So what's new around here?

It's been a week since Mel left and I'm still currently in Delhi. At first I was just taking it easy, trying not to be hasty in any decisions about travel and accepting my time in Delhi. It was actually pretty enjoyable. Though when I first arrived here five weeks ago I was shocked and appalled by the filth and congestion. Now I'm seeing the place a little differently. Since being alone and frequenting the same places I've begun to make friends and engage in new and exciting conversations with many different types of people.

There is the Baba that I have coffee with on the street who tries to impart some knowledge to me but a lot of the times it comes out a bit vague, cryptic, and muddled in poor English. So some things I get and others I nod my head at. But I still look forward to that part of my day.

On my walks around the city I'm almost always stopped by locals, as are most westerners, but sometimes it's due to genuine curiosity and the exchange is good. The people here I believe are overwhelmingly good-natured.

Then there was the Sikh whom I shared a beer with and allowed me to ask questions about his culture and the differences between the many religions and deities. I received way too much info to go into it here. But again the exchange was fascinating.

And then there are the numerous other travelers that I've casually had coffee or a meal with, talking about where we're from, where we're going, what we've seen. Some I've even exchanged emails with for possible future travels. One of which is a snowboarding instructor who insists that I have to come to his home and ski the Alps. Pete are you reading this, 'cause you're coming with me.

Yesterday Andrew came in from McLeod Ganj after spending three weeks there and we spent the day doing relatively nothing. A little internetting, eating, drinking, T.V. watching. It was great to see him again yet he left this morning for his return flight. He wasn't looking too hot at midnight last night so I'm wondering how his flight went when he was only able to get four hours of sleep.

A few days ago I took a walk around a different part of town and came across an Indian boxing tournament. So I sat down and took in a couple bouts but it must have been amateur hour 'cause these kids couldn't fight. It was still nice to see a little violence though. It made me feel like I was back in the states.

Oh yeah, and this is against Mel's' better judgement, which is still sub-par to my own, but I got my ears cleaned by some guy on the street. I almost did it while Mel was here but she thought that it was just too gross. It was. Not the actual cleaning part but that he would pull out big gobs of ear wax and then wipe it on the back of his hand to show me what a "dirty man" I was. The first ear guy that I turned down said they same thing, "you very dirty man" with a scowl of disgust on his face. I suppose this was his sales pitch but I kept thinking that he was the dirty mother fucker for wiping my dirty ear wax all over his hand. At least in my ear it's hidden. I said thanks but refused to shake his hand afterwords. Actually I may never shake another Indian hand ever again.