Indiaaaaaaaah part 3

We arrived in Delhi last Monday, late morning. Lucas had behaved extremely well on the flight, and the fact that this was his 31st flight was now quite obvious – he knows the routine and no longer objects to having to fasten his seatbelt. We took a taxi to the YWCA which is by now the only semi-decent semi-affordable hotel in central Delhi. A motel room in Madison is cheaper and nicer, but India’s economy is really going through the roof and everyone wants a slice of the action. We spent two days in Delhi, sorting out stuff and doing some shopping (and bumping into various people I know, from erstwhile colleagues to former and current students), and Lucas found himself surrounded by hawkers in the more touristy areas. He dealt with all the attention very well. On Wednesday we boarded a plane in the afternoon and flew to Benares. I had never flown the route before but had decided that although Lucas would probably love the first hour on the train that would still leave 14 hours to keep him occupied, and so I booked plane tickets instead.With the competition in air travel in full force the plane is barely more expensive than the air-conditioned classes in the train, and it only takes 90 minutes in the air. Delhi Airport has recently been renovated and is totally science-fiction. There are numerous shops, wireless internet access and a very fancy play area for little ones. I got chatting to the woman who looks after the play area and when I asked her she told me she earns $80 a month. Considering I had just spent $10 on a couple of coffees and snacks this made me feel quite ill – India’s amazing economic progress is not making its way down.
One snag about taking the plane to Benares is that the journey from the airport into town is insane, and we spent 2 hours sitting in traffic. Lucas was so overwhelmed by the madness of it all that he promptly fell asleep.We are staying with an old Hindi teacher of mine, someone who also teaches our students from Madison when they come to Benares for their Year Abroad. We have a room on the roof with a view of the river, it is Benares at its very best. Of course creature comforts are few and far between – the electricity is off at least half of the day and access to water is haphazard. But it’s still great fun, and Lucas is loving it. Cows, goats, water buffalo and pigs freely roam the streets, monkeys climb over the rooftops, and there is dirt everywhere. Even Lucas once in a while pronounces things “yucky”. We have taken a few boat rides, and even the boatman was impressed with the lifejacket that I brought all the way from Madison! Lucas misses playing with other children and is always happy to meet with friends when we visit people, or to play cricket with the children who live in the house next door. We have found a great place to eat with wireless internet access and pizza which is about the only food Lucas will eat at the moment (apart from chocolate cake which we found in Delhi). Our host cooks for us in the evening which is really nice, and the type of home-cooked Indian food that I love. I have of course come here to work and went straight into a bunch of meetings, trying to figure out how we can make our Study Abroad program more efficient. At the end of this week Lucas and I head back to Delhi where I have organised an Alumni meeting, and then we are off to Goa and a proper holiday! See you all in the New Year!!!! L&Lxxx