Stupid webjournal...

ate my last two, count 'em two, entries! Grrrrr....

Ok. Back to business.

On my way to my cousin's wedding. First time traveling overnight, in India, da sola. By myself. No fears. Yay, me! I'm facing a whole lot of my anxieties... and unfounded fears.. to the point where I'm really super surprised at how comfortable I am living here. Totally unexpected side effect of coming to live in India: I like living here. With that being said, I have yet to experience the summer in the desert. I may soon be eating my words.

You guys won't believe this one!!! Long story in a nutshell.... last time Rish and I came to the citay, we had 2 priority errands:
#1 Register as foreigners residing in a border region.
#2 Research at local NGO.
So, #1. At the registration office (which doubles as the tourist office), we are in line behind an old white couple. Woman turns to look at us when she hears American english coming from 2 seemingly local people (3 months, you know we look village...). I smile to acknowledge her but don't go beyond that b/c we were mid important conversation. As they leave, we exchange a few words and I tell them to enjoy their trip. We complete errand #1.
At errand #2, we run into the same couple, so we start talking to them. Have a tangent convo with the guy, about everything from politics, to media (American vs Indian), to our Rural design school, to development. I give woman advice on the clothes she's trying on, and talk to her for a while about fashion, life in CA, life in NY, being married, her travels and, as always, our project and the villages we work in. She seemed really interested, so I offered for her to come visit our site, that we'd show them around our villages (but we ended up not getting back until late).
Here's where it gets interesting: when I'd asked the guy what he did in the states; he told me he's 'in TV' but in a shady, I'd rather not get into it here kind of way. My curiosity got the better of me, so Rish and I did some detective work. Turns out he's the FOUNDER OF HBO!!! Standing in front of me, TWICE, interested in what we are trying to do... and I kind of blew him off as another old white tourist. I let the opportunity slip through my fingers!! The fates are sometimes very cruel. Very. Very. Cruel.

Now, for the necessary talks. I am still waiting for some letters. This is unacceptable. You know who you are. Remember how in Super Mario Brothers, if you got a star, for a while your player was invincible? That is what letters are for me here. So write them! Protect me! Even if you gots nothin to say! Send a picture. Or an oreo. I'm so easy to please. And vim, send me a copy of the paper you changed topics on. I'd love to see it.

Xmas not at home. :(

Someone in my family passed away. Always a smile, with kids similar to me. I don't understand people dying. The news rendered me unstable the entire night. But I did have a clear night sky to give me solace. People passing away makes me want to hoard time w/ ppl I love, like in Blast from the Past, in a cellar, safe from the world.
Lessons learned: Never stall in telling people how much you love/appreciate them. Never put off doing what you know makes you happy. Life is too short to always be pragmatic.