Of Medication and Sleeper Trains

I've spent the last week or so in a haze of being sick and feverish- when I woke up I found myself in New Delhi, India. Now, I thought Bangkok was crazy, but compared to India, Bangkok is the most ordered place on earth. Here there are no rules, cars drive wherever they will fit, and the night is NEVER silent from the constant bleating of horns. I was awake at about 4 in the morning and a motorcyclist was cruising down an empty street, laying on his horn like he was pushing through a crowd- I'm starting to think it's impossible for anyone here (except Burun, an awesomely chill TukTuk driver) to drive without a horn on. That being said, we spent two days in New Delhi- in which I got to see alot of the local life--especially by getting lost in some alleyways. Fortunately a kind young man helped mike and I find our way back to the hotel, Mike all the while being attacked and almost tripped by "bad children". There were no real sights to see (or at least easily accessible) in Delhi, and we spent most of the time there adjusting to the country.

India is possibly the toughest country I have spent time in so-far. The poverty is so rampant, and the city is so polluted it makes you question alot of things you thought were certain. Children will beg you for food, not just money, but food. You are constantly accosted by vendors trying to make a living any way they can (including trying to sell you fake 5 dollar bills, the best trick I've seen yet).

Still shaken from the culture shock, the group arrived in Agra, where we sat on the rooftop of hour hotel with a view of the Taj Mahal. It was spectacular. The air was still dirty, and the pollution just the same, but here was something completely breathtaking. The first sight we visited, however, was not the Taj but the Red Fort (or fort of Agra). This to me was more spectacular than the Taj, which when you get down to it is a big crypt, beautiful though it is. The red fort was absolutely spectacular. it was HUGE, dwarfing whatever size my imagination could produce- the blocks which made it up were taller than me and easily much longer. more than that it kept going! there were courtyards upon courtyards! you could tell it used to be a functional castle, with a town inside, places for the people to pray, and sectors for the rich and the poor. The walls were set up for archery defense, and a large (though now empty) moat surrounded the whole thing. Walking though it was mind-numbing- the fact that I was where, a thousand years ago, people lived and fought and hoped and dreamed. The Taj was beautiful and breathtaking, but the red fort of Agra was absolutely an experience.

The next several days would take me into a national park, another bout of fever (thank goodness for Cipro) and finally ending up here in Jaipur, where the group leaves on a train in about 30 minutes to go to the woodstock school to teach classes on the ecosystems. I'm looking forward most of all to staying in the same place more than one night.

Time to pack up again.