Hello from New Dehli

My second week in Goa was even better than the first. I got to celebrate Diwali which was amazing. They make these huge paper mache demons and then blow them up with fireworks.

The day before I left we went to the anjuna flea market and somehow stumbled across this amazing acoustic duo and ended up staying and listening for 5 hours, and so did this giant bull that was standing in the doorway.

Leaving Goa was HARD. I could easily have spent a year there with no regrets. Stayed in a few different hostels and every time just met the most amazing people who had incredible stories and were always up for an adventure.

I flew in from Goa to New Dehli last Thursday, and was only going to spend a couple days here but my cousin Peter invited me to the Marine Corps Ball on Thursday which sounds like a fun way to spend my birthday!!

I’m currently sitting on a rooftop in Delhi and for the first time since I arrived in this city five days ago I can actually see the buildings that are more than a block away… The smog in New Delhi is the worst in the world hand over fist, and on days where there is no wind you can really tell the difference. I was at the Presidents house the other day which was disappointing because from the gate you could barely even make out what shape it was.

Delhi is a lot. Of everything. Thankfully it’s a lot of fun though as well as everything else, and again I’ve met some really awesome people at the hostel I’ve been staying at.

I found a guitar the first day in the common area that was so sad looking, no G or D strings and the rest were rusted, with dust plastered on every conceivable crevice.. So I went on a little adventure the next day to find some strings and polish. In the States you can just Google music shop and click the link for the closest one and your GPS takes you right there. That’s not how it works in India. I Googled music shops in Delhi but came up empty handed, two had closed and the third was a store that only sold ridiculously expensive baby grand pianos. So I just started walking around, and after about three and a half hours of asking people and wandering aimlessly I finally found a little music shop down the street from India Gate that actually had what I was looking for. Turns out the guitar just needed TLC because it plays beautifully now!

The hostel employees were so happy they gave me 3 free nights stay and arranged an acoustic open mic night last night which was a blast. Seven or eight people got up and played, mostly huge hits that everyone knows the words to. I hadn’t played guitar regularly for a while but I could still remember how to play a few singalongs so got up and played House of the Rising Sun, Wonderwall, and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.

I went and saw the Red Fort today which was incredible. The smog actually helped give it a bit of mystery and allure which was a nice change cause its usually just a suffocating suckfest. I’m very quickly realizing that I really don’t enjoy big cities (Chicago being the exception) so the rest of the trip after Delhi will be spent in places with fewer people and more natural wonders.

I’ll post again next  week in Kathmandu!!