Emily's India Adventure: Diwali in Delhi!

Possibly the best holiday I've ever had. Shopping, partying, good food and good company made for a most fantastic few days.

Day 1 of diwali break: To make up for the oncoming break, the school decided to have a day of class on saturday. You can imagine the students were less than enthused about that, but the displeasure was mitigated by the fact that it was pyjama day.

Of course, some students (myself included) were still exhausted from drama, having stayed up at school until 10 pm every night. Friday night was even later, because we had the cast pizza/dance party after the play was over.

Milo finds sleeping areas in the most unlikely places...

After enduring a very long day of school, Tanya, Tanuvee and I rushed outside as soon as the bell rang. We found all of our travellig companions, and boarded the bus for Dehradun. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space in the bus for our bags and all of the people, so Tara and I ended up lying on the floor. Surprisingly, it was quite comfortable. I enjoyed an unlikely nap myself.

After getting to Dehradun, we had a 6-hour train ride to Delhi, where we got to Tanu's house at about midnight, stayed up for a little bit longer to see off Devika, Asma and Sarah to Mumbai.

The house we stayed in was amazing. Here's a shot of our room area:

Nice, eh?

After appreciating the room for a grand total of two imnutes (and being given some awesome pj's by Tanu) we fell fast asleep.

Day two (sunday the 11th): A day of waking up at noon, shopping in Dilli haat, good south indian food, free clothing and swanky dinners.

We slept like babies until noon o'clock, then enjoyed a brunch of idlys, olive bread, fresh fruits and dosa. Tanu was making sure we were well fed on traditional indian cuisine!

Mmmm, breakfast for lunch!

Getting a tour of the house: here on the patio

A view from the upstaris terrace

Getting ready to head out!

After brunch we went out to the shopping plaza of Dilli Haat. A shoppers paradise, indeed! I finished all of my Christmas shopping and acquired a couple of things for myself as well.

Going in

Enjoying our kulfi (an iced treat)

All the purchases, all of them!

So many choices!

Having a good time!

After our shopping extravaganza, we returned to the house to unburden ourselves of our packages. Little did we realize, even more was coming! Because Tanuvee's dad is an exporter for Victoria's secret, we came home to two big boxes of victoria's secret beachwear!

Lexine and Annabelle doing a bit of modeling

Lots of clothing!!!

We then participated in a brief puja (worship ceremony) as it was the first day of Diwali

Then, on to the super swanky dinner at Smokehouse BBQ, for some very delicious and non-indian dishes!

A rooftop restaurant with futuristic settings? Awesome!

Pulled pork sandwich-deeeelish

For dessert, none of us felt up to consuming a full portin, but the menu held too many temptations to resist. We decided to get 4 desserts and pass them around, taking 1 bite each time, until there was no more to eat.

Dessert 1: Banoffee pie

Dessert 2: Crème brulée

Dessert 3: Poached pear with vanilla ice cream and saffron

Dessert 4: Melting mud pie

Day 3 (nov 12th): This was a day of nose piercings, street shopping, fabric shopping and getting our sarees, as well as Häagen dazs fondues and going out to party!

We began the day by goign out to the fabric stores of Delhi. Megan and Lexine are both seamstresses, and they make some incredible things, up to and including prom dresses! Annabelle, Kalkidan and I were just mesmerized by the pretty colours and patterns...

Making selections

So many choices!!!

Ah, the joys of leopard print fabric!

I aquired some more gifts for people, we paid our bills, and proceeded to the next item of buisness: Annabelle getting her nose pierced! Megan, Lexine and Tanuvee also got their studs from Bazaar replaced with something of a bit higher quality.

Lookin' great!

We then crossed the street and ate lunch at the oldest restaurant in Delhi. It was sumputous and delicious and amazing :)

And then, the much anticipated event: SAREE SHOPPING!!!!!!

We went out to two stores, and found some incredible pieces for under 1000 rs (under 20$) I purchased two lovely ones, entitled "Turquoise" and "Macbeth" (the latter because the Macbeth colour scheme was black, grey and red)

Turquoise

The helpful saree marketer, displaying the Under 1000 range

The balck and red one is Macbeth :D

Happiness is...

AAAGH!!! Megan can't decide!!!!

So she got both. Works!

Once we had finished making our purchases we returned to the house, for mehendi! (henna to you westerners out there) The mehendi-walla made some gorgeous designs on our hands, much better than the Independence designer.

See if you can find the hidden initials in each one:

Cam you find the "M"?

Here it is! Did you find it in the last one?

Other side, no initial

Find the "L"

Annabelle's turn!

Because the mehendi took a while to do, Kalki and I decided we would get ours the following day. Once everyone's mehendi had dried off, it was time to get ready for the party! We all had matching suits courtesy of Tanuvee.

Ah, Kalkidan...

Love the pink!

Swapping churridars

Once we finished getting ready, we participated in another puja for the second night of Diwali, this time with 21 diyas!

We then head out to the mall for some Häagen dazs fondue:

Cappucino ice cream with waffle :)

Chocolate fondue with sponge cake, assorted fruits, cookied, waffle cone, sprinkles and ice cream balls

Are we having a good time????

I think the answer there is a definitive "yes"

On to the party! Where we enjoyed even more delicious food on gold-edged plates, played cards with the other youngsters and thoroughly exhausted ourselves. All in all, a great night!