Tuesday, August 2
Darek tapped on my door when he heard the roar coming from my room at 1:30 am this morning. After long train delays returning from Madhubhan Spa, we had just arrived back at the guest house. The maid, Lata had left the drain cover off after cleaning the shower. I was attempting to hold a vacuum cleaner upside down to remove the small bugs that made their way up through the drain and now covered my bathroom ceiling. Once I was finished, I handed the vacuum over to Darek; his drain cap had been left off too.
I awoke again at 9:30. I knew Darek was exhausted and planned to sleep in. He’s been traveling all over India and this was his first night back at the guest house. I quietly made my way to the dining room only to find him feasting on our breakfast that Rakesh had made 2 hours earlier. I joined him for a lightly spiced veggie spread on toast which was actually very tasty. We decided to call it a salad sandwich for lack of a better name.
Since he would only be here for one day, Darek was in need of some down time. I assumed his time would be more restful alone, so I joined Priya for lunch. Her driver came to fetch me at half twelve and dropped me at the Kapoor home. Priya has her own apartment, but has a fully furnished room at her parents home. We had a wonderful lunch at China Garden, a restaurant she has dined at since age 12. Her driver dropped me back in time to see Darek off again. He will be in other states until we both depart for the US on August 13th.
After another tasty home cooked meal, I was enjoying the quiet of the evening when the doorbell rang. The man spoke quickly and all I understood was ‘milk’.
“You are delivering milk?” I asked as I peeped out the door to discover there wasn’t any.
He taps on a tablet with a pen and says a few more words I couldn’t understand.
“Oh, you want to take an order for milk?” I asked and started to head for the kitchen to check the supply.
“No, no, beal milk”
“Oh, you have a bill for the milk?”
“Yes, yes 512 rupees”
“Can you leave me the bill and I will take it to Raj.”
“512 rupees”
“Yes, I know but the apartment is owned by the company and they take care of the expenses.”
He seemed a little agitated now. “512 rupees you pay”
“I know, just leave me the bill and I will give it to Raj,” I said, pointing at his tablet.
“I give beal,” he said in exasperation.
“You already left the bill?” I asked, looking around on the table where bills are normally left. At lunch I had asked Priya to write some sentences in Hindi, such as, ‘I want dinner tonight’ and ‘I want scrambled eggs.’ I wish I had known that I would need, ‘I don’t pay the milk bill.’
After a deep sigh, “I come back.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” I replied, hoping I wouldn’t be here to answer the door next time.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
I intended to sleep in but woke up at 8:00. I heard Rakesh in the kitchen and decided that a fresh, hot breakfast sounded good. After eating my pancakes, a different man came to collect the milk bill. I smiled, shook my head and said, “Not my bill. Come back later.”
When Rakesh returned to clean up my dishes, I tried to ask about the ‘milk beal’. He didn’t understand so I went to get my laptop and typed in, ‘Who pays the milk bill?’ on Google Translate. Rakesh pulled the bill from his wallet after reading the Hindi translation. After a few more sentences on Google, I gathered that Rakesh was taking the bill to Raj today. I wish I would have thought of Google Translate 5 ½ weeks ago.
Priya had a meeting near the Palladium Mall so we met at Asia Seven for lunch. It’s a great restaurant right next to the Food Hall that I had on my list to try. Priya also pointed out a place to have the top made to match my sari. I can’t wait to put it on. She’s not much of a traditional Indian woman so we decided that Lata would have to help me wrap up.
Priya needed to get to her meeting, so I went shopping for a bit. At one store I had 3 male clerks picking out clothing and bringing it to me. The service here is amazing, but I think I get a little extra special treatment.
I bought a dress that I had looked at two times previously and tried on once. I hesitated to buy it because it has red and green on it (but a small amount). Many things have that color combination which is very appropriate for India. I’ve explained to several clerks that if I wear green and red in the summer time in the US, everyone will ask me why I am wearing a Christmas dress. I finally paid Rs.1595 ($35) and decided I will wear it to my sister’s house on Christmas Eve.
I am heading to bed and really looking forward to tomorrow. It hasn’t rained much for 2 days so Priya and I are going to the vineyards from Thursday to Friday afternoon. She booked us at the Taj Mahal!
Darek tapped on my door when he heard the roar coming from my room at 1:30 am this morning. After long train delays returning from Madhubhan Spa, we had just arrived back at the guest house. The maid, Lata had left the drain cover off after cleaning the shower. I was attempting to hold a vacuum cleaner upside down to remove the small bugs that made their way up through the drain and now covered my bathroom ceiling. Once I was finished, I handed the vacuum over to Darek; his drain cap had been left off too.
I awoke again at 9:30. I knew Darek was exhausted and planned to sleep in. He’s been traveling all over India and this was his first night back at the guest house. I quietly made my way to the dining room only to find him feasting on our breakfast that Rakesh had made 2 hours earlier. I joined him for a lightly spiced veggie spread on toast which was actually very tasty. We decided to call it a salad sandwich for lack of a better name.
Since he would only be here for one day, Darek was in need of some down time. I assumed his time would be more restful alone, so I joined Priya for lunch. Her driver came to fetch me at half twelve and dropped me at the Kapoor home. Priya has her own apartment, but has a fully furnished room at her parents home. We had a wonderful lunch at China Garden, a restaurant she has dined at since age 12. Her driver dropped me back in time to see Darek off again. He will be in other states until we both depart for the US on August 13th.
After another tasty home cooked meal, I was enjoying the quiet of the evening when the doorbell rang. The man spoke quickly and all I understood was ‘milk’.
“You are delivering milk?” I asked as I peeped out the door to discover there wasn’t any.
He taps on a tablet with a pen and says a few more words I couldn’t understand.
“Oh, you want to take an order for milk?” I asked and started to head for the kitchen to check the supply.
“No, no, beal milk”
“Oh, you have a bill for the milk?”
“Yes, yes 512 rupees”
“Can you leave me the bill and I will take it to Raj.”
“512 rupees”
“Yes, I know but the apartment is owned by the company and they take care of the expenses.”
He seemed a little agitated now. “512 rupees you pay”
“I know, just leave me the bill and I will give it to Raj,” I said, pointing at his tablet.
“I give beal,” he said in exasperation.
“You already left the bill?” I asked, looking around on the table where bills are normally left. At lunch I had asked Priya to write some sentences in Hindi, such as, ‘I want dinner tonight’ and ‘I want scrambled eggs.’ I wish I had known that I would need, ‘I don’t pay the milk bill.’
After a deep sigh, “I come back.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” I replied, hoping I wouldn’t be here to answer the door next time.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
I intended to sleep in but woke up at 8:00. I heard Rakesh in the kitchen and decided that a fresh, hot breakfast sounded good. After eating my pancakes, a different man came to collect the milk bill. I smiled, shook my head and said, “Not my bill. Come back later.”
When Rakesh returned to clean up my dishes, I tried to ask about the ‘milk beal’. He didn’t understand so I went to get my laptop and typed in, ‘Who pays the milk bill?’ on Google Translate. Rakesh pulled the bill from his wallet after reading the Hindi translation. After a few more sentences on Google, I gathered that Rakesh was taking the bill to Raj today. I wish I would have thought of Google Translate 5 ½ weeks ago.
Priya had a meeting near the Palladium Mall so we met at Asia Seven for lunch. It’s a great restaurant right next to the Food Hall that I had on my list to try. Priya also pointed out a place to have the top made to match my sari. I can’t wait to put it on. She’s not much of a traditional Indian woman so we decided that Lata would have to help me wrap up.
Priya needed to get to her meeting, so I went shopping for a bit. At one store I had 3 male clerks picking out clothing and bringing it to me. The service here is amazing, but I think I get a little extra special treatment.
I bought a dress that I had looked at two times previously and tried on once. I hesitated to buy it because it has red and green on it (but a small amount). Many things have that color combination which is very appropriate for India. I’ve explained to several clerks that if I wear green and red in the summer time in the US, everyone will ask me why I am wearing a Christmas dress. I finally paid Rs.1595 ($35) and decided I will wear it to my sister’s house on Christmas Eve.
I am heading to bed and really looking forward to tomorrow. It hasn’t rained much for 2 days so Priya and I are going to the vineyards from Thursday to Friday afternoon. She booked us at the Taj Mahal!
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