Working life in Delhi

Got myself a little job while I am waiting for my visa cards to come through. Sonal works at DFID (Department for International Development), a British Organisation...and Im going to help out with some design stuff for a few weeks! It sounds like a great challenge!!
Im in their office at the moment actually, been working most of the day.

I must tell what happend when I arrived at the office though. Since I came from Peters house and was going to stay at Sonal's place from now on I had all my luggage with me. Due to september 11th and Afghanistan and this being a British office building the security was on high alert. I had to basically empty EVERY item in my luggage out for inspection.(!) They used ages to inspect it. In the end Sonal had to come out and clear me through:)

Yesterday was a also crazy day. I feel like half of Delhi's population is part of a massive conspiracy to scam foreigners (which in fact might not be too far from the truth..hehe)

Not that I did get scammed, but EVERY person I talked to that day was just making up the most incredible stories and of course every person tells us that it is the other person that is a liar!! All we wanted to do was buy a trainticket...which apparently is not a task to take lightly in this city. Oh God....my trust in humanbeings had a major breakdown.

Gurdwara and Connough Place

Yesterday was pretty hectic, it felt like we walked for miles and it also feels like I have been here for weeks and I have only been here 2 days!! (...weird)

Anyway, about yesterday:
In the afternoon we went to Connought Place, because we wanted to see this Sikh temple (gurdawara) nearby, that was supposed to be very nice. However we couldn't find it for a long time. In the end we met some Sikh guys and they were actually on there way to the temple so they let us come along, they even got us in through some kind of back entrance.

I didn't really know much about Sikhism beforehand, but from what I learned there it sounds like an interesting religion/philosophy. They believe that all religions worship the same God and seemed to believe in human equality, despite of race or religion. Well I don't remember exactly, but I got the impression that this was the essence. I got a booklet, but I left it at the house, might write some from it later;)

Even the traffic light tells you to relax - this is India !

We were really hungry after all this walking business, so after visiting the gurdawara we went to this really 'dingy' hole in the wall cafe. Although it looked like you would die from dysentery just from sitting down there, we sat down anyway and the food was actually good. We didn't get sick either...so far...atleast :)

Actually I would like to get out of Delhi soon, but since my Visa card was stolen in London, I have to either wait here for a new visa card to arrive or travel and then return to Delhi in about a weeks time to pick it up. Every time I call the Embassy they say it should be here soon, so I have decided to wait a bit more. Oh well, time is running out, don't want to spend all my time stuck in an Internet place, so I better get out. Sally is off getting some malaria remedies, so we just have the day by ourselves, which I think is really good. I need some breathing space:)

Arrived safely in Delhi

Heyyy....im still alive and well!!

There was no problems with the flight ...no hijackings etc...(Kuwait Airways seemed great to me!) although the flight from Kuwait to Delhi was a bit crowded and about 99% were Indian men...apart from a British couple I was the only other western girl, but it was no problem at all.
The flight was a bit delayed, but I had Sonal's (the girl I had arranged to stay with in Delhi) mobile number. So when I came through immigration I called her. She and her boyfriend (Apu) came after a while and picked me up. While waiting for them I stood by the entrance surrounded by a billion taxi drivers all staring at me wondering why I didn't want a taxi. Since I had to wait for a while, they kept on approaching me, but it wasnt a huge problem. I was just overwhelmed by the heat and amount of people and chaos. When sonal came we drove back to her flat in South Delhi and had some sleep. I was definitly exhausted. She was by the way very nice, funny and friendly, so I was so happy to meet someone like that when I arrived. I think it eased the normal shock people get first time they visit India.

Around noon Sonal too me to a really nice restaurant, where we met up with some friends of her and had a great lunch! I also met Sally there , a British girl who I had briefly mailed a few times and met up with in London. We planned to travel together for a bit.

Later in the day we went to an open air handicraft market (Dilli Hat), where we wandered around for a while. In the evening she dropped Sally and me off at Peter's house (a friend of hers).

Peter is Australian by the way, but works in Sonal's office. Since Sonal had family visiting, both Sally and me are staying in his house for a few days. Today Fritz, Peter's driver took us to Old Delhi (I know this sounds all a bit luxurious, but we were very happy that he would actually offer to drive us). Old Delhi was pretty mad. Saw the Red Fort from a distance and the Friday Mosque, but didn't go in as we just wanted to have a look around...and things was a bit overwhelming!

A really keen rickshaw driver kept pestering us about going on his rickshaw and eventually he also started nagging about his shop (of course!) It was almost impossible to get rid of him, so we decided to come with him to the shop, just so he could leave us alone...which he then did (of course we didn't buy anything ;). Then we walked for hours (it felt like it anyway) towards Phahar Ganj... this is where we are now and this is also definitly the travellers hangout. Well...I think I'll be off now then, I need to find something cold to drink, as it is knackering to walk in this city. So bye for now...

Getting "robbed" in London

Where to begin?

At the moment I am staying with a couple of friends (Bård & Helen) in Bethnal Green. We went to college together so i always visit them when Im in London. It is also great to be back in London again.

However I have already run into trouble. I haven't even left for India yet and already I had my bag with visa cards, mobile phone and cash stolen. I guess Im a bit too relaxed in London, it was my own fault for not paying attention. It all happend when I went for a coffee with a friend. It is a horrible feeling when you notice you have lost something. At first I panicked a bit, but managed to call and arrange for card and phone to be shut off. Then we quickly located a police station...erm..well actually by pure luck or some kind of weird intuition I ran straight into it. Reprted the phone stolen and called Helen to let her now that the housekey I had borrowed also was lost (!) The rest of the day I spent making a bunch of phone calls, faxing etc. Eventually I got some cash wired from insurance...so everything turned out ok in the end:)

Then when all this was sorted, I called to reconfirm my flight and found out that they had canceled it!!!!?? (due to the Afghanistan conflict/war)

...and no one had even told me. I was pretty pissed off, but couldn't be bothered making a fuss about it, so I got a new flight for Saturday morning instead (2 days later).

Not much else is happening, since London is a pretty expensive city to move about in, but I have met a few other friends and seen a couple of films. ok..no point in babbling on when there isn't that much to write about..Il try to update whenever I can:)

(Ps!
Funny addition: When Helen heard I had been "robbed" she sent and sms to my now lost phone saying the following: "You Cunt!" Then later back in Norway my mother sorted out the insurance and replaced my phone getting my old number back. When they turned it on, the first sms that ticked in was of course the "You cunt" message. My mother had no idea what it meant, but my brother understood and just told her (without too much detail) that it was not a nice thing to say...haha. They told me about this weird and rude sms later while I called home from India, and I just had to laugh so much and explain them the story...haahaha!)

Pre travel nevrosa

Im leaving tomorrow. Jihaa! Im flying Ryan Air to London. There I will visit a couple of friends that I will stay with until my flight leaves for India on the 25th. Since I am flying only to London first, I don't think I really understand that I am actually going to India. It feels like when I was studying in England and flying back and forth quite a lot... like a routine. I am also a bit spaced out or something?! It feels like my mind has already left? Not easy to get my attention now. I always get like this before a trip though. A very strange feeling!

On the practical side though, I have already repacked my backpack a dozen times. Having really big troubles deciding if I should go with a very small pack or one that is a little bigger. In the end the small one won, but I bet I will regret this when I want to perhaps do some shopping or if I have problems parting with the books I buy and read along the way?? Well, then there is always the post office:)