Sorry about not posting yesterday, but after sightseeing all day long then 3 hours spent stuck in traffic, I was exhausted and passed out early.
So to update; yesterday we went sightseeing around New Delhi, we Visited Qutub Minar, Lotus Bahai Temple, and Humayun's Tomb. All very cool, though the most adventurous part of both yesterday and today was driving through traffic in India!! Oh.My.God.!!!!! If you all think traffic in DC or Virginia is bad...... well let me tell you.... traffic at home is walk in the park and tame as hell compared to traffic in India!! holy Jesus, I honestly was fearing for my life driving through it. First of all, as I mentioned before, the lines on the streets are a mere suggestion, which is highly ignored, in fact most of the streets just don't have lines at all. Secondly, they absolutely LOVE the car horns, I can't even figure out what they are honking at half the time. It kind of reminds me of the movie Little Miss Sunshine when their car horn got stuck and just kept on going.
Anyway, moving onto today. Today we visited the India Gate... which was less then impressive since it was under construction.. also as soon as we got out of the car we were bombarded by vendors and people selling the most ridiculous things... sunglasses, little weird fuzzy animal purses, then a lady forcing henna on all of us ladies... finally we got fed up with all of the hustling that we decided to leave and made a mad dash back to the car and hauled it out of there. We then went onto the Red Fort, then the Jama Mosque (which all of us ladies had to put on full dress robes to be totally covered... which was sooo hot since we were all already soaked with sweat given the heat and humidity) then we were taken to a local outdoor bazaar. We ended the day with going to Ghandi's Memorial, where he was actually cremated. It was a nice day, though extremely hot and humid as well as very smelly.
So... a bit about the smell... now I knew that India would be a bit of a culture shock with the hygiene... but it is quite a different thing when actually confronted with it. When we stepped out of the car at the Red Fort, a few of us sort of gagged at the smell, I had to cover my nose with my scarf... a rather strong odor of every bodily fluid possible mixed with body odor, trash and pollution... I can't even describe the overwhelming power of it. Walking through the streets, there is shit in the middle of them, trash everywhere, and the puddles... well you aren't really sure if it's water or something else... Then, people are forcing their items they are trying to sell onto you while you are just trying to keep up with everyone in the group. I certainly don't want to come off as though I am complaining, but you have to understand that it is more just a big culture shock that you can't really prepare for until you are actually faced with it.
Moving onto this evening, we got back much earlier than yesterday, hardly any traffic!! and when I say hardly any traffic that would be the equivalent to lots of traffic back in DC and VA. So we got home and decided that we were up for going out to eat as opposed to the same meals we have been having every night. So we left and got a "taxi" aka Rickshaw (my first time on one... and oh lord quite an experience!!! given how insane regular traffic is... try being in something with no sides and feels like it could tip over at any moment). Then we went to the very modern mall!! which I hate to say.. I was actually quite happy and comforted to be in. After today, and the major in your face culture shock it was nice to be in a place that felt like home. So I got some pasta, while the others got McDonalds then we went to a mexican restaurant to get a few drinks. Quite a sight to see the wait staff dressed up like cowboys Lol so then we left to make our curfew... yes I did just say curfew... I feel like I am in high school again well all of us do (even though some of us only just graduated from high school!! those being Sam and Alice Lol).
Oh so another thing, we are all sitting around chatting and I had forgotten about another thing that happened today. While at one of the sights today it was so bizarre how a lot of the Indian men kept following us and taking pictures. I found it a bit annoying considering they didn't ask to take our pictures. Quite a few times they came up to me and stood right in front of me taking my picture, even one time it was totally in my face... now I know it is because we are all white, and I was wearing a tank top (which is apparently very provocative... I still can't quite grasp that concept) but still a few of us took pictures of the locals but before taking their pictures, we asked them if it was ok.
So, it now having been 5 days of living in India and learning the culture, I am finding new things everyday that are huge learning curves to adjust to.
So... as our driver from yesterday and today would say to us as we got back in the car after seeing a temple or tomb, "happy happy happy??" and we would respond "Khusi Khusi!!" (which means happy in Hindi)
Erin, thanks for writing today. I was eager to read another post. Culture shock can be a very challenging experience. It's good that you have a group of people you can process it with as you are going through it. Just be patient with yourself and try to stay open to all these new things. It can be overwhelming at times. But you are doing great.
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