Last night in Mysore

It’s our last night in Mysore. I’m kind of sad to leave…this time with Hasan, without our businesses, school, etc. has been really nice and relaxing. It’s been nice as well to discover some things about India on my own. To acclimate independently, I suppose. Heck, we were even bargaining in jewelry shops yesterday as well as pushing back on scammy autorickshaw drivers and being very grateful for the ones that were so very kind to us.

Yet, I’m ready to move onto the next leg of the trip…isn’t that how it always is? I’m ready for Hasan to be back with Roxie. My sister-in-law, who is taking care of her, says she can tell that Roxie misses us. Not sure what that means exactly, but I want him home with her ASAP. This next week is going to be a lot of working for me – I’ve got a lot more to do for the workshop on Art & Social Media I am leading next weekend back in Bangalore (two full days!).

Today we visited the Mysore Palace which is just beautiful. Seeing 100% silver palace doors, ivory floors inlaid with semi-precious stones, wooden moldings inlaid with ivory, and so on…just gorgeous and amazing to think of humans producing such work. If we’d have stayed until 7 pm, we could have seen them light up the place – but at 4:15 pm when we were done with the tour and had enjoyed some nice relaxation time people-watching on the grass of the palace grounds, I was ready to come back to the hotel. It really can be tiring to be around sooo many people, pushing and shoving. And, sometimes the staring does get quite old. Not sure yet why so many people stare at me, us…is it because we’re Western-looking, because we’re mixed race, or just plain different? On the other hand, I remember quite well as a youngster going to the mall or wherever with my mom in the US, and whenever we’d come across other Indians, there would be staring. I thought it was so strange. Maybe it’s cultural. Or, maybe there in America, it’s about seeing someone “of your own kind” which back then was a lot rarer (since it was before the technology boom brought a bajillion Indians to America). I remember my mother saying “look Indians, Indians!” I of course didn’t particularly care for this association back then because I was trying to fit in as an American. But I can see how it would have been nice for her to see people familiar or somewhat similar. I wonder if immigrants of other cultures experience that in America as well. I am reading (er, listening via iTunes audiobooks) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert on this trip. She talks about going to China and having mothers run up to her and almost bat her away, scared, and warning their children to run away from this “white ghost”. She really didn’t like that about her time in China. Funny what experiences are brought by traveling.

Here are some pictures of the last few days in Mysore, as well as a dinner my sister organized in Bangalore before we left to introduce us to new people, as well as to recognize our engagement. Really yummy food at a Japanese restaurant called Harima.