Settlin down in Delhi

It's been a while since I last wroteand much has happened. Here's a quick run-down:

After Rath Yatra festival in Puri I met with a small NGO there and then travelled to Bhubaneswar for another meeting. I really liked Orissa, the country side is really beautiful--tropical jungle, rice paddies, and green fields and hills. Bhubaneswar, on the other hand, is the armpit of India. It's really dirty and overcrowded, the hottest place I have been, super conservative, and everything shuts down at 11:00 at night. There are bars to hang out in, but they are all in seedy alleys or underground with blacked out windows, dim lighting and full of smoke. It just feels like your doing something wrong by being there! I scooted out of that town ASAP. Before I left though I went to the zoo, which was pretty cool. I had an upclose encounter with a baby elephant. It was an orphan and the zookeeper had made it his personal pet! He told it to bless me, so it used it trunk to touch be on the forehead!! Also, monkeys were everywhere...and no not in cages. Just chillin on benches, in trees, where ever. There all over India, even on the streets here in Delhi. They look so cute you want to pet them, but people say they're dangerous (I don't want my hand bitten off).

From Orissa I took a train to Kolkata (Calcutta) which is a REALLY great city. I think it's my favorite big city in India. It had really good energy and there was actually a downtown area with broad streets and city buildings. The streets of Calcutta feel more like being in NY, whereas Delhi feels more like a spread out collection of villages. It was definitely not what I expected. Calcutta also has probably the largest remains of colonial architecture....some of the buildings are really spectacular. As much as I liked the city I had only one meeting so I stayed for only one day and headed back to Delhi.

Soooo, now I'm back in New Delhi working on data analysis and eventually the final report. I am really satisfied with the research I have done and feel confident that the report will turn out good. Today I met with the Joint Secretary of Insurance of the Ministry of Finance (head insurance policy honcho) which went well. Next week I will have my final meeting with the World Bank here in Delhi. After that I am going to lock myself in a closet with my laptop till I finish the report. I want to get it mostly finished before Daisy arrives next week which may or may not be possible. It's nice to be back in Delhi and have a place to leave my things (rather than carrying everything I own on my back). I got an apartment for the month, which by the way is incredibly expensive. I can't figure it out......property in Delhi is in the same price point as New York City!!...but most people here make very little money. I don't know how they afford it. Anyways, the place I am staying in is like a long-stay guesthouse. I wasn't happy with it at first because it has no windows and several things were broken, but management has made an effort to correct everything I didn't like so I'm okay with it now. Besides, it's only one neighborhood away from my office and I got the management to throw in the use of their bicycle! You want to talk crazy....forget bungee jumping or swimming with sharks...try biking around the jam packed streets of New Delhi. There are no lanes and few traffic signals (not that people use them anyways)...it's everyman for himself. I have been here long enough though that I know what to expect and feel pretty capable.

I've met several expats from all over the world and have made friends. We're going to see the new Batman movie tonight. Haven't met many Americans yet though. All my French friends tell me they all stay on the embassy compounds and don't stray very far.....sounds pretty typical. There are a couple of exceptions. There's one girl in my office that's American. Her and I went to an Obama rally two days ago hosted by Democrats Abroad India (I scored a t-shirt :). Also, I met an American guy working for Citibank that lives in my block with his family and they've been really friendly.

That's my life in a nutshell right now. I'm feelin good about things and enjoying my work. I do miss my friends and family so I am really excited that Daisy is visiting me. We prob won't go to Nepal because I won't have time, we'll most likely go to the Himalayas in north India. People say that area is like something from a storybook and it's easily accessible by train from New Delhi. I'm also going to take her to the Taj Mahal, which is really close to New Delhi as well. I hope everyone is good back home. See you soon!

Oh yeah, here are some pics of the last two weeks...

---

---