Nana Ka Maka (Open Your Eyes)

Today our team left to see what Jaipur looks like in the daylight. The man that is hosting us runs an international college and was nice enough to have one of his drivers bus us around and show us to the old city. The ride there alone was one of the biggest eye-opening experiences of my life. I can't believe how the cows just roam the streets and eat garbage. I asked somebody who they belong to -but it seems that they're wild. I took a bunch of photos of them and the locals seemed to think I was crazy. I wish I could explain to them that the issue was not that I had never seen a cow before, but instead that it was strange for me to see them grazing openly in the streets.


After walking around for a while I thought it might be a good idea to make some friends. I mean -being in a foreign city without my friends to protect me from myself. These guys looked like business so I started there. The sheer number of people everywhere is something to get used to. Imagine the streets of New York during rush hour, make the streets narrower and without a grid, and then add about a billion people. Oh, and then there are the car horns. India doesn't have traffic lights so much as I'm used to, but they compensate for it by sounding their horns as often as possible. This is not a complaint. There are certainly places even in New Paltz where this might work out -like for example the intersection by the starbucks.


There are also some sad points to what we saw. Poverty unlike anything most Americans could imagine is everywhere. At a traffic jam there was a boy carrying what I assume what his little brother around begging for money. I don't know if you can tell from the photo -but he's got third degree burns all over his leg. I wanted to jump out of the bus, pull out my first aid kit and get to work, but the simple fact is that there are scenes like this everywhere. There's simply nothing one person can do. It's heartbreaking and if this doesn't make me appreciate how privileged I am nothing will. So I'll use this as my reminder to keep in mind my purpose for coming here to begin with.

My sister Cat and her friend at Lola's Cafe told me to bring back some spices. I will if i can and when I saw vendors like this in the bazaar. The photo is nice, but I wish there were a way to convey the aromas too. Cat and Eddie -it would do you well to pay a visit here some day. And speaking of spices, the food here is amazing. Though I feel horrible stuffing myself with such amazing food while right out my window there are people literally starving to death. It makes the mind spin. What can I do? To be sure, I share what I can and make sure nothing goes to waste. And I should also point out that given the chaos and omnipresent poverty, the people are -as a rule- among the friendliest I've met both abroad and within the U.S..

And for my sister Nicole, here are your bangles. Are there any you prefer? Because the variety is endless. I also found some of the most ornate wood carvings and jewelery I've ever come across anywhere -and at some of the cheapest prices you could imagine. Literally for a few dollars you could go on a shopping spree. But on the other hand then the thought of all the people without food or medical care come to mind, and I start to wish I could help and stop caring so much about shopping.

Alright. I love you all, but after a day like this I need some time to rest and relax. I'll continue to stay in touch as often as possible. If you talk to my mom (because I have no idea if she's reading any of this) please tell her that I'm alright and enjoying what I'm doing here. I'll do my best to keep up with your emails, but if I can't please don't get offended.

ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति ॐ
-Adam