It had been such a long, exhausting day. I was falling asleep on Arjun’s shoulder as OneRepublic’s “I Lived” loudly yet appropriately played in the background. Semi-consciously, I knew I was smiling. At that moment, there really wasn’t anything to not smile for (except, maybe, a bed). Abu’s send-off was a happy occasion—not because this giant teddy bear of a coder was leaving us, but because we had all had the pleasure of knowing such a kind-hearted, goofy, awkward sweetheart, and I say those things all lovingly.
Boo-boo, as he is affectionately called by nobody, flew out early Monday morning, so many of us at the hostel decided to have one last hoorah! And, as plans like these two, going to dinner at 8:00 turned into 9:00, which meant half the people didn’t show up until 10:00, which meant we got our food at 11:00 and finished around midnight. By that time a few drinks had been had, and when the idea of going to karaoke night at a nearby bar came up it was hard to say no. Not for me, because I was exhausted, but I couldn’t exactly leave and go home by myself, so I joined in the off-pitch fun. Call me Private Ganson because I was a trooper. When the bar called for last drinks, I was practically sleep-walking.
I wouldn’t have been so tired if it hadn’t been for the crazy weekend I had just had. In fact, Abu’s going away party was just the ice cream to a weekend comparable to one of Grandma’s famous cherry pies. My Saturday didn’t end with my blog post, and after taking a short nap a group from the hostel traveled to Chandni Chowk, and area that is famous for coming alive at night during Ramadan. Since we had the luck of being in Delhi during the Islamic holy month, we decided to have a late night/early morning meal at a restaurant reviewed by both National Geographic and BBC. Getting there was quite the interesting experience, as our driver got a bit stuck in the road, creating a bit of a traffic jam. There were so many people there—a “sea of humanity,” you might call it—and being my white definitely did not help our group blend in at all. Fortunately, everyone was very kind and helped us get to where we needed to be with minimal fuss for the situation we inadvertently caused. The restaurant itself was quite the cultural experience, one I will not soon forget, and the food was quite delicious.
Arriving back at the hostel around 4:00 AM, everyone was tired. But, whereas everyone else got to sleep in the next morning, I was up at 8:30 to go on a Hop On, Hop Off tour of the city with another work friend named Avni. We traveled all around Delhi: Safdarjung’s Tomb, the Indira Gandhi Museum, the Nehru Museum, the National Museum, the Red Fort, and the India Gate! Needless to say, it was an exhausting day, but a very enjoyable one! We got a late lunch/early dinner at Café Lota, which is part of the National Handicrafts Museum, which was interesting because we got to see lots of handmade goods—figurines, bowls, clothes, paintings.
The end of the meal led to the beginning of the send-off for Abu, a great ending to an even better weekend. So, while it is a week late, it was a wonderful weekend and I was so glad I got to spend it with good sites, great food, and wonderful friends! How lucky am I?!
Boo-boo, as he is affectionately called by nobody, flew out early Monday morning, so many of us at the hostel decided to have one last hoorah! And, as plans like these two, going to dinner at 8:00 turned into 9:00, which meant half the people didn’t show up until 10:00, which meant we got our food at 11:00 and finished around midnight. By that time a few drinks had been had, and when the idea of going to karaoke night at a nearby bar came up it was hard to say no. Not for me, because I was exhausted, but I couldn’t exactly leave and go home by myself, so I joined in the off-pitch fun. Call me Private Ganson because I was a trooper. When the bar called for last drinks, I was practically sleep-walking.
I wouldn’t have been so tired if it hadn’t been for the crazy weekend I had just had. In fact, Abu’s going away party was just the ice cream to a weekend comparable to one of Grandma’s famous cherry pies. My Saturday didn’t end with my blog post, and after taking a short nap a group from the hostel traveled to Chandni Chowk, and area that is famous for coming alive at night during Ramadan. Since we had the luck of being in Delhi during the Islamic holy month, we decided to have a late night/early morning meal at a restaurant reviewed by both National Geographic and BBC. Getting there was quite the interesting experience, as our driver got a bit stuck in the road, creating a bit of a traffic jam. There were so many people there—a “sea of humanity,” you might call it—and being my white definitely did not help our group blend in at all. Fortunately, everyone was very kind and helped us get to where we needed to be with minimal fuss for the situation we inadvertently caused. The restaurant itself was quite the cultural experience, one I will not soon forget, and the food was quite delicious.
Arriving back at the hostel around 4:00 AM, everyone was tired. But, whereas everyone else got to sleep in the next morning, I was up at 8:30 to go on a Hop On, Hop Off tour of the city with another work friend named Avni. We traveled all around Delhi: Safdarjung’s Tomb, the Indira Gandhi Museum, the Nehru Museum, the National Museum, the Red Fort, and the India Gate! Needless to say, it was an exhausting day, but a very enjoyable one! We got a late lunch/early dinner at Café Lota, which is part of the National Handicrafts Museum, which was interesting because we got to see lots of handmade goods—figurines, bowls, clothes, paintings.
The end of the meal led to the beginning of the send-off for Abu, a great ending to an even better weekend. So, while it is a week late, it was a wonderful weekend and I was so glad I got to spend it with good sites, great food, and wonderful friends! How lucky am I?!