Okay, not to betray my fellow tri-pods, but we cannot complain about what we are expected to buy our wives. An engagement ring? Bah! A pair of diamond earings? No problem. A few braclets maybe? You can afford it. Try visiting an Indian gold store and seeing every married women in there draped in gold and gems. I’m not talking a few chains, I’m talking Mr. T would be jealous. And not 14k gold either, that is for costume jewelry; it’s 22k or 24k. I stopped by the store to pick up a piece I had been deciding on, and my colleague’s wife was with us. I somehow think I really screwed him over by not getting it yesterday, because I think he’s now on the hook for a small fortune in new items.
We did some sightseeing today, in particular going to a palace/fortress of a famous Muslim king. The palace is a network of stairways and hallways that go every which way. Imagine MC Escher with no light. No one fully knows the labyrinth really, and you have to be very careful about following the guide. Literally at one moment I had five or six routes I could take and only one goes out. Many people have died in the labyrinth below the fortress, including (supposedly) a British regiment of 4000 men. There is also a tunnel system under it leading to Delhi, Agra, and some other city. This was for the king to run away if he was being invaded. This part of India originally was ruled by the Muslims (until the Brits came) so there are a lot of Mosques around. There used to be a lot of silver and gold, but the British looted most of it. You can go see the originals by visiting the British Museum in London. One of the palaces’ gates was made out of pure silver and the doors were pure gold.
We also visited a very large monument to a political figure. Think Jefferson memorial, but half the size of the Washington Mall. Just like the US, each group in power gets monuments to their leaders built. So since the other party is now in power, a new moment is being built across the street, at another small fortune.
There are stray dogs everywhere. I saw two packs argue over some land. You could tell 4 came one way with their tails up, two others tried to stand their group, but their tails went down and they ran. The 4 then quickly marked their space. I found this incredibly ironic that this was happening between two political monuments. There are also cows and donkeys (or mules) walking all over the place.
Oh, I learned the rules of cricket; kind of. I was able to watch a bit of a match on TV (India vs. Pakistan) and follow it a bit. But I’m not sure I could get into it. The length of the game is crazy (there are a 1 day version and a 5 day version). The pace is actually not that slow, it’s just the outs are so very rare.
We did some sightseeing today, in particular going to a palace/fortress of a famous Muslim king. The palace is a network of stairways and hallways that go every which way. Imagine MC Escher with no light. No one fully knows the labyrinth really, and you have to be very careful about following the guide. Literally at one moment I had five or six routes I could take and only one goes out. Many people have died in the labyrinth below the fortress, including (supposedly) a British regiment of 4000 men. There is also a tunnel system under it leading to Delhi, Agra, and some other city. This was for the king to run away if he was being invaded. This part of India originally was ruled by the Muslims (until the Brits came) so there are a lot of Mosques around. There used to be a lot of silver and gold, but the British looted most of it. You can go see the originals by visiting the British Museum in London. One of the palaces’ gates was made out of pure silver and the doors were pure gold.
We also visited a very large monument to a political figure. Think Jefferson memorial, but half the size of the Washington Mall. Just like the US, each group in power gets monuments to their leaders built. So since the other party is now in power, a new moment is being built across the street, at another small fortune.
There are stray dogs everywhere. I saw two packs argue over some land. You could tell 4 came one way with their tails up, two others tried to stand their group, but their tails went down and they ran. The 4 then quickly marked their space. I found this incredibly ironic that this was happening between two political monuments. There are also cows and donkeys (or mules) walking all over the place.
Oh, I learned the rules of cricket; kind of. I was able to watch a bit of a match on TV (India vs. Pakistan) and follow it a bit. But I’m not sure I could get into it. The length of the game is crazy (there are a 1 day version and a 5 day version). The pace is actually not that slow, it’s just the outs are so very rare.
posted by Joe at 7:15 AM
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