New guests have arrived: T's brother and his wife, Bert and Anita.

It is wonderful to have them over; we have had long evenings at the poolside (drinking a LOT of wine!) and wonderful breakfasts, finally enjoying our garden which looks beautiful now. The temperature is great at the moment: cool during the night and app 20-24 degrees Celcius during the day...but soon we will have Holi which apparantly is the start of summer (so we might as well enjoy as long as it lasts).
We went to Old Delhi with Bert and Nita, strolling the little streets where no car can go...which does not stop the honking, by the way, as scooters, motorcycles and riksha's can go into these little streets and they'll squeeze by you (or brush against you if you are unlucky). B & N just bought a new camera and spent most their time taking pictures and then reviewing them, and subsequently T and I spent most our time waiting and making fun of them...but we had a great time nonetheless! Lunch then at Karim's, a very famous and longtime establishment where they serve Mughal food (=Moslim food) and then we walked back to mr. Gill who was waiting at the Red Fort, wondering why the hell we didn't take a riksha as normal tourists do.

B & N are now touring somewhere in Rajastan (with a car and driver arranged by mr. Gill) and will be back in two weeks with more pictures and lots of stories - we couldn't go with them, unfortunately, but they promised to take notes so if we DO have time to take a trip, we'll have their experiences to guide us.

Did my first bit of driving today and I think I scared the wits out of mr. Gill....obviously they drive on the left side of the road here and that means that the shiftstick and indicator are on the wrong side of the car, and so is the bit sticking out...according to mr. Gill (who was constantly screaming "slower") I went very close past other cars. He does the same thing all the time but apparantly he feels that he does know the width of the car, and I don't (which is probably correct).
The fact that no-one stays in the lane they are supposed to does not help, but still I had fun (and I didn't hit anyone).

I found that the two things that make India difficult are the loss of independence and control - I cannot drive when I want where I want, there is someone in my kitchen putting things back where I can't find them, there is someone cleaning my bedroom at the time I feel like having a nap, there is always someone somewhere in the garden, watching closely what I do...and even if I just sit and read, I feel watched and not very much at ease.
They pick flowers in combinations I don't like and then stuff them in vases that don't match, they pick vegetables I didn't ask for that then rot away in my fridge and they move dust from one place to another with their broom, despite the fact that I must have told them a hundred times to use the vacuumcleaner... this is how old people in a retirement home must feel, when they are wheeled away, wearing what they don't want to wear, meeting whom they don't want to meet, just because the person pushing them thinks it is a good idea to park them at a table. I think I will not want to get old.

So...I go shopping. If there is one thing you can do really well in India, it's shopping - if you like home decorations, clothes and pashminas, that is. So we "ladies" decorate our homes and when we are done we start all over again, just to keep busy...and when we are done shopping we go for lunch, tennis or tea. What a life! (I DO do other things though, but I hope to be able to upload pictures again when I start blogging about those things...more to come!).

What happened to our internet connections?
Suddenly it is impossible to upload images to the blog, which is a pity as I shot some really beautiful pictures recently. Welcome to IT country India!

Having lived here for half a year now, with a house that is STILL breaking down (now a huge wet spot has developed on the kitchen wall and I don't even want to begin thinking about the consequences....), roads that were supposed to be finished two years ago but will take another two years at least (which is a pain because it would cut our travelling time to the city in half), telephone connections that spontaniously disconnect you at the most inconvenient times and wedding parties being held every evening now (complete with loud music and fireworks...lucky us!) I would have to conclude that despite general belief India is still a developing country with all the problems that go with it.

T and I have given ourselves until summer - if the house is still breaking down then, making it impossible for us to enjoy the garden (the one thing that made us choose a farmhouse over the city) we will move.

On top of it all we have had our first case of theft...money was stolen by one of our personnel. We were warned that it would happen but once it does, it IS a disappointment as I thought we did everything to make people happy and take good care of them. Well, apparantly in India that doesn't work. Probably there is a reason everyone fires personnel for the tiniest mistake and generally treats them like shit...welcome to Incredible India!