But this time at the end of the bargaining dance, my guy won out & once again I was in a weaving, not-much-to-protect-you-if-ya-get-hit’ vehicle. AND to add insult to it all, I get soaked from oncoming cars since the auto rickshaw is open & because when it rains here, the water comes down so fast flooding is instant. So yup, we were rockin’ & a rollin’ & I was gettin’ splashed by oncoming traffic because I got in first. On the surface, Kali was being a gentleman, but he probably knew the dumb American was gonna get a bath from sitting on that side. & I couldn’t even accuse him of this because he wouldn’t understand me. But he did understand my reactions from getting splash upon splash of that gorgeously dirty water hurtled upon me. With each splash I got, he cracked up harder.
When we turned the corner I see something that was on the surreal bad horror movie tip—there are about 5 cows standing under the trees on one of the few sidewalks, waiting patiently for the rain to stop. All facing outward to the street with equidistant space between them just. Waiting. Large eyes glittering, I could FEEL them, THINKING! “We’ll mooooovve when it stopppppssssssss.” Ssspoooooky freaky OKAY-E? OH! & to make matters more absurd, we turn down a dark road, [actually all the roads are dark] & the auto rickshaw STALLS! So we are sitting in the pouring rain with traffic whizzing by, horns honking & our driver is revving & revving & revving. The contraption won’t move. Now mind you, I have my laptop so I was none too enamored with the idea of getting out to walk.
After much continued revving, the buggy with a covering putt putts for a bit. Then we stall again.
This portion of the drama finally ends & I am safely ensconced in my temporary digs but it’s time for the last jolt of the day—I walk into the bathroom, well I went to walk into the bathroom only to find the floor soaked with water! There was a leak in the ceiling & that was the first time I found out the buckets served more than one purpose. One to wash yourself with & the other to put under the leak! Eeeeeee----uuuuuuuuuuuu-wah!
And once again, what’s my mantra? Welcome to India, Bird!