Farewell for Now

Ohio is .... cold. As if I havn't said this enough times since being home (I arrived safe and sound in Amrikaa on Friday afternoon!!) my trip home was much less eventful than the trip to India, thank god, and now I writing this safe and sound, snuggled up on the couch. So much different than my homestay bed, that's for sure. My last week in India passed so much faster than I could have imagined. Doesn't it always happen like that?

Emily and I got to catch up with Khadeeja, Adil and Iman, for one last home cooked Indian meal -- filled with all my favorite dishes! -- and we saw just how fast a baby grows. In the one month away, Iman was starting to crawl, pull herself up, and had so many things to say. She also had a TON of hair! Emily and I also took it upon ourselves to feed her her first lemon.. if you guys don't know what happens, please search "Baby eats Lemon" on YouTube.. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Our group also presented ISPs, and it was such an impressive showing. After spending a month away from everyone it was so great to see what people were up to. I gotta say, I spent the semester around some pretty smart cookies, because I learned a hell of a lot during our 2 days of presentations. We wrapped up the week with the end of the semester banquet, and everyone got to wear their saris, and hang out for one last time. Bittersweet endings, as I'm sure you can all imagine, and a few hours after the banquet I boarded a flight to Frankfurt, with the ultimate destination of home-sweet-home, Canton, Ohio.

Trying to reflect on an entire semester only a week after it ends is tough. Cultural re-entry has been harder than the first week I was in India. Typical everyday things- such as going to the store, or the mall, or the gym... are just SO DIFFERENT. Hard to explain really. For one, the 'crowded mall' seemed pretttty empty to me on Saturday when my Mom and Grandma marveled over the excessively large Christmas crowds. Going from 14 million to 200,000 just makes things look so much.. smaller. Crazy, eh?

I might write in here a few more times to reflect on the semester, and share some funny cultural re-entry moments, but for now, thanks to all of you for sharing what has been the most exciting and life-changing semester of my life. Writing in a blog was the last thing I thought I'd do, but I guess when people actually read it it makes things a little easier, haha.

With Love,
Rachael

PS- A few pictures with the new families I made in India.

 Homestay family..

 Hindi family..

And all my sahaleys! Miss you all already!

Coming Full Circle

annnnd finally, the moment of truth: today at exactly 1:08 PM I submitted my 40 page ISP.... a whole 4 hours before the deadline. Impressive, eh?!

Wednesday was my last day in Jaipur, and bright and early Thursday morning (5:45 to be exact) I hopped the train back to Delhi. You know, I've learned a lot this semester- I managed to get from Jaipur to Delhi all alone, and at a reasonable cost! Yes, that means I also successfully navigated Delhi in rickshaws... finally, all those ridiculous and overpriced rides paid off. I spent Thursday hanging out at an ashram with some friends, and Thursday night went with my friend Poonam to her Madhu Auntie's house for a little home cooking and a comfy place to stay for the night. After spending 3.5 weeks in a guest house coming back to a home, even though its not my families, was so sooo nice.

Friday and Saturday seemed a little bit like Delhi vacation ... Poonam and I checked into a hotel with her cousin and friend who are studying for the year in Lucknow, and the 4 of us experienced what could be described a the luxurious life in Delhi. Expensive lunches (600 rupees.. who does that?!!? .. thats 11 dollars, btw), movie watching, walking around shops and another birthday celebration!! Our group re-united to celebrate Quinn's 21st New Delhi style, and it turned out to be MUCH more adventurous than mine .... going out with the Indian girls in Delhi turned out to be much easier and such a good time the second time around.

Of course we couldn't forget about the papers, so plenty of my weekend was spent fine tooth editing while simultaneously re-watching seasons of Glee.. Emily Hrichak, you will appreciate this especially. After 4 weeks of staring at the same document, it was SO NICE to finally turn something in today. Only one 20 minute presentation standing between me and freedom, and my return back to good ol' (coldddd) Ohio!

Thinking about coming home is a little bittersweet though. Being with such a small group for 14 weeks has come with its challenges, but overall its been so rewarding. And now I have 23 new friends, that I'm not all that excited to leave just yet. Good thing we're all checked back into Hotel Karina (where this crazy adventure began) to spend our last week in Delhi together. 

Pictures from the Pink City

Thankful to be Abroad, but still missing the Motherland

Up until yesterday, I'd never really spent a 'major' holiday away from home. Those holidays considered as 'major' in my book would be the tri-fecta of wintertime wonders: Thankgiving, Christmas Eve, and of course, Christmas. I've spent my fair share of time away from home (I went to boarding school) but I've never really missed a 'major' holiday with the extended family. The only really negative thing about studying abroad in the fall: no Thanksgiving Dinner. 

The emphasis placed on Thanksgiving in America is clearly not appreciated abroad (surprise surprise), as I have been discovering over the past week. Everyday this week I've gone out in search of a potential location for a 'proper' Thanksgiving dinner, and I've been getting everything from mixed looks of confusing to flat out "no maim, we don't celebrate that". Well, that's a bummer. 

Sidenote, funny story: I'm going to quote my former roommate in Delhi, Emily, also looking for a proper Thanksgiving meal: "I just called the american consulate in kolkata to see if they knew were I could get a thanksgiving meal and the man on the phone told me i would have to call back tomorrow because it is an american holiday so no one is in the office. helpful." Oh, India.

But you know, that got me to thinking. Being in another country has opened me up to another culture, and I've been introduced to whole slew of new holidays I had NO idea existed. Take Diwali for example. I would consider this pretty embarrassing on my part, how could I have NOT known about one of Hinduism's biggest holidays? If fact, India might host the largest amount of holidays celebrated in the business calendar in the world. Indian students barely ever see a full 5 day week, (and I'm constantly running into cancelled interviews due to ANOTHER holiday) because there's always a random holiday in the calender. So with all those other holidays in mind, its no wonder there's no room in the Indian calendar to add another one about how the pilgrims and Native Americans first broke bread, that is continually celebrated with the tradition of overeating and way too much American football. 

Either way, missing the crazy large family filled meal got me to thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for. Yes, I'm totally about to get sappy and heartfelt here. Studying abroad has been an unforgettable and irreplaceable experience, and it never would have been possible without the support of all my family and friends currently enjoying the endless amount of post-turkey day sandwiches and black Friday shopping deals. I miss you all terribly, and hope that we can have Thanksgiving recreation meal when I get home... which is in 2 short weeks! (creeping up much faster than I expected....) 

In the meantime, I'll have to settle for celebration with my family abroad, and all of the incredible people I've met here in India. And you know, chicken shwarma and hummus for Thanksgiving Dinner isn't such a bad replacement! 

So here's a little message from abroad: Give thanks for all that you have (seeing people with so little to call their own has put this into real perspective for me at least), and cherish the time that you have to spend with your families (being 7,000 miles away also puts this point into great perspective), because you just really never know whats going to happen. Well, enough with my sappy lesson of the day. Happy Thanksgiving!

The land of the Hathis

Yesterday, I touched an elephant. And by touched I mean hugged her trunk, pet her, and fed her way too much sugarcane. Her name is Maaya, shes 40, has beautiful eyes and is  incredibly sweet. I might be in love. 

For whatever reason Juila, Charles and I had the miraculous luck of running into Salim, a rickshaw driver who drove his famed "Chapatti Express" around Jaipur claiming to show some of the most original and unseen sights in the city. Boy was he right. Salim was the one who took us to the underground location of the elephants that travel all around Jaipur, either walking up to the Amber Fort or carrying newly weds around on their wedding day. I'm not really sure how he knew about this place, but I will be eternally grateful. Where can you just hang out with elephants for the afternoon, for the equivalent of $1? Only in India. 

This past week has been work filled, but I feel like my ISP is coming along nicely. I currently have 7 solid non-double spaced pages (HUGE steps for me people, HUGE) and I am taking a break from writing to update the avid readers on my ever so interesting life in India. Hopefully later this week I will have the opportunity to interview a few Rajasthani Government Officials on the current policies and schemes for disabled populations, as well as the original doctors and engineers associated with the Jaipur Foot technologies. Not a bad work week schedule if you ask me. 

I ventured outside the boundaries of the Main BMVSS Malviya Nagar site last Wednesday, and took a trip to the original location in the SMS Hospital Complex. Reference: The SMS Hospital just happens to be the largest government run hospital in all of Rajasthan, and I went over by suggestion of the Director of BMVSS, without any real directions. Recipe for true adventure. I decided to travel via auto-rickshaw (my love/hate relationship with this form of transportation continues..) and was dropped off at the front door because naturally, he had no idea where the BMVSS campus was. So, I walked into the front gates and was clearly the ONLY white person there. Also, there was literally nothing in English. Good thing I've been learning Hindi, right? I found my way to the front door and tried my best to ask for directions to the BMVSS site in Hindi. I landed in the hospital commissioners office. (why do these things always happen?!) Once given the opportunity to explain myself, the commissioner turned out to be very helpful, and was also able to give me a short interview about the hospitals relationship... and he spoke English! He directed me to what I thought was the BMVSS campus... but turned out to be the Orthopaedic OPD (Out patient department). I strolled in, and naturally, once again got many, MANY looks. Oops, wrong place, once again. I was then led to yet another wrong location, and finally made my way into the surprisingly small BMVSS section of the hospital. 

This branch of BMVSS is the one that houses all of the patients travelling to Jaipur for new limbs. I found myself smack in the middle of the living space allotted for around 80 people per day by accident when I was looking for the main office, which I soon found out was not much of an office at all. Everything that is nice about the Malviya Nagar site is what the SMS Hospital Site is lacking. There is a pretty non-existent workspace, a shared office and training area, and of course, 80 odd beds scattered throughout all of the rooms in the building, which seemed to be set up like a hostel. Needless to say, eye opening experience. 

... buuut anyways, its late, I'm procrastinating, and my paper is calling my name. More to come though, promise! 

Week 1, Independent Study Project: Complete!

In the middle of the summer I probably would have laughed at you if you told me that conducting my own field work would be a breeze and that writing at 30 page paper about it would be a piece of cake. Today... I'd probably still laugh at you. But honestly, 1 out of 4 weeks down I can say that its not as bad as I thought. Actually its pretty fun! I mean I guess it should be, considering I chose to come to India, chose this particular program, and then chose the specific topic of my field work... so really, what room do I have to complain?

I started work at Jaipur Foot on Tuesday morning, bright and early, after I finallllly made it to their front door (reference lower post for rickshaw woes). Since then I've been spending my days with Pankaj, the technician that Dr. Pooja set me up to shadow, and he's been helping me with translation as well as explanation of the entire fabrication process of their different prosthetic limbs. Thus far, we've (I say we, I mean him) made a prosthetic arm all the way past the elbow, lower leg, upper leg, HIP replacement, and much much more. I've been spending about 5-6 hours a day there, so we really are becoming fast friends and he's been letting me help with small production stuff. I might even get to make my own prosthetic before I leave at the end of the month! Cross your fingers, because that would be freaking awesome.

Saturday Julia, Charles and I decided to take the day away from our NGOs (multiple hours with a language barrier and the sounds of heavy machinery in the background is pretttty tiring) and we did some exploring of the 'Pink City'. We started our afternoon bargaining at a few of the bazaars, and then headed up to the Tiger Fort, which overlooks the entire city. It was a bit of a hike to get to the top, but totally worth it because the view of the city was breathtaking. We stayed to look around the fort, walked the perimeter walls and watched the sunset over the city :). Not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening!

Sunset over Jaipur :)

Today Julia and I have been lounging around and working on our papers. I've spent most of the day processing my interviews and field notes, and I've finally come up with an ISP title: "Mainstreaming Physically Disabled Populations through Prosthetic Technologies: A Case Study of Jaipur Foot". If that sounds interesting to you, and you're up for a little light reading, PLEASE, be my guest! I'd love some outside editors, because writing is not my strongest suit (thanks engineering) and re-reading your own writing can sometimes get a little boring.

Last thing:  A little happy birthday shoutout to the many family members of mine that had birthdays this week! Mom, Dad, Grandma Porter... I miss you guys so much, and hope you all had FANTASTIC days!! Wish I could have been there to celebrate.. guess we'll just have to do birthdays take 2 when I get back?

#TransportationIssues

Flash forward: Thankfully these past 2.5 months have paid off, and I can finally say I feel somewhat comfortable getting around India. I can call a taxi, hail a rickshaw, navigate a train station, and (sometimes) navigate the neighborhood. I actually felt somewhat comfortable in Delhi, the city of 14 million. That's a pretty big step for me personally, because in the US I'm pretty addicted to my GPS. In fact, I don't actually feel comfortable driving long distances without it. Which is pretty embarrassing to admit, maybe I should work on that. So of course, since I finally felt comfortable, its time for me to move to a new city... 

Day 2 in Jaipur, rickshaw issues. Stand-by for a much needed rant. 

Why on earth would you tell someone you know where you're going, when CLEARLY you don't? This morning I reached my limit, after I spent 1.5 hours (yes, HOURS) in a rickshaw trying to get from the guesthouse to the NGO, easily a 20 minute journey. This is what I don't understand: why would a driver willingly agree to drive around in circles asking shopkeepers off the street the right directions? Am I supposed to pay him for this? I mean, he thinks so, but as a transportation 'expert' (as explained earlier), i know better.  Here are my solutions: either the rickshaws get some GPS systems (definitely not happening) ORRR they get some street signs for the roads in India. The second seems like a pretty good idea to me. I will say, it is pretty confusing not having road signs, but if your advertised profession is driving someone around the city, I personally think you should have a good handle on where you're going. Anyways, after finally finding the NGO (thanks to the many shopkeepers and other drivers we asked along the way) the driver demanded I pay double for the ride because 'we were driving for a very long time'.Well DUH we were driving around for a long time, you didn't know where you were! Maf ke-ji-yeee (my bad, in Hindi) I shouldn't have agreed to pay by the meter, but hell no rickshaw man, I'm not paying for that time you got me lost, and made me late. My argumentative side got the best of me, and the small bit of Hindi I know helped me to not pay the rickshaw driver. It also caused a bit of a crowd, and a small scene outside the gates of my NGO... oops. 


After our little altercation, my next instinct was to cower inside, and run away from the people that watched me argue my way out of an unfair wage. Thank God the people at BMVSS are like the rest of India, and don't really care about time because at this point, I was almost an hour late. Actually, when I told Pankaj (my new best friend and technician I'm shadowing) my epic travel story, he just laughed at me, told me to wash my hands, and help him with his mold. Typical India, you just never know what to expect. 

See ya Delhi, Helllllo Jaipur!

This past weekend was the last with our homestay family, and Sunday morning as we said our goodbyes it was hard to not tear up a little bit. Adil and Khadeeja (and of course Iman!) have been fantastic hosts and resources in the great expanse of India, and I am sad to say I'll miss them and the comfort of their home in an unfamiliar place. Our last weekend together we went to a few parties (tis the holiday season, seriously) and promised that when Emily and I get back to  Delhi we'll all go out for a reunion dinner. I'm already excited! Unfortunately our goodbyes were a little rushed, because of course  everyone left packing till the last minute. Emily and I spent our last night in Delhi in the program center (Khadeeja and Adil left town for Eid) and I woke up bright and early (3:45!!) to catch the morning train to Jaipur.

Monday morning we reached Jaipur, and immediately after stepping off the train, I took a deep breath, and..  didn't hack up a lung! The air is noticeably cleaner, and at this point in my trip, thats exactly what I need. Its already been a great few days. From our rooftop cafe at the guesthouse, we even saw a few stars. Yes folks, STARS! Who knew the air could get that clean? I'm pretty excited.

So this month I'm working with the NGO BMVSS, aka Jaipur Foot. I sent them an e-mail a few weeks ago explaining my project, and got an excited response, but since then hadn't had much contact. So Tuesday morning I resolved to call them and head into the NGO for the day, to check out the lay-of-the-land. Around 8:15, I called for the first time, no answer. They have 4 different phone numbers online, so I tried them all... no answer. Up until around 10 I called ... no answer. So.. in an effort to embrace being in India, I took a bold move and decided to just show up, without phone confirmation. Easily the most forward I've been in my life. Once I finally found the NGO, I walked in, introduced myself to the head technician (didn't know that at the time..) and he gave me a brief tour and then asked who I was there to see.. kindof backwards, but I went with it. So then, I landed myself in the chief founder/patrons office, on the suggestion of my program director. Mr. Mehta (the founder) welcomed me in, ushered me to a seat, and continued sorting his e-mails and exchanging calls with his personal secretary and kept looking at me saying 'ekk second', claiming he would be ready to talk very soon. No wonder they didn't answer my calls! So then, about 5 minutes later (mind you, I'm still sitting awkwardly across the desk) a woman walks in a starts participating in the e-mail and call exchange. Finally, after 15 minutes, they both look across the table and go, "So what's your name again?" .... Immediate internal response - oh my god, why did I come here?! -- It turned out to be fine, because once I said my name their faces lit up (the actually did know who I was, thank god!) And the 3 of us planned out my time at their NGO. Phew. The woman's name is Dr. Pooja, and now she's actually my ISP advisor.

But really, stressful first day, wouldn't you say? Its going to be a great experience I can already tell, but clearly being alone is putting me out of my comfort zone. Should be an interesting month..

Wedding Details, Finally!

How To Properly Tie an Indian Sari:
1) Put on the petticoat and blouse
2) Unwrap all 6 meters of fabric, and find the end that is less exciting
3) Take that end, and start to tuck it into the petticoat above your hip, and continue around till its wrapped once
4) Now that you have it wrapped once, take the other end, wrap it around your waist without tucking, and toss the proper amount you want sitting on your shoulder,  over your shoulder
5) At this point a lot of material should be floating around the front. Time to make some pleats! Make 5-6) pleats by folding the fabric, pin it, and tuck it into the front of your sari, below the belly button
7) Finally, take the piece draped over your shoulder, nicely fold it, and put in a pin. Now you have properly tied a sari!

Orrrrr....

1) Find a nice Indian woman who actually knows what she's doing, and have her do it.

Fortunately, I went for option 2, and Adil's sister helped to tie the sari's that I wore to the wedding festivities on Saturday and Sunday. Here were the final products (surprisingly comfortable once they were on):



Wedding festivities actually started Friday night with a 'small' family dinner and a traditional turmeric paste rubbing ceremony for the groom.. with 100 guests. We of course had dinner, met the fam. for the first time, and had our own little Bollywood dance party. Turns out Khadeeja is a very good dancer!
Saturday was the actual ceremony, and we went to the 'medium-sized' wedding around 8 PM... apparently still pretty early. Oh right there were 800 people there. That's medium!! We got there to find the groom on a stage sitting, and a small display of gifts off to the side. I asked where the bride was, and was told "She'll be here soon, don't worry.". Soon after arriving, the groom became surrounded by a dense crowd of men, and I found out that he was actually physically signing the legal wedding agreement, and all of those men were the witnesses. After he was finished signing, the paper was taken to another location (later determined to be the brides chambers) and a voice came over loud speakers, apparently giving play-by-play in Hindi. After a few minutes passed, the room erupted in cheers and congratulations.... they were married! Needless to say I was a little confused and very lost.. when exactly was the 'real' ceremony going to take place? Well, that WAS the real ceremony people, that's how Muslim Weddings work. So we all got some food (There was fortunately a crowd of kids related to the family our age.. some new people to talk to!) and the bride surfaced around 10 PM to finally be seen with her new husband. This was actually a love marriage, but the ceremony was still very traditional, because when she finally came to sit with him, he wasn't actually allowed to look at her until he saw her first through a mirror-- another special  ceremony that was performed later that night. So, all-in-all, pretty interesting and enlightening experience. Sunday was just a reception (smaller, about 500 people..) for the bride and groom, and we had the opportunity to talk to them and the family more about all of the traditions, and we shared a little about what our traditional wedding was like. Something I wasn't very fond of: Being the ONLY white people there. Not surprisingly, we drew some serious attention, even though I put a big effort into dressing in Indian clothes, and way too many times Emily and I were asked to take pictures, meet even more family, and shake multiple peoples hands. The price for being close to the wedding party I guess.

Today was our last day of  'classes'. Bittersweet. I took my Hindi Final, turned in my Hindi Final Project,  finish my field studies seminar, turned in my HHR paper.... and all thats left is my Independent Study Project. You could say I'm nervous/scared/excited all at the sammmme time when I think about leaving Delhi, and travelling out to Jaipur. As I am spending my days planning my life for the next month, its crazy to think that its actually not that far-fetched to think of myself out alone. I mean, i AM 21 years old, OFFICIALLY a real adult, in all cultures and legal settings. I'm not sure I'm totally ready for that responsibility, but for the next month, I'm going to get my first taste. Wish me luck, and look for some updates about my project!

PS- More pictures of the wedding are being added to the photo page! 

Diwali, Wedding, Halloween... oh my!

This morning, I had one of the craziest sensations... I woke up, rolled around, huddled back into my covers, and curled into the fetal position.. I WAS COLD. Ok Ok, I shouldn't be saying much, considering snow- pacalypse 2011 has hit the east coast ALREADY (its barely November Mother Nature, give us a break) but to be honest, I didn't think I'd be feeling anything close to winter over here. In fact I'm equipped with only one sweatshirt.. maybe I'll actually have to buy a few Indian sweaters? The change in weather helped me to realize - Today is November 1st. Where has time gone?! In a little less than a month, I'll be snuggled back in Ohio, and in a little less than a week, I'll be out of Delhi on my own completing my very own field work (details to come). Eeek!

This past week has been SUPER busy! As mentioned earlier, last Wednesday we celebrated the Hindu holiday of Diwali with our program teachers because Emily and I's host parents are Muslims, and were very busy in wedding preparations. We first did a traditional Diwali Puja, followed by some candle lighting, and then of course, fireworks outside! When I say fireworks I mean the sparklers and mini things that my family buys on the Fourth of July, but the rest of Delhi was NOT holding back, and for an entire night it sounded (and sometimes felt) like I was in a bomb shelter. After our little party with the program staff, Emily and I came home and took a walk around the neighborhood to experience a little 'real' Diwali. Turns out, we didn't have to walk far. We crossed our street and entered into the adjoining neighborhood, and just as we rounded the corner about 30 ft ahead, 3 boys were setting off the biggest firework I've seen at such a close range. Needless to say, I pulled Emily down, screamed a little bit, and ducked for my life behind a car. Naturally, that drew some attention and laughs from the neighbors (it was completely fine, literally EVERYONE was setting off big fireworks, apparently our US policies are too strict...) but it also got us invited into a families home where the mother and grandmother happily served us some fresh homemade mithai, and told us all about their Diwali. Indian hospitality is so overwhelming sometimes!

Diwali unfortunately helped land me with a seriously strong sinus infection. All those fireworks give off an absurd amount of air pollutants, and that mixed with the headcold from Varanasi turned into 750 Rs worth of meds from the chemist after I finally willed myself to the doctors office. (Sidenote: 750 Rs translates to $15, but by Indian standards, thats A LOT to spend on meds. Typically a visit to the chemist costs about 150 Rs, at most.) And also, the doctor ordered bloodwork and an x-ray as supplement to my checkup? Don't worry, didn't follow through with those, but thought you might find that interesting.

Annnd thats all I have for now.. I have a Hindi FINAL tomorrow, so I need to using this blog as procrastination and get back to studying. I promise to post wedding details and photos soon! Sorry to keep you all in suspense!

In India, Tis the Holiday Season

First and formost: everyone check out  the new page, which is visible as a tab right above this post ... I finally figured out how to post pictures! After getting some stellar advice from a fellow blogger on the program, I'm happy to report there will be many pictures coming your way in the coming month and a half, for now, enjoy what I've posted!!

Annyways, turns out the 'low key' birthday dinner I was expecting was actually a much more well planned joint birthday party for myself and another girl on the program, Poonam. Surprise surprise! Its nice having friends that can recognize a slightly disappointed b-day girl, and turn the day right around.

Aside from my personal holiday, India is actually in the midst of the biggest holiday season of the year: Diwali! Diwali has been compared to Christmas multiple times, and I understand why: everyone has been prepping for weeks,  houses are decorated, lights are strewn everywhere, and everyone has been giving gifts... and now its finally here! Diwali is actually a 5 day festival which started on Monday, and the most important 'Diwali Day' is tomorrow. Yay celebrations! Considering Khadeeja and Adil are Muslims though, we won't be celebrating at home, but either Emily and I will be celebrating with the teachers at the program center, or with another homestay family. Either way I'm excited to experience Hindu Christmas!!

Speaking of Khadeeja and Adil... this weekend is the big day (or rather I should say days).... Khadeeja's brother is getting married! We came home from Varanasi to find Khadeeja pretty heavily stressed with planning, but it sounds like everything is finally coming together, and all of the 'real' pre-wedding family preparations are starting on Thursday. I'm not sure which events we'll be going to during the week, but I definitely am going to 2 important ones, because Khadeeja took 2 of her sarees to the cleaners for me.. eeeee, so excited! Needless to say the next week of my life is going to be overly party filled.. just in time to act as a de-stresser from all of the actual school work that I have to do.

Speaking of... lots to do, lots to plan. ISP is coming up fast, less than 2 weeks... which is just NOT enough time to try get my thoughts and plans together. Gah, being old is taking its toll, when was I given all of this responsibility to figure out my personal transport and living for a month?! And then, I also conduct an Independent Study Project?!... for now I'm going to stop with the stress, and leave you with this message:

HAPPY DIWALI!! If you think about it tomorrow, light a candle, go find yourself some mithai (Indian Sweets), and if you're reallllly feeling like you have some time, watch the Ramayana. And enjoy the pictures!

Kiran Center, 'A Ray of Hope into Lives'

So how many of you have had that "this is what I want to do with my life" epiphany? Recently, and especially right before leaving for India, I was going through a bit of a 'mid-college crisis'. Its kindof crazy to think that in 2 short years (well less that that at this point, eeek) we're supposedly going to go out into the world totally prepared and ready to take on the world. I don’t know about all of you college readers, but at least for me, that’s a pretty scary though. Coming to India was really a way to escape the pressures to figure those things out. I mean, yes, I did come to India to study abroad because I wanted to see this country, and because I am interested in this programs topics, but really in the back of my mind I have been India as an excuse to not really think about any future plans. Its funny how when you least expect things to click, they do.

This past week I’ve been in a small group completing a workshop with the Kiran Center. I knew going in what the main focus of the center was, but knowing and observing are two different things. Monday morning bright and early (after another long overnight train ride) the group took our first trip out to Madhopur, Varanasi, and the location of Kiran Village. Immediately we were greeted by staff and students, most of whom were differently-abled, excited and ready to show off their second home.

Its pretty amazing to see things I am currently studying back home being used in practical ways. For instance: Kiran has an orthotics workshop that focuses on providing calipers and artificial limbs to children/adults in need, and on Tuesday, I spent pretty much the entire day observing the workshop, talking to workers (who were mostly taught by previous staff in the workshop, and who are all mostly recipients of calipers and therapy for polio), and watched a primary fitting and molding session for a prosthetic and a caliper. I gotta say, I was on cloud 9 ALL DAY. I’m going to go ahead and channel my inner nerd here: artificial limbs and organs are SO COOL. AND, watching the process from fitting to final product (Lauren and I went back every day to check on our ‘leg’ and on Friday before we left, it was looking very nice and new and ready to be presented to its new owner) just make me that much more interested in the topic. So many people I talked to explained how outcast they felt before they received and appliance, and how now, most of them do not even consider themselves disabled. Finally, I've been able to see the practical applications of a Bio-Engineering degree, first hand. I was a little worried this wasn't the field for me, but I think I may have re-found a way to combine the many things I love in life. Finally, the best of both worlds!

That was one very exciting experience I had along with the many others throughout the week. Every morning and afternoon we rode the bus from Lanka (center city Varnanasi) with the children out to the Kiran Village, so even though the 6:30 wake up call is a bit tiring, you can never be too tired to learn a few games from many many excited children (oh and also, a Hindi lesson or 2. Even at a young age, these kids are all pretty good English, and eager to be able to teach us some more Hindi. Ah, so jealous). I've also gotten used to being called ‘Didi’ which is older sister in Hindi, because that’s what all of the children at Kiran referred to us as. Once we arrived to school, everyone participated in the non-denominational prayer service (they had a song, and then read a verse from a different religious text everyday), and then we were off to our many different explorations around the Village learning about everything they had to offer to the differently abled and their families.

I could literally write about this place for hours! For starters, they have an integrated primary school (LKG- 6^th standard) which they are expanding soon. They also have a special school sector for children suffering from severe cases of CP, and also a classroom curriculum for hearing impaired children. If you’re too old to go to class, that’s ok, because Kiran also offers vocational training in Art and Design, tailoring, horticulture, woodshop and food preparation. Seriously, THEY HAVE EVERYTHING. Oh and also, they just started a Human Resource Training Program, which is a 2 year certified course to teach people how to become special educators with a focus in CP. On top of all that, they have a backbone structure of physical therapy, orthotics, and outreach services offered throughout the surrounding areas. 

Enough about Kiran! (well not really, I'm sure I'll be expanding about this in later posts) but aside from our busy days, we spent our nights exploring the oldest city in India, and arguably one of the holiest. Luckily, we were blessed with the company of Gautam Ji and Archina Ji, two of out teachers that happen to be married and just happpen to have a home in Varanasi. What are the odds?! Every night we got some sort of 'behind the scenes' tour of Varanasi, because they knew where to go, how to get there, and what exactly was good to see. And, we got to meet Mata Ji (Gautam Ji's mom) and got a little tour of their house and were treated (naturally) with a heaping spoonful of Indian hospitality (soo much chai and sweets... so much). 

Saturday morning we woke up before the sun (bright n'early, 5 AM) to catch a boatride down the Ganges. Turns out, Varanasi is more active at 5 AM than it is at 5 PM! There were so many people down at the banks to take their 'holy dip' to start the day off right. And in case you were wondering, no, I did not join in on the fun, the Ganges might be one of the grossest bodies of water I've ever seen (sorry India, its true). Its completely normal and sought after to have your ashes thrown into the Ganges, or to be cremated at the banks, which we also saw on our morning boat ride at the very famous burning ghat. We ended our boat tour just in time do eat a sunrise breakfast at the hotel and spend one last day exploring the Old City. After a very hectic auto ride to the train station (I witnessed some police bribing first hand) we headed back to Delhi.

Flash forward 18 hours. Yes, 18 hours, on the train, because naturally things here happen in Indian Standard Time, and not following any schedule whatsoever. So thats right folks, I once again spent a good portion of my birthday in transit from Varanasi to Delhi (womp womp). Oh right, today is my birthday! BUT, not all was lost, the group managed to surprise me with a cake, on the train (not an easy task!) and a very embarrassing rendition of Happy Birthday in both English and Hindi. And now that I've finally reached Delhi and am a little rested, I'm off to celebrate being 21 Amuuurica style (hopefully, we'll see) with a small group of friends over dinner. Yay birthdays in India! Good thing I have some sweet sahaleys (female friends in Hindi) here to try their best to make me feel like turning 21 in India is not a total waste. I'm looking to the American friends reading this (you know who you are) to help me properly celebrate upon my return to the states :). 

Well, thats all for now. I should really learn to post multiple times a week... off to some B-day celebrations!

Off on Another Excursion

A quick update on the recent happenings of New Delhi:

In about 2 hours I'm going to be off (once again) on the overnight train, this time headed for Varanasi! A small group of only 8 of us are going for our workshop, spending everyday doing activities with the NGO Kiran Village. I'm particularly excited because this NGO and workshop are very closely related to my ISP, which, in the end, should be very helpful academically. And of course, I get to spend the week with kids! If any of you know me at all, you should know by now that I LOVE little kids, and will no doubt love spending the week with these ones.

Kiran Village focuses on rehabilitation of children suffering from a variety of physical and mental disabilities. Unfortunately in India, it is a reality that most children with disabilities are hidden in the home away from society, therefore without treatment. The mission of Kiran Village is not only rehabilitation, but family education about disabilities and disability rights (ah, so similar to my ISP, disability rights!).

Along with just the observation part of the week, we are responsible for conducting 3 interviews as part of our field studies seminar class. The goal of the 3 interviews is to practice for our ISP, and also hopefully learn a little more about a topic related to the NGO and possibly your ISP. Oh and also, one of these interviews has to be conducted in Hindi... eeeeek. Needless to say, I'm excited for the week to begin, and to get the ball rolling in learning more about the topic I've chosen to study for the last 4 weeks that I'll be in India. Finally, the real work here is starting!

On a lighter note, yesterday I saw my first bollywood movie in theatres, without subtitles!! For the most part I understood what was going on (sometimes they spoke a little Hin-glish .. hindi/english) which I was pretty excited about. The name of the movie was Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, and if you click on the name, I've attached one of the songs (everyone can use a little Bollywood in their life in my opinion). Its crazy how much Hindi we've all learned in such a short period of time. I never really believed in the power of cultural immersion till now, but I must say, it really does work. Emily and I have also been doing a lot of playing with baby Iman. She is getting so talkative! By talkative I mean babbling, but that's a start, right? After our trip to the Indian theatre, a group of us also went out to Haldirams, a fastfood-esque restaurant, selling street food made with clean water. Yummm!

Alright, off to the train station! Coming soon: some more 'photos of the day'!

"Don't Worry, No Hurry"

And finally, a post about Rishikesh!

This past Friday afternoon, 7 of us started our journey to the Himalayan town via non-ac sleeper train (this sounds bad, but in fact was pretty spacious and comfortable by comparison, you just wait and see) and about 6 hours later arrived in the small town of Haridwar, about a 45 minute auto-rickshaw away from the ultimate destination, Rishikesh. Naturally, like all of India we caught an auto for double the price (even after haggling, being white is a real disadvantage sometimes) and after only 10 minutes, we found out our auto driver really had no idea where he was going. Why do all of these drivers claim to know where they are?! Luckily, Emily was in ridiculously good contact with Seema Ji (we’d talked to her so many times we were now on a first name basis), the woman who owned the hotel where we stayed, and she helped guide the auto to our weekend home (side note: staying at this place cost me $12 a night.. you should all be jealous). This is one reason we had such a good weekend: We arrived to the hotel to find our rooms fully furnished, dinner waiting, and the owners of the hotel ready to help with any trip planning we wanted. Oh, and also the most refreshing breeze you could ever imagine -- (I love mountain air!!). It was so nice after worrying about every second of trip planning to have people ready to take over that responsibly. With the help of Seema Ji and her husband, our group decided to go big or go home: we scheduled a guided trek for the next morning, starting bright and early at 6 AM.

Saturday morning rolled around and the strikingly early 5:30 alarm went off, and our group assembled downstairs ready to take on the day of hiking. I don’t really think we knew exactly what we were getting into, but we all packed into an SUV to drive to the top of the nearest foothills, where we were planning to first visit a temple and then trek all the way back down from there. Like any mountain drive, the curves were sharp, roads were windy, but the views were spectacular. Being up at 6:30 to watch the sun come up over mountains is exactly why I came to Rishikesh, and the drive was totally worth it. We also passed by a series of pretty hysterical road signs, such as “License to drive, not fly”, “Speed Kills, not Thrills”, and “Driving is Risky, when drinking Whisky”. My favorite, and also the title of this post was “Don’t Worry, no Hurry”. Maybe the roads were a little safer because of the signs? I’d like to think so.

Before leaving, we spotted a man in cargo shorts, a red button up shirt, and a very bright yellow scarf. Interesting, could it be a new guest at 6 AM? No no, that just happened to be our guide for the day. The group was a bit skeptical when he had a morning cig before we started our trek up to the temple (around 300 steep steps up), but he turned out to be a very good guide. Although for some reason he thought it was funny to continuously make lion noises… other than that, yellow scarf man was a complete success. Our hike (which I originally thought was 7 km) turned out to be a 12 km trek alllll the way back down to our hotel. For those unfamiliar with the miles to km conversion, that’s about 7.5 miles. Whatttup exercise! Our hike was complete with stunning mountain views, tours of people farming land, and most importantly a stop off to a small waterfall to cool off and go for a swim. All-in-all, great day! We got back to the hotel in time for some afternoon tea and a much needed nap, and later that night we trekked over to the actual town of Rishikesh to go to the Ganga Aarti. The trek involved crossing one of the famous suspension bridges of Rishikesh, which was overrun with monkeys. I wish I was exaggerating, but the monkeys in this town may have outnumbered the dogs. And they were not friendly monkeys… we were warned at the beginning of the semester to not play around with them, and now I understand why. As I crossed the bridge I passed by a little girl crying because they were literally EVERYWHERE, no escape from monkeys. Luckily we all made it out alive and right on time to the aarti.

The aarti is a Hindu religious ceremony honoring the river every night, where songs are sung, offerings are given, and special flames are burned and the smoke is taken. Once again I am terrible at explaining these things, so please, click my link. It was a beautiful ceremony though! The children studying the Vedas at the Ashram performed the actual ceremony, and torches were lit as the sun set over the river and the deity was lit up for everyone to see. We ended our evening with a much needed dinner out over the river, and an early night to bed.

Sunday morning we slept in (much needed) and started our day with a session of yoga. Because, who goes to Rishikesh without doing a little yoga? For some reason I fanaticized that my time in India might make me more flexible… nope. I don’t think the yogi was impressed with my lack of flexibility, telling our group multiple times to keep practicing the poses at home in our free time. It was so relaxing to get some good stretches in though, even if I couldn’t bend my body in half (yes, this man bent literally in half, and then lifted himself on his arms). We left Rishikesh feeling relaxed and rejuvenated, ready to take on the many challenges of Delhi.. I was unaware the challenges would start with the trip home.

Now from the beginning we had planned to take the bus home, on suggestion from our program advisors because there was very limited (if any) space on the trains back to Delhi. It’s about 350 km to Rishikesh, so I would guess the drive to be about 5 hours, wouldn’t you? Turns out the local bus for 1) has absolutely no form of planning or pre-ordering of tickets; 2) No AC (not surprising); and 3) Is completely packed. Luckily we were travelling with the handy Sagarika, whose Hindi skills are far superior and helped us get onto a bus, where we were definitely the ONLY non-locals travelling. It started out as an alright trip, but after about 2 hours of not being able to adequately fit into the seat (being over 5’6’’ here is tough) I could tell it was going to be a loooong ride. About 8 HOURS later, after stop-and-go traffic, waves of dust, cramped quarters and a serious lack of personal space, we finally arrived back in Delhi, and managed to catch an auto home only to have him first push another auto with his foot to the nearest gas station before driving us back to Sukdhev Vihar. So it was a long journey. Our host parents late night dinnertime is finally proving to be an advantage though, as when we got home they had waited to eat and were ready to hear all about the epic journey to and from Rishikesh. It’s so nice to have a home away from home!

Wow, epic post, sorry about that. Aside from my fun filled weekend (or maybe because of my fun filled weekend?) I've spend the majority of this week battling some not-so-fun Indian illnesses. I'll spare the details. All I have to say: Thank God for antibiotics, and my very caring Hindi teachers. 

Rishikesh, part 1

Here are just a few pictures from the weekend.. look out for explanations in my next post!

 View from the top.

 Group at the Temple.

 Kendra, playing in the waterfall!

 Rishikesh and one of the famous suspension bridges.

 Diety at the Aarti.

The aarti.

Long time no post! Sorry about that, its been a bit of a busy week. Good news: Hindi exams- complete! Written, great. Oral... could have been better. Turns out I can't really speak at a proper speed. Ahh well.

BUT... Thursday afternoon, Emily and I attended our first wedding! It was nice to finally put of a set of 'fancy clothes', and go out in public, especially with the whole family. As it turns out, Khadeeja and Adil didn't really know the couple getting married all that well, so our experience was much different than I expected. We showed up to find out it was a fairly traditional Muslim Wedding, where men and woman are separated, with separate food stations as well. Fortunately, Adil has progressive female friends who were already at the wedding, and had eaten on the mens side, so our group didn't actually have to split, and we had another DELICIOUS meal (you shouldn't be surprised, clearly all my Indian experiences center around food....). The decorations were so colorful, as well as everyone's outfits. There were about 500 guests, to which we discovered was only a medium sized crowd (crazy, that's way more than I would want at my wedding). What surprised me most was the lack of music and dancing really, but our host parents said it was probably because of how traditional the wedding actually was. So to be honest... first experience, a little anti-climactic. Good thing I have more weddings to go to! Khadeeja was actually pretty upset about the lack of dancing, and promised her brothers wedding would be much more exciting. Thank goodness!

After leaving the wedding we continued the family excursion to GK1 market, and then on the way home were stuck in our first real Delhi traffic jam. Just as I was starting to get a little agitated, we hear fireworks going off and see smoke rising from under the highway bridge (don't worry, this story ends well) and realize that people around us are stopping their cars and getting out to get a better view of what was going on along the side of the highway. Turns out, we were passing a very large temple, and Thursday happened to be the festival Dussehra, which falls on the 10th day of Navrathri. The festival is a bit hard to explain (hence the link, watch the video) but essentially a large paper statue of Ravna is burned as a symbol of good conquering evil, followed by a very large and rowdy street celebration. Our Muslim host parents were not amused by the amount of traffic it caused. Another quick history lesson: Ravna is a character from the Ramayana, one of the epic Sanskrit tales about a king, a queen, a few Gods, good and evil. Once again, that was a terrible explanation- click the link! Emily and I actually saw a modern English interpretation of the Ramayana last week, so we had a bit of a background and understanding of who Ravna was, and why they wanted to burn his statue - he kidnapped the kings wife, Sita! So really we've been getting the best of both worlds: Muslim traditions at home, Hindu traditions everywhere else. Its kinda nice to see multiple perspectives of things.

Another thing I've failed to mention... a group of us decided to take a weekend trip to Rishikesh! For those that are unfamiliar, Rishikesh is know for its yoga, spiritual enlightenment, the Ganges river (significantly cleaner than the Varanasi version) and of course, as the gateway to the Himalayas (I'm in the foothills!!!). Its a bit unfair to my most recent experiences to tack them on to the end of a post, so expect more to come later about the adventures in the foothills. 

Tis the Season...

In India, tis the season to tie the knot. Adil and Khadeeja have been invited to not one, not two, but THREE weddings in the past week. Meaning naturally, Emily and I have now been invited to three weddings. Exciting huh?! The third one is actually her brothers wedding, but that should almost be counted as 2 weddings because there are so many events involved. Last night Khadeeja asked what clothes we would wear to the events, and before letting us answer called us out into their study to search through all of her saris and ghararas (traditional Muslim wedding wear) for proper 'formal attire'. So, Emily, Khadeeja and I played a little dress up, and I tried on my first sari! Aside from being extremely hard to wrap, its a beautiful piece of cloth. I'm so excited to wear one in public soon (this Thursday actually, we are attending our first wedding reception)!!

The excitement of new clothes only continues, as today I made my first trip to the local tailor. I imagined him being situated in a shop of sorts, maybe with a dressing room, something... but naturally, all my expectations were wrong (I really need to stop expecting things to be a certain way here, I am NEVER right) and we showed up to find a man perched in front of a sewing machine in a room smaller than a half-bath. I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting myself into, until he gave Khadeeja the shirts she just had made, and they were perfect! She had a shirt made that looked like it could have come out of the J.Crew catalog, for about 150 Rs. And she said that was kindof expensive for stitching. (!?!?!?!?!)  As I later discovered, the majority of women prefer to get clothes made for them from fabric, because it is cheaper and much more personal. We need to bring this fad to America!! If only visiting the tailor in Canton, Ohio was as cheap as the one in Sukdhev Vihar. Ah well. 

I also was introduced to India's version of an all-you-can-eat restaurant. They took us to a South Indian Canteen from Arunachal Praddesh, serving an endless thali -full plate including with 2 subzis (veggies), rice, dal (lentils), rotis, dahi (yogurt), multiple dipping sauces, two small soups and a sweet. You would THINK one helping would be plenty,  but in true Indian tradition, just as I came close to finishing one portion, the subzi-walla would come around and refill my plate before I could refuse. I also had the added pressures of my host mom giving me endless rotis, claiming "Rachael, your appetite has decreased so much since you joined the gym! You need to eat more!!" I found a way to finally stop the food from coming (difficult also because it was delicious) and as I write this I am still bursting at the seams. Moral of the story: Don't go to an all you can eat in India restaurant if you are accompanied by Indians. I love my host parents, but sometimes they just don't know when to stop feeding me!

The past few days I have been mulling over more detailed plans involving my ISP (Independent Study Project). I am definitely working with Jaipur Foot, but as November is coming faster than anyone could have expected, I am still trying to narrow down my topic into a focused question. Our program center is hosting a guest lecturer that has been giving talks everyday about the Social Determinants of Health as well as Health Equity in India. It is so interesting to compare and contrast the availability of treatments within a developing country and a highly developed nation, as well as how funds are being allocated to try to ease the disparity between the rich and poor in each of India's states. These lectures are helping to hone my research question, and hopefully in the next few days I'll post a more in depth description of how I'm planning on spending my last month here. Crazy that I am already planning that. If you would have asked me in June about my trip to India, I would have responded with "I'm excited, but nervous for the 30 page paper at the end!" I can say now that I'm llooking forward to being able to research a question that really does interest me (excited to write a paper, what is happening to me?!!?). AND, I can totally (somewhat) communicate in another language, with another set of characters. But that's a WHOLE different phenomenon. Speaking of that, I should probably get back to studying .... midterm on Thursday!

Udaipur!

After spending a week filled with lakefront meals and views, boat rides, festivals, thrifty shopping and village explorations.... I'm back in Delhi.

Udaipur is one of the most beautiful cities I've been to, it was tough to board the overnight back to Delhi on Friday. It is situated around 5 man-made lakes, and filled with many palaces and temples built by the Mughal Emperors. The city is also surrounded by mountains and rolling hills leading out into the Rajasthani desert. Like I said: paradise. 

We spent our first 2 days working with the NGO ARTH, who took us out into a few rural villages surrounding Udaipur where they are training ASHAs and GNM (General Nurse/Midwives) to help with maternal and neonatal care. The organization is working to supplement the government programs in places where there is limited access to care. Each day we spent probably 2-3 hours in the bus travelling to and from these villages, which just showed how hard it is for them to access the regional hospital in Udaipur. It was nice to see the contrast between the NGO and the government offices, and how the NGO is filling the gaps in care where the government is lacking. And the drives were beautiful! This was the only time thus far that I've wanted my own car to drive on the roads, because I'm sure being the driver on the back country would have been a great experience. I also made some new friends in the villages (all the little children!) and every time our group was split in half, I spent my 'off time' teaching tag and ring around the rosie to the village children (finally, some of my broken Hindi is becoming useful! Although they also speak their own dialect that I didn't understand, figures) and I also got to play a few of their games. Later in the week we partnered with the NGO Seva Mandir, who did similar work in rural villages promoting community building and empowerment. My favorite days in India thus far have been those spent in the villages with these NGOs. They are both doing great things, I am excited to be able to track the progress they make (you should all check the links as well!!).

On Friday morning we went to a government Ayurvedic Hospital, one of the traditional medicines practiced regularly in India. While on our trip to Aligarh I was very impressed by the Unani Medical College, I can not say the same about the Ayurvedic Hospital. The government facility was eerily empty, and as we toured around and learned more about the practices I became more and more turned off by what was going on. To each their own- but Ayurveda is not for me. Some of the practices they use  involve a series of 'oily enemas' (exactly what it sounds like) and induced vomiting to expel disease from your body. I guess it had better preventative practices that involve lots and lots of hot oil for massages, etc. Aside from that, our entire group left the facility unimpressed and a little turned off by the entire practice. 

Although our days were jam packed with excursions, we had most of the evenings off to explore a little bit of the city. The first day we were there just happened to be International Tourism Day (who knew that even existed?) so while at our rooftop dinner we had a small show of fireworks and traditional dancing by down by the lake. This week also happened to be the start of the Hindu festival of Navaratri, which lasts for 9 nights and includes colorful street decorations, parties, and traditional dancing called garba. It turned our to be an unnaturally good time to visit the city! The last night we were there, our amazing program staff also set up a rooftop party for us at our hotel, complete with dinner, traditional folk performances, music and dancing (and even a few beers, those rebels!). I don't think I'd be able to survive India without the overwhelmingly accommodating program staff, its been so nice having them as resources everywhere we go. And then on top of all that, they set up things like the rooftop party. Our last afternoon we were also given a surprise few hours to do a little more exploring and most importantly: shopping! I've been working on my bargaining skills, and I think I've finally come up with a (semi)effective system, as long as I'm with my American-Indians that who can try to get the 'Indian' price of things first. I'm not as savvy as I would like to be, but I finally feel like I'm getting better.

I wish I'd had more time to explore the state of Rajasthan, everything was so colorful and there seems to be so much cultural history in everything that the locals do. Good thing I'm going back to study in Jaipur (the capital of the state) during my ISP! Now that I'm back in Delhi I'm back to the grind of studying for my Hindi midterms, written on Thursday, oral on Friday. **To all you Lehigh go-ers, I feel your pain for 4 o'clocks, just on a smaller scale. Good luck studying, don't work too hard! **

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week, there are also lots more on Facebook! I am trying to also create a blog photo album .... stay tuned. 

 On Lake Pichola.

View from our hotel window!

 Boat ride!

 Mountain view.

 Navrathri decorations!

 Hike out to one of the villages. 

A few of my new friends!!

Its amazing how many different things can be accomplished in only a few short days in Delhi. I mean, maybe thats due to the fact the city caters to around 14 million, but still its pretty impressive. My weekend started with some much needed American comforts, and a trip to the Select City Walk mall. Friday afternoon when we decided to go I was unsure about what to expect, I figured it might be a few upscale shops or something like that. Once we arrived, I had reverse culture shock because Select City is SO NICE. Probably the nicest mall I've ever been in- it has 3 stories and spans 3 buildings, and caters to every American brand that you can think of, along with many other Indian designers. It turned out to be a lovely evening of relaxing in an atmosphere where I felt like I could let my guard down a little bit. A group of us decided once we were there to have snacks/drinks/coffee at the local hookah bar Mocha, which was a fantastic way to end the week. 

Flash forward to Saturday morning. After having such a lovely and relaxing evening, Emily and I woke up refreshed and very ambitious about our day. We started in Chandni Chowk, a very famous market in Old Delhi. Chandni Chowk is known mostly for the excessively large crowd, so even though we arrived early, by the time we left it was a struggle to try to think about what was going on, just because there we sooo  many people. The great part about this experience though was the street food- I have been anxious to try street food just because I didn't want to get the infamous 'Delhi belly' but because Chandni Chowk is so crowded street vendors are forced to make fresh and clean products. We had a few delicious parathas (fried rotis filled with everything from spiced potatoes to paneer to cashews) and jalebis (essentially a funnel cake then dipped into hot sugar/syrup/water... this was delicious, but 2 bites is enough to get the flavor, so much oil and sugar!). From the jawlebi stand we headed back towards the metro, but first stopped in a gurdwara, which is a Sikh temple. Before entering I knew almost nothing about the Sikh religion, and by the time I came out I had about 50000 questions to ask the nearest Sikh- you all should look up Sikhism! Through this trip I'm coming to realize that learning about and understanding other religions is not only really interesting, but makes you much more culturally aware.

You would think experiencing Chandni Chowk would be enough for one day... but the ambitious Emily and I trekked onward. We had heard about the Akshardham temple, and thought it was closed on Sunday,  so we wanted to get over to see it that day. Sidenote: its definitely not closed on Sundays. Ah well. 

By the time we arrived at the temple it was nearly 4 PM, but even from the metro you can see how spectacular the building is- bummer though, we had to check all cameras, cell phones and electronics at the door (no pics, only from the website!)  so we were alright visiting for an hour or 2 before heading home. Once again getting in over our heads: we saw the advertisement for the 'exhibitions' and thought, 'oh great, a nice way to understand exactly what this temple is!' Approximately 1 anamatronics  show, large screen movie, and interactive boat ride later it became pretty clear: we were shuffled through what I am going to describe as the mixture of Religious Teachings and Disney World. The boat ride was reminiscent to 'Its a Small World', and the anamatronics show reminded me of moving men inside the Natural History Museum. It was pretty strange to say the least. The silver lining of this whole excursion was the fact we were able to see the temple lit up at night, along with a really impressive musical fountain/light show. It really is a beautiful place, I was just completely overwhelmed with everything that had happened that day, along with the religious teachings being thrust at me for a few hours in the afternoon. Either way, once again, I learned about another religion! Like I said, I'm becoming more culturally aware... just this time it was a little unexpected.

Today has been a recovery day from the extremely busy day we had on Saturday. For the most part we've been doing lots of relaxing, besides for trying to help our host dad and his nephew shoo out a mouse from the house! We also went to the Lodi Gardens and an outdoor exhibition nearby at the India Islamic Cultural Center. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Udaipur for the week! I'd love to share what I'll be doing, but its still a mystery to me. All I know is tomorrow night I'll be nestled safely in the sleeper car, on my way to the "most romantic city in India". Who knows what awaits me there?