Hello Everyone,

Greetings from Jaipur! I was not at all planning to return to Rajasthan, but . . . here's the story . . .

After typing madly in Delhi, I realized that it was not necessary to stay there. I could do whatever I was doing from anywhere. My friend Farrah is living in Jaipur doing research for her Masters Degree in International Development, and I thought it would be fun to come and stay with her. So, here I am.

What I was supposed to be doing now was studying Hindi in Mussoorie, the 'Queen' of the hill stations (near Dehradun). And it was indeed spectacularly beautiful. The language school is five kilometres out from the main town, and another thousand feet above sea level, making it about seven thousand feet high! An interesting side effect of being that high seems to be an insatiable appetite, and all of my guest house-mates and I devoured our three meals a day.

The downside of being there was that it was relentlessly cold. On the fourth day, 15 March to be exact, the wonderful holiday of Holi, I got a really bad cold. After much indecision, I finally felt that the only sensible thing to do was to leave, as I doubted that I would get better in the damp cold conditions, and I sure would not have the required energy and concentration to do the class work. The next day I left with one of my house-mates (who was already scheduled to leave) in a taxi down the mountain to Dehradun. By the time we got there – 2100 feet – my ears were completely shot.

Yesterday, after waiting for over a week for the cold and ear sensitivity to disappear, I finally went to a local doctor here in Jaipur. Jai, Farrah's trustworthy auto-rickshaw driver, took me to a doctor he knows, and I was duly impressed. A kind-hearted human being, a doctor who asks questions instead of throwing pills at you—what a wonderful combination. Needless to say, he did do some prescribing, and I'm on an antibiotic, a decongestant, nasal drops, and steam inhalation. It'll all be over in five days, but it’s clear that I’m already experiencing some positive results.

This morning when I sat down at the computer, a young woman and I started a conversation, and hearing her English accent I thought she might be interested in the fact that the Canadian and English hostages were finally rescued in Iraq. But she was more concerned about her health, having had diarrhea for the last five days. So, I was able to pass on the doctor recommendation, and took her to Jai who took her to the doctor. What a great system, eh?

So, this is what is happening now: I get up, study Hindi for an hour or so, have breakfast, go to the computer place and write for Share and Care's website. In the evening Farrah and I hang out, have dinner, go for walks, and chat about our work and life in general. I'm still looking for a Hindi tutor, and hopefully Arvind, one of Farrah's chums near the hotel, has found someone for me.

I will write more about other parts of my travels soon. I can't believe I return home in just over three weeks!

Take care,

Ellen