14th August

Today we get to move into our new rooms! It is all very exciting, so we have to go out and buy soft furnishings in order to actually live in them.

I went to the gym this morning, and I have to say I felt better for it. It is awfully hot, so I couldn’t do more than half an hour, but it felt nice to be doing something familiar to me.

Spent the morning in the Japanese café that we found the other day. I had had Bingsoo last time, which is a sort of crushed ice and sherbet dish that you eat with fruit or a paste. I had red bean and banana, and though it is a weird sensation, it was very tasty. This morning though, I opted for a pomegranate tea ice shake. Had a look through Indian vogue and I have to say, it is just not as good as British or any other vogue I have come across. It just seems too tacky and not enough substance. This issue featured Shilpa Shetty, and her cover was in a denim mini and a cross over crop top. It was an awful photograph and a tarty outfit, which never bodes well.

Went to khan Market to pick up our tops, and ended up in Fab India buying cushion covers. Me and Lauren figured that if we wanted cushions we may as well buy them from Royal Fabrics up the road, but buy nice covers from FI. A good plan, as it turns out. I am currently writing this propped up on a comfy and soft little cushion from the very place. We also found a bucket for laundry, soap powder, pins for our sarees and some oreo cookies. With all this laden in hand we went up to the Turtle Café again and I had a falafel wrap, which was very tasty. We have to stop coming to Khan Market though! It is too expensive to keep up and I just feel so western and posh when I am there. Too touristy, too clean and pretty, for me to feel wholly comfortable in. I am here to live after all, not glide over the surface.

Returned to the hostel laden with bags of stuff in preparation to shift to our new rooms. They call ‘moving’ ‘shifting’ here. It is very odd, as ‘shift’ has slightly negative implications in terms of movement. Decided we should have a quiet night, so turned down Ben’s offer of going into South Delhi to see some Hare Krishna parade. Instead we ate dinner and tried to watch Raising Arizona but only got so far. You need to watch it with the fan off, so you get really hot and drowsy. Not good!

In other news, it rained tonight. I love the rain here, it reminds me of home. Last night Iain played me Message in a Bottle down the phone to me and I burst into tears. It's never good when Sting is making you into a sop. This time will go like nothing, and I will be back soon enough.

My new room is very colourful, but I think I need some more hangings or something to cover up the dingy walls. I hope there are no more bugs. It feels so nice to unpack everything and get settled. My neighbor is called Karina and is from Afghanistan; she seems lovely as well.

Tomorrow I think I will try and do some reading. I need to do my theory class! Apparently we are going out again though, but not much will be open due to Independence Day. Damn all these holidays! We need a calendar. And wireless. Wireless is my new quest, now that I don’t have many more forms to sign.