We’d never even heard of the city of Udaipur before we decided to come here.  But Madonna’s been here and a James Bond movie was filmed here (everyone is proud of this and we could watch screenings of the movie every night if we wanted to), so I guess it is we who are slow.  This place is amazing!  We are staying in the old part of the city (the coolest, though touristy part…sigh), and feel like curious kids every time we go walking anywhere.  It’s like a maze.  Windy little alleys that lead to hidden doorways and staircases and rooftops and courtyards.  Even stalls for the cows that wander the streets all day, can be found tucked in small nooks.  Up and down hills, and all crammed up to the man-made lake that, along with the white palace in the middle of it, is the city’s main attraction.  We always just want to wander and poke around, seeing where this or that leads, taking in the sights and smells of all the little shops and bazaars along the way.  The architecture seems really old, and doorways, windows, etc. are often very ornate.  It all feels very middle-eastern to us.  Udaipur is in Rahjasthan, which is dry and hot, hot, hot.  But oh, so colorful: bright sarees, big turbans, buildings in every shade, decorated camels, and lively paintings on so many walls.  We are staying with Johar, in his paying guesthouse, and he takes care of us like we are old friends: making us cold rose lassis (yogurt drinks), piling all 3 of us onto his motorbike to go out for dinner, and showing us his favorite parks, where we hang out and talk until much too late.  There is a ‘hidden’ girls school between the guesthouse, a Hindu temple, and a lot of other buildings haphazardly crammed in around us.  I can only see it – down into the courtyard of it – from our rooftop.  It’s pretty big – it has columns and a big open area where the girls sing every morning….and I still have no idea where the access to it is.  You’d never know that it was there.  We hear that it is so green here after the monsoons and so beautiful when the lake is full.  Maybe we will have to come back someday.

It began with a dog-bite.  The poor girl was broken up pretty badly, her injuries swelling with infection.  She was scared and was finally letting me talk to her pet her, when I discovered that one of her wounds was full of maggots.  Ick.  When Julie came around, we tried to get a closer look at the extent of the dog’s injuries.  And well, you wouldn’t like it if someone started poking and prodding you when you were miserable and in pain either.  So she snapped, and I didn’t get out of the way quite fast enough, and ended up with a wrist poked full of holes.   After a quick washing up and bandaging job in the surgery prep room at Animal Aid, I got to ride in the animal ambulance to the people hospital.  Walked in.  Told someone at a desk why I was there.  They took down some basic info (I am now Heder on my Indian hospital records), and I paid for everything (minus drugs) right up front.  Then I got sent off to a consultation with a doctor.  He asked some questions about what happened, my vaccination history, etc.  And then without ever even looking at my arm, wrote me a prescription and sent me off to the pharmacy.  Eh?  I’m confused about what just happened, but proceed dutifully.  At the pharmacy I pick up all the things I’ve been told to take, and some things that they will need to treat me.  Ah, I get it now.  Back to a treatment room, Spence and the ambulance driver in tow,  where a nurse looks at the prescription in my hand, digs into the stuff I’ve just bought, and finally takes a look at my arm.  Ten minutes later my deep holes are all swabbed out with gobs of gauze pre-soaked in iodine, I have a rabies shot in my bum, and I’m excessively bandaged up again.  It aches like crazy.  At some point, the doctor did pop his head in for a minute, and at another point both Spence and the driver were on the tile floor, trying not to faint.  Didn’t like the sight of a few tendons and blood vessels, I guess.  And with that, we were off.  I took the rest of the day off, and am now taking all the scheduled injections of rabies vaccine.  It’s dang cheap here…might as well.

Being on the go and seeing sights can get old.  So it was with great relief that we arrived in Udaipur this week, with the intention of staying for a few weeks to volunteer at an animal rescue just outside the city.  Animal Aid is a non-profit rehabilitation center, started by a retired couple from the U.S. and their teenage daughter.  Their hospital collects injured strays  – cats, dogs, donkeys, cows, monkeys, pigeons, parrots – nurses them back to health and returns them to their home on the street, if appropriate.  We are mostly working with dogs, and no matter how starved or crippled, mangy, or ugly, their forgiving and happy dog natures always come out, and we are greeted daily with many happy wagging tails.  It is a big work, and it is good to mix with so many other passionate, caring, hard-working people.

On another subject, we split paths with Steve also this last week (the other half of Walters Creative, Kjrstin, left about the time we left Hyderabad).  He is headed off to do more intensive photography work in Hyderabad, and then back to the U.S. to join up with Kjrstin, where they will be responsibly pregnant.  We will miss the amazing photography that we’ve been enjoying, but say big congratulations and wish them the best!