Yesterday I flipped my calendar 2 months forward and when you live in India this brings great inner joy. Tuesday night I landed in Delhi and have spent the last two days settling back into the groove. The last two months Ben and I visited family and friends in Germany and the U.S. He came back to India for work and I spent four weeks in Freiburg learning German. It was an absolutely wonderful break from India and now I am back and refreshed. I have a new positive attitude to get me through the next 6 months. We will stay in India for Christmas and then head to Germany in January for Ben's grandfathers 90th Birthday party. It is absolutely wonderful to be back with Ben after six weeks. It feels good to go back to my domestic duties.
India is in monsoon season so every other day or so it downpours. It is great for settling the dust, but really a struggle to get through flooded streets. Monsoon season adds hours to Ben's commute some days. Personally, I have not been lucky enough to get caught in it yet.
Yesterday I sent water rushing down three flights of stairs after I washed a load of laundry. I guess the hose came undone. The cleaning boy had to mop all three flights of steps. The truth is they needed it! Today I had to yell at the begging children as I walked home from the market. If I don't yell they will just continue to follow me. If I give them money then they will just ask for more and never learn to work. It is really difficult! The only English word they knew was Pepsi. They said, "Pepsi, mam? Pepsi, mam?" I had to throw out my one Hindi word that solves all my problems "BAS" which means stop. It is effective for beggars, taxi drivers, auto rickshaws, and anyone harassing me. Until we meet again...
