Finally In India

Hi Everyone!

I just got into New Delhi, which is a capital of India on early Saturday [India time]morning. For anyone planning to make the trip here at any point in your life, try and get a direct flight, because its the stopover that really kills you. My flight experience wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but on the first flight [from Newark to Frankfurt] I did have the prerequisite old man who smelled of garlic, ginger and turmeric, and obviously had a gas problem. On the second flight, Air India, who is notorious for overbooking their flights, had maybe half occupancy. It was great! I got to stretch out an sleep, not knowing exactly when we would land, because all three of the airports I graced in the 20 hours during which I travelled seemed to have ridiculous delays. Anyway, I landed in Delhi 5 hours after I was supposed to reach, but all was well. After coming home to a family friends' [the house is AMAZING, and I get to meet the architect tomorrow!] and sleeping for roughly three hours, I was whisked off by a few friends my age or so to go shopping in the back roads of Delhi. The really rough temperature of the city is probably take a few days to get used to- yesterday's mid afternoon temperature was around 120 F, and given that I get stares from the local boys even in what feels like a potato sack, I was in the heat in long jeans- it was pretty sticky. The shopping was pretty good though- one of my friends bought five pairs of shoes for 1500 rupees, which is roughly $30. I love shopping in India haha. While we were still out, I did something my parents [who aren't here] would never have let me do- I had one of my favorite India snacks, a popsicle/snowball type thing called Kala Khatta, shaved ice packed into a popsicle like shape and dipped into a glass full of a strange tangy, salty, sweet, delicious syrup which has no trouble turning my mouth and tongue BRIGHT red. The reason I'm not allowed is because the ice the street vendors use is not exactly kosher, and can bring on stomach problems which rival Charlotte's little accident in the first Sex and the City Movie [has any one seen the second one yet? I'd love to hear your opinion!] Given the heat and my need to cool off after a successful day of shopping, I decided to ignore my obedient half and went for it. SOOOOO good, and luckily no stomach problems! i only got to finish about a quarter of it though, because a street kid snatched it right out of my hands! I didn't have the heart to say anything though, and ended up getting him another one for his kid brother. Poor kids! This might have been all they got to have all day, and in this heat, at least they had some reprieve. India is so over populated, and while I've been exposed to the poverty my entire life [its a little hard to ignore] I still can't help but be sympathetic. I did get a funny picture of my hot sweaty self with bright red lips while we were waiting for the metro to take us back home though! And this isn't my last Kala Khatta! I swear, if I can, at my wedding, I'll have all of this great Indian street food- its my favorite!

Tomorrow I get to go meet the architect of the house in which I am staying. It will be nice to talk to a practicing architect who does vaastu work. More on that tomorrow. For now, I'm attaching a few pictures for your enjoyment...

This is the Nair House, where I am staying

This is the Post Mortem from Kala Khatta