Haryana Police Project, Sex & the City, etc.

After opting out of a trip to Amritsar to stay home and relax, our weekend was anything but relaxing. On Friday night, some friends took us out for dinner and drinks at this big fancy shmancy mall and I was able to enjoy my first sips of Indian alcohol. The restaurant was decorated in Irish pub/sports club decor, played obnoxiously noisy early 90's hits from the United States and served delicious Indian cuisine. After dinner, when we tired of yelling over the tunes, we decided to catch a movie as it was still early (a mere 10:00) So, I finally got to see the much anticipated Sex & the City movie. While I have my own little critiques (that only a true fan could notice) overall, I was completely satisfied. After being stuck in awful traffic on our journey home, we didn't crawl into bed until 2:30am. These Indians sure know how to have a good time!

Saturday, we returned to the fancy shmancy mall. After watching Sex & the City, a girl just NEEDS to go shopping. Watching the women of walk around New York in their fantastic clothes and shop like there is no tomorrow was like dangling cocaine in front of a recovering addict. I justified my purchases by reasoning that since we didn't go to Amritsar (which would have been a pricey journey), I was allotted a certain amount of spending money for the weekend. What can I say, shopping is in my genes. No way around it!

Our yogi (Vijay) arrived on Saturday night to teach us private yoga lessons. He is coming to our house to teach us yoga 4 times a week because “he has A LOT to teach us.” Hopefully by the end of this summer I’ll be a flexible little yoga master, filled with the knowledge of mind and body unity. Perhaps this will be my pathway to enlightenment. The principals of yoga make sense to me; becoming one with your body and spirit simultaneously to reach a personal nirvana. It is like an extension of the connections and awareness to my body that I made through dance.

Sunday, we finally made it to Old Delhi. Unfortunately for us (fortunately for my wallet) all of the shops that came highly recommended were closed! Instead, we visited the Red Fort (which was the center of Mugal power in Delhi). As much as I love forts (which is about as much as I love dirty dishes and cockroaches), I was ready to go home and take a nap when the sightseeing was over. Little did I know, the day was just beginning....

Sunday evening we watched the Wimbledon Championship for five hours (including two breaks for bad weather)which I must say was just phenomenal. First of all, the match itself was one of the most intense matches I've ever witnessed. Now, let’s be honest, I haven’t watched too many tennis matches in my life, but I’m certainly going to start. It is such a fast paced sport, with such athleticism and sportsmanship. I felt like I was watching a fast paced basketball game (one of my all time favorite sports), minus the jock jams. Second of all, Nadal is such a sweet little piece of meat, I just wanted to break off a piece of his behind and eat it with a scoop of ice cream. We were up until 2:00am (AGAIN), drooling/at the edge of our seats until Nadal rocked it and took home the cup. The underdog pulled through in the end, breaking the record for the first person to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in one year, and blocking Federer’s chance of holding the record for six straight Wimbledon wins.

Yesterday was rather frustrating and hectic. We woke up early and eager, dressed in our classy suits and headed to the office an hour earlier than usual to head to Haryana for a workshop with a the Police Academy. We got to the office, and no one was around and our excitement started to fade. Apparently, we were supposed to get picked up at our apartment (though no one informed us). Then, once we were picked up at the office, we were told that we were supposed to bring a video camera (though no one informed us). So, we had to go back to our apartment to get the camera. Then, once we got to Haryana we were told that we should have downloaded what was on the camera onto our computer so that there was more space (though no one informed us). And finally, at the end of the day, after hours of sitting through workshops conducted completely in Hindi, we were told that we should have been taking notes (on what, I’m not entirely sure). All we wanted to do was go back home and crash, but instead we stopped for dinner on the way home. (One of the most bizarre dinners I’ve ever had-not because of the food, but because of the conversation, which basically consisted of Sanjay telling us about maggot and mosquito protein.)

What should have been a 2.5 hour drive became twice that long and involved even more stress when we drove by a shocking accident where two bicyclists had been hit by a truck and were sprawled out on the pavement dead. They were the first dead bodies that I have ever seen and it was almost theatrical how everyone just stood around looking, but not reacting to the tragedy. The traffic was so congested, it was apparent that there was no hope of an ambulance making it to the scene anytime soon, if at all. The thing is, as I gaped at the dead bodies, I couldn’t connect that they were dead. That their families were probably waiting at home for them. That they had a life. That their life was over. I just couldn’t fathom it. And even now, a day later, I’m still shocked at what I saw. No one did anything. No one even moved their bodies out of the road. Should I have cried? Should I cry? Should I have demanded that we stop the car and check their pulse? Check to see if we could have helped? It is a helpless situation and apparently just everyday life here on an Indian highway. And life just goes on as usual.

Peace.