Yes!  I have got it!

 Yes, I have come up with the slogan for the department of tourism for India…”Come to India!  Appreciate what you have at home”. 

 I am officially ready to return to America, the land of forced-air heat and reliable power.  Today it hovered around 52F in my room and the fun part of all of this is even if I WERE inclined to purchase a space heater?  It’s been raining here and snowing up in the mountains so there’s been no power for 80% of the day.  Can’t blame this power outage on the monkeys this time.  Couldn’t even give classes today.  I lie in bed most of the day and read Once Were Warriors.  Gawd what a heart-wrenching book.  I am guessing The Maori of New Zealand received treatment similar to the Native American tribes.  I am curious to do some research on them when I return to the country of stable power sources.  I haven’t read anything Buddhism related today because frankly, my head needs a BREAK from being here and everything Buddhist for 24 hours or so.  And especially after yesterday, I’m just tired of my being a target everywhere I go.  I talked to Yejung about it and she said that if I were going to stay longer she would insist I have some Punjabi clothing made so that I would get left alone.  It’s that simple, wear the local, modest women’s prescribed dress and suddenly, you get a seat on the bus, nobody tries to harass you on said bus, you don’t get followed, teased, things thrown at you or requests to show men your va*ina.  Yup, had some teenage boys following me, giggling and taunting me with “Give me all your money!”  “Give me your purse”  “Show me your va*ina”.  I was infuriated to say the least so I made a proper public spectacle at the boys and they were appropriately horrified by my outburst of yelling, stomping and arm waving.  Even though they don’t know English (but they certainly knew what they were saying to me), the loud, negative attention brought upon them in public is what counts here.  The novelty of my being a novelty has officially worn off.  I long to go for my daily walk and nobody care.

 I am pleased to report that, after some horrifically long emails, Dharma Dan is well on his way to ditching his yuck life and living life the way he really wants!  YAY and congratulations.  It might be a long road, with some real pain in the ass things that have to get done but like I told him, nothing seems bad if you’re getting closer to the life you really want.  The hellish crap I went through to get to India would have made me crazier than a loon (no comments please) except that it was all to get here so it really wasn’t that bad.  When the car needed over $300.00 worth of work done?  I panicked for about 4 hours then calmed down, did the math and realized that if it was going to get me to India, it was worth it and that the Universe would make sure everything was fine.

  And here I am in India, pining away for big bathtubs with lavender scented bubbles and salts, anything that generates heat, my kitties, Raising Arizona (thanks Dan), a hot toddy and an organic dark chocolate bar with raspberries.  But for now I have a hot water kettle (when there’s power and will only cause me repeated trips to the outdoor loo), 3 blankets, 3 layers of clothes, two layers of socks and 3 candles.  Oh yeah.  This is the life!  The girls won’t even come over to visit because it’s so freaken cold over here and they have to study because their annual Philosophy exams are on the 17^th and 18^th so I CANNOT bug them.  I DID manage to pull all of the junk out of my large duffel and actually pack it so it all fits!  Bonus!

 And I am officially lonely.  As much as I adore the girls, the language barrier and the fact that they study ALL THE TIME makes my quiet, single life on the east side of the compound very solitary.  It was so unusually quiet here today I enjoyed the sound of someone nailing a fence together.  The hammer hitting nails made me think of the crazy, great summers my family built houses.  The smell of fresh cut wood, lunch runs, cleaning up the yard in the evening, staining and installing windows in exchange for brakes on my car, the excitement of getting the trusses delivered, being afraid of falling in “the hole”, getting into mud fights with the masonry crews, living out of boxes for 90 days, helping Kris texture the ceiling in the great room, brownies for breakfast, teaching the bird how to cuss, Dick, Norman, the Gorfido boys.  So many memories.           

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