First days in Mussoorie

We arrived in Mussoorie Friday night after a harrowing 10 hour bus ride. The guest house we are staying in is very cute- sparse and kind of musty, but nice. We're the only ones staying there. There's a nice grassy sort of patio area that the rooms open up on with tables and chairs and an amazing view of the North Indian Plane (I think that's what it's called). We're staying at about 7000 feet. Saturday we had orientation at the Landour Language School where we have Hindi classes every morning. It's at 7500 ft at the top of the mountain, about a mile uphill from the guest house. There is only one steep narrow road that connects everything and at some points its no joke a 45 degree incline. My calves are burning. A student who was on the program two years ago and now lives in Mussoorie showed us around town Saturday afternoon. The main town is downhill from where we're staying about twenty minutes. I bought fabric and took it to a tailor- I'm getting a full salwar suit and a kameez made, it will be ready tomorrow. They don't have ready-made clothes here.

Sunday morning some friends and I explored the top of the mountain. It is indescribably beautiful here. Around the other side of the mountain you can see the rest of the Himalayas and when it is very clear apparently you can see Mt Everest. The weather changes quickly from sunny and clear to so foggy you can't see 15 feet in front of you in like ten minutes. I love watching the fog roll in. I'll post pictures when I figure out how to do that. We met a local Hindu woman who told us it was Krishna's birthday and that there would be big celebrations in the temples that night. Almost everyone in the group ended up going- so much fun. We went to two temples. I did puja at the first one and got the mark on my forehead and sugar water to drink. At the second temple I received a handful of butter and sugar to eat which was incredibly disgusting. There was live music in both temples and little kids running around. One of the favored forms of Krishna is him as a baby so all the babies were dressed up like him. I cannot get enough of Hindu festivals.

This morning we started Hindi classes. Incredibly difficult. I actually feel like I'm in school now.

Namaste!

-Sarah

New Delhi

We have been in New Delhi for three days now and it is nothing like I expected. I have not seen any shockingly poor people and have only spotted one (possible) leper. The roads are crazy; we left the Defense Colony for the first time today and when there are two lanes painted on the road, there are three lanes of cars. Tuesday, our first day here, we went into the little market here and had a lecture. Wednesday we had two lectures, all in the hotel. Today was very hectic. I haven't been able to sleep much and it's really catching up with me. We had our first authentic Indian bureaucracy experience when we went to register our visas. It took five hours of standing in lines and getting things stamped and signed, but mostly just waiting. I talked to a Thai monk for an hour which was definitely the high point. We went shopping when we were finally finished with the visa thing and I bought my first salwar kameez.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Mussoorie. It will be an eight hour bus ride, the last hour up a steep mountain road from Dehra Dun (check your maps!). It is supposed to be much cooler there which will be an amazing change- it was in the 90s today with probably 100% humidity.

-Sarah

Longest plane ride of all time; New Delhi

I am in New Delhi, staying at a small hotel in the neighborhood called the Defense Colony. It is an upper class neighborhood where the houses sell for 2-2.5 million American dollars. There is a small downtown inside the colony, which is completely gated in. Apparently most nice neighborhoods are like that here.

The plane ride was much better than we all thought it would be. I had heard horror stories about Air India before leaving, but apparently they just partnered with Lufthansa so it was quite nice. The seats were big and had individual tvs with tons of movies- I watched 'Shall We Dance' with Fred Astaire and 'Blazing Saddles'. Most of the kids on my trip were sitting together so we kept each other entertained for the 19 hour flight. We arrived in New Delhi at 11pm and at first couldnt' find the director. He eventually located us and we went to our hotel.

Today we started orientation and had an introductory lecture on Indian government, then walked around the town. The director, Neil, took us to try paan, which many South Asians chew all the time. It is a mix of betel nuts and spices and is a slight narcotic. It can be mixed with tobacoo and many people are addicted to it. It was 5 rupees, very cheap, so the poor chew it when they cannot afford food because it is an appetite suppressor; also a mild stimulant- Cynthia, the assistant director for our program, said paan got her through grad school.

It tasted really bad.

Now it is 4:15 am and I cannot sleep.

xoxoxo Sarah

Getting Ready to Leave

I'm getting ready to leave for India this weekend. I'm going with students from Skidmore and four other colleges. We'll be traveling around Northern India for four months, living mainly in Delhi, Mussoorie, Jaipur, and Varanasi. I'll be posting updates and pictures here instead of emailing everyone, so post comments so we can keep in touch! 

xoxo Sarah