cows in the internet cafe

hello family, friends and blogfolk,

here's a bit of my current herstory since i returned to israel, and began my travels in india.

during the end of february my house in beer sheva burned down. i didnt have any place to live, so i worked in the organic kitchen of a hippie festival where i didnt wear shoes for that entire week. there i became good friend with a monk and i told him about my house burning down. i moved into his house after the festival and alternated between his cape cod-like town and tel aviv for a couple weeks.

then i decided i was going to india because....why the hell not? i landed in delhi on march 26th. i started traveling with the 5 israelis i met on the plane. my hebrew comprehension improved quickly and dramatically. (honestly, there are so many israelis in india, the signs are all in hebrew, i dont know what i would do if i didnt understand hebrew, my social life would not exist at all in india.) within the first 2 1/2 weeks, i went to delhi, pushkar, and varanasi. all of these cities are in the center-- they are interestingly gorgeous, but large, polluted and dusty cities with cows roaming everywhere! additionally, in india, there is no municipal maintenance of waste..everything is burned, including bodies-- just out in the open!

i got terribly sick, had to be hospitalized in the middle of the night because i couldnt breathe. being admited to an indian hospital was horrifying-- bodies everywhere. i had to wake up the doctors who were sleeping, before, during and after my triage consultation. they tried to admit me to the hospital and keep me there for 3 days, but i busted out of there in only 8 short hours and headed up north to the mountains. i reached the mountain hippie village of kasol where i smoked myself retarded with a million israelis for 3 days.

now i just ended up in mcleod ganj, which is the amazingly gorgeous post-exiled home of the whopper- his holiness, the dalai lama. we have plans for brunch tomorrow. hope he doesnt flake like last time.

love 2 u all,

sonia