Long

It's so wet and everyone is so fashionable here. How do these girls get anything done when they care so much about how they look? I have been reminded of how much time I spent on the train going back and forth to London before I went to Delhi. It doesn't feel great to be doing it all again, but hopefully some stability will come in the form of a job, so that I can just stay in the city for a time.

Need to find someone to stay with/ somewhere to stay too. Big mission.

I really must upload those photos and finish the India section of this blog properly.

Last India photos

So I'm back in England. I will be updating the last week and a bit's worth of photos (Goa etc.) in the next few days. There are some truly beautiful photos that I have to make into gifs to tell the story better.
Soon come.

England - Reading

Mum and I ate at Bill's in Reading city centre, it was lovely but far more carby than I'm currently used to.
We're now in the library at Reading Uni. We went to see the Ure collection of Greek and Egyptian artefacts which made no distinction between the two due to concurrent timelines (I assume). There was a Gold Flake tin in one of the exhibits which totally surprised me as that is what everyone smoked in India. And yesterday there was Sanskrit on the obelisk sundial in the garden yesterday. Something is telling me I should be there...
Then we saw some Sickert sketches that they keep in the Art History department's library.
A very camp dude just said 'fullarfull' instead of falafel. And I am amazed by the prevalence of the London accent here.

94th

From 34° at 10.30pm to 4° at 5am - Vienna.
From Elephants in the street to Austrian sunrises.
From 100rs lunches to €5.50 breakfasts.

Back in England to a wan sun that can't break the cloud barrier and chilly public garden walks. I have visits with all my friends to look forward to after today but I'm still very much caught in melancholy. I'm sure they'll relieve it from me.

PHOTO EDIT:

Ready to board at Vienna

Real European condensation

93rd

So last night I went shopping for presents in Paharganj by myself. It was good fun, I didn't really get everything I wanted but it was nice to be alone in the chaos of the old city. Before that Mandi, Alka and I went to the IHC to meet the woman that is helping with Mandi's exhibition in Amsterdam. It sounds great so I'm gonna go and hopefully take in Berlin too.

It has been a hectic last day. I started off by saying goodbye to the Sikhs in Govindpuri. I thought they had my burgundy shirt but they didn't, so it was kind of a waste of time. I gave Raju the chess set I'd bought him and he beat me straight off the bat.
Next I went to see Saumya in Green Park and she fed me lunch and promised me she'd send me the photo for my Uno brochure interview soon. I hope it's better than the old one, but that won't be hard...
Then I went to the IHC to say final farewells to Preeti, Suprabha,  Saurabh and Dilpreet. They had chocolate cake for somebody's birthday and gave me a massive slice under the pretends that it was also for my leaving.

I then headed back to Paharganj to finish my shopping. And managed to do it! Then I came back for my final Indian dinner at Alka's and it was gorgeous. Hopefully I won't have to eat any airport food. I was just about to rush off to the New Delhi train station to catch the Reliant airport link metro, when Mukul stopped me and said he'd send the driver. I'm so lucky.

PHOTO EDIT:

This rickshaw is pushing the one in front of it down the main road in Govindpuri

Rainy day in Delhi

City crusts

Barbed-wire protecting Dayal Singh College

Yeah, dust that chair!

Chalk lion

Paharganj in celebration mode

Just

a

casual

ELEPHANT

in

the

street

92nd

Hottest day in the city so far. I took a scooter rickshaw to New Friends colony and ate at Pebble Street on a full-of-breakfast stomach. The food was good though, so I managed to force some down. I said my farewells to Kruttika and Dee and headed back to South Ex. to cower in the shade.

Last night we visited Paharganj with the intention of shopping but, as Mandi had invited one of her friends out, we ended up just chilling in My bar. We met a lovely table full of Europeans and went back to Anoop hotel (shared rooftop with the infamous Hare Krishna guesthouse) and danced with them on the roof. I bought a bag so I can take more stuff back with me on the plane, still hoping it doesn't exceed restrictions, or it'll cost me €100. And that will suck.

PHOTO EDIT:

Hauz Khas ruins 5pm

Delhi evening light over Hauz Khas lake

Mandi out of focus

Sunday afternoon youth takeover 

Paharganj shopping trip

Guilty eyes again

Japanese tourist dancing

Dancing in the dark

THIS DAY:

Moolchand escalator

Ice cream wallah going the wrong way down the road at night

90 first

My flight was at six fifty this morning and since I wanted to be there the regulation two hours before I thought it would be best to just stay up until then...

It was a pretty standard Goan day - we ate well, drank a few chilly beers, sun bathed, played games - but also I had a pleasant surprise in that, due to the bus being full, Izzy and the Janas had to stay in Agonda for another night and see me off.

Petite Jana and I hit the sea again with a Pole called Dex to see the night plankton. And this time it actually worked! We walked for miles down the beach to where the waves were a little sheltered by the headland and then swam past the break into the ink black yonder. We were glowing a little in the shallow water, but when we'd got out of our depth every motion of our limbs was lit up by these tiny little creatures that were attracted to our bodies. When we jumped out of the sea it looked like we were wearing stars on our chests as they cascaded off us.

It was a phenomena of amazing natural beauty.

So after that we sat and chilled in the kush and one by one everyone went to bed until it was just Jana and I listening to r&b, house and gangsta rap. It felt so bad to leave even though I'd only met all these people six days before. I'll have to go and meet them all in Europe.

When I got to the airport I was tired as hell and was falling asleep where I sat. Obviously I was two hours early so by the time I got on to the plane I had dropped off four or five more times and woken in a panic. Lucky for me Goa's airport is so tiny, there is no way I could have missed my flight.

The flight to Mumbai took an hour and I drifted in and out of consciousness so it seemed even quicker. Then I had an hour to kill in Mumbai airport and found a decent samosa shop for breakfast. And then it was the two hour flight to Delhi, which felt LONGER than it should have done because the seat didn't lean back and the food had obviously woken me a little. I was awake when the plane flew over the city though so that made up for it.

And here I am back at Alka's. We've been for a lovely Italian meal (Amici's - Def. col.) and I have given Alka her pearls. Now if only I could get some sleep. I caaaaan't get noooo sleeeeeep. Bip bip buboo bip bip buboo bip bip bubooboo bip bip.

90th

So yesterday was a long 'un. We got up at nine or so and it was overcast thankfully. Had breakfast with a cracking view of the beach in a lovely comfortable kush and walked back to our regular kush on the edge of the sea. Hours of lazing followed and a cow licked my foot when I was sunbathing. My shorts got full of sand while I was laying in the wake and I had to do the emptying pants dance. A jester cow blessed us with her presence and accepted our money being pressed on her head. We had planned to walk to the headland to watch the sunset with the Janas and because they were in Palolem it didn't happen. We're gonna have to do it tonight or we'll lose the opportunity... All four of us ate a MASSIVE thali each and the two Germans blew us away with their food capacity - Izzy and I were only half way through ours. A Polish man had recommended that we swim in the sea at night because the plankton illuminates your skin and makes you shimmer. I tried so hard to see it (changed from contacts to glasses, threw water all over my body, scraped the wet sand with my hands) but couldn't even when everyone else could. So sad. We all went to the jewellery shop and Izzy commissioned an opal ring to be made. Dr Dre kept us company in the wee hours of the morning.
I ordered two meals for breakfast - a 'Maxican' breakfast and Veg Enchiladas - they have knocked me out. I definitely am going to be overweight after this trip - my appetite has grown hugely.
I left my shoes somewhere last night and now I'm burning myself a new pair of soles on the sand and tarmac.

Edit: killer sunset, don't mind if I do!

Hot hot heat

PHOTO EDIT:

Morning glory

The one road. Imagine addresses - Sita Cottages, THE Road, Agonda etc.

Parantha breakfast at the jewellers

Sanding lessons

Guilty eyes

After breakfast faces

Mad design on one of the houses on THE road

Jana monkey-girl

Dinnertime sunshine

CHEERS!

Not enjoying that?

Obviously not

Cow sunbathing

Kushty

Palm tree shade may be the best kind of shade

Dancing with the sunset

Pointed dancer toes

Draining sand toes

Jana poi positions

Love that slow step

Goony

Night time chats with Daniel