S. O. S. L. O. W....

god! this thing take forever here! talk about having patience, this computer is trying mine!!!

This pic is of a woman in the Rabari tribe here near Bhuj. this outfit is what she wears everyday! she did all the embroidery herself!! google "rabari embroidery" if you want to see more....but i went to a rabari village yesterday..even the children dress like this!!!Below is a pic of a little boy's shirt-top..i know it's small, but that's what i can do here on this computer...




before i forget, would someone please tell john byrd that he will be getting quite a nice package from me upon my return, and he should be grateful for all my hard work in collecting for him. i have received many stares in wonderment as i stoop to pick up empty match boxes on the street for him, as basically it looks like i am collecting garbage. i just want to say this because i need some reinforcement that i am doing a good job for him.

today i found a good breakfast place, i have been not real happy with the food options here...but i had some delightful porridge again today, my fave! then i walked around...it was quite nice. saw some old temples that got messed up in the quake and were fenced off...but it was right by the lake and was really interesting. then i found myself in the rich neighborhood, obviously, and found a nice little park. i went in and relaxed and read my book.

i am reading a book on maharajas, and lo and behold, today i went in this palace, and there was a pic of the maharaja in my book! gaekwad is his name! thanks, terry, for the book, it is fabulous! this palace i went into today was killer as well. it is just so BIG and this one was creepy because it is now inhabited by doves and parrots! and the cooing noises in this huge place were weird....but lovely because it just made it seem so OLD. i took tons of pics, but the best are of the decaying animals the rajah had shot...very creepy!!!

ok, so i saw today something i cannot believe. cover your eyes if you do not want to read on....i saw a mother dog....EATING her dead puppy! i am not kidding you. i was shocked, as i did not think dogs did this. but yes, i can tell you for a fact, that they do. i kinda wanted to take a picture, then i thought it just might be bad if i did. so i didn't. SHOCKING!!!!

i've only seen two camels, and did not get a pic of any. and another sad thing for me...i have seen NO ELEPHANTS. i love the elephant! why have i not seen one?

i keep thinking of things i want to write when i am not here and am too lazy to take notes. but one of these that i am remembering is about safety. indians are so proud of their country, and they want tourists to come and enjoy it. it is very bad for indians if somethign bad happens to tourists. they take this personally. so this is partly why i feel safe. i also feel safe because indians for the most part are generous in nature. yes they will hassle you and they want your money, but this is different than their generous nature i believe. the smiles and the curiosity and the genuine "wanting-to-know-about-you" is completely different than america. i know there are always some bad eggs, but when in a smaller town like bhuj (which has 150, 000 people or as indians would write it 1,50,000 note the comma) the friendliness and care is readily apparent. my guide yesterday on the vilage tour was so kind to me as well...just a nice friendly man, bharat.

today i bought some needle work from this guy in the main bazaar, wich i s small, and he took me to his house in the village by rickshaw. there his father, mother, blind sister, and other brother were just doing their regular stuff. i trusted this kid because i know that all these pople saw me leave the bazaar, they knew he was selling this stuff, they probably know where he lives. and on the way into the village, everyone smiled and waved at me so friendly, and i tell you...if i never came out, there would be lots of uproar. so i was not worried. it may sound worrisome to you, but it is not the same as if i went to some random guy's house in new york city...it is very different. and plus, it was really cool to see this guy's house and absolutely unbelievable collection of kutchchh needle work. oh my god! thousands of pieces of embroidery work (just piled up!! filling these tiny rooms of this tiny little house!), taking millions of hours to make, it was incredible...(and $$$)...and by the way, the area i am in "kutch" is spelled "kutchchh" in india. don't ask about all the letters, because i do not know. must be some kind of pronunciation that eludes me.

i am biding my time now before i go get back on the train to ahmedabad. once in ahmedabad, i will sleep, then get back up and go back to the train station to make sure i have once again gotten a seat on the train i am supposed to be on tomorrow because i am on the waiting list again. i have no idea how this all works, but the guy at the station seemed to think it owuld not be a problem. i do not know if that is because he doesn't care if i get on the train i want, or if it because he is fixing it so i will get on. we'll see.

so this train if i am on it takes about 24 hours...so it'll be a few days before i write again!

namaste
jo