if you want to love me, then darling don't refrain....or i'll just end up walking in the cold november rain

After my autorickshaw adventure, the rest of the afternoon paled by comparison. Ranjit made some tasty veg burgers that were, surprisingly, so good that I could accept and even enjoy the fact that they did not contain any meat. I went to Himalaya Bookstore with a couple of people, and I finally broke down and got a copy of 'The Da Vinci Code'. I had successfully avoided it in the States because they still hadn't realized it in paperback and I refused to pay for the hardcover version, but I was able to pick it up here for around five dollars. However, I have too much work to do over the next few days (or months) to actually read it anytime soon.

I spent the evening at Maya's; she was one of the first people we hired in the office here, and she's one of the nicest people I have ever met. She invited all of the expats over for dinner and general hanging out. She and her husband have a band, and the band mainly sings covers of old rock songs. Her husband absolutely loves Pink Floyd, so we listened to a lot of that, as well as Guns 'n' Roses, Led Zeppelin, etc. Maya's apartment is on the third floor of a house owned by her in-laws, and she has this amazing patio that we all hung out on. It was raining off and on, since the monsoon has finally arrived; but contrary to rain in most places, here it is actually quite welcome despite the dampness because it is so much cooler during and after a shower. So we sat outside in the rain, and I watched the chameleons crawling around the light fixtures. 'November Rain' is a great song, and I enjoyed it even more tonight, since I was sitting in warm June rain rather than cold November rain. However, having had straight Indian food for the past four meals (excluding the French toast this morning), I fear that my chances of getting sick have increased to about 85%. We'll see how things turn out, since I really want to make it to brunch at the Taj tomorrow.

You've gotten two posts out of me today, so I refuse to feel bad about the relative brevity of this post; it's definitely time for bed!