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!!