Another Update from Delhi

So, more about my time in India thus far... I continue to be enthralled by trying to understand what life in India must be like for an Indian. The contrast with American life is just so harsh that I can't imagine the homes that people go home to or how they provide for their families. One thing I have learned though, is that it is impossible to stereotype them, because all around me is such diversity.

Aside from the constant soul-piercing stares and occasional being taken advantage of, a lot of the people here are very nice, and I try not to question their motives or swear off further contact after negative encounters. They are very eager to help and haven't once asked me for money in return, only yesterday Vijay (who, might I add, has the words "Michael Jackson" tattooed on his left arm) asked for something American to remember us by. Early on I have learned to be patient and not rush into buying things I think I want. I've ended up paying too much for things I could get so many other places and feeling like a fool.

Which brings me to another point, shopping is so overwhelming. The second you show interest in something the vendor will come up to you and pull out a million other things to show you, but won't let you look at the selection yourself. I know what I like, and I'm very picky even though I can be indecisive, which has proven to be a formula for chaos in some of these shops and bazaars. Also, in India, everything is negotiable, which forces me out of my comfort zone of being nice to a fault, and forcing me to be assertive, because I know this stuff definitely does not hurt their feelings; they're so used to it. On the bright side, my outrage at being jipped serves this cause.

Last night we had a small party in the hallway downstairs. It was really quite nice to sit in the hallway with the big open windows, drink beer and diluted whiskey, smoke cigarettes and sing ridiculous pop songs sweating bullets all the while. I was 11:30 at night but it was still over 100 degrees. I swear to Vishnu that it feels like I have known these people so much longer than I actually have! There isnt a single person I dislike and am pleased to see no cliques forming thus far. Apparently to want to do EAP in India, you have to be pretty badass.

Today the other people in the Hyderabad program and I went to complete the process of having our visas registered. This time was actually quite enjoyable, as I learned how to play a new card game called gumsh. I'll show you guys when I get back! AND the wait was only 1 1/2 hours! Trying the Indian version of snus was much less enjoyable, as it burned and smelled and tasted like very strong cleaning chemicals. I got to try out a classmate's new hookah and finally got my cell phone up and running, and finally rode in a rickshaw for my first time! I shall post the video below.

I apologize for the long posts which must be difficult to commit to reading, but I would simply hate to leave out any details! The final detail, however, is for Chakira, if you're reading this: I have put lots of warm energy and water from the Sikh temple into your neckalce thus far. Also, I am beginning to read Autobiography of a Yogi today!

Post Number 1

Greeeetings to you all! I begin my blog on my third day in Delhi. It took a 13 hour flight to Taipei and a 7 hour flight to Delhi to get here, and now I find myself a 12 1/2 hours into the future.

I've already begun to have so much fun here, and my sensory perceptions have been amplified to an unprecedented intensity. I'm sweating more and getting dirtier than I ever have, and even at nights it doesn't cool down more than ten degrees in relief of the 110-degree heat. (I wonder what that is in celsius...?) This is certainly no ordinary vacation, but rather everything is much more confusing and exhausting. But at any rate, its just so rewarding to really feel so much, theres no buffer zone of ease and comfort to alienate me from my truest experiences...

OK, so a brief recap of everything I've done since my arrival, since time is limited and the internet costs money...
-We arrived in Delhi at 12:20 pm Sunday, and I was mostly exhausted and jet lagged after lunch, so i slept until 9, when i was awoken by the party in the room next door. When I get back to my laptop i will post photos from the end of a night of drinking large bottles of warm beer, "COX 10000," which tasted like a warm, bubbly meal.
-Yesterday after breakfast all of us in the Hyderabad program were taken to the police office to have our visas registered, which actually meant sitting in an un-airconditioned hallway for no joke 5 hours, watching birds fly in and out of the window. (when we were walking down the stairs to leave, a TODDLER spit on one of the girls in my group!)
-Tedious paperwork followed, after which we were FINALLY free to roam about, and we learned QUICKLY that any group larger than 4 is completely and utterly impractical.
-We went to Main Bazar, where I bought a saree and some aladding paants, which I refuse to ever take off seeing as how they are the single most comfortable article of clothing imaginable.
-That evening we checked out a bar called Castle 9, which was more of a nicer restaurant than a bar... and considering that all they had to offer was foster's, i will withold judgment until i can compare it to other bars.
-The best thing thus far though, was waking up at 5 am to go to a Sikh temple down the road from the YWCA Int'l Guest House where we're staying this week. it was sooo beautiful and i was thrilled to participate in all of the little rituals such as removing my shoes, wearing a loner head covering and sitting listening to the tabla and whatever the other instrument is called. i walked around the big pool and dipped my feet in at the end. i tried my best to just be present in the moment and set the tone for other such experiences to come.
-The rest of the day was most stressful indeed, I got jipped on a phone which still isnt working, and the shopping experience is one i have yet to get used to ( more on that later). We did however, meet 2 really nice Indian guys, Viki and Vijay, who showed us around and took us to all the places we wanted to go to get the things we needed. And all they asked in return was something American for them to remember us by! I wanted to ask Viki for his shirt, which read "If being sexy is a crime...ARREST ME!"
Until then I had no clue how difficult it would be to find things, all the stores are hidden and you dont know from the outside if its acutally somewhere you should go into. I'll have to post pictures of that too, but everything is in crumbling buildings and away from the road behind other crumbling buildings and construction zones, which probably always have and always will be there. The smells go in and out of my nose so quickly that it actually achieves quite a nice harmony between the incense and disgusting piss and shit and rotten trash. Needless to say I have yet to drink the water...

So hopefully I will stay on top of my posts so that I can go into more detail, oh theres so much to tell! but for now i really need to take a nap, getting four hours of sleep and wandering in the heat all day can really tire one out, so that is all for now.

XXX