Delhi Des Res desired...

Flat hunting is the most painful thing in the world, wherever you are in the world. We have spent the entire weekend searching high and low and so far we have seen 12 very unDes Res and 1 that we would happily call our own but is sadly out of our budget as humble volunteers...

Our quest to find our very own Taj Mahal started on Saturday morning. It was a balmy 27 degrees and we liked the look from the outside of Property No. 1. Until we went inside. Then we discovered half of the flat actually was outside. Access to the kitchen and bathrooms involved walking along a caged balcony. We were not sure whether the cage was to stop us leaping out or anything leaping in so thought it was time for us to move onto the next place...

We were at first, pleased to see that the Foxton school of estate agency had not yet reached India. Until we discovered how we were going to get to the next place. No air conditioned Mini and pointing out of the local WiFi coffee shop for us. It was down to us ladies to get on the back (side saddle of course to avoid showing our modesty if we had been in saris) of the estate agent’s moped. By Day 2 I had happily upgraded to jumping on the back of a motorbike (side saddle still of course)and we weaved our way through 5 lanes of traffic/autorickshaws/bicycle rickshaws/cows/pedestrians to find our dream pad, which proved to be quite entertaining once we’d survived several journeys.

The transport trauma was easily forgotten by the time we got to Day 2, when we met Broker No. 3. He seemed to specialise in finding properties for low budget action films. His portfolio consisted of what can only be described as ideal for HQs of terrorist cells. Our favourite place for a very special price of 11,000 Rupees a month (that’s £152 – and 5000 Rupees under budget – Phil & Kirsty would have been proud...) was in a delightful situation down several dark backstreets close to the local tip high on the penthouse floor. After you managed to climb the ‘historic’ (crumbling) stairs you entered into the main reception room where you could find the spacious bathroom (the squat toilet appeared to be missing a door) and 2 cosy (one window between them) bedrooms that had about 8 mattresses on each of the floor... we hastily exited down the stairs as fast as we could to our waiting mopeds...

Despite the fact we decided to visit a local temple in the morning to ask the gods for luck it seems we need to embrace the slow path to enlightenment in our quest to find our own Taj Mahal and one visit to the temple does not deliver results...!

Highlights: this week has been a true mixed bag from riding a camel, having a duvet and watching TV in bed at a country club outside of Delhi all for the sake of VSO strategy development (it’s a tough life being a volunteer!), trying a McMaharajah burger (when in Rome...) and being grateful I packed that cashmere cardi as winter has truly arrived and keeping warm was the last thought on my mind when I left London...!

Mei volunteer hoo... honest

I’m breaking all the rules. If VSO worked to a penalty system I think this could be a yellow card. I’m currently ensconced in the lobby of the 5* Shangri-La hotel, having just been pampered in the spa. I haven’t broken yet, honest. I’m here thanks to a group of my lovely friends who treated me to the World’s Best Massage. I feel a tad guilty but feel the massage was a cathartic and symbolic way to purge the stress of my London life away and marks the start of a new era (ahem). I will of course be supporting the cause and accidently be slipping some luxury loo roll into my bag to alleviate my 285 rupees a day budget, a girl’s got to be resourceful in these times...

So another week has flown by. I feel I’ve had a year’s worth of excitement in 7 days. Our daily routine of Hindi lessons in the morning is followed by a 2 hour lunch, the afternoons are then spent learning more about VSOs work in India. It’s like being back at freshers week with a lot more giggling, particularly in Hindi class. We all sound like zombies attempting to construct sentences which are proving to be quite difficult when verbs go at the end and there are exceptions to every verb.

On Thursday I went to my office for the first time to meet everyone. I don’t think I’ve ever been greeted more warmly by such a lovely bunch of folk. Within an hour a fresh birthday list had been printed up with my name on and was hanging in the kitchen. We all had lunch together and I met my CEO for the first time. He’s even more charismatic in the flesh with a great sense of humour, so I’m really looking forward to starting in a few weeks time.
So between Hindi lessons and office visits we’ve started flat hunting. The first challenge is to decide where to live. It’s pretty hard when you have no clue on good areas, have an 8,000 rupee budget a month (£111) and you need to be fairly close to work. Delhi is huge and travelling around is a nightmare, the pollution is very bad and I cannot even imagine how it’s going to be when it reaches 48 degrees. Last night we attempted to find the ‘Hoxton of Delhi’. Off we headed to Shapur Jat in our autorickshaw having failed to barter despite use of my only sentence in Hindi ‘Mei volunteer hoo’ (I’m a volunteer). All the lanes were dark and by weaving through narrow backstreets of what seemed to be a medieval town we found the centre (we think) which was a market that was throbbing with life. Having failed to find the beer shop in 5 minutes of wandering we realised perhaps it was a bit too up and coming for us.

Yesterday was tourist day and we headed off for a tour of Old Delhi. We commandeered a group of bicycle rickshaws which was highly entertaining. Particularly, when Lucy in our group had a go and was infamous by the end of the day, fellow rickshaw wallahs were shouting out her name whenever she passed. Old Delhi was a refreshing change of manic to New Delhi. We visited the spice market, a beautiful 10th century Sikh temple, waived at the Red Fort and had the best paranthas (deep friend doughie bread that is to die for). I certainly don’t think I’m going to be coming back any thinner.

Highlights: going to work, having dinner in at a fellow volunteers place and meeting their lovely rescue dog, overtaking a camel and an elephant slowly plodding down the road at 11pm in an auto rickshaw, purchasing a new facial hair fancy dress item outside the Red Fort, reading a whole book in a week, getting progressively worse at Hindi.

This is how we roll in India...

A little insight to the crazy traffic in Delhi...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klteYv1Uv9A

48hrs in Delhi...

You can always tell you are somewhere new by the sounds or smells. Having been in Delhi for only 48hrs, you definitely know you are somewhere new. The sounds are everywhere. You can’t escape. Lying in bed on the first night even with ear plugs in, our room fan sounded like a Chinook about to take off. Then in the morning you are woken by symphony of dogs barking, children singing, accompanied by the traffic and the eternal sound of horns beeping. The traffic is beyond mental. Every time you try to cross the road it seems you could be taking your last steps and religion seems like a good option. An auto rickshaw is a safer option even though you are the equivalent of a beach ball in a large sea of traffic in the middle of a busy shipping lane. Everyone beeps just to say ‘hello I’m here’ rather than ‘watch out’, it’s rather friendly once you get used to it.

Onto food... curry, everyday at least twice a day but luckily not for breakfast. I’m on Day 3 of curry and was starting to think it was getting a little tedious on the palette. But just when you think you can’t have any more you try something new then just eat more and more. Today’s find was spinach cooked with pakora cheese. Yummy. I seem to be embracing vegetarianism quite well having just purchased a veggie Dals, Curries and Pualaos cook book for 45p. By the time I move into my flat I may be curried out by then and the book may just be for show.

So highlights so far; meeting lots of people with a great sense of humour, having a hot shower 55% of the time, only getting one mozzie bite last night despite going to bed dressed as a ninja and cocooning myself in a mozzie net, jogging in Lodi Park at dusk, my first Hindi lesson and the food...