Apparently the Internet here does not let you on to facebook. However, it may just have been my computer. There is a wireless service here though, and I am going to find out if I can use it now as a guest, or if I have to wait for the password.
I have on my kurta and crazy pants, so I feel quite Indian. The showers are interesting here. There are loads of mosquitoes in them, probably because it is damp, and you have to swipe all the time to stop them biting. I think I may have been bitten on my forehead last night, but I can’t really tell. Hopefully they will not swell up like the ones on my arm and foot did. The blister on my foot has also progressed to a painful sore. Not nice at all.
Went to meet Amanda, Lauren and Ben to get signatures from the head of history for our hostel forms. We discovered a shack next to the library building that has stores of ringbinders full of illicit copies of texts. This place is a treasure trove. I managed to get binders of all of my texts for 18th c literature for only 300 rupees. If you take them any book they will photocopy the entire thing for you for about 100 Rs. Absolutely amazing. Feeling millions of times better than before. This little shack is going to get a lot of business from me. I am going to have a lot of illegal books by the end of this year.
Afterwards we went to the canteen and got a papaya milkshake that tasted a little bit funky, but not so bad I didn’t drink it. Ben is getting in to Gwyer hall hopefully, so we are all feeling a little bit better about things.
Found an actual bookshop in Kamal Nagar market that had some really interesting books on post-modernist theory that were under a tenner all together. I liked the man in the shop, he had a great beard and kept producing post-modern theory texts from various corners of the stall. Unfortunately I couldn’t buy them all, but I am hoping that I will be able to find the books in the library and take them to my new best friends on the photocopy stand. Went to sit in Coffee Day with our new purchases for a couple of hours. I think I am getting my appetite back, as I had not only a frappe but also some date cake. I just need to get healthy food in me and not cake!
Tonight we are going out to meet Marie and David at Connaught Place to have a drink, which will be brilliant. It is nice to get out now that we have our bearings ever so slightly. And since we are in the Guest room, there is no curfew here!
The restaurant we met them in was called United Coffee House. It is a place of eighties glitz and sparkle. Everything was gold, gilt and plush fixtures. Even the chandeliers were tacky. There was cheesy sax muzak as well that had renditions of Burt Bacharach and yet seemed even more cringingly saccharine because of the general atmosphere. You just expected Timoth Dalton or Roger Moore to swagger in. They did however, do some amazing cocktails. I had a Singapore Sling that had a maraschino cherry in it and I was so happy. Lauren had a really nice Peach Mojito, and Amanda went for a Blue Lagoon, but it had no cherry disappointingly. We also got a slice of very rich chocolate cake and ice cream to share between us that was incredibly tasty and generally wonderful in every way. I have eaten a lot of cake today! It made a welcome change to the mystery desert of the Guest House. It was all very civilized, and I think I will have to bring mum and dad here so that they don’t think India is all street stalls and food poisoning.
Our rickshaw driver on the way home must have been the best driver in the world. He was a lot fitter than many of the others, and actually looked vaguely healthy and clean. His rickshaw even had enough room for four people as there was a seat fixed on the back as well. I think he might be a student by day who is just making some extra money by night. He didn’t have to walk once and we didn’t feel guilty at all. We even tried to tip him and he refused! I hope we have him again sometime.
I have to say, today has been pretty good. I think the past two days have been the most enjoyable since I have been here. I feel a lot calmer about this whole thing. Perhaps the shock of it all is wearing off. I think now we have somewhere to stay and a definite plan of action everything is taking a much clearer course. Maybe my hair will even stop falling out form all the stress. Who knows what wonders we shall have?
One slight annoyance: my phone is telling me I have 7 Rs on it despite the fact that I charged it up today with another 100Rs. Not helpful.
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