A photo post for you!!

My new friend Megin has kindly loaned me her laptop for the afternoon (she has to register at the police station because she’s a suspicious character and because she has a year-long visa), so I transferred some photos to my memory stick so’s I can upload them for your viewing pleasure. (p.s. She’s really not a suspicious character.)

Also, OH MY GOSH, I just discovered an ice cream/coffee shop with free wireless. And I ordered a chocolate milkshake thing with chocolate ice cream in it (barfi ke bina–without ice, as frozen water can still contain stomach bugs) and it is a slice of pure heaven. Also, it’s air conditioned. Things are looking up! Chocolate ice cream, wireless, air conditioning. Awesome.

Here are some photos. I know they’re not all that good, I’ve been a little shy about taking pictures, as I get mocked nearly every time I do (by Indian men, generally–they seem to think that the more they hoot, holler, and make fun of me, the more likely I am to sleep with them. I wish my Hindi skills were good enough to tell them to buzz off. I’ll have to ask about that. The attention is seriously exhausting).

First, there are an abundance of spiritual/religious symbols: on houses, buildings, cars, everywhere.

There are people everywhere pushing and pulling their fruit carts, selling mangoes and bananas and watermelon and canteloupe. In the background you can see the yellow and black auto-rickshaws which remind me of little beetles (the insects, not the car brand).

Some sights from the Bapu market in the old city:

Pictures from the shoe-wallah (the second one is me, my friend Kirsten who is applying to MIT for grad school, and the shoe-wallah):

ICE CREAM (Donovan, from UW- Madison, me, Megin)

The daughter of our tailor. This little girl is adorable, and her only English knowledge is the phrase, “Nice suit!”

Pigs in the gutter on the way to school today. In the second photo: piglets! I still haven’t succeeded at taking pictures of any cows…

Finally, a view of where I’m staying. I’m currently in the room with the curtains closed, but I’ll be moving to a different room today or tomorrow. Tonight I’ll go up on the roof and take some photos of the view. We can see the old fort, and the hills, and some of the city from up there. All I need is a lawn chair!