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Other entries in Delhi

Delhi

For the first time we flew out of a city and into another during daylight! 

That was yesterday  - Thursday 15th Dec.

There are many fond memories of Chennai still to hold on to:  On Wednesday one of our group, Lynne was headed for home.  We grabbed the opportunity to take our local friends for a celebratory lunch (they were being awesome hosts for all of us and had even taken Lynne to the Aus-India hockey match!). 

So, after seeing some of the MITHRA kids that morning (lucky the children speak some English as well as Tamil, to enable thorough articulation assessment), I went along for the short drive and we ate some more tasty veg food.  This is because Dinesh, a friend of Kubendran's brother, is on a 30 day fast from meat. As are many people who show the similar forehead markings of a red dot on yellow and wear the outfit that we might call a wrap.  After this he heads to the hills of Kerala for a religious retreat sort of thing.  Sounds OK to me.

That was the best meal so far and we were happy to walk back to MITHRA to feel less full....

Later Wednesday I cant quite believe I spent the evening typing reports and programs for the 4 kids I saw and a training program that one trainee teacher can share with the staff.  They have staff meeting on a Saturday, which is OK I guess if you live on site !  That night was also much fun as one resident student is a skilled seamstress, she assisted Lauren and I to attire ourselves in what she had made.  V nice and pretty glam, but it was not for sale.

More on Wednesday -  a big day - after the kids went to bed at 9pm we hit the bakery up the road and had a photo session with the people there.  This appears to be an emerging tradition of MITHRA visitors, and the food was yum too.  Dan graciously accepted a phone call at 4am Aussie time as I had so much to tell him, inlcuding the good news about the medications situation here.  You just front up to a 'druggist' and ask for what you want, which is not hard as they are everywhere in Kolkata and Chennai.  I got a back-up supply of full-strength antibiotics for 64 rupees ($2).   I just hope it is 64 rupees wasted!

Flying here to Delhi yesterday was a bit of adventure as none of the 3 of us had been before.  An agent met us and we made it to the hotel with one thing in mind..........hot showers.  Last night we had dinner at Maccers in Connaught place (yes, well not much else was open) and did some ruthless bargaining for cushion covers.  I have a bit to learn about this from Lauren but am getting the hang of it.

Now it's Friday and we are a party of 9 Aussies staying at a Bajaj homestay.  I thought the name meant it was family hosting but actually it's a 4 star hotel.  No complaints !!!  We have seen many  gigantic, resplendant Delhi monuments - Hemayan tomb is the highlight for me ( a relaxing sprawling garden with ancient mosques and tombs, etc).  The place called Raj Ghat where Ghandi was cremated is a close second.  The courtyard has his tomb in the centre and is a feast for the soul and all the senses with incense, music, beautiful scripts of his quotes in many languages and grass that you can feel because you have no shoes on.  Someone had cashew biscuits and that topped it all off. 

We are all keen to share and taste food and enjoyed another great lunch today.  The auto drivers we made a deal with for the whole took us to many places we did not ask for, and were put out when we refused their lunch location.  Oh well.  They had some fun too, I believe as we hurtled through the traffic.  It is advisable to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle!

tonight we met some more brothers based in Delhi at St Columba's college.  Totally different as very affluent.  The brothers were very welcoming though and it was good to hear they use parts of the school at nighttime to house the elderly homeless, streetkids and people suffering from leprosy. 

tomorrow I think we'll chill a bit and also visit Ghandi museum. That's Mahatma, not Indira. 

Big howdy to all.  Best wishes to you who are partying on Saturday.  Happy birthday to Mike and and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY Grandma Gwen!!  hope to talk to you v soon.  When there is more time in the appropriate time zone?!

xoxooo

Natalie

Sunday 18th December:

Yesterday in Delhi we had lots more sightseeing.  India gate (picture in your mind a narrower Arch de Triumph) was good but the Ghandi memorial museum was a highlite.  His life was showcased in phases and there were also relics like the robes and watch he wore when assassinated and some of his weaving, that I managed to miss due to lack of time. There was great art work of him too that was highly appealing because as Ghandi said himself, the body dies away and leaves just the thoughts and spirit. 

During each phase Ghandi achieved so much (like the salt walk, which is iconic here), while also writing heaps of books along the way.  Bought a couple (grand total of 40 Rupee, $1.25) in the hope of further enlightenment.

I started early Saturday, heading next door to the hotel for websurfing to find details on the soccer match to be played that afternoon.  We all wanted to experience an Indian sporting crowd adn were not disappointed!! 

A new pro club from Goa was playing the army team.  We unanimously decided to go for the underdog army team as the stadium was overrun with officers, many of them looking pretty tall and scary in their turbans.  They carried automatics but really didn't need them.  All the ruckus was purely spoken - at high pitch and volume.  There was fresh chai as refreshments but we stuck with the meusli bars.  These snacks are not as boring as you'd think cos everyone carries a different flavour.

After that we hit the markets and bakery on Connaught place and bought supplies for the train ride to Agra Sunday morning.  While waiting for food, a monkey under the care of several children jumped onto Lauren's leg and another of our friends, Mason, ended up with the monkey on his back.  Oh the things to be seen on a Saturday night out in India...  We all then went back to Bajaj homestay to hang out, share shopping stories and pack in readiness to get away at 5am for the trainride. 

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