Dharamsala at last

So after a stop in Agra, I completed the "Golden Triangle" (Delhi/Japiur/Agra) and took a plane to Dharamsala, a tiny hill town in the north that would be of no particular interest if the Dalai Lama didn't live there. Damn these computer keys are sticky. Excuse any typos.

Okay, so the culture shocks are starting to wear on me now. Last night I started crying for no reason. I wasn't sad; my iPod was just busted and the prospect of being without it for the rest of the trip just made me cry. I don't think it had anything to do with the iPod, just the built up stress of months of planning for this trip required a little cry eventually. Much as I may deny it, I am a woman after all. The hotel staff in Agra was totally nice about it and gave me a free mango drink and honestly would have done anything I asked at that point.

This morning I saw the Taj Mahal at sunrise, as it's a good time to see the Taj and also because I had to get back to Delhi, which was a 5 hour drive, in time for my 2:30 plane to Dharamsala. The Taj Mahal was amazing, of course. After walking around it I said to the guide, "Okay, I've seen the most beautiful building in the world. Now I don't know what to do."

It was not like Slumdog Millionaire, though a lot of things in that movie are stunningly accurate. That was the only subject that I brought up that my tour guide was very sensitive about. He felt the word "slumdog" was offensive and was not a real slang word, and the segment at the Taj Mahal never would have happened because security is very tight and your shoes will not actually get stolen. He wouldn't deny that tons and tons of beggars and thieves will try to get money from you in depressing and sneaky ways, but the title of the movie really bothered him. Also he was a bit of a thief himself as he led me to a store for souvenirs that was overpriced because he knew the owner (and probably gets a commission) but he kind of admitted in passing, and all the guides do that.

A frustrating thing is haggling ettiquite. I don't really know when to haggle and when not to haggle and how much effort to put into it. In Israel it's simple: the Israeli prices are fixed and the Israeli behind the counter ignores you even when you're ready to buy, and the Arab is desperate to sell you the same jewelry sold at 10 different shops on the same road and you have to spend 20 times getting him down to a reasonable price by insulting the craftmanship of the item, his opinion of his store, and his mother's style of dress if necessary. If you're willing to put your back into it you can save a lot of money, but you have to be tough. I don't want to be tough unless I know it's socially appropriate, so I've done very little haggling in India and definitely overpaid for things.

Anyway, Dharamsala. "Mountain town" is an accurate word, because it is high on a mountain (it's cooler and it's actually raining right now), and the streets wind up the mountain and they're uneven and this place is a total mess. It's actually cleaner than the Indian cities I've driven past or visited in terms of amount of waste lying around, but it's a bit like summer camp. The hotel is crummy. There, I said it and I'm not taking it back. While I am relieved that I don't have to check out tomorrow morning and I can actually stay in one plcace for 5 nights, it's not a good place. It's the second best place in Dharamsala and that means it has cable and a decent, but certainly not good, bathroom. I totally should have shelled out the big bucks for Chonor House, the best place, but I made this decision two months ago with only websites to go on and the price was significantly lower. The concierge said he would move me into a better room tomorrow.

So I have a few days to relax. Tomorrow the only thing on my schedule is that I'm meeting with the sister-in-law of the Dalai Lama, whose name I got from contacting one of the Orthodox women who was featured in the book The Jew in the Lotus, to discuss the Tibetan situation and Tibetan feminism. I am legitimately interested in talking at length to someone high up on the Tibetan exile community food chain, but also, you know, I came all this way and I'm staying at a crummy hotel to try to meet the Dalai Lama; I'm going to use whatever "in" I can get. The town itself is very relaxing. There are a lot of hippies here, or at least Western tourists, and the people are very nice and the weather is much cooler, so that A/C in the room isn't necessary (I have a fan). I will probably chill out tonight to the bizarre Indian television stations, including a type of program I used to watch in Israel which I call "the staring drama" show. It's a soap opera in Hindi and no language skills are necessary. Allow me to summarize the entire show:

Man: Is angry, says something angry
Woman: Looks horrified/shocked/sad (close up on her face and the face of everyone in the room with a similar expression)

Or vice versa in the gender roles. Santo explained to me once that it has to do with traditional Indian styles of drama, where people project their emotions clearly because it's meant for a large theater, and they haven't necessarily made the transition to the subtlies of television cameras. Either way, it is really hilarious to watch.

Tomorrow night is Shabbos, which is 21 minutes ahead of New Delhi, so candle lighting is 6:25 pm in Dharamsala. My grape juice bottle survived the journey. Tomorrow I need to buy a kiddush cup and spices. Candles I have, and also books to read, though there is a lot of hiking in the area, which is very mountainous. VERY mountainous. The combination of winding roads and Indian driving made the trip from the airport to the hotel a harrowing one. My guide in Japiur said, "Americans drive on the right, British drive on the left. Indians drive in the middle." It's supposed to be the left, but nobody seems to have a problem swerving into an oncoming lane to get around a slow-moving motorcycle, and most motorcycles are slow-moving in comparison to cars. Also trucks. Normally I just put complete faith in whomever's driving, and I had no problem on the two-lane Indian highways, but going up that one-lane road was pretty crazy. I will be happy to have my regular driver back when I return to Delhi.

The intenet cafe is getting crowded and people are waiting. I'll post again, probably sometime after Shabbos, on Sunday or Monday. We'll see.

Good Shabbos!