Namastae

Ahh there are so many things to write about that I don't know where to begin!

So I have finally made it to India! I have been in Delhi for almost a week now and let me tell you, it is one crazy city! It is very crowded and quite hectic. (Just to put things in perspective - the US has about 300 million people while India, roughly a third of the size of the US, has 1.21 BILLION people. That's a lot of people crammed into one country.) Anyways, aside from all the people, another thing that makes the city so hectic is the fact that people here honk. A lot. And when I say they honk, I mean a lean-on-the-horn, blaring noise coming from cars, autorickshaws, motos, etc. They honk when cars are in the way, they honk when cars aren't in the way just to let them know they're coming. They honk when they see a pedestrian on the side of the road to warn them not to cross. They give friendly honks when they see someone they know. Sometimes I think drivers honk when no one else is honking just because it seems too quite (to them, of course). On the way to the Institute today I almost got a headache because autorickshaws have one of the loudest and most annoying horns and, of course, my driver was quite fond of using it. Traffic here is also quite daunting - lanes and stoplights are purely suggestions. While it is not quite as bad as Chinese traffic, I still wouldn't want to drive here.

In case you are wondering what an autorickshaw is:

So far I have not had as hard a time adjusting as the other students here - my year in Chile REALLY helped prepare me for future travels and I feel as if I am much better equipped than most to handle culture shock, living in a homestay, and adjusting to a new way of life. There are a few things, however, which will definitely take some getting used to, namely:
Women do NOT make eye contact with men. If you happen to accidentally look into a man's eyes on the street, immediately look away. If you smile at a man, it is seen as an invitation and can earn you a crude word or a good groping. If you must talk with a man (say a shopkeeper or autorickshaw driver), it is permissible to occasionally make eye contact, but a woman must not hold his gaze for very long (again seen as an invitation). This is VERY hard to get used to, as I am used to looking everyone in the eye and giving a friendly smile when walking down the street. Hell, even going from Illinois to LA I had to reduce the level of eye contact I made, and here it is much worse. I am starting to master the practice of looking down at a 60 degree angle when walking anywhere - just enough to see where I'm going but avoid the stares of men. Also, this makes people-watching very hard. I still watch people, of course, but I have to be very careful to look away if a man catches me. I wonder how interacting with fellow Indian classmates will be...

Aside from that one little detail, I have been thoroughly enjoying myself. I arrived Wednesday morning and on the way to the hotel from the airport I saw a cow chilling in the middle of the highway. No one bothered it, of course, as cows are a noble and venerated creature in the Hindu world (over 80% of Indians are Hindus). Unfortunately, that's the only cow I've seen thus far, but I bet it won't be the last. I've already gotten Delhi Belly though. I thought I had one of the strongest stomachs in the world, as I travel often and rarely get sick, but I guess it is no match for Delhi cuisine. Apparently once I've had it though, I won't get it again. The food here is very delicious though! I never though I could eat Indian food for lunch and dinner every day and not get sick of it. That isn't to say that I won't get sick of it, but I have lasted far longer than I expected. So far I haven't encountered food that is too spicy for me (luckily) and my host brother has a low spice tolerance so my host mom doesn't cook super spicy food. On another note, the clothing here is absolutely beautiful and I've already boughten two salwar kameez outfits for myself:

Orientation thus far has been somewhat boring - we have two weeks for something that could have been done in four days. They did take us to Humayun's Tomb, which served as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal (which we will be visiting this upcoming weekend!!!!). The Tomb and surrounding gardens are beautiful:

There is a park near my house called Deer Park (it has an enclosure of spotted deer) that is rather large and quite pretty to walk around or just relax and read a book. Currently I am sitting on my balcony waiting for the airport to deliver my second bag that just arrived and watching people pass by on the street. I am anxious to get started with everything - I have a few goals in mind that I really want to accomplish. First, I want to learn how to cook delicious Indian food - I'm hoping there are some sort of cooking classes in Delhi (although I am not sure because Indian women learn how to cook from their mothers and grandmothers). I also want to volunteer somewhere, hopefully working with the rehabilitation of street kids (there is a lot of poverty and begging here and, unfortunately, Slumdog Millionaire is actually a pretty accurate depiction of what happens in India). During Orientation, we took a two hour Bollywood dancing lesson which was SUPER fun and a great workout - I think a few of us are going to try to take classes depending on the costs. At the end of this week I should finalize my class schedule and should be able to make more definite plans as to how I want to spend my time. I will try to update more often so these can be briefer (or maybe I should just get a journal....)

disclaimer: all photos from Google. I have yet to upload photos from my camera to the computer.