The Lizards

Since I have stopped traveling and I am more settled, I have been finding it harder to write in the blog? With travel it was easy, there were always new landscapes, a new bus ride, always something new (for me) to describe.

Then I spoke with my parents on the phone yesterday, and they made a good point. What I experience day to day, while it becomes mundane to me, is still interesting and new to (at least them) people back home.

And then I thought... at least twice a week I'm on the public bus. Always the same route, but it's always a new experience. At least once a day I'm walking up and down K.H.B. Again, always the same street, but always a new experience. So I'm going to try and write less, more often, and hopefully my experiences I convey to you are still as interesting, and with as much enthusiasm as my first 2 months in India.

I'll start with the lizards. I guess it's that time of year. Or perhaps just this batch of lizards was born. Yesterday, I went into the kitchen, turned on the light and saw something move quickly by the sink. Not a cockroach, it wasn't the right color. It definitely wasn't a mouse, it was way too small. I go to the faucet to investigate, and the smallest of lizards is sitting there staring at me.

I slowly move my hand towards him, and he already seems to know my intentions (quite a thing to say about a small lizard, so we can change that to his instincts), and he runs away. After some maneuvering around the kitchen, I cup my hand around him, pinning his tail. I slowly move my hand away and with the other pick him up. He's agitated, and he wants to run away, but after some time he sits calmly in the palm of my hand. When they are this small, they are hard to catch. These baby lizards aren't more than an inch or two long, but as they grow they can be up to 6 or 7 inches long, catch prey (such as moths) twice their size.

As I brought him into the light and observed, I could see his small, black, baby eyes. His tan colored skin, with still unformed markings on the back. As I looked more closely, there seemed to be some sort of discoloration on one side of his body. A bruise? Doesn't seem likely. As I looked even closer to the details, I noticed even small spots of discoloration. Then I realized what I was seeing - those were the little guy's organs. The pigment in his skin had barely even formed yet and I could still see all his innards working away as they normally do.

To think, this little guy is running around the apartment, just barely born. He couldn't have been more than a day old with that kind of body, but then again, I know nothing of lizard development. Still, the dangers in a small apartment. A mouse, a cockroach, a giant human, a hot stove, a cup of water. Every step this little dude takes is a precarious one.

At least he is quick....

Another quick story: Having some pain in my abdomen, I was fervently searching the internet (half out of boredom, half curiosity) for causes, or what it could be. After opening a lot of tabs, searching websites, and coming up with inconclusive answers (that also varied greatly), I was hoping for something and got nothing. And nothing. More clicking, and still nothing. Finally I got to a website that just wouldn't load. Refresh, Refresh, Refresh and just a blank page. At the bottom, the browser said "done". But nothing would load! There had to be an error. Then I looked at the domain name and it was called "www.nomorepanic.co.uk".

Then the irony hit me. I laughed for a few minutes and went on to do some other work.