On a cheerier note...

I forgot to mention the nice thing about my hospital visit yesterday. When I walked in, the receptionist grinned at me and said, "Hi, [insert my name here]! Where's your friend!" It was the same receptionist who last week realized the other patient and I had the same first name, and she remembered me. :-)

On another cheery note, I called Emirates Airlines to get vegetarian food on our flights. When I first checked their website I started stressing, because I didn't see "vegetarian" as an option under dietary restrictions. Well, that's because it was under religious restrictions. In fact, there are four vegetarian options: lacto-ovo, vegan, Hindu and Jain. I love living in this part of the world.

I particularly enjoy that ALL their meals -- including the Hindu and Jain ones -- are halal. God forbid a Hindu be served non-halal lamb!

And on our flights on an Indian airline within India, vegetarian meals are the default. For once it's the non-vegetarians who have to call the airline to request their preferred diet -- and on some short flights, non-veg food isn't even an option. Hah! Take that, omnivores! ;-)

Hari Krishna

I just finished the Bhagavad Gita, just in time for the trip to India. It was a very interesting read, and not at all what I expected. All I really knew about it is that it is the conversation between Arjuna (a warrior), and his charioteer (who turns out to be an avatar of Vishnu), and that Krishna convinces Arjuna he ought to fight in the upcoming battle, though he worries it's the wrong thing to do. This, of course, didn't predispose me to liking the Gita. But of course, it's not really about the battle, it's about the nature of reality and stuff, and it turned out to be very interesting.

I wrote down some of my favorite shlokas (verses) as I went along, which only goes to show that I didn't absorb the message of the Gita, which is (at least in part) that if I were truly enlightened I wouldn't worry about picking favorites. So here is a list of favorite verses, because sadly that's all the reflecting I have time to do right now.

( The Bhagavad Gita's greatest hits )

...and they're off!

First thing in the morning, anyway.

So adieu for two weeks! If I get any internet access in India I'll post here rather than e-mailing folks, for maximum efficiency. :-) But realistically, don't expect to hear anything.

People on my friends list, don't forget that you can find my itinerary here in case of emergency. (Actually, my itinerary is there even when there isn't an emergency, but you know what I mean.) We'll also have our cell phones with us, and I hear they will probably work there. I don't know anything about cell phone ranges and such.