elephants, tourists, and Holi.. oh my!

ask and ye shall receive.. thanks for the comments loves. And in return, I'm attempting to put up lots of pictures as promised! Even if it takes hours on the dubious internet connection.
Meanwhile.. my plans changed a bit and I am actually still at Sambhavna; basically realized I wanted more time here and was only really leaving so soon b/c of the elephant festival.. so I just went out to Jaipur for two days, saw the sights and the elephants and then got back this morning. Now I'm planning on leaving the 17th with Nirupa, or maybe a day earlier if I try to go tiger-spotting in a national park first. It's definitely nice to have a "home" here, and in some respects I feel like I could stay for quite a while.. but then there's so much I want to see in India, I've got to get moving at some point, and I think I'll be really happy when I do. The couple days in Jaipur were actually great for getting back into travelling a little and having some time to remember I can do things on my own, and I'm really glad I went even though my instinct is not to go somewhere and then back the way I came.
I took the passenger (i.e. stop everywhere along the way at every single tiny station) sleeper train to get there which was quite the experience what with three sections of three levels of bunks within like a 12 by 6 foot space, the various bugs, random people getting on and off all the time.. but it was actually fine, I spread out my nice little sheet bag and had plenty of time in the morning to watch the for the desert. Course we got to Jaipur like 3 hours late, but it all worked out b/c I found out the elephant festival wasn't until 4 the next day, not all day like I expected, so I had plenty of time to do the sights and festival. Monday afternoon I went to Amber fort a little outside of town, which was sort of a huge palace with all these labyrinths of rooms with stair cases leading to unexpected places.. I could just see myself running from all the Indian tourists and getting more and more lost, like "No! I don't want my picture taken! No!" Then Tuesday I walked around the bazaars a bit, went to the part of the City Palace (where the Maharajah and fam still live) that's open to the public, saw this crazy observatory made out of sculptures that one of the Rajput kings built, and dodged all the people trying to sell my sparkly shoes and gorgrous Rajasthani tie-dye. Jaipur is right up there with Delhi and Agra on the tourist track, quite a ways from Bhopal, so it was pretty weird to see all these white people everywhere and tons of touristy shops and a lot of international chain stores. Then there was the elephant festival, which on one hand was just a huge photo op (complete with people yelling at each other for standing in their shots) but on the other hand was some crazy cool stuff I wouldn't have seen anywhere else, like painted and lavishly decorated elephants and costumed dances. I caught the express (and much cleaner and calmer.. the food vendors even wore uniforms!) train back to Bhopal and arrived this morning, just in time for Holi!
Holi is the big spring festival for Hindus, which involves lots of coloured powder and water and rowdiness and fun. I'm not too clear on the religious significance though.. for the last couple days there've been tons of stalls in the streets selling powders in all kinds of bright colors, water guns, balloons, etc..and a few people got started yesterday, with powder throwing during the day and bonfires and music at night. Today we got started early making a mess at Sambhavna, then went to a party on a rooftop nearby for lots more powder, some intense water fights, and old ladies signing and playing drums. All of my hair and exposed skin were dyed, and a lot of it still hasn't come off after the first scrubbing.. I guess I'm having a relapse to my purple-hair phase.
Tomorrow the clinic will be back open after two days of holiday, and our group of volunteers has changed a bit.. Mary and Frank are gone and missed, and there's a new American volunteer, a 26 year old guy from Montana. Really my last week now!
me and Nirupa mid-Holi
Elephants at the festival
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bazaars in Jaipur

largest sundial in the world

City Palace in Jaipur

bangle guys making little wax powder bombs for Holi

powders

demonstration for International Women's Day (can you find me?)

kids of the woman who cooks dinner

kids at a school we visited

sunset from Sambhavna

Lalita-ji making medicine

Union Carbide plant



Wall around the factory


Sanchi


Puja's birthday party

the birthday girl herself

the corner store

in the neighborhood

part of the family who live next to the tailor

at the tailor

I fit right in

gilo-free fence!