Really, this is fun.

First, the details. My host family is a family of classically trained traditional Indian musicians. My brother is a 5th generation Sitar expert. Just imagine how much I love this.

Now for a diatribe.

My program administration puts a whole lot of time and money into sheltering we privileged students from the angry Indian masses. The pampered life is alright for a week, but the most important part of getting out into the world is to expand - to get uncomfortable and push my limits. The administration prides itself and is esteemed for "playing by the rules" - which means doing its best to keep students fat, complacent, and out of mischief. I'm certainly overfed, but I'll be damned if I let them get me with those other two.

I inquired with the program director about weekend backpacking possibilities. She's very clever, and always finds a way to be prohibitive, but never explicitly so. The truest answer in this situation would have been, "You'll need my help and knowledge of Jaipur and its surroundings to put something like that together. But that would put you outside the tiny realm of my immediate and overbearing control, so I'm not willing to tell you anything helpful."  Rather than press the issue, I've chosen active disobedience as my response to her passive prohibition.

Beginning first thing Saturday morning, accompanied by several good friends, I'll embark on an ill-advised and intentionally unsupervised urban backpacking trip. At the center of "Old Jaipur," there is a beautiful white tower that is said to have the best views of town. This is our first and only planned destination. Atop the tower, we'll choose our next destination from among the other vertically significant natural and man-made features in and around town. Repeat. 

After navigating through as many back alley shops, sex districts and slums as we can find our plan is to end up in the small mountains not far outside Jaipur for the night  We know little (nothing) about the mountains we're heading to, save two important things: 1)Law does not prohibit us from sleeping there and, 2) Death or serious are not likely. So fear not, loved ones, if I return hurt (or do not return), it will have been an improbability. 

We've also vowed to eat street food, use local restrooms in local fashion (please contact me personally for details), get lost, interact, and forget about how important we're told it is to be painfully inoffensive. 

I went with my host brother and father earlier this evening seeking "grey market" running shoes. When I asked Ankit, my brother, to clarify grey market, he explained, "It is not quite illegal." It operates in the bottom floor of a mall beneath the dozens of brand name stores, and sells the same items for a fraction of the cost. 

I was all geared up to make me some borderline-legitimate business transactions, but it would appear that the Indian underworld caters primarily to hobbits. 

Its fairly late, I'm real tired, and I'm getting up early to do some sort of exercise with Ankit. He's great.

No longer in need of constant adult supervision, 

Micah