The monsoon has finally come to Delhi and boy does it have great timing. I was trying to get home to pack for Varanasi before my yoga class when it started to pour. My rickshaw broke down 5 times on the way to my house because of the roads flooding. The city's filth multiplies by about 10 times in the rain. At least you can dodge the sidewalks, that are often used as toilets, when the weather is dry. Wading through a foot of water mixed with feces and trash to get to my apartment was really really fun. I hurriedly packed, after discovering my drying laundry had been poured on and slipped down a muddy fight of stairs to try to find another rickshaw willing to drive in the rain and traffic for me. Miraculously I made it to yoga only 5 minuets late wet and splattered in mud. Got to love Monsoon season.
Before the monsoon hit this week I got to enjoy being sick this whole week. My stomach can't handle this spicy food. When we went to Sangeea's again to cook she and her friend were suggesting herbal medications to help me. Saurabh has been feeding me yogurt, bananas and mint pills. I got a little better, but now I am taking heavy American antibiotics. I hope I'll be better soon. It's really difficult to find non-spicy food here and I'm getting sick of rice and bananas.
Besides being sick and wet the week has been good. We cooked idli and jelli belis with Sangeea, went on a tour through the streets of Old Delhi, and me and Sophia ventured out to a mosque called Hazzamuddin mosque to listen to some Sufi singing. That was quite a hectic experience. Apparently since it was Ramadan the mosque gave free food and prayer. It was so unbeleivably crowded. I ripped my pants in 3 places trying to sit down. We sat for about 2 hours and watched people fighting like animals over food. A lot of food was wasted because people were ripping it apart to get some. Me and Sophia ended up giving a lot of our food away to people who were collecting it in bags to take home. There was a 3 yr old boy who was chasing a guy who was distributing bread. He chased him up and down two rows of people asking for bread. When I tried to give him my bread he was so busy bothering the bread man he didn't realize I was giving him some. I will never forget his face when he got that bread. :) Generally the women we say with were very nice except when they were fighting over the food we were giving away. We waited two hours in the gender segregated packed mosque for the food to be passed out and the call for prayer to break the daily fast. After eating they prayed and bowed for 15 minuets. We decided to leave before the singing because it was so crowded and crazy. It was cool to experience nevertheless.
Before the monsoon hit this week I got to enjoy being sick this whole week. My stomach can't handle this spicy food. When we went to Sangeea's again to cook she and her friend were suggesting herbal medications to help me. Saurabh has been feeding me yogurt, bananas and mint pills. I got a little better, but now I am taking heavy American antibiotics. I hope I'll be better soon. It's really difficult to find non-spicy food here and I'm getting sick of rice and bananas.
Besides being sick and wet the week has been good. We cooked idli and jelli belis with Sangeea, went on a tour through the streets of Old Delhi, and me and Sophia ventured out to a mosque called Hazzamuddin mosque to listen to some Sufi singing. That was quite a hectic experience. Apparently since it was Ramadan the mosque gave free food and prayer. It was so unbeleivably crowded. I ripped my pants in 3 places trying to sit down. We sat for about 2 hours and watched people fighting like animals over food. A lot of food was wasted because people were ripping it apart to get some. Me and Sophia ended up giving a lot of our food away to people who were collecting it in bags to take home. There was a 3 yr old boy who was chasing a guy who was distributing bread. He chased him up and down two rows of people asking for bread. When I tried to give him my bread he was so busy bothering the bread man he didn't realize I was giving him some. I will never forget his face when he got that bread. :) Generally the women we say with were very nice except when they were fighting over the food we were giving away. We waited two hours in the gender segregated packed mosque for the food to be passed out and the call for prayer to break the daily fast. After eating they prayed and bowed for 15 minuets. We decided to leave before the singing because it was so crowded and crazy. It was cool to experience nevertheless.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was the River Ganges that made you sick, girl!
ReplyDelete