I survived a week in India!
So I have officially been here for a little over one week! It is hard to believe that it has only been that long, I feel like I have been here much longer. In just one week so much has happened...First of all, I will describe our group. There are 19 people in my group, and they go to schools all over the US. Except for Jenny, who goes to U of I with me, and one girl that goes to Purdue, everyone goes to a private school. Most of them are on the East Coast. There are 4 guys and the rest are girls. The house I live in is very nice. There is a main level floor which is where the kitchen and eating area is, as well as the guys' rooms. Then above that is where all us girls live (also, only 11 of us live in the house. The rest are in homestays). Above that, there is a really really nice terrace where we often times sit at night and just talk. There's a really large park right across the street where the neighborhood children are always playing cricket. Also, we have a basement which is kind of a rec room with couches and computers and a TV and DVD player. We've watched a lot of movies on the DVD player but I haven't had a chance to flip thru the channels yet...altho I'm sure I'd find mostly cricket games and Hindi soaps..
Basically, we are very lucky to be living where we are. Yesterday I went into Shahjahanabad, which is you take New Delhi, Shahjahanabad is I guess considered to be "Old Delhi". It is quite different from New Delhi. Streets are twice as narrow, ten times as crowded, and the attention I get from being a white female is hugely magnified. All in all, I can say that nothing I experienced was anything that I wasn't expecting, but it was still quite overwhelming. The level of poverty was like nothing I could have imagined. I didn't feel guilty as much as just incredibly grateful for the life I was born into. It really put everything into perspective and I can't really put it into words.
Despite all of that, Shahjahanabad was very interesting in that it had some of the coolest looking little shops with beautiful clothes and jewelry! Now that I have experienced this part of Delhi, I really want to go back and see some of that stuff. Also, Old Delhi is where most of the historical sites are, like the Purana Qila (Old Fort), Lal Qila (Red Fort) and the Jama Masjid (the Friday Mosque, which is also the largest mosque in India). It is amazing how no matter where I go and where I look out, everything is so incredibly colorful and bright. Trees are everywhere (Delhi is a very green city) and everything is just made out of bright colors. Music is always playing everywhere. And the smells that I encounter never fail to surprise: whether it's cow poop on the street, marigold necklaces being sold as offerings to the Hindu gods, or samosas being deep friend in a dhaba on the roadside.
I keep trying to post pictures, but the internet is kinda slow and the network keeps getting clogged. But I will let everyone know as soon as I can get some up!
PS- India never fails to disappoint in making everyday a new adventure. Every day I cannot count the number of times I think, "well that is something I have NEVER seen before". But nothing compares to this: yesterday while walking around Shahjahanabad, a man came up to us selling beards. Yes, he was selling fake beards! I think they were papier-mache, although it just looked so funny that I couldn't tell. And he was wearing one to demonstrate! It was literally one of the funniest and strangest things I have ever seen in my life!
posted by Laura @ 9:05 AM
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