Streets of Delhi - Part II

One week in India! Since arriving a little over a week ago, we've explored a handful of areas within this really large city; gotten ourselves set-up for work; found an apartment and have settled in; learned a few Hindi phrases; and have met some great folks – both native Delhiites as well as other travelers and ex-pats. We went to the Hare Krishna ISKON Temple Complex over the weekend and learned more about the religion, had an amazing pure vegetarian (meaning no onion or garlic) lunch buffet, went through the temple during services, and experienced the Vedic Expo which was part religious history tutorial, part introspection and part robot-animated sound and lightshow… Free roaming cows are fairly commonplace here, and while at the temple we saw a bull harass, then horn, some unsuspecting pedestrians - see above. We'll upload a few photo albums in the coming days as well. To rant a little: 1) it is still extremely hot and hazy and the air pollution is absurd (and should be worse in winter) – though we’ve been getting used to the climate and we hear that cooler weather should be here any day now; 2) we’re still trying to get the haggling down, but we think we’re starting to get ripped off a little less - at the end of the day, prices are still much cheaper than at home; and 3) Katrina vs. the Ants is an ongoing battle in our apartment! On the positive side: we’ve found an awesome market around the corner from our place, with almost anything one could want within a 5 minute walk from our doorstep; Kat's work project sounds fascinating & she's getting more involved every day; I met up with an ex-pat group this morning and made some nice contacts; and we're off to meet a friend-of-a-friend tonight. We’re both looking forward to getting out of town this weekend and (hopefully) getting some nice clean air. Hope you’re doing well & please shoot us an email or comment on the posts if you have any suggestions for the blog or just to say hi! Regards, K & K

PS -since our last post, Kat's mobile was returned by the very helpful taxi driver who drove it back to our B & B. A small baksheesh was a much more desireable option than once again navigating the bureaucratic nightmare involved with purchasing a new phone in this country!