Second day in Delhi

Well yesterday was almost a blur! We woke up and had a really nice breakfast buffet downstairs, Indian style. Let's just say the pancakes were interesting! Rashi is to pick us up for about 11 and we missed her phone call! YIKES! So we try as we might, we can't seem to dial her up...turns out I am an Indian cell phone moron!! LOL So she calls again and we hand it over to the deskman so she can give him directions. Our hotel is on a very small and busy street and traffic is awful so we go to meet her by tuk tuk (autorickshaw) at the Cottage Emporium. Turns out there are two!!! So after talking to our driver he takes us to the right one then asks for almost triple the fare. Yeah buddy....not likely. But he did have to do 1/3 more driving so we paid him an extra third. Seeing Rashi was AWSOME! It was like we just saw each other yesterday! So we went into the emporium to see furniture, saree, and all things hand made and Indian. Right up to 5 foot tall statues to beautiful swings. It was awe inspiring!!! We still had some time to kill so we went for a bit of shopping and stopped into McDonalds to take a picture of the menu! We had an ice coffee to make it look like that's why we were there, they DON'T like you taking pictures of the menu. Not sure why, but my guess is alot of ferengi (tourist) get a kick out of the 'not so micky d' menu! Rashi managed to get one anyways under the guise of getting a photo of me ordering. She says that McDonalds in India actually tastes good! The fact that they deliver is also unusual. So after stopping off at a little place to get a paneer wrap we were off to henna class.











The girls were so awsome and appreciative and attentive! They really wanted to learn and they were very interested in everything from my style which they found so different and fun (they had been practicing out of Mehndi Masala) and how to get thier shading technique up to snuff. They were thrilled watching the DVD slideshow of my work and asked plenty of questions, most of which were through Rashi. They all had a smattering of English, some more than others. They also couldn't believe how far away I had come from when I showed them on a map. Many of these girls have barely gone beyond thier own neighborhood. Rashi and me are trying to think how we can help the school more. Maybe make a paypal link from the 'me teaching in Delhi' page I am hoping to put on the site. I'm going to see if we can get a site for Rashi too for her henna work and maybe make a paypal link there. Not just for money, but to get people to send anything they can....cash, clothes. These are really amazing girls. The place is called Chaman and it is a literacy and recreation centre for under privileged children. I'm hoping we can do more for these girls and thier schoolmates. It's a truly wonderful facility!







After class we saw the most amazing temple that really took our breath away. The amount of marble and the way the steps felt under our feet was remarkable and then went for a late bite. I ate FAR too much and got heartburn. We have been finding that we eat about 1/3 to 1/2 what we eat at home here. We are too full of guzzled water and the heat just saps the hunger out of you. So after a wonderful meal we went on our separate ways. She had her mother in law send her driver so Rashi took that car and had her husband's driver take us home. It was an hour and a half drive as Delhi traffic is awful and the poor guy had trouble finding the wonderful little hole in the wall we will call home for 4 days. Great guy....kinda quiet tho...no english!



So we are off for sight seeing and henna and shoppin' soon! Hopefully I do better at shopping. So far I kinda bite!

EDIT: just got back from breakfast and you'll NEVER guess....we darn Winnipeger's escape the confines of the prairies quite a bit! A lady commented on how lovely my henna was and asked where I got it, told her I was just teaching and she asked if I was from Delhi and I replied: No, from Canada. "Really? WE'RE from Canada....Manitoba actually" Me: "Wow! We are from Winnipeg in St. James" she: "we're from Tuxedo...all our friends couldn't believe were going to India!" So we are going to try to meet up for a thali tonite! This planet just keeps shrinking!!!