I think I jinxed my health by writing that last blog as the following morning I got ill again. I couldn’t believe it. So another visit to the hospital, another two days off school in bed and another four lots of antibiotics. I am better now (well, better in Indian terms which is feeling sick but I can do things) and I got to school for my last day on Friday. I can’t believe it has come to the end of our time here in Delhi and the project. Six weeks has flown by and I have experienced so much. Friday was an amazing day at school. We carried on our music lessons and played basketball with the children but because it was our last day everything seemed very poignant. We have really got to know the children and it was so sad to be playing with them for the last time. My highlights have been helping raise money at the school fair, getting to know the teachers and their way of life and teaching the young children “Old Macdonald Had A Farm” with all the animal noises included! We became very close to three teenage boys who were in their final year at the school; Rahul, Arun and Ashique. Their English is amazing and I really think we have made an impact on their lives, especially the way they have learnt the songs we taught them. They almost cried when we left and we have promised to pop into school in six weeks time when we pass Delhi on our way down to Mumbai. I really will miss them. We gave them each a collage of our photos from the school and left a message for each of them and they did the same for us. Rahul has come to terms with the fact that he can’t marry me and he left me a very sweet message and has given Amy and I bracelets. Usha, the principal and Dalmia, the director of the school gave us all gifts as a thank you. My present was a photo album and beautiful sari. I also got henna on my hand by one of the pupils, so it was an emotional day. I had to spend the rest of the day and night in bed as that is the state of my health at the moment but I’m just dealing with it now and want to get as much as I can from my last six weeks here. Our next project is in Dehra Dun which is situated in the mountains so the air will be cleaner (we all have colds/sore throats from the pollution in Delhi) and we will be able to go on walks and possibly even skiing!

To rewind slightly, I’ll just recap on last week when I was getting better. On Tuesday evening last week we all attended a documentary about the impact of 9/11 on Muslims in America. The film was made by a girl from Delhi called Sanjna Singh and it was really interesting. On Thursday we visited Lajpat Nagar Central Market which sold hundreds of bangles, saris, shoes and bags. I bought quite a few bangles but later found that half of them didn’t fit my wrist! At least they were cheap! On Friday, when I was feeling quite a bit better we met up with Neha, the physiotherapy student we got to know in our first weeks here. I had kept in contact with her and we managed to coordinate a time to meet. She showed us around a place called Dilli Haat which was lovely. There were many small stalls scatted around a central eating place. Neha went around with me and so I got some great bargains from her haggling help! She also bought me a gift, as it is a tradition to give a foreign friend something from India so they will always remember you. It was very sweet of her and I hope to keep in touch if she ever visits England.

On Saturday, it was the big weekend trip to Jaipur! We woke up at 4.30am to catch the 6am train. By 12pm we reached our destination after a pleasant train journey. We even got breakfast which we didn’t expect. Jaipur is wonderful but it is in danger of becoming like Delhi, with increasing traffic and commercial shops. Our hostel was the cheapest of the cheap with thin sheets, limited toilet access (always a problem for me these days!) and basically dirt everywhere but it was still an experience! None of us got much sleep as the beds were basically made of straw and we were all freezing. On the plus side, it made us get up and about early! The day we arrived we saw the City Palace , which has mini museums within one space. The weapons section was fascinating but rather scary as some daggers had scissors on the end to do damage once inside your body. There were weapons even worse than this but I won’t got into detail. Another museum had costumes and clothes of Madhu Singh I, who was 2 metres tall, 1.2 metres wide and weighed 250kg! The dress was almost 2 metres long, 3.5 metres around the chest and had a 7 metre hem. For his excessive figure, he has an excessive 108 wives. Mind boggling! We then found a lovely Italian restaurant (very touristy I know but it was a nice change from rice). I had my appetite back and ate the most delicious pizza! On the Sunday we went to Amber Fort which is a main attraction of Jaipur and had fantastic views from the top. We then went to Nahargarh (Tiger Fort). We had a mix up with the rickshaw driver who took us 30 minutes in the wrong direction and left us there. We later found out that our destination was in fact right next to Amber Fort so we had to travel all the way back, six of us squashed in one rickshaw! We had an interesting tour of the fort. It was built in 1734 by Jai Singh to increase the Amber defences and was adapted in 1868 by Maharaja Ram Singh to house his nine wives. He used this as a retreat, as his real home was somewhere else, with his real wife. He also had over 100 mistresses! The views were amazing and you could see all the flats and sights of Jaipur below.

In both forts, we were stared at a lot, as they are main tourist attractions but I noticed it far more here than in Dehli. I was frequently asked to have a picture taken and some people just stopped and blatantly stared in my face, I think because I am so white, blonde and my eyes are blue. You can’t really get less Indian than that! It makes me appreciate the fact that normally we are residents and not tourists and we are completely accepted and included in the Indian way of life. It is only when you behave like a tourist you get treated like one, and that is with little respect.

Our rickshaw driver waited for us as we looked around Tiger Fort and afterwards we asked to be taken to Chokhi Dhani, a night market recommended by the Lonely Planet. We stopped off at a textile factory on the way where cloths for Monsoon and Habitat were made. They were beautiful and I could have bought them all, especially as they were a third of the price in England, but I resisted, being on my travelers budget. Our rickshaw driver called his friend to take three of us so we weren’t squashed into one rickshaw. He was interesting. He produced bottles of beer for us all which we thought was great and we were all in high spirits about going to the market. Half way through the journey (it took 50 mins to get there) the crazy friend driver swapped into the rickshaw I was in, with Sally and Steve, claiming the others were too boring. I found him funny at first but then he started drinking himself and to be honest, seemed drunk from the start. His English was funny and he kept us entertained but I was a bit wary. I wasn’t drinking due to antibiotics and I needed the loo. I told him I was waiting until we got to our destination but he told me it was ages away and so told me to go on the side of the street, just as the Indians do. I did, and two minutes later we arrived at the market. He had done it just so I wouldn’t be “touristy.” It was quite funny.

Inside Chokhi Dhani were tribal dancers, elephants, camels, boat rides, puppet shows and a restaurant. It was buzzing with music, children playing and the locals unwinding. There were hardly any tourists which was great. We had a traditional Indian meal and then went on a camel ride! We haven’t ridden an elephant yet because they are treated so badly here and are not at all in their natural environment, unlike the camels. It was a lovely evening. The journey home was nerve wracking as we had the same drivers who had taken a bottle of whisky into the market. I sat in the front of the rickshaw, ready to take over control at any time! We were fine.

On Monday we visited Jantar Mantar which is the largest and best preserved observatory, built by Sawai Jai Singh II. Some of the instruments are still used to forecast how hot summer months will be, whether a monsoon is due and the possibility of floods and famine. It was interesting but we were all pretty exhausted and headed for a café to recoup as soon as possible. We spent the rest of the afternoon on a rooftop restaurant relaxing before getting the train back to Delhi.

And then Tuesday – the day before I got ill again, I had a lovely time at school teaching music and art. Amar, who bought the artwork from us at the fair came in to see how the school worked and took some lovely photos of us and the children. He told us all to visit him in Toronto which is very tempting! In the evening we managed to explain to the hostel cook about Pancake Day. He bought the ingredients and we took over the kitchen and made pancakes! I was ill immediately after this so I regret eating one although no one else was ill, so it frustrates me that I can’t have treats.

So that’s it! Sorry it is so long. I thought I should get it all down before the next phase in Dehra Dun, which I am sure will be completely different. I am all packed (just about managed to squeeze everything in with no help from Dad!) and we are going for our farewell meal tonight with our project partner.

It will be sad to leave here but I am looking forward to the next adventure.