For the next 220 hours...

... I will be back in Blighty for a flying visit for my sister’s wedding. Since I found out in February I would get the chance to go home, I have been forming a mental list of all the things (that may seem day to day for you but are seriously exciting for me!) that I am going to relish doing and here’s just a few...

Hugging and kissing all my lovely family and friends. I’m very excited about the wedding, not only is it a really special occasion I also get to spend time with lots of the people I miss the most, I finally get a brother in law and a recall on a job position I last had when I was five (this time no primrose taffeta involved) as a bridesmaid, so can’t wait to finally be there for my sister. I’m also going to be meeting three little people who last time I saw them were bumps in tummies so can’t wait to give a big cuddle to baby Eva, Rohan and Guy.

Eating the following; steak, fish and chips, smoked salmon, roast beef, sausages, bacon, prawns, pie, Scotch eggs, bagels, cheese, lasagne, cake (particularly my Mum’s wedding cake), scones, pasta with creamy sauce, olives, hummus, Cornish pasties, smoky bacon crisps, avocados, burgers, proper chips, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, fresh bread, cheese on toast with a splash of Worcester sauce, toast with marmalade, Percy Pigs, proper chocolate, a fry up, ham, salami and more cheese...

Drinking; Champagne, wine, a pint of Guinness, Magners on ice, proper mojitos, a decent margarita, Yorkshire tea, Early Grey, cappuccino, latte and Ribena. Enjoying a bottle of wine in a pub with friends is going to be divine as well as not having to drink 6 litres of water a day to beat the heat.

Wearing inappropriate clothing – yep, I may just flash some flesh whilst I’m home. I may just go outside with bare shoulders in a vest top (gasp!) I may combine that with a knee length skirt for the double bubble effect and show off my legs (double gasp!), controversial I know. I’ve also got a hot date with Daniel, my hairdresser, who may need to approach my dry and ravaged locks with an industrial pair of garden shears. It will be nice to get a decent cut as it tends to be Russian roulette when you go to the hairdresser in India, not knowing if you are going to come out looking like Edward Scissorhands has styled you for a Vivienne Westwood shoot...

The great thing about doing VSO is that it makes you appreciate so much in life that you have, from the really big things (family and friends) to the small things (a decent glass of wine) so I’m really excited to be back and only one more sleep to go...

Highlights: my Bollywood debut – at the weekend I helped a friend out who was making a spoof mini film, I got to wear a beautiful pink sari all day, was clueless to any of the dialogue and hopefully the one line I spoke in Hindi won’t make the cutting floor, on the day it reached 49°c knowing I would soon be somewhere at least 20°c cooler very soon, cheering England on with fellow volunteers and beer – a pre match WAGs style pedi was obviously a lucky omen made particularly sweeter as I won the bet with my boss about our victory so looking forward to receiving the wager of an office treat of samosas this afternoon.

"Food, glorious food...

...hot sausage and mustard”, as Oliver once sang. If only a) it was possible to get a decent banger b) I actually had the appetite to eat in the heat. One of things I’ve had to adapt to over here is a change in diet which is extra challenging when it’s so hot...

Curry is wonderful. I’m not complaining about eating it every day, I could quite happily do so forever but variety is the spice of life, particularly when it comes to food, one of my great loves. The biggest change in my diet since living in India has being finding my inner Linda McCartney. Most people tend to be vegetarian and it’s very hard to buy reasonably priced good quality “non-veg” e.g. meat. So I have adapted, but endlessly fantasise about bacon sandwiches, sausage and mash and steak. It’s made doubly hard by the fact there are so many cows wandering around...

We have a standard VSO issue gas hob to cook on. I really miss baking things. Oh to be able to cook lasagne / pizza / cakes anything that does not involve a saucepan. If I need a fix, I treat myself to some food porn and go on the Waitrose website and drool at the monthly recipes, tragic I know. When the heat reaches 45°c+ there is a 10 minute rule for cooking. It’s so hot in the kitchen you have to get in and boil / fry in less than 10 minutes before you are looking like you’ve been locked in a sauna in ski wear, have lost all appetite and are blinded by the sweat in your eyes. My diet has become very egg based. Egg mayonnaise sandwiches and omelettes have become a speciality. I feel like Gwen from Gavin & Stacey as I once again reach for the eggs in the fridge.

It’s difficult to be inspired at our local supermarket the infamous ‘Star Bizarre’. One of the joys and sorrows of being a volunteer in a capital city is the fact you have access to everything and anything, but can’t afford it. Star Bizarre, is an extremely prophetic name. Imagine the number of products of a large Walmart crammed into a tiny Tesco Metro. It’s the worst supermarket planning in the world. The shelves are piled high, the aisles are crammed by more products on the floor causing you to walk down them sideways like a crab, they have those irritating tiny supermarket trolleys and there is normally several fairly ‘shapely’ middle class customers endlessly browsing / blocking the aisles and queue pushing.

The one benefit is that they have a ‘Beer & Breezer’ counter. The only alcohol they sell is beer (Kingfisher of course) and Bacardi Breezers which seem to be ladies choice of drink in this part of the world. You can’t buy beer at the same time as your food shopping which is a tad irritating but the benefit is you don’t get groped which is standard practice for any hole in the wall speakeasy style off licence ( the only other place you can buy booze). One day the ‘Beer & Breezer’ counter disappeared overnight. It was replaced by men’s underpants. On enquiring why they’d introduced a new line of briefs in the place of beer I was advised the government had taken away their licence. Two months later the beer returned and the pants got upgraded to the top floor which is also a toy shop. How Bizarre.

Highlights: my work week – I had a really interesting and satisfying week with productive meetings about online individual donor opportunities, support for sports and development for a blind cricket project and was part of a corporate ‘Make a Difference’ day, appreciating a good night’s sleep - having enjoyed a weekend of sleeping without my AC, getting used to it again has been difficult as on the sound scale it has gone up in irritation factor of a mosquito mating with a pneumatic drill, rain storms – it finally cooled down for a few days and it’s a joy to be able to be outside a bit more and do things like go running much to the amusement of the gangs of boys playing cricket in my local park...

Time to head for the hills...

It was all getting a bit too much. The heat (47°c), the dust and Delhi’s population of 16 million was getting to me so there was only one thing to do, head for the Himalayas.

I had found the perfect retreat. Or rather, I had been told about the perfect retreat through a chance meeting at the Foreigner’s Registration Office. At the final stage of getting my Resident’s Permit, with a three hour wait to go, I got chatting to a rather charming German professor. After sharing many tips on Delhi, he informed me “if the heat get’s too much you must go to Jilling”. Jilling I discovered was a family run farm in Uttarakhand in the foothills of the Himalayas about eight hours from Delhi. The German professor had his own cottage on the site, had known the family for many years and it sounded like heaven.

So as a birthday treat, off I headed on Friday getting the train at 5.30am arriving at Lal Kuan at 11.30am. I was then picked up by a taxi for the two hour drive into the foothills. The view was spectacular and I felt like Lady Penelope as I sat in the back of the AC car winding up the hills. My poor buttocks are used to being battered about in the back of a rickshaw, so a car trip in soft furnishing was sheer luxury. The area is known as the Lake District of India and it was a delight to see so much green and blue replace the usual view of dust and rubbish. As we wound around the final corner of the road I was greeted by Steve, my host for the weekend.

I liked Steve within seconds. I first of all heard him before I saw him. The satisfying roar of the Bullet motorbike was backed up by the view of Steve complete with white beard and flying goggles. He looked like Captain Birdseye on shore leave, thoroughly enjoying some quality time on his bike. He was heading off for a ride and let me know someone would help me with my luggage for the final walk up to the house. The walk was spectacular it took an hour up winding stone paths, past cottages, horses, buffalos and friendly locals in an Alpine setting.

I arrived at the farm to be greeted by Steve’s daughter, wife and a delicious lunch. And so my weekend at Jilling started. I had my own cottage hidden amongst the trees further up the hill which was the German professor’s library. In between sitting outside reading on the terrace, watching birds, white monkeys and the spectacular scenery of snow capped peaks such as Nanda Devi (7816 metres) I had the most relaxing time. There were six farm dogs to play with, the adopted baby deer Benaru, who would accompany me on walks between taken for guided tours of the estate. The farm and woodland has been very carefully preserved and it was fascinating to learn about the ecology, effects of the population growth and global warming in the area on the flora and fauna and life at the farm.

One of the highlights had to be attending a local wedding over two days. The first day was a celebration for the bride called the Mehendi. It involved celebrating the bride’s big day with dancing, bracelet buying and henna painting. The women were dressed in vibrant orange, pink and red saris and the bride’s family wore traditional nose rings. It was fascinating and an interesting comparison to a traditional British hen do – no booze, strippers or dancing around handbags in site. The wedding on the second day was even more interesting. The groom arriving on a horse with a band and the ceremony involved handing over of lots of gifts. It did slightly remind me of Bullseye as the Hindu priest had a touch of Jim Bowen to him as he handed over briefcases full of everything from gold watches, knitted jumpers, cash and dried fruit.

The bride looked very solemn throughout and I was told that this was because it was a sad day for her as she was leaving her family. It was very interesting particularly to see how the families did not mix in the same way we do at European weddings. The groom’s family ate first then the bride’s ate. They sat separately across the courtyard and despite the fact everyone was singing and chatting throughout, the ceremony had a formal edge to it. I returned to Delhi on Monday night, feeling recharged and relieved it had rained so was slightly cooler. Stepping off the train at New Delhi station I was embraced by the sounds, smells and sights that only Delhi gives and reflected that it had been good to have my own adventure away from the daily adventure that life in India is.

Highlights: sleeping with a duvet – no noise of a fan or AC just the sounds of nature, eating delicious home cooked and wedding food, being able to be outside in the sunshine without getting third degree burns, being in the hills – it did not feel like I was in India for the whole weekend which was a bit of a treat as sometimes the dust, rubbish and heat can make you go a little crazy, my birthday – I had cake rubbed into my face in the traditional Indian way and enjoyed an evening of sangria and cigars which was very random but lots of fun, the Percy Pigs that I received for my birthday amongst other wonderful packages – the perfect train food and a nice change from samosas.