A week in the life of...Thursday

Well, this isn't going so well; only two days in and I am already behind! So today started with a trip to the gym...the usual issues of being too hot and sweaty, but I am back to being able to run comfortably for 40 minutes (admittedly pretty slowly), hurray!

Popped into the local shop on the way back, where I noticed that they are now selling Marmite...but at 270 IRS (almost £4) a jar, I think I'll make the stuff my family bought me out last a while longer).

Spent the rest of the morning doing lesson prep, emails and trying to help our maid, Pavitra, who wanted to find some additional work to the two hours she does with us. We put an ad on the internet for her, so were just chasing up some of the people who were interested. My Mexican flat-mate Gabriela was having some issues with her visa, so we were all very pleased when she rang to say it looked like it was sorted and she wasnt going to get booted out of the country.

I then headed to Defence Colony market, which is basically my nearest shopping area. It's a small world in ex-pat/foreigner Delhi and invariably I run into people I know there...and this time was no exception. I bumped into Anjali an Indian American woman, who has become a good friend out here. We briefly exchanged news and then parted to our respective lunches. I was meeting Maria, an Austrian woman who I met whilst studying Hindi in Mussoorie and was passing through Delhi. We were staying in the same guest-house and along with another Italian girl, spent a lot of time together. She's been learning Hindi for years and is pretty fluent - whilst in Mussoorie she was learning Urdu as well. Her boyfriend had come out and joined her and so we sat and discussed their travel plans to Ladakh and Maria and I reminisced about the time we spent in Mussoorie and the dodgy Indian soap operas we used to watch in the evening with the lady who ran our guest-house.

After this I went and had my eyebrows threaded (something I have only started doing out here!) It's an Indian technique and I still don't really know how they do it, but all they use a piece of cotton thread - it's amazing! Also had a pedicure as my feet are in a permanent state of grottiness from wearing sandals on Delhi's dirty streets.

After that it was off to Chaya for a Harry Potter reading session and lessons on the Simple Past and Continuous tenses. In the evening I went to the cinema with friends - no photographic evidence of that I am afraid as they take your camera battery off you at the security check! Saw Terminator (I know!)...they should have stopped at number three while the going was good, but it was entertaining enough.

Reading this back, I am almost embarrassed at what a life of leisure I lead! Returning to the real world is going to be such a shock.