more photos

yesterday i met a woman who is doing Ph.D. research in tamil nadu... she's at the university of chicago, so we chatted about grad school things. she's researching roman catholocism in south india, and the portrayal of mary as she is influenced by local hindu customs. it's really interesting stuff, and she has gotten all kinds of grant money for it, but the indian government won't let her use any of the money because she's researching roman catholocism. it's crazy.

this morning i hung out with marilu (a fellow smithie who is spending this year in delhi). she dropped into varanasi for a few days, and came out to sarnath this morning. we circumambulated the main temple in town, drank lots of chai, and ate chipatti and omlettes out across the street from the institute.

durga puja is starting, and even in sarnath, there are people out everywhere. there's even more hindu spiritual music playing in the streets than usual, and it's really kind of awesome.

jojo unloaded her memory card from her camera onto my laptop, so i've co-opted some of her photos: