to the edges of rajasthan and back

well it is friday evening and i am sitting at my homestay house, crosslegged on the floor because that is how most people do it here in india. the family's pug is curled up at my feet trying to scratch herself, but cant reach because apparently she is pregnant. it was a really hectic and beautiful week traveling india, but i must say i am happy to be home. bikanir wa a very strange city that was barely touched by tourists, so we were stared at with renewed vigour. on our first day in the city we went out exploring and found that it is a hugely hectic and rather dirty part of india. smelled like garbage, but was really interesting to walk through because people werent in business to sell to tourists like a lot of places in jaipur are. we found a whole street of the city devoted to fresh produce stands, and between the vegetables and the sacks full of spices, it was breath-takingly bright and colotful. we ate dinner as a group of 16 and afterwards, rather exhausted my friend jesse and i went off to find water and these strange indian cookies called bourbons. i find that i glow in the dark, because even in the dead of night people still manage to identify me as a white girl, and yell strange things in my direction. i think the best comment yet had to be in jaisalmere where a shop owner just looked at us and yelled "namaste, make your eyes happy?". the next day we were all entirely surprised when we visited an ngo dealing with poverty, drought, and health issues in the bikanir area. after our talk with the gentleman heading the operation, we all piled into taxis and were shuttled off into the desert. we ended up in a small rural village where no one spoke english and all of the homes were made of mud and sticks. there were goats running around wildly, and there were stretches of brambled dust for miles on either side. we were led into a small classroom where we were greeted by all the women and some of the men and children in the village. each woman was clothed in bright dresses, and had beautiful and bright scarves wrapped around their bodies and covering their faces. they sang a welcome song to us and we got to tour the school that the ngo had set up for the children in the village. the scene and the singing were so moving, and so starkly different from what we had seen before that most of us were just stunned into silence...or tears. the moment that the men left the women surrounded us girls and we began our long and entertaining afternoon of sign language. we traded jewelry, saw their houses, and just stood their holding hands with some of the most beautiful and unique women i have ever met. when we asked for a bathroom we were led to a small hut made entirely of sticks and with a dust floor where we just peed on the floor. some of us were attacked by baby goats as we peed which i must say only made the process more difficult. after goats milk chai, and a solid ten minutes of squating with the men and goats, we made our way out of the desert and back towards the much needed showers.
the next morning on our way out we stopped at the fort palace in bikanir as well as a milk factory though i am still a bit puzzled about that one. we drove until we reached jodhpur, and found that the staff was putting us up in a GORGEOUS little hotel in the city. it was like an oasis, with flowering trees, and palms. there were ornate little benches, and beautiful balconies, and best of all...a bathtub. that evening joanna, edgar adn i made an attempt at finding a grocery store to get some dinner, but found fruit stands instead. using our minimal hindi we managed to grab some bananas (kaylay) and pomagranates and papaya (papita). we were laughed at. we got honey, curd ( sort of yogurty thing) and corn flakes. (i dont know why, but cornflakes are huge here. people seem to adore white wonderbread, and corn flakes.) we made our little dinner on the balcony of one of the rooms, and then i proceded to take a long bath and pass out.
the next day we traveled to a grueling three ngo's, while many of the people on the trip got food poisoning. all i do is pray for my health, and so far so good, but there are a lot of unavoidable dangers out there. we ate dinner on the rooftop of the fort overlooking the city, and i ate meat for the first time since the plane to india, it was unimpressive. the fort was spectacular and when we walked it during the day we were able to see over all of the blue city of jodhpur. today was one of the more miserable on the trip seeing as it involved 8 hours in the car with limited AC and the hot desert sun beating down on us.
so overall it was a wonderful week if not a bit overwhelming. I am so thankful to be home and somewhere i can unpack for more than a day. sorry this post was so wordy... i didnt journal this week for myself so i am trying to remember everything for later. again, much love and thank you for all of your comments and emails!