Things I like/dislike about New Delhi

So with the sweet there's the bitter. After living in New Delhi, you experience the extreme duality to India- sometimes at the same time. Kinda like how every rose has it's thorn... just like every night has it's dawn... just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song... Hah! Alright, no more quoting power ballads from the late 80's.

1a. I like- Indian weddings
How can you not like celebrations where they hire a marching band, the groom comes in on a horse, and everyone is dancing. Not to mention the fantastic food and the beautiful lights!

The groom arrives by horse-

People dancing- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tlo/4337798384/



My apartment when our landlord's granddaughter got married-




1b. I don't like- Lost Indian Wedding Marching Bands
The dirt patch area behind my apt serves as site for weddings. The entrance can be hard to find. During the night, it's nearly impossible. So I can always tell the wedding marching band gets lost because they stop, circle around my house a few times, and then stop again. It's charming the first couple of times. And it sucks at midnite on a weeknight the umpteenth time during wedding season.



2a. I like- Indian signs

So I guess a man can be identified by his wearing shorts and arms akimbo and a female with pigtails and skirt (check out those cankles* by the way!!!)?

*cankle=calf+ankle


"Keep smiling, it only increases your face value."


2b. I don't like- Indian bureaucratic paperwork
I'm not going to say too much about this since I don't want to get kicked out of country. So I'll just post a photo, and those of you who live here more longterm will cringe and know exactly what I'm talking about.



Ok, I lied, I can't resist one smartass comment. As my friend who's leaving the country (and not me) and went to the registration office for 2 weeks straight summed it up best by saying "He (the bureaucratic paper-pusher) probably lives at home with his mum and still wets his bed." I guess it's only fair since I know we put people traveling to the US through even more hassle!

3a. I like- Kids playing on the street
Everywhere you look, kids are running around with their friends, playing cricket, and getting into all sorts of adventures- you know, just being kids. It's the way it used to be in the US which is tragic. Life was good back then.


3b. I don't like- Indian kids selling stuff on the streets
At every stoplight, packs of kids are trying to sell you things ranging from out of date magazines, books, balloons (kinda like these in Mumbai http://lucidtravels.blogspot.com/2006/02/chasing-balloon.html), you name it. Not to mention some are trying to do cartwheels in rush hour traffic.




4a. I like- Indian street food
There really isn't anything better. It tastes so good!

4b. I don't like- Later that night/the next morning
Two words- Delhi Belly. Enough said.

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...

Most of my blog posts have either been about rural villages or common tourist destinations in India. Truthfully, the majority of my life in New Delhi has been about the mundane, typical, everyday events. Here's a very common day of my life in India...

6:30am- Indian sunshine is beaming through the windows of my room. It's much too bright, I feel like a vampire. Pillow immediately goes over my head.



7:00am- "Alarm clock" goes off. It's laughing yoga in the park behind our apartment! It feels like I'm waking up to a studio audience in an Indian sitcom. It starts off with rhythmic clapping followed by lots of "ho ho ho's" and "ha ha ha's". Have a listen by clicking here.

7:30am- "Snooze" alarm goes off. "Ding dong, ding dong!!!" Our cleaning lady is ringing the bell downstairs. Despite the gate being open, she's a pretty persistent ringer. Ugh. Myself or my roommate stumble out of bed to let her in. I scare her with my bedhead and my boxer shorts wearing shirtless physique (that early in the morning I can care less what the neighbors think...). I go back to bed while she cleans up around me while I try to sleep. Yeah, yeah, I know it's pretty snooty, but dangit, 7:30am is just painful especially on the weekend! I'm pretty sure she hates me, my washed clothes have been coming back looking like they've been mysteriously tye-died with pink and blue blotches with rust thrown in for style points.

8:00am- No big surprise, can't go back to sleep while someone is sweeping and mopping around my room. I unhappily crawl out of bed to make a rousing breakfast of toast and either banana or mango. Everyday. I now hate toast.

8:30am- My roommates and I scour the the local newspaper for any of the parties we went to the other night and random funny stuff. Gotta love the Indian advertisements for fitness gyms. Stripper poles!

You too can look like a scary escaped Indian convict after working out at the gym!


9:00am- Time to leave the luxurious New Delhi apartment and find a ride to work.

Plenty of fruit/vegetable sellers on our street. Everyone is having their car washed too, which is a novelty to me since I haven't washed my car in the states in ~2 years.



9:05am- Avoid the cow at the round-about.


9:10am- Find a auto-rickshaw wallah.

9:15am- Haggle over $$$ with the auto-rickshaw wallah.
9:16am- Walk away in "disgust" over the inflated "tourist" price.
9:17am- Auto-rickshaw driver acts "offended" and grudgingly gives a counter-offer.
9:20am- Repeat the above several times...
9:30am- Arrive at work slightly frazzled. For those of you who haven't experienced an auto-rickshaw, it's kinda like the Indian version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland.

To be continued...