I've now been in India for two two weeks.
I just wrote an entire e-mail to you all...and then the power went out. So I'll write it again.
For the first week of my time here, my mom and I traveled around Northern India. We spent time in Delhi, Agra (to see the Taj Mahal of course), and Jaipur (the self proclaimed "world famous" pink city...though I had never heard of it). India is unlike anywhere I have ever visited. The colors, smells, people, poverty, and customs are both exciting and overwhelming. Getting the chance to see a bit of India and begin adjusting before starting my volunteer work was great.
Even after just two weeks, I could write pages about Indian culture and norms and how they differ from what I am used to. I'll try to keep it to one or two observations per e-mail. One of the craziest things during my first week in India was the driving. Our taxi driver explained to us that the rules of the road are that there are no rules. Lane markings mean absolutely nothing. The biggest vehicle has the right of way. All cars have their side view mirrors taken off or turned in because people drive so close to each other and would knock them off. Even the newest roads have plenty of potholes. The average Indian driver uses his/her horn something like 6 times each kilometer. Cycle rickshaws, mopeds, taxis, auto rickshaws, bicycles, camel drawn carts, pedestpedestrians, and monkeys all share the road. It is impossible to convey how completely insane it is. I actually feel lucky to be alive after driving from Jaipur to Delhi in the rain.
(the power just went out again)
Right now I am living in Greater Noida, about an hour East of Delhi. I am volunteering at one of
several Udayan Care orphanages. There are 40 girls between the ages of 6 and 20 here. All of them are from tough backgrounds (many were abandoned by family members or ran away from abuse). Udayan Care focuses on trying to provide a family style living environment for its children. However, this home is four times bigger than all of the others and so the family aspect is not very visible.The first few days here were really hard. I was super homesick and lonely and confused about my role as a volunteer. After the initial difficulties though, I am definitely starting to settle in to life here. Most of the girls are incredibly open and friendly and I am really enjoying getting to know them. I am looking forward to spending the next 6 or 7 weeks with them.
Basically, my days go something like this: In the mornings I wake up for 6am roof top yoga. After breakfast at 7:30, most of the girls head off to school until 2. While most of the girls are at school, I have time to do my own thing. I have also been tutoring a girl who is academically not ready to attend school. I am looking in to volunteering at the elementary school or learning Hindi in the mornings because as many of you know, I'm not very good at having idle time. When the girls return from school, we play games until lunch. The food here is delicious. The diet is mainly vegan but I have hardly noticed because everything is so flavorful. After lunch, I help the girls with homework for a couple of hours. Once finals are over, I'll start some arts and crafts sessions. Soccer practice is at 5:30. The team is a funny bunch of 16 girls, many of whom enjoy playing in jeans and skirts. Yesterday we spent a good hour in the morning cleaning cow poop off the dirt patch we will now use as a soccer field. Gross. Evenings are spent mainly talking to the girls. The older ones are really fun to be around. I am reading Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory to the younger ones. Also, they ask me to sing to them every night before bed. I gave them fair warning that this would make them cry instead of helping them fall asleep. But they insisted.Okidokie. I'll stop talking about myself now.
I hope you are all doing well. I would love to hear about what is going on in your lives.
I miss you all!
Love,
Emmiliese
Hindi word of the day: Mirchi, which means Chili, as in "Most of the food here is extremely mirchi.
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