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Published: January 22nd 2007
Is it bad if the church burns down?
Thankfully this fire was quickly under control, but I guess with a big bunch of people outside who were probably all praying it would be, its not that much of a surpriseWell the plan to check out Golconda fort on Saturday didn't quite pan out but it's still on the itinerary so stay tuned. Also on the to-do list is a trip up north to the Taj Mahal and that general area, although that will take a little more planning I think.
Saturday was fairly uneventful, I ended up having to work most of the day, but we did go out for dinner to a restaurant called 'Mainland China'. It's always interesting eating out in India, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the waiters hovering around, watching like hawks for an inch of clean plate where they can pile on some rice/chicken/noodles/pure chilli.
On Sunday however, I made sure I took the morning off and went out to the church that I had been visiting the last time I was here. It was really nice to see some familiar faces, and everything was running smoothly, until a small fire broke out in the upstairs section. Thankfully it was only a small fire and everyone was able to leave the building safely. A few guys kicked off their sandals and shimmied up the drainpipe and used a hose to
Volunteer Fire Fighters
These guys literally shot up the drainpipe to put the fire out - I dont know how they didn't get themselves burnt! put the fire out. Being the tourist, I took a couple of snaps, although by that time the majority of the smoke had cleared. Certainly added to the excitement for the day and thankfully the service was able to be continued in the nearby food hall.
One thing I've noticed is that it is NEVER quiet here. Last night for example, drums until about 8pm. And then chanting until well after 10pm. At 10pm some guy next door spent a couple of hours making intermittent vomiting noises, then at midnight the security people called the appartment phone looking for some guy. Then at 7am this morning the honking and yelling and chanting started again. I'd kind of been hoping it might be a one-off Sunday night kind of thing, but tonight is incredibly noisy as well. Kids yelling, music, drums, chanting. A wedding maybe? Who knows. Lucky I'm not the early to bed type! Ironically, up until now I'd been feeling bad that maybe my TV was too loud and could irritate the people next door - I'd even gone to the effort of putting stuff in front of the speakers to try and muffle it. I guess its
A *good* Indian food
Suresh has the presentation thing down pat. Looks a bit like pizza doesn't it? not really such an issue over here!
Its such a strange place though, people are right when they say its a 'land of contradictions'. I'm staying in this nice appartment, with a small army of people looking after my cooking, cleaning, ironing and whatever, yet right next door there is a building under construction, and people are living underneath there. Bathing in the water that runs off from the leaky pipes. It's really quite heartbreaking to see, and you just don't know what you can do about it, but as someone pointed out, I guess it's not possible to save everyone, you just have to do what you can...whatever that is.
On a more positive note, I'm sure you'll all be quite amazed to hear that Suresh has done the impossible - tonight he cooked me some indian food, which I actually really liked - that's right folks, it was actual indian food AND I liked it. I'm not entirely sure how you spell it, but apparently its called something like keera-prodya. It involves chicken and looks a bit like a cross between a pizza and a pancake (hmmm, maybe that's why I liked it).
I could
Up close!
Hey, it was a big moment - I thought I'd never find a local food I liked! This photo was taken moments after I added a touch of salt... definitely get used to having a cook and cleaner - they're so attentive! At breakfast this morning, it was discovered that there was only enough orange juice for me to have half a glass. I would have been happy to just have the half glass, but to my suprise, before I could finish my second boiled egg, the house boy had popped out and grabbed a new carton of juice and topped up my drink. He must have sprinted!
Thanks for the messages everyone has left, its great to hear from you guys! I'm still trying to track down an ethernet cable so I can get skype and my yahoo mail working but it seems to be rarer than hens teeth over here!
Right, time for me to get back to work, and then find some ear plugs to drown out the drums....
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I don't believe it!!!!!!!!
now shell, i really just can't believe my eyes. you eating indian food. fantastic! i am ever so impressed.