staying busy

Saturday we spent a quiet day at home catching up on emails, doing some work and eating curry. In the afternoon we were running short on water so we walked down to out local "departmental store" (think corner shop) and bought water and a few other bits and pieces. It is interesting to note how cheap some items are here such as bottled water, rice and lentils yet other items such a juice and toilet paper are so expensive. I am assuming toilet paper is expensive as nobody uses it here; I make this conclusion from observing the neighbouring field, where we see several people squatting in the morning with nothing but a bottle of water in hand. You would think that you would have to watch your step when walking through this area as 50+ people use this field as their bathroom but in fact any remnants are promptly removed by the many pigs roaming around our neighbourhood. OK, enough of that tangent... we also popped into our local fruit & veg store which seemed a little low on stock so we just stocked up on some very cheap bananas and onions to make dahl.

I am still trying to work out the people here in India, it is so different to other Asian countries such as Thailand or Indonesia where the people are very forthcoming with friendliness. When we step out into our street most people just stare openly with blank expressions... I do wonder what they are thinking. If we smile or greet them we receive a reserved nod or shy smile in return.

For dinner on Saturday night we decided to have some take-away delivered as there were several pamphlets in our apartment when we arrived (including one for Domino's). After we made our selection we attempted to phone through our order... easier said than done. The first 3 places we tried didn't speak any English or decided it was too hard due to the language barrier and not being able to understand where we lived. So we needed more options, google provided the answer when I entered "Take away sector 45 Gurgaon" There was a list of places nearby that apparently delivered. So eventually we got through to Saleem's takeaway who managed to take our order of naan, aloo parantha, butter chicken, chicken Marsala and palak paneer. Then the address problem, Ray somehow managed to convince the guy to call the caretaker of our building who speaks no English to get our address. 45 minutes later dinner arrived for the bargain price of $15. We grossly over ordered and the food has fed us for 3 days.

On Sunday after a breakfast of leftover curry we headed into Delhi for the day. We spotted our first elephant strolling up a freeway similar to the F3 with 2 riders on its back. I don't know if it was the backdrop but this elephant seemed particularly large... does anyone know if Asian or African elephants are larger?

Our first stop was the German Embassy School which was holding its annual Christmas fair/market. The ashram had a stand there selling some handcrafts made at the ashram. It was a nice market with some really beautiful handicraft items as well as German food. The kids enjoyed a slightly dodgy magic show and Hunter was asked to participate in one of the tricks.

We then decided to head to South extension to peruse the shopping. Our driver stopped at the government craft store (which we had already been to) and tried to insist we have a look for just 10 minutes... do these guys earn commission or something? Frankly its not how I like to shop, I prefer to get lost in an open air bazaar where Ray can haggle for me rather than some very expensive tourist shop. After convincing him we had already been there we arrived at South extension. I should mention that waiting in traffic often presents itself with shopping opportunities with hawkers selling  magazines, car chargers and other knik-knacks. South Extension was not really what we were expecting much of the same western stores that we have here in Gurgaon. What I am really craving is a vibrant bazaar with Indian cottons, silverware and carvings. So my search continues....

In the evening we went to a Christmas concert that we had been invited to. After collecting our tickets we joined a line that was several hundred metres long that moved painfully slow as every person was frisked and every bag checked. We just made it in before it was standing room only. They then proceeded to pack the remaining people in the line (another 200 metres by this stage) into the remaining standing room... No fire exits or safety codes here! The concert proved to have some very entertaining performances by some very talented musicians. Hunter and I enjoyed an amazing pianist by the name of Stephen Devassy who has the fastest fingers in all of Asia and produces some amazing music and unique sounds (well worth looking at on you tube), Ray particularly enjoyed the Punjabi music with its amazing dance moves and rhythms. By this stage Hunter could barely keep her eyes open so we left before the end.

On turning into our street after the drive home we found the road blocked by an Indian wedding... I am sure you are aware of how full on theses events are, but nothing quite compares to your Indian driver with his hand on the horn pushing through 100 men dancing like you have never seen behind a truck laden with speakers while the groom with a lei made of cash sits quietly behind the ruckus on a white horse... I was sure the horse would bolt when we squeezed by with the horn blaring, though it probably couldn't hear us over the music. I would not have minded hoping out of the car and walking home as I would have loved to have a bit more of a sticky beak... 

Until next time....