First Day - Monday January 18th

Namaste!

We started the day in style with a four-course breakfast on the house's front lawn. It was laid on white tablecloths with silver platters, and smiling and bowing waiters. The anticipated spicyness made its first appearance in the green chilli omelette and heart-shaped potato cutlets, followed up with chai tea and mango nectar juice.

After this promising start we got ready to hit the markets in search of materials for our craft activities at Cheshire Home for the disabled and Kamalini Vocational School. Once in our big white tourist vans however, we found things slightly different from the inside of our high-walled house. What we thought was early morning fog did not clear to reveal blue skies. The beeping that we thought was localised congestion continued as we moved between suburbs. Stopping at a traffuc light we were startled to find a pair of horns greeting us at the window - and this was just to be the first of many free-range cows throughout the city streets.

After edging past some men dishing out curried breakfast on the sidewalk, we dodged scooters and rickshaws to enter the markets. This dusty "promenade" was home to long rows of narrow openings which we soon realised must be the shops. Clutching our bags tightly, we browsed tables and racks - clothing, jewellery, shoes, belts, bags, beads etc - while constantly being stared down by curious men. After trying out our bargaining skills we walked out with our purchases and headed home for a lunch of chicken soup, red carrots, cottage cheese and rice.

That afternoon we trundled through the crowded streets of Delhi to visit Kamalini Vocational School. Expecting a large comunity hall we were led instead to a small three-roomed building in which classes were in progress. Afterwards it was home through the traffic and to our beautiful white table, in the middle of our green lawn, with our smiling waiters, and our steaming silver pots of curry. And of course the adventure of working out how to turn on the hot water and hoping it didn't run out.

A crazy first day which shattered any preconceived ideas we may have had - especially about the heat (which is non-existent, to say the least).