Today was spent exploring good old smelly Delhi with Benson. I'm sure I sounded like a little kid asking "what's that?" every 10 seconds but after a bit Benson satisfied my curiosity by saying "I honestly don't know every single landmark in Delhi simply because the city is so old and has been ruled by 7 (or 8 did he say) different regimes/dynasties". I don't remember the exact word he used but yep--that pretty much sums it up.
The first place we stopped was old Delhi via foot and good old peddle bike rickshaw. The energy and tone of old Delhi is hard to explain. It is so unique and so full. Full of everything. You name it, its there.
The Holi festival is in a couple of weeks so there were all kinds of preparation paraphernalia. Im sad we were not able to be here for that but what do you do.
After old Delhi we stopped by Gandhi's cremation memorial
followed by some craziness in the local market. Just before we left we encountered this little guy being paraded around the marketplace. The other night in the hotel Jake and I were watching a show about rare medical conditions. In that episode they showed a child that was born with multiple arms. The child happened to be born in India and the reaction of the locals was extremely positive based on the belief that the child was a reincarnation of a Hindu god. I was thinking along those lines when I saw this cow so I said something to the effect of "Oh the cow is deformed so everyone thinks it is holy". It was a totally innocent comment but Benson and Jake had formed this bro-hood alliance and just took it and ran with it. So the rest of the afternoon I was attacked with comments from both of them along the lines of "I am so glad none of these people speak English and understood you" or "Your true self is coming out eh?" and on and on and on. It made for an even more memorable trip to the market and although I could of done with a little less teasing from both of them it was fun seeing how well they got along. Ill don't think I'll ever forget the afternoon spent in a local market in Delhi with Jake, Benson and the deformed/holy cow.
The ending of this trip means Jake is flying back to America and it makes me feel a little sad. :( I know I'll be home in a few months but which will probably mean seeing him soon anyway, but it was so fun to have him here. The whole idea of traveling with your cousin was really foreign to most people here so because of that he was usually always Jack my brother or Jack my husband. In that sense, I guess it's to be expected that saying goodbye to your cousin, brother and husband all at once would be a little bit of a bummer right?
I love this kid. We will have to go traveling again together someday.
