Homeward Bound

In some ways it's hard to believe that a month is pretty much gone past. In a lot of other ways, though, I'm very ready to head home. Two weeks might not have been enough; three weeks would have been a good amount of time. By the time my last weekend kicked in, I was well and truly ready to get myself back home.

On Saturday I caught up on work and went to the mall for breakfast with a veteran fellow traveler. He was full of good advice and information, stuff that I kinda wish I'd had during my first weekend here and not my last. He also introduced me to Dosa, a south Indian breakfast, which was clearly invented by people who agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Sunday was more vacationing; Humayun's Tomb, and the Old Fort. The Tomb was pretty impressive. The main tomb complex itself was a predecessor of the Taj Mahal and it looks the part; in a way, even more impressive, for being clearly a little older, a little more primitive, but still very sure of itself and its place in the world.

It was a little odd to see it proudly bearing Stars of David, which apparently were also used by the Mughals as a symbol of the cosmos and infinity.

One of the other really remarkable things about Sunday is that the local co-worker who was taking me around took me for lunch at this little restaurant in a very Indian part of Old Delhi.

When I asked if he'd taken any of my co-workers who have come here to this place, and he just laughed. We ordered a starter of tandoori fried chicken and then the main course of lamb curry and chicken kalimirch, and it was amazing. I was most of the way through my first piece of chicken when he told me that this wasn't a place tourists go; it was a place for the locals and they don't prepare the food the way the restaurants do. (At this point I thought, Um, can you clarify that maybe?)

But my fears of gastrointestinal fallout were unfounded; the food was outstanding; and I can proudly say that I've eaten in Delhi where the locals eat, and lived to tell the tale. (You have to be careful here. Eat from a street vendor and I will guarantee in writing that you will be in a state of profound regret within the hour.)

We were originally going to go to this huge temple complex but the lines were insane. Worse than the Taj insane. I've never seen lines like this. I looked at them with apprehension and then one of my Indian colleagues said, I don't want to go in there, and I knew that this was my cue to change our plans.

So now it's Wednesday. Tomorrow I go to work for the last time, with a box of Indian sweets in hand for the guys (and girls). Then I go home, finish my packing, go to the airport, and at 3am on Friday (IST), I depart.

On to Frankfurt, and a steak and some beer, and then onward to home.