I came to Delhi a day early so I could meet with my little sister’s eldest son’s wife’s sister and her family. They are working with an NGO relief organization in Delhi where they operate a school for slum kids who do not attend school regularly.
Both their children were born in India and it looks like they’ll be here for a while.
Their apartment is in East Delhi, ‘across the river’, where there are apparently some dicy neighborhoods. When I spoke to the hotel concierge about a taxi he wanted to make sure I had an exact address. Their street and for many streets around (the cab driver took us on a bit of a tour…) was clearly an improving area – safe, clean, families and cars and fresh paint.
In their living room we find high ceilings, ceiling fan and tile floor. I saw several homes of various styles, from newly built to more than 60 years old and these were features common to all of them.
They have a window air conditioner in one of the bedrooms, again, a common way to provide some cooling without breaking the bank because it is, basically, Always unimaginably hot and since electricity is so expensive you simply cannot expect to be cool, and everyone seems to appreciate being cool for the luxury it is.
I brought Elaine and her family a big bag of home-town treats from Betsy and her family including packages of taco mix and crispy Cheetos. Sean was especially delighted with his Japanese crackers.