The Amazing Race

Last night my mom called to let me know that "The Amazing Race" episode was going to be in India.

About 10 minutes later she called to see if i was watching it like she suggested.

i was.

it was interesting.

some personal highlights....

"Do they not have a hurry button here?!?!" - a frazzled contestant annoyed by how slowly things were happening

No, they don't. there is a "complicator" machine, guaranteed to make any simple task take at least twice as long as you would initially guess though. There is insane traffic, and a language barrier, a culture that isn't obsessed with time - but absolutely no hurry button...thanks for the smile you brought to my face.

"if i lived here i'd get the rocking-est horn" ~one of the contestants commenting on how loud and crazy the tunes of the car horns were

no you wouldn't. you would hate the horns. they would drive you crazy. they would scare you. they would ring in your ears. they would make you angry. you may occasionally want to beat people up for using the horns like they do - but i'm pretty sure that after the first week you would NOT want the rocking-est horn...cause that would mean YOU would have to hear it non-stop too. (i have seen rickshaw drivers honking their horns while on the shoulder of the road for no apparent reason except fighting boredom).

When 2 of the girls left their luggage in a taxi to complete a challenge, and then couldn't find him for 20 minutes. well...not the brightest thing to leave your luggage unattended while traveling ever...much less so in a mega city in a developing world. i have friends who have had bags and other valuables stolen much faster than that!

When the contestants kept telling the drivers to hurry, go faster, this is a race, can't you go faster?!?!? uh, no. also, i think its not very sensitive to the culture you're visiting to yell at people for something they don't understand (your need to hurry cause you're playing a game)...and as for the whole idea of hurrying...see the comment on the hurry button!

i think rajisthani puppets are creepy. really creepy.

On a serious note, There was a scene when the teams first arrived to Jaipur, and they were talking about the poverty - and it was "interesting" to hear their impressions/reactions to the visible poverty of india. i also found my heart very hard and judgmental of their knee-jerk impressions. i don't know why. maybe i felt "protective" of india. maybe i felt like they were jumping to conclusions, or just talking without really knowing what they're talking about. maybe i'm protective of my friends who would have been lumped into "the poor people" they were driving by. maybe i'm just really self-centered and don't want to hear their opinions, i don't know.

As for my experience in Jaipur...definitely not on my list of favorite places in the world. there was the "jaipur highlight" of a real live snake charmer. i tried to load the video...but no luck. the man kept telling me to sit next to the snake and assuring me that it wouldn't bite. i kept assuring him tha there was NO WAY i was going to sit next to the snake!