Wednesday, May 25, 2022

On Being a Tourist Successfully: New Delhi, India

India: Life on the street.

 I am not sure that I qualify as a tourist here but I am learning a lot about how this country works for local expats. 

My life of travel has included Spain, Thailand, UAE, Mexico, Germany, China and even a short period of time in The Philippines (spelled with 1 L and 2 Ps.) Sigh.

I have been privy to the expat's life in China, the UAE and now India. The interior of their houses always reflect where they call "home". What I have always missed with the inside of the citizens of that country. Even here in India the homes of those that clean and garden and walk the dog are not open to me. What would that look like? I don't know.

But here we are able to walk out at night to local restaurants and bistros. It is fun to sit about with locals and see them in their world, to hear them talk and laugh together. The waiters speak just enough english to keep us both happy.

There are a few things I always do when I visit a foreign country that may surprise you. 

Sapa, Viet Nam: She is the queen or the
indigo fabric market...
a Su Mae I think.

Sapa Viet Nam
  • I try to find a place to get a hair cut. I have done this is Spain, China and now in India. The life inside a woman's world always are a little unique in every place. I found Spain to be more my world than any of the others. In China and here in India men cut and styled my hair. In Spain women gathered together for other women. In Munich hair dressers worked in store front salons and become a bit of performance art. Each different.
    India: My granddaughter's haircut.
  • I have had my nails painted on the beach. That was such a lot of fun.
  • If at all possible I visit a local food market or grocery store. No matter where I am I find food I have never seen before. In the UAE we bought eggs that needed to be scrubbed before being cracked. In Thailand I bought a lunch box. In Viet Nam I bought an individual sized coffee pot where coffee was brewed with water and Eagle brand milk. In Spain I bought a quart of olive oil in a beautiful container. They also had cherimoyas, a fruit native to Peru. 
  • The local outdoor market is filled with great finds. They have a Friday street market near the embassy that I would love to visit but time will not permit it. In Spain I bought peppercorns that spoiled me for any I have had since. In Sapa, Viet Nam the local market sold live chickens, tribal hats and of course hand dyed indigo fabric. (Sapa is located north of Hanoi and required an overnight train and a long van ride. It is very near the Chinese border and local tribes sell in the market.)
  • Walking if the best way to arrive anywhere. If you do not just wander around you will miss a lot. 

Toledo, Spain: train station
waiting to return to Madrid

  • Local public transportation can be wonderful. In Bangkok, Thailand the Sky Train will take you almost anywhere. They also has those water taxi's that travel up and down the river. In Spain, Euro Rail will take you from Madrid to Malaga at the speed of light (it seems). Light rail travels up and down the Costa del Sol from community to community. In Shanghai, my husband I used the subway to go from Pu Dong to down town Shanghai. Taxis were available. In Mexico, we used resort transportation, rented a car and were told that we could stand at the side of the road and hail down a bus. You have to put on your big girl pants and just do it!
    Playa Del Carmen, Mexico: Odami Tribal embroidery
  • Do a little research and find out what each country is bragging about in the way of handicrafts or goods. I bought a beautiful Odami table cloth in Playa Del Carmen near Cancun. My husband loved masks and bought several. In China we visited antique markets. Here in New Delhi, small malls are everywhere and they are wonderful. I visit Fab India very soon after we arrived. It is a short TukTuk ride from the American Embassy School where I am staying.
  • Take a cooking class if at all possible. My daughter-in-law and I did that when we were staying on Koh Samui in Thailand.
  • Eat as much local food as you can and absolutely do NOT be an ugly American demanding burgers and fries. It is unbecoming and narrow minded. (My own personal opinion.)
  • I suggest drinking bottled water and cooked vegetables whenever possible. Getting sick is not a good thing.
  • Put your passport in the safe unless you are traveling out and are staying in a different hotel. The passport may be needed. Check on that information. But...do not carry it around willy nilly especially in Europe. The gypsies can outwit anyone. 

  • India: picture from the back of a TukTuk taxi.

  • I always take a lot of pictures and do not regret that. Today I revisit my vacations at my leisure. Todays phones make it so easy. Here in India I have taken so many pictures from a traveling taxi to TukTuk. In many cases, it is the only way to do things.
New Dehli, India:
A sacred cow

Here in New Dehli the monkeys and even an occasional cow are a very common sight. Homeless camps are everywhere that there is space. It appears that they have an economy all their very own. Vendors are everywhere. The proliferation of camps is very visible. An occasional child will knock on the car window begging and know all the flip-off signs if you do not donate. They do not go away. 

The way of life is established is a constant and I suppose that each person is trying to improve their life day by day. How long has it been like this? Maybe forever. 

I have tried to connect the Guatami Tripathy but it seems it will not work. That would have been fun. 

Our driver, Maxwell, is wonderful and treasured by my husband's family. He ranks very high in their daily life. He will drive us to Agra so we can visit the Taj Mahal. 

My granddaughter's graduation is Saturday. She will travel home with me next week. She is enjoying the time with her family and friends. She and her friends will part and possibly never connect again. Who knows.

Till next time...

b+














Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Shaped Like a Bowling Ball






My daughter has a cat...not just the ordinary cat but then I am quite sure none of them are. He decided to come and live with her when my grandchildren were still children. The oldest is 27 years old now and was less than ten when the cat arrived. He lived in the front yard laying in wait for the garage door to open where food for other animals was available. After all, a cat needs to eat!

But his need for food did not include being owned by anyone so he was very illusive. We all chased him...at night Teghan the dog and two grandchildren. During the day...I was chosen. I was the Nanny of sorts and the need for order did not include a stray cat in the front yard. It was a very long time before anyone was able to catch him.

So off to the animal shelter he went. My daughter was chosen to take him to the "animal shelter/gas chamber". My daughter did not know that place was like that. She was sure the cat would get to go live on the farm and have a barn all to himself. She arrived only to be told that they would gas him because he was "feral". Back home he came.

His ear was clipped branding him as a "bad cat", he lost his manhood and lived in the cat cage until they were sure he was not going away. I had to remind them that the cat was impossible to get rid of so there was no worries on that front.

They named him Vincent Van Gogh the Cat...Vinnie for short. 


Over the years Vinnie lost half of his tail in an unrecorded incident, has on several occasions decided to live under the house and has eaten 1 whole ton of cat food. His life for several years has revolved around the garage where his food dish is always full.  He is so big now that when he squeezes under the house, he cannot get out. That maneuver requires a big human with long arms.

He is shaped like a bowling ball and, if he turns over on his back, he is like a turtle and can not put himself right side up. When he runs, I am reminded of a waddling seal.

When my daughter and her husband leave town I get to visit Vinnie twice a day. His disdainful attitude makes me wonder just why I am walking to his house but I guess I need the exercise so it is okay. Occasionally, he is is delighted to see me and will snuggle on the couch with me. Others he does not even lift his head.

I do love this old soul. He is, like every other cat, one of a kind. 

How's your cat today?

b+







Tuesday, May 17, 2022

It's India...what can I say?

Cattle in the street...sacred animals
in Indian culture.
 
Of all the places on the face of our earth I think that India has been talked about more than any other. So what can I say that you have not already heard? Let me think about that.

I have been here at the American Embassy School in New Delhi for about 10 days now. We eat, we sleep we walk across the street to the American Embassy for lunch or dinner. I am with my son and his family so I get to spend time with them. It is very normal in so many ways. Yet not at all!

Dinner at a restaurant courtyard
 under the Banyan Tree!

First of all you need to understand that the American Embassy is part of the Embassy Enclave for nations around the world. It sounds very exotic and yet it is located next to a famous slum or camp where people live a life that I cannot imagine. (I have included a link to a tour for the slum. The pictures from inside are wonderful.) Water comes in by trucks and there is little electricity or even sewage disposal. It all seems more than impossible. Yet as I sit writing I look across the street and life goes on quietly. Children play. A man has set up a barber shop that is constantly busy and a garbage truck comes occasionally.

Water bottles waiting for the water truck. 

Sunday morning finds women dressed in beautiful scarves waiting for someone to gather them up for a day somewhere else. People mill around and stop to talk. The village is surviving as it probably always has. The site of the slum is owned by a foreign country that talks of building an embassy someday but until then generations are born and live their entire life inside its walls.

Tuk Tuk driver
Proof of the Tuk Tuk ride.

Here in Mahal 1 across the street life is very different. A fence separates it from the real world. That fence is topped with barbed wire (because of monkeys?) and guards check everyone that goes out or comes in. I find that in my mind the line between those two worlds is blurred...until I approach the gate and come under scrutiny. So close yet so far. I have to remind myself that I am a tourist and that at home we have a system not unlike India's.

Home interior.

Here in the house I am never alone. A cat named BOO and two dogs keep me company. Two teens come and go. The oldest will graduate next week (hence my visit). A cook comes some mornings. A cleaner comes all week days. Gardeners clip and others clean the gates so they shine. A man comes to walk the dog and a man comes to water the plants inside as well. Every surface is dusted and scrubbed with infinite care. 

I am told these people are very proud of their jobs and they have jobs that are coveted by others. The idea that a job is so precious reminds me of the privilege we in the United States are blessed with. 

Yes, we have gone out to eat and shop a bit. My son and his wife walk or run to parks and restaurants when the weather permits. Their children are busy with their school life. The whole family is thriving I think.

See, in this place, life is complicated so for me without my husband I do not feel free to wander about as I would do with him. I do feel safe but it is very hot night and day so there is that. But, having said that, I want you to know that I get so much pleasure out of each day un-pressured and relaxed. Watching the world go by is not such a bad thing! I will go back to Oregon on June 1.

Where are you today?

b+ 

Featured Post

Things that Go Bump in the Night

Do you live alone? Are you afraid? Do noises make you jump? My little dog is a barker and noises make her jump. She barks at her reflection ...