Sunday, June 15th: Today we moved into our new apartment in Vasant Kunj. It’s a little haven inside! Smooth marble(esque) floors, ceiling fans and A/C units in the living room and bedrooms. One of the bedrooms is on a separate floor and has a sitting area as well as a bathroom. The other one has a little balcony and tiny desk tucked into a ceiling overhang. It’s a bit far from the office, but I definitely think it will allow us to regenerate at night.
Just getting here was an adventure. We took our first taxi (vs. auto-rickshaw) because of our luggage. Taxi's charge about twice as much (meaning $3.50 instead of $1.75 for a 30 min. drive). The adventure came because it was raining and some of the roads were flooded (1-2 feet of water). The taxi stalled when going through one of the pools and from then on stalled out at least 50 more times…no exaggeration. It was hot and sticky, and we had to keep the windows mostly closed because of the rain. It was also nerve-wracking to be sitting there in the middle of the road – sitting ducks for mischief or oncoming cars. Traffic was going slow, though, and we were not the only ones stalled, so cars still running had to drive around an obstacle of stopped vehicles. We finally became the movers in the maze and made our way to our new apartment.
Once there we turned on the fans and sat there until we were cooled down and re-energized. We figured out how to use the lights and showers (it's different everywhere and requires a specific sequence of switches to be pressed) and were taken to the market by the ‘house boy,’ a man named Santosh of about 25 or so. We learned later from the rental agent that he will also do our laundry and clean every day, services that are included in the price of the apartment. We asked whether we should tip him and were told that it’s best to tip him at the end of the month. Santosh is going to be a huge part of our survival here. For example, he’s arranging for the same auto-rickshaw person to take us into the city every morning, at a discount. Without him we’d be charged ‘foreigner’ price and not be sure to even get one. Another example: Maria Luisa took a shower and couldn’t turn off the water (I wasn’t kidding when I said things like that are complex). He came and showed us how to do it. He has a very gentle spirit, and I’m incredibly thankful for him.
The short trip to the market was the second adventure of the day. It was raining and we had to navigate puddles and piles of broken-up bricks in the roads. The sidewalks were not always accessible b/c of the puddles. We were wearing flip flops, and I began to get very nervous about my feet getting the street water on them (because of the presence of animal dung), and it was too late to turn back. We both had umbrellas but still returned to the house completely soaked. It’s the beginning of the monsoon season, so we’ll have to get used to it (!)
We now have bread, tomatoes, peppers, onions, yogurt, milk, juice, mangoes, watermelon, cucumbers and lemons. We cooked up the tomatoes/peppers/onions for dinner along with toast, cucumber slices and watermelon for dessert. We’ve just cleaned up from dinner, and I can literally feel the vitamins circulating in my body. We haven’t been able to eat raw vegetables since coming here because they are very likely rinsed in the water, and after a week (two weeks for Maria Luisa) we’re really craving them.
It’s now 10:15 and I’m going to head to bed. I won’t likely be able to send this note until the morning because the internet in the house is not working. That’ll be the task tomorrow night, if we have energy after hitting a more ‘western’ supermarket to get some more food. We’re also hoping to find a place to exercise and do yoga.
Tomorrow work starts again! I’m looking forward to it. I hope I can stay awake past 3:30, unlike last week. I’m just about on Indian time now. I'm surprised it took this long.
Love to you all,
Sarah
p.s. Happy Father's Day, Daddio! I love you!!
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