in which we meet raj and mir

One never knows where I day will take her! We were getting coffee when somehow we started talking to two dudes, Raj and Mir (numbers on opposite page of this journal). They dot their Is with a star and a bubble, respectively, so they can't be fearsome predators. They took us to another coffee/chai place, Raj's store for carpets and silks (we thought this was their game at first-salesmanship), a shop where I got a nice embroidered red shirt, and eventually, Raj's apartment so Jenny could see if she'd be renting it for part of the summer. We've been in so many tourist bureaus today! I got the old "You look Indian" (or, you know, insert country I'm in), which I find flattering. Maybe people will rip me off less when I'm on my own, or it could be that I don't actually look Indian at all. Mir assures me I will have a deep tan in no time at all. But in the meantime, I'm whiter than this sheet of paper. Hmm, no, but disturbingly I am exactly the same shade as this paper, and that is true. Instead of going to a concert with Raj and Mir, I was feeling sick (That was the cover story, too), and we were going to go hang out with the girls in the other hotel. But we can't get in touch with them now, so I'm not sure what's going to happen, despite this afternoon's great nap. I would be happy just staying in and reading all the stuff I'm supposed to. I got some contacts this morning from Daman at ERM. I think they will be good contacts for the water research but we'll see. I really need a better grasp on what I'll be doing. And I really need to finish the IRB submission.