camel safari and random things.

So the camel safari was amazing. I'm sore all over, from my belly to my knees, but it was completely worth it. we had this hilarious guide that taught himself english, and some pretty cool card tricks. he taught us how to play pairs, which reminded me a lot of old maid (grandma beck, remember when we played that game all the time? i still remember that funny old card deck) we had 3 camels to ride, and one that pulled our cart, and a place to take a rest from riding. there were 4 guys traveling with us, and they made us chai tea and chippatis and ghobi allu from scratch for our meals. we all layed out in the desert, watching the sun set and the stars pop out. i saw probably the best shooting star i've ever seen in my life. the girls and i are getting really close, the share your deodorant and accidentally spoon in your sleep kind of close. its great. we were going to try to sleep outside our tent, but due to freezing toes and some wild dogs we ended up in the tent. thanks god for my sleeping bag, thats probably the best thing i brought on this trip. we got back today, taking a way too crowded bus (i love the buses though, no tourists, and it offers the best opportunity to people watch), and went to a palace dedicated to rats. one crawled across my foot. they were everywhere. and to worship then, people were laying belly down on the floor. no wonder the plague still exists. it was super gross. then we packed up and headed into town, had some lunch and are hanging out at an internet cafe until our train.

ok, grandma sent me a list of questions, and i thought i'd answer on here in case anyone else was wondering.

How about the toilets?
at school and home we have western toilets, but no one has toilet paper (but its available at some shops, so no worries), because they use water and their left hand to wash after. and thats why you only eat with our right hand here. the "indian" toilet is a hole you just squat over, but mostly at the places we stay its a mix of both, it looks like a low western toilet with a place to stand, and you really shouldn't sit on it.

when you are back with your host family do you have indoor plumbing of is it outside?
everything is indoor, but public urination is completely acceptable for men.

Is it a lot of veg. or do they raise corn and wheat there?
the farms we went to grow veggies and wheat, i haven't seen any corn yet, but i know it exists here, not as much though. in northern india,where i am, the food is wheat based, but in the south it's more rice based.

You said they irriagate so it must be small patches?
Yea, the average farm is probably 5 to 10 acres. it is run mostly by families, but some of the larger farms hire workers around harvest time, which is around 3 times a year.

How are you doing your laundry?
all by hand. we could give it all to one of the servants to do for a few bucks, but i didn't really feel right doing that. so betsy and i bought some liquid detergent, fill up a bucket, clean it, and lay it out in the sun to dry. needless to say, i wear a lot of dirty clothes.

if you guys have any other questions, let me know, i'll keep you updated.