Finding quiet in a noise polluted city

The past few days I've made it my goal to find places to 'escape the city' while still of course, being in the city. Traffic, noise, smells, smog and just plain trash can be a bit overwhelming at times (actually I won't lie, all the time) so after a week of arguing with rickshaw drivers and walking next to busy roads I made it my weekend goal to find a quite place in the bustling 14 million strong city. 

The original plan was to visit Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, but due to security reasons involving the recent bombing and the anniversary of 9/11, the group decided it was probably best to lay low in Delhi for the weekend. So Friday after classes ended (early, which was a pleasant surprise!) a group of us went on an adventure to Humayun's Tomb and to the Nizamuddin dargah. Humayun's Tomb was exactly the peaceful atmosphere we'd all been looking for.. immediately after walking onto the grounds the noise level decrease, pollution went to zero and there were large spans of open grassy area perfect to just walk around and get an escape from the city. Unfortunately, being white here has its drawbacks, and foreigners were charged 250 rupees to enter while Indians are only charged 10 rupees. Ridiculous markups, right?! Apparently that happens everywhere. It was totally worth the money though, the tomb and other surrrounding buildings within the kept site were beautiful. And I've really been in need of some anti-city time. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss being in the middle of nowhere! Being around so many people all the time is a bit overwhelming, so to have a little peace and quite was totally worth the extra rupees. 

Right around the corner from the tomb is the Nizamuddin dargah, probably the most famous dargah's in the world. For those of you that don't exactly know what I'm talking about (I had to look it up before going too) a dargah is a masoleum of a Sufi saint (a branch of the Muslim religion), and this one is the masoleum of Nizamuddin Aluiya. Surrounding the dargah is a very dense and winding path where many vendors are selling flowers, incense, and appropriate clothing to wear while inside. This enviornment could not have been more opposite from the Tomb! Loud, crowded, hot, and slightly uncomfortable, because non of us are practicing Muslims. But, our program director told us that twilight was the time to go, and so that's when we went. We conveniently showed up during the last namaz of the day (prayers), and got many looks for being a large group of white girls that looked like they were lost. Fortunately we all had our heads covered, so we really didn't run into any issues, I was just feeling a bit insensitive for not understanding what was going on while we were inside (the mixture of lack of knowledge of Sufi practices as well as the never-ending language barrier). Word to the wise: never wear a raincoat in India. I only say this because, as we were leaving the dargah a girl in our group pretty suddenly fell ill, unable to support herself and walk around. Being a group of students studying health issues we handled the situation perfectly well (got her eventually to the hospital to make sure everything was OK), but it was scary seeing how easily someone can become dehydrated and overwhelmed with everything going on. It really is never a dull day in India. 

Saturday I continued my search for the serene locations in Delhi, and went to the free (!!!) Lodi Gardens. I might have finally found a place to run outside (when its not 95 + humidity during they day...) and study/ relax in the afternoons. Great success! A group of us also escaped from the late mealtime and Indian cuisine and went to a local thai restaurant for dinner. When we got home around 9 we were informed that members of the family were coming over (including the groom-to-be) to do some wedding planning and hang out with the baby. The bustling flat reminded me of when my family members just stop over to our house, the only difference being that here people stop over around 10 PM, and at home my family comes over before 8 AM. Total time difference for sure! 

This week the group is travelling to Aligarh to get a look at the various levels of the Indian Health Care system. We're all going to get our first look at the real rural India, and I couldn't be more excited.

Blasts and 'Quakes

Whether or not you read the International News, here's the latest from Delhi:

Yesterday there was a bomb blast at the high court gates, which killed 11 people and left around 70 others injured. I'm not saying this to freak anyone out, I was completely safe at the program center, in Hindi class,  and we didn't actually find out until later that day. Our program director mentioned it to the group pretty non-nonchalantly actually, explaining that as long as we stay in safe relatively un-crowded areas for the rest of the day, we would be fine. No large news yet on a confirmed group claiming responsibility for the attacks, but you can read all about it on CNN if you're more interested.

Finally I'm starting to feel like I'm getting into a schedule here. Hindi class in the morning, a short tea break (I've becoming completely addicted to chai), more Hindi, a lecture, lunch, and study time/random afternoon meetings. I'm actually starting to feel like a high school-er, because that's a pretty long day. Leave the homestay around 8:00, leave the program center by 3:30. Good news is, we're all really starting to pick up the language! I can almost successfully bargain with a rickshaw driver, which is pretty key because Emily and I take one every morning. Except for mornings when the refuse to drive us, like Wednesday, when we had to venture into other modes of transportation, such as the 'joint-taxi' that took us down the street for 10 rupees each (not a bad rate!) thankfully they understood where we wanted to go, so no mix-ups there. I learned my lesson in getting lost in Delhi once, don't need to get lost again!

Emily and I have also been spending the early afternoons exploring the local community centers around our neighborhood, just to have some things to do in the afternoons instead of heading straight home. We both got our first henna tattoos of the trip, which surely will not be our last, because WE GOT INVITED TO A WEDDING!!! Khadeeja's younger brother is getting married on October 29th, and we have been cordially invited by every family member we have met of hers thus far. The wedding will of course involve lots of henna, lots of dancing, and a sari which Khadeeja promised to help us both pick out. AHH I'm so excited! It was really the one thing I wanted to experience while in India... and as luck would have it, I'm staying with someone who has a marriage in the family. YAY!

So also, on top of the bomb blasts and warnings from the state department to keep out of crowded areas, Delhi also experienced a little seismic activity the other night! It was definitely a pretty sizable earthquake, but it lasted only a few seconds so there was no damage, the host parents were just a little frazzled after the long day. And so was I.. I didn't realize till now, but I'd never really felt an earthquake before.. truly experiencing lots of new things in Delhi i guess!

I'm also seriously craving a salad right now. My host mom's cooking is delicious of course, but sometimes romaine lettuce is just what you need. Here fresh vegetables require a serious course of soaking in a special solution, and then they should be pealed, and probably then be cooked. Delhi has a lot to offer, but I don't think a good clean salad is one of them. I complained about the lack of selection in the Mercersburg Summer salad bar, and now I'm complaining about the lack of salad in India. What's wrong with that picture? Ohh the comforts of America...

Picture Update

Instead of writing today, I thought I'd add a few pics of what I've been up to. Enjoy!

 

Lotus Temple, next to the water basin.        

    A view from in the slums. Yes, that's a goat. We also saw chickens and lamb living in that area with them.

 A few of the people we met in the slums. They all wanted their picture taken! Especially the children!!

 

My new roomie Emily and I before heading to the homestay for the first time. 

And Iman, the lovely little girl we're sharing a house with!!

              An explanation of the faith practiced at the Lotus Temple, Baha'i.

Exploring the Slums

This morning we had our first day of classes... and Emily and I successfully took the rickshaw to the right location, our program center! We're making major strides in being able to travel around the city via rickshaw, especially at a decent rate. Our morning started with the first of many Hindi lessons - Aap se milkar khushii huee! (It's nice to meet you!) - and a grammatical lesson. But, our day was really focused on our first excursion.. a trip to the North Eastern corner of Delhi into the Sanjey Vihar slums.

We took a bus out to the slums and were met by the regional directors of the Hope Foundation, or Chotton Ki Asha as they are called here, who were the people taking us in to see the work they have been doing. We were led to their tiny office in the central area separating 2 different slums, which were divided by who owned the land (one side was the railroad corporation, and the other was the Iraq's Embassy). There we were briefed on the HOPE mission, which was to decrease maternal, neonatal and child morbidity within the slum area.

From the office we took our first steps down the streets, which were surprisingly paved with cement, and a small ditched separated the personal residences from the street. The ditch had a flow of water and trash, and we saw multiple children playing and peeing in it as we passed by. Each of the residences were probably no bigger than the average bathroom size, if not smaller, with only proper walls and a tarp covering for a roof. Each of the residences had siphoned off electricity though from the local power lines, as we weaved in and out of power lines coming from ever direction.. and we soon discovered that they also had drilled into the local water lines to siphon off their own water as well. This is one of the many reasons India is having such a problem with clean water.. it becomes polluted from the source and it is impossible to know where exactly your water has been before it arrives in your house. The slums? Who knows. We were led to a school of sorts along one of the slum streets, which had about 35 3-6 year olds inside learning a lesson and waiting for lunch (a food ration provided for children of this age, as part of the HOPE initiative). As we stopped to talk about this particular HOPE project, we had an opportunity to interact with some of the children in the slum. Most of the children were just as happy as ever, unaware of their living situation, and just excited to exchange a few sentences with each of us to test our Hindi or their English a bit. And as soon as a camera was brought out... all was lost. The children were SO EXCITED at the opportunity to have themselves photographed. In fact, they started requesting for me to bring my camera out and take their photo, promising to smile and hugging their friends in each of my pictures. Most of these children were born and brought up in the slums, and have a family history of living there for almost 30 years now, even though all of the residents are illegal squatters. These children know nothing else, and seem not to care that they're only receiving the bare minimum of nutrition... the outlook on life amazes me. Walking through a place such as this really gives me perspective on my life back home. Although our house is of average size, to anyone I have met here it would be a mansion of epic proportions. Having my own room, more than a handful of belongings...  I urge you all to count your blessings in the coming years, because clearly your life is not as bad as it may seem.

After leaving the small school of children we were on our way out talking about pregnant mothers, and giving birth at home vs. giving birth in a hospital setting. In parts of India there is common ritual around the birth and therefore many women do not want to go to the hospital, even though it is much safer for themselves and the baby. Our guide was telling us about their initiative to get women to the hospital to deliver and see the doctor in the first months of the babies life to receive shots and immunizations. Just as our conversation was coming to a close, we happened upon a woman with a 12 HOUR old baby. Delivered just last night, in the private area just inside where she (the mother) was greeting us with her beautiful (and sleepy) baby girl. This is the first time I've seen such a young life.. and to see the conditions of the birth it was a miracle that the baby seemed to be healthy and doing fine, as well as the mother. She slept calmly in our professors Abid Ji's arms as he translated his conversation with the mother for us.

Truly and eye opening experience. And I know this is just the first of many.. we found out later that afternoon that 1200 people were housed in the slums where we were, and in Delhi alone there are about 1800 slum villages. 1800! The numbers are mind boggling. That's probably (well definitely) more people in the slums of Delhi than in the greater Canton area in Ohio. This afternoon a representative of the HOPE foundation came to tell us more about their organization, and what they have been providing for mothers and children in many slums around Delhi, and around the world. Basic education, childhood immunizations, care and food for those under 6, just to name a few. What an amazing thing they are doing!

I'll go to sleep more thankful than I was the night before. For the experience, for my family, for my life. As unsettling as it is for me to see people living the way they do, to see how happy they made me realize that life is not all bad. Staying positive is half the battle, right?

PS- click the links! 

Meet Adil, Khadeeja, and Iman

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..)

A few pictures (as promised!)

 This is Kahn Market, one of the places that we went shopping this week, it looks surprisingly empty in this picture..

 This is Gotham Ji and Archina Ji, two of my language teachers for the semester, we're all wearing the normal Indian everyday wear! We were on our way to celebrate Eid with a local family, which is why Gotham Ji is wearing white.

 Another one of the markets we have been to.

An example of how cows are literally everywhere, and are just roaming about. This was taken near our program center, which is in Jasola Vihar, New Delhi

Mera naam Rachael hai!

Well, thats transliteration, I couldn't find the Devangari script for this format, but we had our first informal hindi lesson, and thats one of the phrases that we learned in preparation for our homestay pickup, which for me is TOMORROW MORNING! (in case you're missing what that says, it says my name is rachael) As part of our orientation this week we started our hindi lessons where we learned that when classes start on Monday, we will be in class learning hindi for 2.5 hours a day.. at least. Looks like I'm going to be pretty good at the language by the time i get home! Along with our Hindi orientation we took a look at the Heath and Human Rights seminar/Field Study Seminar work we are doing this semester, I'm very excited to get classes started, the lectures and excursions that we are taking should be very interesting. Sneak peak: We are going into a slum on Monday, Udaipur next week, maybe Varanasi in October... very very busy! 

Along with all of our academic orientations my new-found Bollywood obsessions were fulfilled, and we watched "Three Idiots" a Bollywood comedy about 3 college engineers (funny, Engineers in India..) The movie was of course not complete without the endless song and dance, and I recommend you all look up the song "All Iz Well" as its been stuck in my head all week. 

This afternoon we were supposed to be picked up by our homestay families, but my family was out of town, celebrating the Muslim holiday Eid-il-Fur, the end of the month Ramadan.. but they are picking us up tomorrow morning. My new roomie Emily and I learned that they have a 7 month old baby, the dad works at a University, and the mom works for the BBC. And is also an amazing cook. I'm a little nervous to be finally moving in, but I think that its going to be alright, It's going to be really great to have a roomie at the homestay, and the two of us are already getting along very well.. needless to say we're very excited to finally be moving in tomorrow! I'm sure its going to go well, but I can't help but be a little nervous. 

I'll leave you all for now with a few pics.... next stop, homestay family!