City Oasis
Delhi, India
Today was another great day of walking around the city with Martina. We walked from Connaught Place to Humayun's Tomb. It looked like a pretty straight-forward walk on the map, but in reality there is a confusing intersection of two huge roads where we became a little lost. A beaten up street dog followed us as we went in circles for a while. We were abandoned after the dog figured out that we didn't know where we were going.
Humayun's Tomb is an ancient building set on beautifully restored grounds. Red earthen paths lead across green lawns to the huge tomb built of red sandstone. Green parrots flew throughout the grounds and we saw so many birds of prey whirling on thermal updrafts that they were impossible to count. Such a peaceful place. A nice escape from the hotel for a day.
Before meeting Martina, my nemesis cornered me at breakfast for a good half hour. She found me again in the afternoon when I was making photocopies in the computer room. She harassed the men in the room into giving her free internet time later in the evening because she was "overcharged" for something. She announced to them (and to me, by default) that I was needed to help her send some photos TONIGHT since I'm checking out in the morning. The men working here know I am trying to avoid her. They are sick of her demands as well. When she wasn't looking, we all made faces at each other to vent our frustrations. We got the giggles and one man rushed me out of the room and pointed out a new place to hide.
The men who work the evening shift locked the computer room so Senora Ruida couldn't get in. They are tired of her hassles and are seeking passive revenge. One man said, "It's hard to do business with her around." They would rather shut the whole computing room down than deal with her histrionics. I was given the keys to the room and am currently typing in the dark. I hoped she couldn't see me in here, but she put her face up against the glass pane of the door and started pounding on it. I told her to come back later. Plan B is for everyone to say that the server has gone down and there is no more internet tonight.
My nemesis has moved up to my floor, in a room across the hall so it's harder to avoid getting suckered into her crises now... Thankfully I'm on the train to Agra at 6am and there will only be aggressive hotel touts, rickshaw-wallahs, and pickpockets to worry about at the other end.
Today was another great day of walking around the city with Martina. We walked from Connaught Place to Humayun's Tomb. It looked like a pretty straight-forward walk on the map, but in reality there is a confusing intersection of two huge roads where we became a little lost. A beaten up street dog followed us as we went in circles for a while. We were abandoned after the dog figured out that we didn't know where we were going.
Humayun's Tomb is an ancient building set on beautifully restored grounds. Red earthen paths lead across green lawns to the huge tomb built of red sandstone. Green parrots flew throughout the grounds and we saw so many birds of prey whirling on thermal updrafts that they were impossible to count. Such a peaceful place. A nice escape from the hotel for a day.
Before meeting Martina, my nemesis cornered me at breakfast for a good half hour. She found me again in the afternoon when I was making photocopies in the computer room. She harassed the men in the room into giving her free internet time later in the evening because she was "overcharged" for something. She announced to them (and to me, by default) that I was needed to help her send some photos TONIGHT since I'm checking out in the morning. The men working here know I am trying to avoid her. They are sick of her demands as well. When she wasn't looking, we all made faces at each other to vent our frustrations. We got the giggles and one man rushed me out of the room and pointed out a new place to hide.
The men who work the evening shift locked the computer room so Senora Ruida couldn't get in. They are tired of her hassles and are seeking passive revenge. One man said, "It's hard to do business with her around." They would rather shut the whole computing room down than deal with her histrionics. I was given the keys to the room and am currently typing in the dark. I hoped she couldn't see me in here, but she put her face up against the glass pane of the door and started pounding on it. I told her to come back later. Plan B is for everyone to say that the server has gone down and there is no more internet tonight.
My nemesis has moved up to my floor, in a room across the hall so it's harder to avoid getting suckered into her crises now... Thankfully I'm on the train to Agra at 6am and there will only be aggressive hotel touts, rickshaw-wallahs, and pickpockets to worry about at the other end.
posted by Jennifer P. at 8:17 AM
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