Christmas Shopping in Delhi

This past Monday night after work, I decided to do some winter shopping and add some winter clothes to my Indian wardrobe. I could’ve just gone to one of the local markets and bargained for some kurtas and salwar kameez suits similar to what I had done when I lived in Mumbai, but this time around, I wanted to actually get some clothes that would last more than just a few weeks or months. And quality has a price tag. So I called it an early Christmas present to myself and started my shopping. After finding some gorgeous, brightly colored kurta tops and salwar/dupatta sets (billowy pants & scarf set), I headed up to the register.

One of the new kurtas I got

But of course I couldn't just have an easy check-out. Apparently the sweater I wanted to buy wasn't coming up in their computer systems and they couldn't charge me correctly for it. At first they went to get another sweater of the same brand and color in attempts to ring that one up for sale, but that didn't seem to work. Then they tried manually inputting the product, but that didn't work either. So finally they rang up the rest of my purchases and then brought me to their customer service office. I sat down, twiddled my thumbs, (confession: played a little Candy Crush), and waited some more. After about 15 minutes of waiting, they brought me back to the register, where they miraculously were able to ring up the sweater. After looking at the price tag this time though, I noticed it was Rs 25 more than what it was originally (aka 20 minutes ago). I asked them about it and they showed me the price tag and what the price was. Sneaky, sneaky sales people! In the U.S., Rs 25 is a little less than 50 cents, but here in India, Rs 25 is the cost of a round trip local bus ride or even a takeaway/takeout lunch.

Maybe if it wasn't so late and I wasn't so tired, I would have argued and questioned them on the price. I've had many similar experiences over the years and usually I've approached it with frustration and stomped my feet at the manager until it showed the right price. But this time around was different. Maybe it was my shopping high or the Delhi water that changed me, but as I was riding home that night, I wasn't frustrated and wasn't even upset. Instead, I laughed to myself and just chalked it up as another experience and part of my journey in India. 

My New England Bucket List

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” 

― George Augustus Moore

It’s actually starting to feel like fall here in New Delhi. For the past month or so, the days have still been warm (probably in the 70s or so) but the nights have started to get cold enough where I've actually needed to sleep with a blanket.  I've been told that it gets pretty cold here in December and January, and with no indoor  When I woke up this morning and walked outside to head to work, I could definitely feel fall/winter in the air.

This weather reminds me so much of New England. I guess the saying’s true. You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. Maybe it’s the cool weather or the Christmas season coming up, but my thoughts are definitely going back to the beautiful fall days in Vermont, drinking hot cider and walking around Stowe. To satisfy my craving (at least the best way I can here in Delhi), I decided to curl up with the Lonely Planet Best New England Trips guide and read about some of the trips they recommend people taking. I’ve realized that when I’m living somewhere, I hardly ever take advantage of the sights around me. Yet when I leave it, I always regret not being a tourist in my own state and country. Reading some of the trips in the Lonely Planet though have put me back in touch with the place I call home…New England. 

Here is my “must see and do” for New England:

1. Eat a fresh lobster roll in Maine
2. Swim in the cold Atlantic Ocean
3. Get some apple cider donuts and hot cider in Stowe, VT
4. See Waterfire in Providence, RI
5. Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston, MA
6. Visit Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA
7. Go kayaking in Lake Champlain (Vermont & New York)
8. Eat white clam chowder (not the Manhattan red-broth version)
9. Take a picture next to the giant LL Bean boot in Freeport, ME
10. Have a legendary Olneyville New York Systems hot dog, complete with mustard, their special meat sauce, onion, and celery salt at one of their locations in Rhode Island
11. See a local baseball game (such as Pawtucket Red Sox (RI), Portland Sea Dogs (ME))
12. Eat a maple crème (that’s soft serve ice cream to you non-Vermonters)
13. Tour one of the many lighthouses in New England
14. Go clamming
15. Explore the Cape Cod National Sea Shore
16. Take a weekend trip to Martha’s Vineyard and ride on the antique merry go round in Oak Bluffs
17. Visit the mecca of ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s, in Waterbury, VT
18. Visit Salem, MA in October
19. Have a doughboy at a summer fair
20. Go camping and hiking in Arcadia National Park, ME
21. Go white water rafting in one of New England’s rapids
22. Eat some pizza in New Haven, CT and decide who has the best pizza (Pepe’s vs. Sally’s)
23. Go shopping on Church St. in Burlington, VT
24. Drive around New England in the fall and take some beautiful pictures of the fall foliage
25. Visit Plymouth Plantation and see Plymouth Rock
26. Walk along the Cliff Walk in Newport, RI
27. Go whale watching
28. Watch maple syrup being made then eat some sugar on snow in March
29. Climb Mt. Washington (the highest peak in the Northeast)
30. See a Red Sox game and sing “Sweet Caroline”
31. Go apple picking in September
32. Rent some bikes on Block Island (RI) and explore the island on a weekend 

Of course this is just a snapshot of things to do. There's so many sights to see and trips to take in New England that I couldn't possibly cover everything!

My Thanksgiving

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

 ~Melody Beattie

In some ways, being abroad during Thanksgiving and the holidays has allowed me to step away from the consumerism that plagues the U.S. and instead reflect on what the holidays are actually supposed to be about.

This is not the first time I’ve been away for Thanksgiving. Yet every holiday I’m away, I’m in a different point in my life and often have a different outlook every time. Some holidays, I’ve prayed they pass by fast so that I can get home that much faster. While others, I enjoy the different cultural adaptations and see them not as a replacement for Thanksgiving or Christmas back home, but instead as a new experience.

As I do reflect on what I’m thankful for, I first have to stop and think how I got to where I am today. Ten years ago, I never thought I’d be living in New Delhi doing an internship as part of my Master’s degree. But knowing that I have supportive friends and family has allowed me to have the peace of mind to leave the country and set off on my own. Without my support system, I don’t know where I’d be. Through the roller coasters of living abroad, they have helped me through my struggles and have been the cheerleaders through my successes. Because when you take away the Christmas music being played on November 1^st and the shoppers scrambling to buy the “need to have” items, to me the holidays are about one thing. Being with the people that love and care for you unconditionally. No distance can take that sense of support away.  

The Nehru-Gandhi Family Legacy

If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know the violence will be in the thought and action of the assassin, not in my dying, for no hate is dark enough to overshadow the extent of my love for my people and my country; no force is strong enough to divert me from my purpose and my endeavor to take this country forward. 

~Indira Gandhi, former Indian Prime Minister 

After visiting Humayan's Tomb and India Gate, we had some lunch then made our way to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum. Just as we were entering the museum, we saw a tour bus of local women who were coming to visit the museum too. After entering the very small museum, we soon realized that the other women on the tour were illiterate and were quickly passing by each exhibit. With the small, cramped museum packed with the women from the tour bus, it was difficult to leisurely stroll through, but having Karin’s co-worker with us definitely helped. She’s so passionate about history and was able to tell us all about the controversies with Indira Gandhi, her political life, and the reign of her family. 

The remnants of Rajiv Gandhi's clothes after the suicide bomber killed him

Now that I’m hooked on hearing more about the Gandhi family legacy (not to be confused with Mahatma Gandhi who has no relation to Indira), I think I definitely want to read her biography. Their family history reminds me so much of the Kennedy family in the U.S., with the political life and tragedies that have consumed each family.  

The Nehru-Gandhi family has a huge political legacy in India. Indira’s father, Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. Then Indira Gandhi became the third Prime Minister from 1966 to 1970, then became elected again from 1980 until her death in 1984. Indira’s son, Rajiv Gandhi was a pilot but after persuasion from his mother, he got into politics as well. He became the sixth Prime Minister on October 31, 1984, just after his mother passed away that same day. While campaigning for elections in 1991, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber. Rajiv’s son, Rahul Gandhi, is also now in politics. Right now he’s the Vice President of the Indian National Congress (one of the two major political parties in India). His mother, Sonia Gandhi, is the President of the Congress Party.

Seeing some of the sights in New Delhi

A few weeks ago, in a scurry to see some monuments before Karin left to go back to the US, we took a day off from work to see some sights in Delhi. Although we were originally going to take one of Delhi’s busses around, one of Karin’s co-workers offered to bring us instead. And I soon learned that she’s a history buff so it was great to hear stories about Delhi’s history that were not boring at all!

In the next few weeks though, I still plan to visit the other monuments and museums that I didn’t have a chance to see this past weekend, and will take advantage of the public bus. New Delhi has a great hop-on hop-off bus that takes you to a variety of monuments around the city. So forget the hassle of finding an auto rickshaw or finding parking, the stress is taken away!

Our first stop was Humayan’s Tomb or as I call it, the prelude to the Taj Mahal. Karin & I paid our Rs 250 (about $4 US) while her co-worker paid Rs 10 (about 16 cents) for the entry fee.

Humayan was the second Mughal Emperor of India, and the tomb was built by his widow 14 years after he died. It cost 1.5 million rupees to build the huge temple. I found out that with Mughal architecture (including the Taj Mahal) they build a smaller “doorway” in a sense that masks the larger architecture. So when we first entered Humayan’s Tomb, we saw a much smaller building, still with some tombs but then after a little walkway and some nice green grass, we saw the gorgeous two-leveled tomb. Believe it or not, the tomb actually has about 150 graves of the ruling family and other important people.  

As we were leaving, we saw hundreds of school girls come running in and we were very happy to leave. Although that didn’t stop the girls from staring at us as we were walking out and yelling “Miss, miss!” in attempts to get a wave out of us.

After we left, we decided that going to India Gate would be best since it was only a few kilometers away. But with the Delhi traffic, a few kilometers means nothing because we easily sat in traffic for a good half hour without moving an inch. Cars even began driving over the raised median strip to make a u-turn or drive on the opposite side of the road! Never a dull moment in India.

When we finally got to India Gate, we realized that parking was impossible. So instead, Karin’s co-worker dropped us off and we decided to meet up with her later. The monument itself was huge! I have to say though, I was more in awe of all the beautiful fresh flowers lining the bottom of the gate than the gate itself. The British looking costumes of the guards was a sight to see too.

After meeting up with Karin’s co-worker, we decided to grab some lunch at a country club she has membership to then go see Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum. After finding out that we were inappropriately dressed for one of the restaurants at the country club, we finally settled on a casual restaurant with a lunch buffet. The food was delicious! Since I have vegetarian food every day of every week, I don’t often have really good meat dishes. So having some yummy chicken masala dishes was just what I needed! I only wish I had taken pictures.

I'll be blogging about my visit to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum up next!

To Rajasthan I Go!

On this trip to India, I knew I wanted to see more of north India since I had seen a lot of south India back in 2008. Even in 2008 when I was living in Mumbai, I knew I wanted to visit Rajasthan some day. It's a region in northern India that is known for their gorgeous colored buildings (think pinks, blues and yellows) and their mirrored embroidery. The fabrics and handicrafts that come from this region are known around the world. They're just gorgeous!

Once I started to research places to go in Rajasthan and how easy or not so easy it was for a white woman to travel alone, I began to have some fears about traveling alone. The culture and "social climate" is a lot different in the north compared to the south. In order for me to actually enjoy myself on the holiday, I knew I would have to book an organized tour. I'm not always one to want to book a tour through a company but with northern India, I knew it was safer and less of a hassle to do it this way. The beauty with booking through Intrepid Tours is that each tour is 12 people or less, which allows you to still travel with others but also not travel with 3 tour busses. 

Once I shelled out my credit card, I got so happy that I was actually going to Rajasthan! It'll be an amazing 15 day adventure for sure. And with the majority of my Master's degree work out of the way by end of January, I'll actually be able to enjoy myself!

For all you out there that are wondering what I'll be doing around Rajasthan, here's a snapshot of my trip:

Days 1-2 Delhi

Chaotic Delhi is awash with historical sites, museums and markets. Visit the wonderful walled city of Old Delhi and see one of its most impressive buildings, the Jama Masjid. Join the crowds to explore the bazaars; everything is for sale here from fireworks and silks to copper and spices.

Day 3 Agra

Travel by train to the Mughal city of Agra. Learn the tragic love stories and mysterious legends of the Red Fort. Visit the iconic Taj Mahal - constructed from marble and inlaid with jade, crystal and sapphire, it must be seen to be believed.

Day 4 Rural Heritage Stay

Journey to rural Rajasthan to stay at a royal family residence. Explore the village, meet villagers and chat with traditional craftspeople for a unique insight into local life.

Days 5-6 Jaipur

Visit the Amber Fort en route to Jaipur, Rajasthan's 'Pink City'. Jaipur is bursting at the seams with markets filled with jewellery, textiles and folk-based arts. After bargaining for souvenirs, there's an opportunity to laugh, shout and cheer with locals at a lively Bollywood film.

Day 7 Ranthambhore National Park

Safari into the heart of the Indian bush to discover lakes and ruined palaces. Keep an eye out for deer, monkeys and reclusive Bengal tigers.

Day 8 Bundi

Journey through rural Rajasthan to Bundi. Admire stunning murals at the palace that presides over the town's Brahmin- blue rooftops, explore the enchanting alleyways and experience life in remote Rajasthan.

Days 9-10 Rural Heritage Stay

Journey through rural Rajasthan to the quaint city of Bassi. Spend the first night in a beautiful fortified mansion then spend the second night in a deluxe tent camping under the stars.

Days 11-12 Udaipur

Rolling hills, white marble palaces and lakes come together to make Udaipur the most romantic city in Rajasthan. Visit City Palace, one of the largest royal palaces in India.

Days 13-14 Pushkar

With India's only Brahma temple and a holy lake, Pushkar is the place to rub shoulders with pilgrims and sadhus (holy men). For a change of pace, take a camel ride into the desert and witness a magical sunset among the dunes. In free time, shop, explore or head to a hilltop temple for views over the town. A hot chai at the top makes the effort worthwhile!

Day 15 Delhi

Come full circle on return to the hum of Delhi.

Paa-nee

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.  ~Thomas Fuller

Paa-nee. Water. In so many ways, life revolves around it. I know for one, that after a long day in Delhi, a shower or bath makes me feel like new again. Or during that hot day in the city, being able to have a cold, filtered glass of water makes all the difference. Just being able to quench your thirst.

This past Sunday evening, I went to take a bucket bath and realized that the water pressure was slowly dying down. So I figured I would just take a bath on Monday instead. But I woke up on Monday to find that there was no water at all. The same was true for when I woke up in Tuesday. And after a few days with no water, my thoughts went to my life back in Opuwo, Namibia when I would have jugs and bottles filled to the brim with water just in case anything like this would happen. But I wasn't prepared for such a thing here. I took my water-filled life for granted. It's funny, I feel like everywhere I go, I always have at least one blog post about water. In the U.S., it's so easy to take it for granted. Bottled water, sparkling water, 20 minute hot showers, long relaxing baths, ice cubes in your summer drink.....After living abroad for a while now though , I've come to dial my life down to the basics. It's been so refreshing being able to focus on the things that truly matter in life. Because after a while, who really needs sparkling water anyway?

By Monday though I needed to figure something out. Luckily I had some baby wipes with me and used that as a temporary solution to a bath. Then tried to wash my hair with the one liter bottle of water that I had. Man, I milked that water for all its worth! I'm just glad it's not December or January yet, because washing your hair with cold water in the winter is no fun at all!

Both Monday and Tuesday after coming back from work, I would try to motion to the young woman that's living with me that the water in the rest of the flat was working but not in my bathroom. I think she understood but the language barrier makes it difficult. Finally today on Wednesday after coming back from work, I was desperately ready for a good bucket bath. I was able to talk with the young woman's husband who speaks some English about my troubles with my water. He understood right away. I found out that with the water shut off earlier in the week, it had made air bubbles in the water tank on the roof. He let the water run for half an hour and what do you know but not only did I now have hot water flowing, but my shower head was working too!

When I first moved into the apartment here, I thought I wouldn't have hot water and of course not a hot shower. But six weeks after being here in Delhi, I had my first hot shower in the apartment. And it was the best one I've had in a while.

Where do we go from here?

On the metro ride home from visiting Kingsway Camp (SPYM’s de-addiction and rehabilitation center for adolescent boys) this past Thursday, I had a really good discussion with my supervisor. No, it wasn’t about the deep understanding of cricket or Shahrukh Khan. It was about the state of funding and HIV/AIDS in India. My kind of conversation. He said that for the past few years, funders such as UNAIDS and others have started to decrease their funding in India. He said that he wouldn’t be surprised if UNAIDS even left India within the next 5 years.

Like I thought, it was 1) because the rate of new infections have stabilized and even gone down in some areas and 2) with India being a lower middle income country now, funders want to focus their attention on countries that really need it.

So, that leaves me with some questions. Where does India go from here? How do they keep on the same path of lowering the infection rate? And on the flip side of the coin, with India’s new infection rates decreasing, where should UNAIDS and other funders put their priorities? Where will their money matter, where a country will not take it for granted and instead move up in the world?

I told him though that in my experience a middle income country is only charged with such a status because it’s the average of the country. And he said the disparity between the rich and poor is becoming more and more of a gap. He’d told me earlier in the day that there’s a mall not too far away from our office where items there start at $2,000 US….Coach purses for $5,000 US. Initially I was shocked, but after thinking about it, it makes sense. We’re in Delhi, the capital of the country. If India wants to keep growing and changing with the times, they have to bring in Westernized stores for the 1% that can afford it. I wonder what Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat book) would have to say about this.

After getting off the metro, I told him how happy I was to be able to learn more about this topic from grad school. Not only to be knowledgeable about this topic, but to be able to ask these important questions and actually have a conversation with professors that might have the answer. But I am privileged. Even though I am part of the growing population relying solely on loans to go to grad school, I am still privileged. I am privileged to be able to take out those loans, to be able to live in the US and to be able to attend an American institution. Umm, SITers, I think there’s a little bit of Ken Williams rubbing off on me. Flashbacks of Social Identity class are coming into my head!

At 7:30pm on a Thursday and after a long day, it was certainly not the kind of conversation that I’d thought I would have on the metro ride home, but then again India is constantly surprising me and keeping me on my toes. And I am grateful for it. 

These are the best days of my life

This past Friday was one of the best days I’ve had yet here. Even though I’ve had some bumps (big bumps!) along the road with my practicum, I’m happy to say that I really think I made the right decision with being here. And Friday just further insured that for me, for a number of reasons.

After a quick lunch, my supervisor, a co-worker and I went to the two juvenile program sites that SPYM has, Kingsway Camp and Chandichowk. The first site we visited, Kingsway Camp, was a little over an hour away from our main office by Metro. New Delhi is constantly surprising me and the Metro was no exception. See my blog post on my Metro experience, here. 

Kingsway Camp, is a de-addiction and rehabilitation center for adolescent males who are in conflict with the law and currently have a substance dependence disorder. Though many of the services they offer fall in line with other juvenile rehabilitation centers, the way that SPYM provides the treatment, education and rehabilitation is one of a kind.

Three times a week, The Tehelka Foundation comes to the center and offers an expressive arts therapy and skill training program for the juveniles. The Tehelka Foundation is a non-profit trust that works with youth on “issues of governance and social justice, inspiring them to become agents of social change”. They use workshops, conferences, street plays, and youth festivals as a way to form relationships between marginalized youth and mainstream society.

I was so excited when I heard that an organization like this comes to Kingsway Camp. Experiential learning programs such as the art therapy program through The Tehelka Foundation is one of the best ways I think people can learn and change for the better. While in New Delhi, I hope to be going to Kingsway Camp a few times a week to help them with documentation and to get a better sense of their methodology and approach.

There is also a library that has been started at Kingsway Camp. Through the Fun of Learning (their literacy class), the boys develop comics about their experiences as a way to work out various issues. After drawing the comics, they record the description of each comic strip into an electronic pen. Once the comics are developed, they’re placed in the library so other boys can read them.

For boys that are illiterate and not able to read the comics, this talking pen is an excellent way for them to still grasp the concept of the comic. Similar to scanning a QR code with your smartphone, the boys can take one of the talking pens and place it on a coded box next to the comic, and in the author’s own voice, they can hear what the comic is about. 

For a program that just started up about two years ago, I was amazed by the amount of progress already. With counselors at Kingsway Camp having to go to an average of 4 court cases a day, you can tell that running this center is a group effort!

Recently, they started a canteen (small corner store) and a tiffin service (a service where someone delivers 4 food dishes to you, usually consisting of a vegetable, rice, dal and another dish). The program staff hope that soon the canteen and tiffin service can make the program self-sustaining. One can only hope!

Note: I’ll update this post with pictures once I can. 

Ice Cream: Life's Little Joys

I had just come back from Karin’s tonight and was in the kitchen getting my electric kettle to boil water for my bucket bath, when the husband of the young woman that I live with looked at me funny. I told him that the geezer (hot water heater) in my bathroom wasn’t working and it was getting too cold for cold bucket baths at night. 

So he went into my bathroom, fiddled with it for a little while and said to just leave the power switch on even though the light wasn’t showing that it was on. Give it an hour or so and it should heat up just fine. 

As I went to put the electric kettle back, he said “madam, you want to take a walk?” With the language barrier, it was hard to tell if we were actually going somewhere or just going out for an evening stroll. I soon learned though that we were on a mission for ice cream. 

Inside my apartment complex

Outside my flat

Because on a nice weekday night, what else would you be craving? So we began walking in hopes of finding some ice cream. We soon found a shop selling some chocolate shelled vanilla ice cream. The husband then told me that the shop is open 24 hours a day and is just a block or so away from my flat! It’s a little away from the main road which is probably why I haven’t seen it before, but has everything you pretty much need. In India I’ve found it’s difficult to find one shop that has your yogurt, crackers, eggs, washing detergent and Diwali sweets, but this place has it all! It even has some frozen goods, which seems to be a rare find around here.

After finishing our ice cream and walking back to the flat, the husband came into my bathroom and checked the hot water. What do ya know but three weeks after coming here, I find out that it works! Looks like I won’t have to be procrastinating on taking my nightly cold bucket bath anymore! Wahoo! 

Finding some quiet (and air conditioning) in Delhi

Usually when I’ve been moving around the city, I’ve taken auto rickshaws purely for the convenience. But after taking the metro, I think I’ve found my new method of transportation around here! At first when people told me they commute by metro, I assumed it was something similar to the local trains I took in Mumbai. Imagine train compartments always packed, people hanging from the open doorways and boys coming around to sell little trinkets. But the Delhi metro is far from that. In fact, it gives the New York City subway system a bad rap! 

For the most part, it seems to be a well run, world class designed subway system. With over 2 million people riding the metro each day, of course there’s going to be some delays in the trains but all in all it seems like a good system. So far the metro spans about 200 kilometers and is still in the process of being built. With financial help from Japan, they hope to finish the entire project by 2021. 

If you’re a frequent metro commuter, you simply buy a plastic rechargeable travel card for a deposit of Rs 50 (82 cents) and then just keep loading money on as needed. Otherwise, you can buy a token for your individual trip. In a complex city like Delhi, I’m a huge fan of this simple process. 

When I entered the station, honestly if I hadn’t known better I wouldn’t have been able to tell if I was in Delhi, Washington D.C. or London. Even though it opened in 2002 it still looks like it opened yesterday, with the clean floors and well-kept cabin cars. Maybe I was still trying to wrap my mind around the concept of trains in India not being the old blue local trains you see in Bollywood movies, but I was thoroughly impressed with it all. Having the metro cars air-conditioned didn’t hurt either! 

Call me crazy but it makes me want to live 45 minutes away from work just so I can get away from it all and have a peaceful commute! And better yet, they announce each upcoming stop then say “mind the gap”. A little part of me inside smiled when I heard this. Memories of another subway experience :) 

Who would have thought that I would find peace and quiet* in the metro? In a city that has around 20 million people, that’s hard to find. 

*Disclaimer: Peace and quiet will not be found during the hours of 7-10am and 4-8pm. 

The alleyways of New Delhi

This whole week I’ve been going to some of SPYM’s program sites in order to get a better feel for the vast amount of work the organization does. On this particular day, it was planned that I was going to work on some things in the office in the morning and head out to visit a homeless shelter after lunch. And this morning like every other morning and afternoon, there’s chai time. There’s nothing like chai interrupting you doing your work :) 

The morning came and went with random tasks to get done and soon it was lunch time. SPYM is an organization unlike one I’ve seen before. They provide three meals a day to their staff. Usually though the staff just eat lunch there and eat at home for breakfast and dinner. Today’s menu was palak paneer, rice and dal....yum! 

After lunch, I came back to the office and waited for one of the staff to bring me to the homeless shelter. In true Indian fashion, after a little over an hour it was decided who was going to bring me and then we decided to leave. 

Side note: I should mention that yes, Indian time is not exactly American time, but my organization is currently short-staffed so everyone is running around doing the job of two people. So I can completely understand people being late because they’ve been tied up with other things going on. When I’ve asked some staff how they like working for the organization though, they keep saying how happy they are to have a job, especially in the social services. It just goes to show you that money doesn’t buy happiness!

It was a little after 3pm and the shelter was about 40 minutes away. I think it was safe to say that I definitely wasn’t finishing work at 5pm. Once we got on the road, we had to make a detour to drop off some paperwork to a training center near by. A half hour later we were back on the road and ready to head to the homeless shelter. After getting lost a few times and getting caught up in the New Delhi rush hour traffic, we finally found the right area. The homeless shelter ended up being in a neighborhood where the only way to get to it was to drive through an alleyway, the width of a driveway. So we drove through motorcycles coming at us, guys pushing carts of flowers and fruit, kids playing in the roads....classic India. I only wish I had captured the moment on my camera! We had finally made it. 

This is one of those times when the journey outweighs the end. And this is one of the reasons why I decided to come to India. Sure every so often I get frustrated by the auto rickshaw drivers trying to rip you off or the different pace of time, but after learning to take it in as part of the journey, I’ve started to actually enjoy it! It’s part of India’s culture and I wouldn’t want to ever change that. 

On a mission.........for fruit

I think I was spoiled when I was in Mumbai. I had fruits and vegetables at my fingertips, the butcher shop and dairy shop right now the road and a KFC on the corner. I remember just going out to the market each morning, getting my produce for the day and airtime minutes if needed. The shopkeeper greeted me and knew the fruit I usually got and the Vodacom guy knew the number of rupees I usually bought for airtime for my phone. Yes I was white and a foreigner, but there’s still something to be said about feeling at home like that in a big city.

Me back in 2008 in Mumbai eating a custard apple

New Delhi and at least the part where I’m living, has a different vibe to it. I’ve been told that I’m living and working in a posh area, which is fine (although it’s not very posh looking to me)—but which also means that people send their drivers out to get produce and groceries so there’s no need for markets and fruit stands on every block. 

So this weekend, with the help of my friend Karin (who’s also a grad student at SIT and staying in Delhi), I’ll be on a mission to find juicy custard apples/soursop, umpteen number of bananas, cucumbers, carrots, pomegranates—oh my mouth is watering just thinking of it! Sometimes it’s the smallest little thing that can make a place more comfortable and like home. And for the next five months, it’s gonna be fruit and I’m okay with that. 

To India I Go Again

Sunday September 29, 2013

After much delay, the day has finally arrived. I am headed to New Delhi, India to start the second half of my Master’s degree and my five month practicum. I’ll be working with the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM), based in New Delhi. They have many different programs that they have but I will primarily focus on working with their HIV/AIDS program. 

The words “much delay” couldn’t be farther from the truth though. Originally I was supposed to leave for India at the end of August for six months. With life though, it seems like nothing always happens the way you want it to. Since international flight costs can skyrocket after a certain time, I chose to book my flight earlier rather than later and figured I would get my visa after my flight was definitely secured since I saw no issue with a visa taking more than a few weeks to obtain. But boy was I wrong! At the beginning of August, India changed the company that they were going to outsource their visa processing to. And with transitions come delays. With this came aggravation and a few breakdowns knowing that I would have to cancel and rebook my flight since I wouldn’t have my visa in time for my flight. After a few hundred dollars on top of my original flight cost, I finally got my visa and was able to book my flight again. This time though I’m only able to be there for five months rather than six due to the visa timeframe. 

I think I can now say that I have a better understanding of how to be patient and grateful for my family and friends that have been able to support me in so many different ways. If anything, this whole ordeal has prepared me for the busy and crazy life in India that awaits me! My practicum with SPYM sounds like an amazing opportunity and I know that all of this is worth it. 

As an intern with SPYM, I hope to be working with people living with HIV/AIDS, then participating and later organizing HIV awareness/prevention workshops in New Delhi and other areas in India where SPYM already works. I’m really excited to be getting out of the classroom and to be able to apply what I’ve learned during my first year of grad school into a real world setting. And what better setting than India???

Ever since I studied abroad in Mumbai in college and interned at an all-girls orphanage where some of the children had HIV/AIDS, I have been interested in how this health issue affects a culture and how a culture affects the health issue. With my social work and public health experiences and my interest in policies that advocate for this population, I believe that this practicum is right up my alley! With anything new, I have an idea of what I’ll be doing over the course of the next 5 months but really, I won’t have a real sense of my role and responsibilities until I get there. A few years ago, it would have driven me crazy not knowing every little detail of this new experience, but now it’s kind of fun not knowing and being surprised by the unknown. 

Well, I think that’s about it for now! I’m currently sitting at the airport and will be boarding for New Delhi in just a few short hours! 

To Trinidad We Go

Sunday January 27th

This morning we woke up so so early for our flight to Trinidad. By 5:30am or so, we were at the airport and ready to see Trinidad. It was a quick one hour flight, and barely had time to do much of anything before we touched down in Port of Spain, Trinidad. When we did touch down though, it was a huge contrast to the environment of Barbados. Green, luscious hills and other greenery was everywhere!

Once we touched down, we grabbed brunch, although I wouldn't really consider the fare brunch. I had a sandwich with a heavy focaccia type bread with salt fish inside. I'm glad I tried it but I would probably wouldn't want it again for a long time due to the saltiness.

That afternoon, we traveled to a different area of Trinidad to go to a men's group. Although it wasn't something I had looked forward to, by the time the night was over, I was so amazed something like this was going on in Trinidad. This group was set up to allow men to talk with other men about issues that they're having, since it's not common place to talk. They set up each meeting as a fishbowl, with the men on the inside and women on the outside. The rule was though, was that the men were the only people that could do the talking. We learned so many things in that session including:

• There were roughly 3,000 sexual offenses in Trinidad last year
• The average age of a person's first sexual encounter is 6 years old in Trinidad

Although these facts are so sad to hear, at the same time I was so impressed with what they were teaching other men. Part of it reminded me of the Our Whole Lives (OWL), comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, with the men learning the right names for genitals and culturally what the words were also. they said that a lot of the issues men are facing has to do with the value system. This value system isn't transferring from father to son. But they said that if you care enough about these relationships, then you'll find a way to change. Powerful words to hear for these men. 

On another note, after the session, we had dinner with one of the organizers of this group, and spoke with him about the gang violence in Trinidad. He said that elders in gangs are considered about 26 years old. But the even more shocking thing is what happens before that, once someone is initiated into a gang. After they get their gun, the first thing they do is plan their funeral...get a coffin, get an outfit they want to be buried in, etc. Because with their lifestyle, they are prepared to die for their gang. 

When we asked about gun control, especially since it's a hot topic in the US right now, he said that gun laws are hard because each beach is essentially a port--which makes it hard to regulate and control. On top of that Venezuela is 7 miles away, a place where machine guns are made and where drugs are passed through from Colombia then onward up to the US. 

Furthermore, it's especially difficult to control because the gang leaders will threaten everyone so then they don't get a heavy prison sentence. They'll threaten by killing their relatives or friends. "An eye for an eye". It's so hard to imagine that this is all happening where we were. I can't even begin to imagine though how people go about their daily lives and how children still go to school everyday. 

The scary thing about all of this is 1) the people that actually survive this gang violence as children will eventually go kill their parent's killers, and so it becomes a continuous cycle. And 2) since the politicians aren't personally affected by the gangsters, it will continue until a member of their family dies and then maybe something might change. 

Just keep swimming...

Hey everyone, I finally have the time to catch up on my posts, now that we're back from Trinidad. Enjoy!

Saturday January 26th

Today we finally had a day off. Although we still had a full day, at least it was filled with fun activities. We woke up early and got out bathing suits on, since today we were going on a catamaran boat cruise. The cruise was so relaxing...although the sun was so strong, you couldn't even put sunscreen on fast enough before getting burnt. I guess that's the payback since we get to have warm tropical weather in February, right?

From the minute we got on the boat, I was in full relaxation mode with rum punches and the sun basking down on us. Throughout the cruise we had three stop where we could snorkel and see what was around us. I had never been snorkeling before and was a little nervous but my love for the water trumped my anxiety. On the first stop, we jumped off the boat and were able to swim with the turtles. For the most part, they were huge, probably about 2-3 feet in length...and that was just counting their shells! It was such a cool experience to pet their shells and swim with them.

On the second stop, we snorkeled around and saw a shipwreck, where coral and algae had grown. It definitely made me want to learn how to scuba dive so I could really see more. While we were swimming around, one of the guides gave me some fish food so that I could have the fish come right up to me. The fish quickly swam up to me and nibbled at my fingers--which was the coolest experience.

The last stop was lunch, and also where we could swim around and to the beach if we wanted. Lunch was a typical Barbados fare, with macaroni pie (similar to mac & cheese casserole), rice and peas, chicken, and fish. Bajan meals tend to be heavy and this was no exception. Still somehow I found a way to quickly digest my food and jump in the water. A few of us swam to the beach, which looked so far away at first, but after being cooped up on buses and in meetings for the week, I was ready for the swimming challenge.

I forgot how much I missed the water and was truly a fish at heart. Thank goodness I'm surrounded by the beach and waves all the time here!

Disaster Relief in Barbados

On Wednesday, we had a late morning since we didn't have to be at the Department of Emergency Management until after lunch. The CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency) is similar to FEMA and works as an inter-governmental agency that is responsible for disaster management in the Caribbean community (CARICOM)--which has 18 participating countries.

It was interesting to hear all about the emergencies that they helped with, but even more interesting to hear how it influenced development. Liz Riley, the woman that gave the presentation, said that they're seeing a trend of development partners consolidating their intervention efforts, which makes sense, since I'm sure funders wouldn't want to fund 5 organizations that are doing the same thing in the same community. Another point that was interesting, was that she said you can easily create a second disaster by how you handle the first disaster.

When she was talking about the different organizations that her organization works with, my eye caught onto the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). It would be amazing to 1) learn more about the organization and even better to 2) get a practicum there! Ken, our professor, said that he might be able to get a god deal on housing here, so it's worth a shot!

After her presentation, we went over to Bridgetown to check out the city. By the time we got there though, practically everything was shut down--by 5:30pm! We ended up going to a natural foods store, where they had shakes & smoothies. I got a delicious peanut butter shake. So far on this trip, I've chosen the best food. After dinner one night, we went out for ice cream where I had a yummy coconut ice cream with fresh coconut pieces--and now, a peanut butter shake! Can't get better than that!

For dinner, we went to a touristy Barbadian/Bajan (pronounce the "j") restaurant, where I ended up getting a cheeseburger since all the other options were above our price point. But still good! Sometimes you just crave a cheeseburger!