India in All Good Things

Apparently I am going to India after all...

The past 24 hours have been a torrent of phone calls and emails and craziness. The company I work in the Middle East for (run by a friend and former colleague of mine from Hong Kong), was badly let down at the last minute by the person who was supposed to be going, and they managed to find a Canadian girl who was free - but she's been unable to get a visa in time. Nicole (the owner of the company) has gone to India to do the first few days of the job, but she's required for a job in Hong Kong next week that's a really big job running for a month and they've insisted that they'll only give the job to her company if she's the one who does the case - which she only found out on Friday. Since the Indian job runs this week and next week, she's in a very serious pickle.

From their frantic research, they discovered that the only country that offers visas on the day is the UK, and I'm the only person who's free at such a last minute, since I'm taking this time off. They felt very bad about asking me, but I do understand that they have absolutely no other option in the entire world at this late stage. They need me there by Thursday!

So I decided to go. The good thing is that I don't feel bad about going, I don't feel the dread in the pit of my stomach that's been accompanying most jobs recently. Having had most of the past two weeks off work has helped a lot, because I've been able to completely relax and get a lot of rest. I'm not sure how my injured wrist is going to hold up, but they've assured me that most of the case will be interpreted, which means much less steno writing than usual (since you only have to write down half of what's being said, the bit in English) so that will help a lot.

It's still not 100% definite since we have to wait for the visa, which I'll only (hopefully) get tomorrow afternoon, but we've booked the ticket for Wednesday and are proceeding on the basis that the visa will be fine. I was at the agency all morning sorting it out to make sure we have everything exactly perfect for them to submit it by 9am tomorrow to the Indian embassy. Nicole's husband and their office manager in Hong Kong were working for half the night getting me all the documents I need for the application, the letters of invitation from India and all the references. The woman at the agency seemed to think she has everything she needs, so I hope it works out with no problem and we don't have to postpone it another day, because I really don't fancy arriving at 3am on Friday morning and having to start in court by 9am!

The thing is, I was originally offered this job about six weeks ago, at a time when I felt completely burnt out from work and exhausted from travel, so I said no then. Everyone I know thought I was mad for turning down a trip to India (Delhi, in particular), so they're all really happy that I've ended up going after all.

I'm not certain. I've never really wanted to go to India since I'm extremely fussy about sanitation and a country who can't sort that out really doesn't appeal to me. Even in Africa, where people may be dreadfully poor, they have decent sanitation arrangements of some form or other, unlike the horror stories I've heard about India. I probably never would have gone, if not for work, and who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with it...

We'll see. I'm open to such an outcome. I'd welcome it, in fact.

Last night I was talking to my dad, and he told me that his wife's children are planning a secret big birthday bash for her 60th next May. Her son lives in Wellington, on the other side of the North Island from them, and her daughter in South Africa, so she doesn't get to see either of them very often. It turns out it's happening just after I finish my South American trip at the end of April, so now I'm thinking of getting a round-the-world ticket and coming home from Santiago via New Zealand. Otherwise I probably won't get a chance to go to NZ next year, and May is a gorgeous time there.

I'm not particularly keen on seeing Caro, though, my stepsister. She's two years older than me and was the outgoing skinny blonde cheerleader type at school with a million boyfriends, and I was always judged extremely badly in comparison. I loathed her, and I think she loathed me back. She's since been married about three times (well, is about to have her third wedding), has a bunch of kids from several different fathers, and has worked as a receptionist in a panel beater shop in Johannesburg for the past 15 years.

I've got loads of things to do to get ready to go to India the day after tomorrow, so I'd better get to them. I don't think it's quite penetrated yet!