February 17th, 2013 - AHHHHmedabad

Woke up early this morning to walk over to another host family’s house to interview their host dad for a school project. Then came back and did some homework and packed for Ahmedabad. We hung out with our host family and we plan on seeing them again when we come back to Delhi. Our host cousin picked us up around 3 and drove us to some random office in the middle of nowhere so that we could meet the rest of the group before heading to the train station. He then carried my 300 pound suitcase up like 6 flights of stairs…what a great person.

We had some tea and snacks and left for the train station about an hour and a half after getting there. We got to the train station around 7 for our train that left at 8. The train station was absolutely insane. A million people everywhere. We had to push our way through in order to get to the gate, and then finally went onto the train. What a spectacle. Each train car had 6 beds (3 bunk beds). We were all semi-close together, but there was at least one person (in my case, 3 people), in every car that were not from our program. We still found a way to hang out with each other and bond. The train ride was 14 hours through the night, so we bonded for a while and then went to sleep…aka tried to go to sleep but didn’t really sleep. I had to keep my back pack with me on the tiny top bunk because these trains are known for theft. SUPER FUN.  

February 16th, 2013 – The Indian Disney World

I did homework all morning. It was rainy outside, so it was a good homework day. At around 11:30, Jill and I headed to the mall to buy dresses to wear later…because we both didn’t bring any with us on this trip. Then we met up with other people at a restaurant called Barbeque Nation, which is located inside an old nightclub. It is all you can eat food for about 10 dollars. So delicious, but I got so full after. After lunch, we came back home to get ready for the night.

We were supposed to go to “The Kingdom of Dreams,” which is a very famous show in a neighboring city. Apparently, Americans want to do two things when they come to India: see the Taj, and see the Kingdom of Dreams. Unfortunately, the show was sold out, but we still went to the building and ate dinner. They had different restaurants representing the different cuisine in the different states of India. The building itself looks like a gigantic palace (kind of like Magic Kingdom). We will go back in our last week of Delhi and try to get tickets. After dinner, we headed to a club with our host family’s cousin and friend (same people as yesterday). It was so much fun!!

Heading off to Ahmedabad tomorrow…so I might not have internet for a while. But I will keep writing and post when I can!

February 15th, 2013 – Youngsters

Class again! Went over to class the same way we do every day. We had a learning community in the morning. We walked over to a garden and sat alone for 15 minutes, which was SO NICE. I think everyone missed alone time. Then we reflected in small groups, and then came back together and did a very positive and uplifting activity – something that we all needed. Then we went off to a panel about hunger and nutrition in India. There was a very famous economist there (Amartya Sen), so that was exciting. And it was at a University (Indian Institute of Technology), so it was cool to be on a college campus.

We came back home after and did some homework and drank tea. Then we got ready for the night…we went out with our host family’s cousin and his friend. First, we all went out to dinner at a nice restaurant in a hotel. Then we went to a club, which was pretty empty but started getting crowded later on in the night. It was very classy, no one was smashed, and everyone was dancing and having a good time. It was really great to see what young people do in Delhi, and this was the first time that I was able to see it. 

February 14th, 2013 – ValenWHINE’s Day

Today was autonomous study day, which means that we have the day to catch up on work. In the morning I worked on my mapping assignment, and then headed over to another home stay house to interview people for another assignment. We didn’t get much work done over there, but it was a lot of fun. At around 2pm we went over to the mall to eat lunch at the food court. I had subway…I was craving American food…I know it’s bad, but it was delicious. We even got fro yo after.

Then we came back here and debated what to do for the rest of the afternoon. The entire group wanted to all go out to dinner together for Valentine’s day, but getting to the restaurant in the dark and then getting home after what happened yesterday was not something I wanted to think about. Jill and I debated what to do for a really long time, and without cell phones to coordinate with others, it was harder to make a decision. At 7pm we decided to go, so we got in a 45 minute auto and headed over. We found the restaurant and had a lot of fun, but after it took us about 45 minutes to find an auto that would take us back, and it cost about 5 times the amount that it should have. Not worth the effort to go out to meet people at night. Lots of whining went on. But the boys bought us all flowers when we got to the restaurant…so it was semi-worth it?

February 13, 2013 – Adrenaline Deterioration

You know when something scary or exciting happens to you and you get a surge of adrenaline? Can that run out? I’m pretty sure that by the end of my time in India, all of my adrenaline is going to be gone.

Today was insane. We started class at 9am with our neighborhood day presentations. Each group got 15 minutes with time for questions at the end, and the presentations took a while. Then we had a tea break followed by a lecture about the Delhi metro system. Then we had lunch at the same place that we always go to, and then we had our politics and development class. Typical day…except then it changed. We had an impromptu learning community with our faculty because many people are frustrated and upset at the lack of organization that we have encountered so far. We are upset that we aren’t in homestays for that long, and many people expected to go to one neighborhood yesterday but were taken to another and were not prepared for it at all. That session was supposed to take only a half an hour, but it took about two hours. We love to talk.

After, my roommate had to get pictures for her passport because apparently one of the consulates gave a year long Indian visa instead of a 6 month long visa, so everyone from that consulate has to go register at some complicated agency and take more passport photos and fill out a ton of paperwork. So Jill had to leave to do that right after our learning community, and I needed someone to come home with me. No one was going home: some were going to find a church for ash Wednesday, and others were going to a market. I went to the market with them, we wondered around for a while, and then it got to be around 6:45 and I know that I needed to be home by 8 for our host sister’s birthday. So 3 of us found an auto that charged us triple the amount we should have paid to go for what should have been a 20 minute ride home. In reality, this driver had no idea where we were going, so it took us about 2 hours to get home, and then he tried to charge us even more than we agreed upon. Not happening on my watch. So by the time I got home I was beyond angry and tired and hungry. I had about ten minutes to get ready for the birthday dinner.

My host sister, brother, sister-in-law, their two kids, two of their cousins, Jill, and I all went to the mall for dinner. There are three malls, one of which is very very very fancy and expensive. It has stores like Dior and Armani. It also has a really fancy restaurant on the top floor. We took an elevator to the top (with someone pushing the buttons for us…obviously) and then walked into the restaurant. It was probably the nicest restaurant I have ever been to in my life. We sat outside and ordered a lot of appetizers and food to share, didn’t eat until around 10:30pm, and got home around 12. It was a ton of fun. We were all laughing the whole time.

Overall, my day was absolutely insane. Major downs and major ups.  

February 12th, 2013 – Forest in the City

Today was neighborhood day! We met at our classroom and then split up into three different groups to explore different neighborhoods. My group went to the Delhi Ridge, and none of us really knew what that meant before we went. When we got there, we crossed a broken fence into a forest that had a perfectly paved road. We saw tons of ancient ruins, tombstones, and parks along the way. Apparently, the ridge was supposed to be a border for the city of Delhi, but the city has expanded well beyond it. It is really pretty and a nice change of pace from the noise and congestion of the city (even though the ridge is in the city).

After our walk, we went to a South Indian restaurant for lunch, which would have been yummy if I could taste anything, but I have a bad cold so that wasn’t a possibility. Then we decided to take the metro all the way to another state called Haryana, which is where Jill and I had gone to a wedding on the first night. Our host family has a lot of family in Gourdon, which is in Haryana. We got off the metro and got yelled at for sitting on the platform. I don’t really understand that rule – nor do I understand the rule of not taking any pictures in the metro. We planned out our presentation for the next day and then headed home. Jill and I started our mapping project while it was still light out, and then we came back to do more work. I’m glad today wasn’t so intense because I don’t really feel well. Hopefully I’ll go to bed early tonight and feel better tomorrow.