the best day ever...

...and I'm not coming home.

Today is a moonday and, since there is no practice on moondays, I had a long and leisurely sleep in. When I finally roused myself from bed I took a slow walk to watch the town wake up and I ran into Mikko (Finland), Dan (USA), and Yuri (Tokyo). While that may make it sound like I actually know people here, don't be fooled - I don't. They happen to be three of the few people I know and I was so glad to run into them.

We had breakfast in the sun together and when they left I spent an extra hour reading and enjoying the warmth. I made my first trip into Mysore (I'm staying in a small town just outside the city) and had a rickshaw drop me off in the middle so I could wander around. It was so much fun. I loved being in a big, busy Indian city again. The mish mash of cars, cows, bicycles, rickshaws, scooters, vendors, grand stores, small stands, sweet shops, bracelets, vegetable market, bookstores...you name it.

After wandering, lost and having fun, for a few hours I caught a rickshaw to Coffee Day, a coffee shop chain. I enjoyed a cappucino beneath the neon-pink tubing decorating the ceiling, surrounded by very hip, rich Indian teens comparing holiday spots (London vs. Hawaii) in English, listening to bollywood disco. From there I went to the supermarket (that's right, for those of you who've been here before, a supermarket) where I bought things I don't need just because it was so fun to wander through the store. I interrupted my walk home with a stop in a posh beauty salon where I had my eyebrows threaded for 10rs (~30 cents).

I was hoping to catch up on email but won't have time tonight. It's already 6pm and things here close down early, bedtime is usually 8pm and I'm already really late to find dinner so I'm off to stuff myself.