Oh, the excitement...

I'll be honest with you all. The last week and a half or so has not been the most exciting time of my life so there is not a ton to tell you about. Nick and I both got a little sick (some might call it Delhi Belly), we have been working a lot and not doing much else (except eating the yummy food). Even with the lack of excitement it is still really interesting to experience daily life in a culture that is so different from our own.

Me being a geek in our lovely apartment

Nick being a geek while leaving our apartment

We have been to several markets, those are always fun! I love the bargaining and everything is really inexpensive! Nick and I got a really pretty handmade tea set for about ten bucks! It came with 6 cups and 6 saucers, a tea pot, a little sugar jar and a milk boat. We both loved it! Hopefully we can get it home without breaking it! Hehehe... knowing the way we are... it is unlikely.

Dilli Haat market

Aside from the markets we mainly just hang out with our neighbors. Tasnim is back from her travels down south so she has been cooking for us again. Manu took on that job while she was gone... every time he set a dish on the table he would say, "this will not be good at all... this will really be terrible... I'm not a good cook.." and every time it was fantastic! I don't think he believed us when we told him that (especially because Nick likes everything:o) but it was true. We are hoping to cook pasta for them one night... finding the supplies might prove to be difficult. Noodles and feta are not very common around here.

Even with life being uneventful we have been having a great time (for the most part... small bouts of home sickness every now and again). The other day Nick and I sat out in the park/ruins that are right next door to our apartment. It was really nice and quiet until the kids came out to play. Nick and I had a blast watching them! Cricket is a really popular game over here... actually as far as I can tell it is the ONLY popular game over here... It is a lot like baseball only with a flat wooden bat and the pitcher bounces the ball to the hitter. Well... along with some other really weird rules... but it looks like fun! So we sat and watched the boys play and read our books at the same time. Then more and more boys came... suddenly the nice game of cricket turned in to, "who can pelt who harder with the tennis ball." One poor little boy got hit time after time by the bigger boys... I'm sure he had tons of welts on his back! But he never stopped smiling and seemed to be having a great time! Then when he would get the ball he would try to throw it at the other boys but he was too weak and they would just catch it and hit him again. It was all hilarious. Then some teenage boys walked out and all the boys aimed at them in stead.

The little boy that later was picked on playing cricket

The men that gather in the park every night

We have been leading a very low key life over here (soon to change with our upcoming travels) but I have enjoyed it. We have gotten to know a few people in our little community. Not many, but a few. Every morning Nick and I go and get a cup of tea from a small market around the corner for 5 rupees each. It is not the best tea we have had but the owners are so nice! Then there is Carmonie(sp?). She is the woman that comes to clean our apartment 3-4 times a week. She does not speak much English but she smiles widely and waves everytime we see her. She has two adorable little kids, one boy and one girl, and lives just around the corner from where we stay. Another man we have come to know in our little village of Hauz Khas is the man who works at the small street market. Before we switched to the big bottles we would always go to him for water. Unlike most people he never tried to rip us off and now waves and smiles every time we pass by. I can't leave out one of my favorite villagers. He also waves and smiles at us whenever we pass him. I don't know his name, but it is a little boy, probably about 4 years old, and he always has the sweetest demeanor! Then of course there is Manu, MukeshTasnim. They are slowly teaching us how to survive in this crazy world we have entered into. Every day that we are around them we learn something new that will help us in our future adventures. Sometimes very simple things like the price of a coconut sometimes about larger issues, like things that are rude in Indian culture that we may have never thought of before. We haven't been doing the whole tourist thing very much, instead we just settled in and began to live life, and slowly (very slowly, we still get a LOT of stares but not as many within Hauz Khas Village) our community is accepting us.

Haha... another thing we are finding entertaining are the Bollywood movies! Nick wrote about Rocky the Rebel the other day... he has yet to stop talking about it! Jeff... you will LOVE this one! So of course we had to go get another one. We had been eyeing a cricket movie called Lagaan for some time and finally purchased it. Anyone who is interested in sing an awesome Bollywood movie contact us when we get back because it is coming home with us! Nick and I have both agreed that our favorite part about the Bollywood movies is the dancing! There will be a tense moment and then randomly someone will just breakout in song and dance with the rest of the cast to follow. So funny!

I have had a few requests to explain a few of the details of everyday life to people and how we get certain tasks done. So here ya go...

Laundry: As for the laundry, Carmonie, the woman I mentioned above, does it for us. Washing machines are very few and far between so she does it by hand and then hangs it our on the line on our balcony. Along with the laundry she cleans the whole apartment. She also cleans Manu and Mukeshs' apartment and Tasnim's as well. Carmine comes 3-4 times a week and we pay her 600 rupees a month (about 15.00). So not to bad at all. She does a really good job... I guess I didn't have to pack enough underwear for every day of the trip after all... hahahaha!!

Showers: Showers are always cold unless it is really hot and then the water is naturally heated. Most of the time this is fine... but it always works out that we get cold water when it is cold out and hot water when it is hot out. Plus, Nick and I have been so heavily warned about the water so it is always a challenge to not get any water in your mouth while showering.

Toilet Paper: Well... toilet paper is quite expensive over here. I'm not exactly sure what they do (I haven't had the guts to ask), but I don't think many people use it. That is probably why it is a little expensive (comparably). I see why the "never touch your food with your left hand" rule when eating is still enforced!

Hmmmm.... I don't know what else to write about at the moment, I'll write it if I think of anything. If anyone has any questions, even if they seem stupid, please ask! We didn't know what to expect when we came so most of you back home probably have some questions as well.


Some other pictures...

This picture is of a bird that we saw while walking out of the office on a really hot evening. The bird was just chillin on the roof like this... we were not sure that it was even alive because it was not moving. So weird! I had never seen a bird lay like that before! Sergei, any ideas what he was doing?

Nick was impressed by this little electric car... pretty neat-o!

Hahaha... here are a few more pictures for you Mariah!

This cow was trying to lick the bird... what a weirdo!


Three cows just chillin on the side of the road

Ok... one last note. We have been working our butts off to try to keep this up for everyone at home but we aren't so sure that people are actually reading it. If you are and you see something you want to comment about or have any questions about our trip feel free to leave us a note! We love getting them and it lets us know that we aren't wasting our time on the blog.

Hahaha... and I hope you all don't mind Nick's political rants... at times he just can't help himself... most of the time he has pretty cool stuff to say too! :o)