Animals!!!

So among the other highlights of being in India is the wildlife. While I haven’t been to a national park proper to see wild tigers and elephants, I have seen more than my share if animals that would be considered exotic back home but are pretty commonplace over here, these are some of my favorite pics.

Camels!! Domesticated of course but they are all over in Nothern India. I saw one while eating lunch at a roadside dhaba in Rajastan pulling a family and another in Agra just a couple miles away from the Taj Mahal.

Parrots!! I saw this parrot while I was staying at the Neemrana Fort, which I blogged about a couple weeks ago. I was just relaxing outside in the morning and this guy flew right onto the balcony and totally posed for me!

Monkeys!!! They are all over in India and they can be quite rascally, stealing people’s food and whatnot. These pics are from a fort in Agra, they climbed down the fort walls and were looking for handouts from tourists. Some tourists got brave and got too close and the monkeys started yelling and chasing them. I just sat back and watched this same thing happen three times before I lost interest, it was pretty funny to keep seeing people make the same mistake and then the monkeys and humans react the same way.

Peacocks!!! These guys are everywhere down here in Coimbatore, they are really beautiful and large birds. They can’t fly great but they can for short distances, maybe like a chicken or something. They look really awkward and with those long tailfeathers you’d think that they’d be eaten by predators pretty easily but in fact, they are often the predator. I hear one of the main things on their diet are snakes, which they can kill and then eat!

Elephants!!! I have yet to see any wild elephants but I have seen domesticated elephants (either temple elephants or ones doing labor) in Chennai, Coimbatore, Goa and Delhi. They always are painted up with pretty designs and flowers and if you ever forgot that you were in India, all you need to see is an elephant lumbering down the street to remind you!

Trivia Night in India

When I was in Pune last month my friend invited me out for a trivia night. I figured I knew what to expect, I’ve been to plenty back in the US, notably at the Harp and Fiddle or with a tower of beer and those little buzzers they give you at Grotto’s Pizza in Dewey Beach. This trivia night is totally different than anything I’ve seen though. It lasts about 3 hours but only about 20 questions are asked. This is because in between each question, two songs are played and the bar turns into a full-on dance party! I’ve never seen anything like it- the second song ends, everyone scrambles back to their seats, you catch your breath, get serious, answer a quick trivia question and then get back up and shake your booty some more. Also, the quizmaster, a guy named Mark Rego (see pic), who has frosted hair and wears eyeliner, is absolutely hilarious, making fun of all the different teams and doing a good job keeping it fun. They give awards for the 1^st place team and also two awards to the ‘happy tables’, basically the tables who are loudest and make the biggest asses out of themselves, this just added to the fun and absurdity of it all. The name of the event? Booze and Brains.

India en Español

I brought my IPod to Coimbatore this time. It is a great way to have fun in the car, two of the guys also have MP3 players so we trade off DJing while we’re driving about. I have been trying to figure out what on my IPod they’d dig the most, I’ve given them a sample of about everything from Fela Kuti to Guns n Roses and from Dr. Dre to Beck. I think the biggest hit by far has been anything and everything in Spanish though. Those of you that know me well know I’m pretty obsessed with Latin Jazz and Afro-Cuban music and they’ve been loving all the Tito Punte and Mongo Sanamaria I’ve been playing but they also like all the contemporary music I have like Shakira and Los Amigos Invisibales. It was a surprise hit but I love the fact that when we get in the car and I’m like ‘what should we listen to’ the answer seems to always be ‘Spanish music’!!! I can see some similarities between Spanish and Tamil and Hindi, all three languages roll their R’s a lot and the pronunciations in general are kinda similar (at least when compared to English). One of the most fun parts about it has been trading how to say things in different languages now, I’ve been teaching them how to say things in Spanish in exchange for how to say them in Tamil and Hindi. I think one of the best received words I’ve taught everyone is mamacita, for better or worse it’s become part of the vocab here now!

Jah Tablas!

I went to a used instrument store a couple weeks ago (the Atomic Music of Chennai I’d call it) and got to play around with a pair of tablas. They are two little hand drums about the size of bongos and you can get a really good sound out of them. The guy at the store taught me how to make the signature “bwooong” sound- after hitting the table you use your wrist and press from the outside toward the middle and this changes the tension in the drum, creating the sound. That probably makes no sense- this kina stuff is much easier to show then write about. Anyways, now I’m all hot for the tablas and am wondering if I can fit a pair in my suitcase. Here is a link to a tabla virtuoso named Amrat Hussain playing tablas and mixing Indian and reggae styles! I loved it and when I showed it to my friend Adam all he could say was Jah Tablas! They aren't quite together but they're close and I give them credit for trying to mix to very different stlyes- tell me what ya think!

McIndia

So about a month ago I was walking around Pune with my coworkers when we stumbled upon a McDonalds. They were all about taking me there and I was resisting pretty hard- I have a million of them at home, why would I come to India for this? However, they assured me it would be completely different and it was. Other than fries and a coke, the entire menu is different. I got myself a McAloo Tikki Burger (McPotato Fried Burger) and it was delicious. I read that India is the only place in the entire world that has a completely different McDonalds menu- they keep the items the same everywhere else but beef just doesn’t fly over here. I’m kinda embarrassed I checked it out but it was totally worth it!

B-Day In Goa

I had a really nice time relaxing in Goa for a few days. It was a little intimidating going alone but I had got a lot of recommendations from friends on what to do, where to stay, etc that really helped me out. The beaches were every bit as beautiful as advertised, huge, many empty and most surrounded by stunning cliffs and mountains. You are often reminded you are in India though by the cows that are hanging out on most beaches and the local children constantly coming up to you trying to sell stuff.

Friday night was Diwali, one of the biggest festivals in India. It is celebrated all over and is often referred to as the festival of lights because everyone lights candles and lamps and there are fireworks everywhere. One part of the celebration is unique to Goa though. They build these huge demons and fill them with flammable things and firecrackers, and parade them around all night during Diwali and then burn them at sunrise. It was a really cool celebration to witness and a great leadup to my b-day.

I went down to a southern beach after Diwali to a place called Palolem and rented a ‘beach shack’ for less than 15 bucks a night. It is basically a little hut that just contains a bed and a mosquito net but it was a great deal to be in the jungle right on the beach for that price!

As for my actually b-day celebrations, it was absolutely amazing but not anything like I expected it to be- I shoulda figured though, that’s totally how India is (amazing but unexpected). There was a Diwali party at my group of beach shacks on the 17^th and I was sitting at a table by myself having a beer and some finger foods (I hadn’t met any friends yet). The guys and gals at the table next to me started chatting with me and it soon came out that they’d been staying in Goa for several years. We ended up trading India experiences most of the night and I had a great time. About an hour before midnight, which was going to be my b-day proper, they suggested we take a trip down to a nearby truck stop (literally) on the national highway that had really good Goan ‘country liquor’ and Indian food. So, I rang in my 30^th in a little truck stop full of Indian truckers eating dhal fry and drinking country liquor- AMAZING but totally bizarre. The following day I just lazed around the beach and that night the friends I made the night before invited me over to their place for a home cooked meal. I have only had a couple home cooked meals during my time in India so a nice chicken meal and red wine was a great way to finish off my 30^th. It was a great trip and just reminds me how incredible this country is and how generous and great some people can be to total strangers.

Early Birthday

So none of the guys I’m working with will be around for my birthday. This weekend is Diwali, a yearly festival and everyone is going home to be with their families. They totally surprised me and pretended we were going out tonight to celebrate Diwali together but after dinner a cake was brought out.

It says ‘Happy Birthday Greg’ in Tamil.

I was totally surprised. What came next was even more surprising- we were at one of the fanciest restaurants in all of Coimbatore and they took the cake and shoved it in my face! It’s the tradition over here for birthdays (or at least they tell me it is). It was a lot of fun actually and a cool way to celebrate. I didn’t mind getting icing all over the place. None of my guys wanted a hug from me afterwards though, I don’t know why. Anyways, it was fun and hilarious and so my birthday celebrations are already going well before it’s even my b-day!!!