The voyage home

As I mentioned earlier, I am back in the states safe and sound :) Poo on me for not posting sooner, but I had some difficulties getting some and have been relaxing, enjoying my family and my home.

So, the days leading up to my departure were quite stressful, with all of the final papers I had to write and such. I finished my last one at 3am Friday morning, got 4 hours of sleep and started my day with a re-entry session at the IES center. Basically we all just talked about how we feel about leaving and going back, and learned about reverse culture shock, and how people would be reacting to us once we returned. I definitely think it was useful.
Then we had our own version of bonding and went out to eat at my favorite restaurant in Delhi, Yeti. It's a Tibetan restaurant with some of the best food I have ever had. I ordered sun-dried spinach with tingmo (traditional Tibetan bread) and chicken momos (dumplings). The spinach is crispy and literally melt in your mouth delicate- it is difficult to pick up without it disintegrating between your fingers. YUM. As nice as this was, it was the last time we would all see each other because I was leaving that night. Everyone else had the next day together, and as I heard them making plans for tomorrow I had to fight back tears. I have grown to love these people and the idea of not seeing them for a very long time was really getting to me. We all had a lovely lunch in spite of that, and we all said our (rather embarrassingly tearful on my part) goodbyes outside the restaurant. I have made some wonderful friends in India and it was really hard to see them go.

I didn't have much time left in the day and I still had to go to the market to buy last-minute presents and get henna!! So I power-walked through my favorite market in Delhi, Laj Pat, and went on a shopping spree, and got henna at the last minute.

When I arrived home it was time for a 'family dinner'- the last dinner we would all be together. Wahhh!! Talk about trying to keep it together, geeze. Sadly I had to excuse myself early because I had to start packing (eeek!!). Luckily I had bought extra luggage at the market on a whim. Yeah... without that huge duffel I do not know what I would have done.
Apparently Auntie had not forgotten that I told her I sang once upon a time, so it was requested that I sing for the group! Yikes. So I pulled Pie Jesu out of my hat and barely made it through because I had a huge lump in my throat. It was all for Auntie, and the first performance I had given in years. It was really special for me, and I'll never forget that moment.

All too soon the taxi came and we all said our tearful goodbyes. One girl pulled me aside and said some of the sweetest, most genuine things to me that I never want to forget. I left very special people in India.

Long story short, I went to the airport and was sitting at the gate and my flight was canceled. Gah. Also, no one was speaking English which was frustrating. So I grabbed my bags and squished on a bus to a hotel, unsure of when I would get back to the states because the pilots were on strike. After many false alarms, I was told to be ready by 8pm the next day because we would be taking the same 145am flight, just 24 hours later. During my time at the hotel I showered and slept, pretty much. As you read earlier, I had gotten very little sleep in the previous days so I happily got caught up.

I finally arrived in Amurica, customs and immigration were a joke, and I breezed right through. Yay!
I left the airport, and drove straight to my sister's volleyball game, where we stayed for hours. Woot. Then we went straight out to dinner where I enjoyed a delicious turkey burger and fries. Yummmm American food haha!

So this will be the last post of A Diamond in Delhi, until I return to India again!! Thank you all for being such loyal readers, and I look forward to telling you stories in person :)

<3 ttfn

Cooking with Auntie

Auntie held a cooking class for everyone on the program at her house. Almost everyone came and we had a great time.
She taught us how to make chipati (like naan, flatbread), white rice, a paneer dish, dahl (lentils), and so many more.
It was so nice to have Auntie interacting with all of the students and I could tell she was just loving it, as were we!!
Auntie's daughter also came over to assist. She lives right down the street and also hosts a student.

Mother/ Daughter team in action! The little girl is Auntie's granddaughter, so that's 3 generations :)

All of the delicious spices we used

Wedding!

Ok so I'm quite behind. I am home safe and sound!!! Bu there are things that happened that I thought you all would be interested in hearing about, including the wedding :)

The wedding was amazing, and such a great cultural experience. Getting ready was half the fun, and took almost an hour and a half! To start with, makeup must be rather over the top so that took up some of my time, especially because that's something I'm not exactly used to. I would go into Auntie's room for approval and she would say, "More blush, bitte", or "More eye shadow, bitte". By the time she was satisfied I felt a bit like a drag queen but when in Rome...

Tying the sari took about half an  hour, and I did not do a thing. Our cook, Lakshmi, helped all of us and it is an intricate process, let me tell you. It's an impossibly long piece of cloth that needs to be pleated, twisted and draped into a dress. Yowza. She did a fabulous job though- here is the finished product-

We had SUCH a good time! Auntie is the groom's mom's best friend (follow?) so we were treated like VIP guests, taking pictures with the bride and groom and all. The food was wonderful, everyone was so nice, and the group of us had a great time partying it up together. Here are some pictures, all courtesy of my friend Anna.

The ladies of the house :)

Me and my gorgeous roomie

Cheesin at the wedding

Bride and groom in all of their glory

Auntie to the rescue!

Today was a wonderful example of how a day can be turned around :)

I had been studying, writing papers, and basically all kinds of stressing. It was about 5:00pm when  thought I would literally go crazy- my eyes were blurry, I couldn't type anything without misspelling, and the walls of my room were starting to close in on me. I needed to do something and I was seriously considering going for a run. I was so crazed I forgot it was 100 plus degrees outside,women aren't really supposed to do such things, and most of all, I cannot run. Luckily at that moment, Auntie came into my room like a ray of sunshine and fixed everything!
"Bitta, you look terrible. Come to a ceremony with me this evening. It will be good for you." I could have kissed her! Getting dressed up and heading out of the house was exactly I needed to get out of my funk. So I got all gussied up and basked under the compliments of Auntie "Bitta you look so pretty! And you have reduced! Your momma will be so proud. You know, when you came here you were plumpy, but now, look at you!" Yes, she said plumpy. I dwelt on it long enough to giggle inwardly at the adjective and moved on, because it's true- I came to India at my heaviest. But anyway, we headed out and it was glorious.
The function was a talent show of sorts, where music teachers from all over Delhi brought some students to perform, and then (separate from all that) Auntie's granddaughter's school was giving out awards. Kavya, Auntie's granddaughter, was going to be a recipient, hence the reason for attending. I felt so honored to be going because it was 3 generations of Auntie's (Auntie, her daughter, her daughter's daughter) and me. I felt so loved in that moment that I couldn't believe I had ever wished to leave India. My wanting to leave never EVER had anything to do with Auntie, but the thought of leaving her made me quite sad. I pushed the thought from my mind and just decided to make the best of what time we had together.
So, Auntie saved the day! Surprise surprise. She is my guru, my source of inspiration and love here in India and I owe her so much. She has invited me to another shindig on Sunday- the engagement party of the wedding I'll be attending Tuesday- so we'll get to hang out some more then :)
I just wanted to give you all a positive event here, because I was terribly morose in the last post. I will be home in approximately 2 weeks!!!


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Nearing the end

Hey all :)

I know I haven't written in awhile, but that's because I have barely left the house. I have not seen anything new of India in a long time. It makes me terribly sad, really because I am pretty sure I will never be back, but with the amount of work I have to do I really have no choice. Unlike many of my peers here, all of my classes count towards my degree and are included in my GPA so no slacking off for Katie. Not that I want to, just it would be nice to not be using an entire month of study abroad to be locked in the house working. I'll spare you the details but we are all sick and stressed and ready to go home. This is not at all how I imagined my experience would be so I'm a little sad on top of everything else. I have about 2.5 weeks left and I don't even know if I'll make it to the market one last time to get gifties :( This is sounding like one lavish pity party, but I assure you I'm working as hard as I can through the sickness and am waiting in anticipation until I get to return home to my wonderful family. Thoughts and prayers of support and strength would be much appreciated.

To end on  happier note, I will be attending a true Punjabi wedding next Tuesday (Monday morning your time :) My sari is currently being made, I bought bangles and Auntie is letting us all borrow jewelry for the occasion. Let me warn you, you all are NOT ready for the level of bling and pizzazz I will be sporting. When in Delhi... :)

Postcards :)

For those of you who have been concerned about the lack of mail, have no fear. I took a trip to the post office this afternoon! I really, really hope they get to you all, but the mail system here is questionable at best.
At Rp.15 a piece, that means it costs about 33 cents. Fun fact about the stamps- they were the perforated non-adhesive kind. Not even the lick kind. The glue kind. There was a pot of glue on a counter with no stick, so I actually had to stick my finger in the glue and smear the stamps with it- it made me nostalgic for the peel and stick kind for sure.
Auntie says you can start checking your mailboxes in a week. Uh huh... More like 2 weeks :)


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Vacation...kinda

Lots of things to talk about today, not much about India...just a warning. I'm actually wondering if I will continue blogging after I get back just about life and my experiences. If you would consider reading that, do let me know!!

So to start off, this Wednesday-Sunday is a break from school! Who new? Everyone is off enjoying Kerala or Varanasi, but I chose to stay home to get  some work done, and to just relax. The plans were to go everywhere, and see and do everything!! I just needed time to get my s*** together, as they say so I'm 'relaxing' while I scramble to get everything done. In addition to the 7 final papers I have (5 of which are 5,000+ words), I have to figure out my senior year credits (lolz, trying super hard to graduate on time), and make plans for the summer. For those who are interested I did get the State Farm internship opportunity in VA (woot woot!) but I decided it is better for me in the long and short run to stay home this summer. I need to take summer classes and bond with the fam after being so far away for so long.

Being alone for such a long time, with productivity being the attempted activity, weird things happen. For example, I am now obsessed with DIY blogs. DIY = Do It Yourself, as in craft people making crafts. Yes. Katie Stiefel now wants to make clothes and things. I told you India was changing me ;) My favorite right now is sweet-verbena.blogspot.com I may or may not have read through the entire thing, bookmarking like a madwoman. So. There's that. I'm also developing an unhealthy relationship with Pinterest. On the plus side, it has completely replaced my obsession with imgfave...gotta look on the bright side I suppose.

In addition to this blogging craze, there is something else I do when I get really really stressed...I shop. I can hear mom going "uh ohhh" as she reads this. Yeah...not good. In my defense it is all stuff that I need/have wanted for almost a year. Also, I hardly ever go shopping so when I do the $$ amount hurts a little, but that's just because it's not spread out, right? ...Right? So here's what I have bought (deep breath Mom): Watch and socks from Etsy (I love Etsy! You should all check it out and shop there!!!), Steve Madden boots (Dolla dolla bills y'all. But I have been searching for the perfect boot for 3 years, and I had a 15% coupon...are you convinced yet?), and wedges and a bag (to match the boots, also necessary...) from Target. Phew. So yeah, get ready for the packages Mom, and try not to kill me. Please.

Also I just discovered this website http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/ High-larious. Well some of them. But the few that are golden are totally worth it.
This is one of my faves, though most of them are political and equally humorous...also this post could use a picture.

And I met Auntie's grandson today! I think he is about 5 and just about the cutest gosh-darn thing I have ever laid eyes on.

UPDATE: I am now headed to the mall. For gifts!!...mostly. But hey I'm getting out of the house for the first time in days. Fair trade-off...?

In happier news

Today is also the day to celebrate my cousin's birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!

Thinking of you :)

Just because

I was riding in my tuk tuk this morning, lost in thought, and it suddenly hit me that I was going to miss this. There is something about traveling through Delhi in the early morning that is calming to me. I realized that after India I would never be in a tuktuk ever again!! I know I shouldn't be focusing on things I'll miss when I'm still here, but with ~a month left I can't help it. To anyone who has studied abroad: do you feel like when you left you didn't get to see everything and do everything or did you leave feeling like you had seen it all? I feel like I won't have done everything possible, and wished I had made more of my time. I know I'm already talking as though I've left, but this last month is packed  with final papers and stress so I won't be going out and doing anything much. I'm just hoping it's not just me that feels this way.

On a less serious note, I'm going to a wedding soon which means I need a sari!! I agonized over the color for wayy to long and decided on a blue green with silver. Yes, branching out I know lol. Better than the navy I was originally considering- I can hear the groans now :) Buying a sari and preparing for a wedding is pretty complicated. You walk into a store and buy a sari, yes that's true. But what that means is that you purchase one looong piece of plain cloth. Huzzah I now own a sari! Not quite... Now you need to buy bangles/ earrings/ etc, etc. Then you need to go to a tailor to get the blouse made- that belly-baring shirt you ear underneath. Then you need a petticoat to wear on your lower half because chiffon is see-through. Then you need to get the sari embroidered. THEN and only then, is your sari ready to wear. Phew.

I just want to give another shout-out to my fabulous family who have been there for me as I've been here. Being in India is a challenge for me in so many ways, and they are such a helpful and calming presence in my life that I am immensely grateful for. Love you!

GOA (aka 'spring break')

Alright let's get something straight here- 'spring break' is a huge stretch. We got 2 days off in addition to the weekend and three of those days were spent doing educational activities, just sayin'. Too many liabilities with 10 college students running around a beach town I suppose :)

We did so many things that I can hardly remember it all, already! Also, my camera's battery died on the first day, so I have almost no pictures- prepare for a wordy post! Goa is such a wonderful place, and I highly recommend going there if you can. There are so many cultural events to attend, historical sights to see, beautiful places to stay, lush countryside, beaches with palm trees, and the ocean of course!

Here is a quick vid of Goa :)

One of my favorite things we did was visit an organic spice farm. You are free to ooh and ahhh. I did. This place is run by a young man who took over his father's spice farm and revamped it. The really incredible thing about this is that he is fluent in English and went off to America and is fully educated up to his MBA. He came back to run the farm because he respects the work his father did, and has a passion for spice farming. Who knew. He is very charismatic and thoroughly passionate about what he does so it was a really enjoyable afternoon.
It is acres of space filled with lush green plants, palm trees, and sounds of monkeys in the near distance. It was like a jungle and I was lovin' life. We learned how vanilla is grown (up around a tree because it can't support itself), saw coffee beans being grown, and looked at cocoa pods. He convinced many of us to eat ants, because it is a really good source of protein. I'll give you one guess as to whether or not I participated. If you guessed that I skillfully avoided the activity, you'd be correct. He showed us pineapples growing, which was fascinating. One was ripe so he plucked it off and we ate it for lunch. I was officially in heaven. Or so I thought- the best was yet to come.
Found on this property is a sacred pool. Yes, you read that right. Not only that, but it contains those fishies that nibble away your dead skin- it's a type of pedicure that you pay $$$ for. I don't really understand that, but I'm crazy ticklish and couldn't handle even one nibble. Apparently it's great though... Anyway, the other fascinating thing about this pool is that bubbles come up from the ground, and they respond to vibrations. If you clap, the frequency of bubbles appearing increases. HOW COOL IS THAT?! And it was hot out, and the pool was cool, so it had that going for it as well. We got in our bathing suits and hopped in. Ahhh. After trekking through the hot jungle it was just nirvana slipping into the cool water and floating around. It was a sad moment when we had to get out, but then we told we were headed to lunch and all was right with the world.
Lunch was incredibly delicious. One of the great things about Goa is the seafood. One of the dishes at lunch was prawn curry. I could not. stop. eating it. I still can't eat things with bones in it (long story- used to be strict vegetarian) but prawns do not have this problem. How can you go wrong with what is essentially shrimp the size of a nickel? Nom nom.

We also saw a LOT of churches. Very interesting, after being in a country where you mostly see temples and gudwaras.

Me at the remains of an ollld church. Stopped in at the Chapel of  Our Lady of Good Success. Can't hurt, right?

Another highlight was our day off that we were free to use as we so pleased. Naturally we all headed to the beach!! We all arrived, excited and pasty and ready for sun (ok that middle one really only pertains to me...). The second we arrived on the beach, we realized that something was a little off- we did not see a single female for miles. It was, to put it colloquially, a sausage fest. Oh dear. Indian men. EVERYWHERE. So, desperate to escape this area where none of us wanted to be, let alone in our bathing suits, we just started walking. As we walked, the beach slowly thinned out and after 15 minutes we felt pretty comfortable settling down. We even saw some white people! Excitement abounded. After literally slathering myself with sunscreen (y'all know how desperately I need that, particularly in a tropical location) and letting it dry I practically ran into the water. Being a Maine beach girl myself, I particularly appreciate beaches where I can stay in the water for longer than 30 seconds without needing to worry about hypothermia. This certainly fulfilled that requirement- clear blue water with the temperature of bath water. Amazing. I never wanted to get out, and I practically didn't- except to get some sun and cocktails. And sun I got. Lordy did I get burned! It started peeling this morning actually. Joy. But it was totally worth it. I'd say 'SB 2012' was a success!!

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Punjab!

Ohhh goodness I am so late in posting!!! I'm sorry everyone- things are getting really insanely busy here and it's only going to get worse, but I'll try to be better about keeping you posted :) Only 6 more weeks until you stop reading the lame apologies on here and I start talking your ear off about all this stuff in person! Woohoo!

So a really long time ago (2 weekends) I went to Punjab in the north of India with my classmates and it was really amazing. There are a few highlights of the trip worth mentioning. First and foremost I saw PAKISTAN!!!! Wow. I don't know, for some reason that really hit me as being something not everyone gets to do. When you go to India, you see the Taj, etc, but how many people do you know that have seen Pakistan? Don't answer that- I want to pretend it's an elite club I'm part of now. Every evening, there is a ceremonial closing of the border between India and Pakistan and it has really grown over the years. It is something that locals and tourists alike flock to, because it has become entertainment, if you can believe it. There are stadiums on both sides, and fancily-dressed soldiers march around and there's an MC. It really truly is something to behold- here's a video!

India crowds

Soldiers and MC

Pakistan!!

The other highlight from this trip was definitely the Golden Temple in Amritsar. So. Beautiful. Yet another thing that is impossible to describe. Amritsar is the Holy City for Sikhs and this is their main temple. It is huge! It's surrounded by water that people ritually bathe in, and it has an enormous kitchen that feeds thousands of people a day, for free. We partook and it was delicious! We also walked around and got to see how everything was made. I have never seen such large-scale food production in all my life. More pictures!!

INSANE amounts of plates

Potatoes, you know, the normal amount 

Getting served

Golden Temple!

Don't change that url! Stay tuned for my trip to Goa!!

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Snail Mail

What a great day, for so many reasons!

One, we got our itinerary for Goa, our 'spring break' trip. It's Thursday night-Monday morning, so don't get too excited. But still, we are seeing SO MUCH!! A lot of people here want to see a lot of the beach... Before that I have to get through a midterm on Thursday, so I won't be able to get truly excited until that afternoon.

Two, I got 3 pieces of mail today!!! Best mail day ever. Shout outs to mamma, Fran, and the Stiefels :) I am the envy of the entire program for how much mail I get, no lie. I hope to get postcards out to everyone soon, but that requires finding a post office in my spare time. I'm embarrassed to say that I have written many postcards and not even sent them...I'm working on it, I promise.

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HOLI

HOLI!!!!!!!!!!


What a crazy day. Seriously. I have not had that much fun in a long time. Holi is a festival of springtime, and is all about friendship and community. And attacking each other with colored powder and water of course. This is one of the greatest holidays is existence, in my humble opinion. Children and adults alike are in on the fun, participating with wild abandon. Everyone is your friend on this day, so friendly in fact, that they have no qualms about dumping a huge bucket of colored water over your head. Multiple times. It really is what it looks like on the internet- people gathering in groups throwing colored powder at each other. The joy in the air is just as palpable as the colors. Everyone puts aside their worries for one day and runs wild in the streets. It was exactly what I needed to bounce me out of my funk yesterday.

As you've read I've been mentally preparing for this holiday all week, but none of the dread I carried with me appeared on this day. I was ready and willing to participate!! I woke up and got dressed in my Holi clothes. Now, you're supposed to wear things that you can throw away, but I only brought 3 pairs of pants and ~7 shirts so my selection was limited. I chose to wear a tye dye shirt from home (appropriate I thought) and a pair of black pants I purchased here which I really like, but can buy another pair easily for ~Rp150 (~$3). All 6 of us, Auntie's granddaughter, and the household staff gathered on the roof and Holi began! We all ran around like crazy people throwing colors and water at one another with wild abandon. I haven't felt such child-like joy in longer than I care to admit. It was a really freeing and joyous experience for me. You will all be happy to know that I actually enjoyed being quite dirty, and I think you'll be shocked at the below pictures lol.

Thanks to Jayme for the great group pic :)
See if you can figure out which one I am haha!

After Holi 1 at the house

3 of the others left for a party, and we were left wondering what to do so I suggested walking down to our friend Carmen's house because we heard she was having a shindig. Now, walking the streets during Holi is a dangerous experience. There are children literally lining the streets with every model water gun, and colored powder, imaginable. Luckily we were already covered in those things, so we just laughed our way down to Carmen's house under siege.
Carmen's family invited us to a Holi party and naturally we accepted. For Rp 300 we got 3 all you can eat buffets, a dance floor, and plenty of people to chat with! We all started with their versions of street food (Stuff we wish we could eat on a daily basis but can't because it's not safe on the street. But it was here!) and drinks. But then we were pulled on to the dance floor. And I will have you know that I did dance. Unembarrassed. And loved it!! I guess I'll have to try it more often. We left after a few hours and I immediately hopped in the shower!! Or, started running the water for a bucket bath, is more like it.

After Holi 2 at the partyWhat a wonderful experience. Good, messy fun with good friends :) It was exactly what I needed to counteract how I was feeling yesterday.

Close up of the damage. I was actually quite clean by this time if you can believe it 

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!!!!!
Today is just full of good things and celebrations :)
I wanted to take this opportunity the thank the most important woman in my life- my loving Mom. She is such an amazing woman and so important to me. Without her, I would not be where I am today. She has always allowed me to follow my dreams no matter how implausible- professional opera singer? Of course dear. India? ...you're sure...? Whatever makes you happy, she says. And that is the most important phrase a parent can say to a child, besides I love you which, I am lucky enough to hear everyday :) I love you mom. I can't wait to come home and see you!! (And have your cooking... <3 )

My and 2 of my fave ladies <3

Medley of things

This week has been incredibly stressful, and you'll never be able to guess why- it's Holi tomorrow. I realize this means nothing to you all, but to me it's a big deal. Holi is a celebration of spring that involves throwing colored powder and water at everyone. Enter Katie's anxiety lol. This whole week people essentially pre-game Holi by throwing water balloons and squirting people with water guns. Yay. Children and adults alike stake out corners and roofs to attack innocent passersby such as myself. An unseen attacking enemy!! I'm constantly on high alert and I am sure my blood pressure has gone up exponentially. But this is nothing compared to the craziness that will ensue tomorrow. We have been warned to not even venture outside because shiz. goes. down. Foreigners are especially targeted apparently. Look up this festival online- it really is crazy. I have no plans for it at the moment, but I do want to experience it...maybe toned down a bit... I'll report back after the festivities for sure!!

In sad news, I'm pretty homesick actually. I don't really know why- nothing in particular triggered it. I've just been feeling kinda down lately. It's not even anything about India that's bothering me. I think it is because I realized that I can't just do whatever I want here. A silly example: If I want a pizza at night, I can't walk to get one because it's unsafe. I have to call and negotiate the language barrier to order and to give directions to my house. I then have to go downstairs, meet the pizza guy at the gate, sign him in, and run back upstairs before anyone realized I'm gone and shuts the door. There are no keys, so if you're locked out at night, the only option is to ring the doorbell and wake up the entire house, including auntie who will then wonder why you are ordering a pizza when she clearly feeds you well, etc, etc. And even getting places requires effort. Walking around to find a tuktuk while under constant surveillance because I'm a white girl, possibly enduring harassment, bargaining for the right price, and then arguing when he takes you to the wrong place. It's just hitting me that nothing is simple and easy here and I'm a little frustrated and cranky.Ah well. I'm sure it won't last long :)

Even though I just said I'm homesick, I cannot BELIEVE I am leaving so soon. I feel like I will never be able to see all I want to see of Delhi and I don't really see myself coming back here. When travelling I prefer to go to places I haven't been before, instead of back to places I like.
We are going to Amritsar on Friday to see the India/Pakistan border, the Golden Temple and other things so I'm pretty excited about that. I'll keep you posted!!

In other, and even more random news, I was just lamenting going back to my school's meal plan next year. I would much rather have a stipend and cook for myself because they don't have very many healthy options. And what pops up in my email today? A survey about how satisfied I am with the dining locations on campus!! I let them have it, which felt really good. Normally I'm really nice in those, but I really feel like there should be a change in our dining options. Hopefully they listen to something I said!

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Venturing out to the village

 Right now I have moved into my friend Will's room, just for the afternoon for homework purposes. He has the blinds open, a door to the terrace open, and his roommate is gone, so I figured I would just make myself comfortable!! It's so sunny in here, and with the fresh air and sounds of the neighborhood wafting in through the doorway I'm just happy as can be.  And what better way to spread the happiness than to satisfy your needs to hear about my life? (lol)

Last weekend (yes, I'm catching up!) eight of us went on a 4-day field trip to Barefoot College- not far from Jaipur actually. This was a field trip with my Socio-economics class, to learn about NGOs and what's going on in rural India, as we only get to see the lives of the upper-crust in Delhi. Talk about an eye-opening experience!! I loved every minute of our adventure into rural India. This is the sort of thing that I really wanted to get into when I came here. Barefoot College in short, is a place where people can come to learn skills that will help them in their everyday lives, and will help their village. they do not hand out paper degrees, as they feel they are useless out in rural Rajasthan. They would rather teach people useful skills that will better their communities. Even though they are classified as an NGO, they do not like to be called as such. The people at Barefoot believe in equality and honesty among other values. This means that they always publish how their money is being used, and everyone gets the same salary. It really is amazing. You can learn more here.
We slept and ate here, and the food was some of the best that I've had in India (don't tell Auntie...). Also the people we met were some of the happiest I have ever seen. They are all working together towards a goal that will change lives and generations to come.
I honestly don't even remember what we did every day, but we were quite busy I can tell you that much. We visited 2 schools- one day government school and one night school set up by BC. The night school was really something to see. It was set up by BC because they knew there were children in the village who were not getting an education because they were working all day. So these are children who work all day in their homes/fields and are driven to want to be educated so much that they eat dinner and then trek to this night school for 2 hours. It's amazing to see the ambition that these kids have. It's mostly girls too. They are just so happy to be learning!! We also visited a few health centers, which is my area of interest. It is amazing what they are able to do with their lack of supplies and infrastructure.

Women at a worksite- they do hard labor and still dress so beautifully!

Government school

Kiddies!!

More kiddies!!

A map in the gov't school...you will notice that Spain is an island...

Health Center in the village

Cow...idk I thought she was cute

Area where we were in Rajasthan...pretty desert-y

Jaipur!

Last, last weekend me and 3 girlfriends went to Jaipur, a place in India known for the silver and the Amber Fort, among other things. We had such a good time!!!

The way there was a little rough, however. We booked trains at the last minute so we had zero options. We had to take the lowest-class sleeper car available at 4am. Ughhh. I can't even explain to you the horror that was that train ride (there and back). Bunks with strangers in the dark, with windows with no screens. It gets COLD in India at night, especially with the wind whistling in through the window. Never again.

We look happy...don't let that deceive you

When we got there we got the free taxi service from the hotel to pick us up at the train station. We were staying at the Krishna Palace and it was SO CUTE! Sadly I don't have any pics of it. Before arriving in Jaipur we had made arrangements with an auto driver to drive us around for 2 days and show us the city. My housemates had toured with him when they were in Jaipur and recommended him. His name is Raj and he showed us so many wonderful things that we never would have found ourselves.

Day 1:
One of the first things we did was to climb to the top of a very tall spire (height, claustrophobia, spiral staircase phobias all challenged) and look over the entire city of Jaipur. What a great intro to the city!

We went to see some tombs that aren't listed in the guidebooks and they were gorgeous!! We were the only people there which is an excitement in itself in India. There were courtyards full of these intricately carved tombs. Frankly I have no idea who is buried there, but that didn't really matter to us. We just enjoyed walking around this deserted gravesite chatting and taking pictures on such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect too- sunny and mid- 70s.

We explored the entire site, finding some underground areas which we first thought were dungeons, but realized were actually for keeping livestock or something else much less interesting. Then we found a maze of rooms built into the ground which were suuuper creepy. It was completely silent, except for the flapping of pigeon wings (more on those horrible creatures later). I actually got kinda scared at one point when we stumbled upon a decrepit-looking doll in one of the rooms. It looked as though her eyes followed you everywhere. We proceeded to get the hell out of there and back into the sun!!

When I was walking around by myself I was followed by a demon pigeon, no joke. It would actually walk around behind me making scary pigeon noises, and when I entered a tomb it would fly up into the eaves and growl. I swear. It would also fly around my head, scaring the crap out of me. Now I'm a little fearful of pigeons... They are also really big here! Like, they might be able to do damage if you provoke them. Seriously.

We also went to the famous Water Palace! This has a really interesting story- the water body was dammed so it could be built. This ruler wanted part of his palace to be under the water for protection, and for a cool place to go in the summer. Wild.

Elephants!!! I just love them. They are such sweet and intelligent creatures and I never wanted to leave. If you're not careful, I'll bring an elephant back as my souvenir :) I fed, pet, hugged, became best friends with 2 elephants. And they blessed me! My life is complete. That's one of things I'll miss about India- you pretty much get blessed everywhere you go, even in fancy restaurants. I know it might seem kitschy to some people, but it really does put me in a better mood. So anyway I made people take a bunch of pics of me with my new best friends.

                                                    

Also, because this was not just my trip I was dragged along shopping. Hmmph.  It was pretty cool though- Raj led us through all of these back alleys to a jewelry wholesaler. It was really secretive and I felt like I was in a movie!! Naturally I don't care one bit for jewelry so I just sat back and watched everyone pore over rings, necklaces, and earrings for what seemed like hours. Oh wait, it was hours. I did see 2 pieces I liked so I inquired of price, tried them on, and bought them all within 5 minutes. THAT'S how I like to shop lol. No muss, no fuss. I'm wearing them almost every day actually, trying to get used to wearing rings.

After such a long day we just went home and hit the hay. After not sleeping all night on the train, and having such a full day we were ready to sleep for sure!

Day 2:
Moooore shopping. I won;t bore you with the details, but I did buy maroon pants, and a green kurta (traditional women's tunic-like-clothing). I'm trying to branch out.

Most of the day was taken up by the Amber Fort, something Jaipur is famous for. What an amazing place! All of the old palaces and architecture here is really something to see. It's quite a trek up to the fort, but it was good to actually get some exercise here in India, the land of fried food and no walking. I don't even know what to say about this place so I'll just post some pictures :)

At the top of the fort, with the mountains and Jaipur behind me

A hall covered entirely in mirrors!!

In the evening we went to the MONKEY TEMPLE- another one of my highlights in India. Jaipur really was just awesome. It's called the monkey temple because the area is overrun by thousands of monkeys, but it is really a Sun Temple. I got really close to wild monkeys which was amazing/a little scary, but if you don't provoke them there's no problem. This is another situation of something really interesting being at the top of a really big hill, so it's good that it had gotten a little cooler by then!! When we got to the top, we were greeted by a woman who blessed us (yay!) and her husband, who are in charge of the temple. This place is breathtaking, especially at sunset. Again, words can't do it justice so I'll post pics. The monkeys actually aren't allowed in the temple itself so it's a very peaceful place.

Menagerie!!

Sun Temple

Sunset from the top of the Sun Temple

That night at 1am we headed back to Delhi :( We all wanted to stay in Jaipur forever. The people were so friendly, there was hardly any traffic noise, and the air was pretty clean, all compared to Delhi. I'll spare you the details of the train ride back- see beginning of post for a reminder. Never. Again.

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TAJ MAHAL

Yet another disclaimer: I know that the blog posts have been lacking a little but I would like to continue to remind...certain people...that I am in fact, enrolled in college here and have crazy amounts of work to do :) I will try to be better about blogging.

With that out of the way, I WENT TO SEE THE TAJ MAHAL (...2 weekends ago. I'm a little behind...). Regardless, I saw one of the wonders of the world!!!

There were 7 of us so we hired 2 taxis to take us down there, drive us around while there, and drive us back. This is a service that is quite cheap in India and pretty common. The trip down took ~5 hours, but our car had such a good time, laughing and talking the whole way. When we got there we checked into our guesthouse and decided to grab a bite on the run on our way to Fathepur Sikri (not the Taj, but another cool place in Agra). And what did we find?

That's right- McD in India. Of course we all thought it would be funny and ironic to go McD- a bunch of American tourists. All the Indians inside were like, freakin Americans going to McD in our country, ugh. Oh well, we had a blast. No beef in McD folks, but there was chicken and veggie burgers and paneer patties!! I stuck with chicken, seeing as I never get to eat it (Auntie's house is strictly veg- no eggs either). It was pretty good actually. After our little social experiment we headed to Fatehpur Sikri, an hour out of the city center. This palace/village was built by Akbar wayyy back when. It's really beautiful and incorporates Hinuism, Christianity, and Islam in the mosque because Akbar's wives were of all these traditions. That seems pretty progressive to me, considering the time. This place is beautiful, like all other historical things in India.

The next day we headed to the Taj!! It costs foreigners Rp. 750 (~$15) to get in, but it was totally worth it. We got there at the perfect time- right after the sunrise rush and right before all the tour buses arrive.  It's tradition for people in my hometown to take pictures of themselves with the town newspaper and then send them in to be published. Well, I really wanted to do this with the Taj but newspapers aren't allowed in...can you believe it?! How odd. So, one dream dashed that day. 

When we got there, there was quite the fog, as there always is on Indian mornings, so my first glimpse of the Taj looked like a mirage- so beautiful

I could not believe I was actually standing in front of the Taj Mahal! It was completely unreal, because it looks just as flawless and wonderful in person as it does in pictures. This was definitely the highlight of my India trip thus far. Kiki said this day was the happiest she has ever seen me! I was just lovin life. I was content to just sit and stare at it, which I did while some of the others walked around.

Me cheesin in front of the Taj

I have to run to class, but the next entry will be on my trip to Jaipur from last weekend

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