Post Jaipur

Kayo met me a few days before Christmas in Jaipur. For those of you who don't know , Kayo is my friend from San Diego and we will be traveling together for the next few months. I attended midnight mass with Harold and his family, honestly it was the first midnight mass I have ever been to. Attending mass made it seem a little more like Christmas because of the trees and lights and singing Christmas carols. I got my picture in the paper the next day. I had been trying very hard to avoid this over the past few months, but it was a good picture of me, so I guess it is alright. During the day Kayo and I walked around the markets and then we went to a friends house for dinner. He cooked us mutton and taught us how to season it correctly. The 26Th of December was the last day that I went to my project. I read with a few children and just hung out and said my goodbyes. It was really nice. Ganga, the younger woman who lives and works at the school gave me a note that she had another teacher translate into English. I will miss her and her two little girls very much. On the 27th Kayo and I headed for Jodhpur which is about a 6 hour bus ride from Jaipur. Himlata (her in laws run the guesthouse I stayed at in Jaipur)is from Jodhpur and happened to be there the same time and invited us to stay with her family. It was really nice to stay with a friend and to be able to meet all of her family. She showed me and Kayo more of her wedding albums, I had seen a few in Jaipur, but these were of the ceremonies held in Jodhpur. I became very ill the next day and have no tales of Jodhpur because I spent the whole day in bed, praying that I would recover quickly because we were headed for Jaisalmer and a four day camel trek the next day. My prayers were answered and I was feeling much better and we headed for Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer was great. The main attraction in the city is the fort which resembles a fairytale castle. It is huge and beautiful. We wandered around the small streets and stayed in the fort. 5,000 locals still live in the fort and many businesses and hotels are located inside the fort as well. On the 30th Kayo and I headed into the desert for our 4 day camel trek. We went trough a tour agency and there was 4 other people in our group. Riding on a camel in the desert is very meditative, until you realize that your camel is headed straight for a cactus tree. I am not sure if my camel was directionally challenged, blind, or just lazy but he kept heading for dangerous territory (cactus trees). I tried sending him telepathic messages that it was beneficial to both parties for him to avoid the trees, but some how he was not getting my messages. I kept having to raise my leg to avoid injury. All jokes aside, the trek was amazingly beautiful and really was meditative. We did not see anyone else except for village people and sheep herders. We saw maybe two other trekking groups during the entire four days. We cooked our meals over a fire and slept under the stars. Kayo and I learned how to make Chapatti and now are very skilled in the art of Chapatti making. We celebrated New Years Eve around a fire and with a beer. It was a great way to enter the new year. The day after we returned from the trek we headed for Delhi. While we were waiting at the train station in Jaisalmer I was sitting down, talking to Kayo, and eating a lemon cake. Kayo started laughing and when I turned around there was a cow in my face. I stood up and realized this was a bull. I wasn't sure what to do but knew he wanted my food. Instinct told me to walk away and protect my food. The bull followed me and decided to show me who was boss. He rammed me in the back with his horns. I was shocked and it hurt. I walked really fast to the nearest trash can and threw my food away. Meanwhile the bull started harassing other innocent people for their food. I was really mad that I threw my cake away, it was really good. Damn Cow. Our main purpose in going to Delhi was to get our Visas at the Vietnam embassy. The embassy was closed for the weekend, so we spent a day an half wandering around Delhi. We went to the Lotus temple, it is a place of worship for people of all faiths. I love this idea, I wish the world could be more like this temple, excepting of all people. In the evening we went to see another Bollywood film, Welcome, it was crazy and silly. But it was fun. We are now in the foothills of the Himalaya's. We stayed in Hardiwar for two nights and now we are in Rishikesh. We are staying in an Ashram. More to come later. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.