Chillin in Delhi (Cait)

Shalini and Jonathon eating questionable fried train food en route to Varanasi

Our buddy Felix...no, a different Felix

The man, the legend: Paul Frey.

Tuesday afternoon we arrived back in good old Vasant Kunj. During our absence, a new roommate had turned up! Lisa is a 22-yr old med student at Newcastle Univ., though she's from Northern Ireland. The shadowing she'll be doing over the summer is part of her medical training; she'll be doing one month here and then another month back in Ireland. She seems very sweet, and we LOVE her accent. She even offers to get us something from the store while she's out. The beginning of a beautifuuul friendship.

When we get to the office Wednesday morning, we are surprised to hear that we won't be going to the slum this week. Instead, we'll be working in the office writing a grant proposal for Asha. Asha is applying for money from the Japanese embassy to buy two mobile health clinic vans, which will allow them to provide health services to 4-5 new slum areas throughout the city. So for the next few days, Shalini and I look through old proposals and annual reports and talk to different staff members to collect the information needed to explain the practical dimensions of the project, Asha as an organization, and the expected benefits to the slum communities. It's really interesting and a nice break from the usual routine, and we love hanging out with Felix and Paul, two of Asha's staff who work in the office with us; we're pretty sure we keep them from actually getting work done though, because will interrupt them all the time with "If you could go anywhere in India for a weekend trip, where would you go?" and "Paul, can you call the bus station for us to see if they have tickets left on the bus to Jaipur, pretty pleaseeee?" all the time. They put up with us remarkably well.

We also make plans to go to Varanasi with a big group, but Sam, Sean, and Michelle's train ticket's are inexplicably cancelled at the last minute and everything else is sold out, so in the end only Shalini, Jonathon, and I are going. We're disappointed about the others but excited to see the oldest and holiest city in India!! If only the train wasn't 13 hours long...