Delhi!

Arriving in Delhi, for the second time, was so much less hectic during the day! Also, it was pretty nice to be upgraded to first class randomly, although I felt it was unneccesary and certainly did not need all the space, although the in flight meal options were better. Rebecca, the professor for the quarter, met us- I saw Brittany and her friend, Mary, at the Kathmandu airport, and we were on the same flight- and got us a taxi to the YWCA. After dropping our bags and getting a brief information lowdown from Keith, a program coordinator/director, the three of us went to Khan Market via rickshaw- Indians are crazy drivers as well- to get food at the Turtle Cafe and go to Fabindia to get some chemises (long tunics). Success! Also, for lunch Brittany and I split a piece of the most delicious piece of chocolate cake. I don’t know if it was post trek cravings, but it certainly fulfilled my sweet tooth! We also went to Cottage Emporium to a state store where I got a beautiful Punjab dupatta (long scarf) after failing to find somewhere for Mary to get her nose pierced. Coming back it was interesting to see people arriving from various places, many students in the program have traveled before the program, but since Delhi is only 30 min different from Nepal, I am on schedule as far as time goes, but felt terrible when I saw people arriving who hadn’t slept for way too long! Unpacking and setting aside things I need to send home, I wrapped things in plastic bags since they will be sent via sea.
Friday morning I woke up early, 6, and found an Indian Times at my door, and after getting dressed in my new purchases, went downstairs to wait for breakfast and read. The day was pretty slow going since many students had to register because they were given one year visas, rather than six months ones, while the rest of us got another information dump and the opportunity to go shop before and after lunch. I was happy that I did not have to sit in an AC waiting room for up to 6 hours as some of my classmates needed to. I did end up purchasing a few more things to wear in the hills at the Tibetan Market, we are warned about the conservativeness in the region, although a search for wi-fi at Connaught Place was unsuccessful. Lunch and dinner was the same rice, chapatis, tofu, veggie, daal at the YWCA. After dinner I stayed up and chatted with Nikki and Sam before we decided it was bedtime. I cannot help but think of arriving at Sonapani because it will be so nice to settle down somewhere finally! Being on the move for two months is difficult and was certainly a new experience that is good to know that I am capable of, although I can’t say that I’m particularly the fondest of. It’s been different the past two days being taken care of, kind of, we are on a loose leash for sure, but I am not having to deal with logistics myself that I have gotten so use to doing! As a result, I feel like there is a lot of wasted time and things are moving slowly, although I do understand that people are jetlagged and why we are easing into things, but it’s just not what I’m used to yet! India time, everything takes time.

Saturday morning after breakfast we went to the Delhi Railyway Station to meet our tour guides from the Salaam Baralak Trust for a City Walk. The NGO helps to provide future opportunuties for street children in Delhi by offering “contact points” for medical needs, and educational opprtunities. It was very enlightening to the problem, as well as what these children do. One of our tour guides, presently my age, had run away from home at the age of eight and lived on the streets for seven years. In addition to telling us about his experience, we were able to see two locations of “contact points” where people from the organization provide a space to play games, build trust with peers, as well as be around the positive influence of the NGO. Afterwards, we walked through the Paharganj where we then finished our tour, had lunch, and then broke off to get errands done, go shopping, etc. After getting passport photos and a copy of my passport/visa for a phone application, myself, Nikki, Sam and Chelsea went to the National Museum where we were able to get a student discount and pay 1 rupee rather than 300 and see artwork, textiles, as well as Indian maritime heritage in their galleries. It was a little disappointing because many exhibits were under renovation or closed. Nevertheless, afterwords, we took rickshaw to a southern area of Delhi to see the Lotus Temple, or Baha’I House of Worship. We arrived just as the sun was setting. The building reminded me of the Opera House in Sydney. After checking our shoes, we went inside, where unfortunately pictures were not allowed, because although the inside was simple, it was stunning. While leaving, lights were turned on which illuminated the buildings interesting curvature. We were late to dinner in CP at Saravana Bhavan with everyone from our program because it took a while to find a rickshaw, although somehow we managed to order last, but get our food first. No complaints there, I was hungry! Afterwards, we all walked back and I felt exhausted, and went to bed.

Sunday morning after breakfast, Maresa, Brittany and I went to the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the primary place of worship for Sikhs in Delhi. 10,000-20,000 people visit daily. We were fortunate enough to see the kitchen where chapatis were made by volunteers and go on a tour of the temple after washing our hands and feet, of course, in the large pool on the side. We were invited to come and make chapatis tomorrow which we are planning on doing! It was very cool to experience, especially having read an ethnopgraphy on Sikhs just last year. Then, meeting up with our group we went to the Gandhi Smriti Museum via tour bus. It had many digital displays in order to display his life as well as many pictures and quotes. The building it was at was actually were he was shot. In the back courtyard was a memorial marking the place of his death. It was much different than I expected; I had thought it was in a street or something because of the number of people around. We then had another South Indian meal for lunch and then headed to Bhagwan Mahavir, a temple of the Jain religion on a highpoint of Delhi. From there, we were able to see a tower, that truthfully I could not hear the significance of. We then went to the self employed women’s association (SEWA) Mahila Handicrafts Bazaar. It is a bazaar that was running for only 4 Sundays, and we attended the last one. Anything purchased here directly benefitted the women who made and marketed their goods. I found a painting and earrings for myself! Getting back to the YWCA, I recruited a couple people to go to the Sacred Heart Cathedral just down the road from where we were staying. It was a pretty church, but nothing particularly spectacular.

The following day, we were fortunate enough to have a guest lecture by Dr. Shekhar Pathak serving as an introduction to Uttarakhand, the region where we will be living and working for the next three months. Then, we will be receiving our syllabi for the quarter before packing up to head up north via train! So excited ☺!