Jaipur

Deb and I are here..waiting to get on our 11:30pm night train to Varanasi. we've had more adventures and have some photos we can post. :)

Few funny things from the past few days..
-we saw a billboard advertising cheepsh (chips) this morning..so our joke today has been to ask if we want cheepsh for a snack
-we had a snorer our first night train that was so bad you had to laugh...he would start with a long loud inhale snore...then do some sort of wheezing on his exhale. I almost got out my camera to video it because it was so unbelievable. deb is describing in more detail...
- we decided the next guys to ask for a photo with us were going to be told it would cost them 500 rupees( ($10 bucks - pretty cheap!). we tried it out today in the Taj Mahal and the guys who asked had a good laugh...it was a good way to say no thanks with a smile. :)

Things that let me know I'm getting used to being here:
- I no longer flinch when I'm walking down the road or in a rickshaw and another rickshaw or car passes me with inches to spare. I also don't jump or turn around when they honk but just slowly move further to the side of the road.
-I am accustomed to seeing cows wandering in the middle of the road...and watching cars or rickshaws just drive around them.
-I don't expect to find toilet paper in any washroom, public or otherwise
- I use hand sani on average of once an hour.
-I will order sweet cardamom chai whenever I can get it
- I've started saying yes yes or yeah yeah in response to questions...I've also been using the common phrase "no problem" with a little head shake
-It doesn't surprise me to hear the call to prayer anymore (although hearing it this morning at 5:30am leaving Jaipur when it was dark and hearing the call when the streets were empty and no-one was around - it was really eerie sounding).
-we're now able to figure out who's married, who's single and who's a newly wed based on their dress and jewelry

So Jaipur...we got in...tired after our restless night on the train with the snoring guy..managed to offend rickshaw drivers who were pretty persistent in the train station as we arrived....tired and looking for a pre-pay option..we were followed by about 10-12 drivers all trying to get our business and we ended up being pretty direct telling them to buzz off. :) We got to our hotel and settled in to come up with a game plan. We ended up heading out to a block print factory museum, just outside town to watch how they've been doing these amazing prints we've seen on Sari's all over the place. Really facinating. http://www.anokhi.com/anokhi/anokhi-museum.html. Both Deb and I got to try....From there...we headed back to get on a half day guided tour trip of the city. We loaded into a 4WD with a family, ourselves, a guy from Delhi and a guy from China. We were aided greatly by the guy from Delhi as he spoke english really well and was able to translate from our driver. (He should have gotten a commission). We drove through the old city, painted pink as pink is the colour of joy, and ended up at this observatory where there were all these old tools used for math and astrology etc. A really old sundial, compass...that sort of thing. There was a guide provided to us, who wore a cowboy hat (Deb called him the mexicano), he was older and he singled deb and I out as the english speakers in the group. he would call us over "madam, madam! come here...move to the front, come here...". this is in a group of 15-20 people...and Deb and I were the ones who got his attention. I was offered hindi lessons from him...hmmm...so Deb and I started slacking in the group as his english was really bad,his accent was really strong and he yelled. constantly. :) so having him yell some explanation you possibly get 30% of understanding from, while the rest of the group is all watching you, we became slackers. When we got in the city palace, he directed us to get headsets to listen to...thank goodness. see photo below in observatory..and my facial expression as I'm trying not to laugh while he's shouting explanations at me in front of the group. (It reminded me of being at church when I was younger and sitting right in front of a preacher...the area we used to call the spit pit) :)
From here we went to a textile shop where I entertained the shop keepers (and the family on the tour with us - they took photos), by trying on a sari. It was gorgeous. From here we went to the Amber fort...did some exploring. Really beautiful...