So far, the tour has been good. The people on it with me a really quite lovely. However, like with the last tour with this company to volunteer, I feel like I'm being ripped off. I don't really think I'm getting what I paid for... I found a cockroach in my shower this morning. And there was a cockroach in the mall today... Looking forward to getting out of Agra and wondering if ill be able to sleep or if ill be looking around for creepy crawlies... Anyway! Yesterday we went for a walk in Delhi and went to a mosque and a Sikh temple. Sikh temples have, in the back, what they call a community kitchen. Any person from any religion or caste can go into the community kitchen and eat and people cook and eat there 24 hours a day. It is a fantastic system, especially in this country. Volunteers can just come in and help cook and serve any time:
All day long, people sing hymns.
This morning we left the hotel at 6:30 AM to watch the sun rise at the Taj Mahal!
It was absolutely beautiful.
Obligatory Taj Mahal photo.
The Taj is decorated with inlays of precious and semi precious stones in the white marble.
We had to cover our shoes to go around inside the Taj.
Also, we went to Agra Fort and the "baby Taj."
All pictures of the Agra Fort, used by the Indian military and used to house the royal family.
Thursday was mostly uneventful except for that I got a picture with the kids during class:
and that we saw this on the way home from work (on the busiest street I've ever seen that reminds me of the circle around the Arc de Triomph in Paris):
and Friday we stayed in because it poured. Starting Thursday night and ending Friday late afternoon, it poured from the heavens. It even haled! So we didn't go to work and we actually ordered in lunch, chicken tikka masala, rice and garlic naan the actual Indian way, aka not at all like what I get at home:
Yes, I did use a fork. I just don't see the point in getting my hands dirty when there are perfectly good forks around. When we ate lunch with the children there were no forks so I did eat rice with my hands, which was interesting to say the least.
Friday, I also got a henna tattoo which I can't believe I actually got! It's part of the cultural experience, though, and it isn't permanent:
This is the kind of design that women get when they go to weddings. Conveniently enough, last night was the start of the wedding season, I'm guessing because the weather seems to be changing from cold to warm. There was a wedding parade in the main bazaar of paharganj last night:
Just some pictures of the volunteer flat because I haven't put any up:
Living room
Bedroom
Bathroom
Kitchen
The door, which is basically a gate, which is why the flat is often noisy and smoky, due to fires from down below on the street.
Batteries, which back up the electricity when it goes off, which is quite often.
Well, anyway, I'm moving onto a new Indian adventure today. I can finally say goodbye to paharganj, the place where I've been staying, and say hello to beautiful places, such as Agra, Bharatpur and Jaipur for the next week before finally returning home to New York next Saturday. Though the first couple of days were tough, I have had fun in India. I am really hoping to be able to say the same about the next week (: Also, besides that, my hotel is pretty nice and the people here are really nice and I think the whole week will involve nice hotels:
And it's also clean:
Anyway, that's all for now! Going to put my feet up and watch television before I have to go to a meeting for the tour.
Yesterday after work, we got all dressed up and went to South Delhi, actually to the mall from where the girl who was abducted from the bus stop and subsequently gang raped, ultimately leading to her death. Not letting this fact get the better of us, we went anyway. It was a very nice mall and a nice part of town, so for the first time since I arrived in India, I decided to dress in my nice clothes. The way there was fine, we shopped and had dinner, but I noticed some differences on the way back. When getting on the metro, since we were going only one stop, we got on the regular carriage with the male volunteer here. Unfortunately, upon boarding the train a man managed to get a whole handful of my ass. When I turned to him and gave him a look, he actually laughed. Needless to say, my bitchy New Yorker was threatening to come out and I glared at him dead on for the rest of the ride. On the way out, I preceded to make comments to my friends, though in English, obviously. If that were to happen at home, I would have had some very nasty words to share. However, since it was in India, I thought it better to keep my mouth shut. Then, once we were in paharganj, we were walking back to the hotel and I got several stares, including one from a man operating a moving motorcycle. Also, for those of you who have been waiting for my hair to be chopped off and sold on the black market, I got my first compliment on my hair! Well, maybe it would be best not to wear jeans again. Though, interestingly enough, many young Indian girls are wearing tight jeans at the moment, especially the closer you get to the center of the city. Anyway, back to the mall. I can't believe how much it was like an American mall! It could easily be a mall in America or Europe, featuring a Levi's store and Accesorize, as well as many American food options:
Dominos Pizza, McDonald's, TGIF, Subway and DUNKIN!!
Anyway, regardless, it was fun.
Unfortunately, today we learned that some of the boys that we have been teaching this week will not be with us tomorrow. Because it is a short-term shelter home, some of the boys will be leaving this evening, either to go home to their parents or to a permanent shelter home. We were quite sad to hear that! The boys asked us to take a picture with them before they left and my favorite little one gave me a little pink heart that he made.
I have seen a lot of travel for a twenty year old and have absolutely no intentions of stopping any time soon. At the moment, I have been to nine countries, not in order: Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, South Africa, and, obviously, the USA. According to UNESCO's (The United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) list of World Heritage Sites, I have seen the following: In the US: The Statue of Liberty, a cultural site In England: The Tower of London and "Wesminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church," all regarded as cultural sites In S. Africa: Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, a cultural site In Germany: Heidelberg Castle and Old Town, on the tentative list for cultural sites In France: Banks of the Seine, Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, and the Palace and Park of Versailles, all considered cultural sites. In India: I have already seen Humayun's Tomb and will see Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal, both in Agra and both cultural sites; I will see Qutb Minar and the Red Fort complex, both in Delhi and both cultural sites; I will also see the Jantar Mantar, which is in Jaipur, the "pink city," which is also considered a cultural site. Besides these sites in these countries, I have seen many more and will continue to see more in the future.
Not much has been happening that's worth writing a whole post on, but really I have also been slacking in terms of this blog. After a relaxing day of extremely successful shopping on Friday, we decided to go sightseeing on Saturday. First, we went to Humayun's Tomb, an official sight on the World Heritage List.
Humayun's Tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, built for him by his widowed wife, Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 AD, designed by a Persian architect brought in from present northwest Afghanistan. This was the first structure ever to use red sandstone. At such a large scale, but also incorporates white sandstone and marble. This created a precedent for future Mughal architecture, as it started a trend of extravagant architecture. This Mughal architecture reached its peak with the Taj Mahal in Agra.
(Proof that I'm actually still alive!)
Afterwards, we went to Khan market, which is an exclusive upscale place with nice shops and restaurants and had a very nice dinner. Sunday was a mostly relaxing day, we stayed in and rested up because we had work this morning, Monday morning. However, we did go for a small snack on our favorite rooftop restaurant and for a walk, which caused us to run into a celebration on the street and a shop owner that we met a couple days ago. He was very nice again last night and was nice enough to explain to us the reason why people were dancing around a fire to the sound of drums in the street. Yesterday, to our surprise, was a very popular Punjabi festival called Lohri. Though it is technically Punjabi, the shop owner whose name escapes me (because I was unable to pronounce it from the beginning) explained to us that it is really for all Indian people. It is an agricultural festival believed to have begun as a celebration of the winter solstice that eventually spread to other parts of India. According to folk lore, in ancient times, Lohri was celebrated on the eve of the winter solstice day, which is why it is now celebrated on what is meant to be the longest night of the year. After last night day light is meant to increase and nights are meant to be shorter. This is the reason why we witnessed this in the street last night and there was smoke throughout the apartment, due to the various bonfires occurring in the alleyway that leads to our apartment:
Today was a great day for teaching, also. The boys home has a more structured way of teaching. We had about 13 students and taught from 10:30 until 12:30 and the time flew by. The boys were eager to learn, we very respectful and very responsive. I'm incredibly happy that we decided to go again this morning, as we were previously unsure due to the unsafe conditions involved in the walk there. I can't wait to get back tomorrow! My only regret is that we weren't there all of last week as well. No matter, we will make due with the time that we have.
Today we met with the volunteer coordinator to get the opportunity to be involved at a shelter that is closer to our flat, to prevent the long commute to the girl's home. She didn't seem pleased with the idea, but she said we could work at one of the informal shelters nearby. We had to cross and cross back this incredibly busy street, the kind of street with the kind of crazy traffic that I believed is associated with Delhi. Due to all the walking we have done in the area that we are living in, dodging cars, rickshaws and motorcycles, I have become a little more acclimated to the traffic here. However, that couldn't prepare me for this street. I'll get a picture of it another day! While shopping in the market today, I was looking into buying scarves. The girl took us upstairs and I became overwhelmed as she was pulling out beautiful scarves and of course I love scarves so I wanted all of them. However, when it came down to the end and I didn't buy the million scarves she apparently wanted me to, she became angry and rude. So rude, in fact, that I thought about leaving the shop without buying anything at all. Afterwards, Charlette told me that it is typical in these kinds of countries and she has experienced it before. If the merchant spends time with you at all, the feel as if it is necessary for you to buy from them. Well, that explains her behavior but doesn't justify it in my mind. Culture clash! Anyway, we are off yet again tomorrow because the boys in this shelter will be away playing sports all day. So, we will go to Connaught Place and shop, maybe even see a movie while we're there. I'm excited (: I love shopping.
Due to the events yesterday, I was given today and even tomorrow off. I took today off but since my affairs are in order, I will be going into work tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be able to switch homes to the inner city one which is a five minute walk away to avoid the hour commute to the girls home where we were when my wallet got stolen. We're going to go into tomorrow and see if we can volunteer there instead. Today, our day off, we slept in and then went to the market or a little while. Afterwards, we went to Akshardham Swaminarayan Temple which is not far by metro. It is a Hindu temple that we were unfortunately unable to take pictures in, so I can't really show you. It was unbelievably beautiful and amazingly, I felt utter peace the entire time that I was there, apart from the part where I tripped over the light on the floor while I only had my socks on inside the temple. That hurt like a bitch. Then we went to a restaurant in Connaught Place, the old English Colonial center of the city, which is oddly designed in a circle and is really quite cool. We were able to do this all because of the person helping out at the Volunteer Flat who we call Mr. B, who has been awesome and extremely helpful. Anyway, I keep posting pictures on Instagram and Facebook so just check there for now! That's all for now!
More than my last travel blog, for my South African trip, I am using Facebook for pictures, due to the fact that it is linked to my Instagram but also because of the convenience of a phone over a camera, especially when wanting to really watch out for your belongings (something I learned the hard way). So, for anyone reading this who is not friends with me on Facebook, feel free to add me: Fiona Crowley, crowleyfiona@yahoo.com Or, of course, email me. Later!
Well, yesterday we went on the walking tour which is lead by former street kids, where we got to see how and where kids live on the street and how Salaam Balaak Trust can help them. It was interesting and informative, though afterwards we met with the head of volunteers who informed us that we will need to go on an hour commute there and back to the girl's home. Originally, we were told it was a five minute walk from where we were staying. We agreed and went there with her, met the kids and loved them immediately. This morning, we returned. We were teaching English and math in the morning and in the afternoon we went to the park. When we got back from the park, we started to head home. Upon arrival at the train station, I realized that my wallet had been stolen out of my bad. A credit card, a debit card, my license and my medical cards were in that wallet along with 800 rupees, which here is quite a bit of money. We have turned it over and over no figured out that it could have only been one of the girls or one of the staff, though we are thinking that it was one of the girls. They don't sound convinced that I will get it back. THANK GOD my passport wasn't there. Anyway, that further puts a damper on things. Hopefully, it will get better. Can't believe I have to say it again. Later, people.
Well, my first hour in Delhi did indeed leave up to the rumors. Upon leaving the baggage claim, the people who were supposed to be picking me up were no where to be found. So, I got in a taxi and we tried, with much difficulty, to get to the flat. I arrived at the trust where the children are, and where the flat was not. Eventually it was all sorted out and I am writing this post from the flat, but for a while there I honestly thought I was going to turn around and go home, especially since I have wanted to be home for the last couple of days. There are no other volunteers here yet but one will come later tonight, fortunately. Being in a car here is madness, essentially. There is little thought given to the cars around you. Everyone is merging and swerving, frequently honking their horns. I kept myself from tears in the cab, but it was difficult. The smog, which I was warned about previously, seems to be everywhere. It's all in my throat already as well. Also, it's cold. Very cold. It's that kind of chill in your bones that doesn't go away, like when you visit Ireland and its especially rainy. I can actually see my breath when I breathe in the flat. Well, first impressions are often quite deceiving...
Updated: Well, besides the smog in the air making it feel like I'm breathing in incense, almost being hit by a variety of modes of transportation a variety of times and my bank card not working in over a dozen banks, I feel better after talking to home. Hopefully it's only up from here, guys. By the way, on the way to the flat from the airport, my driver was asking for directions and the guy looked into the back seat at me and said "where are you coming from?" I said "New York" and he said "oh! Namaste! Welcome to India!" A comment I didn't appreciate until afterwards because I was so upset. It's one of those little gems that they say you get in India!
