First day in Delhi

Yesterday we woke early due to messed up body clocks we were up at 5:00a Delhi time, after tea and breakfast, we hired a driver for the day and he took us up to Delhi U, where Julie had to turn in her admission papers. Now we find out about the famous Indian beaurocracy! You don't just turn in your papers, first, you work your way up through the line of oh 25 or other students waiting there, to put your name on the list, then you wait. About an hour and a half, a good time to make friends and become acquainted with the other foreign students in line, although, in the 90 plus heat, without ac of course, and a little fan over by the guard, it was quite sweltering in the hallway everyone is dripping sweat but you cannot leave for what if they call your name? Finally they do, and they take her papers. So these must now go to the admission council, and they will be in contact with you. Uh, in a day, 2 days, a week? How long might it be? Shrug... who knows?! They will be in contact with you by email, or mail.

Next we make contact with Julies Rotary host Ashok, yes we should come by his office in Karol Bagh, the driver gets instructions on the phone in Hindi and off we start, around India gate, and by now since it's almost 2:00pm, we stop for lunch. Nice good if very spicy veg food, about $13 total for both. Continuing on to Ashoks office, which is upstairs in a very busy market area, his "peon" comes down to meet our car, we sit until a guy taps on the car, then we follow. We're led down the muddy alley, watch a minivan back into a motorcycle and knock it back into the truck parked behind it in the alley, and upstairs in an open stairway past business of sorts you cannot figure, with people just sitting waiting. At the 2nd fl we're led through an office of 5 or 6 guys in tiny cubicles, no ac of course, working with papers, phones, and maybe a computer or two... definitely looks like 1960's office, cramped, papers everywhere. In Ashoks office, which is air conditioned, the peon brings in glasses of cool water, "it's good" Ashok assures us as we look at each other... Delhi water is not drinkable for westerners, you will get bad "Delhi Belly" diarea for days if you do... but I digress... Ashok asks what is going on with Julies admittance to the U, and shakes his head knowingly as we describe the ordeal. Show me your papers, he says... Julie shows him what she didn't give to admissions. Always keep at least 2 copies with you of all papers at all times, he says, and he copies them on a little desktop fax/copier. He looks them over carefully, then tells us we must go back and ask to see the proctor of a particular college, and say that he has sent us. (This will have to be tomorrow, it's nearly 4:00 by now). Then about where are you staying? I describe the B&B I found after months of search and correspondence, and he says, you'll have to move, I know someone who owns a B&B in a better place, and he get's on the phone, what are you paying? I tell him and the next thing he is hanging up and it is all arranged, we must tell our host, where we've been for 1 night, we're checking out in the morning, not staying the 8 nights I have booked. A car will come for us at 10:00 am in the morning to take us where we don't know. The peon brings green tea and we have a cup and talk more about Julies school and living options, then his wife arrives and after a short visit it's time to leave. They walk us out and we find our driver and head back to the B&B.

Nap time 5-7, before dinner at 8:00... how was your day? asked our host... so I tell her we are needing to move out in the morning it was quite awkward. After naps, we go for dinner and explain what we can to them, dinner was fabulous by the way, veg dal, paan, jasmine rice, eggplant, and some things we didn't know but were delicious! We talked a lot about the american economy, politics, and the effects of the financial crisis on "average" americans, then retire to pack for our morning departure. By now it's close to 11:00 and we have no trouble getting to sleep quickly.