I cannot believe that it has been a year and eight months since I arrived here. Especially since I barely made it through the first weekend (aside: if you have a broken foot don’t come to India…especially in monsoon season). But I made it through that first weekend and then some. So what do I think of India after all this time? Well, I wouldn’t say that I love India; I don’t hate it either; I would say that I love parts of it and I don’t like other parts of it. But this is a beautiful country and I think that most people (assuming you aren’t a neat freak or germaphobe) would enjoy experiencing India.
So, as I get ready to take off and bid farewell to India and to my blog I thought I’d list my top 5 India experiences that are in my head right now:
1 Рseeing the Taj Mahal for the first time with my parents (clich̩, yes, but true)
2 – getting caught in monsoon rains
3 – sitting in the Kerala backwaters looking up at the stars
4 – a crazy autorickshaw ride when I first got here (check Oct 2, 2008 post for full details) which was a wild goose chase as well as an amazing bonding experience across cultural/religious lines
5 – experiencing the India/Pakistan border ceremony
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog because I’ve definitely enjoyed writing it.
Bye!!!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Things I will/won’t miss
As I go over in my mind on an almost daily basis the things I’ll miss about being here I also think of things I won’t miss.
Certain likable/not-likable things are making themselves very prominent this week; like the bougainvillea which are blooming like crazy and are so pretty and bright right now and I will miss seeing them so much; or like banking which I’m currently arguing with…why is it that one person says one thing but when that person is out someone else says the exact opposite and they don’t understand why I’m frustrated. My personal favorite response last night was: “well if there is a problem I’ll be here next week”…to which I said: "yes, but I won’t be”.
Anyway…here’s a list of some of my favorite/least favorite things:
I will miss flowers blooming year round
I won’t miss the summer at all
I will miss having a driver and a maid
I won’t miss having to rely so much on others and not being able to drive myself
I will miss all the random animal sightings; in particular the peacocks and elephants
I won’t miss the street dogs; they weird me out
I will miss being able to take great weekend trips for such a small amount of money
I will and won’t miss all the crazy transportation I’ve had to take to get to places; they are an adventure but sometimes it would be nice for life to be less adventurous
I will miss my awesome and crazy cheap facials and massages
I won’t miss the dirty dusty air that make monthly facials almost a necessity
And on and on….
I have a sneaking suspicion that my first month home will involve a lot of me getting excited over things that I have missed about being home. And then I’ll start to miss things about being here. As long as I can find a good Indian restaurant near where I end up I'll be happy...if I can find a south Indian restaurant I'll be thrilled!
Certain likable/not-likable things are making themselves very prominent this week; like the bougainvillea which are blooming like crazy and are so pretty and bright right now and I will miss seeing them so much; or like banking which I’m currently arguing with…why is it that one person says one thing but when that person is out someone else says the exact opposite and they don’t understand why I’m frustrated. My personal favorite response last night was: “well if there is a problem I’ll be here next week”…to which I said: "yes, but I won’t be”.
Anyway…here’s a list of some of my favorite/least favorite things:
I will miss flowers blooming year round
I won’t miss the summer at all
I will miss having a driver and a maid
I won’t miss having to rely so much on others and not being able to drive myself
I will miss all the random animal sightings; in particular the peacocks and elephants
I won’t miss the street dogs; they weird me out
I will miss being able to take great weekend trips for such a small amount of money
I will and won’t miss all the crazy transportation I’ve had to take to get to places; they are an adventure but sometimes it would be nice for life to be less adventurous
I will miss my awesome and crazy cheap facials and massages
I won’t miss the dirty dusty air that make monthly facials almost a necessity
And on and on….
I have a sneaking suspicion that my first month home will involve a lot of me getting excited over things that I have missed about being home. And then I’ll start to miss things about being here. As long as I can find a good Indian restaurant near where I end up I'll be happy...if I can find a south Indian restaurant I'll be thrilled!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Happy Holi (again)
Well Holi this year was much crazier than last year; no doubt because this year Holi fell on a Monday and last year it was on a Wednesday. On Sunday (the day before) I got thwacked with a water balloon; it hurt like crazy and I’m amazed I don’t have a bruise. I was in an auto rickshaw and saw something out of the corner of my eye…it was some kids pointing at me and then one of them threw (like a baseball pitcher pitches) a balloon at me at top speed. Luckily I was able to crouch a bit so it only got me on my leg. And today there is dried paint all over the place on the sidewalks. I did go out for a bit yesterday; just a quick walk; but only got sprayed with water guns, no color; I think that was just luck because just a few minutes later I heard a bunch of kids running down the street. A very odd holiday. Everyone complains about it before the day saying how annoying it is but then they all celebrate. Oh well, it is over and so my last week in India started with a bang (so to speak).
Nothing much to blog about today. Tomorrow I’m off to the bank to close down my bank account…hard to figure exactly how many rupees I’ll need before I leave but I’m trying. Just enough to eat my meals but not too much so I can’t buy anything else…no more room in my luggage.
Nothing much to blog about today. Tomorrow I’m off to the bank to close down my bank account…hard to figure exactly how many rupees I’ll need before I leave but I’m trying. Just enough to eat my meals but not too much so I can’t buy anything else…no more room in my luggage.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Hooray/memories
Well I’m thrilled to say that I got my security deposit back from my landlord and now am 100% done with my apartment. It was quite stressful getting all those loose ends tied up but now I can relax; whew. Of course I’m a dingbat and forgot that the check has to have my name written exactly as my bank has it written; my bank account has my middle initial on it and the check doesn’t. So...in the logic that is Indian banking; I need to send a letter to the bank saying that yes, that check really is for me. You would think that the person writing the check would need to say it is okay…but I've learned that sometimes over here it is best to ignore logic. All that matters is that I got the security deposit back (landlords here are notorious for not paying back the deposit).
Anyway…last night I was out to dinner with my colleague and we were reminiscing about some of our first memories in India which now seem kind of funny. For example; both of us on our first night here sat in bed thinking “what have I done”. I was so hot and then the power went out and there were all these crazy sounds all around and I did not think I would make it through. But I made it through that first night and then some…
I also remembered the first time I went to Khan Market, which is one of the more upscale markets in Delhi. I was shown one of the “grocery stores” and I remember thinking that I would never shop there because it was such a small store with stuff piled a mile high on every wall…now I go there every few weeks because they have the best apples in the city.
I also remember the first time I went to buy milk; first I couldn’t find the milk guys in my market because they are at the very back; then I was confused because they don’t sell milk all day (which now makes sense to me because they get it delivered twice a day) and I couldn’t figure what type I wanted. To be honest I still haven’t figured out the type yet because they all seem like they are whole milk to me but apparently one of the three is slightly less fattening.
Its fun to remember some of those first moments because I feel like I’ve come so far and kind of conquered life in India.
So...Monday is a holiday, Holi. Maybe I’ll be brave this year and venture out and get covered in color…or maybe not. We’ll see.
Anyway…last night I was out to dinner with my colleague and we were reminiscing about some of our first memories in India which now seem kind of funny. For example; both of us on our first night here sat in bed thinking “what have I done”. I was so hot and then the power went out and there were all these crazy sounds all around and I did not think I would make it through. But I made it through that first night and then some…
I also remembered the first time I went to Khan Market, which is one of the more upscale markets in Delhi. I was shown one of the “grocery stores” and I remember thinking that I would never shop there because it was such a small store with stuff piled a mile high on every wall…now I go there every few weeks because they have the best apples in the city.
I also remember the first time I went to buy milk; first I couldn’t find the milk guys in my market because they are at the very back; then I was confused because they don’t sell milk all day (which now makes sense to me because they get it delivered twice a day) and I couldn’t figure what type I wanted. To be honest I still haven’t figured out the type yet because they all seem like they are whole milk to me but apparently one of the three is slightly less fattening.
Its fun to remember some of those first moments because I feel like I’ve come so far and kind of conquered life in India.
So...Monday is a holiday, Holi. Maybe I’ll be brave this year and venture out and get covered in color…or maybe not. We’ll see.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Crazy animals
Last night I was awoken at around 3 a.m. by some dogs having what sounded like a barking contest. Highly annoying. But, it reminded me of a funny event in Jodhpur. We saw so many animals there; cows galore, a bunch of camels, donkeys, a few monkeys with very long tails, one elephant and a whole lot of goats. For the elephant and the goats we saw them while in our autorickshaw. The elephant I spotted coming towards us so I said “elephant!”; my friend didn’t see him right away but definitely noticed him right as he passed us which really took her by surprise…imagine sitting in an autorickshaw and seeing a huge elephant leg walking right past you…crazy. He was a very happy healthy looking elephant. The goats were impossible to not notice right away as suddenly about 50 of them (literally) came running down the road towards us. A little scary for about a half second until I noticed a guy following them who seemed to be the goat herder directing them. Much as I will not miss all the street dogs I will for sure miss all these random animal sightings.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Just in time...
So I'm almost totally moved out of my apartment into a little guest house (with a flat screen TV in my room...very exciting!) and I'm quite proud of my packing. I have some stuff to ship home but not as much as I thought I would have. I could probably fit it all in my luggage...but then I wouldn't be able to pick my bags up so that wouldn't work.
Just a quick post today as I have to head home in a few hours to meet the furniture rental people but I just had to quickly mention that I timed my move back perfectly. It is just now starting to warm up; I even had to put my overhead fan on for a little bit. Today the high is 27 (80F) and by Saturday it will be up to 31 (88F). Likely in a few weeks it will be upper 30s and I will be happily not sweating at home. Perfect timing - yeah!
Just a quick post today as I have to head home in a few hours to meet the furniture rental people but I just had to quickly mention that I timed my move back perfectly. It is just now starting to warm up; I even had to put my overhead fan on for a little bit. Today the high is 27 (80F) and by Saturday it will be up to 31 (88F). Likely in a few weeks it will be upper 30s and I will be happily not sweating at home. Perfect timing - yeah!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Things I will miss…
While there are definitely plenty of thing that I will not miss about India (the honking is seriously driving me crazy lately) there is so much I will miss. Today’s topic? The medical care. Yesterday I had an earache and fearing an ear infection (because I’m flying next week and do not want to fly with a bad ear) I went to the clinic. I walked in and asked to see the ENT specialist. 10 minutes later I was with the doctor, 10 minutes after that I was out of the place with a prescription. The only reason it took that long is because the computers were down and they had to hand write the receipts.
I decided while I was out to stop by and see my dentist just to make sure that everything with my root canal still looked good before I went home. I had to wait a bit longer for him, maybe 15 minutes; then I went in, we chatted, he checked my teeth (all is well) and he didn’t even charge me.
It isn’t just that it is crazy cheap to see a doctor here; it is that it is fast and the service is great. They have always diagnosed me properly and the medication has always worked and the doctors always remember me from visit to visit (although I do really stand out here so really I can’t give them too much credit for that).
Now it is back to the world of having to make appointments; making sure the doctor is on your health plan. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Sigh.
Of course I suppose I could just hope to not get sick as much any more.
Aside: Tomorrow I’m moving out of my apartment into a guest house for my final week and a half here. Will be sad to say goodbye to the place but just yesterday one of the toilets broke again and I didn’t have water for about a ½ hour so that is making it a bit easier to move on.
I decided while I was out to stop by and see my dentist just to make sure that everything with my root canal still looked good before I went home. I had to wait a bit longer for him, maybe 15 minutes; then I went in, we chatted, he checked my teeth (all is well) and he didn’t even charge me.
It isn’t just that it is crazy cheap to see a doctor here; it is that it is fast and the service is great. They have always diagnosed me properly and the medication has always worked and the doctors always remember me from visit to visit (although I do really stand out here so really I can’t give them too much credit for that).
Now it is back to the world of having to make appointments; making sure the doctor is on your health plan. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Sigh.
Of course I suppose I could just hope to not get sick as much any more.
Aside: Tomorrow I’m moving out of my apartment into a guest house for my final week and a half here. Will be sad to say goodbye to the place but just yesterday one of the toilets broke again and I didn’t have water for about a ½ hour so that is making it a bit easier to move on.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
A final Delhi surprise
This weekend was my weekend to do any last minute shopping...and to start the packing process (ugh). I started Saturday at my favorite crafts type place and did a very good job resisting the urge to buy 100 scarves and only got 4. Then I met my friend for a super yummy lunch (she leaves just before me so we are going to every restaurant we love one last time) and headed to a shop where I got one final thing. We were both so remarkably restrained in our shopping (well I did buy a table runner that I don't have a table for but I've been looking at them since I got here and knew I would regret it if I didn't buy one) that we finished pretty early. Which was when Delhi offered us a final farewell surprise...
My driver told me that that every year for about 3 weeks the gardens at the President's house are open for visitors and this is the time. So we moseyed on over there; left all our possessions in the car, got frisked twice and joined the crowds on the tour. It was SO beautiful. There are so few gardens here and even though there are beautiful flowers blooming all over the place I missed seeing a nicely manicured garden. AND, there were fountains that were actually functioning...I've seen plenty of fountains here but they are almost always dry. So we followed the walk and saw lots of roses and really big dahlias, etc., etc. It was also a very nice sunny day with very little smog - a very rare occurrence - which made it just the perfect way to spend my next to last weekend in Delhi.
Sigh.
Then on Sunday I packed, which was a bummer. I discovered that I have bought waaaay too many flippy-floppy type shoes over here. Nice and small for packing but I don't think I'll need to buy another pair for about 10 years.
My driver told me that that every year for about 3 weeks the gardens at the President's house are open for visitors and this is the time. So we moseyed on over there; left all our possessions in the car, got frisked twice and joined the crowds on the tour. It was SO beautiful. There are so few gardens here and even though there are beautiful flowers blooming all over the place I missed seeing a nicely manicured garden. AND, there were fountains that were actually functioning...I've seen plenty of fountains here but they are almost always dry. So we followed the walk and saw lots of roses and really big dahlias, etc., etc. It was also a very nice sunny day with very little smog - a very rare occurrence - which made it just the perfect way to spend my next to last weekend in Delhi.
Sigh.
Then on Sunday I packed, which was a bummer. I discovered that I have bought waaaay too many flippy-floppy type shoes over here. Nice and small for packing but I don't think I'll need to buy another pair for about 10 years.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Off the beaten path…
Every once in a while guide books include a sight that really isn’t much worth seeing. But every once in a while you will stumble upon something not mentioned in any guide book that is a highlight of the trip. Well on our second day in Jodhpur we met up with our friendly rickshaw driver and set out for a trip a little outside of the city. We drove about a half hour into the hills; a very dry area where I saw a few cacti; and I was convinced that we had made a wrong turn because this was not a well traveled road. Turns out that I was right…we weren’t on the main road, our driver had taken a detour on purpose to show us an awesome sight. Out in the middle of pretty much nowhere – which was actually near where Jodhpur originally was before they got smart and moved the city up the big hill so they could defend themselves better – was this collection of little canopied structures. They were cenotaphs for all of the wives of the maharajas from hundreds of years ago. It was so beautiful and we really enjoyed touring it and we were the only people there. While I would prefer for the sake of preservation (and the poor man who takes the entrance fee who looked bored out of his mind) that more people go there; it was also that much more special because it was all ours to explore. The top picture below is off me there (and I got a name but think I got it wrong because despite lots of googling I couldn't find it on line)
After that we went to the site that was mentioned in every guide book and was definitely skip-able…so I’ll skip it and move onto our final stop. A little temple waaay off the beaten path. This temple was mentioned in all my guide books so I thought it would probably be quite busy; not at all. It was a unique temple in that the architecture reminded me of the Mughal architecture in my area, lots of marble and columns (the second picture below is of the temple); not at all like other Hindu temples I've visited. It is dedicated to a guru who was also a yogi so there were some rather interesting paintings of yoga positions inside the temple. It was quiet as could be except for a small class of students having a lesson in the temple courtyard; couldn't tell what it was about as they were speaking a different language (not hindi, something else). After we had been there for a few minutes a woman came out and unlocked the inner part of the temple for us. It was quite pleasant to have the place all to ourselves (again) and I couldn't help but wonder if all those other tourists we had seen the day before in Jodhpur only visited the fort. Not that the fort isn't awesome (it is!) but these stops we saw on our second day were really cool.
Well, after my friend helped the old woman lock up again (the lock was very high and the woman was very small) we hopped in our rickshaw and went back to our hotel for some relaxation before heading back to Delhi.
I must say that it was the perfect last weekend adventure in India. 
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Cows and Spices and the Best Lassi Ever (take 2)
After meandering around the fort for a few hours it was down to the market. My guide books seemed to suggest that the market wasn’t so much about shopping as it was about the experience and they were right. All around Jodhpur there are a lot of cows and the market was no different. They were just moseying through like they owned the place…which they kind of do…no one is going to kick them out. I took the picture below of cows right at the market entrance; I think it kind of looks like they are talking to one another.
The market was full of stalls selling everything you can imagine; spices, materials, shoes, etc. The spices were either pre-packaged for tourists or like the ones pictured below, just out in the open to be bought by weight for the locals. The shoe guys had something I had never seen before; they were selling flip flops but not put together…you picked out the bottom I guess based on size, and then they would add in the bit that goes between your toes. Customized flip-flops, who knew. And…the best part of the market: we had read that Jodhpur was known for saffron flavored lassis. So we saw a little place which pretty much just served lassis (kind of like a smoothie shop back home…except here I had a 10 year old serving me…and yes we gave him a tip) and got a saffron lassi and…yummmm! Very different from the lassi in Amristar but just awesome. If I had to choose between both I don’t know which I would choose.
All in all an awesome day of sightseeing in Jodphur.
The market was full of stalls selling everything you can imagine; spices, materials, shoes, etc. The spices were either pre-packaged for tourists or like the ones pictured below, just out in the open to be bought by weight for the locals. The shoe guys had something I had never seen before; they were selling flip flops but not put together…you picked out the bottom I guess based on size, and then they would add in the bit that goes between your toes. Customized flip-flops, who knew. And…the best part of the market: we had read that Jodhpur was known for saffron flavored lassis. So we saw a little place which pretty much just served lassis (kind of like a smoothie shop back home…except here I had a 10 year old serving me…and yes we gave him a tip) and got a saffron lassi and…yummmm! Very different from the lassi in Amristar but just awesome. If I had to choose between both I don’t know which I would choose.
All in all an awesome day of sightseeing in Jodphur.
Monday, February 15, 2010
A Palace, a Fort and a Whole Lot of Blue
One thing that I think that all guide books for India should tell you is what mode of transportation is used in each city. For example, in Amritsar a bicycle rickshaw is all you need for sightseeing; in Udaipur you can walk everywhere; in Mumbai it is taxis only, barely an auto rickshaw to be seen. Well in Jodhpur it was auto rickshaws because it is a hilly hilly place. So we arrived and hopped in an auto and went to our very lovely hotel. We splurged a bit on the hotel as for both my friend and I this was our last weekend trip while in India (she returns to Canada in 2 weeks); and as an extra bonus our room was upgraded when we arrived. The hotel was great…but I’ll talk more about my love of heritage hotels another day…
Before sightseeing…a little background on Jodhpur and Rajasthan. Rajasthan historically had several princely states with royal families which were headed by a Maharaja. Jodhpur is one of the few that actually still has an official Maharaja or ‘king’. Not exactly as important as the British royal family (actually the king was on our night train back to Delhi in the next cabin; we think we recognized the prince as well from the pictures…my brush with royalty) but still royalty in their own right. In the early 20th century the father (or grandfather) of the current king decided to build a palace in Jodhpur which was the first place we visited; the Umaid Bhawan (see top photo below).
Apparently the building of the palace greatly helped with famine relief in the region; thousands of people worked for 15 years building it. The royal family still lives there; part of it is a (very nice) hotel and part of it is a museum. So we rickshawed up there and took a little tour around. It is quite pretty but I must admit that it felt a bit odd to be touring somewhere so new in India as usually I’m visiting places at least a few hundred years old.
After visiting the Umaid Bhawan it was time to go to the main sight in Jodphur. The Mehrangarh Fort (or, as I called it “the fort”) and the blue city. I was convinced that I was going to be disappointed by the blue city because I had built it up in my mind. I had seen one photo that looked really spectacular but the rest looked kind of blah. As we drove up there I became even more skeptical because we took a route that was rather not beautiful. I was also a bit confused because I hadn’t seen this huge fort which is supposed to tower over the city. Then we turned a corner and perfectly in unison my friend and I said “oooooh”. There it was - this HUGE fort perched over a city all in blue. Our rickshaw driver laughed to himself and pulled over so we could take some photos. Clearly he has had quite a few tourists in his auto have the exact same reaction.
The blue city is the old part of town; a cluster of houses all painted in a bright indigo blue and it is just the prettiest sight; not quite sure that a photo does it justice, but you can get an idea. The photo is taken from the fort and if you click on it you get a better idea. As you can see below, all of the houses are square or rectangular so it almost looks like a cubist painting. And the fort is HUGE (the 3rd picture is the fort taken from waaaay below). I’m not going to bore you with a play-by-play of everything we saw in the fort; suffice it to say that it was really beautiful (and had the best audio guide I’ve ever had) and we spent a good 3 hours exploring and taking far too many pictures of the blue city.
Enjoy the pictures:
Before sightseeing…a little background on Jodhpur and Rajasthan. Rajasthan historically had several princely states with royal families which were headed by a Maharaja. Jodhpur is one of the few that actually still has an official Maharaja or ‘king’. Not exactly as important as the British royal family (actually the king was on our night train back to Delhi in the next cabin; we think we recognized the prince as well from the pictures…my brush with royalty) but still royalty in their own right. In the early 20th century the father (or grandfather) of the current king decided to build a palace in Jodhpur which was the first place we visited; the Umaid Bhawan (see top photo below).
Apparently the building of the palace greatly helped with famine relief in the region; thousands of people worked for 15 years building it. The royal family still lives there; part of it is a (very nice) hotel and part of it is a museum. So we rickshawed up there and took a little tour around. It is quite pretty but I must admit that it felt a bit odd to be touring somewhere so new in India as usually I’m visiting places at least a few hundred years old.
After visiting the Umaid Bhawan it was time to go to the main sight in Jodphur. The Mehrangarh Fort (or, as I called it “the fort”) and the blue city. I was convinced that I was going to be disappointed by the blue city because I had built it up in my mind. I had seen one photo that looked really spectacular but the rest looked kind of blah. As we drove up there I became even more skeptical because we took a route that was rather not beautiful. I was also a bit confused because I hadn’t seen this huge fort which is supposed to tower over the city. Then we turned a corner and perfectly in unison my friend and I said “oooooh”. There it was - this HUGE fort perched over a city all in blue. Our rickshaw driver laughed to himself and pulled over so we could take some photos. Clearly he has had quite a few tourists in his auto have the exact same reaction.
The blue city is the old part of town; a cluster of houses all painted in a bright indigo blue and it is just the prettiest sight; not quite sure that a photo does it justice, but you can get an idea. The photo is taken from the fort and if you click on it you get a better idea. As you can see below, all of the houses are square or rectangular so it almost looks like a cubist painting. And the fort is HUGE (the 3rd picture is the fort taken from waaaay below). I’m not going to bore you with a play-by-play of everything we saw in the fort; suffice it to say that it was really beautiful (and had the best audio guide I’ve ever had) and we spent a good 3 hours exploring and taking far too many pictures of the blue city.
Enjoy the pictures:
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Gods and Trains
A few weeks ago I said to one of my friends that I didn’t think that there was anything I could see in India any more that would truly shock me. I’m so used to seeing surprising things that to me the out of the ordinary is now ordinary. I still recognize that seeing a ram sitting in an alleyway in the middle of Delhi is odd; but yet not really shocking. Well on Thursday night I was fully shocked by something at the train station. My friend and I got to the station and after grabbing a quick dinner (McDonalds I’m sorry to admit – made it over a year and a half without it but at the station it seemed like the safest choice; I had a McChicken ‘burger’) we began searching for our track. We found the track easily enough and that was when it happened. On the train tracks…literally on the tracks…I saw 3 men sitting with their back towards me. I saw some light and just assumed they were doing some work. Then I looked a bit closer. They were praying. They had set up a little shrine with a small statue of one of the gods with candles and incense and flowers; the whole deal; and they were praying. On the tracks!
My friend and I were completely shocked; I mean I’ve seen some odd things here but that one took me completely by surprise. I wanted to take a photo but after coming to my senses I realized that we were standing in a rather questionable crowd and it was not the time to dig around for my camera.
I do think that the track that they were on wasn’t in use because we were in the station for a while and I didn’t see any trains coming on it but still…you never know!
Kind of nice to know that after this long India can still take me by surprise.
Anyway…Jodhpur was great. I can’t quite figure where to start so I’ll do a quick re-cap of the night train experience and then tomorrow will actually get to Jodhpur.
On the night trains there are several different classes; there is 1st class where there are very few beds; only 12 on our train; then 2nd class, then sleeper class and then un-reserved. We did 2nd on the way there and 1st on the way back. Unreserved is just what it sounds like, every man for himself…as the trains pulled in people jumped up onto the trains as they were still moving to try and get the best seat. I would never ride that…ever. Sleeper was reserved but looked like seats, not beds. 1st was equivalent to European night trains in that there were 3 compartments with doors and 4 beds per compartment. Bigger beds than European night trains though; pretty comfortable. 2nd class was nice enough, sort of like 1st but with no compartments or doors, just curtains. Hard to explain (and taking pictures on a train is hard because it moves to much) but basically there are the 4 beds; 2 lower and 2 upper. A 'hallway' goes down the car and on the other side of the ‘hallway’ 2 more beds, one upper and lower up against the window. Seemed a bit cramped when I walked in but it actually was fine…except that I’m a bit too tall for India and my feet hung off the bed and kept getting whacked by people…eventually I just curled up.
All in all Indian night trains are good and I would take one again (if I had the time). Kind of like any night train really in that the experience is more about the people around you (1 snorer on the way there but not too loud) than anything else. Funny thing; when we got on in Delhi we asked the attendant boy what time the train gets into Jodhpur. His answer was – to me – so very Indian. He said that it is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 but usually arrives between 8:30 and 9. We got there at 9 a.m.
Aside - changed my picture on the main page again. The bougainvillea were crazy in bloom in Jodhpur so that is a bunch of a few of them. Kind of fuzzy on my screen...let me know how it looks on yours.
My friend and I were completely shocked; I mean I’ve seen some odd things here but that one took me completely by surprise. I wanted to take a photo but after coming to my senses I realized that we were standing in a rather questionable crowd and it was not the time to dig around for my camera.
I do think that the track that they were on wasn’t in use because we were in the station for a while and I didn’t see any trains coming on it but still…you never know!
Kind of nice to know that after this long India can still take me by surprise.
Anyway…Jodhpur was great. I can’t quite figure where to start so I’ll do a quick re-cap of the night train experience and then tomorrow will actually get to Jodhpur.
On the night trains there are several different classes; there is 1st class where there are very few beds; only 12 on our train; then 2nd class, then sleeper class and then un-reserved. We did 2nd on the way there and 1st on the way back. Unreserved is just what it sounds like, every man for himself…as the trains pulled in people jumped up onto the trains as they were still moving to try and get the best seat. I would never ride that…ever. Sleeper was reserved but looked like seats, not beds. 1st was equivalent to European night trains in that there were 3 compartments with doors and 4 beds per compartment. Bigger beds than European night trains though; pretty comfortable. 2nd class was nice enough, sort of like 1st but with no compartments or doors, just curtains. Hard to explain (and taking pictures on a train is hard because it moves to much) but basically there are the 4 beds; 2 lower and 2 upper. A 'hallway' goes down the car and on the other side of the ‘hallway’ 2 more beds, one upper and lower up against the window. Seemed a bit cramped when I walked in but it actually was fine…except that I’m a bit too tall for India and my feet hung off the bed and kept getting whacked by people…eventually I just curled up.
All in all Indian night trains are good and I would take one again (if I had the time). Kind of like any night train really in that the experience is more about the people around you (1 snorer on the way there but not too loud) than anything else. Funny thing; when we got on in Delhi we asked the attendant boy what time the train gets into Jodhpur. His answer was – to me – so very Indian. He said that it is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 but usually arrives between 8:30 and 9. We got there at 9 a.m.
Aside - changed my picture on the main page again. The bougainvillea were crazy in bloom in Jodhpur so that is a bunch of a few of them. Kind of fuzzy on my screen...let me know how it looks on yours.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The final 'pur'
There is a state in India called Rajasthan which is apparently the most visited state by foreigners in all of India. Why is it so popular? Well, it is home to some very cute and fun towns. Two I have been to and loved; Jaipur and Udaipur. The final ‘pur’ is Jodhpur which I’m heading to tonight for my final Indian travel experience.
How am I heading there? Well, I'll be hopping back on the trains...my friend and I are taking the night train there and back. I’ll bring earplugs this time and hopefully will get plenty of rest.
Stay tuned for pictures, etc., next week.
How am I heading there? Well, I'll be hopping back on the trains...my friend and I are taking the night train there and back. I’ll bring earplugs this time and hopefully will get plenty of rest.
Stay tuned for pictures, etc., next week.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
yummm
Lately, when I’m sitting in traffic I find myself thinking about the things that I will miss about being here. Sometimes it is something I see while in traffic…like this morning I saw an elephant walking down the street – so cool!
One thing I will definitely miss is the food. Not just the Indian food (although I have a feeling that I will be quite the Indian restaurant critic when I go home) but also just how inexpensive it is for me to go out for a really good meal over here. I can go out for a great meal with an appetizer and a glass of wine or two for under $30 – there is no way I’ll be able to do that back home, I would go out for a nice dinner maybe once a month before. Over here my friends and I go out to dinner at least once a week. I go out for lunch every single day and while I do miss being able to really cook for myself I really like the fact that I can get lunch for under $5…and it is a really good lunch.
I think I’ll miss my South Indian restaurants the most. There are 3 south Indian (well, I guess central south) restaurants that I frequent for their dosas. A dosa is kind of tricky to explain; there is a very very thin bread-type thingy, sort of like a very thin tortilla and it is is really big and you dip it in different sauces. I usually get a “masala dosa” which has a potato and veggies filling. It is a very nice surprisingly filling lunch and not at all spicy so is what I get when I need a break from “regular” Indian food. The really amazing thing is that a dosa and a lassi cost me $3…at one of the places it is just over $2. Crazy!
So I’m spending the next 3 ½ weeks (going so fast!) going to every restaurant I really love in Delhi as often as I can…and luckily we have lots of office visitors over the next few weeks so I have a good excuse to do that. Last night was my favorite Italian restaurant, tonight I think we’ll probably go for Indian. Yummm.
One thing I will definitely miss is the food. Not just the Indian food (although I have a feeling that I will be quite the Indian restaurant critic when I go home) but also just how inexpensive it is for me to go out for a really good meal over here. I can go out for a great meal with an appetizer and a glass of wine or two for under $30 – there is no way I’ll be able to do that back home, I would go out for a nice dinner maybe once a month before. Over here my friends and I go out to dinner at least once a week. I go out for lunch every single day and while I do miss being able to really cook for myself I really like the fact that I can get lunch for under $5…and it is a really good lunch.
I think I’ll miss my South Indian restaurants the most. There are 3 south Indian (well, I guess central south) restaurants that I frequent for their dosas. A dosa is kind of tricky to explain; there is a very very thin bread-type thingy, sort of like a very thin tortilla and it is is really big and you dip it in different sauces. I usually get a “masala dosa” which has a potato and veggies filling. It is a very nice surprisingly filling lunch and not at all spicy so is what I get when I need a break from “regular” Indian food. The really amazing thing is that a dosa and a lassi cost me $3…at one of the places it is just over $2. Crazy!
So I’m spending the next 3 ½ weeks (going so fast!) going to every restaurant I really love in Delhi as often as I can…and luckily we have lots of office visitors over the next few weeks so I have a good excuse to do that. Last night was my favorite Italian restaurant, tonight I think we’ll probably go for Indian. Yummm.
Monday, February 8, 2010
For your viewing pleasure
Thought I would upload a few pictures today of places I've seen around Delhi. People pretty much set up shop wherever than can, with or without a roof.
First, a local tailor:
Next, an example of a street food stand. Probably incredibly yummy but definitely not made for my western tummy:
First, a local tailor:
Next, an example of a street food stand. Probably incredibly yummy but definitely not made for my western tummy:
And a potter making those little tiny mini-saucers you see stacked to his left:
Sunday, February 7, 2010
A very different side of Delhi
On Saturday I went on a very different type of walking tour. A local charity that I had donated to which works with street kids does a walking tour through some of the areas where the street kids live, as well as to some of the offices the organization has set up. I knew that it would probably be an intense experience but I also felt that since I have spent so much time here that it was important for me to see.
I won’t talk about all of it because there was so much; but it was really interesting and I wanted to share some of the things I learned. The walk was centered around the train station because that is where most of the kids live. Why there? Because the majority are runaways that left their home in their village, hopped on a train to the big city (hiding without a ticket the whole time), got off at the train station and stayed there.
Our walk leader was a former street kid himself; he ran away at the age of 8 because he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, and his aunt basically made him into their household help. He hopped on a train and when he arrived, quite scared and confused, it was another street kid, even younger than him, who helped him out and showed him how to survive.
It was interesting learning some of the ways that the kids make money…other than just begging. They will go on the train after the trains arrive and take all the trash (when I arrived back in Delhi from Amritsar there were a few kids scrambling onto the trains as I was leaving) and take the bottles and newspapers to the recycling place for money. They also would take the magazines and re-sell them at ½ price. And, showing the ingenuity of kids, when the ‘nice trains’ arrived the staff would get off the train while the passengers disembarked as well, so the kids would run on and run to the little kitchen area and grab as many food trays as they could.
It was really interesting learning the process the organization goes through to convince the kids to come off the streets; in some cases there are social workers that will sit with the kids for hours every day just to gain some trust; and they talk with them about the future; help them out when they are sick or in trouble. Along with gaining trust, talking about the future and getting the kids to think about the future is the biggest struggle. Our guide said that he could make 250 rupees or so a day begging. Only $5, but enough for him to survive on; so he saw no need to worry about things, he was fine. Kids in general don’t think too much about the future, and when you are able to live with no rules and total freedom, going into a shelter home has very little appeal. If they can talk to a kid immediately after he arrives in Delhi usually the kid is scared and looking for help; but once they are able to make a living they have no interest in leaving that life. For our guide it was about a year and half after he first came in contact with this organization before he went to the shelter and to school.
Transitioning was very hard; learning to live inside again; and going to school, not just being behind in classes, but imagine going from having zero rules to having to sit at a desk all day.
Now he is at a community college and won a special scholarship to go to a community college in the US for a year...absolutely amazing since he had no schooling until he was 12 or 13.
Our final stop was at their biggest office where they have a classroom and sick room and such and there were about 30 boys in the classroom. They were quite young, the oldest was maybe 10, and quite a few were special needs – sadly special needs children are often abandoned. Most of the kids had their heads shaved; to get rid of lice and help with sores…their teacher, another former street kid, had his head shaved too so they all looked alike which was, I think, quite comforting for the boys. They were quite sweet kids saying hello and some of the really brave ones even shook our hands, but you could also see in their eyes that they had lived a very tough life and a certain amount of the innocence of childhood was gone.
So that was my Saturday. In many ways it was sad but it also gave me hope. Every time I see one of these street kids I want to help, I want to give them so much but know that isn't what they need; so it was good to see that there are people - many of them former street kids themselves, who are out there slowly making a dent in the problem.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the organisation was called the Salaam Baalak Trust.
I won’t talk about all of it because there was so much; but it was really interesting and I wanted to share some of the things I learned. The walk was centered around the train station because that is where most of the kids live. Why there? Because the majority are runaways that left their home in their village, hopped on a train to the big city (hiding without a ticket the whole time), got off at the train station and stayed there.
Our walk leader was a former street kid himself; he ran away at the age of 8 because he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, and his aunt basically made him into their household help. He hopped on a train and when he arrived, quite scared and confused, it was another street kid, even younger than him, who helped him out and showed him how to survive.
It was interesting learning some of the ways that the kids make money…other than just begging. They will go on the train after the trains arrive and take all the trash (when I arrived back in Delhi from Amritsar there were a few kids scrambling onto the trains as I was leaving) and take the bottles and newspapers to the recycling place for money. They also would take the magazines and re-sell them at ½ price. And, showing the ingenuity of kids, when the ‘nice trains’ arrived the staff would get off the train while the passengers disembarked as well, so the kids would run on and run to the little kitchen area and grab as many food trays as they could.
It was really interesting learning the process the organization goes through to convince the kids to come off the streets; in some cases there are social workers that will sit with the kids for hours every day just to gain some trust; and they talk with them about the future; help them out when they are sick or in trouble. Along with gaining trust, talking about the future and getting the kids to think about the future is the biggest struggle. Our guide said that he could make 250 rupees or so a day begging. Only $5, but enough for him to survive on; so he saw no need to worry about things, he was fine. Kids in general don’t think too much about the future, and when you are able to live with no rules and total freedom, going into a shelter home has very little appeal. If they can talk to a kid immediately after he arrives in Delhi usually the kid is scared and looking for help; but once they are able to make a living they have no interest in leaving that life. For our guide it was about a year and half after he first came in contact with this organization before he went to the shelter and to school.
Transitioning was very hard; learning to live inside again; and going to school, not just being behind in classes, but imagine going from having zero rules to having to sit at a desk all day.
Now he is at a community college and won a special scholarship to go to a community college in the US for a year...absolutely amazing since he had no schooling until he was 12 or 13.
Our final stop was at their biggest office where they have a classroom and sick room and such and there were about 30 boys in the classroom. They were quite young, the oldest was maybe 10, and quite a few were special needs – sadly special needs children are often abandoned. Most of the kids had their heads shaved; to get rid of lice and help with sores…their teacher, another former street kid, had his head shaved too so they all looked alike which was, I think, quite comforting for the boys. They were quite sweet kids saying hello and some of the really brave ones even shook our hands, but you could also see in their eyes that they had lived a very tough life and a certain amount of the innocence of childhood was gone.
So that was my Saturday. In many ways it was sad but it also gave me hope. Every time I see one of these street kids I want to help, I want to give them so much but know that isn't what they need; so it was good to see that there are people - many of them former street kids themselves, who are out there slowly making a dent in the problem.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the organisation was called the Salaam Baalak Trust.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Choo Choo part two
Now that I’ve gone to Amritsar and back, the question remains…what about Indian trains? Well, I don't understand why everyone said that it was a must-do for visiting India. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't much of anything special either. I almost lost my mind on the way up there...but before that, we start at the train station...
Having been to the bus station in Delhi I can safely say that I had very low expectations for the train station. But it wasn’t bad. I mean it wasn’t beautiful but it wasn’t that crowded and was fairly well organized – although our train was on track #1 so I walked in and was where I needed to be.
We hopped on the train – assigned seating which I like – and relatively on time we started off. The train was nice enough, not seats as nice as Amtrak or a TGV; I’d say about the level of a commuter rail. We were on the “high speed” “nice” train which meant that we got food. So after about 20 minutes they came around with a bottle of water for everyone; and there were convenient little water bottle holders; 20 minutes later a tea/coffee service which was very nice. They brought everyone a little thermos with hot water and you could add tea bags or coffee – the thermos reminded me of ones I had when I was little for lunch at elementary school. So I drank my tea and had my snack.
Then about an hour or more later: breakfast – I had “veg cutlets”, which are hard to explain but quite good.
So why was I losing my mind with all this lovely service? Because Indians are So Loud! There were kids running up and down the aisle almost non-stop…until one of them would fall and then start crying; the parents pretty much ignored the children the entire ride. Constant cell phones ringing or dinging notification of text messages; and when I say constant I mean the guy next to me got at least 20 calls. And of course they answer the calls and have loud conversations. And…my personal favorite…people can also play songs through their phones so I always had some sort of song playing in my ear, only about 2 of which I actually liked; most of which I really did not like at all.
The revelation I came to is that almost all Indians exist without thinking about how their actions affect the strangers around them; they want to hear a song; they play the song; not thinking that maybe they should put headphones on. I guess that is because there are always people around so really you can’t worry about what strangers think. This is also why at one point in time the guy behind me was playing a song that the person in front of me didn’t like it so she started playing her own song; which then prompted the guy across the aisle to play his own song. Ugh.
Next train ride…ear plugs.
But, the positives. Yes, we got in late, but I expect everything in India to be late, and we did have lots of fog on the way up there so they had to go slowly...you never know what will stroll onto the tracks over here.
Positive #1; they have this waitlist system with the trains; so if it is sold out you get on a waitlist and as people cancel (there are very small cancellation charges and lots of people do cancel) you get moved up. For our return train we were waitlist #25 and 26 on Thursday and on Sunday we were confirmed. I think that is a great idea.
Positive #2; the food was actually quite good. The photo below is of the food tray I got on the return; some bread, a Chicken Curry, Daal (lentils), yogurt and rice. With ice cream for desert!
Positive #3: another brilliant funny phrasing. On our menu for dinner was listed “Pickle in Blister”. This meant a little amount of pickle relish in a packet. That cracked me up.
Positive #4: I had this vision of trains in India chugging through the countryside with the doors open and people standing in them. And...the doors were open! Well, not always, but anyone can open them and just look out. Highly dangerous to be sure, so I stood a good 5 feet back and held on; but to me that was The Indian Train Experience.
Positive #5: for all my whining about the noise…the trip up and back, 6 hours (plus delays) each way with good food cost me a total of…$30. So I will stop my whining and find my ear plugs and next weekend hopefully hop on another train for a final Indian journey!
Having been to the bus station in Delhi I can safely say that I had very low expectations for the train station. But it wasn’t bad. I mean it wasn’t beautiful but it wasn’t that crowded and was fairly well organized – although our train was on track #1 so I walked in and was where I needed to be.
We hopped on the train – assigned seating which I like – and relatively on time we started off. The train was nice enough, not seats as nice as Amtrak or a TGV; I’d say about the level of a commuter rail. We were on the “high speed” “nice” train which meant that we got food. So after about 20 minutes they came around with a bottle of water for everyone; and there were convenient little water bottle holders; 20 minutes later a tea/coffee service which was very nice. They brought everyone a little thermos with hot water and you could add tea bags or coffee – the thermos reminded me of ones I had when I was little for lunch at elementary school. So I drank my tea and had my snack.
Then about an hour or more later: breakfast – I had “veg cutlets”, which are hard to explain but quite good.
So why was I losing my mind with all this lovely service? Because Indians are So Loud! There were kids running up and down the aisle almost non-stop…until one of them would fall and then start crying; the parents pretty much ignored the children the entire ride. Constant cell phones ringing or dinging notification of text messages; and when I say constant I mean the guy next to me got at least 20 calls. And of course they answer the calls and have loud conversations. And…my personal favorite…people can also play songs through their phones so I always had some sort of song playing in my ear, only about 2 of which I actually liked; most of which I really did not like at all.
The revelation I came to is that almost all Indians exist without thinking about how their actions affect the strangers around them; they want to hear a song; they play the song; not thinking that maybe they should put headphones on. I guess that is because there are always people around so really you can’t worry about what strangers think. This is also why at one point in time the guy behind me was playing a song that the person in front of me didn’t like it so she started playing her own song; which then prompted the guy across the aisle to play his own song. Ugh.
Next train ride…ear plugs.
But, the positives. Yes, we got in late, but I expect everything in India to be late, and we did have lots of fog on the way up there so they had to go slowly...you never know what will stroll onto the tracks over here.
Positive #1; they have this waitlist system with the trains; so if it is sold out you get on a waitlist and as people cancel (there are very small cancellation charges and lots of people do cancel) you get moved up. For our return train we were waitlist #25 and 26 on Thursday and on Sunday we were confirmed. I think that is a great idea.
Positive #2; the food was actually quite good. The photo below is of the food tray I got on the return; some bread, a Chicken Curry, Daal (lentils), yogurt and rice. With ice cream for desert!
Positive #3: another brilliant funny phrasing. On our menu for dinner was listed “Pickle in Blister”. This meant a little amount of pickle relish in a packet. That cracked me up.
Positive #4: I had this vision of trains in India chugging through the countryside with the doors open and people standing in them. And...the doors were open! Well, not always, but anyone can open them and just look out. Highly dangerous to be sure, so I stood a good 5 feet back and held on; but to me that was The Indian Train Experience.
Positive #5: for all my whining about the noise…the trip up and back, 6 hours (plus delays) each way with good food cost me a total of…$30. So I will stop my whining and find my ear plugs and next weekend hopefully hop on another train for a final Indian journey!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Temples and Gardens and the Best Lassi Ever!!!
Ask and you shall receive. I had a comment on my last post: what about that Punjabi food? And the answer is...I’ll get to it in a minute…after a garden and two temples.
So after leaving the Golden Temple we found our friendly bicycle rickshaw driver again who we had decided to hire for the day and he drove us over to the “Jallianwallah Bagh”. This garden serves as a memorial to an attack, in 1919, by the British on citizens of Amritsar engaging in a peaceful demonstration against a new law by the British. The British, without warning, opened fire, and almost 400 people were killed. This attack really galvanize India against the British and the land was turned into a garden with a memorial. Unfortunately my friend and I were pretty much the only westerners around so the tranquility of the garden was a bit disrupted by all the people non-stop trying to take our picture.
Then a quick stop at the “Hindu Golden Temple” which is just what it sounds like; a smaller version of the golden temple for Hindus. We took a quiet stroll around before moving on to one final temple…this temple was in the guide books and our rickshaw driver said “Mata Temple?” so I figured we should go. When we got there I was a bit under-whelmed…then a man pointed us up a stairwell. We went up the stairwell to find ourselves in a maze; we walked up and down and around; crawled through a small tunnel to find ourselves in a mirror-mosaic room with a series of statues of some of the gods; then down another stairwell to a hallway with a little cave where you walk through ankle deep water and then down the stairs and out.
Not entirely sure the purpose of it but it was fun.
After that we were hungry and ready to eat some good food. We had asked at the hotel for a recommendation and so headed to “Brothers Dhaba”. It was a simple little place and was quite busy…always a good sign. We had heard that the lassis in this area were good so that was a definite; we picked the “specialty” off the menu and then asked for a recommendation between two dishes. The Lassis came first and it was hands down the best lassi EVER. It was frothy and light and just perfect. And then the food; two veg curries that were so flavorful. One was a mushroom dish and one was with paneer; with some rice and garlic naan; we ate so much we felt like we were going to burst. Delish!
So, all in all, I loved Amritsar. Loved our very cute hotel; loved the food; loved the sights; loved our little bicycle rickshaw driver; loved it.
Tomorrow...trains
But for now... pictures. The top picture is the memorial at the Jallianwallah Bagh; and the bottom is some bicycle rickshaws (taken from our rickshaw) in Amritsar. The one on the right has 3 passengers...we barely fit the two of us on ours!
So after leaving the Golden Temple we found our friendly bicycle rickshaw driver again who we had decided to hire for the day and he drove us over to the “Jallianwallah Bagh”. This garden serves as a memorial to an attack, in 1919, by the British on citizens of Amritsar engaging in a peaceful demonstration against a new law by the British. The British, without warning, opened fire, and almost 400 people were killed. This attack really galvanize India against the British and the land was turned into a garden with a memorial. Unfortunately my friend and I were pretty much the only westerners around so the tranquility of the garden was a bit disrupted by all the people non-stop trying to take our picture.
Then a quick stop at the “Hindu Golden Temple” which is just what it sounds like; a smaller version of the golden temple for Hindus. We took a quiet stroll around before moving on to one final temple…this temple was in the guide books and our rickshaw driver said “Mata Temple?” so I figured we should go. When we got there I was a bit under-whelmed…then a man pointed us up a stairwell. We went up the stairwell to find ourselves in a maze; we walked up and down and around; crawled through a small tunnel to find ourselves in a mirror-mosaic room with a series of statues of some of the gods; then down another stairwell to a hallway with a little cave where you walk through ankle deep water and then down the stairs and out.
Not entirely sure the purpose of it but it was fun.
After that we were hungry and ready to eat some good food. We had asked at the hotel for a recommendation and so headed to “Brothers Dhaba”. It was a simple little place and was quite busy…always a good sign. We had heard that the lassis in this area were good so that was a definite; we picked the “specialty” off the menu and then asked for a recommendation between two dishes. The Lassis came first and it was hands down the best lassi EVER. It was frothy and light and just perfect. And then the food; two veg curries that were so flavorful. One was a mushroom dish and one was with paneer; with some rice and garlic naan; we ate so much we felt like we were going to burst. Delish!
So, all in all, I loved Amritsar. Loved our very cute hotel; loved the food; loved the sights; loved our little bicycle rickshaw driver; loved it.
Tomorrow...trains
But for now... pictures. The top picture is the memorial at the Jallianwallah Bagh; and the bottom is some bicycle rickshaws (taken from our rickshaw) in Amritsar. The one on the right has 3 passengers...we barely fit the two of us on ours!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Temple of Gold
The Big Sight to see in Amritsar is the Golden Temple so the morning after our fun at the border we woke up early-ish to head down to the temple. We found a friendly bicycle rickshaw driver who drove us down there.
The Golden Temple is a Sikh Temple; the main one where all Sikhs are required during their lifetimes to make a pilgrimage. The Sikh religion was founded by a Guru around Amritsar so the area is largely Sikh; this can be easily seen because Sikh men never cut their hair and wrap it up in colorful turbans; so the city of Amritsar was full of turbaned men; I've included a photo below of a group of Sikh men at the temple with their turbans.
We dropped off our shoes, covered our heads and walked through the main gate and down a staircase to see the temple floating in a large pool of water.
Immediately as we walked in we saw people kneeling and praying and noticed men bathing in the water. The water is considered holy, so the men would strip down to their undergarments and go in and dunk under a few times which cleanses them of their sins. There were also two smallish enclosed areas where they women could go in the water. It was quite remarkable seeing men of all ages going in; my personal favorite was a grandfather holding his very young grandson and going in the water together.
The area around the temple is square with four gates and through one of the gates was a large kitchen where the pilgrims could go and eat together; not separated by wealth or anything - everyone is equal. There were literally thousands of trays ready for people to come to eat.
We slowly walked around the pool, enjoying the quiet and sacred atmosphere; all the while music was piping through of men chanting and drums playing. We came to the walkway to the temple and joined the other hundreds of people in line and very very slowly walked to the temple. Everyone was squished together but yet no one pushed or prodded - the first time ever in India I've stood in line and everyone respected the line. If you click on the photo below you can see all the people on the walkway. While we were in line some of the men around me joined in singing to the music. It was really quite the experience; standing with hundreds of pilgrims in the middle of a pool while they are singing quietly.
The actual temple was beautiful; the lower level is marble inlay, some of the most beautiful I've seen (which is saying something), and inside I found the source of the music, 2 holy men singing from the holy book while others played drums quietly and people sat around listening to them. We walked through quietly and then back down the walkway; at the end of which we were given a sweet - not sure the connection with the temple but it was yummy.
And then, after over 2 hours of taking in the beautiful temple and wonderful atmosphere we finally left.
What did we do next? Well that is for tomorrow's blog. For now enjoy the temple...
The Golden Temple is a Sikh Temple; the main one where all Sikhs are required during their lifetimes to make a pilgrimage. The Sikh religion was founded by a Guru around Amritsar so the area is largely Sikh; this can be easily seen because Sikh men never cut their hair and wrap it up in colorful turbans; so the city of Amritsar was full of turbaned men; I've included a photo below of a group of Sikh men at the temple with their turbans.
We dropped off our shoes, covered our heads and walked through the main gate and down a staircase to see the temple floating in a large pool of water.
Immediately as we walked in we saw people kneeling and praying and noticed men bathing in the water. The water is considered holy, so the men would strip down to their undergarments and go in and dunk under a few times which cleanses them of their sins. There were also two smallish enclosed areas where they women could go in the water. It was quite remarkable seeing men of all ages going in; my personal favorite was a grandfather holding his very young grandson and going in the water together.
The area around the temple is square with four gates and through one of the gates was a large kitchen where the pilgrims could go and eat together; not separated by wealth or anything - everyone is equal. There were literally thousands of trays ready for people to come to eat.
We slowly walked around the pool, enjoying the quiet and sacred atmosphere; all the while music was piping through of men chanting and drums playing. We came to the walkway to the temple and joined the other hundreds of people in line and very very slowly walked to the temple. Everyone was squished together but yet no one pushed or prodded - the first time ever in India I've stood in line and everyone respected the line. If you click on the photo below you can see all the people on the walkway. While we were in line some of the men around me joined in singing to the music. It was really quite the experience; standing with hundreds of pilgrims in the middle of a pool while they are singing quietly.
The actual temple was beautiful; the lower level is marble inlay, some of the most beautiful I've seen (which is saying something), and inside I found the source of the music, 2 holy men singing from the holy book while others played drums quietly and people sat around listening to them. We walked through quietly and then back down the walkway; at the end of which we were given a sweet - not sure the connection with the temple but it was yummy.
And then, after over 2 hours of taking in the beautiful temple and wonderful atmosphere we finally left.
What did we do next? Well that is for tomorrow's blog. For now enjoy the temple...
Monday, February 1, 2010
A big party at the border
There are times in India when I appreciate the fact that the drivers drive like mad and that nothing ever happens on time. Saturday was one of those days. Because of the fact that nothing ever happens on time our train was delayed; so rather than arriving in Amritsar at 1:20 we arrived around 3:40. This was concerning because we wanted to be somewhere at 4:30…which was about an hour away.
Where were we going? Well every night at ‘exactly’ 4:30 at the border between India and Pakistan there is changing of the guard ceremony and I’d been told by many people and many guide books that it was a sight to see. So at 3:45 we jumped into a car (which luckily someone in our office had set up for us so we didn't have to worry about haggling or getting lost) and he drove like mad and got us there at 4:30. We had to walk the last part so we got there at around 4:40.
Who knows why I was worried, I mean this is India, and ‘exactly’ at 4:30 meant around 5ish. And it was a sight to see…all other changing of the guard ceremonies have been ruined for me from now on.
When we arrived we were pointed into a different entrance from everyone else – the VIP area – for foreigners and Indians with special permission. We went through two security points (you weren’t allowed to bring any bags at all) and climbed into the stands. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people there; almost all Indian, very few foreigners. On the Pakistan side there were a few hundred people – definitely not as many as on the India side; by the start of the ceremony all of the seats on our side were filled and people were sitting on the curb. A few minutes after we arrived - before the actual ceremony started - they started playing music over the loudspeaker and the place turned into a huge party. There were really big Indian flags waving and everyone started dancing in their seats and singing along (see top photo below). On about the third song a bunch of women and girls got up and walked into the street between the stands and started dancing…it was like a big Indian wedding with all the dancing and happiness. On the Pakistan side there was music too; but not as much dancing and the stands were completely split with women on the right and men on the left; they had their own VIP section too down front where I noticed a few westerners.
When the actual ceremony started both sides had an emcee who led the crowd in shouting “long live India” or “long live Pakistan”. The guards then went through the motions of being angry at the other side for trying to be louder than them. There was marching and jumping and silly steps and lots of shouting and fun. After a good 20 minutes of that the gates between the two countries were opened and both flags were lowered at exactly the same speed so that neither was higher than the other. The flags were folded; the guards shook hands with each other and carried their flags away. On the bottom photo you can see both of the gates when they were opened; if you look very closely you can see India written on the right gate. Then the gates were closed and the ceremony was over.
To think that every night since the two countries were formed this has gone on even though the two countries are always at odds and do not like each other. You could tell that the guards on either side know each other well from doing this every night and are quite friendly. And the cheering on of the countries was done in good fun, not in a negative way to the other country.
It was amazing and exhilarating. I cannot think of two other countries where every single night hundreds of people would come out to celebrate their patriotism and it could mean so much. I also can’t believe that I was just a few feet away from Pakistan. Seriously awesome - if you are ever in Amritsar make sure you have time to go there...and don't worry if you are late, they'll be late too.
Where were we going? Well every night at ‘exactly’ 4:30 at the border between India and Pakistan there is changing of the guard ceremony and I’d been told by many people and many guide books that it was a sight to see. So at 3:45 we jumped into a car (which luckily someone in our office had set up for us so we didn't have to worry about haggling or getting lost) and he drove like mad and got us there at 4:30. We had to walk the last part so we got there at around 4:40.
Who knows why I was worried, I mean this is India, and ‘exactly’ at 4:30 meant around 5ish. And it was a sight to see…all other changing of the guard ceremonies have been ruined for me from now on.
When we arrived we were pointed into a different entrance from everyone else – the VIP area – for foreigners and Indians with special permission. We went through two security points (you weren’t allowed to bring any bags at all) and climbed into the stands. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people there; almost all Indian, very few foreigners. On the Pakistan side there were a few hundred people – definitely not as many as on the India side; by the start of the ceremony all of the seats on our side were filled and people were sitting on the curb. A few minutes after we arrived - before the actual ceremony started - they started playing music over the loudspeaker and the place turned into a huge party. There were really big Indian flags waving and everyone started dancing in their seats and singing along (see top photo below). On about the third song a bunch of women and girls got up and walked into the street between the stands and started dancing…it was like a big Indian wedding with all the dancing and happiness. On the Pakistan side there was music too; but not as much dancing and the stands were completely split with women on the right and men on the left; they had their own VIP section too down front where I noticed a few westerners.
When the actual ceremony started both sides had an emcee who led the crowd in shouting “long live India” or “long live Pakistan”. The guards then went through the motions of being angry at the other side for trying to be louder than them. There was marching and jumping and silly steps and lots of shouting and fun. After a good 20 minutes of that the gates between the two countries were opened and both flags were lowered at exactly the same speed so that neither was higher than the other. The flags were folded; the guards shook hands with each other and carried their flags away. On the bottom photo you can see both of the gates when they were opened; if you look very closely you can see India written on the right gate. Then the gates were closed and the ceremony was over.
To think that every night since the two countries were formed this has gone on even though the two countries are always at odds and do not like each other. You could tell that the guards on either side know each other well from doing this every night and are quite friendly. And the cheering on of the countries was done in good fun, not in a negative way to the other country.
It was amazing and exhilarating. I cannot think of two other countries where every single night hundreds of people would come out to celebrate their patriotism and it could mean so much. I also can’t believe that I was just a few feet away from Pakistan. Seriously awesome - if you are ever in Amritsar make sure you have time to go there...and don't worry if you are late, they'll be late too.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Back from Amritsar
Well my weekend was wonderful. As for trains in India, well, there are pros and cons...
But, I'm very busy today so will blog more tomorrow; with pictures!
But, I'm very busy today so will blog more tomorrow; with pictures!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
choo choo
Before coming here lots of people told me I just HAD to take a train while here. Well I haven't yet, not on purpose, I just haven't gone anywhere where a train made sense...until now.
Tomorrow I'll be hopping on a train and going up to Amritsar. I'm soooo excited - not about the train but about Amritsar. It was one of the few places in India I'd heard of before I came here so it was one of the two places I really wanted to see while here (the other being the Taj, of course), and finally I'm going.
Am a bit concerned about why everyone says that the trains are so interesting. I love riding trains but mostly because they are rather uninteresting. You get on...choo choo for a few hours and then you are there...what is it about the trains in India that make it so interesting?
Well stay tuned and next week I'll have updates.
Tomorrow I'll be hopping on a train and going up to Amritsar. I'm soooo excited - not about the train but about Amritsar. It was one of the few places in India I'd heard of before I came here so it was one of the two places I really wanted to see while here (the other being the Taj, of course), and finally I'm going.
Am a bit concerned about why everyone says that the trains are so interesting. I love riding trains but mostly because they are rather uninteresting. You get on...choo choo for a few hours and then you are there...what is it about the trains in India that make it so interesting?
Well stay tuned and next week I'll have updates.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Fun with Indian English
Recently I’ve seen some signs around the city for a new fitness program for you to “Loose Weight, Loose Inches”. I like that one. I suppose in theory if your weight is loose you will lose it quite quickly. I’ve actually noticed lose misspelled very very often, to the point that I actually thought that they spelled it ‘loose’ here – they don’t, just a common typo.
And…an ad campaign is out to buy something on sale while stocks last…but rather than ‘while stocks last’ it is ‘til stocks last’. I really don’t like that one. Not sure why it bothers me so much but it really does.
But I’m definitely getting better at understanding the nuances of Indian English. I got an email the other day that my colleague (also an American) couldn't understand but I got it right away. I've finally mastered it...just in time for me to leave.
Aside: winter is over. 3 weeks of 'cold' with space heaters and slippers and I’m back to my open toed shoes. Man I’m going to be in serious trouble next winter!
And…an ad campaign is out to buy something on sale while stocks last…but rather than ‘while stocks last’ it is ‘til stocks last’. I really don’t like that one. Not sure why it bothers me so much but it really does.
But I’m definitely getting better at understanding the nuances of Indian English. I got an email the other day that my colleague (also an American) couldn't understand but I got it right away. I've finally mastered it...just in time for me to leave.
Aside: winter is over. 3 weeks of 'cold' with space heaters and slippers and I’m back to my open toed shoes. Man I’m going to be in serious trouble next winter!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Belonging to someone
On Monday one of my colleagues got her PAN card in the mail; sort of the Indian equivalent of a social security card; and she commented that it had her father's name listed on it. I checked mine and it has my dad's name there too. I remembered when I filled out the form having to mention "daughter of" but didn't actually notice that his name was there until just then.
On every official form I've had to fill out here I've had to mention who my father is so I decided to ask one of the guys in the office about this. My first question was - what if there is no father? What if a woman gets pregnant, doesn't marry the father and he isn't involved? This question was quite confusing to him and he replied quite simply "I don't think these things happen in India".
Next question; when he fills out a form does he have to mention who his father is? The answer is no. When a woman fills things out she must state who either her father or husband (if she is married) is. When a man fills a form out he just is himself. To which I said "so a woman has to belong to someone but a man is his own person" and the response was a very matter of fact "yes". It occurred to him after he answered that it was a bit of a double standard; but that's just the way it is.
I wonder how long it will be before that changes and women don't have to belong to someone. Probably will be quite a while since it seems to be only us silly foreigners that ask questions like this.
On every official form I've had to fill out here I've had to mention who my father is so I decided to ask one of the guys in the office about this. My first question was - what if there is no father? What if a woman gets pregnant, doesn't marry the father and he isn't involved? This question was quite confusing to him and he replied quite simply "I don't think these things happen in India".
Next question; when he fills out a form does he have to mention who his father is? The answer is no. When a woman fills things out she must state who either her father or husband (if she is married) is. When a man fills a form out he just is himself. To which I said "so a woman has to belong to someone but a man is his own person" and the response was a very matter of fact "yes". It occurred to him after he answered that it was a bit of a double standard; but that's just the way it is.
I wonder how long it will be before that changes and women don't have to belong to someone. Probably will be quite a while since it seems to be only us silly foreigners that ask questions like this.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
trying to buy a book
At several of the really busy intersections in Delhi there are boys selling books and magazines. It is totally legit to buy from them, the books and mags aren’t stolen. I’ve always wanted to buy a book from them because I feel sorry for them out there all day in traffic trying to sell stuff, but they have never had anything I’ve wanted…or anything I didn’t already have. Well this past weekend I saw that they have that new Dan Brown book, the Lost Symbol, and I thought it would be a fun read so when one of the boys came up I asked how much. He asked for 1,000 rupees – that is over $20! I said no way…and immediately regretted even asking. He wouldn’t go away and suddenly the other boys with magazines were swarming around the car too. My driver helped me out by saying that I didn’t want it. But they persisted and the price slowly came down, 800 rupees, 600, 500. Right before the light turned green it was down to 200 rupees – from $20 to $4 in a matter of minutes and all I did was sit there. Well I didn’t buy it – for me it is the principal of the fact that he thought it was okay to crazy overcharge me just because I’m foreign (I asked an Indian person and they said that the kids will try to get an extra 50 or 100 but never 700 rupees more). It did keep my driver and I quite entertained though; but from now on I think I’ll stick to buying books at book stores.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
mixed emotions
I got my ticket for my return flight yesterday and now I'm freaking out about leaving.
On the one hand I'm so ready to leave; I don't want to spend another summer melting away here, and I'm tired of living soooo far away from my friends and family, and my job is very unfulfilling.
But on the other hand I'm not ready to leave. I guess part of that is because I doubt if I'll ever come back and I will miss so many things about living here (the food, my maid, random elephant sightings, to name a few), and there are so many other places I'd love to see in India. It is just so far away from the US and an expensive flight, and there are so many other places in the world I want to visit that a return just isn't likely.
Although if you had told me even 1 minute before I was offered the job here that I would live in India I wouldn't have believed you so really it is entirely possible that I will come here again.
For now I'm trying to live up every single moment until I leave to pack in as much of India as I can.
On the one hand I'm so ready to leave; I don't want to spend another summer melting away here, and I'm tired of living soooo far away from my friends and family, and my job is very unfulfilling.
But on the other hand I'm not ready to leave. I guess part of that is because I doubt if I'll ever come back and I will miss so many things about living here (the food, my maid, random elephant sightings, to name a few), and there are so many other places I'd love to see in India. It is just so far away from the US and an expensive flight, and there are so many other places in the world I want to visit that a return just isn't likely.
Although if you had told me even 1 minute before I was offered the job here that I would live in India I wouldn't have believed you so really it is entirely possible that I will come here again.
For now I'm trying to live up every single moment until I leave to pack in as much of India as I can.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
bad blogger
Sorry, I've been a terrible blogger lately; work has been quite busy and today I had to go back to the FRRO - the worst place in all of India - the foreigners registration office. I got there around 8:15 and was done by 11:30...3 hours faster than last time. They changed two requirements- one of which caused me (and the french man in line in front of me) to have to run out to a notary whose office is located in the middle of a very confusing building and then run back to try and keep our places in line. Actually not that bad to have a break from standing in lines (my legs were so stiff). It was not a fun morning but now it is done. Whew.
Back to work...tomorrow, I promise, a real post.
Back to work...tomorrow, I promise, a real post.
Monday, January 18, 2010
the sound of honking
Lately I find myself longing for quiet. I decided to have a lazy Sunday at home this past weekend. I was mildly successful but found that I was never able to be completely zen due to the non-stop noise. The construction on the houses being built and torn down; the really noisy birds - there was one crow that was so loud I was convinced he was actually in my apartment. And, of course, the honking that sneaks through.
I started listening to the honking and decided to try a little experiment for a few days...to see, while in the car, how long I could go without hearing a honk. Usually it was constant, maybe a 3 second break between honks. Once I got up to 10 seconds...that was pretty exciting.
I've never been the type of person to care about peace and quiet but I really seek it out over here since it is so difficult to find. Maybe I'll go back to my favorite art museum here this weekend; there is rarely anyone there and the few people that are there are usually westerners too which keeps it quiet.
Its funny, back home I usually always had the radio on because I wanted noise; I guess I just always want what I don't have.
Aside: last night the power went out. I'm so out of practice with power outages because once the heat subsides the power outages do too (no more AC units being used). But now that it is winter the space heaters are on so the power outages are back. Luckily I was able to find a candle and matches pretty quickly and then find my flashlight within a few minutes but I was very confused at first.
I started listening to the honking and decided to try a little experiment for a few days...to see, while in the car, how long I could go without hearing a honk. Usually it was constant, maybe a 3 second break between honks. Once I got up to 10 seconds...that was pretty exciting.
I've never been the type of person to care about peace and quiet but I really seek it out over here since it is so difficult to find. Maybe I'll go back to my favorite art museum here this weekend; there is rarely anyone there and the few people that are there are usually westerners too which keeps it quiet.
Its funny, back home I usually always had the radio on because I wanted noise; I guess I just always want what I don't have.
Aside: last night the power went out. I'm so out of practice with power outages because once the heat subsides the power outages do too (no more AC units being used). But now that it is winter the space heaters are on so the power outages are back. Luckily I was able to find a candle and matches pretty quickly and then find my flashlight within a few minutes but I was very confused at first.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
I forgot...
I completely forgot to blog about something that I saw way back in September. Not sure why this just popped into my head, but it did. So way back when I went to Dharmsala, we had to take a night bus back because our flight was cancelled (which, amazingly, we got a refund for!); our bus arrived back in Delhi at 5 a.m., at which time I have never been more happy that I have my own personal driver.
Anyway...as we were meandering through the bus station up to the car we saw probably about 100 people, almost all men, who seemed to live at the bus station. It is pretty common in Delhi, well in all of India I guess, to see people setting up 'house' in public places; bus stations, train stations, under bridges, etc. I suppose I should call them homeless but for whatever reason I just call them 'people that live at the bus station' or 'people that live under the bridge'. I saw this show about some of the boys that live in the Mumbai train station and it showed the sort of mini-society they have and how they eke out a living.
So as we were coming through the station these men were all in various stages of starting their day, some still sleeping, others eating breakfast, etc., etc. And there was a group of maybe 10-20 of them with tons of newspapers around them. I looked a little closer and realized that they were putting together the newspapers; taking all the different sections and making one paper ready for delivery. The bus station is fairly close to the major Delhi papers and while this could be done by machines I think it is a great way for the newspapers to save a bit of energy on machines and for these men to make a little bit (and no doubt, it is a very little bit) to help them to survive.
Its interesting; one of the first things that people usually comment on when they come to India is 'why don't they just do that by machine' to any one of a million little tasks being done by hand. And while they could (and I mean building a house by hand is kind of crazy slow) the fact is that there are millions of people that earn a living by doing these little things.
That's one of the things about India; you have to completely forget everything you know as being logical because what makes the most sense to me or you isn't actually the most logical thing here.
Aside: solar eclipse today. I doubt we'll see much of it as it is pretty hazy here in Delhi but I'll have my eyes and ears open for any strange superstitions people mention today.
Anyway...as we were meandering through the bus station up to the car we saw probably about 100 people, almost all men, who seemed to live at the bus station. It is pretty common in Delhi, well in all of India I guess, to see people setting up 'house' in public places; bus stations, train stations, under bridges, etc. I suppose I should call them homeless but for whatever reason I just call them 'people that live at the bus station' or 'people that live under the bridge'. I saw this show about some of the boys that live in the Mumbai train station and it showed the sort of mini-society they have and how they eke out a living.
So as we were coming through the station these men were all in various stages of starting their day, some still sleeping, others eating breakfast, etc., etc. And there was a group of maybe 10-20 of them with tons of newspapers around them. I looked a little closer and realized that they were putting together the newspapers; taking all the different sections and making one paper ready for delivery. The bus station is fairly close to the major Delhi papers and while this could be done by machines I think it is a great way for the newspapers to save a bit of energy on machines and for these men to make a little bit (and no doubt, it is a very little bit) to help them to survive.
Its interesting; one of the first things that people usually comment on when they come to India is 'why don't they just do that by machine' to any one of a million little tasks being done by hand. And while they could (and I mean building a house by hand is kind of crazy slow) the fact is that there are millions of people that earn a living by doing these little things.
That's one of the things about India; you have to completely forget everything you know as being logical because what makes the most sense to me or you isn't actually the most logical thing here.
Aside: solar eclipse today. I doubt we'll see much of it as it is pretty hazy here in Delhi but I'll have my eyes and ears open for any strange superstitions people mention today.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
feeling at home or completely out of place
I've been here over a year and a half now and yet I'm pretty much always aware that I'm a foreigner and that this isn't my country. It isn't a bad thing, just a constant awareness that this is not my home. The best thing I can relate it to is if you have a nagging injury; you may get used to living with the pain but it is always there. Not the best analogy but the best I can come up with.
It does happen every once in a while though that I will completely forget that I'm in India. It is strange when it happens, usually it is when I'm at a restaurant or coffee shop just sitting reading a book and am just lost in my own world and then when I get up to leave I suddenly realize that I'm here. This doesn't happen often but I really like it when it does; it makes me feel like somehow I've conquered India by being able to feel completely at ease here.
Then there are other times when I suddenly look around and am overwhelmed by the feeling that I cannot believe I actually live here. This happened to me last night, sitting in my car in traffic. I suddenly looked around at the cars and buses and autorickshaws and bicycles and just the sheer volume of people and I just couldn't believe that this is actually my life. I know it has been a year and a half but still sometimes I cannot believe that I actually got on that plane and moved over here. I mean I'd never been anywhere in Asia and to just up and move here...its kind of crazy.
Just some of the thoughts that go on in my brain. Now I'm beginning to wonder how long it will be when I move home before I feel completely normal there again. It will be quick, no doubt, but I kind of hope it isn't too quick.
It does happen every once in a while though that I will completely forget that I'm in India. It is strange when it happens, usually it is when I'm at a restaurant or coffee shop just sitting reading a book and am just lost in my own world and then when I get up to leave I suddenly realize that I'm here. This doesn't happen often but I really like it when it does; it makes me feel like somehow I've conquered India by being able to feel completely at ease here.
Then there are other times when I suddenly look around and am overwhelmed by the feeling that I cannot believe I actually live here. This happened to me last night, sitting in my car in traffic. I suddenly looked around at the cars and buses and autorickshaws and bicycles and just the sheer volume of people and I just couldn't believe that this is actually my life. I know it has been a year and a half but still sometimes I cannot believe that I actually got on that plane and moved over here. I mean I'd never been anywhere in Asia and to just up and move here...its kind of crazy.
Just some of the thoughts that go on in my brain. Now I'm beginning to wonder how long it will be when I move home before I feel completely normal there again. It will be quick, no doubt, but I kind of hope it isn't too quick.
Monday, January 11, 2010
my 19th century life
Last night I was sitting on my sofa all bundled up in a comforter next to the space heater working on a puzzle and was reminded of a scene from a Jane Austen movie where it is winter and they are all sitting around bundled up near the fire.
Sometimes when I'm at home I feel like I live a life a from a few centuries ago. Especially when the power goes out and I'm brushing my teeth and washing my face by candlelight...quite tricky as I tend to splash water quite a bit, which the first few times caused the candle to go out, but I've managed to perfect my technique.
Now, because it is winter here and there are no radiators, right when I get home I immediately bundle up (its usually colder indoors here), slippers and sweaters and such (and no...I'm not complaining about the cold, it is manageable, just involves lots of bundling). I slip under a blanket and put on my space heater and nest for the night.
Adding to my un-modern lifestyle my DVD player has stopped working and for the past few days my cable has been out. My cable going out is not an uncommon occurrence, although usually it is for only a few minutes, this long is kind of strange. So I have been doing a puzzle, or reading or sudoku-ing.
All I need is for my space heater to be a fire and I'd be right back in the olden days. I must say that the lack of modern things in my life does make me enjoy the simple things. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the things I'll take away from India is a much diminished interest in TV because I'm really enjoying all my books...and it helps me to get to bed earlier, always a good thing.
Sometimes when I'm at home I feel like I live a life a from a few centuries ago. Especially when the power goes out and I'm brushing my teeth and washing my face by candlelight...quite tricky as I tend to splash water quite a bit, which the first few times caused the candle to go out, but I've managed to perfect my technique.
Now, because it is winter here and there are no radiators, right when I get home I immediately bundle up (its usually colder indoors here), slippers and sweaters and such (and no...I'm not complaining about the cold, it is manageable, just involves lots of bundling). I slip under a blanket and put on my space heater and nest for the night.
Adding to my un-modern lifestyle my DVD player has stopped working and for the past few days my cable has been out. My cable going out is not an uncommon occurrence, although usually it is for only a few minutes, this long is kind of strange. So I have been doing a puzzle, or reading or sudoku-ing.
All I need is for my space heater to be a fire and I'd be right back in the olden days. I must say that the lack of modern things in my life does make me enjoy the simple things. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the things I'll take away from India is a much diminished interest in TV because I'm really enjoying all my books...and it helps me to get to bed earlier, always a good thing.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
the end is in sight
I've officially told everyone at my office, and my landlord and my driver that I'm leaving. As ready as I am to leave it feels weird now that it is so official.
So much to do before I leave. As disorganized a country as this is there is tons of paperwork that must be filled out or else. Although apparently none of this paperwork goes anywhere (seriously, I saw an actual picture from the tax office and there were papers stacked to the ceiling on every wall!). Paperwork is such a drag.
Anyway...it is 'cold' here in Delhi now. Not crazy cold like back home but definitely pretty cold. I don't mind it much but it would be nice if there was heating in houses, my space heater has become my best friend. What is really fun is the fog. It was foggy last year but this year is just crazy foggy at night and into the mornings. Reminds me of the old Sherlock Holmes where someone is out on a foggy moor and can't see anything. In those novels/shows usually something bad happens, but I like the fog, makes Delhi seem mysterious and romantic rather than just a big city. But it is a hazard; this morning someone called in late to work because of fog - they couldn't see the roads! And I completely believe her. Reason number 1 million why I don't drive here.
Anyway, time to work on getting a new copy of my lease so that I can prove that I actually live somewhere here. I've already done this but need to do it again.
Why?
Because someone somewhere decided to change the rules. Good times.
So much to do before I leave. As disorganized a country as this is there is tons of paperwork that must be filled out or else. Although apparently none of this paperwork goes anywhere (seriously, I saw an actual picture from the tax office and there were papers stacked to the ceiling on every wall!). Paperwork is such a drag.
Anyway...it is 'cold' here in Delhi now. Not crazy cold like back home but definitely pretty cold. I don't mind it much but it would be nice if there was heating in houses, my space heater has become my best friend. What is really fun is the fog. It was foggy last year but this year is just crazy foggy at night and into the mornings. Reminds me of the old Sherlock Holmes where someone is out on a foggy moor and can't see anything. In those novels/shows usually something bad happens, but I like the fog, makes Delhi seem mysterious and romantic rather than just a big city. But it is a hazard; this morning someone called in late to work because of fog - they couldn't see the roads! And I completely believe her. Reason number 1 million why I don't drive here.
Anyway, time to work on getting a new copy of my lease so that I can prove that I actually live somewhere here. I've already done this but need to do it again.
Why?
Because someone somewhere decided to change the rules. Good times.
Monday, January 4, 2010
build it up...tear it down
I swear, this whole country is under construction. In every neighborhood there are houses being built, and it is a really really slow process. How slow? There is a house being built around the corner from me that they started work on about 3 months after I got here...it still isn't finished.
The thing that I find strange is that as soon as one house is finished being built another one starts being torn down just to be re-built. About a month ago I started hearing all these big bangs and booms in the morning and figured it was just stuff being delivered for the house that was being built. It isn't, it is another house, just across from that one, being torn down. I was pretty surprised since the house seemed to be quite nice...but I see the materials houses are built with here and they aren't very good quality. Even though it takes over a year to build a house it still wouldn't surprise me if one day one of them just fell down because the materials are so poor (and this in the country that built the Taj Mahal).
So why is this house being torn down? Why are there always houses being torn down and then re-built? Turns out it is not because they are falling down but it is to make more money. The new properties are usually built with an extra story on them so the landlords can rent out 4 apartments rather than 3. Seems a bit strange to me though...if it takes about 2 months to tear it down (all manual work) and over a year to build, and you have to pay to build it, wouldn't that end up costing more money?
I guess I'm probably thinking too much into it. All I know is that I'd really prefer if they started working on tearing down the house a little later than 9 a.m. on the weekends.
The thing that I find strange is that as soon as one house is finished being built another one starts being torn down just to be re-built. About a month ago I started hearing all these big bangs and booms in the morning and figured it was just stuff being delivered for the house that was being built. It isn't, it is another house, just across from that one, being torn down. I was pretty surprised since the house seemed to be quite nice...but I see the materials houses are built with here and they aren't very good quality. Even though it takes over a year to build a house it still wouldn't surprise me if one day one of them just fell down because the materials are so poor (and this in the country that built the Taj Mahal).
So why is this house being torn down? Why are there always houses being torn down and then re-built? Turns out it is not because they are falling down but it is to make more money. The new properties are usually built with an extra story on them so the landlords can rent out 4 apartments rather than 3. Seems a bit strange to me though...if it takes about 2 months to tear it down (all manual work) and over a year to build, and you have to pay to build it, wouldn't that end up costing more money?
I guess I'm probably thinking too much into it. All I know is that I'd really prefer if they started working on tearing down the house a little later than 9 a.m. on the weekends.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
and am back
Am back in India after being home (and in France) for the holidays. Am quite tired today as I didn't plan my time-change very well and stayed up super late while in France...which was not smart as I was going to bed at around 8 a.m. India time. Oh well, I guess that means today is a 2 coffee day.
So how did India greet me this time? With Christmas carols. They were blaring at the airport, it was pretty funny.
I was also met by lots and lots of fog, as in cars were driving with hazards on so they could see each other; and when an Indian driver makes the effort to drive carefully you know the weather is bad.
And I also noticed just how terrible the roads are here. We hit about 3 potholes, almost drove into random large rocks in the road (due to the fog my driver only just saw them right before we came across them) and just generally had to do lots of swerving. I knew the roads weren't great but for some reason forgot just how bad they are.
Must get back to work, can't spend my first day back from vacation blogging!
Hopefully more tomorrow.
So how did India greet me this time? With Christmas carols. They were blaring at the airport, it was pretty funny.
I was also met by lots and lots of fog, as in cars were driving with hazards on so they could see each other; and when an Indian driver makes the effort to drive carefully you know the weather is bad.
And I also noticed just how terrible the roads are here. We hit about 3 potholes, almost drove into random large rocks in the road (due to the fog my driver only just saw them right before we came across them) and just generally had to do lots of swerving. I knew the roads weren't great but for some reason forgot just how bad they are.
Must get back to work, can't spend my first day back from vacation blogging!
Hopefully more tomorrow.
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