We have now been in India for six months… it doesn't seem quite possible to us. October was a full month with getting to know some of Kaysi’s new coworkers, seeing some sites around Delhi now that the weather is cooling down, as well as celebrating one of the biggest Indian festivals of the year Diwali.
The month of October is full of holidays here in India! To start the month off Kaysi had a three day work week with two holidays in one week. October 2nd they celebrate the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. This year another holiday Dussehra (which is a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil) fell on October 3rd. During this festival they have celebrations where they gather for special prayer, food offerings to gods at homes and in temples. One of the big events is when they burn the effigies of Ravana (a mythical demon king). We actually didn't get to witness one of these but our friends Mike and Katherine did and were able to get a video.. it was quite crazy!! They also celebrate Diwali this year it fell on October 23rd (a festival of lights that is celebrated in multiple religions -Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism). This is probably the biggest festival of the year! With it being a festival of lights there are many lights on buildings and homes! They also set off crackers (fire crackers) during this time! Imagine a city of 21 million people with a good portion of them setting off fireworks… yeah it pretty much sounded like a war zone from sundown till about 3:00am. The great number of fire crackers also caused the air quality to not be so great the days following but it is getting better. It was very nice that Kaysi had those extra days off for the celebrations!
The weather has started cooling down some now so we have been able to go and see a few places that we haven’t been able to see with the weather over the summer. There is an old part of the city called Hauz Khas Village that is fairly close to where we live. We have been able to go there several times over the last month to see some of the ruins of the old city as well as enjoy a few of the restaurants there.
 |
| Some of the ruins at Hauz Khas |
We ventured to see Humayun’s Tomb this past month as well. Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor. Humayun’s tomb reflects many of the characteristics of other Mughal architecture. It was the first garden style tomb in India which later tombs (like the Taj Mahal) would be modeled after. It was also the first building that used red sand stone on such a large scale! It is quite impressive!
 |
Humayan's Tomb
 |
| Kaysi and I in front of Isa Khan's Tomb (this tomb pre-dates Humayun's) |
We also went to the Delhi Zoo this past month. When we arrived at the zoo and were getting in line to buy tickets for entry I had one of those, we are definitely in India moments. Most of the time in the places we go aren't crazy crowded but the zoo this day was super crowded. I am not sure if it was so crowded because it was a holiday weekend or because of the recent press they have received from an unfortunate event where a young man lost his life. Either way, it was crazy crowded and at first I wasn’t super excited about entering, but once we got inside the crowds didn't seem so bad. We were able to see most of the animals at the zoo, although a few were a little shy. Here are a few of our favorites from the zoo! Check out all of the photos in this album Delhi Zoo! |
 |
| Majestic Lion |
 |
| I probably could have petted this guy if I had the desire to... you were able to get pretty close to the hippos! |
 |
| The Sloth Bear was funny.. he was in the middle of a swaying dance in this photo. |
 |
| The Hornbill is a stinking big bird.. probably stood about 3 foot tall.. |
October has also allowed us to get to know Kaysi’s new co-workers from the states which has been great! We have had a couple trips to Benihana, which is one of our favorite places to go here! We have also started up movie nights again which we love! It is always great to get to host people here in our home! We also were able to go out to dinner this past weekend with our friends Chad and Brenda we met back earlier in the summer and their friend Rena. We went to Hauz Khas to a restaurant names Fork You. Yeah it probably isn't the greatest name for a restaurant but they had great burgers! Probably the best burger we have had since we have been here in Delhi!
 |
| There was a fried egg and bacon on this burger! Mmm. Delicious! |
It is hard to believe that we have been here for six months! We can’t believe how fast time is going! Thanks for sticking through this long blog! We love and miss all of you back in states and look forward to living vicariously through the many Thanksgiving pictures we will see!!
