After my many delays and long layovers at the airport.. I finally arrived in Delhi! I had an initial gut feeling I would be overwhelmed by everything in the airport, but it was surprisingly tame and I was greeted almost immediately by someone from the SIT program center ready to take me to the rest of the group. My days thus far have been filled with endless orientation meetings.. talking about everything from culture shock, personal health issues, our homestays.... speaking of, we're moving in with them on Friday! All of us are really anxious, because we will be commuting to and from the program center and our homestays everyday, as well as wherever we want around the city starting next week, when our classes start.
Interesting things that have happened thus far:
- The trip from the airport to the program center, in the car. This wouldn't normally be interesting but the people of India think traffic laws are merely suggestions. A three lane road easily turns into a 6 lane road, with cars, motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, busses and bikes weaving in an our of eachother laying on the horn as a warning that they are approaching. I was terrified in the backseat, to say the least. People also tend to walk between cars at stop lights either begging or jumping on/off the local bus lines. So so different than driving in the US. I will not be getting an international licence anytime soon haha.
- We went went on a scavenger hunt in the city today so we were dropped off at the New Friends Community Center (essentially and outdoor market/bazaar) to try to find places that would be helpful for us throughout our trip. Local internet access, places to fill our cell phone minutes, where to buy the local paper... that sort of thing. Even though everyone in our group was dressed pretty conservatively, its pretty clear we're westerners (white skin, for starters...) so immediately the beggars came up to us asking for money and food. These kids are so young its hard to say no, but most beggars are run by local pimps fueling drug rings within the city. Thats a bit overwhelming to hear and hard to remember when little kids are pulling at your hand, and today was the first day we've had real interaction with that. Its going to be interesting to see how this culture translates into the villages that we are going to visit later this semester.
- Finally (on a lighter note!) We went clothes shopping! Which involved taking the metro, which is MUCH nicer than any american metro I've been on, maybe because there is an all women's section of the train. Indians take their traditional gender roles very seriously, and we positively benefited from that today in the air conditioned and spacious womens car on the metro :). I bought my first salwar kameez, which is a long tunic, pants and scarf combined in very bright and exotic patterns. Pictures to come!
wow, that was a long post but we've been bombarded with information here in India, theres just so much to tell! More to come soon, for now I'm off to watch more Bollywood music videos... I've already become very addicted haha
Interesting things that have happened thus far:
- The trip from the airport to the program center, in the car. This wouldn't normally be interesting but the people of India think traffic laws are merely suggestions. A three lane road easily turns into a 6 lane road, with cars, motorcycles, auto-rickshaws, busses and bikes weaving in an our of eachother laying on the horn as a warning that they are approaching. I was terrified in the backseat, to say the least. People also tend to walk between cars at stop lights either begging or jumping on/off the local bus lines. So so different than driving in the US. I will not be getting an international licence anytime soon haha.
- We went went on a scavenger hunt in the city today so we were dropped off at the New Friends Community Center (essentially and outdoor market/bazaar) to try to find places that would be helpful for us throughout our trip. Local internet access, places to fill our cell phone minutes, where to buy the local paper... that sort of thing. Even though everyone in our group was dressed pretty conservatively, its pretty clear we're westerners (white skin, for starters...) so immediately the beggars came up to us asking for money and food. These kids are so young its hard to say no, but most beggars are run by local pimps fueling drug rings within the city. Thats a bit overwhelming to hear and hard to remember when little kids are pulling at your hand, and today was the first day we've had real interaction with that. Its going to be interesting to see how this culture translates into the villages that we are going to visit later this semester.
- Finally (on a lighter note!) We went clothes shopping! Which involved taking the metro, which is MUCH nicer than any american metro I've been on, maybe because there is an all women's section of the train. Indians take their traditional gender roles very seriously, and we positively benefited from that today in the air conditioned and spacious womens car on the metro :). I bought my first salwar kameez, which is a long tunic, pants and scarf combined in very bright and exotic patterns. Pictures to come!
wow, that was a long post but we've been bombarded with information here in India, theres just so much to tell! More to come soon, for now I'm off to watch more Bollywood music videos... I've already become very addicted haha
