Our last days in Delhi...
We had to leave our wonderful Defence Colony flat
on the 14th, but our flight to TVM wasn't until the 16th. So we decided to
splurge and stay in one of Delhi's 5-star hotels, The Ashok. It turned out to be
a tired version of a 5-star hotel, but our two days there were worth it as we
got to spend time with friends and I got a couple more interviews done.
The morning we left our flat a colleague of mine
from the University of San Francisco came by with her family for a visit.
Vijaya, who is from India, lives just a few miles from us in Berkeley. We
laughed at the fact that our families have seen each other in Budapest and now
in India, and only once in between on the Bay Area. Vijaya has 5-year old twin
girls, so it was great for Claire to have a couple new playmates, even if just
for an hour or two. Luc wanted desperately to play with the bigger kids, but
just kept getting frustrated.
Later
that day we got a taxi to The Ashok and checked in. The Indian guy wearing the
fancy period cosutme seemed 5-starrish, and the bell captain was quite helpful,
but once we got into our room things went downhill. I had to leave almost
immediately for an interview that was 45 minutes away (but only 15km). The AC
didn't seem to be working, the fridge didn't work, and the advertised Internet
access was inaccessible. Fortunately Marion got both kids down for naps and had
a slight breather. I haven't yet conveyed in this travelogue the extent to which
this whole experience is being made possible by Marion's amazing organization
and ability to break down and set up a household in a matter of a couple hours.
All I really do is take care of the actual travel (e.g., booking lousy hotels
and expensive airline tickets) and try to keep the kids occupied while Marion
works her magic.
Later that afternoon,
Maude and her two good friends (and our new friends) Manjula and Ethan came to
our hotel where we had what would have been a pleasant meal and good
conversation if it wasn't for our children. Claire can be persistent in her
desire for something like ice cream, but the whining can usually be quelled. Luc
on the other hand cannot communicate. So we often don't know what he wants. When
he's done eating and begins squirming, we put him down to wreak havoc on the
rest of the restaurant. He invariable finds something dirty and/or something to
climb on. When we remove him from said danger, he screeches in opposition. I
then scoop him up and exit the restaurant. When he calms down I return and we go
through the whole routine again. This nonsense is really wearing on
us.
The Ashok had a nice pool. That's
about all I can say positively about it. Claire was very excited to use it, but
it was too cold. On Thursday afternoon we met up with Maude and Manjula at the
India International Centre, a "club" of sorts that hosts a lot of cultural and
intellectual events. It's adjacent to Lodhi Gardens and has beautiful grounds of
its own. There are accommodations and a restaurant. We had tea, or I should say
Marion, Maude, and Manjula had tea while I chased Claire and Luc and kept them
from the fountains and pond, and then went to Khan Market for the last time. We
all got ice cream, picked up some snacks for the flight the next day, then
barely said good bye to Maude as we jumped in a rickshaw amidst the madness of
early evening Khan Market. Maude will hopefully come to visit us in Kerala, so
it was goodbye for a short time.
Posted: Fri - December
16, 2005 at 10:54 PM