Peace from the Ganga

Hey Everybody,

We have had some pretty awesome experiences this past week, from meeting country musicians in Pushkar, to really great classical musicians in Varanasi.  They all love to teach their instruments too, so I’ve played the sitar and some other things, and I’m bringing their CD’s back to share with yall.  We went camel riding at sunrise, which was beautiful, and boating at sunrise in Varanasi, which was cloudy.  I did see our first sunrise in Varanasi though; wow the sun was so red coming up.  I played my first game of cricket in Jaipur; it was a pickup game with some locals.  They did not approve of my pitching form but my shoulder just doesn’t bend the way theirs does.

Playing around with the locals can be so much fun when it’s not just people trying to sell you stuff.  It’s sad when we can’t get a moment of peace sometimes from the constant salesmen, but there are times of real interaction.  The tour guides have all been really great, they’re a trip.  And the rickshaw drivers are insane, like that is a requirement to drive on these roads.  Last night I had a really good interaction with our boatman.  He explained the evening Ganga ceremony to me, and then when we were riding back he was struggling to row us all the way to Assi ghat, so I took up an oar.  We bonded there, just rowing on the Ganga.  If school doesn’t work out I have my backup plan now: a boatman on the Ganga, just like Hesse’s Siddhartha, the peaceful life.  I really can’t wait to see what these next two weeks have in store.

Peace,
Frank