The past weekend started well and ended in bowel-driven agony. Literally within 24 hours of Flo telling me that I needed to get sick in order to experience the India that moves your insides, well... I did.
BUT!
The weekend was still a resounding success. Some highlights: lunch with Flo and a friend of hers from France (who hates it here), walking around a deer park (like a zoo, but only for deer), getting directions to the metro which ended up being an HOUR AWAY on foot (despite people describing it like it was just around the corner... each time I asked for directions), getting lost and ending up in the slums, eating delicious butter chicken, buying one of those fancy long embroidered shirt-like thingys, and getting a teach yourself hindi book. however, based on a quick perusal of the language, I don't think I'm capable of teaching myself. That was Saturday. I also found out that Delhi can be expensive (ish) if you go to the right places. Apparently modern = cool = Western here, so the shopping area I went to (Connaught Place) was set up pretty similar to a lot of other urban upper-scale storefronts. I went with a guy from work, Abhinav, who is from the Delhi area (a bordering state I think) but is doing his J.D. at GWU. He was a huge help. That evening I watched the India Premier League cricket final because I totally understand the game now, which is my biggest triumph over India to date. By that time I was in the throes of the intestinal version of Bastille Day, so I stayed in, fell asleep, and watched the Barça victory in the morning. Messi is unbelievable.
Sunday was a little slower because my body was determined to bring me down. I probably stayed out longer than I should have, but there's so much to see! I went to a Baha'i service at this place called the Lotus Temple, because it's shaped like, well, a lotus. See below.
As you can see, there are hundreds of people streaming in and out of the thing the entire time it's open. This creates some difficulties for the ol' smelling organ. First of all, Indians bathe less frequently. They just do. Secondly, the temple is a shoes-free zone. What they do is herd you past an underground window, where you exchange your shoes for a tag, like a coat check. However, it's 105 degrees and there are hot stones. Solution? Put a woven mat down on the path and pour water on it from time to time to cool it off. Fine, right? No. Water plus sweat from millions of soles seep into said mat, which means that the last hundred meters are like wading through a sea of foot odor. Unpleasant. The service itself was nice and short, although the visitors (nearly all Indian) weren't the most respectful of any I'd seen, but you get that in European cathedrals too. On the way out a group accosted me, and after some initial misunderstandings I understood that a dude my age wanted his picture taken with me. I obliged, including one where we did a presidential handshake pose. I really, really wish I had that picture.
I had planned on walking more but the heat was unbearable, so I spent the afternoon finishing my book in a cafe and then a hookah bar. After a long walk to India Gate (see below) and watching some cricket in a park, I got horribly lost and eventually ended up at a Catholic service in the evening, which was both surprisingly full of people and excruciatingly boring. We did sing some songs I knew from back in the days of going to chapel, though. Some gems from the 1970s as well as a couple older hymns like Billy Graham played at his revivals.
I've started taking yoga from 6:30-8am in the morning before work, which is really awesome. I'm not the worst person in there either, contrary to my expectations, which is a plus. Oh crap time for work.
BUT!
The weekend was still a resounding success. Some highlights: lunch with Flo and a friend of hers from France (who hates it here), walking around a deer park (like a zoo, but only for deer), getting directions to the metro which ended up being an HOUR AWAY on foot (despite people describing it like it was just around the corner... each time I asked for directions), getting lost and ending up in the slums, eating delicious butter chicken, buying one of those fancy long embroidered shirt-like thingys, and getting a teach yourself hindi book. however, based on a quick perusal of the language, I don't think I'm capable of teaching myself. That was Saturday. I also found out that Delhi can be expensive (ish) if you go to the right places. Apparently modern = cool = Western here, so the shopping area I went to (Connaught Place) was set up pretty similar to a lot of other urban upper-scale storefronts. I went with a guy from work, Abhinav, who is from the Delhi area (a bordering state I think) but is doing his J.D. at GWU. He was a huge help. That evening I watched the India Premier League cricket final because I totally understand the game now, which is my biggest triumph over India to date. By that time I was in the throes of the intestinal version of Bastille Day, so I stayed in, fell asleep, and watched the Barça victory in the morning. Messi is unbelievable.
Sunday was a little slower because my body was determined to bring me down. I probably stayed out longer than I should have, but there's so much to see! I went to a Baha'i service at this place called the Lotus Temple, because it's shaped like, well, a lotus. See below.
As you can see, there are hundreds of people streaming in and out of the thing the entire time it's open. This creates some difficulties for the ol' smelling organ. First of all, Indians bathe less frequently. They just do. Secondly, the temple is a shoes-free zone. What they do is herd you past an underground window, where you exchange your shoes for a tag, like a coat check. However, it's 105 degrees and there are hot stones. Solution? Put a woven mat down on the path and pour water on it from time to time to cool it off. Fine, right? No. Water plus sweat from millions of soles seep into said mat, which means that the last hundred meters are like wading through a sea of foot odor. Unpleasant. The service itself was nice and short, although the visitors (nearly all Indian) weren't the most respectful of any I'd seen, but you get that in European cathedrals too. On the way out a group accosted me, and after some initial misunderstandings I understood that a dude my age wanted his picture taken with me. I obliged, including one where we did a presidential handshake pose. I really, really wish I had that picture.
I had planned on walking more but the heat was unbearable, so I spent the afternoon finishing my book in a cafe and then a hookah bar. After a long walk to India Gate (see below) and watching some cricket in a park, I got horribly lost and eventually ended up at a Catholic service in the evening, which was both surprisingly full of people and excruciatingly boring. We did sing some songs I knew from back in the days of going to chapel, though. Some gems from the 1970s as well as a couple older hymns like Billy Graham played at his revivals.
I've started taking yoga from 6:30-8am in the morning before work, which is really awesome. I'm not the worst person in there either, contrary to my expectations, which is a plus. Oh crap time for work.
