A Quick Update

Agra fell through again. While I am bummed about not getting to see the Taj Mahal, part of me is okay with it. Temperatures reached 46C this weekend and that does not make for a pleasant trip to see one of the greatest monuments ever created. I'm convinced I need to come back in October/November when the weather is nice and enjoy the Taj and Diwali!

There is serious talk of going to the hills this weekend. Apparently Rahul, Sid, Shweta, another couple, and I are going as of current. You never completely know who will go when it comes to this bunch. I hope that the plans don't fall through. Of all the things I'd like to do right now, going to the hills so I can enjoy nice weather is on the top of that list! Not only that, Shweta's birthday is coming up. It's customary for the birthday boy or girl to “gift” to their friends. Opposite to how it is in the US so I think I'll find a gift for Shweta this week!

A few nights ago I had the pleasure of meeting one of Rahul's friends. Her name is Taposhri (Taps for short). The three of us went to Sanchos (a Mexican restaurant in CP) as I was hungering for some good Mexican food. The problem is, every cuisine undeniably has a twist per the region it's in. While Mexican is pretty authentic in the US, it's not the same in India. It's been Indian-ized. I had horchata which they simply called “Rice Water”. I was also teased slightly for drinking rice water. It was probably the closest thing on the menu to being authentic. Made with real rice too! ;) We spent a couple hours just chatting away, nibbling on nachos and chimichangas. Taps lives in England visiting to get a visa to Sweden to do research for her Ph.D. Unfortunately for her, she's trapped here right now due to the volcano mess. I felt like I connected with her views on life. I really enjoyed my night.

Side note: No matter where you are in the world, there is always someone who thinks/feels/views life the same way that you do. This is why I don't understand why there's war in the world.

Yesterday Rahul took me to Flavors, the “authentic” Italian restaurant in Defence Colony. It felt like a date, which was actually pretty nice. Rahul's car is being worked on so he took an auto to my place where we walked to Flavors which is a good 7 blocks away or so. Along the way we talked and admired the houses. When we got to Flavors, we browsed through the menu; I picked bruschetta, Rahul picked a cheese/mushroom pizza. The bruschetta was delicious but I didn't care for the taste of the mushrooms on the pizza. Rahul thought the opposite. After, we split a brownie/ice cream dessert which was yummy! Instead of walking back with full tummies, we took an auto back to my house where he dropped me off.

I've run out of shampoo. I've skipped a couple days of washing my hair and tried using my dry shampoo which didn't work so well. Today I actually used my body wash. While I believe it did an amazing job at cleaning my hair, and I didn't have to use conditioner, the thought of using body wash to clean hair is weird. So I walked to a convenience store a few blocks from my house to get shampoo. Stupid me THOUGHT I grabbed a shampoo. I didn't realize until I got home that it was conditioner. Shoot.

Oh the way back, I saw this man and woman walking hand-in-hand down the middle of the road. They were elderly. The man looked like his face was painted like a dog and was walking with a stick! I tried to do a double take quickly. They were peasants and I think they were asking me for money. Unfortunately for them, I don't speak Hindi so I don't know for sure. They could have put a curse on me. Who knows! That was definitely the craziest thing I've seen. If anyone in India can think of what was really going on there, I'd appreciate some insight!!!

I went to a mall with Rahul one night after he got off work. The only place that was open by the time we got there was a bookstore. I bought three books, 100 rupees each. I've already read 2 of them. I'm so glad I bought more than one. We told the bookstore guy that I wanted something humorous and he laid out “romantic” books. Apparently females here don't read anything BUT love stories. They are good though. It gives good insight into how messed up teenagers are here. The books are obviously influenced by Bollywood movies where American teenage books are influenced by Hollywood. If I had a choice, I'd rather my kid want the romance of Bollywood movies than American sexscapades.

I will have to find more books to read. It helps pass the time during the middle of the day when it's too hot to venture out or my skin would boil.

The lizard keeps coming in and out of my room through the crack in the bottom of the door. He hides under the bed and under the voltage regulator under my table. Oh...and behind my wardrobe and behind the tube light. The shock of having a lizard in my room has waned. It's actually kind of cute!!! As long as I don't wake up to it on the bed or find it in a shoe, I think I'll survive with wildlife finding it's way into my room. Bugs are in a different category. I hate bugs.

That was my “quick” update to what's been going on.