Snacktime

Ok, back at it now. It’s noon on Sunday the 22nd. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do here. I’m not even done describing Friday and yet now have all of Saturday to write about which includes my trip to Agra to check out the Taj Mahal, the handicrafts of the people there (stone inlayed marble), and on the way back, the Hindu temple and birthplace of Krisna in Manthura. I’ll get to all of that later on. Yesterday was so intense that I’ve actually had to refer back to my pics from Friday just to refresh my memory. I’m glad I’m taking the time to write about all of this now because it’s doubtful I’d remember the finer points in even 1 months time. I kind of like this journal writing thing. I’ve kept journals for very short periods of time at various points in my life but they’re scattered about in various composition books that aren’t organized an any way. Digitizing this information is the way to go but I don’t trust MySpace so I’ve started keeping this stuff in text files on my harddrive in folders which I have scheduled backups of. I need to back up my pictures as well….as they are kept on a server I don’t maintain. I really appreciate my buddy Rance for hooking up the djsnack.com and gallery.djsnack.com servers. They have proved invaluable for proliferating my random thoughts and pictures accross the known world, muahahahaha!!! .

Just a few words about Humaylan’s tomb. This monument is the precursor to the Taj Mahal. It was constructed in umm…..well, let’s say a long time ago. If you really want to know, I’ve endeavored to snap pics of the brass textual descriptions of the places I’ve been whilst here. It’s really big and is actually part of a larger complex containing courtyeards, smaller tombs…mosque-like buildings and so on. This mass of ruins was particularly cool because you could climb all over them. There were lots of places to ascend steps and get on top of the enclosing walls and such. I felt like some sort of tomb raider going into these places and I’ll be damned if I didn’t twist my ankle. It took me a full day before I even realized that I had injured myself. I was once again reminded how delicate the ankle is. In my hapkido class we’re taught how to break the ankle and what positions are most comprimising in terms of ankle breakage. For example, if you’re ever kicked, one way of taking someone out permanently is to simultaneously grab their leg and step into them and follow that up with a swift downward stomp on the ankle. It breaks after a miniscule amount of pressure. Ouch! You then follow up by either running like hell or telling them how foolish it was to attack you….depending on the threat level and how much of a jerk you are, of course .

I was feeling quite tired after my tomb exploits but opted to stop in on a department store since it was on the way back to the hotel. This was a 3-level complex with lots of really cool, overpriced stuff. I did get a chance to chat with one of the employees who was from Cashmire for a bit. He really liked my camera. I really liked his duvee covers. If I hadn’t have already bought the rugs I would have picked one up. They ranged in price from $200 - $1000….very kewl, decidedly Indian stuff. I also checked out a few really neat braclets and necklaces. I kept myself entertained by examining the most costly items and repeatedly informing the proprietor that I was shopping for my cat. “I have the most beatuful cats…”, I’d say, “….this saphire, diamond, and ruby piece would really bring out the color in their eyes. Do you have anything more spectacular than this? My cats deserve only the finest precious stones.” I swear man, I could hardly contain myself. I actually AM sort of shopping for my cat, but I want the fake stuff for them. I just can’t justify spending 100’s of dollars on them when they’ll look just as pretty in the $20 version. I must say that I do miss my cats…even after only one week. The look in their eyes when they jump on me and exclaim, “Meow.”. “Meow to you!”, I reply. Sometimes I solicit the meow by meow’ing first. More times than not they meow right back as if to say, “I love you Chris…you feed us and pet us and let us sleep in your crotch.” Ok, that’s enough of that. I left the store and went back to the hotel to catch an alhocol buzz and get ready for the day trip to Agra. I was out cold after downing 3 Kingfisher beers in rapid succession. Kingfisher is like the Budweiser of India…only much more tasty. I picked up a case of the “Strong” variety when I first got here knowing full well this was the most frugal option for me. It’s really funny though….Bud is ‘The King of Beers’….Kingfisher is ‘The King of Good Times’….very funny stuff.

This Sunday afteroon I decided to check out Dilly Haat….which apparently roughly corresponds to flea market. I began by walking down the street but had to turn around and go back to my room b/c I had forgotten my camera. I turned my camera on just to make sure I had enough power left in my batteries, which I did, but found that I had used up all my available memory. I took the opportunity to dump all my pics and format my memory card. While doing this, I chugged a couple of beers. I thought it would be fun to get just a smidgen drunk before heading out on my adventure. After chugging the beers I once again headed out only this time was flagged down by a familiar face. It was Kuldeep, my taxi driver from a couple of days ago. We hit it off really well because he speaks really good English and is generally an ultra nice guy. Since the last time I saw him he had apparently been stung by a bee and one of his eyes was swollen. ‘Hey man!’ I said. We made smalltalk for about 5 minutes and I soon once again found myself in a cab. Kuldeep couldn’t drive though…..it was his buddy whose name I can’t remember. In the end the deal was that I got Kuldeep as my personal ‘guide’ and this other, also cool English-speaking Indian dude as the actual driver. They were friends apparently and my adventure went on from there…with a pair of buds in the front seat and me in the back. They were great….genuinely looking out for me…very good service…big ups to Kuldeep. I’ll be calling him on Friday night to take me to the airport for sure. So……I just had a few things left to buy for my friends and animals. I asked them to start me off at Dilly Haat and, 5 minutes later, I found myself inline to buy a 15 rupee ticket.

Inside Dilly Haat are a number of local craftspeople displaying their wares and a pretty large food court with reps from all parts of India. There is a huge variety in the flavas. India is extrememly diverse culturally. I walked around and noted that everything was even cheaper than I’d found in other non-flea market-type markets. I picked up a number of items for my friends and one really wicked wall hanging for my crib. I found a couple of seriously cool beaded bracelets to functions as cat collars. For my female friends, I picked a killer matching necklace and earring set as well as really great hair putter upper thingy ( not sure what you call them ). I spent about $20 all told….quite a deal if you ask me…seriously….if you only knew what all i bought, you’d be like…DAMN!!! I contemplated getting a bite to eat, but since I was to be picked up at 6 by Dipanjan, I opted not to and instead headed back to my taxi. Though I really like the beaded collar thingys I got for my cats, I was still not 100% satisfied with the swag I had procured. I had been envisioning a collar about 1-inch thick with sparkely green stones….precious or otherwise and the beads, while seriously wicked, were not quite what I was looking for. I knew they would be great if I couldn’t find exactly was looking for and were so cheap that I would have been stupid not to sieze the opportunity to satisfy that requirement…so, I instructed my entourage to take me to a place which made custom pieces. Dammit, I was going to get what I wanted if it killed me. My cats deserve to look great. They are such sleek and delightful companions; I just couldn’t stand the tought of not hooking them up. Also, I knew that my roomate Bang, half owner of said kitties, would help me to finance the purchase…especially in light of the silly deals that were available.

Onwards to the shop of a one Abdul. Abdul was super cool…..upon entering his shop I was offered whatever I wanted to drink. ‘You got any Kingfisher?’ I said. 5 minutes later I was handed an open beer and began chillin…..I was comfy, mildly intoxicated, and was being treated like a freakin’ sultan. I was shown star rubys, saphirres, gold, diamonds….you name it….’very special price’ once again was being spouted from the mouth of Abdul. Damn, the dude had some really nice stuff……much nicer than anything I had seen. ‘It’s for my freakin’ cat.’ I said….and laughed internally somewhat due to my alcohol buzz and somewhat due to the sheer absurdity of the situation. I basically had like 5 dudes waiting on me…my driver, my guide, 2 jewerly shop workers, and the big cheese, Abdul. It was tough, but I decided to just go with it and enjoy the celebrity status. I was a major league ‘low-roller’ but dammit I felt like a serious mack dadday ultra pimp head cheese. I made it very clear what I was looking for….’I need a necklace, except bracelet size, for my cat. I want green stones and I want it to be fake. I’m not looking ot spend alot of money. Again, it’s for my cat.’. At any rate, I was shown a number of lower budget items but they were real stuff. I ended up purchasing a real emerald necklace for both of my cats…..it was actually one big necklace but, since I was actually at the place where they make the stuff, they were able to cut it in half and make 2 custom sized necklaces. Man, let me tell you, my cats have it good. I thought my parents’ cats had it good, but my cats are livin’ ‘the life’. As of my return, they wear precious stones worth hundereds of dollars in the states. Crazy!!!!! Ok, so lemme describe some other stuff I bought there. While checking out the local craftsmanship of Agra I was turned on to star rubys. These stones are really cool and have a 6 pointed effect when you look at them in the light despite the angle. Abdul showed me the fulll gambit of quality and size; Eventually I honed in on one that was about $70. Yo, I could easitly write at least another couple of hours about my experience here but I have to move on…..I’ve just received a call from Dipanjan. His friend had a baby last night and I’ve been invited to go kick it w/ the new proud father, mother, and corresponding 2-day old. That’s an offer I can’t possibly refuse.