I really thought I’d be able to update the blog more. Turns out, my mobile isn’t as blog friendly as I thought. And if anyone can work out why I just cannot upload pictures, it would be much appreciated. Hence why other forms of social media are being used.
So today marks 4 weeks of being in India. In some ways, I still feel really brand new to it all. I learn something every single day.
Today I learnt that banana’s trigger my asthma. This has never been a problem in my life before – so I wonder if it’s an Asian banana thang. Eating the fruit out here, was the one thing I was so looking forward to (the fruit in Thailand is amazing!), and it’s the one thing I’ve been let down by. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it all looks gorgeous, dragon fruit all plump and purple on the outside, Papaya looking it’s juicy self, apples so rosy red, Snow White would be gobbling them up. Then you take a nibble and meh and bleurgh and yearrch. Not so good. The bananas were good. The watermelon is passable. AND I have very high hopes for the snake fruit as it looks very exotic. So I’ll keep trying and trying. I’m bound to find a fruit that I love.
4 weeks down the line and I’m still in awe of the heat. I LOVE that no matter what time of day it is, it’s freaking hot. I had a little yearn for a cool drizzle the other day, it soon passed. Witnessing the monsoon type rain is one I will never forget, it’s like someone has thrown several tons of water at you, every which way. You are instantly drenched. There’s nothing you can do. Umbrella? Useless apparatus. The only thing you need is the ability to be able to laugh at it. I love hearing the rumble of thunder every day. And knowing it’s still going to be warm. I think I might struggle when I land in November back in the UK – considering I didn’t bring a coat, I might shiver a lot!
Things I miss: cooking. I do miss having a kitchen… maybe just f,or a bit of cheese on toast. Fresh milk I also miss (it’s all about the food with me), or should I said fresh cow milk. I can get a whole bunch of camel, should I choose – I don’t choose, for points of reference, don’t ever partake. I have kindly taste-tested for all and found it most disgusting. I miss my people, obviously goes without saying. Being around people with no shared history, it’s like you’re always ‘on’ or on your best behaviour. And the only-child syndrome that I have, has made this quite tricky for me. I would love to wander around by myself, but that’s just possible or recommended.
Last week I ‘did’ Old Delhi… or rather Old Delhi did me. I was blown away by the sheer chaos of it all – and I grew up in Africa! It’s an incredible maze of alleyways, people, tiny little corridors which motorbikes and rickshaws and people with big boxes all smooshing themselves through these small spaces. There is no personal space here. I get asked ‘to do selfie’ a lot…. I feel like a c-list celebrity. I’m not quite sick of that yet. ;) Old Delhi is an absolute must. I finally felt like I had arrived in India, it was just so raw. And in some parts without incense, it was also quite ‘fragrant’. The food looked amazing. A wise man told me to ‘eat with my eyes’ but we have heard so many horror stories and I’m pretty much the only person who hasn’t had the dreaded D.B yet… so I didn’t partake. I might be braver a few more weeks in.
So Dehli is manic… it’s always rush hour, a trip that would take you maybe 15 minutes by car in England, can sometimes take nearly an hour. If I knew my way better, I would walk. I have threatened it a few times! The noise is constant. And since I’ve spent a lot of my years in sleepy sea side towns, I think I’ve adapted marvellously, I barely notice it now.
It’s quite something, in the shops, every day is like December in UK (Christmas shopping), people barge and bash and hoot and generally just push and shove… and then you get to a till or wherever to pay and all of a sudden, it’s like slow motion. Everyone now has time. Things go as slow as waiting for your birthday to arrive!
And that’s me for now… suffice to say, I’m so very glad I was able to take this opportunity. I know how lucky I am.
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