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!).