namaste Delhi! please don't turn me into roadkill.

almost didn't start writing tonight because i should be resting for the intense week of lectures, readings, and field visits to come. not that it won't be a blast, but i know it will be exhausting. apparently our country coordinator likes to work us to the intellectual bone. despite this, i felt that i had to write because these first days in India have been so unbelievable. we arrive on the morning of the 24th after some 18 hours of traveling (at the least). immediately after settling in i went for a walk. our hostel was in the diplomatic sector of town, and it was some kind of holiday, so the streets were empty and bland. when i walked through the mostly shuttered-over market, however, there were just enough places open to fill my nostrils with scents that i'd only sampled occasionally at home. i knew then where i was, and i was overwhelmed by existential contentedness.

the second day i latched onto an internet cafe search party. after a 2 km walk with little success, we eventually crammed ourselves into an "auto-rickshaw" (also known as a tuk-tuk or 3-wheeled mini-taxi) and headed to Connaught Place, right in the center of Old Delhi. being Sunday, nearly all of the shops were closed, so we didn't get much of a feel fro what must only be the utter madness of a typical day. the roads were still lively, though, and their contribution to the atmosphere was readily apparent. in some places the smog was so thick that if i looked down a straight street i couldn't see the third block. it's difficult to describe the layout or visual aspects of the city - i'll have to save that for a later entry. or you could just look up a map. sorry, i'll hold off on the sass.

anyway, we found one place with decent computers, and, lo and behold - DSL! i was beginning to think that i would never encounter a connection that loaded a page faster than i could finish a sudoku, which was the standard in Tanzania, but the IT gods have certainly smiled upon the Subcontinent. granted, we still spent several hours there finishing our paper. in our post-assignment completion, chai-assisted ecstasy, we went to lunch next door - thali (naan, rice, daal, paneer curry, some yogurt and cheese thing, and fresh onions and radishes) for Rs 35 ($.90) that strongly reinforced my notion that my taste buds, and hopefully my gastrointestinal system as well, will attain nirvana in India long before my scattered, overflowing mind will. during lunch, my friend and i communicated mostly through stupid grins and elated, i-can't-f'ing-believe-this giggles.

after a brief rendezvous back at the hostel to pack and receive instructions from our country coordinator, we all separated into our homestay groups, loaded into taxis, and launched. Adam, Nate and i had not idea that anything could possibly be better than our Zanzibar family, but we grossly underestimated the plenitude, the cornucopia (thank you Adam, the walking thesaurus, for feeding me new vocabulary as i write) of our collective good karma.

our homestay mom just be the coolest and quirkiest person i've met so far on this trip. she lives out in some area of town that is transitioning from agricultural to urban in a 3-storey house in a walled compound with 3 outbuildings, a half-acre organic farm, 2 cows, 3 goats, a chicken, and her German Shepherd, Radya. the whole place is mostly waste-free, and the majority of the food she eats is grown on the premises. the house itself is spacious but luxuriously decorated with hardwood furniture, marble floors, a modern kitchen, many beautiful paintings, wi-fi, 3 computers, a hot shower (mega-bonus in cold Delhi) and a large-screen TV where we ended the evening watching Tom and Jerry with her and her domestic help.

dinner was, in line with the rest of the pleasant surprises, absolutely delicious. unfortunately, it was intentionally not very spicy because she wanted to be "on the safe side." however, when i ate one of the hot peppers in the daal (which i was told post facto were just for flavor, NOT eating) without much difficulty, she tried mimicking me and it was too spicy for her. she relayed this apparently impressive information to her mother in Hindi, and i'm sure i must've blushed a little from the flattery. i guess i'll have to look further for a real challenge of buds. i can already envision my famous last words: "sure, i like spicy food."

the last three days have been full of really engaging classes on everything from religious and cultural syncretism to groundwater restoration to the social psychology of the nation-state. luckily, we have chai breaks between our lectures to let the information settle before another round of really interesting oral knowledge is transferred. there is usually enough time to ask one or two questions so that our guest speaker can touch on another fascinating area just long enough to grab our attention, but never fully explaining. such is the nature of the program.

with that, i'll end my transmission for the night. there are too many other priceless details to mention. until next time, may peace be upon you, namaste, hakuna matata, -tanner.