Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.

What I was up to other than here:

• I finally finished the book
  [easyazon_link identifier=”0804172706″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]A Little Life[/easyazon_link]. It was a whopper! I definitely suggest it.
• I have been writing like CRAZY. I wrote 2 article for Bravo this week, 7 for another freelance website (about Jordan) and 9 for Hippie in Heels about Jordan- so there is a lot of info coming soon! I also had an awesome beach day, went the Nilaya with some friends (an awesome pool) and started working out again. I worked out last monsoon time for a couple months but then stopped and just couldn’t start again. So, it sucks… and I hate everything about it but I’m doing these 10 minute work outs now because I cannot diet! I have dreams about Chipotle burritos. I have dreams about the frozen isle of grocery stores.. life is food and food is life… hahaha just kidding (not kidding at all actually)! Do you guys know of any good youtube butt/leg/abs work out videos? Who needs upper body strength…
• A Plus did a little mention of 11 travel bloggers (Hippie in Heels was one). It’s Ashton Kutcher’s website so that was pretty cool.
• Ben’s been gone all week in Mangalore. I’m thinking about going back with him this weekend on the train. Anyone been to Mangalore? What’s worth seeing there?

Now your story,

Driving in India is always interesting. I’ve written about how I learned to drive a stick shift here and learn to dodge cows, but I don’t know if I mentioned what it’s like driving a taxi. Our Omni is an old taxi and Omni’s are almost always used as taxis in India, although not as much these days as they were actually outlawed for a period of time.

One of the fun things about driving are the things you see and the funny ways people look at you. Lots of people have a laugh, as many Indians do, about foreigners driving a very beat up Omni. My Delhi friends get a kick out of it and tell me to turn the meter on.
But the best thing about an Omni is that people hail a cab… and we stop to give free cab rides. It doesn’t happen often enough, and more times than not it’s drunk men trying to find a party, but we do our part when we can.

I offer rides to backpackers sometimes but they think I’m trying to kidnap them. We took this little lady to the market last week and she was happy to hop right in, no questions asked, except what our religion was. 

This is India!

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