OK, so I'm all for openmindedness regarding other cultures and stuff, but seriously, [insert explative here]!

Once again, I find myself crawling across the finish line of this oh-so-long week. There were extenuating circumstances of course: I got a bad cold, needed lots of sleep and had some confusion about exactly what the implications of taking Dayquill before bed might be. We had a couple of big assignments due this week, in addition to an exam earlier today. This all was compounded by the fact that tomorrow is Diwali, India's Christmas. That means lots of special gatherings, changed routines, sweets, whiskey. All of these seem to detract from time spent studying and sleeping, both of which I needed in copious amounts this week in particular.

This morning, however, was the icing on a hilariously discombobulated and hectic (though not all bad) week. Our alarm set early so we could get up and finish the homework we hadn't completed despite staying up late the night before, my roommate and I were awakened, much to our chagrin, before that odious beeping. Its replacement seemed to be a group of people, presumably engaging in what they considered to be song, with a microphone, just outside our house.

I checked the clock: 5:30 AM. Really?!?

Now, Anna and I have become accustomed to the occasional renegade paggel siti walla, as we loveingly call them. These whistle men come and play their flutes until some poor soul from the neighborhood just can't take it any more and so gives the siti walla a donation. The venerable walla then continues on his way to serenade another neighborhood of Delhiites whom, upon going to sleep, had hoped in vain to be able to sleep in the next morning.

This morning however, was different. It turned out that these "singers" were not in fact moving through, but had parked themselves on the lawn in the park onto which our window looks. A group of maybe 20 women were sitting on a large quilt, all facing the leading singer and microphone wielder, singing singing singing.

Needless to say, the morning did not go exactly as we had planned. Both Anna and I agree however, that it is a marker of our familiarity with Delhi that neither of us were particularly upset by this unexpected event, nor were we surprised in the least.