New Delhi, the main event: 96 hours of Absolut insanity

How do I begin to describe being at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony? It was like one of those dreams where everything makes sense inside your head but when you think about it you realise that there's no way you could be playing poker with the ghost of Oscar Wilde in a spaceship.

We travelled for 24 hours straight, catching fitful bouts of sleep wherever we could, and once we arrived went straight out to see the stadium (no small undertaking). We woke up at 5am the next day to rehearse in the midday sun then wait around in the "holding room", a name which makes me reflexively sweat. We were leered at, waved at and cheered at. People wanted to take photos with us then add us on facebook. I don't actually remember performing but judging by the video I did. We watched the hugest fireworks display I have ever seen surrounded by antsy policemen armed with AK-47s. That night we partied hard and drank nothing but the finest Swedish vodka, falling asleep at 6am to rise at 6.30. I packed in a flurry and managed to remember everything except my toothpaste. The journey back was a blur of still more airports, planes and buses. I think I watched a film. Eventually we were bundled into taxis home and I slept for a day and a half.

Now I'm freaking out slightly at the fact I'm set to be even busier if anything and missing the constant presence of Sam, Harry, Meg, Ada and Chris. We've become so used to seeing each other every minute of the day and now I'm bereft! I've been forced to text Ada for bad jokes.

It's difficult to reflect on something so huge that happened so recently. I read a book once which had a nifty way of explaining how we perceive such momentous events in our own lives so here goes my slightly cack-handed version:

In the line of my life delhi has bubbled off as something too separate from the everyday; with time it will merge back into the line until I can look back and it'll just be one continuous story.

I'll have to try though, this being a reflective blog and all:

We all got a fleeting glimpse of a culture very different to our own. Lavish temples and luxurious hotels co-exist alongside slums and shelters built out of what people could find by the road; policemen look like soldiers and soldiers play the bagpipes; everyone is friendly, the men are openly leery; men and women don't mix and me being friends with Sam and Chris is very odd. It wasn't nearly enough to understand India but I can see it would be an exhilarating and heartbreaking place to live.

We had to learn a whole new set of rules: cover your legs if you don't want to look like a prostitute, brush your teeth with bottled water and don't touch any food which hasn't been thoroughly cooked, no matter how appetising that tomato looks. I couldn't even have ice with the aforementioned fine Swedish vodka.

We experienced the kind of working conditions we've never encountered before - working long hours on little sleep, strange food and in temperatures you're more used to seeing on an oven. We ran with injuries and conquered heatstroke with bottles of electrolyte water and icepacks on the neck.

When it comes to 2014 I definitely want to be at the closing ceremony, as an audience member if not as a performer, because nothing compares to the party atmosphere. Positive audiences always have a peculiar energy to them and one tens of thousands strong fills the air with an infectious, short-fused feeling.

It was hard, hard work. Parts were seriously unpleasant, even painful. It was utterly insane and completely unlike anything I've ever done before. I would do it again in a heartbeat.