So that's it. I'm sitting in the airport, waiting for a flight to Mumbai. Yesterday was my last full day in Delhi, which is strange to think about. I've got quite a few hours to kill, so I obviously found the Costa Coffee in the terminal and have popped a squat until check-in for my flight opens up.
These past few weeks have been tough. The fieldwork in of itself has been sort of a breeze. What's been hard has been keeping myself busy. There's only so much research you can do in a day before you want to just mindlessly watch some TV. There's only so many meals you can eat by yourself before the waiters at the restaurant start giving you looks. There's only so many times you can go to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Select City Walk Mall before they catch onto the fact that you're only going to order one beverage and then sit there for hours on end.
And that's basically how I spent my last day in Delhi. Woke up early and took an hour-long walk around the garden outside of my house. Went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and ordered one beverage and then proceeded to sit there and bang out 28 pages of my ISP. Took an autorickshaw to a library for a meeting with a researcher and then sat there for a while. Came home and took another long walk around the garden, this time listening to sex advice from Dan Savage on "Savage Love." Ordered take-out from the restaurant because I couldn't bear the thought of sitting there alone...again. Ate bhindi masala and naan, which was to be washed down with a Limca. Then got a call from a friend about the Dunkin' Donuts that opened up in GK-I and rushed over there to get a drink. (I didn't actually end up getting a Dunkin' Donuts coffee, but that's a thing in India now. Apparently Starbucks is opening up on the subcontinent too but not until I leave.) Went to a bar, grabbed a few beers and then made my way home. (Did you know that they brew Budweisers in Delhi so Budweisers are considered a domestic beer? Fact.)
You know, now that I write it out, it doesn't sound like a bad day at all. Just a little bit ordinary and slightly solitary. All I can say is that I'm just excited to be back with a group of Americans, tacky as that may sound. I'm also excited to explore a new city. Whenever I tell people that I'm headed to Mumbai, they get really excited for me and tell me how wonderful of a place it is. There's also a beach. I'm sick of this landlocked business, and I can't wait to be somewhere new....except I have to. Three more hours until I board that plane.
These past few weeks have been tough. The fieldwork in of itself has been sort of a breeze. What's been hard has been keeping myself busy. There's only so much research you can do in a day before you want to just mindlessly watch some TV. There's only so many meals you can eat by yourself before the waiters at the restaurant start giving you looks. There's only so many times you can go to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Select City Walk Mall before they catch onto the fact that you're only going to order one beverage and then sit there for hours on end.
And that's basically how I spent my last day in Delhi. Woke up early and took an hour-long walk around the garden outside of my house. Went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and ordered one beverage and then proceeded to sit there and bang out 28 pages of my ISP. Took an autorickshaw to a library for a meeting with a researcher and then sat there for a while. Came home and took another long walk around the garden, this time listening to sex advice from Dan Savage on "Savage Love." Ordered take-out from the restaurant because I couldn't bear the thought of sitting there alone...again. Ate bhindi masala and naan, which was to be washed down with a Limca. Then got a call from a friend about the Dunkin' Donuts that opened up in GK-I and rushed over there to get a drink. (I didn't actually end up getting a Dunkin' Donuts coffee, but that's a thing in India now. Apparently Starbucks is opening up on the subcontinent too but not until I leave.) Went to a bar, grabbed a few beers and then made my way home. (Did you know that they brew Budweisers in Delhi so Budweisers are considered a domestic beer? Fact.)
You know, now that I write it out, it doesn't sound like a bad day at all. Just a little bit ordinary and slightly solitary. All I can say is that I'm just excited to be back with a group of Americans, tacky as that may sound. I'm also excited to explore a new city. Whenever I tell people that I'm headed to Mumbai, they get really excited for me and tell me how wonderful of a place it is. There's also a beach. I'm sick of this landlocked business, and I can't wait to be somewhere new....except I have to. Three more hours until I board that plane.
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