Commonwealth Games

Well, we finally broke down and decided to attend some of the Commonwealth Games here in Delhi since Dan's schedule kept cancelling and there were international athletes competing in town, might as well go and see what is going on.

We had been watching it on TV and it seemed like there weren't too many people in the stands so maybe we could help with that also, but what to go see?? We both like swimming competitions and it was the finals, so it would be more exciting and it included the awards ceremonies, so that might be fun. I went online and found the website for the CWG2010 and start trying to buy a ticket. They don't make it easy but I finally purchased the tickets. After hearing the prices for the Olympic Games when they came to Atlanta in 1996, I thought I would have sticker shock but discovered that tickets were amazingly inexpensive. Lots of the events could be attended for 250 rupees, or just over $5 USD. Since the swimming was into the finals and I wanted the best seats we could get, they were 1000 rupees each, or $20. Completely amazing. The hard part, though, was actually picking the tickets up. You would think the advantage to buying online would be to just pickup at the box office at the venue you were at. Sad thing, no box office and there were only two ticket venues where you could pick up online purchases, so we had to go all the way to downtown Delhi in traffic, to the train station, and our driver didn't know where the swim venue was, at all. Fortunately, we drove right by it on the way to the train station. Once I got to the station, I walked around the corner and found quite a long line waiting for ticket issues. I spoke to the lady in line in front of me and she indicated that in Delhi you really needed to come the day before to pick up tickets as the wait was quite lengthy. I had told the taxi driver just 10 minutes and Karen was in the car. Oh-oh. The lady suggested that I cut to the front of the long line and see if they would issue my ticket immediately, as the swimming started in about 90 minutes. I went to the front and there was a door where the security guy let me right in. When the lady at the desk saw my expat face, I was welcomed with open arms and told to hand her my paperwork, which included my passport for identification. So, based on that info, she typed something in and a couple of minutes later I had a couple of pretty cool looking large tickets to the swimming finals. The taxi wasn't allowed to park outside and had to drive down the street some to find parking so he had to come running back a half a block to find me and we headed for the swimming venue. Of course, there were about 10 different gates for this and we drove around for a few minutes and then ended up walking about half a mile from the entry gate to the building itself. Karen had agreed to go to this but we hadn't counted on a long walk since she is healing from her surgery but, fortunately, she did okay and we had a sandwich and a soft drink on the way in and found our seats, which weren't really assigned, but the section was assigned, so you went to your section and then just found the seat that you thought would be good - interesting. We ended up with a whole bunch of expats, probably parents and family of participants, from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. I think we were the only Americans in the building. The lady next to us from New Zealand guessed that we were from England, so that wasn't a bad guess. When we said we were from America but lived in Delhi, I think the look of shock on her face kind of let us know that she thought we were crazy.

But, we had a great time, it was a great venue, the air-conditioning was strong, the pool was beautiful and the families around us were supportive and talked good English, which was so much fun for a night. By the end of the evening we had several friends and had really enjoyed the spectacle of the games. I will post my pictures on a separate email and you can see more of what was going on. Since the company cars were all tied up we took a taxi and it was great. They dropped us at the gate and after I had the tickets in hand, I realized that they included two free passes on the Metro, the new elevated train around Delhi that we had been threatening to ride but had no reason to. So, I told Karen, let's ride home on the train, which ends up about 3 miles from our house. So, that was the plan, but after the games we were hungry and only a short taxi ride from Connaught Place where our favorite Mexican food is. So, after the game we hit the streets and found a tuk-tuk within a few minutes to take us just 5 minutes to Sancho's. Great!! Karen had only ridden a tuk-tuk one time for just a short block or two when we were at the Taj Mahal last Spring. So, this was her first real tuk-tuk ride in heavy traffic and with horns and close quarters, but we made it and it all made for a great adventure. After a good Mexican dinner we walked a couple of blocks to the Metro station and went down into inner sanctum under the ground. It's all very confusing, with us not even being able to figure out how to get through the gates with our passes from the games but they had someone to let you through a gate with your ticket from the games so on we went. Down more stairs and looking for the yellow train which runs to Gurgaon, where we live. We got on a very uncrowded train in a hurry and began to ride. About the 4th stop they said it was the end of the train but it just kept on going after pausing at the station. We failed to notice that it had reversed direction and now it FILLED UP with a rowdy crowd of somewhat inebriated local boys. Karen was ready to jump off. After about three stops I didn't like the sound of the crowd or the names of the stations. We began to realize that we had headed one way and then reversed course and were now headed for the North Side of Delhi with a rowdy crowd and at a great rate of speed. One older man took mercy on us and told us to change at a certain station, where it was safe, and so we crossed up and over and found the train going all the way to Huda Central Station, where the train now ends. Our ride took over an hour but should have only taken about 40 minutes, but we had nothing better to do and since we had opted for ice tea at the Mexican food place, we were wide awake. Then, when we got to the end of the line we walked out and started looking for another tuk-tuk which took us all the way home, about a 15 minute ride for 150 rupees. Too much fun and it was Karen's first really big outing after her surgery. I had a flight early the next morning but somewhere in the middle of the evening it cancelled so we had no schedule and finally crawled into bed somewhere around midnight. We both think we are the only members of any of our high school or college classes to attend the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. And the whole evening was very inexpensive but really adventure filled. When we were on that Metro train with about 100 pushy, shovy Indian men, I thought Karen was going to jump right out the window but she hung in there and we survived.

While we were in the building we saw several of the contestants practicing on the high diving platforms so now, if I am around, we want to go back for the diving. My boss, Mr. Jindal, was going to participate in the skeet shooting but he said he was the 2nd alternate and so didn't get in. Would have been fun to see him on TV.

The weather is really getting into the nice time of the year and the city really gets crowded and lit up now as the crowds go out in the much more liveable climate.

My cats have totally become loyal to me after Karen went home for the summer. She is quite upset that they always follow dad around and choose to sleep on my side or be by my side, no matter what I am doing. I tend to be the disciplinarian but they take it and come back to cuddle and take a nap. One cat, Rupee, allows me to spin him on the tile floor while he is curled up in a ball, by his tail. You would think that he would get up and run away, but when I finish, he just lays there and kind of looks at me like, is that all you got?? I think he just does anything to guarantee a steady food supply but I will take it as affection and that's my story.

Have a great week!!

Dan and Karen