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Re: dude!!!   Inbox
		
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	 Ben Bressler 	
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	 Oct 10 (4 days ago) 

Dear Josiah
I hope you are good. I just got back from a crazy weekend in Madurai (The closest semi big
city from where I am). I am mostly good except, I am hella broke for now. But I can afford
what I need.

I left Jesus Nagar(the place where I am working at) after breakfast on friday. As
I was walking towards the bus stop the "tech guy" spotted me and offered me
a ride to the bus station. I was happy to accept because I love riding on the back
of scooters/motorcycles. The ride was very short, and he told what market to go to and
what to be careful of. He let me off at the bus station and showed which bus to take.
 (even though the train is cheaper it only goes once a day to Madurai but buses go
every fifteen minutes). So I got on the correct bus, all buses here have a driver and a fare collector,
they don't have the fancy machines that take money like trimet does. I told the fare
collector I was going to Madurai, and he said 49 RS I gave him a 50 RS note and he only
 gave me a ticket. I get really used to getting ripped off 1 rupee here and there.
I don't make a fuss if it's less than 4 rupees(ten cents). The bus(Like all Indian buses)
was gunky, crowded, outdated and clanky(loud engine). I didn't mind, however I had a window
seat and a list of things I needed to do in Madurai. Indian transportation isn't that bad
All trip buses and trains have tons of vendors that sell items appropriate to the needs
of weary travelers(fruits, peanuts, cold water, sweets and other snacks) It's all pretty
cheap like 2-10 rupees (5-25 cents). If you ask how much something cost they think
you are buying it and will be angry if you don't.

As the bus drove through the Indian, I absorbed all the strange smells every minute,
first there was that gross stagnant body of water smell, it's really horrid. I don't
know if it's the worst smell in the world but it's in top ten worst smells, at least.
After that was the burning garbage smell, it was a such a relief to smell something else
but it's still not very pleasant.

when I first arrived at the bus station I was bombarded by auto drivers "auto!" "auto!".
 I wish I knew how to say piss off in Tamil, so I just tried to ignore them instead.
 I never take auto rickshaws anymore unless I am with an Indian, because the two
times I took it by myself I got ripped off, an insane amount. It was like american
 taxi prices.

So I walked about a kilometre away from the bus station, away from all the crazy indians
trying to get my money. I found a city bus stop, which is the only form of transportation
that really fits my budget. It's always less than 5 rupees(12 cents!). So I took the
city bus into the city and wandered around for a hour, trying to find the youth hostel
by asking random people, most people are really friendly but sometimes when they help you
they expect you to pay them, so you just have to be like , fuck you. I found a wine shop
and I bought what appears to be like a half of a fifth of whiskey for about $4. Then on
the bus I put my bag next to me, and bump! my bag fell over and the whiskey bottle
cracked open and spilled all over, there was a strong stench and I was really embarrased
as everyone on the bus was looking, many things were ruined, my cell phone was ruined,
my India travel book smells of alc and so does my sodoku book. I was like "why does
this happen to me?". When I finally arrived at the youth hostel (I only made it there
by all the Indians helping me with directions) I walked through the gate, passed the
parking lot and it became clear; this building was
clearly in need of repair, it reminded me of 28 days later or district B13 the hostel
was just in a really bad state. When I entered the lobby, I looked pass the front desk
and it looked like a refugee camp;clothes hanging everywhere, some rooms having tents
instead of beds. I looked around for the receptionist and after a couple seconds I
realized he was sleeping on the floor. I woke him up by knocking on the desk.
He awoke in a sort of flinching motion, like he wasn't suppoused to be sleeping. I began
trying to tell him that I would like a room, he tried to explain in very poor english that
the hostel was full. This was very upsetting, I really needed to wash all my liquor stained
stuff, I tried to ask to use his phone book to find another cheap hotel but he barely understood
and brought me the white pages(It only has names) so I left abruptly knowing that I
couldn't accomplish anything here. The Youth hostel was right by the cricket stadium so
I got to see where Indians play that game there so obssesed with, which was kinda cool, but again
in terrible condition, talk about 3rd world country! So I wandered around asking people where a
hotel is, until a found one with a reasonable rate, but when he asked for my passport, I told him
 I don't have it on me. He quickly became impatient "Passport, please!" he sputtered and I spat
back "I don't have it on me, don't let me sleep on the street!". "No, passport no room!" and
he swiftly gave back my wad of rupees. What a dick I thought, I am just trying to sleep.
So I found another hotel, but it was the same story. So I was like screw this area and I
got on a bus to go to the market/temple area of Madurai. After getting off the bus it
took me only a couple minutes to find a hotel, that had a "no passport no problem policy".
My room was simple, it had a fan, two beds, a bathroom, windows on one side however no TV, but I couldn't
complain it was only 200 Rupees($5). I have stayed in shittier hotels in the states for
$30-$50. At this point I was so glad I had found a place put my stuff and to wash up(I was all sweaty+gross
from the bus ride). After that I went into the temple area, I was first looking
for a mosquito net, because rainy season is next month. So I went into a shop that advertised
"MOSQUITO NET", I don't know why they had that sign because they definately did not sell anything
like mosquito nets but one man showed me a place that did. After I bought a net the man was like "where are you
going next?".

Looking back, I really need to be more cautious of people, sometimes people really do want
to be your friend and other times they just want to show you around and then charge you tons of money for it.
This is where I made a mistake. I told him I needed to go to a camera repair shop, my camera
had stopped taking pictures and I had no clue what was wrong with it. So he took me to the shop, it was
really messy, it was basically a room, with shelves all around filled with cameras, most
cameras were outdated and still took film pictures, there was a small shelf that had nicer digital cameras
and there was a desk with wires and screw drivers and stuff. He told me it would cost
1,500 Rupees to fix($37) at that point I was ready to throw the camera away so I agreed
but that's probably kind of expensive now that I think about it. I am just not really used
to this whole bargaining thing. After that I am gonna call him tard(the man that showed me the mosquito net place).
So after I got the pick up slip, Tard was like "Where do you need to go next?" We went to
a cell phone repair shop, which are everywhere, Indians love cellphones. After that
we went to a tailor because I needed some shirts. At the time I didnt realize but I really
got ripped off at the tailors, "$25 for two tailored shirts is way too much in India", I was told
by everyone when I got back to Rameswaram. But the material was nice, and it's a good deal in
america where a tailored shirts can start at $50. I wondered around into one of those
50 cent restaurant and that was delicouis. Later that evening at around 6 or 7 I realized
I needed to buy gifts for everyone. I went into a really nice 4 story air conditioned
store, that sold rugs, shawls, bedspreads just lots of handicrafts. I didn't really know
the going rate for anything, but after looking at alot of shawls, bedspreads, wooden carvings
I ended buying this really nice queen size red cotton bedspread with beauitful intricate
designs and I bought a little wooden box that locks with a key and has a little drawing of
a pretty house on it. It really caught my eye and I really wanted it.

A couple days After paying 4,000 Rupees($100) for the two items I went to similiar shops and
talked to different people and I realized I paid way too much for the items and
so  I made a couple of rules for buying stuff from now on.
1) Don't buy anything from nice stores, you can get the same stuff in a crappier store
for half the price
2) Make insulting counter offers, try to offend them, threaten to leave if they can't meet them
3) DO YOUR HOMEWORK-Whatever your looking for ask many people(doesn't matter who just
people on the street if you have to) what the going rate is for
that certain type of thing your looking for.
4) Don't ask for a price give them a price you think is fair and see if you can go from there.
5) Don't appear really interested in a item, just show a little interest so they know
you would only buy it for the right price but it's not like you have to have it.

So when I left that expensive store, I finally was ready to say goodbye to tard
and just then he started going on about how I need to give him, 600 Rupees. At this
point I was just really hating India, I have felt all the extremes in India it can be a real love&
hate relationship but usually I love India. For some reason I felt obligated to pay him,
 even though I never asked for his help he just sort of took me to all these places that
 I needed to go. I bartered him down to 450 Rupees which is still way too much($11).
I felt like such an idiot, I shouldn't have to paid him.

I really should write a do's and dont's for India book. People have told me some things,
I should be cautious of but there is alot I have learned the hard way.
It is possible to live cheaply in India if you just buy what you need. After walking
back from the shop, I had a bicycle rickshaw driver solicite me for some hasheesha.
I was excited to finally try the infamous Indian ganja. I didn't want to pay much, again
I don't know the going rate, he tried to sell me 450 Rupees worth of it but I forgot
how many grams he said that was. I ended up giving him 150 Rupees, for a what appeared to
be a fifteen sack?. I really don't even know, I never buy weed in the states I just smoke other people's
so I could have gotten ripped off, but he told me he had kids to feed, he was probably bluffing
but sometimes, if your not that firm of a person you just give in to their crap. So I went
to my hotel, and made a spliff because all I had was some ciggaretes and I couldn't smoke
the Ganja any other way. It was some pretty dank stuff, but spliffs are really hard to
make so I barely got a couple hits.

After that it was about 9:30 at night, I looked out my window and noticed a bar. I
have never been to a bar before, so I went over to the bar to get some drinks. That
night I got so wasted, there is lots of gaps in what happened so I will try to recite
what happened as best as I can. But I was like step mom drunk. I remeber going up to
the rooftop bar, I know that sounds nice but it wasn't it was just like plastic chairs
and tables and halfs of fifths being served with 7up and peanuts. After a couple of
chugs of rum, my mood was really starting to turn, and then at a table across from me, some
Indian guys probably in their 30's made the waiter bring me some peanuts. They were
delicouis and as I was thanking them they invited me over to their table. I was so
wasted I hardly remember what we talked about. I remember I was doing most of the talking.
I do remember all the men worked at the same place but I don't remember where, I just
remember asking them "So like Indians like dont date, right?" and other stupid questions
like "Do you drive Bajaj Pulsar those are like fast, yeah?". They were very friendly
and happy to answer my retarded questions. I ordered so many peanuts because they were really
good. Sometimes I can get the munchies when I am drunk.
 After that I only remember getting the bill and it was under $5 so I was like whatev
and I also remember all of my newly made Indian friends driving away in motorcycles and
directing me somewhere. I remeber asking where something is and them telling me but I
don't remember what. After that I was sort of just wandering around. I looked inside a
church that was having a midnight prayer session, and I talked to a priest for a while,
just to see if he was connected with my ministry, and what kind of work his church was
doing, apparently he runs alot of orphanages in Madurai and other ministries.
I gave him my email address in case I wanted to work in another orphanage. I continued
wondering around, there were still tons of beggars in the street asking for food. I
didn't really know that I am a generous person in intoxication, but I must have fed
20 beggars that night. First one beggar came up to me making a motion that signifies her
eating food, so I bought her food and then more and more beggars came out of nowhere. You
can't feed all of them, and this isn't really helping them in the long run but right now
this specific beggar is a person and needs to eat,, I thought to myself that night.
After spending too much at the food stall. I walked in front of a magazine rack and a
sked some guys who were seemingly a bit younger
than the ones at the bar, I asked them what this magazine was. The magazine looked a bit
smutty, but it wasn't porn or soft porn like MAXIM or something. The men said it was a
romance magazine. I found this quite humourous and bought the magazine for 25 cents. It
was basically like soft porn there was some hot Indian chicks in bra+panties. I was like
whatev and gave it to the guy who claimed it was a romance magazine. I talked to the three
guys for a little while, just about whatever I hardly remeber as I was really drunk. But
I am pretty sure it was about like Indian culture VS american culture, cricket, how
they hate pakistan, good things to eat, cool places to see ect. After talking for maybe
 a half a hour, a fight broke out about a block away. I could see some belligerent fool
in the distance trying to start trouble. One of the guy I was talking to just then said "this
man is drinking, we should go it can get dangerous". So he gave me a ride on the back of
his motorcycle(no helmet!) to my hotel. At this point I felt a little better just because
I had actually spent some time with Indians and they weren't trying to get my money.


I crashed in my hotel room, but only slept till six in the morning. At six I really
couldn't go back to sleep. I tried because there would be nothing to do at six in the
morning, but I couldn't. So I wandered around the city at six in the morning, but I am
really glad that I did. It was really quiet not many motor vehicles were out and the city was very
clean because all the street sweepers had just finished sweeping, so you could walk
around and not have to worry about stepping in fecal matter and it was nice to not
see any garbage on the street. I bought some chai and it was good, I ran into
my drug dealer but for some reason I was sort of happy to see him, he was at least
better than TARD. I told him I needed to eat breakfast so he showed me where this good breakfast
place was and after I had finished he tried to sell me a pipe, it was stupid looking it was just
like a tube that changed in diameter alot. I was like no thank you but I continued to
talk to him, he wasn't very pushy and he took no as an answer when he tried to sell me
more weed and a pipe. I went back to the market by the temple, ordered some more tailored
shirts for a little bit better price but still too much 2 pants and 2 shirts for $25.
Tailored clothes are actually like $1 maybe $2, so I got ripped off again. I bought a
jump rope for the kids and some other toys from a shop. I bought a mirror and a new cell phone.(Because
my old was ruined from the liquour spill)
I went into another expensive store and bought a cashmere shawl for 2,500 RS which again is
too much ($66) but at the time I didn't know better.(My list of shopping rules was made after the
trip).It was really aggravating because after I bought that shawl this random
man took me to this hole in the wall store, where they had the same stuff starting at
$1,000, I could have bought so much more for so much cheaper.
I also found another man who showed me around some stores and places, but before
 he did I clarified that if he wanted to take me somewhere I would NOT pay him,
he said of course not and miracoulsly he never asked for money.
For gifts I also bought some stainless steel tupperware. After leaving that shop
I ran into a man holding a naked baby, asking for money to clothe his child. The baby
looked innocent and precouis, I didn't know what to do, how could I say no? I bought the baby a new
 outfit that costed 150 Rupees(about $3). Just after that I ran into TARD, at this point I realized
is sort of a small city, also the area I was in is sort of a small community so it's
easy to run into people. I wasn't happy to see TARD, but I went with him to the camera
shop, he kept assuring me that he wanted to show me this monkey temple and that he
wouldn't charge me any rupees today for showing me around. He finally convinced
me, as I did really want to feed monkeys and have them climb all over me. We took
a rickshaw there even though I insisted we take a bus, we bought some snacks, for the
monkeys beforehand. The place was actually called rock cut temple, the actuall temple
 was really stupid and it's exactly as it sounds. A rock that was cut into a bunch of
Hindu gods. But the monkeys were really cool, they were very shy at first but they soon
got closer and closer and would eat from my hand. They had such cute little hands and little
finger nails they would eat with both hands nibbling on the dates until they were finished.
One of the monkeys started eating directly from my bag and I grabbed his hand, then monkey shrieked
and jumped away, I was then instructed that you can't ever touch the monkey.
Watching them play and eat never got old, I could have done it all day. When I was
feeding some monkey by a tree, one jumped on my shoulder. I didn't know what do so I
just slowly fed it and made sure not to make any swift moves as to scare it. Soon after
more people came and the monkeys became distracted with other visitors with food for them.
Some other time I thought I should go there with a friend and just hang out there all day,
have a picnic with the monkeys. The park area was really pretty and there was a trail you can
take that goes to the top of the mountain. On my myspace page my default picture is, one of
me and one of the monkeys that jumped on my shoulder.


After leaving the rock cut temple,
I went to lunch with tard and paid the auto driver 100 Rupees which is isn't bad as the temple
is very far away and he waited in the auto while we visited the monkeys. The restaurant
was seemingly cheap as everything was like a dollar. It was really good but when the bill came
I realized TARD, ordered a bunch of extra food so the bill was 300 rupees instead of 100 rupees
like I expected, it was hard to explain to him that he ordered a bunch of food that he
didn't need and that was really inconsiderate. I wish I could have said something
else so he knew, that because of him I couldn't afford a hotel that night. Just blocks
away from exiting the restaurant a Muslim woman came up to me
with five kids, "please we are a poor family, can you spare some money for food?" the few
words she spoke were in pretty good accent, all her family was dressed in traditional
muslim clothing, I asked where a restaurant was and she took me to a cheap looking food stall.
I gave the front desk 20 rupees and told him it's for food for this family. 20 rupees
should be enough. After this TARD went to a call booth after the call was finished
he explained to the lady collecting money for the phone booth that I would pay,
he is such a D-bag even though he took me to that really cool place with monkeys.
It was a 5 rupees call and all I had was 2 rupees(in small bills) so I hard to break
a thousand rupee bill. TARD didn't even ask me if he could make a call on my expense.
After the phone call dilemna we started walking back to the same tailors that I went to with him the other day
as my clothes were finished, walking through the alleys I realized I didn't really have
enough money, all the rip offs were adding up, I overspent. But I still had one more
big expense; shipping a package to america. After picking up my shirts, I bought a really
pretty bag for Hannah, for only $1.50. It's hard to know what people like, some people
I know spend a lot of time talking about things they like, other just don't. Hannah
doesn't nessacarily spend alot of time talking about what she likes, but I know she
will like this bag, it's really pretty.

I deicided I was ready to ship the package, but I was still with TARD, first we went to a DHL office,
they wanted 6,000 RS!($150). I was baffalled(spelling?) all the items put toghether
were not worth that much, and this was the cheapest service, I know it comes with
a tracking number and everthing but that is just too much money. So after that we went to
a goverment post office, and they only charged 1700 RS($45) that's a pretty good deal
for a 5 kilo package even though it will take a month to arrive. The post office
was very burreacratic, I had to fill out some paper work. They also searched
through all the contents of the box, in a sort of playful way and they spent a while
packing it a certain way, they put cotton linen all aroundthe box and wax on the corners,
and they made the box smaller as to be most effiecient, packing it all very tightly.
After I was finally done, I met some Swiss backpackers, and talked to them
for a little bit, they seemed to be enjoying India, their english was pretty
good. It was nice to talk to someone who was not from India and look at it all
from a 3rd party standpoint, just to say what we liked and didn't like and
how deal with certain situations. After the post office, I was ready to go
home and TARD, after begging for like 15 minutes managed to get 100 Rupees from
me by playing the "I need to feed my family" card. I was just so ready to say
goodbye to TARD even though his company was nice at times, although all through today he kept
asking me if I want fucking videos or hasheesha or to meet nice Indian girls.
I firmly told him I am not interested in any of those but he would check again
every hour or so to see if I changed my mind. So at this point, Tard's friend
said he would give me a ride on his motorbike to the train station, after a
couple blocks away he had to get pretrol, he filled the scooter up and then explained
to the gas attendant he had no rupees, and then he proceeded to ask me to pay.
I didn't not appreaciate, I was not even going to consider to paying, I firmly told
him I don't have any money. Just as I was ready to leave to take the bus,
TARD came out of nowhere and payed for the petrol. I then got back on
the motorbike and he drove me to the train station.

It was big and complicated and there were tons of people everywhere, so I had to
ask random people but everyone spoke enough english to tell me which line to go in.
My ticket was a little less than 75 cents, which is pretty good cosidering
the distance is about equal to PORTLAND TO SEATTLE. Indian people are really
nice you just have to know which ones want to talk to you and which ones
want to charge you. Just walking to my train, I met a Indian boy but his
english was really poor and I couldn't say much after the basic; what's your
 name? what you do in India? What is your age? What country you are from?
What is your village?. But he was very nice and found us some good spots on the train
right by the window. Sitting by the window I noticed a
ll the vendors walking by all the windows "tea!, biscuits!" and
the like. Once Vendor walked by my window selling tea and
 I asked how much the tea is and he said 5 Rupees. I realized I actually don't want it
 and I told the vendor that
I wasn't interested and told him to go. He poured the tea anyways and waited several
minutes for me to pay for this tea that I didn't ask for. Everyone on the train
was telling me to just pay for the tea, but I was stubborn and exclaimmed
I didn't ask for it, I don't know why he poured it. He lowered the price
a couple rupees, but I wouldn't budge, eventually he moved on. I felt kind
of bad, but I was tired of people giving me things I didn't want. Then
a man on the train, told me "In India, only ask the price if you are
going to buy otherwise it will cause a problem for you"
. "Whatever" I thought, I would rather ask first and see if it's worth it
to me. The beggining of the train ride, I began to write in my journal,
just about my trip and stuff, but shortly after everyone that sat near me
was looking over my shoulder and seeing what I wAS Writting. In India they
don't really have "personal space" or comfort zones, in america what they
did would be considered so rude, but here it's fine. In India people also just
pick up things you have and examine them casually, without asking.
It's weird there is no "excuse me" "do you mind if I?" "Can I see?"
there just don't have the same mannerisms.

It bothered me at first, but I just learned to adjust. I stopped writting in my
journal as I knew I wouldn't be successful in keeping to myself, trying to keep up
on my writting. So after I put the book away and shortly after everyone began to talk to
me and aska questions. I talked to everyone in my
train car booth, just about simple things like what work they are in, what I am doing in India,
cultural differences, how India is changing. Everyone was really friendly and
some of them spoke really excellent english. There was a math teacher who asked
me how much a teacher makes in the united states, I told him the number in rupees,
and he then began to express how he would like to work in the united states.
I told him how expensive things are in the united states, more money in a
costlier place could mean a lower standard of living. For example software engineers
in India make about ($1,500/month) and software engineers in USA usually make close to around
($7,000/month) but I would say Indian software workers have a higher standard of living,
they all drive cars, own several houses, can afford big families there is basically
not alot they can't afford in India. American software workers make decent money but
they certainly don't live like the ones in India.

So an Indian software engineer makes about 1/7 of the typical american software engineer.
but living in India can be up to 20 times cheaper.

In america      In India

a decent sit down restaurant    a decent sit down restaurant
with a table, water ect     with a table, water ect
is $10/person      is only 50 cents/person
  
A package of biscuits     A package of biscuits
is a dollar maybe 50 cents    is 5 or 7 cents

A air conditioned taxi ride    A air conditioned taxi ride
across town       across town
is $35       $3

A decent house in the city    A decent house in the city   
with adequate bedrooms, lot     with adequate bedroms, lot size
size, kitchen ect     kitchen ect.
$300,000      $15,000 

A text message on your cell phone   A text message on your cell phone
without a text plan      without a text plan
5 cents       1/10 of a cent

A banana is 50 cents     A banana is 5 cents


I could go on, the only exceptions is electronics are about the same price
and cars/motorcycles are only about 50% cheaper.


The point I am trying to make is this math teacher wanted the american salary, but that salary
in america might provide a lower standard of living hes used to.

Everyone on the train was really nice I talked to alot of people. They had so many questions about
america and what life is like there. They asked about politics, how safe it is, what people are like,
what is and isn't culturally acceptable and many other questions. I felt strange I was basically an ammbassador for america,
I was to personifiy america, sort of. The passengers in my booth, would ask things about americans as a whole, like what do americans think about
the war in Iraq? or something like that, so I had to be careful when I was trying to portray what americans are like
and explaning certain american mindsets/values.

Later in the train when most people had left, some children got on the train in my car, and they came up and started talking to me.
They loved to say all the english phrases they learned in school, they were very nice, and I tried to ask them questions about
what their everyday life is like. But there was a pretty immense language barrier, so it felt like playing sharades(spelling-cha raids? the game
where you act something out and they say what it is)

It can sometimes be lonely travelling solo, but when I think about it, all the things I have done and
people I have hung out with, might not have  happened if I was with some one else just because
you have to take in consideration what they want to do. Solo travelling has been good, but I am still
 really excited to meet up with Sydney(Andrew Goria's friend) and Hannah. It will be nice to be with
someone you are on the same page with, and you can consult with.

When the train station arrived in Rameswaram, I tried to get out the train station as quickly as possible
and avoid all the auto drivers. I quickly walked to town but everything was dark, I walked around this neighborhood
looking for a bust well lit street, this was probably the most dangerous place I have been in India, just because I was white and out after in dark
in a poor neighborhood and I could see murky figures, thankfully nobody approached me. After walking through a couple more scary alleys, I eventually
 found a busier street, I asked around to find out which bus goes to the bus station because
 I knew my way home from there. I got on the bus which was only a couple rupees to take, and it took me to
the bus station. I waited a little while for the next bus to come that I know goes by where I am staying, but
it was taking too long, so I started to walk. It was only a couple kilometres, maybe a one hour walk.
About a couple minutes from starting my walk, a motorcyle slowed down and the driver asked me where I was going.
I told him I was walking to Jesus Nagar and he said he knew Billy Graham(A pastor there) and he
 and offered me a ride on his motorcycle, I of course agreed and we putted away. At this
point I realized I am a pretty trusting person and I give everyone the benefit on the doubt when I am judging
character. I realized that I just have to trust random people sometimes, but when I do I always make sure that I am having
that strange feeling that this person
is trust worthy. So I arrived home very late, and shorly after a shower I went to sleep.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my story, it took me FOREVER to write.
I am so broke, so I wont be doing any trips for at least a month. Fireworks are in the north.
Ganja, is not as cheap as I thought but I will see what I can do about sending a care package.

ThiS took me several hours to write, over a period of two days.
Mostly because of the lack of personal space+boundaries, people
just come into my room, read what email I am writting, start talking to me,
ask to watch a movie on my computer, or if I want to do another activity.
It's like what I am doing doesn't mattter at all, it's just a different culture.

Well
I miss you
-Ben

 


     

 

 

	
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