Day Before Leaving Delhi
Today we woke up at 6:30 and had breakfast at the guest house. Fresh papaya, homemade yogurt, cereal, etc. Pretty good.
We went to a hotel where we had orientation-type stuff. A local doctor talked to us about health stuff, what to do and not to do, etc. Best quote: "the men who spit on the sidewalk aren't checking for dehydration."
Then we had a talk about culture shock and expectations/fears for the program. I can tell already that I'm not going to know what to do when I get back to the US.
So I found out today that we aren't going to get to go into Tibet. Because of the political situation right now, they don't think it's the best idea, especially since we're coming from India--coming from China would be easier. However, we are going to get to a remote area in Nepal--Mustang--that is a right on the border with Tibet and is still heavily influenced and inhabited by Tibetans. It will be a 20 day excursion, instead of the usual week or so. It will take 3-4 days to get in, and 3-4 days to get out. It'll be a trek caravan style, with mules and the whole shibang. I'm excited, though I might need some parents out there to mail me the rest of my camera batteries. . .
As for how hot it is, right now it's 89 degrees, but "feels like 97." And it's 9:30 at night. Needless to say, I am hating this whole "you have to wear pants every day because shorts aren't appropriate" thing. Not cool. (No pun intended).
Darby made a good point today--it's sort of a shame that there isn't more poverty in America because people there don't really understand what it really is and therefore don't really do anything about it. If there were little kids on every corner pointing at their mouths wanting you to give them money (or food) in Times Square, there might be some more action done. Sadly, many kids work for what amounts to a begging mafia, and are just trying to get money to give to their "masters," so our program just tells us not to give money to poor people. Instead, we can give the program our leftover rupees at the end of the semester and they'll donate it to good charities.
There are SO many people in Delhi. I'm glad we don't have over a billion people in America--it's just too much. There is never a quiet or lonely moment here. Everywhere you go there are people. People sleeping, eating, sitting, walking, staring. Especially staring. Apparently noone is afraid of rubbernecking when it comes to foreigners. The lady who talked to us today about culture shock said that she saw an ad for a cell phone company in which a kid from India was in the US (for some reason or other), and couldn't go to sleep. He called his mom, and she took the phone outside and let him listen to the noise--then he fell asleep. It sort of put things in perspective.
Upon leaving the hotel, something awesome happened. We were going from the 15th floor to the 2nd, but suddenly there were some great noises in the elevator and we got stuck. The display said we were on the 1st floor, but on the buttons there wasn't a 1st floor--just 0 and 2. Tried to open the doors, but there were just bricks in front of us. After much bell ringing and 15 minutes later, we finally got down to floor 0 and got out. I guess having 10 people on the elevator when 8 was the limit wasn't a smart idea. . .
When we got back to the house some of us went to Lodhi Gardens, which was about a 15 minute walk from our guest house. It's not a flowers/butterflies type of garden, but it did have some rather awesome ruins. See below. (I'll put pictures on Flikr when I have time).
Tomorrow night we leave for Dharamsala (by train), and in the next few days we start our Tibetan language classes and get our homestays. I don't know when I'll have internet access again.
We went to a hotel where we had orientation-type stuff. A local doctor talked to us about health stuff, what to do and not to do, etc. Best quote: "the men who spit on the sidewalk aren't checking for dehydration."
Then we had a talk about culture shock and expectations/fears for the program. I can tell already that I'm not going to know what to do when I get back to the US.
So I found out today that we aren't going to get to go into Tibet. Because of the political situation right now, they don't think it's the best idea, especially since we're coming from India--coming from China would be easier. However, we are going to get to a remote area in Nepal--Mustang--that is a right on the border with Tibet and is still heavily influenced and inhabited by Tibetans. It will be a 20 day excursion, instead of the usual week or so. It will take 3-4 days to get in, and 3-4 days to get out. It'll be a trek caravan style, with mules and the whole shibang. I'm excited, though I might need some parents out there to mail me the rest of my camera batteries. . .
As for how hot it is, right now it's 89 degrees, but "feels like 97." And it's 9:30 at night. Needless to say, I am hating this whole "you have to wear pants every day because shorts aren't appropriate" thing. Not cool. (No pun intended).
Darby made a good point today--it's sort of a shame that there isn't more poverty in America because people there don't really understand what it really is and therefore don't really do anything about it. If there were little kids on every corner pointing at their mouths wanting you to give them money (or food) in Times Square, there might be some more action done. Sadly, many kids work for what amounts to a begging mafia, and are just trying to get money to give to their "masters," so our program just tells us not to give money to poor people. Instead, we can give the program our leftover rupees at the end of the semester and they'll donate it to good charities.
There are SO many people in Delhi. I'm glad we don't have over a billion people in America--it's just too much. There is never a quiet or lonely moment here. Everywhere you go there are people. People sleeping, eating, sitting, walking, staring. Especially staring. Apparently noone is afraid of rubbernecking when it comes to foreigners. The lady who talked to us today about culture shock said that she saw an ad for a cell phone company in which a kid from India was in the US (for some reason or other), and couldn't go to sleep. He called his mom, and she took the phone outside and let him listen to the noise--then he fell asleep. It sort of put things in perspective.
Upon leaving the hotel, something awesome happened. We were going from the 15th floor to the 2nd, but suddenly there were some great noises in the elevator and we got stuck. The display said we were on the 1st floor, but on the buttons there wasn't a 1st floor--just 0 and 2. Tried to open the doors, but there were just bricks in front of us. After much bell ringing and 15 minutes later, we finally got down to floor 0 and got out. I guess having 10 people on the elevator when 8 was the limit wasn't a smart idea. . .
When we got back to the house some of us went to Lodhi Gardens, which was about a 15 minute walk from our guest house. It's not a flowers/butterflies type of garden, but it did have some rather awesome ruins. See below. (I'll put pictures on Flikr when I have time).
Tomorrow night we leave for Dharamsala (by train), and in the next few days we start our Tibetan language classes and get our homestays. I don't know when I'll have internet access again.
posted by Stephen_I at
10:29 AM
4 Comments:
internets cafes everywheres.
man that elevator is the shiz. welcome to india. when we got to the airport, the power went out in the terminal.
There IS poverty in America, but not to that extent, and people are ashamed of it and hide it as best they can. Crime is the answer to it here, instead of begging.
Great writing - thanks for telling the story so well! How's Darby doing???
happy to hear from you again. i looked up mustang. it sounds like an awesome place. google, travelogues mustang by mark turin,it tell lots about it. what a great adventure. take care and stay cool. no monkeees!!
Thankful there is this internet connection to keep track of you and hear all the interesting tales! On the ground and running! How many monkeys does it take to break an elevator? Keep us posted and Skype home! Oh, and be careful!
Love,
Dad
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home