I know, I know… it has been a long time since I last wrote a blogpost---- so here goes.
I just back from maybe one of the best weekends of my life and I am off again today! This past weekend, our program gave us a small holiday ( a three day weekend- I took 4), and I quickly quickly bought tickets so as to leave Banaras. Where? DELHI.
Many people in our program find little interest in Delhi, they see it as a corrupt, dusty, sprawling, mess. Which it is, but on my first visit I knew I would and needed to return. Something about cities just really draws me in—the energy, the vibrancy, the amount of people, the feeling of great potential. Banaras at 2 million people, is definitely not a city—it has the problems of an India cities, but in many ways is a large town. Delhi is a city- and while it may not be Mexico City, Mumbai, or New York there is a lot to do!
SOoooOoOoOO- I was invited to a wedding by my friend Emma, her Punjabi coworker was getting married. Emma currently is doing an internship with EdTerra (more later) living in South Delhi with a group of interns at various companies from various countries (Brasil, Italy, Moldova, Britan, Holland etc) currently 8 people live in her apartment!
The wedding was amazing, well amazing may not be the word—but the food was surely amazing. I wore my finest silk kurta and pajam (newly tailored and looking fresh, aside from the saag paneer stain it received during the course of the evening)
Biryani, Naaan, Shai Paneer, Kulfi, Jalebis, soups, naans, chole—and while these may not mean anything to, and while it may all have been veg., it was hands down amazing. I stuffed myself beyond stuffing, I felt like I was going to explode, die, vomit—but all well worth it.
I also learned an interesting tid bit- anybody can go to anybodies wedding, especially as a foreigner. All you need is to be looking fresh and show up with a gift, no one will question you and you will be welcomed with open arms! So put that in your back pockets.
I may be attending a Muslim Wedding in November (fingers crossed!) and at huge (1000 guests) wedding in Delhi in December! It is nice to attend weddings and not be the catering staff there.
The next day Emma and I woke up late and just relaxed, we relaxed for a few hours eating organic porridge and listening to music. It is really great to reconnect with her, we really have a great dynamic. Later, after shopping, we met my friend Kash ( A real Delhi-ite) to see his friend perform in a play— Hands down the worst play EVER, ever. I need to see a good play, I am really getting turned off by theatre. After the play we went to a BAR, yes a BAR with Kash and his friends. We ate Mutton, yes Mutton. We bought FISH SAUCE and CHEESE (gouda, parmesan, mozzarella), yes FISH SAUCE and CHEESE (gouda, parmesan, mozzarella). All of this and more from one of Asia’s most expensive retail destinations: Khan Market. A Market filled with foreign groceries, book stores, clothing stores, restaurants etc etc etc. We had a great time and met really great people (it really felt like being back home, or better a really posh place in New York or Europue!) After that we went to a PARTY, yes a PARTY. We drank ALCOHOL, yes ALCOHOL. We got home at 4 am, yes 4 am. I was ecstatic.
BUT HANDS DOWN THE BEST PART OF THE WEEKEND: on Sunday we went to Kash’s sister’s house in Gurgaon ( an extremely rich enclave South of Delhi—Guragoan a complex of mansions, Asia’s largest Mall, sky rises, and SUVs— it is both repulsive and decadent, but so appealing)
This house, his sister’s second home, her Delhi home, is filled with the latest in Siemen’s appliances, glass fronted Malibu-like, decked out with a pool ( A POOL) a sauna, a stema bath, a movie theatre, and a hrassy garden terrace. It was unbelievable. And mind you this is her and her husband’s second home, the other in Punjab is five times bigger. We swam, we swam, we swam. Oh how wonderful. It was bizarre and amazing.
But oh ho ho ho how the mighty fall. And they fall hard. Leaving on Monday I boared the wrong train bound to Varanasi, and while I was able to get home in time for class, I had no reserved berth. For a few hours before, arriving in Moradabad, I was contently reading in an open berth, however with an influx people, I was promptly expelled and left to fend for myself at midnight, as a ticketless passenger on a full train. I roamed the corriders looking for empty beds, alas. In the end, degraded and defeated, I was forced to curl up, on a sheet, outside of the bathroom, on the ground, my head on my suitcase. It is an experience I hope to avoid at all costs. But by Lucknow, when people left I got a berth. It must have looked all very funny a white boy, kurta’d and pajama’d curled up outside the bathroom sleeping much like the poor Indian’s around me.
OKAY and now for the very exciting news, news which I have only known about for two days!
At the wedding I met the owner of Emma’s company, EdTerra, and we got along famously. While chatting he insisted I join them on one of their company trips, and while he was adamant, I was unsure how genuine the extension was. Well…. Well before that let me fill you in.
EdTerra is a company which designs educational tours for Indian students. These tours are met to complement the curriculum offered at their home schools (Woodstock School Mussoorie International School, and other private wealthy schools) So they offer tours from weekend excursions to Rajasthan all the way to 10- 15 package tours in Bangkok, China, Nairobi, etc.
So I get a frantic facebook message from Emma saying I need to call her. I do and I am greeted with, “They want to send you to Goa!” I was floored. Goa, the former Portuguese colony, now Indian beach paradise. I am leaving back to Delhi (having been back in Banaras for 2 days) to fly out to Goa for 10 days to lead an educational tour for 100 11th grade girls from the Mussoorie International School. I am very very very excited and extremely lucky! And all expenses are paid! WOW
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