Its been a busy weekend here in Delhi! My new roommate Emily and I moved in with our new family on Saturday night around 5 just in time for tea,, and lots of getting to know you talk. Adil, the father, is a university English professor who teaches English literature, his wife Khadeesha works as a journalist for the BBC and their lovely daughter Iman is just 7 months old and is probably one of the cutest and quietest babies I've ever met. So obviously, we're not having too many problems communicating.. they speak amazing English! And are thankfully very excited about helping us to learn Hindi.. I can already tell its going to be a BIG challenge.
Living with new people is always a little bit awkward, as I'm finding out. Everyone is very very nice, but sometimes just simple questions can seem a bit uncomfortable to ask. Such as "How do I use your shower?" or "Is it OK that I use your shower?" I mean of course its ok, we're going to be living together for 2 months.. but just getting things like that out of the way that seem a bit awkward at times. Our first night was nice though.. but I must say Indian and American dinner time are very very different. First of all 8:30 rolled around and Khadeeja had just started to cook.. and for her, that was pretty early. We ended up eating around 9:30... still VERY early for them. Their usual dinner time is around 11!! I was a little shocked. I also got my first taste of some true Indian spices- we were babied at the program center for sure. Lots and lots of yogurt to calm the spice. Thank god I like yogurt. Also, we were instructed "Food tastes better when you eat with your hands!" and so, embracing the new culture thats exactly what we did. Yep, rice, curry, rotis, dal, yogurt... all mixed together in a very interesting fashion (i just followed their lead), to create food with your hands. Delicious, i must say! I'm not sure if its from the cooking or the hands.. but yeah.
Sunday Emily and I had the day to ourselves to explore Delhi. With the 7 month old baby our host parents don't leave the house much, but they sent us on our way on an auto-rickshaw, straight for the Lotus Temple. The Lotus temple is just as beautiful as all of the pictures. The architecture of the building is amazing, the shape itself is unique and its a feat that the temple was put together in such a way. The temple is actually a Baha'i House of Worship as I discovered this morning, when Emily and I had the pleasure of staying for one of the many services throughout the day. Baha'i's believe that many different religions all worship the same hierarchical God, so the service consisted of small prayers or readings from about 10 different religions. It was a very enlightening experience!
From the Lotus temple we traveled to the Neru mall, in hopes of seeing a Bollywood movie in theatres. Unfortunately, they all don't have subtitles, so all the more reason to start practicing the Hindi.. so we get the true movie experience. Instead we stopped and had lunch with a few others in our group.. at the Indian McDonalds. Yes of course McDonalds has spread its tentacles all over the world, but its surprisingly accommodating to the local culture - today I had a 'Big Spicy Paneer Wrap'. That's a veg item (a lot of people keep vegetarian here) and paneer is a cheese with masala (spices). Surprisingly tasty! Much better than the the American McDonalds, to say the least.
After lunch, we made our way to the India Gate. The India Gate tends to attract many tourists in the city, so naturally as you get closer to the actual monument, many people are running around trying to sell you cheap things for a very good 'deal'. We got a taste of our first scam, when Emily and another friend Becca decided to have bracelets made for 2 rupees each. After the bracelet was made a put on their hand, they were told it was 2 rupees per bead, and they actually owed 50 rupees! Of course argument ensued and soon we were running away from a small girl chasing us down demanding we pay, even though we had given the bracelet back. At one point she threw the bracelet at Emily, demanding we take it an pay. Even the small children know how to run a good scam!!
The three of us took refuge in a nearby market, called Dilli Haat which I'm sure I'll be buying many many things.. as of now I'm not that good at bargaining (surprise, surprise) so I havn't bought much yet. Around 5 we hopped on the metro to head back to the homestay, and naturally, got lost. First, we got off at what we thought was the closest stop, only to be thrust into a very crowded fresh food market. This probably would have been a fun experience but it was starting to get dark, and we were clearly the only white people in sight. I've never been stared at so much in my life. And as soon as we figured out we were in the wrong place, people started to stare even more. Needless to say, we booked it for the next metro station, which is actually closer to the homestay. From there we knew it was not far but we had to take a rickshaw. We decided to take the chance on a cycle rickshaw (yep, a man riding a bike driving a rickshaw. by the end of the ride I felt pretty terrible about it. But my teachers insist that at least it is honest wage, and therefore they all use cycle rickshaws when the distance is not far. I still don't feel very good about it. ) The driver stopped multiple times to ask directions (this should of been a sign) and dropped us off at a community which appeared to be very similar to the one we are living in. We walked around, found the correct apartment number, and alas, Adil was not there. Wrong neighborhood, as it turns out. So now its dark, we're wondering a new neighborhood, and I'm almost completely dispairing at our situation when we encounter a couple near the front gate. They can see our frustrations, and whip out impeccable English re-assuring us that they will make sure we make it back to our homestays safely. They led us to the community police, who hailed a credible auto-rickshaw who delivered curb-side service to our homestay apartment. It was quite the event! By the time we were in the rickshaw I was ready to cry with gratitude that people who truly want to help still exist, even in a scary new place, such as New Delhi after dark.
Our second night here at the homestay is already more comfortable than the first, and playing with Iman is just as fun as exploring the city in my opinion. Smiley babies are the best! And of course... the food is still delicious. Classes start tomorrow! (Thank god, an opportunity to finally improve my lacking Hindi skills..)
Living with new people is always a little bit awkward, as I'm finding out. Everyone is very very nice, but sometimes just simple questions can seem a bit uncomfortable to ask. Such as "How do I use your shower?" or "Is it OK that I use your shower?" I mean of course its ok, we're going to be living together for 2 months.. but just getting things like that out of the way that seem a bit awkward at times. Our first night was nice though.. but I must say Indian and American dinner time are very very different. First of all 8:30 rolled around and Khadeeja had just started to cook.. and for her, that was pretty early. We ended up eating around 9:30... still VERY early for them. Their usual dinner time is around 11!! I was a little shocked. I also got my first taste of some true Indian spices- we were babied at the program center for sure. Lots and lots of yogurt to calm the spice. Thank god I like yogurt. Also, we were instructed "Food tastes better when you eat with your hands!" and so, embracing the new culture thats exactly what we did. Yep, rice, curry, rotis, dal, yogurt... all mixed together in a very interesting fashion (i just followed their lead), to create food with your hands. Delicious, i must say! I'm not sure if its from the cooking or the hands.. but yeah.
Sunday Emily and I had the day to ourselves to explore Delhi. With the 7 month old baby our host parents don't leave the house much, but they sent us on our way on an auto-rickshaw, straight for the Lotus Temple. The Lotus temple is just as beautiful as all of the pictures. The architecture of the building is amazing, the shape itself is unique and its a feat that the temple was put together in such a way. The temple is actually a Baha'i House of Worship as I discovered this morning, when Emily and I had the pleasure of staying for one of the many services throughout the day. Baha'i's believe that many different religions all worship the same hierarchical God, so the service consisted of small prayers or readings from about 10 different religions. It was a very enlightening experience!
From the Lotus temple we traveled to the Neru mall, in hopes of seeing a Bollywood movie in theatres. Unfortunately, they all don't have subtitles, so all the more reason to start practicing the Hindi.. so we get the true movie experience. Instead we stopped and had lunch with a few others in our group.. at the Indian McDonalds. Yes of course McDonalds has spread its tentacles all over the world, but its surprisingly accommodating to the local culture - today I had a 'Big Spicy Paneer Wrap'. That's a veg item (a lot of people keep vegetarian here) and paneer is a cheese with masala (spices). Surprisingly tasty! Much better than the the American McDonalds, to say the least.
After lunch, we made our way to the India Gate. The India Gate tends to attract many tourists in the city, so naturally as you get closer to the actual monument, many people are running around trying to sell you cheap things for a very good 'deal'. We got a taste of our first scam, when Emily and another friend Becca decided to have bracelets made for 2 rupees each. After the bracelet was made a put on their hand, they were told it was 2 rupees per bead, and they actually owed 50 rupees! Of course argument ensued and soon we were running away from a small girl chasing us down demanding we pay, even though we had given the bracelet back. At one point she threw the bracelet at Emily, demanding we take it an pay. Even the small children know how to run a good scam!!
The three of us took refuge in a nearby market, called Dilli Haat which I'm sure I'll be buying many many things.. as of now I'm not that good at bargaining (surprise, surprise) so I havn't bought much yet. Around 5 we hopped on the metro to head back to the homestay, and naturally, got lost. First, we got off at what we thought was the closest stop, only to be thrust into a very crowded fresh food market. This probably would have been a fun experience but it was starting to get dark, and we were clearly the only white people in sight. I've never been stared at so much in my life. And as soon as we figured out we were in the wrong place, people started to stare even more. Needless to say, we booked it for the next metro station, which is actually closer to the homestay. From there we knew it was not far but we had to take a rickshaw. We decided to take the chance on a cycle rickshaw (yep, a man riding a bike driving a rickshaw. by the end of the ride I felt pretty terrible about it. But my teachers insist that at least it is honest wage, and therefore they all use cycle rickshaws when the distance is not far. I still don't feel very good about it. ) The driver stopped multiple times to ask directions (this should of been a sign) and dropped us off at a community which appeared to be very similar to the one we are living in. We walked around, found the correct apartment number, and alas, Adil was not there. Wrong neighborhood, as it turns out. So now its dark, we're wondering a new neighborhood, and I'm almost completely dispairing at our situation when we encounter a couple near the front gate. They can see our frustrations, and whip out impeccable English re-assuring us that they will make sure we make it back to our homestays safely. They led us to the community police, who hailed a credible auto-rickshaw who delivered curb-side service to our homestay apartment. It was quite the event! By the time we were in the rickshaw I was ready to cry with gratitude that people who truly want to help still exist, even in a scary new place, such as New Delhi after dark.
Our second night here at the homestay is already more comfortable than the first, and playing with Iman is just as fun as exploring the city in my opinion. Smiley babies are the best! And of course... the food is still delicious. Classes start tomorrow! (Thank god, an opportunity to finally improve my lacking Hindi skills..)
rachael that was quite an experience to say the least. im glad you remained calm and kept your wits about you.be very careful im glad your host family is nice a new baby is always nice to have around send some pictures if you get time i know you will be quite busy tell everyone i send my best reguards leroy sends his love as do i love grammy xoxo
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