4th of July Weekend

After this weekend, I finally feel like I’ve seen a little bit of Delhi. Colette's friend, Kristen, was visiting from Bubaneshwar (she's interning there), and it was a perfect excuse to go see some of the sights we’ve been meaning to see since we arrived. I’ve decided I’m going to try to see something new every weekend from now on – whether it’s in Delhi or somewhere else. Saturdays will be sight-seeing days, Sundays will be R and R.

Saturday, we slept in a little and then headed to the gym first...which was a good thing because we had found pain au chocolat for breakfast. Then we all headed to Humayun’s Tomb, which was built in the 1570s as a precursor to the Taj Mahal. Humayun’s widow built it for him after he died (he was the main founder of the Mughal Empire) and today it houses over 100 tombs. It was pretty impressive. I can only imagine what it must have looked like when it was built, covered in marble and blue tiles. The grounds are just as Neena described: green, quiet, with relatively few people around. I will definitely have to go back. It’s the perfect place to just sit and read or journal or think – mostly, you are left in peace. Which in Delhi, is something to be treasured.

After the tombs, the four of us took on Delhi’s metro (pretty impressive, extremely crowded) and headed to Old Delhi. Old Delhi is a jumbled mess of old, crumbling buildings, temples, small shops, and people, people everywhere. It was there that I finally felt just how many people are in this city – and this country. They say that 20,000 people migrate to Delhi every single day. Until now, I wasn’t sure where they all were. It’s pretty overwhelming. We meandered through the crowds for a bit trying to find the historic spice market. We didn’t know exactly what we were looking for, though, and after a few dead ends and being purposely given wrong directions (he thought it was pretty funny to direct us down some sketchy alley into a group of curious and amused-looking men eating their lunch), we were about to give up when we noticed a few small stalls selling spices. As we walked further down the road, we finally took notice of what was going on around us. The entire street was full of men hauling huge burlap bags piled high onto trucks, carts, or their heads – spices. All spices. And then there we were, passing stall after stall with mounds of spices, nuts, and dried fruits. You could taste the spices in the air and soon we were all coughing and sneezing and sniffling our way through. By the time we emerged from the spice cloud, we were thirsty, hot, tired, and cranky. We hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast – we didn’t come across anything in Old Delhi that looked safe enough for our wussy angrez bellies – and after being stepped on, bumped into, cut off, and felt up, I was about to start throwing elbows. So, we got ourselves some sodas and bee-lined back to the metro. It was interesting up there in Old Delhi. There were definitely some more things I wanted to see up there, but it’s really hard to take for more than a couple hours. So, maybe I’ll have to brave it again one of these weekends.

The four of us American girls celebrated Independence Day with a delicious dinner at Guladi’s, a restaurant recommended by Abha and Prem (we will have to keep in mind that Abha and Prem apparently have expensive taste). It was a full spread of rice, naan, various rich and spicy chicken dishes (I think Colette won with what turned out to be Butter Chicken…the sauce was good enough to drink), and some adventurous drink choices, one involving spiced buttermilk, and one a concoction of mint, mango, and cumin – none of which we were able to finish. We cleansed our pallets with some gelato and headed home, exhausted.

We had been looking forward to Sunday morning for about a week, ever since we discovered an Early Bird breakfast special (and real coffee) at what is now our favorite café. Waffles, French toast, omlettes, crepes, granola with berries and yogurt, and café lattes. Heaven. Definitely worth waking up early for on a Sunday. Maybe every Sunday. :) After we were thoroughly happy, we headed to Sarojini Market to hit up the first-sale-of-the-day deals. It wasn’t as successful as hoped, but it’s always an entertaining experience. Afterwards, I treated myself to a pedicure at GK-II (another market). It might sound a little lavish, but trust me – after a month of trudging around the slums in sweaty sandals, it was necessary. You gotta take care of your feet, ya know? It was probably the best pedicure I’ve ever had in my life. I kind of want to take that man back home with me. And for under $10, it’s hard to resist.

Kristen headed back to Bubaneshwar in the afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day reading my book. All in all, it was a beautiful weekend.