It's good to have visitors in town....or maybe, it's just good to have Megan in town....

When people come to visit, I start to notice things about India again...well, there are definitely thousands of things in India that are hard to miss or even difficult to get used to, but sometimes, I do get used to them. For example, haggling over the price of an auto rickshaw ride or the price of a shawl or even the fact that your auto rickshaw driver just pulled over to the side of the road, got out and peed right then and there. Yes, I actually have gotten used to such things. But with visitors, you start to tell these stories, ask them if such occurrences have happened to them yet and you begin to contemplate why it is that you no longer think of these things as odd.

Well, I'll tell you, in the 5 days that Megan has been here, I've gaped and guffawed at more things than I have in the last month or two. Such things as men who stopped their car in the middle of a MAJOR road to beat up on another human being, 2 naked men bathing in a puddle on the side of another main road, a mouse than ran out from under our dinner table at a fairly nice restaurant, and my favorite...the taxi that accelerated without a driver. Why is it that I have not noticed these very different occurrences in the last couple of months? I have often caught myself saying, "ah, that's India" and turning my head...this past week, though, has been a great reminder that I should probably pay more attention...especially since I could probably fill up this blog with some fantastic stories:) Or maybe Megan should just live here forever because for whatever reason, these oddities are attracted to her presence.

Now, back to the accelerating taxi. On Wednesday night, Megan and I hopped in a taxi at a taxi stand by the American Embassy. The driver then opened his door, and as he did this, the car jolted forward and began to roll. I'm not really sure what happened yet, but here is my best educated guess. The taxi driver tried to jump into the driver's seat, fully intending to press the brakes with the one foot that he was able to get inside the vehicle. Instead, however, he missed the brakes, pressed the gas pedal and the taxi, with Megan and I in the back seat, accelerated rather quickly and slammed right into another taxi. Now for a geometry lesson...Our taxi was perpendicular to the taxi car that we hit. The car that we hit was also the only blockage between us and a main road. Thank you taxi #2. We're sorry about the big dent in the side of your body.