I'm hot.

This temperature sign was my welcome to Delhi airport at 10pm. At least things had cooled down a bit or else it might have been a bit  uncomfortable.

For various reasons, I'm not don't starting work till Monday, though I've already been in to introduce myself. So for the time being I'm being a tourist and my day has been shaping like so: up at the crack of dawn when the chatty-Cathies in the dorm wake up and start chattering. Quick shower, which here at the ashram, refers to the process of bailing water out of a bucket to rinse yourself off, to save water. One hour of ashram work, such as chopping veg in the kitchen. Head out like a mad english dog into the mid-day sun and explore the city (today Cathy and I explored the moghul temple ruins between here and the office. I mean they are everywhere here.) As usual I walked around too long and overheated a bit (but feel good today about having mastered the art of haggling with the autorickshaw drivers so that cuts down on some of the walking). Then flake out on my cot by about two or so for an afternoon of siesta to recover. But not before "shower" number two, because by now I am absolutely filthy from all the dust and dirt around. Haul myself up at 4:30 for the ashram's tea and snack and then back to the cot for more siesta (or maybe to write a blog entry or upload a couple of photos to Instagram) and wait for Cathy to get home from work. Then it might be dinner at the ashram or out with Anil (last night he took us too the Sufi performance at the Nizamuddin mosque at the centre of the muslim quarter. Wow, that was pretty intense. Too much to say for this post. Needless to say, there's no way we could have found our way thru the maze without Anil).  "Shower" number 3 at some point and then in bed and lights out sometime between 9:30 and 10:30, after which I typically get a couple of hours of sleep and then toss and turn in the heat until the chatty-Cathies wake up again. At this point, I can't blame it on the jet lag.

Tomorrow, Cathy and I are off to the Taj Mahal in Agra, a day trip.