So this is my first real post from India. It has already been such a powerful few days. I arrived around noon on the eleventh. Julia, another girl on the program, was on my flight, and she recognized me because I was reading one of the books assigned for the program. She actually happened to be sitting right behind me on the plane too, so that was nice. Our flight was a little late, and when it arrived Justin and Lucy, two other people on the program, had just arrived too, so we all came to the YMCA where we’re staying together, which was good, because it was a pretty scary ride, and I’m glad I wasn’t alone. So driving here…the lines between the lanes (even lanes going in the opposite direction) are ignored for the most part, and drivers zip around cars and honk a lot, and there are a lot of autorickshaws and bikes and motorcycles, but I think I’m starting to get used to that too. The whole car ride I kind of felt like I was going to die, but now I think riding in autorickshaws is really fun.
Anyway, the first day, those of us who were here (the group flight didn’t arrive until late that night) wandered around the streets near the YMCA. That evening I went with Karen, a scholar whose husband Steve is leading the program, and Dan, one of the program TAs, to hear some Sufi devotional music. It was pretty amazing and getting there (we had to wind down some Old Delhi alleyways) was an interesting welcome to India.
The next day we started orientation. In the morning they’ve been preparing us for the semester in Dharamsala, and for the rest of the day we do touristy things. The first day we went on a tour of New Delhi, and we saw a Sikh temple and a Hindu Hanuman temple. The second day we went on a tour of Old Delhi. We saw a Mosque, commissioned by the same guy who commissioned the Taj Mahal and a Jain temple. Yesterday (the third day) we spent the whole day doing touristy things. We went out to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort. Today we had the day to do what we wanted, so I spent the morning shopping in a bazaar near the YMCA. I’m still getting the hang of haggling, and I probably still got ripped off today, but I like what I bought and I don’t think it was too expensive. This afternoon I went to see a Devi Temple, which was really awesome to go to, because I actually know a little bit about Goddess Temples. Now I’m back in the Imperial Hotel. We just had dessert at one of their restaurants, and now I’m using their wireless again. It was so strange walking here and then being here though, because on the way, we walked past people, whole families even, sleeping on the street, and now we’re in a hotel that is just so extravagant.
This has been a really overwhelming few days though. I was the first and only (at least as far as I know) to break down in tears in front of the group. We were in Old Delhi, and we were riding on bike rickshaws from the Mosque to the Gandhi Museum, and a beggar was following us asking for money. He followed for quite a while, and eventually I made a move to pull my wallet out, but Steve saw and warned that I shouldn’t (beggars would have probably surrounded our whole group, and we were on bike rickshaws so we probably would have been stuck). When he realized that I wasn’t going to give him any money, he stopped following us and as he disappeared into the crowd I felt so guilty that I just started crying on the back of the rickshaw. I think it was just the overwhelmingness of it all. It is really different here, and it takes a while to get used to it (I don’t think I’m used to it yet still).
Now I’m going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures before my battery dies. If I manage it, enjoy. If not, au revoir for now.