Update!

 I escaped the plague. Or as my doctor put it ‘a bad virus,’ call it what you will, but it felt pretty brutal. The blood tests failed to bring about any real conclusions, and my eccentric doctor did away with my suspicions that my anemia had returned when he said, “your hemoglobin is DAMN good.” (Dear sister, you will not have to come over here and drag me back to Canada.)

So here I am after many days spent in bed unable to eat, postponed exams that seemed to then drag on forever (and are now done!), putting off work, and moving. In short: excuses, excuses, excuses, deepest regrets, terribly sorry for not writing.

So, the big move was last week (and by big move I means carrying my life on to my back and into a taxi) and took me from Colaba to Bandra. I am no longer downtown, but have moved to a pretty cool neighbourhood, and have my own space without the crazy ass landlady. My flat lacks a kitchen, but has the sea across the street, so the scales are balanced.

My new landlord told me that I could find the place by asking for Salman Khan’s house, because my new home would be the high-rise next door. This is the landmark I give my friends, who informed me that Salman Khan is a Bollywood star. I must sound like I keep my head in the sand.

I share the floor with my landlord and his family, which includes an outrageously adorable one-year old boy with eyes the size of his fists. I had breakfast in the family’s kitchen this morning, but the boy kept his eyes on me and his mouth sealed shut, yogurt slipping from closed lips on to freshly cleaned clothes. I remembered that his father told me yesterday that he doesn’t eat unless either Bollywood music videos or Animal Planet is on, and sure enough his mouth was opened wide as soon as a Bollywood music video channel was turned on. With the maids not knowing English, and me not knowing Hindi he became our source for laughter and understanding.

Outside of the new place!