The one about cows

Cows are everywhere in India. They just become a part of everyday life. When most of the cows that I see look like this...

(the one on the right. Cortney is definitely not a cow.)

or like this...


it can be really nice to find one like this...

Shoddy Shadi

Marriages in India are almost always arranged. I knew that when I came, but I don’t think I realized that wedding ceremonies would be SO different. In the US, a wedding ceremony is short, followed by a reception, and then the bride and groom are off on their honeymoon. In India, it’s a 3 or 4 day celebration. There’s meals at all the parents’ houses, parades down the street, dancing late into the night, and fireworks. The groom goes through town on a horse (or sometimes an elephant as I’ve been told), and people give him money.

I live within 100 yards of 3 different wedding points, so lots of nights I get to hear Indian Wedding music in dreams.

I was driving my bike home a few nights ago, when I passed one of the groom’s parades. It was just getting warmed up, but here’s a video of what I ran into. I just missed the groom dancing on top of his horse… man, maybe next time.

The Jungle Book

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Dangerous Driving

Driving in India is always a little crazy, but yesterday was especially scary for me. And, Mom, before I start these stories, I’m okay.

Around 5pm yesterday I was downtown, and was riding my bike over to the girls’ house. I was going slowly, like 30 kmph, and traffic was pretty bad. This guy swerved over in front of me, I slammed on my brakes, and then an old lady stepped out into the street. I had to lay my bike over (that’s a pleasant way of saying I crashed semi-on purpose), knocking the lady over. Luckily, I wasn’t going very fast, and she was okay. There was a police officer right there who saw it happen and he knew that it wasn’t my fault, so I didn’t get into any trouble. I did feel really bad for the little lady though. She was okay, and so was I, but my bike got hurt a little bit. I broke my clutch lever (it’s like the left hand brake lever), bent the shifter by my left foot and knocked of one of my rear view mirrors. I was going to the service center tomorrow for my scheduled tune up anyways, so I’ll probably just have to leave it a day or two and get all that fixed. It still drives fine, just needs a little fixer up now.

In this picture you can see the broken clutch, and then down at the bottom the foot shifter is bent in.

My mirror on the other side broke off. The way it was bent I'm guessing I hit it when I fell.



Then, last night on my way home from dinner around 8:15 or 8:30, I was coming down this little narrow, windy road that’s just a little wider than a car. A car came FLYING down the road in the opposite direction (probably at 60+kmph when even late, late at night I won’t go more than about 45 on a bike down that road). I nearly had to lay my bike over again, but somehow managed to get as far over as possible without falling into the gutter. He missed me by just a couple of inches, then he over corrected, hit a wall, and bounced between the two walls, probably totaling the car. He got out and wasn’t hurt (but he was probably drunk), so I didn’t stay around (since it wasn’t my fault at all and I’d had enough of traffic accidents for today).

I don’t know what was wrong with the people driving yesterday. I mean, there’s usually traffic and stuff, but people were just crazy for some reason yesterday!

Luckily everyone was okay in both situations, but I as I drove my bike in the rain to the shop this morning (only to find out the service center is closed on Tuesdays), I saw the car from last night sitting in an alley way with three flat tires, a broken window, and some big dents. There’s no doubt that I was being watched over last night!

An Unexpected Present

We went over to a friend’s house last week for dinner, and as we got ready to leave, I found this present the cat had left for me!

Janki Children

Riding through town the other day we spotted this sign...















This was also the day that a very small man (what's the PC way to say it, dwarf?) stepped out in front of us in traffic only to stare my friend Cortney down as he walked across the road.

You know you don't quite belong somewhere when HE stares YOU down.