Birthday at the Hilton

As far as birthdays go, this might be one of the most interesting. As my Mom pointed out, I don't remember what I did on my 12th birthday onward, but I will most likely remember this one. I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Okay, so it wasn't a James Bond movie or anything. As my Mom also pointed out, I will have plenty of parties back home and I should consider this my birthday month. First off, it's never fun to wake up early on your birthday, but I had no escape, since we had to drive early from Bodhagaya to Patna to make our flight. Since it is the "fog season" planes are known for being delayed so we were inserted with a mixture of worry, desperation, stress, and exclusively for me, stomach cramps that wouldn't go away as we waited in the Patna airport. We finally learned that our flight was on time, hallelujah, and we grogily made our way to the poorly signed boarding area after being pat down like criminals.

IndiGo, our airline slightly resembled JetBlue in the blue symbols and logo. And ofcourse, being my quirky father, my Dad bought a hat with it's logo on it for fun. Our hour and a half trip felt like 30 minutes as I devored my novel eagerly to the near finish.

For our last night here, we decided on a little treat, a five-star Hilton branch in the middle of Delhi, where we stayed in modern style class and took long showers and baths instead of getting out early because the hot water had decided to stop. The endless buffet was overwhelming but we managed to rack up an assumingly large bill, in which my parents refused to tell me the amount followed by the classic "it's your birthday" excuse.

We relaxed in our room together eating the delicious chocolate birthday cake, compliments of the house, and watching Discovery Channel on the gorgeous flat screen TV. We finished the cake for breakfast, well I finished the cake for breakfast, and we are now using the day to fish around for last minute presents in Delhi's modern shopping district. We will later make our way to the airport where we fly to Moscow, arriving at a pleasant 4:30 in the morning.

I'm sure that by the time we leave, you will all be either heading for work or for school, while we sleep uneasily in our stiff airplane seats. I am dreading the day we arrive home since I have to go to school the next day. I hope you are all enjoying your work. At least we aren't beggars on the streets of India feasting on the appearance of tourists. You have no idea how many times I've wanted to give all of our money to them like free candy. Sometimes you just can't win.

I wish you all a merry non-holiday and a happy new year.
Namaste from Delhi,

Thai