Last Few Days... :-(

Last Few Days...

So these have been my last few days at Sangam and working with the kids from the Creche. Starting Monday they came here to Sangam to swim and play. My kids came today, Wednesday, and we had a blast! Just seeing them stare out the window on the drive to Sangam was so cute. They loved the pool and were really confident in the water (minus the few that latched onto my neck!) But all in all they were great and it was such a wonderful experience for them, and me!
I'm headed out tomorrow for Goa, the beach! Yes Mom, I have packed my sunscreen. Yes Dad, I have packed my camera. I figured before I went away for a week and lost contact with all you faithful readers, I'd leave you with some pictures from the last few days here. The first couple are of my kids at school, then some of the girls and I here on our last Maharastra Dinner night, and then of my kids here at Sangam. Hope you enjoy! Will see you soon!

~ Namaste

Winding Down... :-(

Can you believe it...I've been here almost 3 whole months. It feels like yesterday I was walking out of the airport in Mumbai and thinking, "wow, I am in India". Now I can't imagine going back..

The past week and more has really just been a lot of bringing things to a close. Work has been a little bitter-sweet. The kids started to realize I was leaving and each day they would say, "Dee dee, No America, No America Dee Dee". It was so cute and that's what will make it hard to leave. The last few days of work I did some review with the kids then had them make a pinata. I am going to take it into work on Thursday (which is my last day in the Creche). Friday was my last full day in the Creche so the teachers threw me a little party. During lunchtime they each brought out something that they had made. One woman was in charge of the rice and had cooked a lot of wonderfully flavored rice. Another woman did chappattis, while one teacher made the most delicious chicken curry I had ever had. (Unfortunately I had to break my lenten fast, but I figured this was acceptable). It was such a delicious meal and they even had sweets for dessert. I had to take it all in and it was hard to realize this was the last time I would eat lunch with these women, on the floor, in India. It was a really nice day at work, one I will never forget.

We had our last Hindi lesson this week as well and afterwards met with some of the Sangam staff to do some closing things and evaluations. This coming week we will have an official closing and dinner/bowling night. This weekend was pretty fun. Holly and I went out Friday night to a cafe just to hang out and listen to some music. We met some friends that we know from here, but they had to leave early. So, as Holly and I just sat chatting (taking up a very large seating area meant for more people) 3 guys approached trying to explain there were no more seats and would we mind if they joined us. Holly and I looked at each other and figured it was ok, and it turned out to be such a cool night. The guys were from Iran, they came to India to study and also to learn English. Their English definitely wasn't that great, but they were trying and Holly and I had a blast listening to the expressions that they got wrong or were slightly off but hilarious. The part that I found the most interesting though was listening to them speak about their country and their experience. One of the guys explained that they can't "be free" in Iran, and he said that he has been more relaxed in Pune for 2 weeks than he was his country for his whole life. They explained that their country is beautiful and breathtaking, but it's just difficult to live there. As we left he said "I hope I change your idea of Iran and people of Iran". Another thing I love about being abroad; meeting people from all different backgrounds and changing your perceptions. I had a whole new idea of the country and learned a lot that I hadn't known before.

So now it's Sunday and Holly and I are being lazy bums. Next week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the kids from our creche's are coming to Sangam. Each creche will come for one of the days with 30 kids. My day is Wednesday! So we won't be going into creche those three days. But Thursday will be our last actual day in the creche. I'm just going to play games with the kids, bring the pinata, and I bought them icecream as well which will be delievered at lunch. We have a half day, so Holly and I are going to pack up for GOA! We are leaving for Goa, THE beach city in India,on Thursday and staying there until Tuesday. So, you won't be hearing much from me after this! When I get back from Goa on Tuesday I have 3 days in Pune to tie up any loose ends and say goodbye to my second home, then I leave for Jersey on Friday. So,
maybe you'll hear from me once more, but for now I am going to get ready for my vacation - I'm just bringing sunscreen, a towel, my bathing suit, and my i-pod. It will be a nice ending to an amazing life experience...

I'll catch some rays for you.


~Namaste

Holi 2

Holi begins...

Holy Holi !!!!

So this past Wednesday I took part in one of the greatest celebrations/holidays that I have ever seen (I am not saying it was anything like Christmas, this was a whole new ballgame). The holiday is called Holi, and some call it the Festival of Colors, for some obvious reasons. I'll give you a little background on this crazy day.

Holi is a Hindu spring festival observed in India, Nepal, and other countries with large Hindu populations. The festival lasts a few days, but the main day, Holi, (which was Wednesday) is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and colored water at each other. The spring season, which begins when the weather starts to change, is thought to cause fevers, and colds, and illness. Thus, the playful throwing of natural colored powders has a medicinal significance: the colours are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by homoeopathic doctors.

So that's a brief history, although there is a lot more in terms of traditions and stories and myths that I can share with you when I get back, but now you get the gist. So..what did we do to celebrate?! Well, I'll tell you...

My Holi got started a little early actually, at my Creche on Tuesday! Since the kids would be off for the Holiday they let them celebrate in the afternoon on Tuesday. It was so cute to see how excited they were all day...like kids in school at home the day before Christmas Eve. They were just hopping around like they were full of sugar! At around 4:00 we went outside and celebrated Holi. We had buckets full of water that the kids kept on dumping on each other, and me, and then refilling. All at the same time we were rubbing these colored powders in each others faces, and smearing it on every inch of body that was showing. It was so much fun and the kids were having a blast. They didn't stop until all the colors were gone and there was no more water left to take. It was so nice to be able to celebrate such a huge holiday with them.

The next day, all the Sangam staff got together and decided to start the festivities right here in our own "home", in the gardens out back. We had hoses which we were spraying each other with, and tons of colors to get completely covered. Once we were all unrecognizable, we thought it would be great to celebrate in true fashion; with our neighbors! So, with tubs of water and colors in hand we ventured out across the street. It was so much fun walking through the village looking for children to smear with colors. As long as they looked like they had already been playing, or looked mischeiveous, we didn't let them get away untouched. We had lots of children chasing us with water guns and colors as well. We even visited a lot of the women who work here in their houses and celebrated Holi by getting them with colors too! On our walk back, we had a traditional holi surprise as Sara got egged on the head. We said it wouldn't have been Holi without someone getting egged...I'm just realllly glad it wasn't me :-)

After we had colored the town, we headed back to Sangam to re-group. At this point we were pasted in these powders and soaking wet from all the buckets of water children had dumped on us. And to believe we weren't done yet! We hopped in a few rickshaws and headed out. Kids our age celebrate at home with their families first, then go out with their friends. Since this is a day festival, there are clubs that open from 11-4 outdoors to celebrate Holi. We went to one of these clubs and it was crazy! We walked past some tight security > they confiscated our colors, apparently they were handing some safe, non-toxic colors out inside. On one half of the area there were stands with food and drinks and tons of picnic tables where people were chatting away covered in colored powder. On the other side of this area, was a huge dance floor area where people were grooving to some really cool Hindi and Bollywood music. The most amazing thing though was what was going on above the dance floor. There were pipes running above the dance area which were pouring out water. Basically it was like dancing in the rain. We didn't wait long to head into the rain dance. It was crazy because as people would play with the colors the water was constantly washing you off, but the ground was just multicolored and people were having so much fun. It was the most amazing sight to see.

Coming home in the rickshaw I kept on thinking how beautiful this country is..I mean, no matter what hardships people are facing when it comes to a celebration they truly go all out. And it's so different too! I don't know when else in my life I'll be able to participate in a holiday/celebration across the world. It was one of the most fun days of my life and truly an experience I will never forget.

Quick Update

I know, it's been a long time, I've been slacking off. But that's a good thing right! It just means that I'm too busy loving India to take a second to write any of it down! Luckily my sister-in-law gave me an amazing journal and I've been keeping that up to date, so I'll fill you guys in on some things that have happened lately.

So Holly and I have been busy on the weekends doing lots of shopping and exploring. One of our most recent trips, we headed to Laxmi Road for some material. We went to an amazing store with just piles and piles of material. I immediately saw a million things I wanted! I picked out about 4 different materials, each which I saw transforming into a different piece of clothing (a skirt, pants, a long skirt, etc). I love going to the tailor and just placing these stacks of material in front of her, describing what I want, and knowing that in a weeks time it will be there in my size! And to imagine that's the cheaper way to do things here...
Another adventure we had was on one of our days off. We had Hindi lessons on a Wednesday and afterwards we went for cooking lessons! A woman who is affiliated with Sangam had us over to her house. She had chappati dough all ready for us, she wanted to teach us how to roll it out. It was so much harder than it looked. Muriel did great, but Holly and I struggled a bit. Holly's chappati's ended up looking like..well, India kinda. And mine were just flat out square. Oh well, it made for an interesting meal. We also learned how to make a potatoe dish as well as learning about all the spices Indians use in their dishes. It's amazing to see the aray of spices that go into something as simple as rice.

Last weekend we ended up finally going to see a "Bollywood Movie", or what we thought was going to be Bollywood. It wasn't really, and it just ended up being a Hindi film. The whole movie was in Hindi, so Holly and I sat between Aruna (our 'house mother' here) and she translated some things. It's amazing though that you don't really need language for certain things, I pretty much got the gist of the movie. The movie was called Delhi-6 and I actually really enjoyed it. It portrayed India in a very realistic light and it reminded me of all the things I love about this country, and will miss so much in the coming month.

Day 4/5 - Welcome to my Life

So, here I was, waking up in my Sangam bed and headed down to breakfast when I realized, Mom was here too! It was so strange to wake up with Mom right down the hallway, but definitely a very cool feeling, and it felt just right!
After breakfast Mom, Mrs. Holmes, and I headed out in Pune! We started our adventure at Aga Kahn Palace. This is a huge mansion and area where Gandhi was held prisoner for a time with his wife and beloved secretary. We walked through the rooms where they have some details about Gandhi's life and even some personal items that he had on him during his stay (sandals, necklaces, etc). As we headed out back we found the area where the ashes of Gandhi's wife and secretary were placed since they both died during their stay at the palace. Before we left we turned around and realized Gandhi's ashes were there as well! It was strange because it's not something that is advertised too much, but it was such an honor to be able to pay respects to such a history altering and amazing individual.
After the palace we got into another rickshaw and headed to my work site. I wanted to share with Mom and Mrs. Holmes where I work everyday. The teachers and children were so excited to see the both of them. The kids had definitely washed up knowing there were visitors coming. The girls had their hair done all nice; I told Mom and Mrs. Holmes they should feel really special. We visited for a bit with the kids and they even sang a song I had taught them. After that we said our goodbyes and headed out on the town! I figured the best place to start was shopping!! We left for my favorite spot, MG Road. When we got there we grabbed some lunch first. We ate at a restaurant famous for their dosa's (pancake like food stuffed with anything, but traditionally potatoes). We ate a delicious meal for $4...for the four of us. (I don't know how I am ever going to come home to America after eating sooo well for less than a dollar) After refueling, we headed out! I brought Mrs. Holmes and Mom to some of my favorite spots, and they did a good job bargaining for the most part, haha. They got some great deals, and they looked like they were having fun while they were doing it! The best buy though had to be their punjabi suits! They both got beautiful suits for reasonable prices. After getting all shopped out we hopped in a rickshaw and I decided to stop at our tailors on the way home. Mom and Mrs. Holmes were leaving in exactly 24 hours, we I wanted to see if he could tailor their suits. AJ just laughed, "I'll be over to Sangam by 8 pm, ok?" (Sidenote: it was 3:30). The smiles on the girls faces made my whole day. In only a few hours they would be true Indian women! It was really cool knowing that AJ would be able to do that for them so quickly. When we got back to Sangam we had dinner and shortly after, I got the girls into the welcome ceremony. This had to be one of the highlights of the weekend for me...it was so nice to share such a special ceremony with the both of them. The whole time I was standing there I kept thinking, "wow, almost 2 months ago I was standing here thinking, if only Mom was here...this is so her, and she is a huge part of the reason I am here" (Dad, you're the other reason). It's something you just have to experience, and I think can only appreciate fully being a Scout. I was so happy Mom got to be there for this...sharing 15 years of Scouting with her, it all has led up to a moment like that. I think they both enjoyed the ceremony as well. We headed to bed after a short chat outside by the pool.

Our second day at Sangam began with breakfast then a rickshaw ride to the infamous Osho Meditation Resort. We were told that the morning tour was over, but we bought tickets for the 2:30 tour. We had the afternoon to spend out, so I thought what better than to...go shopping!!! Again!! haha, this was a little different though. We headed to Laxmi Road, and straight for bangle alley. Here, the girls were celebrities. The men were so excited to get them in their shops and squeeze some bangles on their hands. We spend a good chunk of time here, and I think Mrs. Holmes left a good chunk of her wrist there as well (from all the squeezing). The girls left with some good buys, and we kept walking. I thought it would be neat to see the markets. We peeked in the fish market and walked through the fruit/veggie market. Mrs. Holmes noticed that the carrots are red here, so she wanted to buy one. We did..we bought just one carrot..haha. Crazy foreigners. After the markets we walked around to Line Bazaar. This is just a realllly tinnny street with a LOT of shops and a LOT of people. It's really an experience in itself to walk in and around the people. I think after all that the girls were a bit tired, so we grabbed a rickshaw and headed back towards Osho. We ate a small lunch and walked to the Resort for our tour. We were instructed to first sit for a 30 minute video before our tour. I'm really not supposed to talk about it much, I'm not supposed to influence your decision on the Resort and its practicies...you'll all just have to come to Pune yourself to experience it. Even the tour was silent..but to just tell you a little something, the resort was gorgeous. I felt like I was in another world. It was a "we're not in Pune anymore toto" kind-of moment. There were these modern looking buildings, tons of greenery, and lots of running water in the forms of man-made streams and fountains. It's something like out of a sci-fi novel, "in the middle of the dusty roads of Pune lies a resort, a utopia some call it, where the people all dress the same, and the water runs freely through your body as you lie on the grounds taking in the fragrance of the flowers..." :::twilightzone theme playing in the backgroud::: :-)
We all enjoyed the experience in our own way though. We headed back to Sangam. When we got there Mom and Mrs. Holmes packed up their stuff and there was an early dinner waiting for them. After all that I headed out with them and loaded them into a rickshaw. It was really hard to say goodbye, but I held it together, for Mom at least. After she left though I realized how nice it was to have her here. It was so nice having someone here to see what my life is like, to know what I'm doing here, to LIVE it; at least part of it with me. It also made me miss home a lot too, especially Dad...and Dave, and Kev, and Kate..and the rest of the family. But, even though it made me miss all that stuff, it was so worth having Mom here. It may have been a few short days, but they are the most memorable days of my life where I saw things people will never see in their lifetime. And I got to share my Indian life!

So Mom, Mrs. Holmes...thanks for visiting! I had a wonderful time..and thanks for taking me along on your journies!

Day 3: Monday, Feb 16th - Delhi

So this morning we took our time getting up. We had asked Gansing to pick us up around noon and take us around for our last day in Delhi. So, after breakfast since we had some time we decided to go our exploring on our own! Was that interesting... everyone wanted to help us, well, show us to some shopping center. It's funny how cultures can be so different. We were actually getting frustrated with everyone coming up to us and grabbing our map or pointing in a direction and telling us to follow them this way. We would kindly say, "no thank you, we're just walking and exploring". We thought maybe we should have taken some more advice when we stumbled upon a cross-dressers neighborhood. But hey, that's part of the experience right! Yes, there are cross-dressers in India! We headed down another alley way where we found some people selling bangles. Mom and Mrs. Holmes got their first taste of bangle shopping and it was a success. We finally made our way back to the hotel where Gansing was waiting for us! We checked out of the hotel, loaded up the car, and headed off to the India Gate. We got to a huge open area which we realized to be Parliment. It was interesting to see how similiar it was to Washington D.C. There were a lot of television cameras, lots of green grass and flowers, and lots of buildings that were definitely from the British. We just jumped out quickly, took some pictures, then jumped back in the car. Now we were headed for Humayun's Tomb.

The tomb of Humayun was built by the orders of Hamida Banu Begum, Humayun's widow starting in 1562. It took 8 years to build and had a Chahr Bagh Garden style in its design, which is a Persian-style garden layout and was the first of its kind in the South Asia region. (A little history for you!) The area around the Tomb is again so beautiful, with gardens and flowers and lots of trees. The tomb was actually the inspiration for the Taj Mahal, so you can see a lot of similarities. We walked around the complex and then up the amazingly steep stairs that lead to the actual tomb. For being such an important figure in history, Humayun's cenotaph is just placed in the center of a large room and you can go in and even touch it. We took lots of pictures again, especially of the ornate designs on the tomb and buildings. After that we jumped in the car, and after a brief lunch we headed to Qutb Minar.
Qutb Minar is the world's tallest brick minaret. It was built in 1193 under the orders of India's first Muslim ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and the topmost storey of the minaret was completed in 1386. It is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins, collectively known as Qutb complex. The purpose for building this monument has been speculated upon. It could take the usual role of a minaret, calling people for prayer or could be a tower of victory, a monument signifying the might of Islam, or a watch tower for defense. Either way it is a very important strucutre in Muslim history so we decided to look around the complex and learn about its history. It's unbelieveable some of the carved columns we saw, so intricate in design it was amazing. There was a large iron pole in the middle of the complex believed to be a symbol of Muslims coming to India that is said to have been put there in the year 300! During our walk around I took a stop to look at the map and Mom and Mrs. Holmes went ahead. When I caught up to them, I found a them with a group of 4 teenage Indian girls who were each individually taking their pictures with the two of them. I thought this was hilarious, but it seemed like a lot of people appreciated us being there, as foreigners. We noticed it was getting late, and we still had one stop to go! So we jumped in the car and headed for the Garden of Five Senses.
The Garden is a newer attraction here in Delhi, so it was definitely a little under-tended to, but what was there was gorgeous. They had some really beautiful flowers and the area itself was designed very well, very modern yet earth-conscious. The had a lot of artwork throughout the gardens which I appreciated. I even got to ride a....CAMEL! No, not an elephant, but the camel was pretty cool. His name was Babu and I rode him around an area in the garden. That was pretty fun. We were in the gardens until just about sunset. At that time we got in the car and headed for the airport.
Our flight back to Pune was only delayed by 30 minutes, and it was a pretty good flight if you don't count the really loud/strange noise that came from the top of the plane as we landed..but it was fine apparently! We got out into the parking lot and hailed an autorickshaw to take us home to Sangam...well, my home while I'm here. We reached Sangam by 12:30 and slipped right into bed...another good day behind us.

Day 2 - Agra!

Day 2 : Sunday, Feb 15th - Agra

-----. That was me...speechless. Did you hear it? You can guess what we did today...The Taj Mahal! We got picked up by Raj, our driver, at 7 am. We were given bags with our itinerary, postcards, water, it was so cute! The hotel gave us a packed breakfast, and we were off! We just kept our eyes on the scenery on the way there, passing the small villages, cows, crop fields, and of course temples. We stopped 1/2 through so Raj could pay a special tax and so we could grab a quick snack. The whole trip is about 4.5 hours, so it was nice to get our and stretch our legs. I got so many compliments on my Saree! The people at the rest stop wanted to know how much I paid and were impressed by my good shopping deal. As we got closer to the Taj we picked up our guide, Kamil. We got to the parking area and had to board a special battery operated bus. There are no factories in Agra and no cars are allowed in a certain distance for protection of the Taj Mahal. (Pretty amazing, huh?) As we entered through security we got to the outside area of the Taj. Here was where there were 124 rooms that Shah Jahan allowed the poor to take turns sleeping in and he gave them food and shelter.
There are three gates that lead into the Taj. We entered the east gate, and as you walk through the gate the Taj is just placed perfectly in the center of your view. It couldn't have been more perfect. I didn't think I could feel anymore admiration or love for India as I do, but a whole new feeling emurged in me as we saw the Taj. We had the most beautiful day as well, blue skies; no fog, no clouds. The Taj looked sparkling white against the blue sky. We immediately began snapping shots as we walked around the outside of the gardens. There weren'that many tourists walking around the outside of the gardens so we could enjoy the view on our own. We took a seat on a bench, and the whole time Kamil talked about the history of the Taj (which I had already known thanks to my Timurid and Mughal art class and Professor O'Brien) I kept on thinking "wow, here I am, sitting on a bench in front of THE Taj Mahal in India, with Mom...wow". We finally climbed the stairs to the platform. There are a lot more stairs than it looks like, the Taj placed pretty high. We got close to the engravings on the marble and got in line to see the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and his wife. For a brief history lesson, listen up: building of the Taj began around 1632 and was completed around 1653. It is actually a mausoleum, a tomb, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died in child birth. It is therefore considered the symbol of love. The gardens I said we walked through are called Chahar Bagh which is a four-fold garden. The four pieces are actually split up again into four sections giving 16 separated sections of garden area. SO anyway, we saw the cenotaphs and looked at all the engravings. We went out the back and looked at the river which most people forget sits to the back of the Taj. While we were out back a woman asked me to take my picture infront of the Taj (a lot of Indians really like seeing Westerners in Sarees). I asked her to take one with me! We walked around a bit more, seeing the guest house and then walked back up to leave.
When we left the Taj we went to a special place. Apparently there is only one family that holds the secret on how to make the gem-stone inlay on marble that is found on the Taj. Their secret has been passed down and they still do this same work and help repair the Taj when needed. Well, we got a tour of where they do their work. We got to see a demonstration and then they kindly allowed us to purchase whatever we wanted, haha. Their work was beautiful. They use all types of stones from Turquoise to Mother of Pearl, even something called Fire-stone which glows when a light is placed on it. We had a fun time looking at all the pieces. After that we went to see how Indian carpets are made. It was really fun to see the process. Again we were kindly offered to view the selection, but we were less interested in the carpets, we were ready for Fatehpur Sikri! Fatehpur Sikri was the political capital of India's Mughal Empire under Akbar's reign, from 1571 until 1585 (when it was abandoned due to lack of water).
We headed through some crazy busy streets! Our car was brushing up against people, even mothers with their children, so we could squeeze through and get to a more main street. Even I couldn't believe the amount of people walking on these streets. We finally squeezed through and started out through the country to Fatehpur Sikri. We got there luckily just before the sunset. We had time to walk around. The complex is so much harder to decipher when you're actually walking around in it! It's so spread out! All the buildings have such intricate designs and engravings and we were constantly snapping pictures. Our favorite part was seeing the different houses given to Akbar's wives. Akbar had a Muslim wife, a Hindu wife, and a Christian wife. All three got very different housing structures; The Hindu wife had the biggest structure (she had given Akbar his one and only male child), the Christian wife's was the second largest, and the Muslim wife had the smallest house BUT it was the most ornamented. The whole thing had the most intricate carvings into the stone and we spent a lot of time looking at all of them closely. As we were leaving we found a human parchisi bouard, one which Akbar used dancing girls on to play as his pieces. Mrs. Holmes gave us a great re-enactment which we enjoyed as well as the other visitors. After we got back down the bottom of the complex, the sun was setting. We left Kamil and Raj informed us it was time to make our way back to Delhi. The ride was a bit quieter this time as we were all beat from our sightseeing. We did go through Weddingland though, a name I so appropriately gave a stretch of this road back to Delhi where we saw at least 7 wedding parties celebrating on the street. Yes, all the men were on their white horses or in wedding carriages. It was really cool. We made it back safely to our hotel and fell asleep almost as soon as our heads hit the pillows!

Delhi - Day 1

Day 1 : Saturday, Feb 14th - Delhi

What better Valentines Day gift than to wake up in Delhi, India with my Mom visiting me from America?! (Well, maybe Michael visiting me, or my other Valentine - Dad, but this was very cool too).
The three of us girls got up on Saturday at the Park Hotel in Delhi. After a delicious breakfast we decided to go sightseeing for the day. The hotel gave us the suggestion of hiring a driver for the day to show us the sights and sounds of Delhi. We agreed to that and were introduced to the wonderful driver we came to know as Gansing. First stop; The Red Fort!
Gansing took us along the streets of Delhi, which were pretty busy, and we got to a sidestreet in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. Gansing directed us to get out of the car and go the rest of the way on bicycle rickshaws; apparently cars were not allowed to get as close as we needed to go. I thought this was great since I had not been on a bike rickshaw yet. We hopped right on and turned down the street to head towards the Red Fort. Before we got to the Red Fort though, we turned a corner and up ahead we could see perfectly straight in front of us Jami Masjid; the largest Mosque in Asia. It was built in 1656 A.D. Even from a distance it was beautiful, so I didn't doubt that close up it would be even more magnificant. We walked up the long pathway to its long grouping of stairs that led us to the open meeting space in front of the mosque. Before we went in, a man at the gate informed us that my outfit was inappropriate apparently by grabbing me and wrapping me up in this gi-normous moo-moo looking over-dress. Mom and Mrs. Holmes thought this was hilarious as we made our way into Jami Masjid. The space was so large and all the buildings were beautiful. You can't even describe the views from places like that, you could see the whole city. There were people praying there and we made our way around the complex before heading back out. Then we got back on our rickshaws and went to the Red Fort.
The Red Fort was the palace for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad. (He had moved his capital from Agra to bring prestige to his reign, and to provide ample opportunity to apply his ambitious building schemes and interests.) It was built in 1639 A.D., and on August 15th 1947, India became an independent nation. This was marked by Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Prime Minister, unveiling the flag of independent India at the Red Fort. So, it's a very important complex. We got on the "foreighner" ticket line, paying 250 rs while Indians pay 5, but that's ok. We walked through the gate and into a Bazaar. Here people were selling scarves, brass statues, paintings, basically anything you could think of. We went straight through and to the grounds of the fort. It was an even larger complex than I imagined, with beautiful greenery, trees, lawns, fountains. We walked around admiring the jali- the marble screen work - and the flower carvings in the marble. We even saw the "Pearl Mosque", a Mosque built inside the complex which was all white marble. After we finished seeing the site, we made our way back outside and to our rickshaws. When we got back Gansing was waiting for us and we left for lunch. We stopped before lunch at the memorial park for Ghandi. Here is where he was cremated, and at that spot they had a large black marble raised plate with flowers. People left flowers and said quite prayers. We joined in and then walked around the area which was filled with flowers. It was a really beautiful area and you could see how much he was loved in India by the care that is taken for a place like that.
We stopped for lunch at a small but really nice restaurant. We all had something Indian, and it was delicious.
After all that we stopped at the Indian Crafts Museum. This was a museum dedicated to the handicrafts which began and still thrive in India. We saw Mughal paintings, and tribal statues; we saw hand woven tapestries, and marblework. After we walked outside where people were demonstrating and selling their crafts. It was really nice to see that these people really still do these crafts and amazing to see they live off their talents. By this point we were all really beat, but we decided we should see one more sight, so the Lotus Temple it was. And boy, am I glad we decided to do that! I have never seen a structure so amazing as that (well, NOW I have coughTajcough, but at this point I hadn't). I have never seen a building built like the Lotus Temple and it just caught you up in its magnificance, and I just starred at it, for a long time. Mom and Mrs. Holmes finally started moving towards the stairs so I followed. We walked inside, where you had to be silent for a short prayer. A man got up and did some sort of musical chant, and it resonanted so beautifully you could never hear a sound like that again. The inside was just as beautiful. We walked around it and then back outside to view the area around which again was full of gardens and trees. We left at the perfect time, sunset. We saw the orange Indian sun setting behind this awesome structure.
Now we really were beat! We headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed a Valentines Day dinner and talked about our Valentines back home, but we were all happy to be in India. It couldn't have been a more perfect first day in Delhi!

A Weekend To Remember..

I don't even know where to begin! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written...the days just seem to fly by now that I have a schedule, and without anything too exciting going on (which most of the time is now a good thing, since excitement can be troublesome with 70 kids in one creche) I've stopped writing. BUT, are you in for a treat!! You'll have lots of stories and even more pictures coming up in the next few days..

So let's get started. This past Friday, the 13th of course, was when my travels began. I left Sangam around 3 pm to get to the airport in Pune. My flight was leaving by 5, or so I thought. I had quite an experience at the airport, as a 31 year-old Frenchmen sat next to me and asked me quite early in the conversation if I had ever tasted the "french kiss". After I said No, and he asked if I'd like to, I responded that we American girls need a few dinner dates before anything like that happens. I think he got the point...luckily he boarded his flight and I waited a long 5 hours more for mine. My flight was delayed and didn't leave Pune until 9 pm. I arrived in Delhi by 11 with a call from Mom and Mrs. Holmes; they had reached Delhi as well but the hotel didn't send a car for either of us. (We were at two separate airports, the domestic and international). So, I said I felt fine getting a cab...ooOoo was I sooo not fine. After I asked a group of men (standing next to cabs) if anyone would take me to my destination, a younger guy said, sure. I followed him...and followed him..past all the taxis and cars, down the road leading out of the airport, across the street to some sketchy area. The whole time I'm thinking "wow..I've made it this long in India, and now I'm going to get pulled into some chai stand and killed here in Delhi". A car soon pulled up and the guy told me to get in. "Uh, is this safe? It's a Cab?" I said. "Yes..you're safe" He laughed and smiled at me. I couldn't tell if it was a humorous laugh or a demonic one, but I chose to believe the former. So I got in, and had quite a ride. The young kid driving (20 years old), asked me all about sex in America. Was it free? Do we pay? I've come to find in this country that a lot of things are just free game to ask about and to talk about, for such a modest country I was feeling very awkward. I quickly grabbed my phone and pretended to be talking to Mom and then so conveniently my boyfriend from home. I think this guy got the point too very quickly. (I'm making a good name for American girls..enough of them thinking we are easy targets!) The streets in Delhi were much more developed and pot-hole free than those in Pune. I didn't get too much shock from Delhi after living in India for 6 weeks. Not to mention it was dark when I arrived Friday. I reached the hotel by midnight and Mom and Mrs. Holmes weren't far behind me. We all sat up chit-chatting and sharing our airport experiences until we passed out by 3 am.

Week 4

Now that I've gotten into a routine it's hard to keep these posts interesting. I know that's crazy to say since I'm in INDIA! but I'll try and fill you all in on the most interesting adventures of the week.
This week started off with Republic Day. Everyone was off, so after Hindi we took a walk around the neighborhood with Minakshi. It was a rough day to be America; the first stop was improptu, the ex-mayor of Pune saw Minakshi and invited us to sit down (on chairs in the middle of the street) with him. Immediately he asked us where we were from and didn't waste anytime on me when he heard I was from the U.S. "What do you think of Pakistan" - I starred at him. "Don't you read the papers? What about those terrorists in the bombing" "9-11?" Was my surprised question. "Yes! All Pakistan". I just sat there, it's strange trying to discuss politics while abroad; it's hard to share your opinion when you're speaking for your country, not just for yourself (as I would in America). I chose to sit there while Mina kindly got us out of the situation. After we visited a few Hindu and Sikh temples and learned more about each religion. We had a second encounter coming out of the last Hindu temple. An Indian woman approached us and asked Mina if she could talk to us for 2 minutes. She asked Muriel where she was from (U.K) and started talking straight to her face about American and all the bad we've done and the fact that the Indian soldiers are fighting hard and yaddayadda.. Holly whispered to me "If she asks you, say you're from Canada.." We had a good laugh about it after, espeically since Muriel is from the UK, but while it was happening it was scary. Mina again got us out of there and promised never to take anyone out on Republic Day again; a lot of emotions running free. It was the first time I found it hard to say proudly I was from America, but I guess a lot of people in a threatening situation would feel the same way. Otherwise India has been wonderful to me as an American.
The rest of the week seemed uneventful after Monday. We went to work everyday after that, and it was definitely a rollercoaster. I had high moments (I taught the kids the names of colors in English and they filled out a worksheet) to low moments (I was given a group of 14 5-year-olds and told to teach them 1-2-3 for 2 hours). There were times when I had to ask myself why in the world I decided to do this, and was I ever going to feel like I was making a different, but then one of the children would run up to me and ask me to sing a song or play a game, and I would feel better. Holly and I talked about how we have to realize we may not actually "teach" them anything in terms of language or arithmatic, but crafts, games, and our presence can be just as special. It's definitely hard to see that, and it's taking a lot of time, but by the end of the week I was ready to try again.
Saturday was just a day of fun and relaxation. We went to MG Road again to do some shopping and exploring, then we went out to dinner at night. Afterwards Maddie, Holly and I went to a bar/lounge, then onto a club after that which was really fun. It was nice to be around people my own age for once, and it was the western side of India so it felt like being back at home. Yesterday I took a deep breath and got preparing for this week. I think I have figured out what I have to plan and how to plan things, so hopefully that will help me succeed at work a little more.
To end this week, I'll tell you my favorite thing that I was taught this week. It was a Hindu story Mina told us; one of the gods had a brother and their parents were trying to figure out who was the best of the two. They told them both to run around the world and whomever made it back first was the best. As soon as Krishna's brother started running around the world, he ran in a circle around his parents. When asked what he was doing he said, "Well of course, you are my world". This is how the society is here; parents are very revered, and I liked that a lot and thought that's exactly how I feel about my parents. It was a nice story and I hope you like it!

Namaste~
Lindsay

Pics from our Weekend!

Our 3rd Weekend

Our weekend started off in an exciting manner, we went to CAMP! 15 of the Mobile Creches, the ones in Pune City, got together for this annual event. The kids left their sites early in the morning, 7 am, to get to the site where camp would be held. The site was about 45 minutes away from us (yet only 5 miles) so Muriel, Holly, and I went by rickshaw. We got to the site and saw this massive tent with 300 children squeezed in underneath. To start off camp there was a magician and even a puppet show. The children were definitely enjoying themselves. On display were all the arts and crafts that each creche site had worked on during the past month. The children were so well behaved, I kept on thinking about 300 kids back home who had to sit for 3 hours and there is no way they would be that good! But these kids were so appreciative of all the things at camp, they just sat and watched and listened.
After the morning events, the kids got lunch. All the helpers formed this massive human chain and we passed out the food to all 300 kids. After lunch all the children who would be doing a dance or a skit got changed and got ready for their performances. After 2 acts the speaker system blew, not surprising. We ended up sitting for an hour waiting for it to get fixed. Again the children sat and waited patiently. Once it got up and running again we watched the 14 other acts, including my girls do their marathi dance and then later on the last dance was cotton-eye joe! The woman who runs Mobile Creche came up to me and congratulated me, she loved having an "American Dance" in the mix.
Holly, Muriel and I came home Friday night, but the kids stayed to sleep under the stars. We ended up coming back in the morning though, on Saturday, to continue the festivities. When we got to the site the children were playing sports and games. We jumped right in, no not playing (I didn't want to give them a bad impression of the competitive nature of Americans) we just helped watch to see who won anything and spun around the kids drawing tails on donkeys. After games the kids all sat under the tent for awards. I felt like such a proud mamma, my girls got third place (out of 16 acts) for their rendition of cotton-eye joe!! They got special prizes, kits with crayons, markers, colored pencils, and pastels. (You could imagine my excitement that they got art supplies!) They were so excited about this. The woman who runs Mobile Creche actually let Muriel, Holly, and I hand out some of the gifts. It was a huge honor. After the awards were handed out the children were given lunch and then they waited around to be sent back to their sites. It was a really great experience for them, and we had a lot of fun too!
Saturday night, after dinner, we were invited over Darsh's (assistant manager here) for Chai and conversation. It was a beautiful apartment and we sat out on the terrace and had our chai. We got into talking about Hindu rituals and practices. We learned all about the roles the family play when a baby is to be born (Hey Dave and Kate, the sister of the father gets to name the baby!!) and also the rituals after a death. They are really interesting, and if anyone wants more detail let me know. After chai, Jemma and I went out with two of the participants to go out on the town. It was a really fun night and we got back late, so I slept in nice and late Sunday morning :-)
Sunday morning was nice a relaxed, I just did laundry and went for a run. But Sunday late afternoon was so unique. We had a real Maharastrian dinner! Around 3:00 we started the celebration by learning how to do Rangoli (the intricate designs using sand/colored chalks in the front of the houses). We each then put rangoli next to the mat where we would be eating dinner. After we all got mehindi, which is the henna designs the Hindu bride gets before marriage. After all that we got a lesson on how to put on our Saree and met up in the dining room for dinner. We all sat on the floor and ate from plates made from special leaves. The women in the kitchen served us our meal and it was really beautiful. Holly and I were so full we had to untie our Saree skirts a bit :-) It was a really fun day/evening.

PIctures from the Zoo and Camp!

Week 3

So the start of this week, Sunday, we went to the Zoo here. No, it's not all that exciting. The only crazy thing was that I got to see a White Tiger! I thought of my Grandma and Katie who love tigers! Besides that they had a lot of deer, which are apparently fun to look at in zoos?, and snakes. I do have to say, it seemed like we were the spectacle at the zoo for the natives here. We got our picture taken many times, we almost felt like the animals! We're getting used to that though, a lot of the people here want a photo with you, I'm going to start pretending I'm a famous America, hey - you never know!
Sunday night we got a special treat, a Bollywood Dance instructor! She came in to give us some lessons! She was flawless, we were just a mess. But it was definitely a fun experience, and I have it on video so when I get home if anyone wants to pay to see me look silly, I'm charging $5 a viewing.

The beginning of the week went really well. My kids are still practicing their dancing for the camp that we have tomorrow (Friday). It's a two day event where 20 of the creches get together to play games, show off their dances and crafts, etc. We did a lot of crafting in preparation. All the girls, along with myself, will wear Saree's to the camp, so I'll make sure to post some pictures afterwards. Muriel, Holly, and I also ran out this week to get more Punjabi suits. It's getting way to hot here to wear the clothes we've got. Punjabi suits are much lighter material and are much more comfortable for working.
Yesterday, Wednesday, we had our Hindi lesson, and just prepared for the rest of the week. At night we had a nice treat though, a campfire out back! We got together with the Austrailian participants who are here, and the girls on staff with us, and we sat around. We all shared songs and traditions from our own campfires back home. I passed out my SWAPS (small whatchamacallits affectionately pinned somewhere) which Mom and Dad helped me make literally hours before I got on the plane. They were little s'mores made out of felt and cotton balls. I explained the the Aussies how to make a s'more then passed those out. The whole night made me miss Camp Mogisca (where we camped as scouts) so badly. I had flashbacks of my years as a Girl Scout and I wanted nothing more in that instant to go back and relive it all. I guess it gives me something to look forward to with my cousin back home or future girls I may lead.
So today was just more prep. I watched the girls practice their dances again, and they helped me pick out a bindi for tomorrow and they painted my nails. I loved seeing how excited they are about this trip, it will be fantastic. I made them all nametags on the computer which was just the greatest thing for them. I love how the simplest things please these children, at home it seems difficult to please certain children with something so small like that, it's unfortunate. After dinner tonight we went over to our friends apartment, there was a house-warming party there. Outside there was a patio (they are on the 5th floor) so it was high up, and they lit candles all around the outside, and we just sat outside and looked at the stars. It was absolutely beautiful, and a great way to end the night.
Now I am headed to bed so I can get lots of rest before camp tomorrow and Saturday! I'll be sure to fill everyone in on how it goes!

Namaste ~ Lindsay
(I figured I needed a tag line, so this will be it. Namaste is the greeting you give someone in India. It basically means you are putting yourself on equal ground with whomever you are greeting and saying my self and your self are equal and I greet you) it's really nice I think. And I think I'll stick with it!)

Elephants and Work Pictures

Getting better..

I know my last email was a bit dramatic, but things have improved to say the least. I don't know if it was thanks to everyone's good wishes or thoughts, but my second day went much better at my site. I had gotten some good advice, and I changed a lot of my mindset. Instead of feeling pity for these kids, I instead went in just trying to use the resources available to me and give these kids as much fun, education, and a childhood as they deserve. I taught some of them how to play "duck duck goose" and they in turn taught me how to play a game. Apparently I got the rules wrong the first time, because I did what I thought was winning the game, and they all laughed at me and shouted "nooo dee dee!" (dee dee means older sister). They seemed a little more relaxed with my presence, and the teachers even tried to communicate with me at lunch. We talked about my family, or tried at least, and they asked me if I was married. When I said that I had a boyfriend but wasn't married they were so confused. We ended up talking in small words and laughing that we couldn't understand each other. They did finally understand that people in America get married later. Here, women are married off as soon as they reach puberty (sometimes as early as 11 or 12). So, even though we couldn't speak to one another we could understand simple things and ended up learning a lot about our different cultures.

At night on Tuesday one of the women here, Darshana, invited me to temple with her. I walked with her to a nearby Hindu temple where she showed me how she traditionally worships, and we sat for a while talking about religions. It was the type of experience you can only imagine; sitting in a Hindu temple, in India, learning about the religion from a true believer. I taught her some things about Catholicism, but she already knew quite a bit. I was ashamed for knowing so little about her religion, but I think this was a good step into becoming more understanding and knowledgeable. We walked back and talked about how sad it is that religion can tear people apart when we all believe the same basic principles. It was really interesting.

Today, Wednesday, was our first Hindi lesson. We learned some basic words and phrases and just got to know our teacher a little bit. She will teach us every Wednesday since this is our day off the mobile creche site. After our lesson we do something that introduces us to the culture or to the community. Today we helped some other participants here at Sangam paint a nearby children's orphanage. We painted their bedroom with a springtime mural. It was tiring, but very rewarding. Tonight I got some things together to prepare for the rest of the week at my site. The whole group of 20 nearby mobile creches have a camp next week, and each site needs to prepare some dances and some artwork. I have some ideas for both, so we'll see how it goes, I'll keep you updated of that! Thanks!

Pictures from SOS and Movies

There will be good days, and "bad" days..

So yesterday, Sunday, we went to the S.O.S Children's Village after breakfast. SOS Children's Villages are all around the world, and this one happens to be right across the way from the Center. This is where children who are orphans, or have just one parent that can't provide for them, come and stay in a safe place. There are 20 houses, each with ten children and one mother. The children are so cute and so well behaved. We borowed one girl from each house who is in scouting and we taught them some games and crafts to bring back to their "families". There were children all over the village sweeping and cleaning and on such good behavior. We visited one of the houses and saw the children's rooms. They were completely organized and spotless. It's amazing how appreciative these children are for having so little, material wise.
After the visit we came back to the center and relaxed before going out to the movie theater. The best part about this trip...we saw an ELEPHANT! He was standing outside the theater. Sara let me borrow a rupee, and I put it in his trunk! It was GREAT! We went inside, this was a very western area, and saw "Meet the President". It was not Bollywood-esk (haha Dad) at all unforunately. It was all about Bush coming to India and who would be chosen to shake his hand. Afterwards Sara, Holly and I went out. Sara knows the owner of a really cool bar/lounge here and we decided to go for a bit. Jemma and Maddie met up with us later, and we just hung out. It was weird hearing music like "Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown and "Disturbia" by Rhianna while all these Indian girls are dressed in mini skirts and tank tops. This is a part of town where people can dress as they please. It was actually kind of nice to experience a bit of home. We came home rather early so we wouldn't be tired for today.

Today was the first day of work. It was definitely not easy..it was really really hard. I don't really know how to put any of it into words. I got to the site, which is just a cement building, and inside were 70 children and 3 teachers, none of whom spoke English. Today, and only today, there was a girl would could translate the big things to me. She tried explaining what they do each day, but it seems very erratic. The hardest thing is that no one speaks English. During our lunchtime, the teachers eat together, and for a whole hour they talked to one another. It's hard to be in that environment and not communicate. What was harder for me was seeing the conditions where these children are living. It's very unsanitary, the children are very dirty, and they have such limited resources for education. It's hard too because I guess they truly don't know what they're missing, but for someone like me it's hard to see these children live this way when I've seen it so differently. I'm trying to understand that this is what they know, and it might not be bad, just different. So, I'm taking it one day at a time. It was just hard to have a full day of this new experience (work will be 8 hours, 4 times a week).
In the mornings the children come at 9:30 and are fed an oatmeal type dish. Then they start their activities. In the afternoon they are fed rice and go home for an hour while the teachers eat. When they come back, they do some reading exercises and crafts and games and then they are fed a milky liquid before going home at 5:30. There are three groups that the children are split up into; babies, 3-5, and 6-9. I worked mostly with the older children today, but I am allowed to move around as I wish. I'll have to see what is most comfortable for me.
I knew this wasn't going to be easy, I just didn't know it would be this hard. I've lived my whole life unaware that people live this way. It's the sort of thing you read about, or may see a commerical on to support these types of programs, but to be part of it is a completely different experience. I hope that it will get easier as time moves on.

Thanks still for reading these posts! It helps me as well..

Crafting and More Shopping

On Friday we had a pretty relaxing day. After breakfast we were allowed to head out back to the campsite and make some traditional Indian crafts. We were taught how to make flower garlands. They are worn during important ceremonies or festivals, and given to visitors as a sign of welcoming. We made our garlands with tube roses, marigolds, and roses. The campsite smelled sooo good from the tube roses. After making our garlands we tried our hand at cross-stitching. My sister-in-law would have been proud at me doing all these types of stitches, but it was something I definitely was not too good at. I gave up just in time for lunch that day. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing. Holly and I went for a swim in the pool (yes it was cold, but refreshing I guess) and just hung around and talked. At night we watched some episodes of The Office (which some of the girls here have never seen) and then went to bed.

Yesterday, Saturday, was an adventure! We had off, the three CVPs (community volunteer programmers) so we decided to go to another shopping area, Laxme Road. It's a more authentic area of town, less western than MG road. It was very busy but we got along just fine navigating through the small roads and such. There were so many clothing stores and there was even something called Bangle Alley which sold, well you can guess. We found a store which sold Sari blouses (something we've been looking for for days!) so we headed in to buy our material. Holly and I bought Sari's as well (number two for me!) then we found a place for lunch. We wanted to be tough, so we just ordered three things on the menu. Luckily one was noodles and the other was vegetables that were almost deep fried (which of course was delicious) but the third thing was my mistake. On the menu, it said Koufta, so I said "oh! I know what that is! Those are like meatball kind of things, but I don't know what they make them with here". So we ordered it...well, it looked nothing like Koufta. It was like a sweet sauce thing with cottage cheese like substance in it and raisins and such. I was not happy that the only thing I thought I knew was completely different, but Muriel and Holly thought it was funny. We just laughed it off, and headed back to the center. Holly and I went for another swim and then at night watched a movie with all the girls. It was Jemma's birthday so we all sat up just talking and hanging out into the wee-hours.

Markets, Views, and Indian Dinner

First Site Visit

Yesterday, Wednesday, we traveled down to MG road again after breakfast. Holly and Muriel (the other two volunteers) hadn't been down there yet so the other two girls and I showed them around. We first went to a vegetable/fruit market. There was also a meat market to which I was not brave enough to go into. We headed down the main street to shop of course. This time I headed for the gold/silver shops. They had beautiful bangles and things, and Holly and Muriel got material for their punjabi suits. After shopping a bit, we went to the tailors. There we got measured for our suits. It's amazing to me that the "cheaper" outfits are those which you choose the material and get fitted by a tailor. Wealthier people are those who buy clothes pre-made and sized. It's totally the opposite from home! Anyway, this woman took our measurements and we left our clothes there to be picked up in a few days. They charge about 150 rs a piece ($6) for full tailoring!
When we came back to the center we ate lunch and then headed by car to each of our three sites. We first went to Holly's which is only a few minutes from Sangam. It was indescribable what we saw. As the car pulled up, it was recognizable that we were at a construction site. We got out and walked to the "school building". As we walked there, people are doing construction with heavy materials right above you, and this is where the children walk to get to this school. Anyway, we got the school and it is a cement one roomed building with 60-70 kids that isn't any bigger than my downstairs of my house. If anyone doesn't know, I'll give you a brief overview of the group I am working for...
Whenever there is construction going on, normally the children of the workers run around the site and don't go to any type of school. At the sites we are working at, there are temporary schools built so that the children have somewhere safe to go and learn at the same time. They go from 9-5:30 and learn everything from science, math, geography, and also have time for crafts and games and storytime. We will help the teachers with whatever they need and actually teach a lesson time to time, even if it's just a craft or game or whatever. None of the children nor teachers speak English, so it should be an interesting experience.
The toughest part of visiting the sites was that we passed the 'homes' in which the children live before getting to the school. These homes are basically tin lean-to's and are all squished together. They are definitely unsanitary and have no windows. Lots of the small children (4-5 years old) have little keys around their necks to open the padlocks on their doors. This is because they will get home before their parents and will clean and sometimes get whatever food they have ready. 4 years old...
When we got to each school though the children were so well behaved. They loved seeing "white people" and had a fun time playing hand games with us and trying to speak to us in Hindi. I'm not as worried as I was, but I know that it will still be a difficult experience. The woman who accompanied us told us that these children just appreciate you being with them, so if that's all I am everyday, I can do that!
After our site visits we had a quiet night back here at the center.

Today, Thursday, was our day off. We had nothing planned, but to my excitement Fr. Borges (from my College) was in India these past two weeks, and finally back here in Pune where his family lives. He and his brother picked me up around 11 and took me back to their house. It was wonderful to see a traditional Indian home, and I was fed very well. I ate chappati with chicken and potato curry gravy and rice as well. His family was so nice to me, and even went out to get me an icecream cone! It felt very homey, and we had a good time just talking and catching up. When his brother brought me back to the center I hung out with Holly for a bit. We went up to the water tower here at Sangam (it's huge!) and we climbed to the top to get a full view of Sangam. After we came down and got ready for dinner at our Indian homes. (Each person staying at Sangam at this time was given an invitation to have dinner in an Indian home.) I went with an older woman who is from Wales. The children from the homes we were going picked us up and walked us across the street to their houses. Again the front stoop was decorated with the special powder in beautiful designs. The girl spoke some English, but her Aunt with whom she was staying spoke English very well. We sat around in their home and shared picture albums, the Aunt told us all about Hindi festivals, celebrations, and traditions. I learned that only married women wear toe rings on their second toe. Also they wear a string of black beads when they are married as well as green bangles. We talked about the education systems in our countries, as well as different crops that grow, and the weather that exists. After talking for quite a bit, we were led into a small room before the kitchen where a special prayer ceremony was held for the god of their household. After we went into the kitchen. We were invited to eat a tradition meal, which meant I sat crosslegged on the floor (the older woman opted for a chair). We were served rice, potatoes, chippati, and a delicious milk/puffed rice dessert. We ate mostly everything with our bare hands. I asked if it was ok that I ate with my left hand and they said that was definitely fine, I was actually more interesting for eating with my right hand. I ate everything quite quickly and was immediately served more! Luckily they had toned down the spices for us, so everything was perfect for me. We talked more as we ate and enjoyed learning different traditions. After dinner we were presented with a gift from the house; a coconut and piece of fabric (that makes a sari blouse) were given which represent the good fortune being passed onto us as we leave the house. The whole night was absolutely fabulous, I just had the most amazing time. Walking home I was thinking to myself about what a mind-blowing experience this is; how many people can say they ate a traditional Indian dinner, in an Indian home, in India?! Not many...and it was the most experience I've had in my life.

Temples and the neighborhood

So today we didn't venture too far, and yet I saw and learned so much! After breakfast and a brief walk around the Girl Scout Center (where we learned about the history of this place), we were accompanied by Maddy (from Venezuela) across the street to the neighboring area. Crossing the street is still difficult, but I'm sure I'll have it down soon. We began by visiting Padma and her mother, who works at the Center. Their house seemed small but did extent a bit out the back. They had a small sitting room, which led to a bedroom, then to the kitchen, the out the back door. All the houses seem to be built with a back and front door which are exactly alligned helping to keep a breeze moving throughout. I was shocked when Padma told us that 11 people lived in this small house. I felt guilty since at times I complain about my small room back home. These small but meaningful ventures make you realize what you have. Padma's mother was so sweet, she welcomed us into her home in a traditional Indian way. We were given yellow turmeric powder and red kum kum powder on our foreheads. We left the house by simply saying "Namaste" which is hello or goodbye, by more meaninfully says "your soul and my soul are one".
After Padma's we travelled to a Hindu temple, that of Ganesh. This is the Hindu god that has the head of an elephant. If you want to hear why, you'll have to ask me when I get back, it's a long story. Anyway, we entered the temple (always with your shoes off and traveling clockwise). We continued on our journey by walking around the neighborhood. You can see my pictures, as this is one of the more affluent neighborhoods. Most of these people are educated with jobs and are considered "middle class". The people are lovely though, allowing us to take their picture and greeting us with a "Namaste".
After a few more visits to more temples, we crossed back over the street to the neighborhood right next to Sangam. I was shocked, I don't even know if this word works here, to find out that in the same acrage that Sangam has (7) there were 10,000people in this area. 10,000 people to 7 acres. IT was unbelieveable. Yet they through parties and celebrations very often (we can hear them from our rooms). We headed back to Sangam after for lunch and I had an interesting experience with an Indian doctor!
To lead into this, the weather/air in India is difficult to explain. Although it's not a humid heat, it's still heavy air, and with the pollution and LOTS of dust I have been finding it harder to breathe than normally. Although I'm not struggling terrible, I thought I'd be more comfortable with some asthma medicine, since it seems to run in the family :-). So the center called in a doctor for me, asking first if it would be ok to pay 400 rp. (This is $8 for one visit). I said this would be ok. The doctor was a male, and it was clear the same procedures aren't done if you had a doctor at home. We sat downstairs in the breezeway on the chairs as he listened to me breathe, asked me some questions, then scribbled down some notes on a 1/2 ripped piece of paper. He handed it to me and said I should go to the chemist across the road. Holly, Muriel, and I walked across the road and I gave the chemist this piece of scrap paper, no joke. He looked at it, scrambled around the store, and within minutes had all the prescriptions infront of him. He asked for 700 rp. $14 for 4 different medicines. I am really starting to see the different now between American and India. I gladly handed over the money to experience some relief, which did come.
We headed back to the Center and after dinner experienced a beautiful welcoming ceremony. It was a mix between traditional girl scouts and traditional Indian welcoming ceremonies. It was absolutely amazing, but something I am going to keep for myself! (Sorry!). Pictures were only taken by a professional photographer, and those are going to Mom and Dad, so if you want to see them you'll have to stop by our house when I get home. The best part, which I can share, is when your Indian host places a garland of flowers around your head and whispers "welcome home" into your ear. It's very personal and helped me feel even more at ease/comfortable than I already do.
Holly and I finished our night talking to the other two girls, Sara and Jemma, about "Uni" life (University life - College life)and about the shopping sprees and outtings we hope to have together. I am truly loving every minute of this experience and I am excited for what's to come.

Pictures from temples/surrounding neighborhood

around town

So yesterday was quite a whirlwind of a day. After waking up late and taking my own little tour around the grounds here (everything is so beautiful) I got ready to go into town with Jemma and Sara. We started out by crossing the road, something that may seem easy but was definitely not! There are no lines here separating lanes or even sides of the road. You basically walk slowly enough for people to get around you but fast enough to not get clipped. After getting across the road we got into the rickshaw. It holds 3 people at the most (although the girls said sometimes after coming back from partying downtown they fit 4 people in with a bargain). The rickshaws are motorized but handled by a driver. The are completely open besides the back. They weave in and out of traffic and it's actually very exciting to be in one. After we got to the place we were going shopping the girls helped me exchange my money. Luckily the rate here is amazing, and with my rupees in hand we headed off to the sari shop. At the sari shop the men want to sell you anything and everything. Even if you comment that you like the color of a particular material they will pull it out and lay in out on the table. We looked through tons of material until I found material for a sari I loved. You actually buy the material in these shops then must take your material to a tailor. All outfits are tailored to fit individuals perfectly. After getting my Sari I went downstairs where they had material for punjabi suits. Saris, as the girls explained to me, are more for formal occassions or celebrations. The punjabi material is made into a long tunic like dress with trousers underneath and a shall like piece that goes around the neck. This is more everyday wear, and is something I will be more likely to wear to the site where I will be volunteering. Because of this, I ended up buying two punjabi suits. While we were buying the suits it was so funny because the men working there were trying to sneak pictures of me. Jemma called them out and they were laughing. The girls said this will happen very often to foreigners, so I let them take some more pictures before we headed out. My three outfits came to 550 rp. (rupees). In total, this is about $11. The tailoring will only be about another 1-2 dollars. After the sari shop we just poked around the streets. A lot of things were closed since it was Sunday. We ended up going to a supermarket which has a lot of foreign items shipped in. I hadn't bought any shampoo or such so I treated myself to Pantene which was of course shipped in. A large bottle of shampoo and conditioner cost me 660 rps (more than my three outfits!). We walked across the street after and went to a western style mall. I don't want anyone yelling at me, I was just following the other girls...but we went to pizza hut for lunch. I promise I'll eat at a real restaurant soon! We were just in a hurry and the girls wanted pizza they said. After lunch we grabbed a rickshaw back to Sangam.
After returning here, I needed to crash. It was a lot of stimulation for only a few short hours. Holly was here, my roommate, so we ended up catching up and getting to know one another. She's so sweet, and I feel like we have a lot in common. It was easy to talk to her and we seemed to hit it off right away. We talked basically until dinnertime where we had lomein-like noodles with something called "veggie balls". I have no idea what was in them, but they are indian apparently and delicious! After dinner Holly and I just headed upstairs and crashed.

Today was a bit different. We woke up for breakfast, which is western style (eggs, toast, oatmeal) and began our orientation/training. We sat out in the garden which was so cool and went over everything we would be experiencing this week and the rest of the time we're here. I learned a lot about the organizations Sangam works with and their importance in this city. We talked about what to expect at the sites we will be working at, and how the children will behave, and what we are expected to learn. One of the most interesting things I learned today was the way Indians see visitors. The women were telling us that many people at our sites might not ask us to help or might feel strange about that because Indians feel like visitors are sacred. They look at visitors like gods, feeling like God could take anyform in any place at any time, so you must treat visitors this way. I thought this was a wonderful way to look at those we come across and meet...just a little food for thought. We had afternoon tea with the best chai tea I've ever had (I don't know why I would expect any less, I am in India!) and lunch came soon after with lots of indian food like rice with curry, more noodle/veggie dishes, and the flat bread. We got a short break after lunch to let our brains rest so they wouldn't explode! After lunch we had a tour of the whole center, where to do our laundry and where to find emergency numbers (including the snake catcher, no joke). I can't explain how beautiful it is here. I'll have to take some pictures of the pool to show everyone as well.
After our tour I passed out AGAIN! I guess I can't get used to the time change yet. I slept for about an hour and then we ate dinner. A group of participants arrived, older women from the UK. We ate some type of chickpea nugget (tasted like a really good chicken nugget) as well as mashed potatoe/beef dish. (Like pot pie-esk without the...pot?) The food was delicious, I was just so tired. Between the time and the weather as well as taking in all this new information and the culture, I get pooped easily. It is a wonderful experience so far though, so I have no complaints.
After dinner Holly and I hung out for a bit, then joined the other girls in the lounge for a Bollywood film. Afterwards we went to bed.

Pictures of my first two days in India!

I'M HERE!

(There ya go Ben, a Title, ok! :-) )
So today was the big day. I couldn’t believe that it was here already! I actually slept really well last night, surprisingly. My goodbye with Michael was rough, but we did okay I think. Kev came with Mom and Dad and I to JFK. After we checked in my bags we just hung around the airport. My goodbye with Mom and Dad was similar to that of Michaels, not too overboar. I’m sure if I had more time I would have been balling. It was such an extraordinary mix of feelings I was having at the time; I was sad to leave them and be traveling around the world without them, I was so excited, I was grateful for them for giving me this opportunity, I was so nervous to do this on my own, and I was just overflowing with emotions. So I watched them as the left JFK, and I stood online to check in and board my flight to Dubai.
The plane to Dubai was amazing. The entertainment was the coolest part. They had a million movies you could watch, along with TV episodes, Sports TV, and a million other options. The coolest part, that I knew Dad would have loved, was that you could watch different camera views from the plane. There was a front view (you could see what the pilot was seeing) along with a bottom of the plane view (cool to look at during landing). Jenna, you would be proud to know I didn't take any drugs, alcohol, or other forms of medication to get through all this! The man I was next to was relatively young, not smelly (good thing Kate), didn’t talk to me, and actually slept most of the trip so no complaints there! The only bad thing was that I couldn’t really sleep. So much for the “I can sleep anywhere”…
So the trip to Dubai wasn’t so bad after all. We landed after a 12 hour flight and got into Dubai. I was focused so hard on making it to my gate. I passed an exchange area and wanted so badly to get Michael Dubai currency, but I didn’t want to stop. By the time I went through security again I only had 30 minutes until my plane took off, and the airport was huge! Unfortunately it wasn’t that awesome, or at least I didn’t see the awesomeness. I was only in a small area. I got to what I thought was my gate and it read “Emirates to Paris” and I had a minor heart attack. I took my brother’s so helpful advice and I stayed calm and asked someone. Luckily it was the right gate, they were just having trouble with the sign I guess at the check-in point. I have to say, it was such a cool feeling to go through the whole process, look at all the signs, find my flight and follow the gate…I’ve never felt more competent and confident in my life.
My trip to Mumbai was nice. The plane was a little bit smaller; two, four, two across. I had a window seat! (Yay!) and there was no one sitting next to me. After I landed in Mumbai I had to do customs..the line was sooo long, and the airport was so hot. It was 79 degrees when I landed, and not dry heat either. Luckily I made it through ok, and as I grabbed my bags and headed outside I saw Father Borges brother, Arthur, waiting for me with a driver. I can't even explain the trip back to Pune. If anyone thinks NYC traffic is bad, it's nothing and I mean NOTHING compared to what I saw. The drive to the center in Pune took about 4 hours, and it was the only sleep I had gotten. I dosed here and there, but took the time to view the country. It was absolutely beautiful. I fell in love the moment I saw it; it's true about colors (Dad there are hibiscus flowers all over) and the people are so wonderful. Although, for a developing country, I did see a lot of poverty on my way to Pune. I wasn't surprised though, or overwhelmed. It's almost as if the people are okay with the way they live, and they go about their normal routines.
We got to Sangam, the G.S. Center, and it was completely gated off. A guard let us in and Arthur saw me to the front door. There I was greeted by 7 women, all whom work at the center and wanted to meet me. They all welcomed me with huge hugs and warm hellos. Mom, this is what being a Girl Scout is all about, feeling comfortable with 'strangers' half-way around the world.
I took a brief tour around the center. It's absolutely stunning. There is a huge garden with beautiful plants and trees in the center of it along with a full size swimming pool. My bedroom overlooks the pool/garden area. Two of the young girls who are programme coordinators here (just PC's Jenna, they don't scare me..they gots no E) they are 22 and 23, and they made me dinner. One is named Sara and she's from Wales, and the other is Jemma (no joke) from Ireland. They showed me the ropes. Oh yea, and there's Lucky and Bubblie..two dogs I can pet Dave! They live here at the center and protect us from strangers. They are so cute.
Well, I'm sorry this was such a long post...it is the first day (and it was technically two days). I have internet here so I will definitely be keeping you updated. Thanks guys for checking up on me.

xoxo
Lin

Here we are 5:55 New Jersey time. It's hard to believe that in only a few short hours I'll be boarding the plane for my three month journey in India. I can't believe it's already here! Thanks to everyone who has been supporting me and has been excited for me to start this adventure; it's what has made this experience so exciting for me! I will do my best to keep up with this (I don't know what my internet situation is like), but definitely check back in and see what my first steps in India were like! Thanks again for following!

xoxo
Lin