a monkey god's mother

Hello................... How is everyone?

Today i took a picture of a yak. At least... i THINK it was a yak. Yakkity Yak. and did you know that "Yak" is spanish for "Jack", so when we went to mexico with my brother, we all got a kick out of everyone calling him "Yak". He didn't think it was all that funny, unfortunately. No sense of humour that kid, sometimes. Anyhow.

I went for a long walk up the river today. The country road is 5km to the waterfall trail ( i didn't go up to the waterfall this time) and comes out at an ashram by the river, and a lovely lovely swimming hole at the river. So i went for a quick swim and sat on a big rock and sunned myself . It is a very picturesque and peaceful spot, i will try to publish some pics soon, of the Yak and of the picturesque spot. I was there all day and the walk back was long. More than 10km return trip, but i needed the dose of nature and the exercise.

In the marketplace here there are guys who come at you and want to "bless" you by placing the hindu red dot in red powder on your third eye (forehead). one guy is dressed up like... shiva, a hindu god, i guess he is supposed to be, and he jumps out and expertly smudges this red dot on you before you even know what's hit you. The first time it happened i laughed. The second time it happened it was a different guy. He wasn't dressed like Shiva but he was even more wiley and well prepared than the first guy. I laughed after my episode with him too, but i left $2.50 less rich than i was before i met him. He too came out of nowhere and before i knew what was happening, i had a hand full of marigolds and some kind of sticky candy that you are supposed to throw in the Ganga(river) as an offering. He tied red string around the wrist of the hand that was holding the flowers and made me repeat after him, the blessing, then before i knew it, i had another red smudge on my forehead, and i had parted with 100 rupees! i laughed and gave it willingly because i was just so impressed with his ingenuity and the smoothness with which he descended on me and had me happily participating in my own blessing ritual. That guy has real skills man! and i walked on to the bridge to offer my sticky candied flower to the river Ganga.

Life is so infused with spirituality here. It constantly amazes me. To the left and right of me I see people blessing the money I give them when i pay them, saying a little prayer when they pass an altar in the street, burning incense and lighting candles and floating flowers in the river.... it just goes on and on. I have to say it is wonderful to be surrounded by so much devotion.

I have begun introducing myself as "Angeli" now to the Indian people when they ask my name because neither "Angie" nor "Angelina" makes any sense to them and it just draws blank or puzzled stares. They attempt several times to repeat what i have said, but it never really comes out right, so after a few conversations like this it has been brought to my attention that "Angeli", (a shortened version of Angelina after all) is a very Indian name. Turns out, it is the name of Hanuman's (the monkey god's) mother. So there it is, my Indian name is born, and it is that of a monkey god's mother. I think this is a tremendous joke on me. I feel like a monkey's mother some days, i tell ya.