No. 29

Staying Put: Getting our heads around the pace and enormity of India – which so far for us has been Delhi, with its 12.5 million inhabitants – feels at times like an impossible task. Most guidebooks and veterans of India recommend taking at least three or four days to acclimate to the chaotic symphony of sights, sounds and smells in India. We have been incredibly fortunate to have a comfortable house and experienced local friends to shelter and advise us. We’ve taken a full week to acclimate, relax and experiment and it’s finally begun to pay dividends, as we seem to have reached equilibrium between the experiences that inspire and charm and those that frustrate and startle. In one half-hour, we’ll tangle with a rickshaw driver who gets lost and tries to charge us double before dropping us into a crowd of pushy touts and begging children. In the next, we’ll laze in the shadow of a breathtaking monument, chatting with shy, sweet citizens who want nothing more than to say hello and ask us our names. In fact, these sorts of interactions have become our favorites, especially when they turn really bizarre. Recently:

Man in some kind of official uniform: Hello!
Sloan: Hello.
Man: You are from the movies!
Sloan: Ok, this is new.
Man: Spiderman, right? You are in Spiderman!
Sloan: No, I don’t think so.
Man: Yes, I know it! You are the actress in Spiderman! Lowell! You are Lowell!
Sloan: Oh dear.
Man: It’s you, right?
Sloan: No no, definitely not me, not in Spiderman.
Man: No?
Sloan: No, but that’s a first. Who the hell is Lowell?
Amy: Who knows. More importantly, (singing) He thinks you’re an act-ress, he thinks you’re an act-ress.

With our jet lag and timidity finally waning, we’ll set out on Tuesday morning for more incredible sites in the western state of Rajasthan, hopefully riding the railways to Jaipur, Jodhpur and maybe Pushkar.