Busy Busy Busy, but Oh so fun!

Hey guys,

Our internet has been pretty sketchy recently, and it wouldn't let me upload my posts. I am really sorry! But here they are in order of date from the past two days because I wrote and saved them in a word file. I am going to write one separately for today (10/2).

December 31, 2009

Today was a very long but fun day! In the morning we attended our first lecture, where we attempted to learn the basics of the Hindi language. It is not easy, and the “vowels” and “consonants” are based on sounds and have strange rules. Needless to say, I can recognize a few numbers, the name Rachel (the name of one of the girls on the trip), and the word Delhi. =)

In the afternoon we went to the Qutb Minar, which was a large monument that extends far into the air, and is one of the monuments grouped with the Leaning Tower of Pisa because it leans to its side. It is interesting because the base is very wide, but it gets narrower and narrower as it goes up. According to our book, if you were to jump from the top you would hit the side of the building “even if you were an experienced jumper.” We got a laugh out of that. No one knows the real reason for this monument which was built during the Rajustan Period (the Rajputs) in 1200 A.D.. It is too high to be the building for the call to prayer because they would not hear a person from the top. There are many speculations that is was possibly built as a victory tower, but none are known for sure. There was a second one that was started by Alauddin (love the name!) that was going to be 3 times the size, but he died and it was never finished. The ruins around the monument are what I really enjoyed, which consisted of Qutbuddin’s mosque, and Iltitmish’s monsque, and a Muslim school. We saw the iron pillar that I learned about in my class Materials that Shape Civilization. If any of you go to UVA, you know what I’m talking about =) To say it was an easy science class it is an understatement. It is a large pillar that is 99.9 percent iron and was put together piece by piece, but you cannot tell when looking at it. It was exciting because only two of us who took the class even knew what it was! We took lots of fun pictures all around the ruins, and it was so neat how families came to just picnic and take their children as if it was a playground. There were other ruins of mosques, ancient libraries and schools, but we could climb them and run around. You don’t see stuff like this in America and it’s just so exciting. It was the first time that we have been in Delhi and have seen beautiful grass and birds and generally clean surroundings. It was weird that right outside of the gates we walked back into the dusty and dirty streets of Delhi where reality hits again.

We continued to the Baha’i Faith Lotus Temple, which was their house of worship. It is unique because it is shaped like a lotus flower. This faith has strong ties to Israel, and apparently is a religion that originates from pieces of Christianity and Islam. There are three primary prophets that have given the followers instruction, but the basic tenants are peace and unity of religion. When we tried to find more about their actual beliefs, their answers were rather vague and I could never get a clear answer. I am going to look it up more when I get home, but I feel like it’s similar to unification religions that are seen around the world.

Well, that night we were invited to celebrate New Years Eve at a country club with a family from UVA! We went to a suburb of Delhi to a beautiful club that was obviously for the upper class. There was amazing food and a dance floor, which we were promptly encouraged to dance on. We danced the night away to welcome in the new year 2010. It was one of those experiences that I will never forget! Celebrating for the new year is a universal concept that you will experience no matter what country you are in, and it’s very exciting.

I am starting to see the beauty everywhere hidden in this city that is looked over as a dirty mess by the developed world. There are so many people that are just like me but happened to be born in different circumstances. It is nothing that they did wrong, and I hate the fact that they are treated that way. It is like because they are poor they are automatically considered ignorant and lower than the rest of society. It is simply ridiculous! I have been able to talk with so many people, from a 12 year old girl that taught herself English and was drawing henna tattoos on the side of the road to a waiter in a nice restraint. They are all able to carry a conversation, they are all sweet and willing to talk, they are all working in some way to provide for themselves, and they are all beautiful images of God that He created out of love and enjoyment. Why in the world do we look down on them because they have less money and live in different conditions? Why do we look at their dirty clothes and unwashed hands and scour? Why do we assume that they aren’t doing what they are supposed to be doing? Why do we assume that they are not safe and should be less respected? I am beginning to see the disgusting hypocrisy that plagues our world. That 12 year old had so much more maturity than I could have dreamed of having when I was twelve, and she was already working to provide for herself and for a possible family. I have so much respect for her, and people like her, because they are making the best out of what they have. I just wish that their culture was not drowning in Satan’s lies that devotion for these many deities is the way to achieve happiness, when really there is no Krishna or Rama watching over them. There is no monkey god interfering in their destiny. I can’t understand why their gods are attractive to them, when the One True God that does interact with you, does talk to you, and does love you is right at their finger tips waiting to envelope them in his arms.

1/01/10

It was New Years Day, and considering we did not get back to our rooms until 3am, we were able to sleep in and had a free day! It was our first day on our own without the professor or any tour guide where we had to explore the city. Unfortunately, even though we were allowed to sleep in, the rest of the city is awake by 8 am regardless. Once the car horns started blazing, the men started debating right outside on the street with each other, and the birds and monkeys decided to dance with each other I realized it is impossible to sleep once the city is awake. Noise is something that you cannot escape in India. It is the constant among the variables that I experience each day. It’s actually kinda fun partaking in this completely different culture.

After breakfast we went into the city to a circle called Connaught Place, which has many different streets coming off of it. On a map it looks like a sun, and the streets are the sun’s rays. The bus basically dropped us off with a map and told us to meet them back at 6pm at the same place. 18 students with one map trying to navigate the unknown streets of Delhi obviously brought amusement for the natives, especially when we stopped them and pointed at the map for help. But we were able to figure out some fun places to explore with the help of random Indians we met on the street. There was a Tibetan market, which is for the refugees that were displaced when the Dali Lama was removed by the Chinese and the Indian government gave them stalls for them to sell items to make a living. Imagine China town in New York on caffeine. Here we could bargain all we wanted to the point where the store clerks applauded me for my tough bargaining skills =). There was also a street with state stores, which are products from all the states in India. Yes, this was a shopping trip!

However, before we started shopping we went to my favorite place that I have seen since we have been in Delhi, called the Jantar Mantar. I remember hearing about the Jantar Mantar in the 4 weeks I took my Archeo-Astronomy class my first semester, so I thought it was interesting I already knew a little bit about it. It was built by Maharajah Jai Singh in 1710 A.D. during the Mughal Empire when he realized that the court’s measurements were not accurate with the measurements of astronomy in the rest of the world. In order to correct it he built 4 giant structures used to measure and predict the movement of the stars and eclipses, and a sundial in the center which is a huge triangle in the middle of the park. These instruments were much larger than the instruments the court was using, which made the measurements more accurate. I had never seen these kinds of things before, even though I have heard all about them, and they were huge buildings that we could run around and play on. We had so much fun exploring them and going into every crevice and taking pictures. There were two circular buildings that looked like miniature coliseums and was made of red clay except there was a giant pole in the middle with many lines attaching it to the walls. There were windows too like the coliseum and some of us decided to be adventurous and climb up and sit in them, which resulted in some pretty awesome pictures and some very dirty bottoms. I felt like a 7 year old running around on a playground. It was so neat how families brought picnics and spent the entire day sitting around this park while the children ran all through the instruments. This was my favorite thing that I have done this far.

Continuing on our journey, we stopped at a restaurant our teacher recommended called Kwality Restaurant (get it? Quality haha). It was a very fancy restaurant and they were very happy to have American visitors because they put us in our own private room. I originally ordered something that sounded tasty in garlic and onions, but then the waiter asked if I was sure I wanted it because it was lamb brain. Haha. I did not order it for myself, but my friend did instead and I tried it… It was gushy but very flavorful from the curry that it was in. The waiter brought me a lamb dish that he thought I would like that was soaked in a creamy yellow sauce (non spicy of course) with this yummy pita bread to soak it up with called non (sp?). It was delicious and the most fulfilling meal that I have had yet. After lunch, we continued our adventure by trying to cross the street with a group of 18. It was like playing frogger, except it was in real life with people instead of frogs. They don’t really have cross walks at most places and you just have to take a chance and step out into the road and pray that cars will stop because the traffic is so bad you will be able to cross without cars. I swear I saw at least 5 people almost get hit and it made my heart skip a beat each time. But apparently that’s the Indian lifestyle and it’s normal for them. Scary.

Throughout the shopping experience we accidentally ended up in a carpet store, where they told us to sit for a presentation. They showed us how they made the rugs, and then proceeded to pull out rug after rug after rug, and we realized that they thought we were there to purchase the 50,00$ minimum rugs! They were not happy when we promptly stood up, apologized, and walked out. Oops! We also picked up a friend named Sammy along the way, who was determined to sell each girl these colorful beaded necklaces: “2 for 10 rupees miss, please miss, 2 for 10 rupees!” He walked with us from the Tibetan market to the rug store to the state stores, was with us for about 2 hours, safely guided us all across the street, and showed us a few local shortcuts to avoid the worst crowds. I felt like his hard work and determination deserved some kind of reward regardless of if I actually wanted them or not. They way I saw it was this: 10 rupees is equivalent to about 5 cents and this boy had helped this group of naïve Americans that couldn’t navigate worth a penny anyway. I gave in and bought them, along with 10 other girls who felt sympathy for him. He was a sweet kid.

It was a wonderful day where we got to really experience the local atmosphere and tangibly experience Dehli. However, it wore me out, and as soon as we got back I was out by 9pm without one bit of disturbance until 7am when I woke up to get ready for the next day. It has been a busy couple of days, but I have really enjoyed it. I have begun to look past the dirtiness and extreme difference between Delhi and America and am beginning to feel like I can fit in. Today we laughed because 500 rupees is starting to sound like a lot of money to us, when really it is only 10$. Our professor said: “the restaurant might be more expensive than the lunches you have hear. Be prepared to pay atleast 500 rupees!” and the whole room sighed and gasped from that number =). Haha. India is really an amazing place!

Well, I love you and miss you all so much! I will try to continue to write nightly posts but the internet connection has to cooperate! Love Love Love<3

Christy