India is incredible already. After many many cups of chai, platters of naan and spicy curry, and scents of fried bread, incense, sewage, and sweat, it feels as though we’ve lived here for weeks. The wonderful chaos feels like home, and it seems like our group is already family.
The thirty-something hours of journeying to arrive here were well spent- getting to know the other group members, watching movies on the plane, and eating Chinese food during the eight-hour layover in Hong Kong. Upon arriving in Delhi, a taxi drive from the airport to a local hostel introduced us to the swerving, honking cars and streets packed with taxis, bicycles, rickshaws, and cows. The first two days were filled with orientation to the program, a scavenger hunt around Delhi, and even buying a beautiful punjabi suits. It’s hard to take in everything going on at any given moment, as there always seems to be a thousand things going on at once- local shopkeepers calling us to get a henna tattoo, beggars asking for food and water, drumming coming from a nearby store, scents… food.. sticky weather.. and yet no one is in a rush. The locals have been eager to welcome us Americans to India, leading us to their favorite restaurants and offering us free cups of chai. The pace is so different. Motorcycles speed down the streets as if there is no time to spare, and yet the Indians who we’ve encountered seem forever patient. Locals will approach us and give us tours of the area simply because they want to welcome us (and sometimes try to get a purchase out of us). Yesterday, sitting in a shop, getting a Henna and picking out fabric for a Punjabi suit over steaming chai, the trip seemed too incredible. Yet it continues. I stood in the streets a couple nights ago , experiencing the much different atmosphere of a Delhi evening- streets still packed and lively- as an elephant approached, carrying a couple passengers atop it’s back. An elephant! Among all else flying down the street, was this massive elephant.
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| Mealtime at a local cafe. |
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| A local Indian woman |
But even more striking than all these incredible sights, is the poverty. The caste system is already becoming evident, and it’s more difficult to turn away a beggar when they have swollen limbs and are asking for food and water, not rupees. And so, four days into the trip, it’s hard to know how to respond to everything here, but I hope that we can stay present and be mindful in every moment.
Namaste,
Theresa and the India-goers