My first impression of India

It is wedding season in India but not for Adnan and me! Not one plan is in place for our wedding (except for the possibility of a Monsoon Wedding).

We arrived in New Dehli somewhat disheveled and have remained in a frenzied state everyday sense. We have had to a find a home, a volunteering opportunity and figure out our whereabouts. I must say that between the locals we have met and friends we knew before we got here, everyone has been so sympathetic and supportive of us. I am grateful for every gesture of thoughtfulness.

Dehli is everything people told me it would be; dilapidated houses, muddy roads littered with piles of colorful trash, homeless people/families/children, cows ruling the streets, stray dogs scavenging for food, slums lining the roads, hoards of people sleeping on mats wherever they can and much more. But no one told me about the amazing service at stores and restaurants, the enticing food, the beautiful parks, the helpful locals, the entertaining newspapers in English, the incredible boutiques, the detailed handmade articles, the non-wasteful living system (they have their own recycling system that pretty much everything is used and reused and reused yet again), and most importantly the hope running through the veins of the city.

Of course there are things that terrify me here. But it isn’t what I had expected. For example, the top of the list is not the water (only a little scary) but commuting on the roads. Whether I am walking or riding in an auto rickshaw my nerves are shattered by the time I get to my destination. I have seen my life (as well as other lives) flash before my eyes. But what I have learned over a very short period of time is what looks like pandemonium to me is actually a very orderly street system here. Driving down the road is something like the following: First bargaining with numerous auto rickshaw drivers for a fair price, many of whom will not take you to where you want to go. Then proceeding to get in the mini vehicle instantly being sprayed with dust and exhaust from other drivers while swerving because a car is driving down the wrong side of the street (this would immediately cause an accident in the US) while avoiding a horse cart swerving again to avoid bicycles carrying everything you can possibly imagine balanced on them. We almost just hit a pack of stray dogs and people walking in and out of traffic while passing a motorcycle with a family riding on it (a baby is sandwiched between her mom and dad, the driver). It is mayhem. But it somehow all works. The auto rickshaws nearly kill us or others almost every day we ride them and no one seems to flinch. The bright side of auto rickshaws is their extremely cheap price. Getting anywhere in the city will cost you less than a dollar. We drive for 40 minutes across the city and it is still around a dollar. Unreal.

The first few days after we arrived in Delhi we stayed with a friend of a friend of Adnan’s named James Moore. He is from Texas and is working at The Gates Foundation in Dehli. He was generous enough to let us stay with him for the first eleven days until we found an apartment.

We have an apartment in an area of New Delhi called Defense Colony. Our landlady built the four story building 2 years ago. She owns two of the floors and she sold the two other floors. We are living in a newly renovated basement space. The only problem is when the wind shifts at night, the nearby sewage wreaks havoc in our place. The smell has woken us up several nights due to its poisonous scent. I have never smelled anything so foul. I might not have a sense of smell when I return to the states and Adnan might finally lose all of his nose hairs. :) We are both excited for the cold weather to come.

We have met with tons of people and organizations to volunteer with. In the process we have learned a plethora of information about this dramatically changing city. Organizations are starting all over the city to help the poorest. Dreams fill the city. They say that over 400 million people in India live off of less than $1 a day. That is a greater population than the United States. We have seen many street children here which are a difficult reality to stomach. I want to snatch them all up, put them in a classroom and teach them. (Well, I will be doing that a couple days a week).

We have had some really interesting meetings. Check out this tour we took about homeless street children at the Delhi rail station. It is the Salaam Baalak Trust tour that is run by former homeless street children at the New Delhi Railway Station.

I am grateful for the opportunity for this eye opening experience. To sit and observe this ever changing country has been fascinating. So much growth is happening and so much more needs to happen. I refuse to allow the less-lovable elements of this city overshadow the positive points of the truly multidimensional metropolis.

We have some exciting trips in the making as well, including a visit to Manali in the Himalayas for my birthday in October and the Pushkar Camel Fair in late November. Keep in touch because there is more to come.