Day One and Two: New Delhi

Two days ago, we arrived in New Delhi at 2:30am. After going through multiple security-checks and customs and picking up my two and my dad’s one bag, we headed outside into the very, very hot air to meet my exchange partner, Asma, and her father. Before, I had only talked to Asma through email but nothing was to prepare me for her endless bubbliness and energy (even at 3 in the morning)! Following our hugs and hellos, Asma and her father dropped my dad and I off at our hotel for a few hours rest before our touring really began.

The day started at 11 as we met Asma and her driver out in the lobby and headed out. Most people hire drivers day-by-day that take them anywhere they need to go and then waits until they are done to pick them up. That’s a pretty new concept for me as in the US, we drive ourselves everywhere. Let me say though, that after two days in the city, I understand why: the driving here is absolutely crazy! Oh there are traffic lights and lane-lines and clearly-marked one-way signs.  The only thing is people just don’t follow any of that! Driving through the city is a constant dodging of people, cows, bicycles, auto-taxis (little three-legged yellow and green taxis) and giant military trucks. Where in the US using your horn is considered an agitator and rude, here it is used as if it simply means “Hello, I’m over here”! Not very surprisingly, most people choose motorcycles over cars as you can weave in and out of everyone a lot easier. According to Asma, rush hour is supposed to be at 8am and 6pm but from what I’ve seen, there is no rush hour; every hour is rush hour!

Asma, having lived in Delhi her whole life, knew her way around the city and how to haggle very well! She took us to a few different bazaars (one called Dilli Haat) where we bought many hand-made dresses, bags, earrings, exc. (I am going to wait to get the saris in Jaipur which is known for its textiles and fabrics.) I’m glad I had Asma around because she always knew what to buy where and how much it really should cost. I also got the palm of my hand hennaed and my hair braided with colors. One woman told me that because the henna on my hand was so dark, it was suppose to mean that my mother-in-law would love me. I guess we will have to see if that’s true!

After that, Asma took us to two different temples: one, a Gurdawara (worship place for Sikhism) and the other, a temple for the Hindu-god Krishna. In the Gurdawara, we all had to cover our heads in wraps and could not wear any socks or shoes (you could say I enjoyed that part!). Upon entering the temple, we had to wash our feet, kneel and touch our forehead to the ground of the entrance. Asma taught me a few other prayers and signs of respect you had to pay also once in the temple. Inside, a man stood at an elaborate alter, singing, as people approached to present offerings to the god. A band played around him and many times people in the crowd would also join in to the singing. Outside the main temple building was a huge court-yard with a pool probably a mile-wide where people were touching the water with their hands or feet. Asma showed me that the pool was full of fish in order to respect all the natural parts of the world. She explained that people touched or washed their hands and feet in it with the fish as a symbol of equality, unity and mortality of all creatures.

The other temple for Krishna was similar in its vastness, elaborateness and beauty. We did not have to cover our heads but like in the other temple, we could not wear shoes. This temple was full of a lot more art: paintings and statues. Inside, altars with many different gods lines all sides of the temple. Covered in gold and fabrics of all colors, everywhere you looked was a new beautiful altar. This temple too had a court-yard but it was a garden full of native trees, flowers and birds.

These temples stood in stellar contrast to most other parts in the city though and that is what amazed me the most. Everywhere we traveled was beautiful but obviously impacted by poverty and lack of modernization. Dogs and people alike, slept huddled together on the dusty streets. I saw a family (a mother, her two, very young sons and handicapped daughter) weaving in and out of cars stopped at a light, begging for money, food, clothes, anything. There were alley-ways where piles of stone and demolished buildings blocked cyclist’s way as they carried ladders, mats and bags of food to work or to their family. Valleys in between different parts of the city were covered with villages made from cardboard, sticks and cheap fabrics: anything people could find. And next to all that, right around the corner from all these people, were the temples: giant; gold-plated and silver painted; elaborately carved with pictures of landscapes, gods and decorations; clean; white. Both temples, despite that we were visiting in the middle of the day, were packed tight with people of all classes, worshipping and spending time with their families. Groups were huddled around inside, quietly speaking to each other as they prayed. These temples are places of community. These are the only places where everyone becomes equal and everyone can share their beliefs, ideas and love for a shared god. This is what I have found India is about: community and family. I asked Asma what she does religiously. She answered me that she herself doesn’t practice much but because of her family’s strong religious belief and the long list of traditions her family tries to uphold, Asma strives to participate in every family gathering and practice. Festivals and ceremonies are very sacred to the Indian community because they become the only time that everyone, from the corporate workers to the children selling fruit on the street, can come together and celebrate their common love. This to me shows the importance and value of being an active part in the family and community: a part in which I hope, I too, can soon become a part of.

After running around with Asma the first day, my dad and I were exhausted and slept in (Haley sleeping in?! I know!) for a later start. After getting ready for the day, my dad and I were picked up by a friend’s driver and taken to Tata, a huge multi-directional company in India that my dad’s company works with, in Nodia. Tata was about an hour away from the center of New Delhi so my dad and I got to see many different sites as we drove on. My luckiest find was a little boy (probably around 7 years-old) driving an ELEPHANT right through the middle of the city! I thought that cows running around wild in the middle of the city were weird, talk about a massive elephant! Sadly, I missed the shot in my amazement, awe and excitement but I have been told there are a thousand more to see as I travel to Agra and Jaipur.

Once we arrived to Tata, my dad introduced me to a woman he used to work with and her co-workers. While they had a business meeting (and I struggled yet again to figure out what exactly my dad does for a job), I looked at tourist books and planned for our next two cities, Agra and Jaipur. When they had finished the “business talk,” we met some more co-workers of my dad’s friend and then all went out to a favorite restaurant for lunch. It amazed me how very young all the workers for this company were–barely out of college! I learned a lot during lunch as we talked about the traditional life in India and, again, the discussion of religion and its ties to the value of family and community.

The restaurant was very traditional and the meal was planned out for us by my dad’s friend. Before this experience, I thought American’s ate a lot. People had always told me that our portions and frequency was a lot more than other cultures. Trust me, they were wrong. A traditional Indian meal starts with your choice of a soup or a soft drink (I had a delicious chicken soup) and an onion salad. Then you move on to appetizers which usually is chicken kabobs and these fried cheese balls. Next, the main course: biryani, onions and tomato curry, one other vegetable dish and naan. And lastly, dessert which consists of fried dough balls dipped in sugar syrup, Gulabi (a sugary, orange candy) and this other dish, similar to bread pudding except in thick milk with spices. And that was just lunch!

After that, we visited the Red Fort (a castle built in the 1600s for the king who built the Taj Mahal and all of his wives). As soon as we arrived at the fort though, we were surprised by a little unexpected weather! Everyday, it had been at least 100 degrees out and was supposed to for many more months to come. But as soon as we were walking through the gates to the Red Fort, you could see this huge dust storm, above all the buildings, spinning straight towards us. My dad, his friend and I all covered our eyes and face as we were hit with very strong winds and stinging dust. Almost as soon as the winds began to die-down, thunder began to ring and rain poured down from the skies. A few seconds later, lightning began striking as we ran into the Red Fort with a hundred other people for cover. All of this took less than 5 minutes to appear!

The rain continued to heavily pour for about an hour but the lightning stayed all the way through the night! After that, soaking wet and very tired, my dad and I retired to our hotel for the night in order to rest for an early start towards Agra–hoping to get out before the traffic began.

Day Three: Agra

We left New Delhi at around 6 in the morning for a four and a half-hour car ride to Agra. Technically, we had planned for me to sleep the whole way down so I could be well rested and ready for touring when we reached Agra, but this is Haley we are talking about. (I ended up taking over 400 photographs instead: a much better use of the time!)

The scenery, heading down to Agra, was much different as we moved from the metropolitan areas and into the more rural, farm lands. I learned along the way that north India farms more wheat than rice (and vice versa for south India) and that is what “North Indian food” and “South Indian food” is based on. Life in the farm areas seemed a lot more laid back: not as much hustling and bustling (the no traffic helped as well). As we passed small towns, I observed at one point a grandfather, surrounded by about five of his friends, admiring what I assumed to be his little grandson on his lap. At another point, a group of boys were playing cricket in a dirt-covered, abandoned field. A woman, bent over a large hot bowl, stirred food for her family as she chatted to her friend next door.

It amazed me, just how much the women could balance on their heads as well! On the way, I saw balanced a bushel of wheat, buckets of water, bags of food, crates, the list goes on. Out of the city, there were also a lot of different animals to see such as camels (the ship of the desert a man told me), monkeys, sheep, pigs, chickens, horses, snakes, and, yes, elephants.

When we arrived to Agra, a city much smaller than New Delhi, we checked in to our hotel and rested for a few hours, waiting for sunset (the perfect time to tour to Taj Mahal). Created in the 1600s, the Taj Mahal is absolutely stunning. It massiveness and delicacy can only be observed as you stand at the bottom of it, looking up. Our guide, a native from Agra, explained the crazy symmetry and planned architecture of the Taj that the Mughal king built for his wife. The Taj is built in perfect symmetry and in the shape of an octagon so that you will get the same view from every side. All of the pillars domes and steps are arranged in groups of eleven with two groups of each, adding up to a final count of 22 which represents the number of years it took to build it. Even in the courtyard, everything is in symmetry: the gardens, the trees, the gates and the fountains. One of the coolest facts I learned was that the four towers, which stand at the corners of the Taj, are built slanting outward so if they should ever fall, they would never destroy the main building.

Days Up Until School

We have been on the road from Jaipur to New Delhi then Delhi to Solon, Solon to my school and finally my school to Shimla. You all will not believe the view I have right now! We are surrounded by evergreen tundra, tucked on one of the hundreds of mountains in the Himalayan Mountain Range. From outside the window, all you can see is mountain peaks for miles in every direction. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. We made the mistake a few minutes ago of opening a window to get some fresh air though and turning around a minute later to find a monkey sitting on our window post entering our room! It was a little shocking for my dad and I.

After traveling through Skipper’s Canyon in New Zealand, I never thought that I would ever find a road as scary and windy as that. I was very much mistaken. The road coming up to my school and the hotel which we are in right now, had no side-rails, lights or pull-overs! My dad couldn’t take the road for too long before he got sick. As it wound around the mountains, we had to share the road with not only giant military and transport trucks, but bikes, monkeys and even cows. (Tyler, imagine mountain biking up this road!) Everyone keeps saying how the best drivers have to be from India and now I most certainly have to agree!

Today, my touring ends and I am heading to the Lawrence School to begin my studies here! I cannot wait to get to school and meet up again with Asma and a few of her friends.

It was a long flight to travel across the world, but I made it–even if my baggage did not.  I arrived in Cape Town at around 10:30 at night and then drove about an hour to my host Oliver’s house.  I immediately went to sleep because I was very tired.  The next day me and Oliver drove around the farm that he lives at and we relaxed.  The next day we meet some family friends for dinner and I meet Oliver’s older brother, Daniel, who had gone to the beach with them.  The following day was Easter Sunday and I went to Mass and a lot of family came over for Easter lunch.

On Monday we went to Cape Town and had a nice lunch to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  On Tuesday I got my school uniform and we went into Paarl, the closest town.  Wednesday was my first day of school and it was cool.  I had to try and figure out where everything was and keep up with the deluge of names and faces that came at me.  On Thursday I had my first Rugby practice. It was mostly conditioning because this is the beginning of the season.  On Friday everyone at school was excited for the Matric dance, which is their version of Senior Prom.  This is how I have spent my first week in South Africa.

On April 3, 2012, I began my first day at the Vivek High School by introducing myself at the school assembly. At the assembly the entire school sings the Indian national anthem, the school song and makes announcements to the community. This is similar to Athenian’s morning meetings or town meetings. That day, they were handing out awards for academic achievements and rewarding the different houses. Here at Vivek, they are divided into four groups called houses that are designed to promote competition throughout the school and are rewarded at the end of the year for best overall house. There are boys and girls in this school from elementary school to high school, and are divided into the senior wing and the lower wing. The two girls I am staying with are in grade twelve, so consequently I too was placed there.

The classes here are super different from Athenian.  For starters, the students sit at desks, call their teachers Ma’am and Sir, and wear uniforms. Every day I dress in a blue button up shirt with a grey dress on top, along with a belt and a tie on Mondays. Girls have to put their hair in a ponytail or braid and only use black hair bands or hair ties. As you may have already guessed, school here is very strict compared to life at Athenian. My host Ekam is known as the school captain.  Every morning she comes to school early to stand near the gate to inspect the incoming students’ uniforms and make sure they are up to par.

The school day for grade twelve starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 2:00 PM.  Lunch is not served at school, so you eat lunch after school. At 11:00 all students have a 25 minute recess were you can have snack or buy ice tea. The classes that students take here are also very different.  I am taking classes such as economics, accounts, and business studies. The classes are organized by what you are planning to study when you get to college.  For example, Ekam is in the commerce track which includes classes like business studies, while others are in psychology classes. Also, unlike Athenian, you have all your classes with the same people and teachers go around to your classroom. Everyone here has made me feel so welcome, both the students and the teachers.

In celebration of Ekam’s birthday last weekend, many of her friends and I planned a surprise party for her. It was a great success and she was quite surprised! There was cake and presents and I had a great time. In the United States, when you receive a present the ‘polite’ thing to do is to open it in front of the person because it is considered nice to. But here, when getting gifts you merely say thank you and open them later, because it’s considered ‘rude.’ Also they always leave one candle on the cake lit and put it aside to wait until it burns out. I’m not actually sure why though.

Cricket is a HUGE sport here in India. For those who don’t know, the teams try to score the most points by hitting a ball with a bat (kind of like baseball) and run back and forth, while the other team tries to stop the ball from exiting the boundaries and scoring. I actually haven’t gotten a chance to fully understand it yet, but Ekam says she is going to take me to a match sometime! The food here is great and amazing! It’s so different than I expected but I love it. Lately here in Chandigarh, it’s been raining and windy! Summer is supposed to be the hottest time of the year over here, but the weather has been really nice out and pleasant.

I am still having a great time over here, but missing everyone!

I boarded a 7:55 AM flight for Washington D.C. Dulles from SFO. That flight was about five hours long and I had to find my way around the trains and terminals to connect to my next flight. We left D.C. at 5:30pm Eastern Time for the 16 hour flight, with a stop in Dakar, to Johannesburg. My host family, the Majuba’s, picked me up from the airport. Here they drive on the left side of the road and the drivers are on the right, which was very disconcerting the first time I sat in the front seat.

Chikho, my host, and her dad and cousin took me out to dinner that first night. The next morning we went to Good Friday services in a Presbyterian church in a township, which was quite an experience. There was a lot of singing and clapping and a bit of dancing. I even had to introduce myself to the entire congregation. Almost everything was spoken in Tonga, one of South Africa’s 11 languages. I met Chikho’s father’s side of the family and we had a barbeque, or a bry as they call it here. I ate a traditional staple called “pap” which is basically boiled corn flour and water.

Over the weekend, we went to the Sterkfontein caves, where the most complete “Australopithecus africanus” skull was found. I went with Chikho’s aunt, uncle, and cousin on the tour where we saw an underground lake. On Sunday we went to Easter services with Chikho’s aunt at the Anglican Church. We also went to the Apartheid Museum, the Mandela House, the Hector Peterson Museum, and Soheto. We had a chill day on Monday, in a “location” which is more open with large parks and low, smaller buildings. In the park there was a small stand where a guy would fix your shoes or sell you fruit.

On Tuesday we had a long drive up to school in the Limpopo Province. Stanford Lake College is mostly a boarding school and Chikho and I board during the week and go back to an aunts house with 2 other cousins on the weekend. We somehow fit all of our things into the back of our pickup truck and drove to school from Aunt’s house to move into the dorms. Here they call the dorms the “hostel” our Hostel’s name is Ken Shuter House. There are girls in grades 8-12 here and I will be rooming with another exchange from India who gets here next week. Here there a lot of rules, like even your hairbands have to be a certain color! Everyone wears a uniform of a skirt, tights, black shoes, collared uniform shirt, ties, sweaters and blazers. I look kind of silly in my jeans and t-shirt so I bought a uniform shirt or two to fit in. Today, Wednesday was the first day of school. We had a tea break midway through the morning and on Wednesdays school gets out early, so I just chill out in the hostel. Classes are very different especially because it is so formal, every teacher is referred to as Ma’am or Sir. I hope to try out for some sort of sport, such as netball soon.

I’m having tons of fun and can’t wait to tell everyone all about it!

I left the San Francisco airport at 3:45 PM for my flight to Frankfurt. It was about a ten hour flight and once I got to Frankfurt I had about a two hour layover where then I flew to New Delhi. I arrived there at about 3:00 in the morning and had a five hour layover where I just sat in the airport. And finally I arrived in Chandigarh after an hour flight from Delhi at about 9 o’clock (Indian time). I arrived in Chandigarh on March 18^th after over 24 hours of travel, where I met my host, Ekam. Many may know her from her exchange two years ago to The Athenian School, but I had never met her before. One of the first things I noticed while driving to their home was how the roads and traffic rules differed from the United States, or at least the Bay Area. There are no rules about going into the other side’s lane or weaving in and out of lanes, and you don’t have to wear seatbelts in the back seat.

Once I arrived at her house I got introduced to the rest of her family, including her mother, father, cousins, and uncles. What was very different to me was that in their household they have maids and a “servant” (she is about 18 years old) that make you food and make your bed every morning. At first it was very strange not having to do my own laundry or get my own drink out of the refrigerator, but I am slowly getting used to this all. Another thing that I found difficult was the language and understanding what her family is saying when they are not speaking English, but Hindi. At first, I was quite clueless to what they were all saying, but being here for a week already I have picked up on some words and can understand the idea of what they are saying! (plus they say that my pronunciation is pretty good!) The best part of my exchange is that Ekam attended Athenian before, so it’s really interesting to talk to her all about the experiences she had there and understand exactly what she means. We would ask each other if we knew certain people (both teachers and students) and I would tell her everything that is happening at Athenian now. During the first few days of my arrival Ekam introduced me to many of her friends and I visited the Vivek High School, where I would be studying. The people there, both at school and outside, are very friendly and welcoming. They would all say “welcome to India” and “I hope you’re enjoying your stay.” Though I have not been to school yet (I begin on April 2^nd) I can already tell that I will have a great experience J

Within the first week I was here, my family took me on a trip to Delhi and Agra, to visit different places such as the Taj Mahal and other historical structures. It was absolutely amazing because I learned all about the history and about the Taj Mahal’s structure; truly a wonder! The next few days consisted of tons of shopping and mostly exploring Delhi. Once we returned from our four day trip, the next few days were mostly hanging out and meeting many more of Ekam’s friends. Some days we would go out to lunch and see a movie and others we would go paintballing or boating in a lake. Along with this, I also left for a four day camping trip with a group of students in grade twelve, where we went to an adventure camp in the hills of the Himalayas. I participated in many activities such as repelling and trekking through the mountains. It was there where I met many other students that I would be studying with later that week on my first day of school! This first week overall has been quite busy and fun-filled! I am having tons of fun on my exchange and so far all is wonderful!