June 4 - 9, 2001 |
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My last month at work has started, my last month in Delhi,… but fortunately not my last month in India! I'm already more than 3 months here - unbelievable!
Monday was an ordinary working day again - as usual. After work, I went to Sarojini Railway Station to buy my train tickets for my up-coming weekend trip - my last trip to the cool north. Buying tickets is always so exhausting - while waiting, there was this child who was constantly running around me, jumping on my feet, making a lot of noise and getting on my nerves. Those who know me better know that I'm not a big children-lover… so, you can imagine how I was suffering while standing in line. Horrible! But I guess that's the price you have to pay when you wanna go on a trip.
Tuesday was again a normal day. In the evening, I went to a movie - actually I wanted to watch "The Mexican" but due to some unhappy circumstances I landed in the movie "Valentine" - such a crappy movie - please, do me one favour, don't watch it!
On Wednesday morning I went to the Austrian Airlines office to check about Oli's flight to India (he tried everything in Vienna - unsuccessfully). His problem was that he didn't get a confirmed flight back to Vienna and without a confirmed flight back, you have to buy 2 one-way tickets (and that's of course, too expensive). But there was no chance to get from the waiting list into the flight as those waiting lists are generated automatically and thus nobody can alter it. While sitting at the AUA office and talking to this guy there, I had this great idea ;-) An idea that makes it possible for Oli to come – actually, a very simple solution but obviously hard to find. Anyway, Oli will come to Delhi on June 26… I'm really looking forward but on the other hand, I have mixed feelings… I mean, I haven't seen him for more than 3 months now and I don't know how it's going to be when we see each other again… it’s kind of a strange feeling.
In the evening, I went with Thomas and Lindsay to "The Mezz" – a pub in New Friends Colony. There we met with Taneia, her boyfriend and another friend of hers – we were just hanging out and chatting. Nice evening!
On Thursday I woke up at 6 a.m. – I don't know why but I couldn't sleep anymore. So, I started reading, had a big breakfast and enjoyed the rain that started at around 7:30 a.m.
In the evening, we met some DI-Aiesecers and other trainees at Dilli Haat. I got to know 3 new trainees – Adam from Poland, Cathy from Holland and Brian from Scotland; and Diana's brother Camillo. We had quite a good time there… Later we went to the DI-flat and continued there our get-together ;-) After a certain time, some of us felt quite hungry, so we drove to Sanjha Chulka (you know, this BBQ-street-food-shop) - there the hungry souls ordered Butter Chicken. Actually we wanted to go back to the DI-flat, but somehow we got locked out and there was no chance to get in again. So, what to do? We drove to my – the DU – flat and had our late dinner there ;-)
Friday was Thomas' and Jenny's birthday – so, we had, of course, a birthday party, but this time a really chilled one. We (Henning, Lindsay and me) gave Thomas a Kurta (typical Indian shirt for men) as a birthday present. The party itself was very nice although we had no power the whole night… luckily, we had 45 candles (Thomas turned 24, while Jenny celebrated her 21st birthday) – those gave us light the whole night long ;-)
At 1 a.m. some trainees left for Corbett National Park… my train to Kalka left at 6 a.m. More on my weekend trip to Kasauli and Shimla in my "weekend edition" of my online diary ;-)
Bye,
Weekend June 10 - 12, 2001 |
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What a relaxing weekend this weekend was! Cool weather, fresh air and quietness… holiday for body and soul!
Let's start from the beginning on…
Actually I wanted to make this trip on my own but at the last moment my best Indian friend Hiten joined me… we get along really well - so, we had a blast during the weekend ;-)
We took an early morning train to Kalka (that's between Chandigarh and Shimla), unfortunately all the sleepers up to the north were fully booked that's why we had to take 2nd class seater. That's most of the time not so bad but this 5.5 hours trip to Kalka was horrible - there was this child sitting opposite to me… what a plague! Anyway, let's not talk about it ;-)
When we arrived in Kalka, we took a bus via Dharampur to Kasauli where we reached at 1:30 p.m. After finding a room in Hotel Puri, we took a small nap - no surprise, we haven't slept the whole night (we went directly after the birthday party to the train station, and sleeping in the train was nearly impossible - thanks to this "nice" child). At around 4 p.m. we started exploring the cute little town of Kasauli. First we went up to Kasauli Club, from there you have a great view down to Chandigarh (if the air is clear), or at least to Kalka. After that we strolled along the Mall, and enjoyed the beauty of this town and the nice atmosphere there. We even observed a procession in honour of Lord Hanuman.
In the evening we had dinner in one of the many eating places - we ordered yummy Tandoori chicken and mixed vegetables… and the obligatory rotis, of course ;-) Stuffed after this good dinner, we took again a small walk… at around 10:30 p.m. we went to bed.
After a fantastic sleep (fresh, cool air!!!!) I woke up at 7:30 a.m. Unfortunately we had to wait very long for our bucket of hot water (for taking a shower), so that we left at 9:15 a.m. First we went to "Daily Needs" - a shop, which a colleague of mine recommended to me - where we had a very good and filling breakfast. Filled with new power, we started the walk to Manki Point (approximately 4 km from our hotel) - while going there, you pass by wonderful nature and you can enjoy amazing views of the surrounding mountains - great ;-) When we reached Manki Point, I first had to go through a long registration process - good that I brought my passport! I also had to leave my bag there as cameras and eatable items are not allowed inside the complex. If you wanna reach Manki Point (and you should definitely do that!), you have to climb up those really steep stairs - what a pain! However, once you're up there you forget all the exertions - what a breath-taking view - magical!
Somewhere around 1 p.m., we got our bags and caught the 1:15 p.m. bus to Solan (we reached there at 2:15 p.m.) and continued from there our journey to Shimla (we arrived in Shimla at 3:45 p.m.). In Shimla we first searched for a place to stay what turned out to be relatively difficult as June is high season in Shimla (no surprise as Delhi is sweating away in its heat - so everybody tries to flee)… finally, we found a place to stay at Hotel Dreamland. While I took a small nap, Hiten tried to find out about the narrow-gauge train from Shimla to Kalka (which we planned to take on the next day).
In the evening, we walked down the Mall and the Ridge, had pizza at Domino's and ice cream in a little ice cream parlour. Finally, we got back at 10:30 p.m.
The next day, we spent with strolling down the upper and the lower Mall, visiting some places of Shimla where you find mainly locals (like this one spice market, or the school where we observed the pupils at their sports lessons)… especially for me, very interesting.
At 3:30 p.m. we went back to our hotel, got our things and walked to Shimla Railway Station. There we bought tickets to Kalka (32 Rs for 5 hours!) - tickets for this narrow-gauge train, I mentioned above. This journey is quite special as the train moves in a relatively slow speed, through wonderful nature and cute little towns. If you move in the general class (as I did) and not in the first class, you experience an interesting part of Indian real life ;-) Although the train was really jam-packed and the seats were made of wood (that means not too comfortable for your butt), people were singing, playing cards and remaining friendly. Nobody lost his temper because of all the bad circumstances (some had to stand the whole journey, etc)… it was truly a unique trip!
At 11 p.m. we arrived in Kalka on time, 45 minutes later our train to Delhi departed, where we reached at 6:30 a.m.
I had a really good time in Kasauli and Shimla, and thanks to Hiten and the time we had together, I learned again a lot about India.
2 more weekends to go… then I'll start my big India roundtrip with Oli - 6 weeks along the coast (down the west coast, up at the east coast and back to Delhi)! As soon as I have time, I'll put my travel outline on the net… so that you've got an idea about the places we are going to visit etc. ;-)
Bye,
June 13 - 17, 2001 |
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The week started with a very sad occasion - Tuesday was dominated by lots of farewells. We had to say goodbye to Jules, to Chrissy, to Sami, and to Jason, that's why we had this big farewell party Tuesday night… we had some drinks, some food, and a lot of fun… the last time laughing together with the trainees who were supposed to leave. Later in the evening, Jason gave us a small exclusive "concert" on his trombone. What a special moment!
Jules was the first to leave (at around 10 p.m.), while the others left at 3:15 a.m. Saying goodbye to Jason was especially hard for me as I knew him the best… I hate good-byes but unfortunately a lot more will come up - I leave Delhi in 2 weeks therefore I have to say goodbye to a lot of trainees as many of them will leave India while I'm travelling through India.
After this farewell party I slept just 2 hours (4:30 to 6:30 a.m.)… Nevertheless, I went to office - of course, that's out of question!
On Wednesday evening there was another party - this time with a happy occasion ;-) We celebrated Jeff and Katie's birthday at this big house - at Modi Estate. The Modi's are one of the richest families in India. They served us excellent food, while we enjoyed the wealth of this family - that means, while we were hanging out in their house ;-)) Although everything was perfect there, Thomas, Henning, Lindsay and me left the party at 1 a.m. as we were still tired because of last night…
On Thursday, there was not much work to do at office therefore I had some time to research for Oli's and mine up-coming India Trip. After lunch break, I went straight to Sarojini Railway Station to buy the first bunch of train tickets for the trip (starting from Delhi-Udaipur-Ahmadabd-Bombay-Goa-Cochin-Madurai) - I don't know why but I expected to encounter some difficulties when buying all these train tickets but nothing happened - everything ran absolutely smoothly, no obstacles, no nothing… that was definitely a positive surprise ;-)
In the evening, I went with Rick, Janne, Stefan, Marc and Gosia to a movie - we watched "The Mexican". Although we already came back at 1 a.m., I didn't sleep a single minute that night as Rick and I were talking till 8 a.m. (in between we cooked rice and chilies; and in the morning scrambled eggs).
I was awfully tired the next morning when I went to office but I guess it was worth it as I had a really nice chat with him.
I left office a bit earlier on Friday, as I wasn't able to keep my eyes open after this sleepless night;-) In the afternoon, I caught up with my sleep (from 4 to 7 p.m.), followed by a delicious dinner at Flavour Restaurant (they're serving the best Pasta *yum*). No parties this night… just sleeping.
On Saturday I skipped office as I overslept big time anyway… I woke up at 12:30 p.m. - I had such a fabulous sleep ;-) For dinner, we ordered our most favorite pizza "Tom'n'Garlic". The afternoon I spent with strolling around at Central Market.
In the evening, we went to "Fete de la Musique" hosted by the French Embassy. Unfortunately it wasn't that great there - at least, the band who was playing when we arrived wasn't very exciting - they made sound-checks for at least 30 minutes. Later we went to this new dancing place called "Pluto" at Grand Hyatt - this was even more shit. Again, another useless Saturday evening. But I don't care too much…
On Sunday, I slept till 10 a.m., followed by reading, and doing laundry. I hate doing laundry… when I come back to Austria I'll for sure appreciate washing machines again. They are doing a really good job… washing your clothes with your own hands really sucks, especially because you never get it that clean as a washing machine does, and it's much more work… back to the basics ;-)
In the afternoon I went to Ansal Plaza, that's a shopping mall here in Delhi but not a very exciting one… although I enjoyed a really good lunch there - a real salad!!!
In the evening, we met at Def Col Junction - a restaurant in Defence Colony Market - to say goodbye to Sascha, a German trainee from Aachen. Take care, Sascha!
So, you see, a lot of good-byes this week… and more to come :-( I guess that's life - especially here with all the trainees - a steady coming and going.
Talk to you next week again…
Hugs,
June 18 - 24, 2001 |
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My last week without Oli, my second-to-last week at work… my last online diary entry that will be placed on this page on time. But don't worry; I'll try to be up-to-date as much as possible ;-) So, I hope you keep visiting my page…
So, what happened this week? Generally speaking, it was a very relaxing and mellow week… we went out once, but this party we went to was such a big shit, I don't even wanna talk about it. It was supposed to be Diana's, Eija's and Rick's birthday party at a farmhouse with a pool - a pool party, if you wanna call it like this. However, the whole party was such a big mistake as a couple of people felt really sick afterwards (because of the sandwiches they served us there - I'm glad that I had just 2 bites). There was indeed a pool, but it was empty and before we wanted to leave the Indian guys who hosted this party tried to start a fight with us - mainly with the guys - so stupid! Just because the host of the party was so drunk and so depressed as he didn't get laid by a white girl - that's so ridiculous. Anyway, we more or less "survived" the whole - so-called - party.
The rest of the week was basically very relaxing. Once we went to Nirula's to have Hot Chocolate Fudge (I'm going to miss my hot chocolate fudge with lots of nuts!), I went to India Gate, or spent my evening with chatting with the others - and that's also very nice ;-)
From Friday to Saturday, our quietness was disturbed by something horrible - in the middle of the night a fire broke out in our living room (a candle felt down). Part of the bookshelf (plus books) and the TV are gone… However, I'm glad that nothing more happened - considering the fact that the fire broke out while we were all asleep and that we had no water to stop the fire, we were quite lucky that nothing serious happened. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep the rest of the night (just from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.) as the whole flat was smelling because of the smoke - the fire produced so much smoke - incredible!
On Saturday I worked till 2: 15 p.m. (on Friday till 7:15 p.m.! - that's quite long for me), afterwards I went to Sarojini Market to buy some clothes - I love this market! … Came back at around 5 p.m., cooked myself some potatoes before we finally left to Martin's and Surya's place at around 8 p.m. We had sort of a small get-together - a get-together to say goodbye to Surya (he's from Malaysia) who left on Sunday. At around 11:30 p.m. we felt hungry again (yeah, we trainees are always hungry *g*), so we decided to go to Punjabi's - our most favorite Indian restaurant in Central Market. Although it was already closed, they opened it up again - just for us ;-) This is what I call perfect customer service! We had a really good time there (and of course, excellent food). Later we went back to our flat and continued there our small get-together till 3 a.m.
Sunday was a quite lazy day although I did some sports! I slept till 12 p.m. lunchtime and had some soup for "breakfast" (to cure my throat-ache - I'm suffering right now of a really bad cold - I guess it's the change of the weather: from the hot and dry season to the monsoon season which cools down the temperature). Till 4 p.m. we were just hanging around in the flat… then we went together to Flavours where we also met the DU-Aiesecers a bit later. Together we went to Lodi Gardens to play soccer… although we lost we had a very nice afternoon. I also got to know a new Polish guy (invasion of the Polish *g* - there are already 4 Polish people here) - Hangy from Warsaw. He seems to be quite nice.
In the evening, Henning, Janne, Marc, Rick, Franzi, Gosia and me spent the evening in our flat - with chatting, drinking, joking around… till 3 a.m.
Now, there is just one more week to go… Somehow I'm quite sad about that; I mean, I'm really looking forward to my travelling but on the other hand, I'll miss all the people I got to know here… it's going to be so hard but I guess that's life and I have to accept this. Life goes on… and that's good, I think. But right now, I have this weird feeling inside of me - the feeling that I'll miss K-97 life - I have/had such an easy life here. Although you have to work here, you don't have any responsibilities or similar - as a trainee you can lead a life here that will never come back again - I guess I had the best time ever of my life here, especially because of all the nice people who surrounded me. Guys, I'm gonna miss you!
Love,
PS: As I promised, I tried to be as up-to-date as possible but don't get impatient if the diary entries don't come too regularly - I'll try my best, ok?
Now, I start my last week!
June 25 to July 1, 2001 |
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My last week in Delhi, my last week at office, my last week in K-97,... :( but the week of Oli's arrival :)
This week I hardly slept more than 3-4 hours per night but somehow this didn't matter too much as I was full of energy...
Monday evening, the last evening without Oli, we actually planned to see "Lagaan" (THE Hindi movie these days - it's supposed to be one of the best ever) but somehow it didn't work out. So, I went out with Hiten to have our last cocktail together at Moet's.
Tuesday was D-Day! Office was quite normal and I also was quite normal but as soon as I got home I started getting nervous. Oli was already on his way to Delhi, on his way to see me again.
At around 11 pm, I took a rickshaw and went to the airport (I even found another guy who wanted to go to the airport - so we shared rickshaw and costs). At around midnight I reached there, approximately the same time when Oli stepped on Indian ground for the first time.
At 00:45 am the moment came when we saw each other again. Although I was very happy to see him again, there was still this weird feeling inside of me - 4 months had passed by since I've seen Oli for the last time - 4 months full of new things, adventures and experience, new friends, new life,... I have to admit that it took me a while to go back... back to the life with Oli. In the first week, he sometimes even had the feeling that I'm not enough there for him. And I guess that's true. I was struggling a lot with myself: on the one hand, I wanted to be with him all the time (as we haven't seen each other for that long) but on the other hand, I knew that my days at K-97 were already limited, that my time with the other trainees was limited,... I guess the latter feeling was a bit stronger. It's hard to switch life from one day to the other. However, now that Oli and I are travelling, things are getting better. I guess I just need time...
The rest of the week passed by quite fast.
On Wednesday I had to go to work while Oli slept more or less the whole day (no surprise, we didn't sleep at all last night). In the evening we went to Djinns and had a good "dancing session" there. We returned home at 2:30 - 3 am - again, hardly any sleep for me.
On Thursday morning we firstly went to the Austrian Airlines office, asking about our waiting list flight. Surprisingly, Oli's flight back to Vienna on the 14th of August was already confirmed while I was still on the waiting list... strange. Whatever, they couldn't tell me if I'll get the flight or not; that means I have to wait until August till they can tell me... ok, let's wait and see.
Afterwards we went to my office - there I introduced Oli to everybody... I guess he liked my colleagues and I hope they liked him as well. At around 11 am Oli left the office and went home; I stayed as I still had some work to do. At around 1 pm I received a call from Julia, the new trainee from Austria. She told me that AIESEC didn't pick her up from the airport last night and moreover, she had no address where she could have gone. So, she stayed at this expensive hotel near the airport. My telephone number from work was the only telephone number she was able to get through... She dind't know what to do so I told her to go to the trainee house and meet Oli there; about the rest I would take care in the evening. After this phone call I was so pissed off - that's not how AIESEC reception should work. That's why I called some Aiesecers to have some serious discussions with them. Imagine, you're coming to India for the first time and you're expecting someone to pick you up and finally, you have to discover that there's nobody... that's not the way it should be. Anyway, in the meantime we settled the things with Julia... everything's fine now.
In the evening, we actually wanted to watch "Lagaan" but unfortunately the show was sold out - instead we watched "The Tailor of Panama" - don't ask me about the movie as I overslept roughly 80%... I was too tired to keep my eyes open.
Friday was a very hot day - nevertheless, Julia and Oli went sightseeing in Old Delhi, Connaught Place and India Gate; I went to office. In the evening, we again went out. This time, we attended Sahara's coffee night (dancing and talking to the people of Sahara - that's a NGO working with HIV+ people, ex-drug-addicts and ex-alcoholics). The evening ended finally at Vikram Vihar, where we had a small get-together at the DI-flat.
On Saturday, Oli and I first went to Sarojini Railway Station to buy some train tickets for our up-coming journey and then to office. The day of saying goodbye had come - I hate goodbyes! (although I'll visit them in August again we I return back to Delhi). We had yummy lunch together, and before we left, my colleagues gave me a nice farewell-gift - how sweet! After hugging all of them and saying goodbye, Lindsay, Oli and I left to Sarojini market to do some shopping. Before going home, Oli and I went to Thomas Cook Money Exchange to change some money for our trip... meanwhile it started raining so hard so that most of the streets were flooded - nearly knee-deep! We took a rickshaw back but after a few meters of driving in this water, the motor stopped working. So, our rickshaw-wallah got out of his vehicle and disappeared at the backside. After a minute he came back with the exhauste pipe in his hands! He started the engine again and there we went - much louder than before but it worked ;-)
In the evening, there was Jens' and my farewell party at K-97. To be honest, I don't even wanna talk about it. Although we had a lot of fun, and the party lasted till 4 am, it was very sad for me. Saying goodbye to my Indian friends and to most of the trainees nearly broke my heart... :(
Sunday was basically dominated by packing my stuff together - packing my backpack, my suitcase, cleaning my room...
In the evening 11 of us went to "Lagaan" - finally, we managed! I really liked the 3 hours and 45 minutes movie... probably because I had a translator this time. Hiten didn't get tired to explain the story, the scenes,... to me - although guessing wasn't too difficult either ;-)
After the movie, I had to say goodbye to Hiten which was especially hard for me as he was one of my closest friends for the last 3 months or so. Hiten, I'll miss you...
My last official night as K-97 followed :( it didn't feel too good - actually, it was horrible... on the other hand, I know that now my travelling will start... and that will be fantastic, too!
Ok, that's it - talk to you guys as soon as possible! I'll try to put the online diary of our first week of travelling as soon as possible on the net. Right now I'm in Bombay - great city!
I wish you all the best!
K-97 and all the other trainees, don't forget me!
Love you all!
Kisses,
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