real india

i'm afraid i really can't do it justice - my cricket skills, that is. i'm glad heather left me the task of describing the most indescribable event we've experienced here.

it took us a few minutes to get outside of bundi proper on our sweet one-speed cruisers outfitted with handy bells to get people, cows and dogs out of the way. the change was nearly immediate. people were staring, moreso than usual. some kids would yell 'HELL-OH". they laughed or waved when we called back. we came upon a school with 30-40 kids sitting under a tree. as we slowly pedaled by, someone spotted us, a murmur went up and soon the entire class was looking. we waved and they all waved back, yelling "Hell-oh", some even started running next to us ...

a man riding next to us asked us where we were going, we told him the train station and he told us to follow him. after a few minutes of stunted conversation (there is a huge communication barrier despite the fact that indians and americans both speak English), he said "please come to my house". if it sounds strange, thats bc it was. still, heather and i were in the mood for an adventure ...

we passed a few boys on the way to his house, they, of course stared. we came in to his house, more like an 8x10 room with a bed and table in it. his father was there, he invited us to sit down and, a few minutes later, we were chatting, drinking chai and eating cookies. also, about 15 people had joined us, mostly kids from the neighborhood. it was great fun, they were fascinated by us. the kids were great - the boys staring and talking excitedly amongst themselves, the girls stayed in the background, giggling, the men led the conversation. funny, i can't remember anyone's name. (if i'm to remember anyone's name here, i must have them write it down), but the father looked like an indian billy dee williams.

they loved the digital camera and kept asking me to take pictures of them. i did, charging a few rupees for each magical click (not really). one of the girls showed us her artwork and gave one to mev as a gift. billy dee then insisted heather take them all :)

they accompanied us to the train station and helped us book our tix, which was nice bc booking tix here is always a pain. they insisted we come back for dinner later that night.

dinner: instead of 15 people in the 8x10 room, there were 25-30, all shapes and sizes. word had spread that americans were coming so the whole neighborhood turned out. we were stuffed - with bread, crackers, chai, some salty stuff to cure constipation (?), more chai, oranges - and led from house to house as they proudly showed off their posters and rooms and TVs. it was great, we were celebrities, the crowd followed us everywhere and the kids would translate if we didn't understand (always). unfortunately, they all tried to translate at once . i think, during our 2 hour visit, an average of 3.6 people were talking to us at once. i think i ate the entire time, too. mom, we definitely thought of you :) then came dinner, so good, the women of the household made everything from scratch. heather, i, and two of the elder men ate, the rest watched and smiled at us. they tried to teach us hindi and we all laughed when heather and/or i butchered it. one of the kids had us sign his cricket paddle. the men took pictures with their cell phones. another had me talk on the phone to the president of the railway association.

thats what happened, but i can't adequately explain the feeling. such warmth, happiness and generosity. after seeing palaces, bustling cities, fortresses, bazaars and beautiful beaches, i felt like we had seen the best india has to offer. they all came into the street and waved good bye when a boy named jamal (sp?) gave us a ride back to town on his scooter.

i accepted the boys invitation to play cricket this morning. i'm terrible, but it was grand. we played for a few hours but had to stop bc the beat-up tennis ball they use cracked. no one cared.

we're off to kota today with a bounce in our step.