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Published: September 7th 2006
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Delhi morning
the street outside my hotel First, i am alive and safely at my hotel and on the ground in delhi. It's 10:30pm on september 7.
And the journey begins. So i was super bummed that i didn't have a window seat for the nearly 15 hour flight across the world. i had more or less accepted that fact when the airline called my name over the speakers. Trembling, i thought they had caught me sneaking my water bottle in my bag or the illegal xanex in my money belt. When i got to the counter however, the kind woman informed me that she switched my seat so a family could sit together, and that i was now in a window. Yipee!
So, i've been doing my best to have 0 expectations for this trip, but you often can't help but think about the person you'll be sitting next to for 15 hours of your life. "Josh" happened to be that person. A short conversation revealed that he is an Indian American from Michigan, heading to Delhi for his arranged marraige. He was super talkative (moreso than i had hoped) but i decided to just go with it. We decided to start drinking---turns out this
guy is loaded and is pulling hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and tipping the stewards like crazy and buying me stupid amounts of alcohol. We're having a jolly good time....i'm buzzed and he is as well. Then things turn sour. He starts telling me he loves me. Starts grabbing my hand and kissing it and invading my personal space entirely too much. I put on my headphones and try to pass out, but when i do he proceeds to rest his head in my bosom, and i'm not quite comfortable with that. I take a xanex and notify my friendly steward (super nice guy) that "josh" is becoming a little unbearable. I just ask him to keep an eye out so i'm not molested in my sleep. I start to pass out in a horribly uncomfortable position and josh wakes me up. Annoyed, i give him my friendly american death stare and he tells me to lay down. He's moving seats!!!! So, somehow, on a more or less completely booked flight i end up having two seats to myself. Just enough to curl up on my side and sleep for, yes, 11 hours. By the time i woke
some indian architecture
morning hits this nice building up we were over afghanistan and an hour and a half outside of Delhi. It was awesome. I'll take a little molesting anyday for 11 hours of blackness through turbulence, crying babies, and the like. The airplane food was some yummy paneer too. So far,so good.
When we land in Delhi things go smoothly. The airport has low ceilings and unforgiving florescent lights. I realize also that i'm back in urinetown---that is, having to pay to piss. When i collect my bags and head out into my first glimpses of delhi, i am overjoyed at the fact that i've arranged airport pickup. It is such a comfort to see a friendly person standing there with a sign with your name on it, and to have that same person lead you through the sea of indians that stare with red eyes as you march past them out the gate.
This is the first country i've been in where they drive on the 'wrong' side of the road. There is a very strange, very distinct smell in the air and the heat is oppressive. When we start driving a nice breeze is present, but the heat from the engine is
Delhi morning 2
the street outside my hotel coming up through the floor and it feels like having a heater on full blast inside the car. It's still hard for me to embrace butt sweat, and my gold bond is packed away. The dark streets remind me of cambodia....with less pot holes. The poverty is evident right away. There is trash everywhere. When we get closer to the hotel, the street becomes a narrow alley way. It's kind of the size of the souq in israel, the wires above tangled bangkok style, the smell like pamplona during the running of the bulls, and the amount of trash indescribable. There are cows everywhere, people everywhere, car horns, red eyed stares, heat, dirt, poverty, and me. My hotel room, well, it's dirty too. I took a picture of the bathroom which i'll show you all later.
My state of mind is quite good as i'm in that 'newness' phase. India is my new boyfriend and despite the grime, we're still flirting. i am writing such a novel now because in this small space, staring at a computer....it feels like home. For a few minutes i can be safe here before i wander the dark alleys, back to my room, to lie down by myself, in a dirty bed, miss everyone i know, and try to recapture again why it is that i continue to travel.
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