Hello, Delhi!

Getting to New Delhi was quite the adventure!

First, we took a four hour cab ride from Wandoor to a hotel near Cochin airport for an early flight on Saturday. After our “nap” we were up at 4:00am to make it on our flight to Delhi. (I just love Indian Air because the air hostesses wear beautiful saris!) After circling (literally--check out the photo of the flight pattern!) around for a while, we finally received clearance to land and the five of us (Erik and Robert joined us from Malappuram--also in Kerala) made our way to claim our bags and then find cabs to take us to JayPee Vasant Continental Hotel.

After a very smooth check in, we headed to the pool. The POOL! After a week of teaching and presentations and adventures, the pool was very welcoming. The air temperature certainly was hot in Delhi and the pool water was just as warm!

After an hour or so of relaxing and catching up, we heading up to our rooms to get ready for our group dinner. Indira arrived with our tailored sari tops from Bangalore and we had several ladies from the hotel give us lessons on how to put the saris on. I surprised myself by being able to walk in it and not trip! The beautiful material and encouragement of the fellows gave me the confidence to wear the top and sari proudly. Thank you, ladies!

We had a lovely dinner at an amazing Indian restaurant in a very modern mall that had Polo, MAC, Zara, Forever 21, Sephora and many more. It was strange to be in such a place after spending a week in Bangalore and a week in Kerala. Seeing young ladies in shorts and midriff tops prompted a few of us to whisper, “Did you see that? Where is her mother?!” because we were so used to our girls being covered up and modestly dressed. Again, the paradox of India shone brightly as we dined in a modern building after passing slums on the way to the place.