Almost seen through my second week

It is Wednesday afternoon, and I have just recovered from a bout of classic Delhi Belly! Not very pleasant, but possibly not as bad as some people seem to get it!
I am in a strange place of starting to get into the Delhi rhythm, but also desperately missing home comforts; like welsh rain and winds! I knew I would miss the cooling wind, and consistent rain (didn't actually) but I have surprised myself again by longing for it! I spoke to Marjorie (Paul's wife) who is currently resisding in Wales with her father not far from my house, and she regaled me with stories of Welsh weather and i was left pining for it. There I was sitting in an overly warm house, with no repiste offered by going outdoors! A very strange concept to those of us used to cooler climes. Though I will say the heat is more bearable due it's 'dry' nature; if it was humid it would make me so sluggish.
I can't wait to get out of Delhi, I am getting warped I think. It is not a true refelction of 'India' by al accounts. The prices are similar to home (well London actually) on some fronts, and on other things it can be very cheap. When people say that India is a country of contrasts they don't exaggerate. It is incredible the inequalities that I witness every day, and participate in.
I assumed for one that as a very hot country things would start later, and end earlier. Wrong, they day really starts up around 9:30 to 10:30, though there are street vendors out 24/7. As i drive (I should say get driven) to work the roads are full of bikes (usually with an entire family aboard, with it only compulsory for the driver to wear a helmet), push bikes (with a passanger on the back), pedestrians and the ever present beggers.
There are so called 'professional beggers' here. A crazy concept to us, but it is a way of life, of making a business. There are real Fagans here, only much more brutal. It is common to see adults and children with missing limbs, this they have done by doctors for pitiful amounts of money so that they may be more succesful in begging. The sympathy ploy. How can it fail to work, especially on us westerners that are unaccustomed to seeing this. If a group of begger children spot me in a car they will stop idling by the road and make a bee line for me, a white woman is presumably soft. I count my self among them. It breaks my heart everytime, but there is no point giving money. Instead there is a ready store of very nutritous biscuits that we hand out instead, hoping that then at least they will get the benefit of our giving, as apposed to Fagan's pocket. The hardest thing to digest its when we escape the heat in modern American style malls (just like home) where there is AC. As you sit and have luch you look down on Delhi below and you will see that at the boundaries of the concrete complex, grand gates stand with security guard that carry out a very minimal check on your vehicle, and just beyond the dirt paements with tarpaulin homes erected everywhere, people (men, women and children) asleep on the floor with no bedding, no belongings in most cases, just surviving. Some stare blankly off into the distance, what they think about I don't know. Just basic things probably, like will I eat today? And there I am struggling to eat my tiger prawns because the heat suppresses my appetite. Never really belive that that is possible until you are there, you live it.
Not that it is all dismal. There is no point letting it drag you down, it doesn't help anyone in the slightest.
So on the weekend I spent Saturday at a pool side, cooling off whikst splasshing arounhd throwing a ball for a friends dog, Jenny. The dog owners are Elizabeth and Jergen. The sat night we all glammed up and attended a European celebration day. All the embassy people were there, charities, and many more. It ended in true style with a bit of a fight with the my host and others. Won't go into detail, but a party isn't a party without a fight, right?
So then sunday I spent wandering around aforementioned Mall, buying some food stuffs and generally looking around. And then back to the pool once again. By this point I started to feel stomache cramps, and be unconfortable. My detail into Delhi Belly will end there. Your imagination can unfortunatly fill in the gaps.So Monday and Tuesday were spent in bed, on the loo, infront of the TV and reading. Generally moping about and feeling very sorry for myself. And missing Sion. Had a little cry, and thought of home.
I am reassessing my stay here, 6 months seems like too long in this heat. And the internship is not what I had hoped for. Will probably spend my time doing as I please and accompanying Paul on his Missions.
Namiste for now.x