Salaam Alekom...And The Adventure Continues

I arrived in New Delhi dirty, tired, apprehensive and ready to fight the masses of Indian touts...or so I thought. I was so overwhelmed that I simply found an empty, filthy corner to sit down and cry. When I finished, I stood up, muscled my bag onto my shoulders, and went in search of a telephone to contact my friend. He told me where to meet them, a hospital about an hour away. I hired an auto rickshaw and settled in for the bumpy ride.

Both of my friends are students at Jamia Hamdard, a Muslim University here in Delhi. They met me at the hospital and took me directly to a guest house on their campus called the "Scholar's House" where I checked into a nice, comfortable air-conditioned room (AC!!!!!!) They waited while I cleaned up and then spent the entire day escorting me all over town to get my new passport arranged.

Of course the American embassy was a pain in the ---; I had to stand in several queues and get physically searched two times before I could even make an inquiry about my application (some obsessive freaks even took my water bottle away)! I really lost my cool when my Iraqi friend was refused entry into the building for no apparent reason. But I kept promising myself I wouldn't fight with the officials no matter what, so I complained very loudly only once and then forced myself to be quiet. Then, my passport photos were not the right color background so we were off again for more photos...blah blah blah...and then, many hours later, we finished and they took me home to my guest house.

Turns out it's Ramadan, an entire month of fasting for muslims. So no food until it gets dark, whereupon we feast on mushroom soup, fried rice, butter naan, chicken momos...I have offered to keep the fast with my friends for several reasons; one, it feels awkward to eat in front of them and two, it is my way of showing respect. The only exception is that I take water, while my friends take nothing.

We are a group of seven or so..five Iraqi boys, one Indian girl - also Muslim - and me. Last night we went to a posh hotel playing live Arabic music, which I absolutely LOVE by the way, and I smoked apple flavored shisha for the first time, or traditional Arabic hookah pipes. We danced and clapped in the traditional Iraqi-style all night long. I have to admit I am enchanted with my first experience of Arabic culture, and already I am speaking some Arabic. Many times I am laughing out loud at the improbability of it all...

My passport should take two weeks to complete, assuming no problems. In the meantime, India is a million miles away. For now I'm in Iraq...

until next time,
I love you all so much it hurts...

LMA