Every once in a while I've found myself in a suddenly darkened room. The power outages have been more frequent in this new hotel in Agra. Last night, I went for a walk in Agra's darkened streets. I could hear the rows of generators desparately trying to jackknife some light to each building.
I've been on a comedown since seeing the Taj Mahal. I've felt sluggish today. I was trying to figure out why. I ate in a restaurant that didn't have a sign, a menu, a napkin, or lights, but my stomach's held up. To say that beds are firm in India is to say Hitler wasn't a friend to the Jews. An old guy ran over my foot with his bike today. I yelled at him and thought about following him to kick his ass, but fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. There was a 36-hour range where I didn't talk to any member of one particular gender. I don't know how those guys in Khost or FATA do it. I need to see women, to talk to women.
Speaking of women, I've heard from a couple of different Australian women that I have a non-descript accent, meaning they couldn't make out my nationality from my accent, which surprised me. I guess that's why my Moldovan scheme has worked so well. Plus, no one's ever heard of Moldova.
Today, a rickshaw driver said that because we were friends, he would take me to the train station for free (forget the fact that I didn't want to go to the train station to begin with). I told him that maybe I was his friend, but he wasn't mine, because he was trying to scam me. I also told him that even if my legs were chopped off right then and there, I'd rather crawl on the dirty, shit-covered street than take his rickshaw.
And finally, there were explosions right outside my window. I found out that these and the ones in jaipur are to celebrate Diwali.
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