Hello, My Name is मेगन

Thursday night we went into Delhi to run errands and have dinner. Our little posse includes me, Heather, and Heba from Mountain View, and James and Tim from Dublin. It has been great fun to spend some time with folks from other parts of the organization, and to have other people to hang out with. The traffic into Delhi is horrible during rush hour, so we had plenty of time to chat. Our cab driver deserves a medal for getting us there and back in one piece. But, it definitely makes for an interesting spectator sport!

We went to Connaught Place to get a camera for one of the housemates and then headed over to the Hotel InterContinental for dinner at Baluchi. The doormen at the Intercontinental were the most impressive I've seen - tall gentlemen with deep red, traditional suits, complete with turban, plume and topped off with very proud handlebar mustaches. Their "Welcome, Madame," resonates in booming tones over the lobby, with no indication that they're put off by our very casual, Western attire. It's probably gauche to go to the InterContinental in jeans and flats, but that's how we ex-pats roll ;).

Dinner was great। Baluchi is an Indian restaurant with nightly traditional music, consisting of a chanteuse accompanied by gentlemen with tom-toms and a sitar। While we have been eating very well at Google and at home, the food here was a step above. Indian food is often heavily spiced and sauced, but here you could still taste the vegetables and the flavors were very delicate. The Palak Paneer, which is spinach with Indian cheese curds, was bright green vs. the usual dark, combat green, and it tasted fantastic. We also had lovely chicken in tomato sauce and "baby lamb" (according to the menu). One does feel a bit brutish, eating baby lamb, but it was very good. James also introduced us to Kashmiri Naan, which is a buttery flat bread with pieces of dried apricots and other fruit on top - so good. We rolled home around midnight and headed straight for bed. Our cab driver stuck with us the whole time - makes for a very long day for him, but he seemed glad to do it. I suppose it's a good way to make some extra money.

Things at home are normalizing a bit. The housing coordinator very graciously provided an Indian hair dryer, so I was able to dry my hair this morning - woohoo! Heather has requested house plants (for both of us) and soft Kleenex (for me). I already asked for and got yogurt (best defense is a good offense, in sports and in fending off Delhi Belly). I fear I am becoming a horrible princess, but some of these small things make all the difference, especially when you're living in a very nice marble-floored echo chamber (I'll post pictures soon). I think my jet lag is pretty much over - I'm sleeping through the night on the new hours now, so hopefully we're moving on.

Today, I learned how to spell my name in Hindi (मेगान). We have a long way to go with the rest of the language, but it's a start for sure. We're hoping to get a Hindi instructor set up shortly, and possibly someone to teach yoga at our apartment as well.

This weekend, Heather, Heba and I are planning to explore Delhi and shop a bit. I managed to bring a ton of stuff and leave out some key things, so I'll try to fill in the gaps with local goods. The main thing is that it's still quite cool here in the evenings and I didn't bring a lot of sweaters, so I'm hoping to find a nice wool shawl - they have lovely ones here, so I'm sure that we'll find something.