new delhi

we began our whirlwind trip of india in new delhi. I am not sure of where 'new' comes from because everything here is old, run-down, and dirty. there is garbage on the ground and men peeing on the side of the road and cows, cows, cows everywhere.oh, and there is this smell, this horrible putrid smell of urine and poop. it smells every hour of the day, every neighbourhood we visit.

the traffic in new delhi is chaos. the road is shared among bikes, scooters, rickshaws, auto rickshaws, cars, and cows, of course. lane divisions and road signs are rare and when they are present, they are rarely followed. the worst, I find, is the incessant honking! daniel calls it the "language of the road" and while I understand it is just a means of communication, I still associate honking with road rage and take being honked at personally.

but you quickly come to accept the pollution and the traffic. and you learn to adapt.

our first 24 hours in india was in new delhi and we wanted to take it easy, to take some time to adapt. we walked around the area around our hotel and wandered around a couple of markets. we stopped by a mcdonalds to check out the indian version of the menu; there are no hamburgers. instead of a big mac, there is a chicken maharaja mac. we were so amused by the menu, we decided to do our first indian meal there. lame, I know, but the chicken maharaja mac meal was yummy, familiar and only set us back a dollar something.

to our luck, we witnessed a wedding procession the first night here, a parade of dancing men and women and lights and musicians, ending off with the groom and a little boy (flower boy?) on a horse. my favourite moment of new delhi during that first 24 hours.

we went to bed exhausted, only to be awoken every couple of hours by the smell of rotten eggs or barking dogs or honking cars. new delhi, if it isn't anything else, is certainly a place to make you appreciate home more.
- emily