Adjusting to India

India has been an epic experience so far. For this blog post I would like to cover some interesting things I have learned and noticed about India thus far. 

There are hardly any stray cats in the streets. There are tons of stray dogs though, and most of them are super friendly. Also wandering the streets and goats and pigs. Almost as frequent as dogs are the cows. There are literally cows all over the streets. Often the are sleeping in the middle of the road making drivers to around them.

It's hard to describe the heat in India. Sometimes, as it was in Pushkar, the heat is completely bearable. Other times it feels like you are walking in an oven. If I ever visit India in the summer again I'm bringing cookie dough to see if it bakes.

On the trip over to Pushkar the landscape changed completely. Slowly mountains started to form around us and the land started to get drier, becoming a desert. Pushkar was a beautiful place and I hated to leave it.

It is becoming much easier to turn down the numerous beggars. I have also started to enjoy the bartering system.  You can even barter for the exchange rate for the money. India is a very cheap country as a whole with a bottle of water only costing at most about 50 cents, of which I have bought dozens. 

On the drive though Jaipur I noticed many neighborhoods that were incomplete and abandoned. For example the gateway entrance and roads will be complete but overgrown. I assume it was because of the economy or a large housing bubble but it was still eery to see.

On a religious note it is fascinating to see how other religions work. I have learned so much about Hindus, Sikhs and others by visiting these holy sites. When visiting holy sites it is interesting to follow the customs of each place and become observers. I look forward to learning more about Buddhists later in the trip. 

It feels as though we have been in India for months even though its been less than a week. I have been waking up around 5 or 6 everyday and it is nice to be able to see the sunrise over the mountains. If only it was this easy for that 8 o'clock class I have next semester. In a restaurant we ran into someone from Wilmington, my hometown, which really shows how small a world it is.