july 2, delhi
yesterday we went to a mall called emporio which is literally THE nicest mall i have ever seen. it had every designer store i've ever heard of. louis vuitton, dolce&gabbana, marc by marc jacobs, fendi, armani, etc. too absurd. it is less than a year old and is already for sale by the owners. big surprise, emporio. onita and i also took a stroll around the factory park where her friends karan & sid work, and i don't think i've ever felt so hilariously out of place.
anyways, without actually doing any math or looking at a calendar, i'm going to go ahead and declare today the half way point of my stay in india. happy 5 week anniversary, india! in honor of the occasion, i have compiled some lists.
things i do every day in delhi:
1. eat a vanilla soft serve
2. watch hindi soap operas
3. wash my feet obsessively
4. sweat
traffic offenses which are so common they now seem normal to me:
1. driving over a median into oncoming traffic because your side of the road is crowded
2. stuffing ten+ people into a sedan
3. grazing cows
india fun facts:
1. admission to every sight/monument costs approximately 15 times more for foreigners than indians, but it's still only like $3.
2. wherever you go, construction workers will be welding things, never with any goggles/ protective gear, and usually while people walk on/ under the structure being welded.
3. indians do not think it is weird to go up to white people and shake hands or request a photograph. i am a celebrity here.
today at the purana qila (old fort), i had this conversation with a random indian man:
r: you are from america?
m: yes.
r: what district?
m: texas
r: and where is that?
m: the south, near mexico.
r: i have seen that on the internet. it is a very nice city.
m: yes it is.
r: i need you to inform me, what is the popular food there?
m: uh, barbecue?
r: barbecue?
m: like, meat and sauce.
r: do you eat this meat and sauce?
m: no, i'm vegetarian.
r: do people in america eat meat?
m: yes, most do.
r: but you don't?
m: no.
r: why?
m: i'm vegetarian.
r: wow!
second only to this conversation i had with a scarf merchat from kashmir a couple weeks ago at dilli haat:
s: have you been to kashmir?
m: no but i hear it is beautiful.
s: it is! do you want to come there?
m: i've heard americans aren't supposed to go there.
s: why?
m: they say there's a lot of violence...
s: violence? who told you that? i am going to kill them!
also, does anyone know where you can buy hair mousse in india? i can only wear this braid for so long.
