So today was my first day actually "in" New Delhi. I'm going to apologize for the lack of photos first, because the internet here is super spotty and it's taking me forever to upload from my phone to my computer. Hopefully that will change when I get to Dharamsala in a couple of days.
Today Kalden and his friend Palsang (a Tibetan monk) and I went to the Red Fort, which was (if I remember the story correctly) built by Emperor Shah Jahan (the same guy who built the Taj Mahal), and there was a big revolt against the British that happened there in the mid-1800s over the fact that some sort of "beef grease" was used in rifles at the time. Cows being sacred to Hindus, which most Indians happen to be, you can see why this would be a problem.
Oh, and yes, I have seen some cows lying in the street, just chilling. And pigs. And one cat. And lots and lots of dogs.
We got some cool photos of the architecture at the Red Fort (which I will upload at some point, I promise). As we walked through and he explained the history of the place, an Indian man who apparently worked there as a guide began chastising him in Hindi, which Kalden later translated to me that he had been angry that Kalden was explaining things instead of hiring a guide. He wanted us to pay him a bribe; Kalden refused, of course, and the guy tore up our tickets. We walked off (well, I just followed because frankly, I had no idea what was going on) and saw the rest of the fort in peace. Afterward, Palsang had to go to the Chinese Embassy to take care of some paperwork, so Kalden and I headed over to the biggest mosque in Delhi, where they made me take off my shoes and cover up my bare shoulders, and wouldn't let Kalden in since they saw he had a camera. I went in to check it out and wouldn't you know, every third person had a camera. I'm sensing a bit of a double standard around here.
I am kind of digging the whole rickshaw thing. We have been taking pedal rickshaws and autorickshaws around the city, which seem to be able to be hired for about 20 rupees. The subway system here is also really nice. According to Kalden, it's new. It shows. The trains are sleek and quiet, and the subway stations are all sparkly clean. Unfortunately, this stands in a fairly stark contrast to much of the New Delhi "overworld:" there are nice areas but we've also gone through plenty where trash, well, litters the ground, and I've even seen piles of garbage and mounds of actual feces. The toilets are also weird (just a hole and a bucket of water, sometimes a little spray hose, almost never any paper). Plus you have to pay to use the public restrooms. Needless to say, it's an exotic place and that's cool and all, but I can see how I'll miss some of the comforts of home. Like sanitation. I'm keeping in mind, though, that billions of people live like this every day, so there's no good reason I can't manage for a few months. It'll be good for me, right?
I also got to see one of New Delhi's malls, which is strikingly western. So western, in fact, that I had trouble tracking down some "real" Indian clothing; everywhere we turned it was Starbucks, Tommy Hilfiger, McDonald's, even a Haagen-Dazs store. We also visited the Indian National Museum which was full of very cool sculptures of Hindu gods and Buddha, paintings involving an awful lot of cows, and even a human skeleton preserved from some hundreds of years ago.
Almost all of the public places we've gone so far have had security checkpoints in which "ladies" and "gents" form separate lines, put their bags on a conveyor belt into an xray machine, just like at the airport, and you walk through a metal detector and get a quick pat down by an official of your gender. So far I haven't had any problems, but it's a little weird. At least they're generally nicer than the TSA.
Tomorrow evening I board the "very nice Volvo" bus to Dharamsala. Palsang is also going, but on a different bus; a less nice one, perhaps not a Volvo. We should arrive around the same time, so he's going to accompany me to the Charity and make sure I get settled in. A few hours after that is the opening ceremony, and then I'm told I can sleep the rest of the day if I want. Depending on how jet lagged I am (so far, not very), I may, but I think it might be more likely that I check out the charity and try to make a couple new friends, and determine what essentials I might need to pick up from the store. The next day Kalden and Julie, another foreign teacher, will arrive, and he'll help me get settled into whatever room I'll rent for potentially the rest of my stay. I'm going to make "solid internet" a priority when choosing a place. If that's not plausible, I'm going to do my damnedest to find a place in town (Tibet Charity, maybe a library) that does have it so I can stay in touch with all of you. :)
EDIT: Updated to spell Palsang's name correctly. :)
Today Kalden and his friend Palsang (a Tibetan monk) and I went to the Red Fort, which was (if I remember the story correctly) built by Emperor Shah Jahan (the same guy who built the Taj Mahal), and there was a big revolt against the British that happened there in the mid-1800s over the fact that some sort of "beef grease" was used in rifles at the time. Cows being sacred to Hindus, which most Indians happen to be, you can see why this would be a problem.
Oh, and yes, I have seen some cows lying in the street, just chilling. And pigs. And one cat. And lots and lots of dogs.
We got some cool photos of the architecture at the Red Fort (which I will upload at some point, I promise). As we walked through and he explained the history of the place, an Indian man who apparently worked there as a guide began chastising him in Hindi, which Kalden later translated to me that he had been angry that Kalden was explaining things instead of hiring a guide. He wanted us to pay him a bribe; Kalden refused, of course, and the guy tore up our tickets. We walked off (well, I just followed because frankly, I had no idea what was going on) and saw the rest of the fort in peace. Afterward, Palsang had to go to the Chinese Embassy to take care of some paperwork, so Kalden and I headed over to the biggest mosque in Delhi, where they made me take off my shoes and cover up my bare shoulders, and wouldn't let Kalden in since they saw he had a camera. I went in to check it out and wouldn't you know, every third person had a camera. I'm sensing a bit of a double standard around here.
I am kind of digging the whole rickshaw thing. We have been taking pedal rickshaws and autorickshaws around the city, which seem to be able to be hired for about 20 rupees. The subway system here is also really nice. According to Kalden, it's new. It shows. The trains are sleek and quiet, and the subway stations are all sparkly clean. Unfortunately, this stands in a fairly stark contrast to much of the New Delhi "overworld:" there are nice areas but we've also gone through plenty where trash, well, litters the ground, and I've even seen piles of garbage and mounds of actual feces. The toilets are also weird (just a hole and a bucket of water, sometimes a little spray hose, almost never any paper). Plus you have to pay to use the public restrooms. Needless to say, it's an exotic place and that's cool and all, but I can see how I'll miss some of the comforts of home. Like sanitation. I'm keeping in mind, though, that billions of people live like this every day, so there's no good reason I can't manage for a few months. It'll be good for me, right?
I also got to see one of New Delhi's malls, which is strikingly western. So western, in fact, that I had trouble tracking down some "real" Indian clothing; everywhere we turned it was Starbucks, Tommy Hilfiger, McDonald's, even a Haagen-Dazs store. We also visited the Indian National Museum which was full of very cool sculptures of Hindu gods and Buddha, paintings involving an awful lot of cows, and even a human skeleton preserved from some hundreds of years ago.
Almost all of the public places we've gone so far have had security checkpoints in which "ladies" and "gents" form separate lines, put their bags on a conveyor belt into an xray machine, just like at the airport, and you walk through a metal detector and get a quick pat down by an official of your gender. So far I haven't had any problems, but it's a little weird. At least they're generally nicer than the TSA.
Tomorrow evening I board the "very nice Volvo" bus to Dharamsala. Palsang is also going, but on a different bus; a less nice one, perhaps not a Volvo. We should arrive around the same time, so he's going to accompany me to the Charity and make sure I get settled in. A few hours after that is the opening ceremony, and then I'm told I can sleep the rest of the day if I want. Depending on how jet lagged I am (so far, not very), I may, but I think it might be more likely that I check out the charity and try to make a couple new friends, and determine what essentials I might need to pick up from the store. The next day Kalden and Julie, another foreign teacher, will arrive, and he'll help me get settled into whatever room I'll rent for potentially the rest of my stay. I'm going to make "solid internet" a priority when choosing a place. If that's not plausible, I'm going to do my damnedest to find a place in town (Tibet Charity, maybe a library) that does have it so I can stay in touch with all of you. :)
EDIT: Updated to spell Palsang's name correctly. :)
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