The Jaipur Shuffle

After a very delayed bus ride we finally arrived to Rajasthan from Delhi. For the cleaner air and more relaxed atmosphere (and keep in mind that everything is relative in India) it was worth the 9+ hours in transit. Just after arriving to Jaipur we all settled into our home stays where we were welcomed by plenty of food and warm hospitality. For the past couple of days we have attended morning yoga classes followed by Hindi. The afternoons have been full with a couple lectures (Indian history, Indian Polity) and visits to local block printing and ceramic artists. It's hard to believe that already one week has gone by. We aren't sure if it should be longer or shorter, India seems to have us caught in some kind of time warp. Either way we have been having fun and becoming closer to each other. Tonight we plan on visiting a Ganesh mandir for puja and prasad, which is appropriate for the beginning of our trip, as he is called "The Remover of Obstacles" and is invoked by Hindus at the beginning of any endeavor or undertaking to assure success: Aum gam ganapataye namah!