My first sense of India was the sheer blanket of heat that washed over me as I left the airport. I checked my watch against my driver’s just to see if I was correct. It was 7am and it was boiling. I couldn't possibly imagine the mid day heat, if this was how hot it was in the morning.
The driver was very interested and intrigued with the UK and what I found fundamentally different between the two. The main things I noticed during the drive were; the sheer disrepair, everywhere rubble was frequently piled on the sidewalks and sometimes in the middle of the road; the driving style was crazy, cars weaving in and out of lanes, undertaking, overtaking, mounting pavements frequently to get by - the sheer impatience of every driver shown by the constant beeping of horns. Beep after beep after beep; that is now the sound of the Indian roads to me, engrained in my brain.
I had fun trying to explain the sport rugby to my driver, whose English was lacking, coupled with my naivety of speaking too quickly and not clearly enough. He was a big football fan as well, the first thing on the topic was "Own goal, Rob", we both laughed. He predicted Spain to win, I predicted Holland. "We love World Cup" he shouted. He took me to Saket, which was where I stayed for two days in a very nice hotel called Silver Fern. It was, THANK GOD, air conditioned. Before I went to the hotel I went for an Indian tea with my driver, it was very nice and sweet (no extra sugar needed). He then took me to my hotel and here I met my room mate for the two months and also the owner of the hospital who was very kind and gave us his card in case we were lost or unsure of anything. My room mate’s name is Rob and he is from Edinburgh, Scotland. He is on his gap year and is going to start Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle University. He is a very clever guy, who will become (I am sure!!!!) a very successful doctor.
We "romantically" shared a bed and had a quick power nap before we met Sowmya, the main coordinator in New Delhi. She took us to one of the first fast food restaurants in Saket, where we had a range of Indian food; Dal, Butter chicken, Chipattas (VERY TASTY, where have they been all my life!!!!!) and dumplings. She told us all the best places to visit, who was here on similar courses, what they did, where they were from, directions etc... She was very helpful and understanding and tended to our every need efficiently. We then went to the cinema and booked to watch "Day and Night", which we were sad to hear was sold out!!! So we went to watch "The Last Air Bender". Before the film we had, very unadventurously, DOMINOES PIZZA, which was very tasty. I MISS ENGLISH FOOD, mainly burgers, pizza, chips, roast dinners (roast potatoes) and Burger King and Maccy D's. The film was rubbish. I fell asleep half way through, partly because of jet lag and boredom.
We also met some very friendly and helpful school kids from India who were wishing to go to the Merchant Navy, so they could travel outside of India. Most people we have spoken to have been in India their whole lives. One of the favourite places to go for holiday is Singapore because it is close and cheap. They showed us the mall and bought us some nice COLD smoothies to drink. They also said English women are very pretty and we are very lucky. This is a message for all you western women, India loves you!! After this we had a look around and then they showed us the way home.
We visited Qutab Minar which was very good, I have loads of pictures to show. It is or was 234m high, a friend told us that a fighter jet hit it a couple of years ago so it was bigger. Unfortunately we were not allowed up the tower because numerous suicides have taken place there. There are also tombs either side of the Minar which are very old and have amazing intricate carvings, it was very beautiful. It was also very hot when we visited here, roughly 35 degrees!!
We also went back to the mall and I bought a pair of Van Heusen trousers for 1,500 rupees which I thought was an absolute bargain (21 pounds). The man at the shop was also very friendly he said we must go out for a drink with him some time, which I found weird because he had only just met us.
We then got picked up by another driver who took us to our homestay, the journey took 45 minutes. Our host family are located in block E, Sierre Park, we have a whole floor to ourselves. Two bathrooms, two bedrooms, kitchen, balcony etc... The family was not quite home yet but their servant showed us into our flat. Later on we met the family, they are incredibly kind and caring. The first thing the mother said to us was: "I am your mother, treat me like your mother, welcome". The daughter is very, very clever and has taught us some Hindu phrases: Tu kase ho? (how are you??), Mein tukee hon (I am fine), swaggat ho (welcome). It was the daughter’s birthday, so we celebrated with some interesting, tasty new dishes. We had; black dal, chutney (tastes nothing like mango chutney, its HOT not sweet), poppadoms, chipatas, red onion of some sort and some vegetable curry (with kidney beans).
We met some family friends of the daughter, they told us about their studies and expectations for the future. One girl had a placement at Pepsi company, an internship in business management, she was working in human resources department. She was very interesting and incredibly smart and hard working.