End of Placement at MTHDD

The pictures taken above are of my ride to and from MTHDD. These are scenes that I saw on a daily basis.

I was able to sneak a picture of the area in which the patients spend their days. What you are seeing in the last photo is the ladies section of MTHDD. To your left is an area that looks exactly the same that houses the men.

My volunteer placement at Mother Teresa's Home for the Destitute and Dying (MTHDD) ended last Friday, and I am spending my last week teaching English and Math to first through fourth grade students. Actually, it's a little bit of English, a little bit of Math, and a lot of playing, coloring, and doing the Hokey Pokey. I miss my ladies at MTHDD but I know a new volunteer will be coming soon to take care of them. I was never able to take pictures of them, but their faces and personalities will stay with me for a long, long time.

Gulab Jamun

My favorite, favorite dessert is Gulab Jamun, deep fried balls of dough soaked in rose-flavored syrup. We usually eat it when it's hot and fresh, and with a cup of Chai it's heavenly. I've had them before, but they have never been this good!

Autorickshaws

The controls of the Autorickshaw

Hanging out with the motorcycle riders

Rubbing elbows with the cars

There were actually 6 of us in the Autorickshaw for this ride. Cindy and I had no idea who the other 4 people were. The driver stopped and let them on.

Normal Delhi road scene

Riding the Autorickshaw at night.

Catching an Autorickshaw near our apt.

You either love to take Autorickshaws or you just close your eyes, pray to Krishna and hang on with all your might! I am of the former - I love taking the Autorickshaws. Any chance that I can go somewhere by Autorickshaw, I'm there haggling over the fare.

I like them because you are right in the thick of traffic, looking in car windows, rubbing elbows with the motorcycle riders, dodging everything in sight, and sometimes looking at traffic head on. We've been able to cram four of us in an Autorickshaw, and though not comfortable, it's a lot of fun.

Tonight four of us took an Autorickshaw to one of the upscale malls. We were right in the middle of traffic, making a turn in front of even more traffic, and the driver stops, turns off the ignition and jumps out to take a cell phone call. Cars are whizzing around us and honking, and a bus came so close that I thought for sure we were going to be hit. The driver could care less; he just kept on talking and totally ignoring our screams. Needless to say, we took a taxi home from the mall.

Jaipur and the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal in all its glory!

There were very few "white" visitors to the Taj - Mostly Indian families enjoying the site.

City Palace at Jaipur

City Palace

Street scene in Jaipur

Girl by Lake Palace in Jaipur

Lake Palace in Jaipur

Amber village as seen from Amber Fort

Inside Amber Fort with the rest of the volunteers

Inside Amber Fort

Elephant ride up to Amber Fort - I walked

Amber Fort

OK, I know one can't go to India without going to and commenting on the Taj Mahal. The first weekend I was here, we took a long weekend and drove to Jaipur and Agra. The drive itself is worth a blog! It was nine hours of utter chaos and maneuvers that would put any race car driver to shame. Just imagine driving on a US freeway, dodging cows, people running across the freeway, people pulling carts, dogs, autorickshaws, manual rickshaws, motorbikes, bicycles, and then all of a sudden a speed bump! All the while, the two lane freeway is actually a five lane freeway, with cars, trucks and buses vying for position. And..........doing this in the dark, with no streetlights and dust that was as thick as fog. At some point, it all became too funny to be scary.

Enough about the driving, on to Jaipur and Agra. Jaipur, the gateway to Rajasthan, is a congested city, but it still has some charm. There are a lot of sites to see and the bazaars are a shopaholics paradise. We spent the day touring Amber Fort, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, and checking out the shopping paradise.

The next day we drove to Agra, which is home to the Taj Mahal. I wish I could say that I was awestruck by the Taj, but the conditions that day made it less so for me. Even though the pictures might not show it, it rained most of the time we were there, so it was hard to get an appreciation for the color of the marble and the intricate designs. It was a holiday weekend, so the crowds were overwhelming. I've never seen so much pushing and shoving; it was so bad that I thought there was going to be a stampede. What I really didn't like were the photo ops. You couldn't go anywhere without photographers bugging you about getting your picture taken, and of course, it was somewhat hard to take pictures because there was always a group getting their pictures taken. I took off from our group and just roamed and found places on the side that were less congested, and where families were lazing around in the grass.

Having written all that, I do have an appreciation for the Taj and for the history. It must have been magnificent when it was unveiled, and I'm fascinated about the construction of it (20,000 people from India and Central Asia worked on it for 8 years).

Anti-Corruption Demonstrations

Anti-Corruption demonstrators in Shimla

Anti-Corruption demonstrators in Shimla

These three young men came over and spoke to Cindy and I about the anti-corruption demonstration, and how they want a better life for everybody in India.

This man was fasting for the anti-corruption movement, though he is not the leader of the movement.

I don't know if it is making the news in the US, but for the past week there have been anti-corruption demonstrations going on in Delhi, Mumbai and even up in Shimla, where I was this past weekend. Last week we were hanging out in Connaught Place, an area of shops, restaurants, banks, hotels and offices, and we noticed groups of young people wearing the Ghandi cap, waving the Indian flag, and shouting some sort of slogan. It wasn't until we got back to our apartment and I got a US State Dept email alerting all American personnel in Delhi to stay away from Connaught Place, due to the anti-corruption demonstrations, that we figured out what was going on.

The corruption in India is immense and it goes from the very bottom to the very top, and everybody talks and complains about it. The anti-corruption movement is being led by a man named Anna, who is fasting to end corruption and not everybody is on his side. Hopefully, the demonstrations will stay peaceful.

Shimla

View of Shimla

Salwar Kameezes for sale in the baazar

Shimla's version of Kinkos

This man was so adorable. He wouldn't bargain with us because his "Wasn't that kind of store," but we bought bangles from him anyway.

View of Shimla

Another adorable shopkeeper, who showed me how to wear my bangles correctly.

Food stall in one of the bazaars.

View of the surrounding area.

There is even an Avon lady in Shimla!

These schoolgirls ran up to us and starting talking to us in English. They wanted their pictures taken with us, and then laughed and laughed at my rudimentary Hindi. They all hugged and kissed us, then clapped for us when we left.

Got away from the heat and demonstrations of Delhi this weekend and drove up to Shimla. We had a 3-day weekend as is it Janmastami, which is Krishna's birthday (much loved Hindu God). Shimla is an 8-9 hour drive north of Delhi, and it is situated in the Himachal Pradesh at over 7,000 feet. In the mid-1800's it became the official summer capital of the Raj, and the entire gov't of India fled here to escape the summer heat of India.

It's such a wonderful, wonderful place, built on the side of the mountains and as the guide book states, "Seems on the verge of sliding into the valley." We spent one day exploring all the bazaars (upper, middle, lower), and another day driving around the mountains. The people were extremely friendly and loved talking to us, especially when they found out that we were Americans. Some of them were a bit too friendly, and wanted to meet us later for tea (their form of drinks). It was hard to come back to the heat, humidity and chaos of Delhi.