7.8.11. 7:24 PM. Day 7. A Day Behind.

I am back to being behind in my writing, so i will do my best to catch up. After the pooja on the top of the lonely hill, Mary and I went for lunch. It seemed that over the past week we had been acquiring the concept of "Indian Standard Time" as we had begun to be less punctual for meals than during the first few days. After lunch we went back upstairs to our room where I decided to take a break and rest under the amazing fan for a while. Mary felt invigorated and wanted to go out and explore. So she went out for about 2.5 hours but was back in time for evening meditation. I relaxed for maybe half an hour, listened to my ipod (some of the "tunage" Sylvanna burned for me) and i too felt inspired to go off on my own.

Rishikesh very much has a small town feeling to it, it is very safe and after awhile you begin to know your way very comfortably. I 'm not sure if I made these two points known as of yet: from the moment I got here, as in India, even the Indians thought I was Indian, and second - Mary is white. So with this bit of background you can now imagine that we got quite a few looks while walking about, more so Mary than me. People would always ask to take her picture or to take one with her. They never asked this of me. Well, one did. And so I am quite glad that no more have tried. The looks I got were far more confused in nature. Why is she walking with the white girl? Why is she dressed like that? Stuff like that.

This walk would be unique in that it would be the first time I walked along alone...without my white girl. It was when i realized this  that i put on my Anthropologist hat and went to work. It was a surreal experience. It was as if the spotlight was suddenly turned off from me. I was able to walk about freely. Nobody approached me trying to sell me trinkets, or ask me for a photo: they just passed by occasionally staring. But then the strangest thing happened, I stared back. And it was okay. It seems like staring is very much  an accepted practice in India, whereas it is impolite/rude to stare in the States. I ended up just hanging out, leaning on the low wall by the big bridge - just people watching. I got stares, but these, i think  i can assume, had to do with a)what is she wearing? b) why is she alone? c) why is she just standing here? I, frankly, wasn't alone - a very friendly cow followed me  and kept me company for a long time while i watched the passersby.

 Eventually, I got hot and some monkeys started fighting so I t hought it a good time to make my way back home, I arrived back happy and full of excitement. I was thuroughly in love with India again. About 20 minutes later, Mary walks in fairly overwhelmed. She told me what happened when I asked, because she had left in such a positive mood and now she was hating India and saying, "So many fucking temples!" over and over again. I'd alreadyt had my low day when i was sick so I could tell that's where she was. The honeymoon was over for her. I was a very good thing that we each had our low points on different days because neither of us would have made it without the others' encouragement and patience. It seems like she walked very far to this amazing 17 story temple by the little foot bridge about 3 miles down the road. She said the temple experience was fine (and she broiught me back a few gifts too) but it was on the way back that the shear amount of beggars finally got to her. She was overheated, overwhelmed, and she wanted a coke. So we went to go get her one. She vented while we walked and when we got there she grabbed a coke and i got a pepsi. I  offered to pay - for two reasons, first, she  was having a bad day and when i was sick she bought me a soda which got me through the day. IT was at that moment what i realized that i had never boguht anything in India before. This  was what appeared to be a conveniene store, so i approached the counter and put up the bottles. The guy didn't do anything and neither did i for a bit. I don't know what exactly I expected him to do, i guess i half expected him to take out a price scanner or at least touch the bottles. I dont know why. It all seems a bit silly and out of place now. But eventually I pushed the drinks closer to him and eventually he told me "40 rupees"...i had dontated my 50 and 100 rps bills to the creepy hilltop temple so the only one left in my pocket was a 500 rp.  bill. I felt kind of like that guy who buys a pack of gum with a $20. Slightly embarassed, i took my wads of change and we went  out the door. Mary's mood was improving quickly and after meditation she was pretty much back to normal.

At 6PM we got to learn about retail therapy - we got real hands-on experience with these patients. They were us. Dr. Muthu brought us to his favorite jewelery store where the gems were actually real and were from the Himalayas. we took our shoes off before we entered the store and then found ourselves in a open room shop with a glass case on one side and chairs on the other. The walls of all sides were lined with shelves of statues, decorative plates, jewelry sets etc. In the glass case there were rows and rows of shiny things that upon closer inspection turned out to be giant pendants, earrings, necklaces, and rings. The shop owner and Dr. Muthu spoke for awhile while we just looked around with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Then the shop keeper said "come" and opened up the back door. This one room shop became two and as we walked through the second he opened up a third door. The second room was full of artifacts, all kinds of statues of the different deities, Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, hanging canvases, etc. In the third room there was another glass case. this one filed with the really expensive good stuff: gold with 9 different kinds of gems, gem mala beads, bracelets, broaches, earrings, etc.  So much. Very shiny.

Mary went a bit crazy and started running from place to place after awhile. The owner followed her around eagerly, explaining the value of stuff. I took the slower, quieter road of just perousing around seeing what really drew me in. I had my mom in mind, in particular, for this store so i hoovered over the gold, dangly earrings, since that's what she wanted. I sound some very pretty ones with emeralds in them, i asked how much - and the owner said 400. I asked, "rupees?" and he said "No." I went to the front room and basically stayed there. the silver was there so that's where i wanted to me anyway. The owner was busy with crazy-shopper Mary so i got the quieter, less pushy assistant. I liked him better so it worked out great. I found earrings for mom and some for myself, then i went to the second room and looked at the statues. my new love affair with Lord Hanuman continued because i found statues of him quickly. I accepted my fate and took him home with me. I asked what Hanuman was known for and the guy said, "he's the god of devotion." It was serendipitous.

By this time it was getting late and it was already time for us to go to dinner. We didn't have that much money on hand so the guy said we could come back the next day - he would hold our stuff.