Driving in Delhi

Mum and dad have started to drive in Delhi. Dads the one that usually drives. When Mum does drive we tend to make sure we are wearing our seatbelts. It almost is like she aims for the potholes. One time we got a flat tire when Mum was driving...me and Mum just sat in the car while Dad and Sam sorted it all out. Mum says she is a better driver though because Dad has bumped a number of cars let alone people!

We are kind of used to seeing people hanging out of the doors of buses but the other day we saw people hanging on to the bars across the windows at the back of the bus. So if you were one of the people on the bus and you looked out the back window you would see some people hanging there...for dear life.

We have seen some cycle rickshaws packed with some weird stuff. My two favorite would be the time when we saw a guy on a cycle rickshaw with his broken down motorbike and all we could say was, "How the heck did they get it on there?"

We have also seen a number of goats on cycle rickshaws!

All the trucks here seem to have a little bit of a tilt as they really like to pack stuff on them. I once saw one that looked like it was about to fall over. We have also seen a truck that had driven straight into the concrete diversion after making his "which way do I go?" choice too late.

We have seen a number of dead dogs on the road with their guts coming out. We have also seen a buffalo sitting on the road with is guts coming out...it was about to die. But my favorite is when we see a dead cow. Yes cows cross the road and people stop for them but this is a time where that probably didn't happen. One ordinary day when we were driving home from Splash...what did we see? A dead cow lying on the medium strip. It had its legs in the air its tummy was bloated and it looked like a balloon, and its eyes were crossed and all goofy, but no guts. We actually once saw a car with a trailer on the back of it which was filled with dead cows!

Hope you can see why I like driving in Delhi and what unusual things happen!

Talk soon,

Hunter

Diwali

On Saturday the ashram celebrated Diwali. We didn't really celebrate until the afternoon.

The Family House and the Dream House all came over to the main ashram. We planned on putting lights everywhere and doing some fireworks and then topping it off with a special chicken dinner.

We (Dad, Mum, Sam and I) got to the ashram just in time for lunch. After lunch we just kinda lazed around until it was time to start preparing all the lights, they had already laid little clay holders all over a charpoy.

The time finally came when we got to start putting the oil and wicks into the little clay holders....I helped with this. Dad then prayed and after that they started to put the little candles everywhere.

When it became dark some people including me and Mum went around lighting them all. When they were all lit up the ashram looked beautiful or in hindi "sundar."

We all stood around and did a couple of sparklers and things that spray all these sparks....I call them sprayers or fountains, but we were all just waiting for them to let off the big ones. When everyone was ready we all went to the badminton caught for the big ones. They did a rocket one and it made the coolest sound. They then let off some actual fireworks. There was one that went up into the sky and then kept on exploding. You should have seen the expression on some of the patients faces...they were so excited. We did two fountains/sprayers next to each other at the same time and it looked amazing. Next they did the biggest one of all but no one wanted to light it so Dad was left to do it...luckily he ran away quick enough. The fireworks kept going off and Mum, Jenni and I had started going "oooh ahhhh" every time one went off. Rasheed got the honors of doing the last one and he was full of excitement. He lit it and then Sarin immediately pulled him back and then it went off into the sky, it was beautiful.

After we all started to settle down they brought dinner over. It was a special meal. They had prepared rice and chicken, it was very special for us, they had just the right amount of chicken.

On the way home we stopped by a firework shop and Me and Sam both got to choose something. I got a pack of pen torches which spray sparks and Sam got a pack of three fireworks. We got home and let them off, which was really fun because I never expected I'd be the one letting a firework off.

And soon I fell asleep to the continuous sound of fireworks.

Thursday 15th of October

Yesterday we went to the Spinal Hospital. Dad had to meet up with Prakash, Savita and Jake because they needed the ashram stamp which Dad had.

The hosplial was nicer than I had expected. It was much nicer then all the other hospitals I have been to in Delhi...thats for sure. Prakash, Savita and Jake had brought about eight patients. When we got there Ruksanna one of the girls in a wheelchair was zooming around on the smooth floors as she was used to rocky surfaces at the ashram.

One of the doctors gave us a tour of the department where they make the prosthetic limbs. His english was a bit hard to understand but it was still interesting. Mum called the visit an excursion because I had hardly done any school work that morning. I told her she was a weirdo and that we had only been there for an hour.

They gave us some tea and they came with mini stirrers but Sam, Dad and me just used them as straws!

After that we went to India Gate to kill sometime before Sam's baseball training...BTW my team is still undefeated and if your reading this Josh Rogers I am letting you know that I now have two home runs too....and its not over yet!

At India Gate me and Mum played the new Monopoly Card game that the Rogers sent us.....thanx!!!! We soon were surrounded by what seemed like a crowd, we were just trying to play a game of cards!

We soon went to the American Embassy for Sam's baseball training and had dinner while watching and then got stuck in horrendous traffic on the way home. In the traffic me and Sam were sticking our body out the window and strangely spotted one of our cars! It was the patients on their way home from the Spinal Hospital! We soon caught up with them and they all got excited.....it had been a long day for them especially with all the traffic.

P.S It is Diwali tomorrow and we are hearing some big (read massive) explosions near our house!

Hunter