agree on the rules for rummy, so all of our in new Indian friends taught us different games.
Everyone plays cards everywhere here. Foreigners, nationals, everybody. As a matter of fact, I bought my parents some cards and after I did and told Rabin that I had purchased them for my parents, he said to me "do you know those are Karma Sutra cards?" LOL. It reminded me of the time that my mom accidentally brought us necklace is back from Ireland with phallic symbols on them. She thought they were just nice to locate like designs! LOL
So my internets going to die soon I think because in this airport I can only get one free hour and I think I only have a few minutes left.
Basically, on this trip, everything went wrong the possibly could but it still kept us laughing! Even as Jackie Mary and I said huddled against a beam on a cement platform for five hours, threading cross necklaces for the orphans, we laughed and laughed. Jack? He pays the train station for six hours! We watched humanity. People hacking up and spitting – which is very common here because of all the fog, men and women taking leaks on the train tracks, scurvy-ish dogs wandering around – always with one bad leg, that last thing was very sad and broke all of our hearts because they were so sick and flea ridden that we couldn't even touch them. And all we had to feed them with potato chips, which they didn't want. One for a little guy came over and sat next to me for a long time and scratched himself bloody. OK, time to change the subject.
So I thought of Carolyn a whole lot of times when I was on this trip. I wish you could've been with us. But as it was the four of us had nine bags between us and had to rent to taxis everywhere we went! My big pink suitcase was especially cumbersome and everyone grunted and looked at me and rolled her eyes when they had to move it.
Luckily, it is a direct flight straight to Chicago – only 15 hours; a real miracle! The couple who is watching Dubai, my dog, is picking me up from the airport sometime around 7 AM on the 30th. I think I gained a day coming home.
Nepal was a real hippie throwback area, especially in Pokhara, where we could see snowcapped mountains, which was Jack's dream! We had to wait in that airport for about three hours because Kathmandu airport was closed down due to intense fog. The worst fog was in Delhi, where in the morning you could barely see cross the street. So fog? Where does fog come from? It depends completely upon who you ask in Delhi! My Seik taxi driver told me it was because for Diwali , The lights and candles holiday of candles, there were so many fireworks blown into the air from August through November and the rains didn't come and wash away all the cloud in the air. My German landlady at the B&B said that was pure poppycock! She attributed the overwhelming fog to all the buses and trucks and cars that drive through the city headed every where else in India. Our driver Sharma, said the fog was because every family has three cars and the roads as you probably know are jammed to the hilt with cars, trucks, buses…
And any rate, and we got into Kathmandu and said goodbye to Rabin, Who responded to our generous gift with quotes and it would be better if you could give me more." There was a lot of drama around our visit to Nepal and none of my teaching gigs materialized except for to be able to go to teach the orphans in Varanasi and teach Rabin's class at his house for 10 children. Both were amazingly and meaningful and heart-warming.
Every day from the minute we got to India until we left Nepal we were on the run! I don't know if I told you, but the train ride from Agra (Home of the Taj Mahal) to Varanasi was canceled and rebooked three times. The four of us ended up waiting on the elevated train platform from 11 o'clock to 5 AM, when I rickety old train came and whisked us away. Because of the fog, trains were running 15 hours late. Our "13 hour" train ride turned out to be 20 hours. We got very close and that little train car, The four of us. We think we didn't tip the conductor enough because he didn't bring his blankets and we all froze the first night. But the China man came in the morning and Samosa man came in the morning and we wear rejuvenated and warmed from the inside.
Cards
Cards made us a lot of good friends. When the train that was supposed to leave at eight didn't leave until 11 (supposedly) our driver Sharma took us back to his house (after he and his wife posted us for dinner) and we ended up sitting crosslegged playing cards on their bed for two hours! When I left his wife gave me two containers of Hannah so I could have someone do some more Henna on my arm or leg or wherever when I get home.
Then, on the train, we met a boy of 16 years who was just curious about American so he came and played cards with us too. We never could agree on the rules for rummy, so all of our in new Indian friends taught us different games.
Everyone plays cards everywhere here. Foreigners, nationals, everybody. As a matter of fact, I bought my parents some cards and after I did and told Rabin that I had purchased them for my parents, he said to me "do you know those are Karma Sutra cards?" LOL. It reminded me of the time that my mom accidentally brought us necklace is back from Ireland with phallic symbols on them. She thought they were just nice to locate like designs! LOL
So my internets going to die soon I think because in this airport I can only get one free hour and I think I only have a few minutes left.
Basically, on this trip, everything went wrong the possibly could but it still kept us laughing! Even as Jackie Mary and I said huddled against a beam on a cement platform for five hours, threading cross necklaces for the orphans, we laughed and laughed. Jack? He pays the train station for six hours! We watched humanity. People hacking up and spitting – which is very common here because of all the fog, men and women taking leaks on the train tracks, scurvy-ish dogs wandering around – always with one bad leg, that last thing was very sad and broke all of our hearts because they were so sick and flea ridden that we couldn't even touch them. And all we had to feed them with potato chips, which they didn't want. One for a little guy came over and sat next to me for a long time and scratched himself bloody. OK, time to change the subject.
So I thought of Carolyn a whole lot of times when I was on this trip. I wish you could've been with us. But as it was the four of us had nine bags between us and had to rent to taxis everywhere we went! My big pink suitcase was especially cumbersome and everyone grunted and looked at me and rolled her eyes when they had to move it.
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