Random Tidbits, Observations and Huh??? (TOH)

1. Young Indian girls (under five) often have their heads shaved or are in some stage of regrowth.
2. We saw our first vehicle accident in Delhi. We were in a rickshaw and a motorcycle next to us rear ended a truck. Scary. It made my neck ache.
3. I saw a Tibetan Monk with a light up flashing cell phone at the airport in Delhi. Holy Bling!
4. There were random dogs running around and just milling about on the runway at the airport.
5. No one guesses we're American. Indians all think we are European. The only Indian to guess we were American, knew because he saw my Cal visor and he normally lives in the Bay Area...He won a bet with his friend.
6. Indians inspect the inseam of my jeans when I roll them up and say "ahhh, nice."
7. The streets always smell worse than our bathrooms at our hotels, even the community bathrooms...
8. Indians in Delhi are generally bigger than those in Mumbai.
9. At the airport, women get a private booth and a female attendant when being searched.
10. Pharmacies are called "Chemists."
11. Electricity is randomly available.
12. No two bathrooms are alike in India. Some have regular "western" toilets, some have "Indian" toilets which are a porcelain hole in the ground with grooves for your feet, some have a weird combination of the two. Most do not provide toilet paper (we carry this with us at all times), most have water hoses or buckets of water. Some are simple a hole in the dirt with the smell of lime. Most do not flush properly!
13. Ketchup is a staple in India, found on every table. However, it tastes like Tabasco sauce and generic Ketchup mixed. People put it on everything.
14. Everywhere we go, we hear American Music (from boy bands to Bob Marley).
15. Locals are MUCH more friendly than other travelers.
16.Indians think Australians invented the word "Dude." Jeni suggested they got the term from Baywatch and I suggested California surfers spread the term searching for waves down under. They didn't buy it..
17. Indian cell phone: stick head out two story window and yell really really loud.
18. Nodding your head "no" or "I dunno" means "yes" and "ya, sure."
19. Indians think the only food available in the US is McDonald's.
20. Indians litter all the time in the big cities. Drives me crazy!
21. McDonald's in India is not what you get in the US. The chicken sandwich is like a bocca burger with green chutney?
22. Funny joke book found on coffee table at a locals house "Unofficial Joke book of France." My favorite joke: "With a bushel of apples, you can have a hell of a time with the doctor's wife." Funniest part is the French joke book was mainly racial jokes about minority Indians?
23. There are new developments everyday. For example, in the morning we may notice a new shelf somewhere, by nightfall it's painted. The next morning a new garden is planted where there was dirt yesterday. Each day is full of change and surprises in our geography.
24. The words and grammar on the menus are a hoot. Under Mexican Cuisine I read, "Greecesp. Mousakan Veg." Let's just say I didn't order that one. At our favorite restaurant in Ladakh, the last page has a letter to customers... "Dear Customers...If there is any mistake from us, we are sorry for that. Give some ideas and suggestion to provide our performance. Thanking you, Zen Garden (Thanks for visit)"
25. Every drink we order has "stuff" floating in it. Usually the more floaters, the better the taste.
26. Things we would have brought had we known, Jeeni: laundry soap, nail scrubber, hair straightener with foreign adapter, more clothes, less bug spray (I haven't used my net even once and have only seen one mosquito!) and finally the ink refills I bought specifically for this trip for my favorite pen that I did bring. Now the ink is almost gone and I will have to carry the thing around. Jeni: extra tank tops, shorts, water purifier, a visor and she would have left her heals at home.
27. Dichotomy: At the Shanti Stupa, a peace temple at the top of a mountain, I asked two military men to take a picture of Jeni and I. They refused, asked for money, asked where we were staying and in general were complete assholes. Ten minutes later after walking around and enjoying the serenity, those two were gone and three different military men were in their place. I thought "ahhh not three more of them." However, these guys approached me and asked if I would take a picture with each of them? I said sure and one guy even went around the corner and changes out of his Cami's into a sharp suit? Weird. I think they thought I might have been Britney Spears. They were happy to take several pictures of Jeni and I!
28. There are Israelis EVERYWHERE?
29. Mustaches are called "Mush". I laugh every time I hear someone say that...
30.We have spent more time untangling the yarn we bought to make scarves, than actually knitting and crocheting.
31. There are NO Americans in Kashmir. To fit in, we have been practicing our Sweetish accents, replacing th with s and yes with dah.
32. I bought a Nike fleece, but I am sure Nike isn't getting any royalties.
33. Indian's favorite curse word is "Sh...it man"
34. Me and Jeni's secret vocabulary is growing on a daily basis, soon we will have our own language and call it Ni.
35. Yesterday was so hot that our babbling creek turned into a river within hours from glacier melt off.
36. India is tough on the bod. Mumbai was so sticky that I think I had more pimples in 6 days than I had my entire puberty years. Delhi is so hot we couldn't sleep and our bodies ached and skin started peeling off. Kashmir is so high up we have perpetual dry throats and running noses. We still love it though.
37. The keyboard I am using has both English letters and Hebrew letters?