after a week in delhi, i finally made it to sarnath. everything is basically the same as i remember it, except there are a few more internet cafes, and a lot more people have mobile phones. (i just hooked myself up with a mobile, so if you want the number, send me an email... i don't want to post my number on the internet for anybody to see.)

delhi was fantastic. jojo and i spent our first two nights in a tibetan colony on the outskirts of the city, then we spent a night in a seedy little guest house in the middle of new delhi. the fourth night, we relocated to a guest house in old delhi, which was AMAZING. delhi has been rebuilt something like 15 times, the most recent of which was when the british came and relocated the capital to the southern part of the city. as a result, new delhi is super-westernized, with pizza hut, t.g.i. fridays, levi's stores, and coffee shops on every other corner. many of the folks there wear western clothes, and the streets are all paved. old delhi, on the other hand, is congested, dirty, full of bicycles and cycle-rickshaws. there aren't any internet cafes, and no one wears western clothes. the two delhis are like completely different worlds! after our old delhi excursion, we went back into new delhi to stay with the aunt and uncle of a friend of ours. the uncle, ashok, is some high ranking officer in the indian army, so he and his wife, anita, live in the defense colony. they had their driver come and pick us up from our hotel, and they had servants around the house to cook and clean. it was fantastic to spend some time in a house with a family, though. anita and ashok have a son and a daughter who is close to my age, and jojo and i had a great time with them.

on sept. 2 we took an overnight train into varanasi, and two girls from the institute met us at the train station. the girls' hostel reminds me of smith houses in a lot of ways... people study a lot and drink tea, and sometimes they play loud obnoxious music. but i already know a few of the students from the last time that i was here, and everyone has been incredibly friendly and helpful.

the power just went out in the internet cafe, and i'm not sure how much longer my computer will stay on, so i'll end my post here. hopefully i can update more frequently once classes start.