Taj Mahal yesterday, fire today… In India anything is possible

This morning a few of us went to church, St. James, and came home to no power.   A few people went to the salon and others went to get coffee.  I went to the bathroom and came out to a little man busting through my bedroom door telling me to open the window.  There was an electrical fire. No problem, or so they say in India. Cultural experience. So here we sit in the smoke, windows open, on the coldest day in India thus far.

St. James is a colonial era church built by James Skinner who was discriminated by the British because of his skin color and not allowed to serve in the army.  For such an old church, this place was beautiful and well preserved. When we walked in (there were three of us) there were only 2 people other than the reverend and us (it was also one minute until mass….by the end there were many more though.  People are even late to church apparently).  One of my friends got to do the first reading, which is pretty neat.  Not many people get that chance in India! I really wanted to talk to the reverend and ask him how he found his religion and what it is like being a priest in a country full of Muslims and Hindus.  We have seen sooooooooo many temples that it was odd going to a church in the middle of Delhi on a Sunday. 

After the fire fiasco we headed back into town (the entire class).  We went to Qutb, the oldest and tallest building in Delhi.  The building was the one that started the city in the 11^th century. 

We then went to the largest mosque in India and had a 15 year old tour guide, who hopefully attends school during the week.  Since the restaurant we were eating at was nearby we decided to hang around the area for a few hours until it was time to eat. I wanted to go to what I called the “hectic market” – a market where the poor and lower middle class were shopping.  All of the shops were closed because it was Sunday and so there were people selling on the side of the road. 

We took bike rickshaws around, through alley ways and such, and stopped at a sari shop.  All the girls tried on a bunch of saris and a few bought some.  The plan is to wear it during our presentations for this class in the US, and of course so we can have reunions in saris while we drink gin and tonics. Speaking of, we still had a few before dinner so we went to happy hour for a drink.

Then over to Karim’s for our goat.  Yes, that is correct.  My professor ordered a goat to be had by all from a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where our professors refused to allow us to drink out of the cups because they were too dirty. Every day something new.