Glad I got that tetanus shot

People around town are getting excited for the end of the monsoon, and that includes me. This morning I decided to skip the teaching and instead take advantage of the bright, sunny balcony and do some laundry. Last night I actually made the executive decision to wash my pillows and their cases – after I saw how much dirt came out of them, there's no way I could have slept another night on those things. Damn. I'm hoping it's more due to the fact that everything in India is dirty and dusty, and less with the housekeeping of the staff at this establishment.

Regardless, it's my room for at least the next month, and that means ultimately it's up to me to keep it the way I want it. My spoiled American self is adjusting well, I think, to the fact that if I want something done I'd better be prepared to spend some time doing it myself. After I hung and laid out the rest of the laundry I decided to see just how much of the dirt on the window frame was permanent, and to my surprise and delight, the answer was “not much of it.” I had asked, with the help of my good friend and colleague Brij, for them to clean the room prior to my move in last weekend. When I arrived the floor was still a bit damp and so I figured they'd done all they could to ready the place. After I tried out the bed they even switched the mattresses for softer ones and gave me what appeared to be decently clean sheets.

After this morning, though, I realize that there is work to be done. Thank you so much for the new pillow Mom – it came just in time and it will be appreciated like no pillow has been appreciated before! Perhaps it's even my new best friend. I set out for Lower Dharamsala where things tend to cost less because a) I had to pick up a gift that I had made for one of you, and b) I wanted some cleaning supplies.

On the way, I slipped and sustained a bit worse than your average scraped knee.

I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, but I can't say I was happy at the prospect of having an open wound, wandering around India past the cow turds in the street and the piles of garbage on the corners. It's swollen now, but I've got it cleaned and Neosporin-ed and bandaged up, so I think I should be ok. I don't really want to walk too far tonight though, which means if this is posted on what is Thursday morning for you at home, I have gotten creative with how I access the www. If not, I guess I haven't out-clevered the Indian internet yet. Give it time.

Ok, so the knee got banged up on the way to Lower Dharamsala, which means I sort of limped through town as I ran my errands. Luckily, I only had to stop at 3 places before I decided I'd found a large enough percentage of the things on my list that I could head back and not feel like I wussed out too badly. The sky was also growing progressively darker, and I've lived here long enough to estimate that I probably had an hour at best before it started raining. Did I mention I'd forgotten my umbrella at home?

I asked the tailor where I could pick up “the Jeep” that everyone keeps telling me goes between Lower Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj and costs 10 rupees as opposed to the taxi which will run you 40 (usually only if you at least look Indian and can speak enough Hindi to talk them down), if not more. Ok, it's true 40 rupees or even 100 is not that much money. I've been spending more than I anticipated, though, and so I'm trying to cut back. Besides, I had also heard the bus/Jeep takes a more scenic route and I was interested in that. Oh, and it's what the locals do, taking the bus/Jeep. I'm trying to fit in. All the cool kids are doing it, you know.

Anyway, as luck would have it the bus pulled up as I was just reaching the bus stop (which I don't think has a sign, it's just where everybody congregates and the bus obliges by pausing for a moment) and I hopped on. I was really glad, because by this time my knee was reminding me with every left step that I really shouldn't be putting my weight on it.

The bus trundled its way over the potholed road that wound up to McLeod Ganj through a military base that proudly displayed signs with Indian soldiers brandishing rifles and mustaches, and slogans like “May God have mercy on my enemies – because I won't!” Totally worth the 10 rupees.

Half an hour later the bus pulled in to the bus station in McLeod, which I had never been to. I wasn't even sure what part of the city I was in, to be honest. Of course, just as we got there the clouds decided they'd held in all that moisture plenty long enough, thank you very much, and the daily downpour commenced. “That's cool,” I said to myself. “I can hang here for a little while.” And so I did. I chilled there at that bus station for an hour before I finally got cold and tired of the gaggle of Indian women who had since disembarked their own bus and decided to literally surround the chair I had sat down in and pay absolutely no regard for where their purses and dupattas were swinging as they animatedly chatted with each other. (That's a fancy way of saying it was loud, a little smelly, and I got whacked in the head a couple of times.)

At that point I flagged down an autorickshaw that had pulled in and asked how much it would cost for a ride to the bottom of Temple Road. After a brief clarification on where that was, he told me 80 rupees. I had decided before I asked that I was willing to pay 100, and a tuk-tuk, as they are also called, would be cheaper than an actual taxi, so that's why I tried him first.

The astute among you may notice that I could have just taken a taxi from Lower Dharamsala straight to my place and paid 100 rupees or less for the 15-minute trip, and now instead I'd taken an hour and a half and spent about what I would have anyway, and was cold and a little bit damp on top of the knee injury I'd have had either way. I could have saved myself a lot of time and trouble if I hadn't been so stingy in the first place, eh? Maybe so, but I actually welcomed the chance to just sort of sit near the dhaba (Indian cafe) in the station and watch people, and contemplate my situation. It may not have been the most efficient route, but I think it was the right one for today.

I got up to my room where I carefully counted how many switches I flipped on at once and took a shower. Or at least I tried to. I had left the water heater on all night in hopes that I could be guaranteed a hot shower whenever I wanted it, but that seems to have backfired because the “hot” water was only a step above lukewarm. Whatever, I thought, I just need to clean this knee up. So I did that, put on dry clothes, and decided I'd take it easy by snacking on some dried pineapple and recounting my adventure to you, dear friends.

For all it lacks, it really is kind of nice here. Some days I think I might actually be able to live in India for more than a few months. Maybe a different part of India; I hear Punjab is really nice. I think I'll also check out Thailand. I've had a bunch of people tell me lately that Thailand is like India but cleaner. That sounds fun.

Don't worry, I'll be home in December. I can't make any guarantees how long I'll stick around, though. In a lot of ways India has what I've been saying I wanted: walkable cities, all privately-owned businesses, and people being more concerned with appreciating what they have rather than working to constantly make more money so they can buy things they don't need. I think I'll probably end up going for someplace in between as far as lifestyle. I don't know that I'm ready to permanently give up reliable electricity and hot water, or salad, or nice knitting needles.