Thursday in Delhi - Sandwich's Diary
Thursday morning I woke up feeling sick and kept fighting it for a couple of hours. Leslie and Naveen went down for breakfast and then headed out to the embassy by taxi to pick up his visa packet. Done and done!
By the time they returned, I had taken an antibiotic, thrown that up and was moaning on the bed.
Let me just say at this point, I really don't think it was the street food tour. Leslie and Naveen ate all the same things I did and didn't get sick. That was Tuesday and this was Thursday and I was fine (except for a headache) all Wednesday. Probably a random touching of some object and then not washing my hands thoroughly. Anyway, I don't recommend it.
The plan had been for us to go back to Dilli Haat and finish up our shopping today, but I was clearly in no shape for that. Leslie the Incredible India Adventure Girl, set out on her own for the subway. Dilli Haat is a straight shot, 10 stops down our line.
I lay down and slept for a bit, then managed to make another antibiotic stay down (I only ever threw up the one time, thank goodness, and I spare you any further gory details). I rested for a few more hours and woke up at noon feeling much better. I began to choke down a liter of oral rehydration salts. Gross! I finally put two lemon Airborne tablets in the bottle to make it somewhat tolerable. I also ate a few of Naveen's goldfish crackers (he doesn't like them anyway). Then I organized Naveen's suitcase.
Leslie and Naveen returned about 1:30 laden with stuff and in a foul mood. Not only was she carrying her packages, but no one had offered her a seat for 7 stops on the subway while holding Naveen and she gave some young girl a verbal tongue-lashing. Finally some lady intervened and made someone get up and let her sit down. Don't mess with the mama bear!
They went down for lunch and I was feeling well enough that I came down too and had some black tea and a packet of Lipton chicken noodle soup mix I'd brought along for just such an emergency. You know, I liked that stuff as a kid and I remember the noodles being crunchy and fun. As an adult I just found them crunchy and pasty. The broth and the chicken (surprisingly!) were good tho.
Naveen lay down for a nap and Leslie faux-packed. She said she was packing and she swarmed around moving things from here to there, but mostly she checked her Facebook. :D
By the time he woke up, I was feeling well enough for shopping. I still had a huge list I hadn't tackled and we were leaving in 8 hours. Leslie had her heart set on visiting this lake with swan boats we'd driven past on Monday. I told her I refused to set finger in a mucky Indian lake and she admitted it was silly and she couldn't put her finger on why it was important, but, by gum, she was doing it!
So we hopped on the subway again and parted ways at Rajiv Chowk where I got out to walk to the Central Cottage Industries Emporium and she changed lines for the lake.
Turns out she met the nice Hong Kong lady, Aree, on the next line and Aree said, what the heck, I'll come with you! Aree is kind of a card! She's about 65 or 70 and completely her own person. She wears a tshirt and jean shorts with running shoes and does whatever she wants. She's so sweet.
They got to the swan boats and discovered you had to pedal them yourselves. Aree said no way and paid to have someone else do it (or a motorized version, I'm not really sure) It was an extra 120 Rs. or something, I think. They had a blast!
I asked for directions and took off walking to the Cottage Industries. I asked for directions and kept walking. I asked for directions and when everyone kept telling me I was headed the right way, assumed they were all telling the truth and kept walking. I asked one more time for good measure and after about 7 minutes, saw the big building I remembered from our first trip to Delhi. It really was a straight shot, about half a kilometer from the metro station.
The store was peacefully quiet and empty and I whipped through my shopping like nobody's business. The prices are quite good here, I thought, and the things are very nice. No bargaining and they sell EVERYTHING!
I got a sari for one of the girls, a chess set, drums, paper-mache pill boxes and a Christmas ornament, a journal, earrings, and more.
I was all finished when I meandered into the china area. For years I have wanted a tea set, all matching pieces and I've always wanted an ethnic one of some kind. I've looked and looked at SERRV and never found one that tripped my trigger. As I was wandering through the china area, I spotted a Warli painted tea set that took my breath away.
Warli is a very simple, stick-figure art by a tribal people of Maharastra. It is beautiful in its simplicity. We learned about it 2 years ago at Camp Masala when we studied that area of India and the kids made their own Warli drawings.
Here is Mack's design, which I scanned and made into a scrapbook paper.
ANYway! The tea set. Was breathtaking. I hesitantly picked up the teapot to check the price. 780 Rs. For the teapot. All the sets I'd looked at in the States were $30-50.
I picked up the creamer. No sticker. The sugar bowl. No sticker. A cup (there were SIX of them, plus saucers). No sticker.
It was 780 Rs. FOR THE WHOLE SET! I almost fainted. I decided on the spot I was buying it.
Then I thought about getting it home. I asked how they'd wrap it. In bubble wrap, Madam. In bubble wrap, in a box, I said. No box. Bubble wrap. I said Airplane. Box and bubble wrap. Yeah, ok, no problem. I thought about the tea set arriving home in 780 pieces. I decided for $15, I'd just set my mind on the pieces, buy some super glue and hope for the best.
By now I was pretty whipped and it was 6:30. When you shop at the CCIE, you bring your item to the counter in each department and they ring it up, take the item and give you a receipt. When you are all finished shopping, you bring all your receipts to the payment counter where you...(wait for it!)....pay. Then they stamp everything in triplicate and you take the paid receipts to the receiving counter. Their they collect all your purchases, sorted by department, bag them and hand them over. It's quite a system! I had to wait eons before they finished bubble-wrapping and boxing my tea set.
Can you say heavy? Holy moly! I left the store, stepped into traffic and knocked on an auto. He pulled to the side of the street and let me hop in. Back to the metro station (20 Rs.) and I was down the stairs and on my way with my packages. It was rush hour by now and the train was crowded, so I stood, but it was only 4 stops, so not bad.
Leslie and Naveen were in the room and had just returned from their boating adventure. They went down to eat and I unpacked my whole suitcase, sorted and repacked. The souveniers all fit. The dirty laundry didn't. I ended up abandoning two pair of pajamas, a skirt and a pair of sandals, along with all the snacks I wasn't taking in my carry-on (I wonder what the Indians think of tuna?), some random medications that have been to India 5 times and never been used (can you even take expired Immodium?) and the M&Ms. Mrs. Shalini later told us that actually, lots of people leave things behind and her assistant, Seema, sorts through them and distributes the things to staff and others. Most of her staff, she said, wear shoes left behind by travelers!
Leslie came back to the room and faux-packed some more. I rested on the bed. Naveen played and unpacked the little she had accomplished. This went on for 2 more hours and she did finally manage to sort and fit everything in.
At 9:30, Mrs. S. came up to say good-bye. We mentioned how pleased we'd been with our stay and how we wanted to recommend her place to other adoptive families. Our only concern, we said, was that the beds were so hard, and while it hadn't bothered us, other people might not care for it. "Oh, you girls!" she said. "Why didn't you ASK me! I have stacks of soft mattresses! Lots of people ask for them and one Norwegian couple even wanted TWO on each bed! You should have told me." Uh, how were we to know?
So anyway, we can now unequivocally recommend the Sham Nath Villa for your stay in Delhi, complete with soft mattress-topped beds. Go! Stay! Love!
I lay down and closed my eyes some more. Leslie took a shower, Naveen played. The little monkey actually stayed awake until 11:45 when our taxi arrived. Leslie woke me up a few minutes before and I went down to watch for it.
To be continued...
By the time they returned, I had taken an antibiotic, thrown that up and was moaning on the bed.
Let me just say at this point, I really don't think it was the street food tour. Leslie and Naveen ate all the same things I did and didn't get sick. That was Tuesday and this was Thursday and I was fine (except for a headache) all Wednesday. Probably a random touching of some object and then not washing my hands thoroughly. Anyway, I don't recommend it.
The plan had been for us to go back to Dilli Haat and finish up our shopping today, but I was clearly in no shape for that. Leslie the Incredible India Adventure Girl, set out on her own for the subway. Dilli Haat is a straight shot, 10 stops down our line.
I lay down and slept for a bit, then managed to make another antibiotic stay down (I only ever threw up the one time, thank goodness, and I spare you any further gory details). I rested for a few more hours and woke up at noon feeling much better. I began to choke down a liter of oral rehydration salts. Gross! I finally put two lemon Airborne tablets in the bottle to make it somewhat tolerable. I also ate a few of Naveen's goldfish crackers (he doesn't like them anyway). Then I organized Naveen's suitcase.
Leslie and Naveen returned about 1:30 laden with stuff and in a foul mood. Not only was she carrying her packages, but no one had offered her a seat for 7 stops on the subway while holding Naveen and she gave some young girl a verbal tongue-lashing. Finally some lady intervened and made someone get up and let her sit down. Don't mess with the mama bear!
They went down for lunch and I was feeling well enough that I came down too and had some black tea and a packet of Lipton chicken noodle soup mix I'd brought along for just such an emergency. You know, I liked that stuff as a kid and I remember the noodles being crunchy and fun. As an adult I just found them crunchy and pasty. The broth and the chicken (surprisingly!) were good tho.
Naveen lay down for a nap and Leslie faux-packed. She said she was packing and she swarmed around moving things from here to there, but mostly she checked her Facebook. :D
By the time he woke up, I was feeling well enough for shopping. I still had a huge list I hadn't tackled and we were leaving in 8 hours. Leslie had her heart set on visiting this lake with swan boats we'd driven past on Monday. I told her I refused to set finger in a mucky Indian lake and she admitted it was silly and she couldn't put her finger on why it was important, but, by gum, she was doing it!
So we hopped on the subway again and parted ways at Rajiv Chowk where I got out to walk to the Central Cottage Industries Emporium and she changed lines for the lake.
Turns out she met the nice Hong Kong lady, Aree, on the next line and Aree said, what the heck, I'll come with you! Aree is kind of a card! She's about 65 or 70 and completely her own person. She wears a tshirt and jean shorts with running shoes and does whatever she wants. She's so sweet.
They got to the swan boats and discovered you had to pedal them yourselves. Aree said no way and paid to have someone else do it (or a motorized version, I'm not really sure) It was an extra 120 Rs. or something, I think. They had a blast!
I asked for directions and took off walking to the Cottage Industries. I asked for directions and kept walking. I asked for directions and when everyone kept telling me I was headed the right way, assumed they were all telling the truth and kept walking. I asked one more time for good measure and after about 7 minutes, saw the big building I remembered from our first trip to Delhi. It really was a straight shot, about half a kilometer from the metro station.
The store was peacefully quiet and empty and I whipped through my shopping like nobody's business. The prices are quite good here, I thought, and the things are very nice. No bargaining and they sell EVERYTHING!
I got a sari for one of the girls, a chess set, drums, paper-mache pill boxes and a Christmas ornament, a journal, earrings, and more.
I was all finished when I meandered into the china area. For years I have wanted a tea set, all matching pieces and I've always wanted an ethnic one of some kind. I've looked and looked at SERRV and never found one that tripped my trigger. As I was wandering through the china area, I spotted a Warli painted tea set that took my breath away.
Warli is a very simple, stick-figure art by a tribal people of Maharastra. It is beautiful in its simplicity. We learned about it 2 years ago at Camp Masala when we studied that area of India and the kids made their own Warli drawings.
Here is Mack's design, which I scanned and made into a scrapbook paper.
ANYway! The tea set. Was breathtaking. I hesitantly picked up the teapot to check the price. 780 Rs. For the teapot. All the sets I'd looked at in the States were $30-50.
I picked up the creamer. No sticker. The sugar bowl. No sticker. A cup (there were SIX of them, plus saucers). No sticker.
It was 780 Rs. FOR THE WHOLE SET! I almost fainted. I decided on the spot I was buying it.
Then I thought about getting it home. I asked how they'd wrap it. In bubble wrap, Madam. In bubble wrap, in a box, I said. No box. Bubble wrap. I said Airplane. Box and bubble wrap. Yeah, ok, no problem. I thought about the tea set arriving home in 780 pieces. I decided for $15, I'd just set my mind on the pieces, buy some super glue and hope for the best.
By now I was pretty whipped and it was 6:30. When you shop at the CCIE, you bring your item to the counter in each department and they ring it up, take the item and give you a receipt. When you are all finished shopping, you bring all your receipts to the payment counter where you...(wait for it!)....pay. Then they stamp everything in triplicate and you take the paid receipts to the receiving counter. Their they collect all your purchases, sorted by department, bag them and hand them over. It's quite a system! I had to wait eons before they finished bubble-wrapping and boxing my tea set.
Can you say heavy? Holy moly! I left the store, stepped into traffic and knocked on an auto. He pulled to the side of the street and let me hop in. Back to the metro station (20 Rs.) and I was down the stairs and on my way with my packages. It was rush hour by now and the train was crowded, so I stood, but it was only 4 stops, so not bad.
Leslie and Naveen were in the room and had just returned from their boating adventure. They went down to eat and I unpacked my whole suitcase, sorted and repacked. The souveniers all fit. The dirty laundry didn't. I ended up abandoning two pair of pajamas, a skirt and a pair of sandals, along with all the snacks I wasn't taking in my carry-on (I wonder what the Indians think of tuna?), some random medications that have been to India 5 times and never been used (can you even take expired Immodium?) and the M&Ms. Mrs. Shalini later told us that actually, lots of people leave things behind and her assistant, Seema, sorts through them and distributes the things to staff and others. Most of her staff, she said, wear shoes left behind by travelers!
Leslie came back to the room and faux-packed some more. I rested on the bed. Naveen played and unpacked the little she had accomplished. This went on for 2 more hours and she did finally manage to sort and fit everything in.
At 9:30, Mrs. S. came up to say good-bye. We mentioned how pleased we'd been with our stay and how we wanted to recommend her place to other adoptive families. Our only concern, we said, was that the beds were so hard, and while it hadn't bothered us, other people might not care for it. "Oh, you girls!" she said. "Why didn't you ASK me! I have stacks of soft mattresses! Lots of people ask for them and one Norwegian couple even wanted TWO on each bed! You should have told me." Uh, how were we to know?
So anyway, we can now unequivocally recommend the Sham Nath Villa for your stay in Delhi, complete with soft mattress-topped beds. Go! Stay! Love!
I lay down and closed my eyes some more. Leslie took a shower, Naveen played. The little monkey actually stayed awake until 11:45 when our taxi arrived. Leslie woke me up a few minutes before and I went down to watch for it.
To be continued...
Comments
Haha....I can't help but laugh at the soft mattress story...I am sorry, but yes, that is funny. :):)