Sorry to those of you waiting for me to post earlier. I meant to blog on past occasions of checking my email and uploading photos, but to be honest I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Blogging is a chore for me, so I'll probably only do it a couple of times at most unless I really feel compelled.

First things first. My cell phone number in India is 9871804409. From the United States you dial 011-91-9871804409. I would love for you to call me (unless I hate you), but please keep in mind that there is a 12.5 hour time difference between the USA and India. That means that when it's noon in California, it's 12:30 AM in India. Also, I have no voicemail, so if it doesn't go through just try again later or something.

Also, thanks to the many of you who have emailed me wishing me the best or just ranting on about your lives. Thanks. I actually sort of kind of maybe care.

So about this trip I've been on since June 14. First, I went to Taiwan for about four days to visit Nathaniel and Joanna, which was a hilariously good time. I would tell you the details of my many adventures in Taipei and the beach at Fulong, but it seems silly to go back that far since so much has happened since then. Suffice it to say: I had an amazing time going to Taipei 101, eating the most amazing food I've had in my life (with the exception of Indian food at my Dad's birthplace Rattia), riding the buses/MTR throughout the city, going to temples and an air-conditioned ferris wheel, and most of all spending time with Jo and Nathaniel. Thanks again, Jo (and the rest of your family), for inviting me to stay at your place. Taiwan, you touched my heart. And it tickled like a feather.

Then it was off to Bangkok for one day because the airfare was cheaper for me to have a one-night layover in Bangkok than to fly directly from Taipei to Delhi. I went to the hotel at Siam Square, which is basically the shopping zone of Bangkok and crashed at around 1 AM after the flight from Taiwan. The next morning I went to Wat Pho, the gigantic palace next to it, Khao San Road, and quickly got a 30-minute Thai Massage before heading to the airport to catch my flight to Delhi. Even though I wasn't even in Bangkok for 24 hours, I still feel as though I got a relatively good feel of the city (it's a lot like Delhi with fewer scammers and less evident poverty), and I will definitely have to make a trip to Thailand again in the very new future.

And now the moment you've been waiting for. Me arriving in Delhi. Ah yes, Delhi. What a ridiculous city you are. For those of you unfamiliar with India, Delhi is to Washington DC as Mumbai (aka Bombay) is to New York City. Mumbai is the hip, cosmopolitan business center with lots of nightlife, great food, and gigantic skyscrapers (please note that I have never been to Mumbai, so everything I just wrote is heresay, but whatever. I know I'm right). Delhi is the government hub with an amazing Metro (just like DC). Other than that, however, it is a gigantic and chaotic mess of a city with an ever-present burning garbage smell that lurks over the city 24/7. However, Delhi does have much to offer, and I think that after six months of living there I will eventually grow to love the city after I've discovered it's hidden potential.

Now I am in Mussoorie, which is a hill station in the Himalayas near the Uttaranchal State capital of Dehradun (I advise you to look at a map if you are confused), and I'll actually be here for three more weeks. I am brushing up on my child-like Hindi abilities and also learning Urdu and Punjabi script, which is proving to be a suprisingly good time. You can see all of Mussoorie in about 2 hours, but the dearth of stuff to do only provides for more opportunities to practice Hindi with shopkeepers and socialize with the 47 other EAP students.

Random rant: I hate it when people make vast, overarching judgments about a place they have been to for less than two weeks. I hate to pick on white people (I'm actually not racist), but there are just so many of them on the study abroad group I am on that seem to think they have a vast understanding of India from the books they've read and the two weeks they've been here. For example, some who don't even know all of the characters in Hindi think they have the right to say that it is a "rude" language simply because Indians typically do not say "thank you," "your welcome," and other pleasantries that are so common in English. They seem unaware that this is simply a cultural difference and that politeness is very easily conveyed in Hindi through tone of voice. So please, white liberals, stop expecting your American cultural and linguistic values and norms in India, or I'll have to continue schooling you.

I promise I'll write a more focused and detailed account next time. Continuing to grow day by day....