Out of the Luggage, Onto the Shelves

Our most generous hosts in Delhi have seen us off but not without giving a wonderful birthday celebration for me. Since they came late the night of my birthday that happened the day after and on my birthday I had the most wonderful treatment from my beloved Ingrid. I will not get into details as not to make the angels jealous (makes them kind of demonic). Over the weekend our internet service was miraculously restored and I managed to speak over the internet with many family members, sadly whenever it was time for the sleepyheads in America to wake up we lost connection. We are planning a few calls in the upcoming days as soon as we have the hardware, meanwhile sorry to those that did recieve pranky calls (we could hear but you could not). Following my birthday we said bye to our hosts with gratitude and sadness (hope to see you soon again:) and hopped on the train south to Pune. We loaded the bike on the train with expected hassle but koi bhat nehi. 26 hours later getting it off was more of an adventure. I saw the bike being loaded and because of our luggage rack it is longer than normal bikes so they ended up propping the bike up at a complex angle, I didn't say anything because it was obvious that it was that or nothing. Luckily we arrived in Pune twenty minutes early because when I made it to the front of the train the porters were only opening the door and when I said I had a bike in there they looked and said I had to talk to the officer as it seemed too hard to them to get to it. This was obviously a tactic to evade the labor and I knew if I went looking for somebody the train would be gone by the time I found an "officer". After watching the porters pass 3 minutes just looking in the luggage car and shaking their heads, I jumped in and started dumping and throwing the sacks and crates off to reach the bike. Amazingly it only took about three minutes to get to the bike and then it was out. After that it was again the expected hassle and even the porter who refused to help me asked for bakshish. There was no damage on the bike and soon we were on the road to find accomodation. I have been waiting since Srinagar to bring the bike to our mechanic Pradeep here in Pune and now it is REALLY calling his name for some lovin'. Hope to speak to everyone soon and if you would like to hear from us and we dont have your number please email or comment. With love,
alp!

As we arrived in Pune with our two backpacks and the monsterous suitcase we have been hiding at the Shins' house since November, a short sunshine rain shower began. This seemed rather symbolic to me of the feeling I had being back in Pune: it was nice to be back in the city we enjoy so much but logistical hassles clouded my mind. The accomodation here is far more costly than in any other Indian locale we have visited and we had to take a room for more than we would have liked to pay, simply because we were burdened with too much stuff and no other options. The next morning we started our detective hunt for a short-term flat, because the Iyengar Yoga Institute affirmed that we could indeed come to beginners' classes in the month of September. After one dead end lead, we met with Mr. Modi, who owns a flat in the high-rise building immediately adjacent to the Institute. He was insistent upon renting to us the entire flat, which honestly gave both Alp and I the creeps when we walked in to it because of its wacky feng shui, and asked a price that approximated our Charlottesville rent. We weren't impressed enough to accept and continued to sniff around the rest of the day, turning up ultimately with no other viable options. This morning we were ready to bite the bullet, as my dear ole mom would say, and take the place, hoping the adverse effects of the feng shui would be reversed by six days of yoga a week. But as we were just about to go back up to the ninth floor to have another look, the apartment building watchman surruptiously handed us a card and mumbled some words of direction to find more flats for rent. After Modi wouldn't budge on his price, we contacted the man on the card, a mister Sanjiv Agarwal, and met his wife at their family bungalow to have a look at their flat for rent. Their home was incredibly posh and we were a tad worried about how we would ever be able to afford anything they had to offer. We also felt a tinge of deja vous as we pulled up, remembering how when we first arrived in Pune in December, we went out with our buddies Manish and Priya to see a film and whiled away our time waiting for it to start by sitting on the stone wall facing the Agarwals' bungalow drinking beer and wine coolers. An omen, I suppose. We went to see the place and it turned out to be an extremely large flat in a brand new "luxury" development with good feng shui. It was immediately more palatable than the other place and we decided to take a large bedroom there for the month of September, even though it is still quite expensive. But we will enjoy the kitchen, large-screen television, the view of palms from the window of our room, and its proximity to the Insititute and the cinema and everything else.... We are pretty pleased and feeling fortunate to have the means to fulfill one of our last goals in India of getting a strong foundation in yoga, even if for the short time of one month. Now we are going to celebrate the solving of our accomodation mystery with a meal at an Iranian restaurant, you have to love this city for it's food. We miss you all and are remembering you with love~
Ingrid

Taking Care of Busyness

For the last two weeks we have been staying with the wonderful Shin family. Our plan was to leave Delhi on Monday but as we pleasantly found out they want us to stay longer, so we said yes and will be here until after my birthday which is the 22th of this month for all to know (and happy birthday to all the Leo's known and unknown to us). Here is what we have been upto: there was the idea of getting married in Sri Lanka but as we called the US Embassy there we recieved a cold NO to having our marriage visa processed. So we decided to apply for the Fiance visa which is convinient because we will stay in India a bit longer and meanwhile the clock will be ticking on the processing time, which is a few months. There is still a hitch that we could get refused by the Sri Lankan US embassy for processing that visa as well in which case things will start to get exciting once again. Just this morning we sent the visa package out and it will probably be at least two months before it is processed. Meanwhile we have been visiting the Turkish embassy for soem required documents, regarding my criminal record and marriage status which is nil thank god. Our experience there has been quite different though as we have been having tea at the attache's office and stopping by a few times a week. As he learned we were staying in Delhi longer, he will ask his wife to invite us to tea at his house as well. Things are looking up as we are also graciously invited to stay with Ingrid's friend Helaena who lives in Sri Lankan capital Colombo. I found some of her work there at the www.peaceinsrilanka.org website. We have not acquired our tickets yet but will soon.
alp

now that our travel plans have become less busy, you all will probably be hearing from us a little less often. i don't want to delve into the intricacies of our bureaucratic endeveavors, for fear of really losing your attention and interest in our faraway lives. delhi is muggy with the monsoon rains that almost never come hanging in the air but it is looking green and we are enjoying the shins and their comfortable home, not to mention feeling like we are part of a family once again. with the motorcycle, we are saving much money that would have been going to rickshaw drivers in getting around the city and doing our busyness. it is a different type of stressful driving to be scooting around this city, filled with cars, SUVs, bicycle carts, small lanes, and massive "flyovers." we are becoming addicted to kimchi and acting like kids with the kids; i can tell you alp does a truly artful tiger impersonation.
peas on earth~
ingrid
ps~ we would fancy to know how many people are actually reading this blog. if you read it, please leave a comment with your name, or at least a hint about your name. then we'll have a raffle and send a present to the winner!