i must say that i am a little worried about the explosions around the country
it is a matter of odds
being in the wrong place at the wrong time
and who can predict???
when i can avoid crowds, i will, but that is hard in india
certainly traveling by train or bus is always a vulnerable thing
there has been a phone threat against kerala, where i planned to travel in 2 weeks time
and all of chennai (where i just was) was shut down by a red alert yesterday, as a precaution
terrorism is very real here
but people are busy trying to live
and only the wealthy and the tourists have real time to contemplate and fret

i am glad to hear from people as i have been feeling a bit blue these last couple of days
i am staying in mamallapuram, but i really hate it here
going today to look for digs in real india down the road
i can’t get an indian meal here, and it is overrun with the most obnoxious tourists imaginable
and amazingly they are not americans (whom i thought had cornered the market on ugly)!
yesterday i saw 4 grown men, at least 40 years of age, old enough to know better,
hopping up and down on a beached fishing boat, trying to overturn it end over end
then posing for eachother in “cool” poses
whether they could actually damage the boat or not is immaterial – the disrespect shown for a fisherman’s livelihood was so offensive to me i nearly went over there to tell them to stop
but natural caution and common sense took over and told me to stay out of it

this place is not india

it is some kind of disney theme park

thank god my project starts today