spring summer hits delhi

So. Apparently March 1st last year was the coldest March 1st on record for Delhi. And last spring Delhi was lovely. Phet and I were pretty warm but everyone kept telling us how cool it was for that time of year. I read in the newspaper today that, uh, sadly, THIS March 1st is the hottest on record for Delhi. Using my mathematical (is that spelled right? I so can't be bothered to check...haven't had a chance to use the computer at home since Phet left for Singapore last week...Seung Yi has decided that 11:30 pm is her favoured bedtime and that naps are for suckers...but I digress) ok, using my mathematical geniousity I therefore deduce that maybe the 44' celsius highs that we hit here last May are going to be...higher?

Daaaaang.

It was a very rapid transition. Two weeks ago I was still wearing a scarf and there were a few days when it was really quite cold. Then, suddenly, 34' at lunchtime! Zoiks. On the good side, we're enjoying the gorgeous springy flowers. There are trees and flowers in bloom all over, including the zinnias and the roses. There are several major rose gardens in town (mm hm, I hear those Brits like 'em too, can't imagine what the connection is there) and they are all looking stunning. This is also a great season to be in our particular house as opposed to any other one in Delhi. We get almost zero direct sunlight and so while our place is a little brisk in the wintertime, it's great when it's hot out. I'd say it's usually 10' cooler inside our house than outside. We're on the first floor, we're shaded by trees at the front and by another house on the other side, and the main rooms face onto a sort of courtyardy area. Only the one guest bedroom at the back really gets any sun, and the only person who ever sleeps there is my Mom, and she certainly isn't going to be staying with us during the hot season. It may sound a bit grim, this no-sun thing, but I assure you it isn't. We get so few cloudy or rainy days here that there's a bright and sunny (ok, and often smoggy and frying) atmosphere most of the time.

Here's the sun, behind the two floors of our house that shade us so nicely:

And lower below, the blossoms on the lovely orange tree that Mum bought me while she was here:

Mind you, it's still marvellously cool at night. It reminds me, right now, very much of May and June in Kingston during the one summer I stayed there and lived with Anne. Waking up fairly cool but then with the temperature getting nice and warm during the day. Very, very pleasant. And in one very important way better than Kingston: I've got more than 20 bucks in the bank! Still recall getting a card from Gramma Rita that summer with a 20 dollar bill in it and thinking - alright! I'm going to get me some GOOD groceries this week!

Oooh, but back to Delhi...exciting news: we've got a new car! We rent a car from Phet's office, and we've always had this perfectly fine little white compact car that got us from here to there, but the office wanted to upgrade (and really, who are we to argue?), so they've traded in little whitey for a shiny new Toyota Innova. But let me let the pictures do the talking:

Here's the car, hiding behind the shrubbery like a tiger. A really shiny tiger.

It's very nice because it's got three rows of seats, so now we can actually have a guest in the car without having them sit on my lap. Or having to put Seung Yi in their lap. See, Em, you'll have your own spot now! Also sweet is the fact that there are three banks of air con vents which will become every so welcome as the temperatures rise.

I've quickly trained Seung Yi to help John with his work keeping the car spinky spanky:

In addition to getting the car, there was plenty of other excitement around here this weekend, despite the fact that Phet's out of town. On Friday we had drinx at a colleague's place, which has very happily become a semi-tradition ever since a few weeks ago three of us had husbands out of town and well, one person offered to host, and I said I'd come so long as booze was involved, and there you have it. It's a superior event as far as I'm concerned. I so rarely imbibe when I'm not in Canada around my massive G & T glasses and surrounded by my lushious friends and family, but on a Friday afternoon right after school, you know what? I could kill a 2-4 on my own. Only, then I'd have a really bad hangover and I'd never be able to get up with the kids at 7 am the next morning. So, a couple of cocktails with some friends accompanied by a few bags of pigs in the blanket? Oh, yes, sign me up.

The fun didn't stop there, however. That evening Ji and I went to see the high school's great production of Blithe Spirit (Noel Coward - plenty of dry martinis and wit to match). As I mentioned, I'm taking on the drama classes next year and will be coordinating the middle school play, so I figure I better brush up on things and be able to make thoughtful conversation with the high school theatre manager and all. Then, funner and funner, another colleague hosted a (yes, belated, but ever-so-still-appreciated) Oscars night for us at the Canadian high commission compound on Saturday. I probably showed off my Perezhiltonian intellect way too much, but it was a good time.

And then, today, just me and the kids hanging out and talking on the phone and on skype with the fam. Mum is doing much better, and is looking really well. Phet's aunts, however, are not doing well at all. Gramma Sayo has been feeling very badly and the doctors think she may have liver cancer. Please do send your thoughts and good vibes their way; they're doing everything they can to keep her comfortable and happy, but you can imagine how hard it is on everyone.

I must run.

I'm done in.

[Delhi-2-March-2008]