• We are in Amritsar in Punjab state. We have been here three days, I think, and it has been strange, but in the best way. We came here by train, riding in "Ordinary class" which cost Rs. 38 for Garrett and I together. So for a 3-4 hour train ride it cost less than $1 U.S. pon arriving in Amritsar, before disembarking from the train, we met a young man named Jagroop Singh. He lives in a village not far from Amritsar and comes to the city every day to visit the Golden Temple. Since we also wanted to visit the temple we decided to accompany him. This is where everything starts. Because we decided to go with Roop we are now in a small social circle of young Sikh guys our age. They all have motorcyles and they all want to hang out with us all the time. There is Roop, Lovepreet, Diamond, Honey, Prince, Babloo, and a host of others. They take us to their villages on their motocyles. We swim in the river with tons of kids. We recline on handmade beds and eat what I believe are grapes from a huge tree. We drive their tractors. At times it has been a bit overwhelming being swept up into this group and having to deal with "drama". Everyday they all want us to call them and spend time with them. For example, yesterday we were spending time with Honey and we had to call Prince by 10am. When we told Honey this, he said no don't call Prince call him tomorrow, spend time with him tomorrow. Perhaps one of my favorite memories so far: Playing the old Nintendo (?) video game "Contra" with Babloo's young brother. But perhaps the most memorable was visiting Roop's school. It is located in the farmland outside of Amritsar. Approximately 500 students attend the school. Roop introduced us to the principal and several teachers. The school is located in Kotla Sultan Singh, which is the birthplace of Mohammed Rafi, the legendary Hindi film playback singer. When one of the school's math teachers informed me of this I was speechless. We have had so many opportunities to practice Hindi, although our friends only want us to speak English so that they can practice. This certainly is not tourism, at least I don't think it is. I honestly don't know what it is, but I think it is good. We will probably spend several more days here in Amritsar and then move onto either Jodhpur in Rajasthan or Mumbai. The kid who is running the internet cafe I am writing from just put on some good Bhangra music....

Sincerely,

Grant