This is going to be a rapid-fire, not proof-read post (actually this is all of them, sorry everyone for any misspellings or run-on sentences or puns/metaphors/analogies I try to use that don't make sense!).

On Friday, I had a meeting with Azim Ji and Abid Ji about my Independent Study Project topic (which is currently fluctuating between something about child labors/street children and women's health) and then head off to Select City Mall walk with Rachael and Tania. I had heard that it was the equivalent of an American mall, but in reality it's fancier, brighter, and more pleasant than most American malls I've been in. It was completely surprising but also incredibly nice to be in a place where we felt comfortable and no one stared at us. There were American and British stores and food places(Burberry, DKNY, Adidas, Puma, Cinnabon, etc., so not really places I ever shop anyway but still places that reminded me of home).

We then met up with Molly, Sarah Kate, Becca, Julia, Georgia, and Quinn at a hookah bar called Mocha, and people enjoyed some rare luxuries. Other people drank their calories in the form of sangria and breezers, but being me, I (of course) opted for flourless chocolate cake instead, which was divine. It was utterly relaxing and lovely, and a great break from the chaos of Delhi. I think we all needed it, and Rachael and I definitely went home feeling refreshed.

On Saturday, we went to Chandni Chowk, which is the big main market in Old Delhi. It's notorious crowded and hectic (this is the place that my host dad referred to as "dripping with people everywhere you turn"), so we went around 10 a.m. to hopefully beat the biggest crowds of the day. We took the Metro and got there around 11, and just happened to see Tania and Poonam getting off the Metro right in front of us. We caught up to them, and they were with Poonam's cousin Neha (who is good friends with Chidi from high school!) and her friend. Both of them are studying Hindi and Urdu for the entire year in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. We were lucky to find them, because all four spoke Hindi and helped us navigate Chandni Chowk. I pictured it as more of a market, but it was really just an area of tons of little shops and back alleys (called gulleys.. wait no they're not, I just looked it up. It's actually "gali" apparently, which makes a lot more sense since that's probably Hindi.) with food stands and people selling goods of all kinds. At first it wasn't too overwhelming, but as it got later, people really started to pour in and I was being jostled all over the place. I kept thinking people were intentionally bumping and hitting me, but it was just the crowd being so dense most of the time that it was unavoidable.

We didn't buy anything, but decided to go to Paratha Wali Gali to get parathas, which are like fried rotis/flat bread filled with whatever you want. I got mine with cashews, which was delicious. We then ventured out to find jalebi, and stopped at Sisganj Gurdwara, a Sikh temple apparently built in 1675. It was cool and open and peaceful inside, which was a nice break from the rest of Chandni Chowk. Eventually we found jalebi, which is basically funnel cake dipped in thick, delicious (but maybe too sweet) syrup. After that, Neha decided she wanted her nose re-pierced (I later heard she went to a sketchy place that didn't really clean the hook they used to pierce it... why she did this is unclear, but everyone just be happy I didn't do that too!).

Rachael and I decided to continue our adventures and head to Akshardam, and five-year-old Hindu temple that is incredibly impressive. Apparently some people think it's more beautiful than the Taj, but I don't think it is simply because it lacks the same history and lore. Entry is free, but we opted to also pay Rs 200 to go to the "exhibitions" that they have on display. Let me tell you, it was a strange experience. Exhibit 1 was a "robotics show," in which we were shuffled from room to room to see impressive but slightly creepy lifelike robots depicting the entire life of Swaminarayan, a 17th Hindu saint that some people believe was God himself. Apparently he mastered the Vedas but 7, left home at 11, traveled 12,000 kilometers across India barefoot over the course of seven years, mastered Ashtanga yoga by 14, taught everyone he saw to be a better person, and did a variety of other impressive things along the way. After this was over, we watched a 50-minute movie (also about his life) on a MASSIVE (Imax-sized, possibly bigger) screen, but it at least included lovely landscape views of India. Rachael and I both fell asleep. Next was a boat ride, similar to "It's a Small World," but depicting 10,000 years of Indian history using lifelike statues in scenes on the shores of the artificial river. It was more nationalist propaganda than history lesson, but the boat ride was at least fun.

Coming out of the exhibitions, which took much longer than expected, was worth it, however. The temple is ornately carved and lit up at night, and it truly is breathtaking. I shall post pictures upon my return from Udaipur (where I will be, sans internet, until Saturday morning!). We went inside, marveled a bit, and then headed out for the musical fountain show, complete with religious chanting, lights, and a truly beautiful water show set to a lovely instrumental Indian song. After our exhausting day (due to my overambitious planning, sorry Rachael!), we finally headed home. Actually first we had to collect our cameras and phones and water bottles, because security at Akshardam is weirdly tight. Also confusing was the presence of heavily armed security officers (apparently the pistol isn't big here, all the police officers and security men have rifles that they non-nonchalantly point wherever), because one of the main tenets of Swaminarayan's preaching was nonviolence. We were even treated to a cute/creepy display of talking animals telling us not to eat them.

On Sunday, we decided to have a relaxing morning, and Sulman (the maid, who is our age apparently and is very nice but with whom we struggle to communicate) made us plain parathas and eggs. I like the plain parathas with jam because it's like a crepe, but apparently they're really only a savory thing so people think I'm weird. We then went to an exhibition of crafts and such at the Indian Islamic Cultural Center, where a few host parents had booths. The wares were beautiful but expensive, but I didn't pass up the opportunity to buy a piece of chocolate ganache tart (typical, once again). We met up with Liz B. and Sagarika and wandered around Lodi Gardens, and then Rachael and I headed home. We were supposed to meet Khadeeja's mom last night, but apparently she's been under the weather lately. We met her niece though! She's very sweet and knows excellent English.

In t-minus two hours I depart for Udaipur, apparently the most romantic city in India. Don't worry though, there is no romance on this trip. Twenty-two of the 24 people on our program are women, and we were told to stay away from Indian men because apparently they think we're all harlots or something. Go figure. Thanks American media!

I will be without internet until Saturday at least, so I won't respond till then, but I would love to have a message from any/all of you waiting upon my return!

Oh also today we had a question in Hindi about what our favorite book was and I thought of a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and I only read it while I was in South Africa but now I really, really want to read it again, which is not a feeling I get very often. That and maybe Cat's Cradle. I should read more, that's what non-Dartmouth terms are for, right? Theoretically I should have time to pleasure read. Maybe I'll buy a book in Udaipur!

Au revoir friends!

True story: As I was getting for bed just now, I grabbed my water bottle from the dining room table and the lid fell off and bounced off the bottom of the refrigerator. It then proceeded to bounce/roll LITERALLY 20 feet across the dining room, around a corner, and through the half-closed door of the squat toilet room (that's next to the regular bathroom) and INTO THE BASIN OF THE SQUAT TOILET WHERE THERE IS TOILET WATER. How do these things happen? It reminded me of the meatball that was lost when somebody sneezed.

I need to sleep now but I wanted to post something quickly and I'll expand tomorrow. Mini updates:

I got my nose pierced! It wasn't something I ever wanted before, but when in India, right? Of course my eyes watered profusely and I made some kind of awkward squawking noise. What else is new?



I finally finished the AZD summer newsletter, thank goodness!

Today we went to one of the nicest malls I've ever been to. It definitely didn't feel like we were in India. Then we went to a hookah bar and I got delicious flourless cake and people drank sangria! It was pleasant and comfortable and relaxing.

This is going to be short and sweet because it's late and I'm tired and I need to sleep. I'm finishing up the AZD newsletter for summer, and it's dragging on and on (possibly because I'm using PowerPoint; makes me think about investing in InDesign for myself). Tonight Rachael and I went with Adil and Kadeeja to "visit his friend" where they both teach, at Jamia Millia Islamia University. "Visiting" in this case turned out to be attending a video conference with people at York University in Toronto, who had just formed a new partnership with JMI about social media use (or something...). There were about 8 people in the room in Toronto, whereas the professors at JMI had recruited students and random people like us that he knew to sit in the room, so there were about 60 of us. Apparently he wanted us to participate, but we thankfully wiggled our way out of that one. At the very beginning, he said it would be a two-hour conference, and Rachael, Khadeeja, and I all looked at each other and made the there-is-no-way-we're-staying face. Khadeeja said the baby, who also attended, would be a good excuse to leave early. It ended up being slightly interesting but mostly boring, but it was exciting when they zoomed in on people in front of me who were talking so I was on screen. I stuck out like a sore thumb because of my white skin, blonde hair, bright magenta and green Indian clothes, and the fact that I couldn't stop laughing the whole time. I even took my hair out of ponytail so I could look good for my 15 minutes of non-fame via video conference (one of the Canadian men looked cute, and when he spoke it turned out he had a British accent. It was hard to tell how attractive he actually was, though, because the image was kind of blurry.). After probably bothering every stoic Indian academic in the room with our smileliness and such, we bolted when the camera wasn't on us. Tomorrow is nose piercing day though!

And here is a video I commandeered from Rachael at the Taj!


Uhh oops, I just tried to get water before going to bed, but we have to get it from a big filtered water jug thing and it was all out, so I tried to put the new one on myself and spilled water and banged around enough for my host parents to come out and help me. Apparently Khadeeja had been nagging Adil to do it for hours but he hadn't because he was "talking to his girlfriends" (just part of the series of jokes they make about things like adultery, the caste system, and wife beating!). It's refreshing, though, because I don't feel like I have to be super guarded or overly cautious about being politically correct with them because they're so frank and good-natured. Conversation earlier today:


Me: We saw monkeys here yesterday!
Adil: Oh yeah, be careful with them! They like to harass people, especially women for some reason.
Khadeeja: Yeah, that's because they're Indian monkeys.


यह सोने का समय है!शुभ रात्रि, दोस्तों!

Quote from my host father:

"India has too many people — the country is going to sink from all the weight! You turn on the faucet and you're afraid people are going to trickle out. I think we should send half a billion people to Australia. They have a lot of coastline; the people can fish."

He's actually hilarious. He seems pretty self-conscious a lot the time, but he's really knowledgeable about the history of India and Delhi and world events in general. Today we talked about the presence of several Christian organizations in their neighborhood, Warren Buffet and Obama's proposed tax increases, traffic in Delhi, Indian weather, American weather, the caste system, population control, the university he works at, Christmas in London, and plenty of other interesting and random topics. The other day he told us that Columbia University flew him to New York to interview for a position teaching Hindi, Urdu, and literature, but he ultimately turned them down because his mom wanted him to stay in India (he said the people at Columbia were quite mad because it's hard to find people who can teach both Hindi and Urdu, which saves the university money).

I also made a deal with my host mom to meet up in Morocco in a few years. We'll see how that turns out. Khadeeja is going to take Rachael and I to get our noses pierced this week! I'm still on the fence about the whole thing, and I want to run it by my mom because it seems like a common courtesy to let her know if I plan to punch holes in the body she gestated (this might not be a transitive verb but I don't care) for so long, but I think I'll end up doing it. Hi Mom! I figure I can have it here and if I don't want to deal with it, I'll just take it out. Khadeeja said she'll take us to a reputable place, and I actually don't think it will be at all sketchy because literally 75% of women here have their noses pierced, so the piercing people definitely have experience. Also Khadeeja is planning to get her nose re-pierced so if she's doing it, it must be safe (she has high standards).

Oh they put the baby on the floor just now! I'm going to go play with her and see if she will crawl. She's about 7.5 months old and doesn't crawl yet, but she was premature by a month so apparently they start counting developmental things from the due date, not the day the baby is actually born. Crawling normally happens at 6 months, I guess. I'll let you know how this goes. She usually just lays there when we want her to crawl.

Yesterday, 23 of us took a bus to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. Before going, I was cautiously optimistic but also a little skeptical because, really, how great can a big white building that I've already seen hundreds of pictures of be? Pretty unbelievably great, as it turns out! It has this magnificent gleaming quality, and it truly is breathtaking when you first see it walking through the main gate. Even from so close, it looked fake in all its splendor. There were some clouds in the sky and it only magnified the effect — the sun somehow seemed to spotlight the Taj and since it's entirely white marble, it seems to glow. The Red Fort is beautiful as well and offers back views of the Taj as well.

Rachael and I also visited the Qutab Minar the other day, which is a tall stone minaret built during the Mughal rule of India. There were also stone ruins of other buildings, and it was a lovely area to sit and take pictures.











I'll upload more Taj pictures tomorrow! And a video!

Hi everyone! Today I finally took the time to read the blogs of two of my best friends who are also abroad (Hi Angie and Dylan!) and Angie's is hilarious and Dylan's has fabulous pictures, so I figured I would link their blogs here if you want to see what they're up to as well! I'm jealous that they're in Europe (Dublin and Prague, respectively) and get to visit other parts of the continent and drink in so much beautiful scenery and architecture all the time. I miss you both! And everyone else who isn't with me here of course. So many of my friends/friendly acquaintances are scattered around the world: Ireland, Argentina, Spain, France, England, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Hungary, Scotland, Australia, Israel, China, Korea, Switzerland, and of course the United States!

I'm stealing a post topic from Angie's blog here: Yesterday I came as close to peeing my pants as I have in a long, long time. I cannot even EXPRESS how bad it was. We were nearing Delhi on the train back from Aligarh, and I decided to wait till I got home to use the bathroom because it was 9:40 and I was told I would get home around 10:30 or 10:40. So manageable, I thought. What a bad, terrible, awful, ill-fated idea! We got off the train and got on a bus and proceeded to sit in the railway station parking lot for about 15 minutes. At this point I had to go quite badly (blasted two-liter bottles of water that they give out on the train) so I asked Archna Ji if I had time to go find a bathroom. She indicated we were about to leave so I grudgingly agreed to hold it (you are seriously getting a play-by-play of my near-accident but it was just that traumatic for me). I got increasingly antsy as we sat in the lot longer and longer, and Poonam suggested that I might be able to find a restroom in one of the nearby restaurants. Finally we were on our way, though! Thank you gods of all the religions practiced in India! Driving on Delhi roads turned out to be more painful, however, because potholes and uneven areas of road are even more plentiful than people in India (trust me, this is a feat) and the bus bouncing was not helping my bladder situation. I started pinching my arms to distract myself, and people could tell my situation was getting dire so they began offering me plastic bags and bottles (thanks guys, luckily I haven't sunk quite that low yet!). After taking literally six wrong turns and backing up like 100 yards on a six-lane arterial (I SWEAR IT WAS A CONSPIRACY), we finally dropped the first people off at Lajpat Nagar near the Central Market. I asked Bhavna Ji if there was a restroom nearby, and she said it would be difficult to find one. I think she knew I was serious though when I said I could hold it as long as she took me to the hospital today to get bladder reconstructive surgery. So as we dropped off the Lajpat people, Bhavna Ji found me an empty lot and I peed behind a gross wheelbarrow next to an abandoned building while Bhavna Ji stood watch and shooed away a curious (probably rabid) dog. Lesson learned: Never, ever turn down a bathroom in India, regardless of if you have to go or how gross it is. Restrooms are few and far between (hence the huge sanitation problem here) so take what you can get, because your next option might be a bottle or the side of the road. #firstgradelessons

Also I finally bought an external hard drive today and I'm backing everything up now! My screen has been having neon green seizures lately, so I'm hopefully going to take it to the Apple store soon to get it checked out.

And in closing, a quote from my guy Dylan Koutsky:

"I just read your most recent blog post and it seems like such a bigger adjustment to go to India than Prague. Like so far the most inconvenient thing here that I've experienced (except for the language barrier) is that the orange juice tastes funny."