We did OK w/o operable cell phones for the first week of our trip, but we realized that it would be really helpful to have one for the second week when we'd be traveling around, meeting up with hired with drivers etc. We had a phone that Beth thought would work in India, so all we needed was a local SIM. Friday evening after return from Timbaktu ( Read more... )

Last day in India was great. We got up at 5:30 to go see the Taj Mahal. We'd hoped to see it at sunrise, but were somewhat mislead as to when that would be; nonetheless, we did get there by 7:00, well before it got too hot. The Taj really is lovely. Something you might not be able to tell from standard pictures is that the marble surface in the ( Read more... )

Yesterday's main attraction was Auroville, a small "international community" outside of Pondicherry, founded in 1968 by a French woman known as "The Mother," based on the philosophy of her deceased spiritual partner, Sri Aurbindo. Main attraction is a spherical space-age looking golden temple known as the Matrimandir. Outsiders are not allowed ( Read more... )

A very sad thing happened on the train ride from Mysore to Chennai. While messing with settings on my camera, I accidentally permanently deleted ALL of my photos from the previous week. (And for you computer geeks out there, yes, they really are irretrievable -- I managed to format the memory card. I cried off and on for a good hour after this ( Read more... )

I'm finally back to blogging after several days with no internet. Highlights of the past several days:

Tuesday

Went to a shop near the hotel hoping to get another comfy cotton salwar kameez but somehow ended up ordering one to be made for myself in brown and peacock colored silk. Impractical, but exciting ( Read more... )

First note -- Beth corrected me that Jayanagar is not actually on the edge of Bangalore. In fact, it is fairly central. Which is good, because Bangalore is enormous ( Read more... )

For those of you who missed it, I am tagging along w/ my friend Beth on her business trip to India. I'm in and around Bangalore this week while Beth works, and next week we'll check out some other parts of the country ( Read more... )

From Jack Spicer's Love Poems:
The ground still squirming. The ground still not fixed as I
thought it would be in an adult world.

Weird scene underground at Powell on Friday. Every morning on my way to work I walk down a wide white tiled corridor in Powell Street station. At the end of the corridor one can turn right to ascend towards the South side of Market Street, or left for the North side. Straight ahead are some stainless steel panels that I'd never given much ( Read more... )

I gave a dollar to that grumpy looking bum by the shoe store the other day, 'cause it was raining really hard and I felt bad for him. I've only ever heard him mumble vaguely and somewhat menacingly, so I was surprised when he responded with and articulate "Thank you baby, God loves you."