Baltimore Sucks

Having tired of monuments for the moment, wednesday found us looking for something else. So we took the new Delhi metro from the train station to the mother of all traffic circles: Connaught Place. In its center lies the appropriately named central park which was THE place for courting couples. It was a clear, sunny day, so we joined in the people watching. For lunch we broke the bank on a chinese meal near Connaught Place. This was my first non-vegetarian meal since we'd arrived. Later we checked out the Palika Bazaar beneath central park, visited an old set of outdoor sundials at Jantar Mantar, bought nothing at the nearby Tibetan market, then metroed home and shamefully ordered Dominoes pizza (not my idea).
On Thursday, we visited the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara Sikh temple where we saw only an hour of what is the day-long and daily singing to a holy relic. This is included two singers, a harmonium, and a set of tablas. This was awesome to witness, though the tour bus group that came in acting all goofy and taking pictures of the people worshipping kind of hurt. For lunch, we had dosas at the Banana Leaf back at Connaught Place before autorickshawing down to the Rail Transport Museum. That night found us making a quick exit from dinner when two "Israeli" women tried to scam us (we think). Nobody asks that many questions and then writes down the answers before discussing the need for contacts in your area. It sounded eerily close to the signs you see advertising "Work From Home, $20/hr and up" or when somebody you knew from middle school starts selling knives to your mother. Overall, I like this place.

Delhi Tidbits:

• We saw monkeys on the roof of a 4 story building right in downtown New Delhi while sipping coffee at a hip place called Baristas.
• There is a truckload of spitting (a betel nut mixture called paan), pissing in public, and throat-clearing. This is not so horrifying that I would've noticed it myself if I hadn't read about it beforehand.
• Delhi, ANOTHER city that's better than Baltimore.
• As a group, Delhi'ites have been very kind to us.
• The Delhi metro is unexpectedly awesome and clean.
• Many people are "just practicing their english" before helpfully letting us know that "the emporium is this way."
• We've eaten only two non-vegetarian meals since we've arrived and I'm surprisingly okay with it.
• I will miss the pigeon family that lived on the air conditioner outside of our window.
• I'm getting better at bargaining, though it does get tiresome if all I want is a roll of toilet paper.
• I heard my first muezzin's call to prayer this week.
• The tv news is very concerned with the lives of national team cricketers and Bollywood stars.
  
• We've seen lots of security guys with rifles (not just guns, Rifles).
• We've passed through a couple wooden metal detectors, laughing afterwards to ourselves.
• McDonald's has the McAloo Tiki (a sort of potato patty in a bun) and they deliver.