A Typical Day in New Delhi... (part 3)

6:30p Back in my neighborhood... avoid the cows at the round about.

Or if you're my roommate from Montana, try to start a cow street stampede to no avail. Indian cows are just chill, they know they can do whatever they want...



6:35p I'm long overdue for a haircut. The "expensive" hair stylist joints have left me looking like an escaped mental patient. After too many of these incidents, I've decided that I will no longer get my haircut at a place where I can also get pedicures and manicures. I figured this time, I'll give the 50 cent streetside barber a try!

6:40p I'm drawing a crowd, it's not everyday a foreigner gets a haircut from the same place as where the rickshaw wallahs do...


6:45p Ah yes, I'm freshly shorn, and it's hands down the best haircut I have had so far in India. But wait, there's more! Every haircut comes with a scalp/back massage for better circulation. What a steal!



6:50p With my spiffy new haircut, I'm all ready to go out on the town tonite. It's still early in the evening though, time to head back home and rest up for a bit, maybe I'll do some reading.

On the recommendation of a friend since procrastination is common among grad students, here's a book I brought along with me...


I'm pretty sure I actually dragged this book to India purely for looks because I didn't even come close to finish reading it. Imagine that, a book on procrastination and time management, and I never got around to finishing it... Honestly, why would anyone who procrastinates ever finish a book about time management? Am I the only one who this doesn't make any logical sense to? Hah!

To be continued...

A Typical Day in New Delhi... (part 2)

9:35am Opps, a bit late for the meeting that started 5 minutes ago.


10am-1pm Typical work day stuff- drink coffee, check email, check news sites, check facebook, run analysis, drink chai, chat with others about project/dissertation stuff, drink water, make calls, etc...

1:15pm Ah, it's time for my favorite meal of the day! Lunch at the office is family-style, which is fantastic for me. Everyone brings in their home cooked meals in little aluminum pots and shares with everyone else like a mini-buffet. Home-cooked Indian food is without a doubt much better than what you can get in a restaurant. I'm not sure how I avoided gaining 15 pounds this summer. Of course I brought my "home cooked" food to share courtesy of a food vendor downstairs, made it myself, hah!


2p-4p See 10a-1p. I'm very well hydrated by this point.

4pm If it's a Friday, I'm probably scrambling around trying to figure out transportation and tickets for a weekend trip that night. Yep, I like to procrastinate in work AND leisure. I really do like taking the trains around in India, it's just less hassle and fantastic people watching! While trying to book tickets online for the Indian Railways, I found this very helpful website to buying tickets at the train station that one should "Take a print and keep in your Travel Bag" (I just love things like this about India).

Step 1: YOU ARE AT NEW DELHI STATION (PAHAR GANJ SIDE).
Step 2: THIS IS “INTERNATIONAL TOURIST BUREAU” BUILDING.


Boy, I don't know what I'd do without these very helpful steps (I'm not making this up, you can see for yourself here.)! Thank god they made the ticket buying process so "easy" for tourists!

6pm Work is over! Time to head home.

6:05p Doh! It rained. That means more haggling with the autorickshaw drivers (rain means they'll try to charge more since no one wants to walk during the monsoon). Worse yet, the streets are flooded, water "seasoned" by the streets of New Delhi is splashing everywhere (yay for a healthy immune system), and traffic jams galore. A 10 minute commute turns into 30...




To be continued...