The days are drifting by, and it is only two weeks till I leave, which in some respects will be sad. On the other hand I need to get myself fixed up with a job to earn some filthy lucre in order that I can come back here next year! It was a scorcher today at MT's and quite sapping, the traffic was a nightmare to come back from the hospice. The journey there took 40 minutes and the one back an hour and a half. It appears that some Swami is addressing the faithful in the area today and as a result there must have been in excess of a hundred traffic wardens all blowing whistles and gesturing with their arms for people to move forward. (If only we could)!
This meant that I missed mass this morning and the whole schedule was knocked back, but I did get the chance to feed the cows and the solitary bull with the banana skins we'd left over from giving the guys their mid morning snack of cake (?) and bananas. The sacred animals didn't leave it to waste and the lot were scoffed in the time that I moved onto the next beast! So nothing goes to waste at MT's
Charlotte has announced that she's leaving the programme tomorrow as she can't stand the dust, the heat, the spicy food and just about anything else you can think of. I wonder why she chose to come to India especially if you don't like spicy food. Even a rudimentary check in New York's Indian restaurants would have told her what to expect. What is even more amazing is she tells everyone she's been to India before and stayed in a little village in the south of the country. The village must have been a 5 star hotel with American food 24/7. In fact I do feel sorry for her as she's never really been relaxed here despite the assertion that she is. The fact remains though that you can't tell her anything as it goes in one ear and out the other, and she ignores everything being said to her and talks over whatever you try and advise her on.
Almost everyone else is away for the weekend to somewhere, including a party going to Varanasi, this is supposed to be a vwery holy place in Hindu terms, but for the life of me it only makes me think of the burning corpses on the banks of the river. That is ongoing day and night, so unless you have a strong constitution, and patently some don't, then it isn't high on my agenda.
Tomorrow I'm buying some plants for the communal garden and on Sunday we're having an official planting. These are for Alison who will never get out here, and just a wee momento of my stay which has been great.
Namaste from a scorching Delhi!
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