Pomegranates and Pullups

(I don't know how to rotate photos, so tilt your head to the left as far as you can) This photo doesn't really need an explanation, but it's in the context of a really nice experience we both had, so I thought I'd write about it. Yesterday we went for a walk in the city of Pune down Mahatmi Ghandi road (the major commercial district) and ended up following what seemed like dozens and dozens of hawks (what might also be Indian eagles) in the sky towards a vegetable and fruit market. I'm convinced that hawks and elephants are our official guardians on this journey, as we always see two hawks in the sky wherever we go. Anyways, we came upon this incredible vegetable and fruit market and bought a pomegranate to share. Turns out that there aren't many public spaces to sit in Pune, so we searched for a bench for a while. Finally, we found a bench in what felt like a tiny village in the middle of the city. There were clothes hanging everywhere, a pick up cricket game going on, kids running around, people biking through, hanging out, talking, and preparing food. It was one of the sweetest moments I've had on this trip, just sitting there eating this really bright and delicious pomegranate, watching the world unfold. We were told that this was a Christian mission, and eventually a group of older teenagers came up and started talking to us. Turns out, a lot of them are related and they're all in town for a big marriage. (We tried to hint that we wanted to come, but to no avail) They asked if they could take a picture with us, and of course we obliged, and then we all watched Jake do pull ups. The hawks were flying overhead the whole time, and the whole thing was just pretty amazing.

On some other notes, Pune is pretty incredible. I mean it (relatively speaking) when I say it feels like Brooklyn, mainly because it's really laid back, pretty happening, and has a great vibe. It's home to the Osho Ashram which is pretty famous for Westerners, so we see a lot of white people in red robes walking around. It's a funny sight. For the first time I feel like I could venture out on my own without my "husband". We're staying with the most awesome couple, Praveen and Deepa, who have taken us in and have shown us really awesome blues music, really delicious homecooked food, and some wonderful hospitality. Yesterday (or this morning) we celebrated Deepa's birthday at midnight with fabulous chocolate cake while we watched Ice Age (I cried, everybody laughed). Jake and I cooked them some chilli and corn bread the other night, and it came out okay! Nothing like good ol' American cooking.

We also found out that we've been overpaying rickshaw drivers because we have been thinking that the kilometers is the price (ie: 4.7 kilometers is 47 rupees). When we thought we were smartly underpaying bad drivers by cutting their pay by 10 rupees, we were actually paying them 30-40 rupees more! Silly us, smart drivers for not saying anything. We finally got a super cool driver who gave us a fare card and told us to use it wisely. This was after we paid him 45 rupees for a 20 rupee trip (note that it's about 40 rupees to one dollar, but still). Since then we've been EXPERTS at negotiating our auto rides.

We also got sweet head massages at a barber shop (turns out it's pretty standard and costs less than a dollar), have been drinking lots of tea, and today I went to get a salwaar-kameez (traditional Indian clothing) made out of the most BEAUTIFUL teal cotton material. More later- I'm sure Jake will post his haikus... We'll be here through Sunday and I'm so happy!!