What I didn't tell you...

Well now I'm back home.  It was all a little strange at first - carpets, chemicals in the water, calm... and I'm still getting giddy at the cheese counter in Tesco.

Looking back I think I my blog gave quite a rosy view of my time in Delhi.  The fact that people keep expecting me to have a suntan suggests that they haven't really grasped the point of me being there.  Firstly it was really cold most of the time I was out there, secondly I was in the office 6 days a week and working long hours - sunlight? what sunlight? 

So not all been fun and games, not one extended holiday.  I did love my time out there, but I didn't love every minute of it.  While I was in Delhi two other VSO volunteers arrived and went home after a month.  I'm not judging, I was lucky with so many aspects of my placement, I only say that it's tough and not a forgone conclusion that you'll stay the distance.

So here are some of the things that I didn't mention before that maybe give you a more rounded view.

Dogs
There are quite a lot of mangy, stray dogs.  Walking through Old Delhi you spend a lot of time thinking "I wonder if that dog's dead".  But dead dogs would be less of a problem than mad ones. 

I was heading back to the office with Rob when he got attacked, knocked to the ground and badly bitten. Of course we'll never know if the dog had rabies, but it had already bitten 4 people in the market that day.  Rob had the stress of several weeks of injections; helpfully the side effects of the vaccine appear very similar to the onset of the disease.  Thankfully he's now grand, and a minor celebrity in our circle.  I continue to be a nervous wreck around dogs.

Toilet paper
Or lack of it.  We just couldn't work out a confident and successful methodology for dealing with the hose, bucket and jug combo that's there in it's place... (Sorry dad more talk about toilets).

Phlegm
I'm not going to elaborate.

Water supply
I've hinted at this already but there is a weird system whereby you can only fill your water tank between 4 and 7, day or night.  Which is fine if someone tells you about the system, for several weeks when we first moved in trial and error proved unsuccessful.  After 3 days without water the challenge was to wash my hair and shower with half a bottle of mineral water.

Mice
We had mice in the flat.  Contrary to popular myth and Tom & Jerry cartoons not all girls are scared of mice - we didn't gather up our skirts, jump on chairs and shriek.  Actually we didn't mind the mice too much at all.  I like to think that maybe they ate the cockroaches and we simply upgraded our pest problem.  However when Freya gave them names I did think that it may be the thin end of the wedge.  Morris and Borris were thriving when I left.

And do you know the weird thing is?  I'm really missing it all...

Comments

[Smriti minocha]

Hi Ruth,
This is Smriti, i was at HRLN with you. I was just looking for information about VSO and came across yur blog, its really nice to read it and know your true experience.
Well how have you been?
Where are you theese days.

Take Care
Smriti